Senior Skip Day

Many people recognize the Monday after a school’s prom to be “Senior Skip Day.” The seniors claim they are so tired from prom on Saturday that they need Monday off. This. Is. Ridiculous. I understand that prom day is long. Wake up in the morning to do your hair, then do your makeup, change into your dress hoping it fits after lunch, meet your group for pictures. After pictures, grand march at the school. Dinner follows grand march and finally you’re at the dance. Dance the night away until around midnight when you go to post prom. Post prom is a time to do recreational activities with your friends and your date. Some things my school had at post prom were a Velcro wall, jousting, and a hypnotist. Post prom was from midnight until 4 am Sunday.

I think senior skip day is ridiculous because students that attend prom can use Sunday to catch up on sleep, shower, get cleaned up, and be ready for school on Monday.  Senior skip day is just another day for upperclassmen to hang out and get drunk and high. I’m not saying every student uses Monday for drinking and getting high. I am, however, saying the students that went to prom and still come to school the Monday after are generally more responsible and care more about school than the ones that skip.

I’m not saying senior skip day shouldn’t happen, I’m simply saying senior skip day should be used to recover from the long day and night that occurs because of prom and not be another day for teenagers to party and drink.

(270)

Prom Season

Tis the season for prom dresses, tuxedos, and hair updos!

If you’re like me, you love prom because of all the photos you have at your disposal to “creep on.” Your Facebook friends make new photo albums. The preppy girl you follow on Instagram posts a billion gagillion photos at once. Twitter becomes an easy access photo timeline. I, as an underclassmen waiting for her turn to post prom photos, enjoy this part of the school year very much.

It started about a month ago when girls starting showing photos of their dresses on their hangers around to other, likely envious, girls at school. I, an envious girl, judged them from the get go. Not enough sparkle. Really? Pick ups? Could you reveal any more of yourself to me? You’re gonna wear that color when your skin tone is that of a ghost? As I got more and more bitter, the judgments got more and more harsh. That dress is too plain. That dress has too much going on. You really think that’s going to flatter your body? Think again. I can’t say I’m glad I judged so many dresses, I can say I’m glad I was wrong about many of them that I did judge before seeing them on a person.

Prom was held on different nights according to the school you attend. Wash had their prom on April 20^th. Kennedy, Jefferson, and Prairie had their prom on April 27^th. On the day of Kennedy’s prom, I was en route to St. Louis, Missouri for the last regular season NHL game between the Chicago Blackhawks and the St. Louis Blues. Thanks to social networking, however, I didn’t miss anything from prom. Girls started preparing early. I saw as hair went from birds nest in the morning, to elegant updos by early afternoon. Yoga pants and sweatshirts were shed as beautiful girls donned their formal gowns with pride.

It wasn’t long after pictures began emerging on my timelines that I began regretting the negative things I said about many dresses. With a few exceptions, each dress flattered body shapes, accentuated the ladies assets, and made each female prom goer look stunning. No dress was like another. No high school girl looked the same.

As for the males that attended prom, they waited until they absolutely HAD to get ready to put on a tux and go meet their date. The tux game was just as diverse and unique as the dress game this year. Some wore white, some gray, some the traditional black. No matter what anyone wore, everyone looked fantastic. Seeing the great memories that were made in just one night really gets me excited for the year to come. Hopefully, some underclassman will “creep” on my many prom pictures saying how stunning I look and how beautiful my dress is. Someone will be envious of me and my date as we walk in the Grand March.  Someone will see me and want to look as gorgeous as I do for their prom. It seems like yesterday I was walking into Kennedy for the first time and now I’m getting excited for prom next year. It’s crazy how time flies.

(531)

Gettin old

The end of April always drags on forever, it seems. The end of the school year is approaching, weather gets more and more summery each day, and my birthday is a matter of a few days away. Some people feel birthdays are pointless and unimportant but I disagree completely. Because I’m the youngest person in my class, my birthday is exciting. Especially this coming up birthday because I, the baby among my friends and peers, will be turning the big ONE SIX in just eleven days.

Turning sixteen is a big deal for me. The best part of being 16 is getting my intermediate driver’s license. No longer will I have to find rides to work and gatherings with my friends. No longer will I be the “wittle bebe” who can drive to and from school and school events in my district. Finally, I will be free to drive wherever I need to go between 5 am and 12:30 am. To some people, driving is an everyday thing that isn’t important to them. To me, this freedom is going to be a huge privilege to have.

(186)

STL, MO

Yesterday morning, my family and I left Cedar Rapids for St. Louis, Missouri. It was finally time to use the tickets I bought my brother for his birthday. We were going to my very first NHL hockey game between the Chicago Blackhawks and the St. Louis Blues. I was incredibly anxious to get on the road because I knew if we wasted time, we would be late to the game and I wanted to see my favorite player during warm ups. We left our house and stopped to eat. Ugh. After we wasted 15 minutes eating, we left and stopped at a gas station to fill up. Ugh. Finally, we were on our way.

The drive to St. Louis takes about four and a half, maybe five hours depending on traffic, who is driving, and the number of stops that need to be made. Fortunately for my family and me, we were in fast paced traffic and didn’t stop more than twice. We made it to the hotel just in time to check in, get ready to leave, and go. We stayed at the Marriott at the St. Louis Airport. The name alone implied a hint of prestige in the hotel. Many business people stayed here on a regular basis when they fly in to St. Louis or before flying out. Despite the pool and hot tub being closed while we were there, the hotel was amazing. It was also apparently the hotel to stay at if you were a Blackhawks fan. Lucky for us, we are Blackhawks fans so we fit right in.

We had dinner in the bus station across from the Scottrade Center where the game was held. The bus station had KFC, Pizza Hut, and a deli to choose from. Not much selection, but we didn’t have much time. After we finished eating, it was about 6:10pm. We headed across the street to go in to the arena. Because the game started at 7, we didn’t want to miss warm ups nor did we want to be late to our seats.

We waited down by the glass for warm ups in hopes to see some of our favorite players: Toews, Hossa, Kane, and Sharp just to name a few. It wasn’t long before I realized none of these players were on the ice and instead, many names I didn't recognize were dressed and warming up for the game. I frantically went to the official Twitter of the Blackhawks and found out 15 players were resting for playoffs. I kid you not, I cried. I should have known then the night was going to be bad.

Our seats were fantastic. We were in a position to see the entire ice and see when the puck crossed the goal line on one side. My family and I quickly realized many players were called up from the Rockford Ice Hogs, the Blackhawks second team. The Blues won the game 3-1 which, although upsetting, didn’t really matter. The Blackhawks still won the President’s Trophy and home ice advantage for playoffs. I had a lot of fun with my family in St. Louis and I think we will be going to more NHL games now because of the great time we had at this game.

(544) 

Closer than most

My brother is so much more than a brother to me. He is a mentor, role model, and more than anything, he is my very best friend. He was seven and a half when my mom gave birth to me and now, 15 and one half years later, my brother just turned 23.  It’s amazing how much happens in 15 years of someone’s life. A few examples would be getting a baby brother… or sister, playing a sport… or multiple, moving out of the house… or state, making a mistake…or two, graduating high school and getting a job… or a few, and so much more. I’ve been lucky enough to see my brother go through most of these milestones.

Obviously, I didn’t see my brother get a little sister since I’m the littler sister he got. I’ve just seen pictures and some videos. It was very obvious that my brother loved me from the day I was born and I have yet to see that love diminish. He had no problem watching me while my mom made lunch or dinner. He didn’t whine when I needed a diaper change, and he knew that singing “You are my Sunshine” to me put me to sleep. The same caring and loving brother still exists in my life today, just without the babysitting, diaper changing, and singing me to bed. Now it’s hanging out with me, helping me pick out what to wear for a date, and being there for me when I need someone to talk to.

Jake chose to take hockey more seriously than the rest of his sports; baseball, soccer, and track. He was also in show choir but it was obvious his love was in hockey. Before his sophomore year of high school, he was scouted to play for Triple A team in Omaha, Nebraska. At age 15, he made the courageous decision to move to Omaha and live with a housing family in order to play for this team, the Omaha Energy. This was by far one of the hardest times of my life with my brother. My parents, Jake, and I took the four hour trip to Omaha to drop Jake off for his sophomore year. Saying goodbye to my brother was beyond depressing and writing about it right now is making me tear up. I knew losing my best friend wasn’t going to be easy but I had no way at all to prepare for the tears, pain, and heartbreak that overwhelmed me as I looked out the back windshield and waved goodbye for however long it was before I saw him again.

I know I’m the person I am today because of my brother and I wouldn’t want it any other way. I love him and he’s still the closest person to me, 15 years later. There have been times when I thought I was going to lose my brother, whether to a girlfriend or sport, or worse, when my brother could have died. I’m beyond lucky and blessed to have a brother who is my best friend and I can’t imagine my life without him nor would I want to. I love my Bubba.

(530) 

I'm a girl with lovely dreams

The first car I ever drove was a 1997 Ford Explorer. Preceding that, I drove tractors for my grandpa an uncountable number of times. I'm not sure if this is the reason I love SUVs now or not. Whatever the reason is doesn't matter. All I know is, mark my words, I will own a Range Rover. At this point in time, my dream model is a 2013 Sport Supercharged V8 S/C 5.0L. This is one sexy piece of automobile and I can't wait to get my hands on that precious, black, leather steering wheel. I can't wait to get control of my dream SUV. I can't wait to be the car on the road that people gasp at when it passes them and I especially can't wait to say I've done enough in my life to afford and own an 85 thousand dollar car. The 85k for this sexy thang doesn't even include taxes, registration, or insurance but honestly, I don't care. My baby will be white. Shining... glistening... white. The interior will be white. White seats, white center counsel, white white white. The only things that won't be white will be the wheels, the front bumper, and the interior trimmings including the steering wheel and gear shift.

Beyond a gorgeous, luxurious SUV is my dream sports car. A black 2013 Audi A7. This beautiful baby has a base cost of $66,150. After I customized this pretty piece of metal to meet all of my expectations, I ended with a grand total of $76,745. Again, that doesn't include taxes, registration, or insurance. Again, I don't really care. In order to contrast my SUV, the exterior is shiny black and the interior consists of velvet beige leather. Don't forget the "Innovation Package" which is a collection of driver assistance. The head-up display shows a digital read out of the road ahead on the windshield so your eyes stay on the road. Night vision assistance alerts you of pedestrians within 300 feet of the car. The corner camera assists the driver in parking and also monitors the drivers blind spot to ensure no trouble when executing a lane change. Audi side assist prevents accidents caused by blind spot trouble and adaptive cruise control can maintain a preset distance from the car in front of the Audi. Last, Audi pre sense plus kicks in if an accident seems unavoidable. Pre sense plus protects passengers of the Audi by pretensioning the seat belts, boosting brake pressure, and shutting the windows and sunroof. How perfect is that

Now the question arises: why does one dream of something so materialistic, expensive, and luxurious when a much cheaper item can execute the same things? My answer? I like pretty things that impress other people. Another answer is if you have the money to spend, why not spend it? No matter what the reason, it is nice to own things that other people want. It's nice to get compliments on your possessions. For me, it will be extremely satisfying to say “I worked hard, was successful, and I finally own my dream cars.”

(517)

Poem Analysis

1. The land that sleeps makes the people weep.
2. The land that's strong grows on and on.
3. The land that sings to things passing by 
4. like birds flying in the sky.
5. As evil souls try to break us down,
6. we all join together and stand our ground.
7. All around us, blood stained streets.
8. The horror will not defeat.
9. The soldiers are like a brick wall,
10. standing solid they will not fall
11. Try to break us as hard as you can!
12. United together our nation will stand.
13. The land we love will forever last.
14. The land we love will never pass.
15. The colors red, white, and blue
16. stand for the land that's forever true.

Line 1: "The land that sleeps" is personification. Land cannot sleep, I can barely even sleep!

Line 5: The choice of words when saying "evil souls" suggests an indignant tone because it is expressing anger at anyone trying to break the country down.

Line 7: Describing the streets as "blood stained" paints a vivid and hopefully shocking picture in the mind of a reader

Line 9: Simile "The soldiers are like a brick wall"

Lines 13-4: "The land we love will forever last. The land we love will never pass." is an example of anaphora because of the repetition of "the land we love"

Line 15: "The colors red, white, and blue" is an example of two literary/rhetoric strategies. The first is allusion. Red, white, and blue is alluding you to the American flag. The second is symbollism, the symbol being the American flag itself. The flag connotes freedom and democracy as well as pride in our country. 

(286)