The black wall reflected my white-washed skin, disheveled jacket, and loosely lopsided glasses that hung limply on my face like they had since elementary school. The smooth memorial seemed to stretch longer than death itself as I contemplated the list of names that had been etched into it.
Memories raced through my mind, outlined by the dense rainforest battleground that reverberated with exploding artillery. I saw several comrades falling to the ground around me, visibly wounded. Others didn’t move a muscle. “Playing dead,” I forced myself to believe, trying to dam the tide of fear and panic that sent ripples of pain through my sinking heart.
“Will, help!" a young and bloodied soldier called to me through garbled groans. A hand gruffly grabbed my shoulder; I turned and met my commander’s steely grey eyes,
“We won’t survive with extra baggage, soldier. Retreat to the copter, now!” He hollered hollowly, his bruised and trembling mouth betraying his truly sorrowful regret.
I pondered quietly: Die a hero? Or forever regret living? Without a second's hesitation, I hoisted Gabe onto my right shoulder; he seemed light, until I wrapped my other arm around my friend Jesse’s waist and hoisted him over the left. It was less than an hour later that I died from bullet wounds, after carrying them to safety.
For a single moment, I thought I’d seen my own reflection in the teary-eyed man reading my name. All that I am now is a reflection embedded into the dark granite wall.
Showing posts with label History. Show all posts
Showing posts with label History. Show all posts
Monday, March 7, 2011
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Benjamin Franklin Values
In English, we had an assignment to make a list of ten values that we want to maintain throughout our lives. I thought it would be good if I posted my values here so that I can read them and remember them. Now I will tell you the list of ten values that I made for class.
1. Sympathy and Generosity- Throughout my life, I will do my best to be understanding of others and their situations (putting myself in other people’s shoes. I will be generous to those in need, and never lose my human heart and empathy.
2. Anticipation- I will constantly do my best to anticipate and prepare for my future by hoping for the best but preparing for the worst.
3. Courage- Even when life throws its worst at me, I will be brave: honest, loyal, and true to myself and my fellow man no matter the negative or positive consequences.
4. Gratitude- During the course of life, I will remember that God and my parents have made me who I am today, and recognize that other influences will shape who I will yet become. It is with this attitude that I will always make sure that I appreciate the many positive influences that have helped me in accomplishing my goals.
5. Learning- I will recognize that no matter how much I do that I will never be perfect; even with that knowledge, I’ll continue doing my best to always continue learning, to the benefit of myself, my posterity, and those I influence.
6. Purity and Self Control- I will recognize that eventually in my life, I will encounter negative people with negative intents and purposes; it is then that I will maintain pure self control, knowing that God is always watching.
7. Zeal- Without a passion for life, life would be meaningless. I will live my life by continually counting my blessings and reminding others that they should too.
8. Respect- I will respect all men and women by accepting their viewpoints and listening, even if I don’t agree. I will treat everyone as I want to be treated to show proper respect.
9. Firmness- I will be firm in my resolutions, and I will not allow my values to be discarded at any time for the sake of convenience.
10. Determination- In life there will always be trials that will make me lose my direction, but I will do my very best to remain determined, focusing on all of the values that I want to uphold throughout my entire life.
1. Sympathy and Generosity- Throughout my life, I will do my best to be understanding of others and their situations (putting myself in other people’s shoes. I will be generous to those in need, and never lose my human heart and empathy.
2. Anticipation- I will constantly do my best to anticipate and prepare for my future by hoping for the best but preparing for the worst.
3. Courage- Even when life throws its worst at me, I will be brave: honest, loyal, and true to myself and my fellow man no matter the negative or positive consequences.
4. Gratitude- During the course of life, I will remember that God and my parents have made me who I am today, and recognize that other influences will shape who I will yet become. It is with this attitude that I will always make sure that I appreciate the many positive influences that have helped me in accomplishing my goals.
5. Learning- I will recognize that no matter how much I do that I will never be perfect; even with that knowledge, I’ll continue doing my best to always continue learning, to the benefit of myself, my posterity, and those I influence.
6. Purity and Self Control- I will recognize that eventually in my life, I will encounter negative people with negative intents and purposes; it is then that I will maintain pure self control, knowing that God is always watching.
7. Zeal- Without a passion for life, life would be meaningless. I will live my life by continually counting my blessings and reminding others that they should too.
8. Respect- I will respect all men and women by accepting their viewpoints and listening, even if I don’t agree. I will treat everyone as I want to be treated to show proper respect.
9. Firmness- I will be firm in my resolutions, and I will not allow my values to be discarded at any time for the sake of convenience.
10. Determination- In life there will always be trials that will make me lose my direction, but I will do my very best to remain determined, focusing on all of the values that I want to uphold throughout my entire life.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Three of My Life Changing Events
Sorry guys, but I'm posting yet another essay. This essay is different from any essay I've ever written because it's pretty personal to me, and it gives very accurate incite to why I act like I do, and tells readers how my mind works. In this essay for A.P. American history I was required to write about three of my most life impacting events. They might not seem like that big of a deal to you, but they were to me. Of course I knew a teacher would be reading this, so I tried to make it a little less personal. Don't be offended if you aren't personally mentioned; all of my friends have made an impact on my life. In fact, I didn't mention the affects of the friends I made at Fairfield. Because of my friends at Fairfield, I was able to have friends at Davis. To be more particular, I ended up meeting my very best friend of all time. So enjoy the essay!
There are a few things about me that many people could easily point out when first meeting me, Jojo. I’m a simple girl, very easy to please, and excited for just about everything that life has in store for me. Although I’m the type of person who enjoys simplicity, and have only lived sixteen years, I have had personally significant, life changing experiences that I will never forget. I’ve had a complete paradigm shift from a near death experience, I’ve been able to start out on a fresh slate from an unexpected change of schools, and I now know the significance of both hard work and team work through my past efforts in the Davis High Marching Band.
When I broke a blood vessel at the young age of ten, I came to realize the importance of life. Being as young as I was at the time, I had never had anyone really close to me die. My broken blood vessel was located somewhere above my nose, so at first, my family thought that it was simply a bloody nose. Unfortunately, the blood pouring from my nose didn’t stop after the first twenty minutes; after forty-five minutes, I was practically passing out while in the process of being carried into the Emergency Room. As I started to lose my senses, sitting on the gurney in the waiting room, I began to recognize the fact that I might die before a doctor could save me. With tear-filled eyes, I told my dad that I loved him and apologized to my older sister for being angry at her earlier in the day. A short time later, I was being carried again, but this time I was being lifted into a car instead of onto a gurney. The doctors saved me, but that is an event that I will never forget. Breaking a blood vessel was a very traumatizing experience, but I was able to learn first-hand that tomorrow isn’t promised to anyone. I finally comprehended the importance of living without regrets and making sure that you truly appreciate those you love before it’s too late.
The second life changing experience that I had wasn’t as scary as my first, but it still had a huge impact on my life’s outlook. Halfway through eighth grade, my neighbors and I were informed that there was going to be a boundary change that would encompass not only us, but the two neighborhoods next to us. I was completely devastated. From the beginning of my torment in seventh grade, I had imagined what it would be like to be at the top of the rung, a ninth grader. In all my times of envisioning, I had never imagined that I would be going to a new school. Somehow, I would be re-living my seventh grade experience again, but this time I’d be a lost and shy ninth grader. Amazingly, going to Fairfield Junior High turned out to be the best experience of my life, and I learned so many skills, both socially and academically. The district that changed my neighborhood’s boundaries had a student body officer elected to help the other new kids involved in the boundary change, and I became the officer. In eighth grade, I had never tried to get to know anyone; I already had friends and didn’t feel like I needed more. When I became an officer that kids looked up to at a new school, I realized how important it is to make others feel important. I did my best to befriend lonely kids, like myself, and now I know more than ever that sometimes it’s the little things that count in someone’s life. Someone’s whole day can be made by one small and kind act.
My final life changing experience wasn’t a single experience, but many impacting memories and challenges that I faced when first joining the Davis High Marching Band. It all began with my amazingly smart sister, Ashli. For as long as I can remember, I’ve always wanted to be like her. Before I even knew the purpose of Ash’s shiny silver instrument, I knew that I wanted to grow up and play it too. Although I didn’t completely follow in her footsteps when it came to band, it has still been one of the best experiences of my life. After playing the flute all through junior high, for the marching band, I decided to learn a new instrument, the baritone. A baritone is a brass instrument, best described as a miniature tuba (although it is still extremely heavy.) Learning a new instrument was a lot harder than I’d expected. Sometimes I would sit in my room, practicing for hours on end, trying to make my mouth properly buzz. Carrying such a heavy instrument was mentally and physically strenuous; just holding the baritone up for a minute became a burden, but I learned how to mentally push through pain (even though I injured myself a few times in the process.) Marching band taught me the importance of hard work. Hard work not only benefits the person that’s working hard, it benefits every person that you keep in mind while completing the difficult task. The most important lesson I learned was the lesson of teamwork. While competing against other high schools, I had to rely on my fellow baritone players many times; they taught me how to follow in their footsteps so that I could be a positive asset to our team.
Even though I have lived a fairly short life so far, I’ve already found meaning and purpose to my life through my many experiences. Through a completely random “bloody nose,” I learned how important it is to live life as best as you can before it’s too late, in school I learned about leadership and just how important it is to lovingly include anyone in need of friendship, and through marching band, I learned how good it feels to work towards a goal, accomplish it, and learn to be a team player as you work with others.
There are a few things about me that many people could easily point out when first meeting me, Jojo. I’m a simple girl, very easy to please, and excited for just about everything that life has in store for me. Although I’m the type of person who enjoys simplicity, and have only lived sixteen years, I have had personally significant, life changing experiences that I will never forget. I’ve had a complete paradigm shift from a near death experience, I’ve been able to start out on a fresh slate from an unexpected change of schools, and I now know the significance of both hard work and team work through my past efforts in the Davis High Marching Band.
When I broke a blood vessel at the young age of ten, I came to realize the importance of life. Being as young as I was at the time, I had never had anyone really close to me die. My broken blood vessel was located somewhere above my nose, so at first, my family thought that it was simply a bloody nose. Unfortunately, the blood pouring from my nose didn’t stop after the first twenty minutes; after forty-five minutes, I was practically passing out while in the process of being carried into the Emergency Room. As I started to lose my senses, sitting on the gurney in the waiting room, I began to recognize the fact that I might die before a doctor could save me. With tear-filled eyes, I told my dad that I loved him and apologized to my older sister for being angry at her earlier in the day. A short time later, I was being carried again, but this time I was being lifted into a car instead of onto a gurney. The doctors saved me, but that is an event that I will never forget. Breaking a blood vessel was a very traumatizing experience, but I was able to learn first-hand that tomorrow isn’t promised to anyone. I finally comprehended the importance of living without regrets and making sure that you truly appreciate those you love before it’s too late.
The second life changing experience that I had wasn’t as scary as my first, but it still had a huge impact on my life’s outlook. Halfway through eighth grade, my neighbors and I were informed that there was going to be a boundary change that would encompass not only us, but the two neighborhoods next to us. I was completely devastated. From the beginning of my torment in seventh grade, I had imagined what it would be like to be at the top of the rung, a ninth grader. In all my times of envisioning, I had never imagined that I would be going to a new school. Somehow, I would be re-living my seventh grade experience again, but this time I’d be a lost and shy ninth grader. Amazingly, going to Fairfield Junior High turned out to be the best experience of my life, and I learned so many skills, both socially and academically. The district that changed my neighborhood’s boundaries had a student body officer elected to help the other new kids involved in the boundary change, and I became the officer. In eighth grade, I had never tried to get to know anyone; I already had friends and didn’t feel like I needed more. When I became an officer that kids looked up to at a new school, I realized how important it is to make others feel important. I did my best to befriend lonely kids, like myself, and now I know more than ever that sometimes it’s the little things that count in someone’s life. Someone’s whole day can be made by one small and kind act.
My final life changing experience wasn’t a single experience, but many impacting memories and challenges that I faced when first joining the Davis High Marching Band. It all began with my amazingly smart sister, Ashli. For as long as I can remember, I’ve always wanted to be like her. Before I even knew the purpose of Ash’s shiny silver instrument, I knew that I wanted to grow up and play it too. Although I didn’t completely follow in her footsteps when it came to band, it has still been one of the best experiences of my life. After playing the flute all through junior high, for the marching band, I decided to learn a new instrument, the baritone. A baritone is a brass instrument, best described as a miniature tuba (although it is still extremely heavy.) Learning a new instrument was a lot harder than I’d expected. Sometimes I would sit in my room, practicing for hours on end, trying to make my mouth properly buzz. Carrying such a heavy instrument was mentally and physically strenuous; just holding the baritone up for a minute became a burden, but I learned how to mentally push through pain (even though I injured myself a few times in the process.) Marching band taught me the importance of hard work. Hard work not only benefits the person that’s working hard, it benefits every person that you keep in mind while completing the difficult task. The most important lesson I learned was the lesson of teamwork. While competing against other high schools, I had to rely on my fellow baritone players many times; they taught me how to follow in their footsteps so that I could be a positive asset to our team.
Even though I have lived a fairly short life so far, I’ve already found meaning and purpose to my life through my many experiences. Through a completely random “bloody nose,” I learned how important it is to live life as best as you can before it’s too late, in school I learned about leadership and just how important it is to lovingly include anyone in need of friendship, and through marching band, I learned how good it feels to work towards a goal, accomplish it, and learn to be a team player as you work with others.
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