McCandless Project

Yesterday evening, I got together with my real close friends- Abby, Lily, and Delaney to work on our social experiments for Mrs. Belden’s Honors English l class. For our experiment, the four of us dressed in the craziest outfits we could put together, wore them into Panera Bread, and recorded bystanders reactions. People were kind of horrible towards my friends and I. Some kids pointed and laughed, while some elders just scowled in disapproval. There was one group of kids in that looked around our age that just would not stop talking and laughing about us. There were three people in the booth, two girls, and one boy. They were not holding much back and these were the kind of people that you could just tell, were extremely inconsiderate and very stuck up. They kept laughing and pointing! There was one example when Lily walked passed them and the boy sitting on the outside of the booth gave her the most judgemental look and said, “when bae walks by”. It was clear by then that we were being laughed at, not laughed with. The boy also called me a awkward turtle- making fun of my Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle onesie. How rude! By the end of the night I was extremely sad. Not because of how people treated me personally, but the fact that there are kids that go into the world everyday and will get treated like this everywhere they go. It is sad and scary to think about. I was also super disappointed about how judgemental some people were. They did not know why we were wearing what we were so they should not be judging. What my friends and I were wearing could have been the only clothes we had and they would have no idea, so they should not be judging! I was surprised on all accounts- how I felt and how people were towards us. I never really noticed how judgemental people will be to other’s faces! It is extremely scary and surprising that some people think that treating others that was is acceptable. I honestly felt like I was a victim of bullying, and It made me mad that some people go through this all the time. Even though people were awful to my friends and I, I would absolutely do the experiment again! I was being mostly myself, and I had fun with my friends. You are free to be yourself, and not conform with society! Who are all of those people to judge me? I am sure all of them are just as insane as I am! So forget them! All in all, I am so happy I had this experience. It really opened my eyes to how insecure other people’s words and body language can make you feel and how judgemental the common man can be today. I think I will you think experience to make the world around me more positive and happy! I will hand out more compliments because then I will know that someone will not be feeling insecure about themselves that day!   

Personal Quote Journal

                     "Don't you know that everyone has there own fairyland?" -Mary Poppins. This quote to me represents individuality. It says people are going to be different from you and want different things, and your going to have to know and accept that there is not a single person on this Earth that is exactly like you, and there never will be. Everyone has different dreams and opinions and that is never going to change so people might as well accept it now. I chose this quote to represent myself because I think it is very cool when people are a lot different from myself. You can learn something new from them and have a more open mind about different things. It also makes me angry when people make fun or tease their pears for the way they dress, act, or even the things they want or the opinions they have. I admire the people that goes against the majority. They are strong, independent, and confident and I think that is a trait that most people lack and that is just a shame. I can connect to this quote because I try everyday to keep stay as open minded as possible. I am very considerate to others feelings and opinions and I try to keep reminding myself that just because someone is different from me does not make them weird or an outsider. It means they like who they are and are never going to sacrifice their unique personality to conform with society or peer pressure. In your world, you might be king or queen and someone who is different is the peasant that is completely irrelevant to your life. In their world, you might be the peasant and they are completely oblivious to who you are but that is only because everyone had there own fairyland. I am still working on it, but If I was to start living every moment of my life according to what Mary Poppins said, I think that I would be the most fair and open minded person you have ever met. I would have so many more friends because everyone would feel like they could talk to me and that I understand them. I think having all of that, would be apart of my fairyland right now.

Trix-E

Mrs. Belden

Period Four

10 October, 2014

Crowning Competition

It was supposed to be the second best day of my life (the actual day of the dance being the first)- Homecoming Court announcement day. I was finally a senior and it was my year. I would be wearing that crown on the thirteenth. I would fight like a soldier in World War ll to win that prize just prettier and way more popular. My heart just about dropped out of my butt when I heard Spencer’s name announced just two names after mine.

“Now for your Homecoming Court!” Mr. Harts’ voice boomed through the speaker and spread throughout homeroom. “Ladies first- Lauren Menninger, Skyler Speilman, Maria George, Rachel Morgan, Stephanie Jansen, and Spencer Coplin. The gentlemen- Ryan Acermen, Ben Thomas, Michael Edwards, Collin Stone, and Steven Jones.”

My Mind was spinning a billion miles a hour! How could this happen? Spencer and I had been like sisters since it was a big deal to be able to wear Justice undergarments! I love her to death, but there is absolutely no way I am letting Spencer win this crown. It will be mine. No one elses. Crowns are meant for blonds, not brunets. My blue eyes match the sparkle of the tiara. Her eyes are the same color of my Boxer’s doo-doo and would bring down the glam of the tiara. A war had started that day whether Spencer knew it or not.  

A week before the dance, all of the queen candidates’ campaigns were in full swing. Spencer’s in my ear twenty-four-seven about how much she wants the crown. I get it honey, you don’t have to shove it down my throat everyday! I wanted to walk over to her little muffin display and turn it over right there in the middle of that hallway. On Tuesday, I was passing out buttons in the cafeteria when I look across the room and see Spencer taking them off five football players and replacing them with her own. I did not even think of all the votes she was gonna get around school being head cheerleader and all. The only guaranteed votes I have are the Volleyball, Basketball, Lacrosse teams along with Student Council considering the fact that I’m president.

I crossed the room in unbelievable anger, pushed through meaty pigskin guys to make eye contact with my suppose-to-be best friend.

“What do you think you doing Spencer?!”

“Campaigning?” she snapped. “What does it look like I am doing?”

“You look like a backstabbing witch.”

“I am just trying to get what had always been mine.”

“I will consider letting you lay one finger on my crown Saturday.” I gave her a sarcastic smile and stormed off.  Spencer’s mouth practically fell all the way down to her knees as I left her in the dust.

The next morning I woke up, got dressed, and ran out the door after the toasted threw a burnt piece of toast at me. I went outside to where my red Pris is usually parked in the driveway. A closer looked revealed that my red wheels were not so red anymore. “Vote for Spencer” was written all over all sides of my scratch free car in jet black paint. Even though I was really angry, it was fine though. I enjoyed the look on Spencer’s face when she came out of English and saw all her posters were now pictures of her with speech bubbles saying “Vote for Maria!” Her face was quite a treat.

She walked by with a smile, “Classy” she snarled. Her sarcasm felt fantastic and refreshing. Easy as pie.

                    ******

Friday rolled around and I was pretty sure I had this crown in the bag. All the students at Railside would be voting for king and queen today. This morning was my last chance to rally in as many votes as I could. I used my reign as student council president to get some votes out of my little freshman minions.

The next day was the day. The biggest day. That night was going to be the best of my life (so far). It was also the busiest of my life! Breakfast with the family at nine. Manicure and Pedicure at noon. Wax at one-thirty. Hair at three-thirty. Make-up at four-thirty, then Steven Jones was coming to pick me up at five-thirty. Dinner at Fancy’s at six, and the dance starts at eight (but we will not be there until nine).

When I got home from my make-up appointment I had to get dressed fast enough that I would be ready when Steven gets here. This year I’m wearing an more puffy dress. It is a coral pink color with the softest material and the most beautiful gems covering the chest area and one-shoulder strap. My heels made me about 6’2- I am lucky Steven’s about 6’3! They were covered in rhinestones but were the most comfortable heels a girl could wear. My hair laid over my shoulder blades with tight, sticky twists and my bangs were brought back with an inverted french braid. I felt like a princess!

As Steven and I were riding together to dinner, the most terrifying thought raced through my mind- Spencer is still in our group. I’m so stupid! Of course she was still in our group! When we were going through all of the planning for the night we were still best friends! I did not make eye contact with her, talk to her, look at her, and did not put my arms around her in pictures. You would think we were complete strangers that night with the way we both were acting. It made me kinda sad though. She’s had been my best friend for so long. We were suppose to share this night together, just having fun, but together still. We had been talking about this night all year! We were too angry at each other to know what we were going to regret later. Whatever though, neither of us could take back what we did so I just let it go. It is not Maria and Spencer anymore.

The clock struck ten-thirty at the dance and Mr. Hart decided it was time to announce king and queen.  The court and I walked onto the stage to await the results. Steven won king, everyone knew that was going to happen. I started getting pretty freaked out when Mr. Hart said that it was the moment we had all been waiting for.

“Ladies and Gentlemen! This is the moment you have all been waiting for! The crowning of your Homecoming queen! Drum roll please! And now! Your 2014 Railside High School Homecoming queen is…… Skyler Speilmen!” yelled Mr. Hart. The crowd went absolutely wild.

I had never been so embarrassed in my entire life. I had wanted that crown forever! I worked so hard to try to win that! I looked over at Spencer, she was already staring at me. I shifted over to her on stage and grasped her hand. She looked up with me with guilt in her eyes. Mr. Hart dismissed us and we ran off together. We reached the bottom of the stage stairs and pulled my best friend into a hug.

“I’m so sorry for everything Spence. I can not believe the way I acted towards you this week. I completely screwed up and I lost my best friend over the stupidest thing that does not affect me at all. Can I please have my friend back?” I was holding back little tears from regret.

“Yes please! We needed each other this week and we spent this whole time fighting. It was stupid. I am sorry too. We should have been encouraging each other and instead we both wanted it for ourselves way too bad.” she was about to cry too. This was senior Homecoming and we spent the whole time that best friends were supposed to share together separate and miserable.

So I did not end up losing my best friend. Thank the lord! I went off to Colorado State the next fall and my best friend was my roommate. I do not know what I would have done without her.

METACOGNITIVE:))

From start to finish, the And Then There Were None writing assignment was a pretty hard one! I changed my paper around so much with different points of view from first person to third person limited, and many grammar and spelling fixes as well as organization fixes and construction of my complex sentences.  My first draft of the And Then There Were None essay had so many notes in pen on it, you would have thought I wrote the whole thing in bright pink pen! The biggest thing that made my paper the best it could be was the pear edit we did in class. My partner, we'll call her Noel, is a very strong and intellectual writer so I tried to take her comments into very careful consideration and tried my best to make the right changes to my paper. I did very well on this writing assignment but of course like every other writer, no matter how experienced had things they can do to get even better. I'm sure even some of the most famous writers today such as James Patterson (Maximum Ride) and John Green (The Fault In Our Stars) are constantly making revisions to their writing and turning it into another national bestseller. I have very many things I can work on such as using more of a complex vocabulary and making less spelling mistakes as well as  having more imagery and making my readers really feel the mood and understand the theme of my literary work. I will continue to work very hard to make my work the best it can be. My goal this year is  to have less then three spelling mistakes as well as be descriptive enough in my work that a reader can locate the theme, mood, point of view, setting and be able to completely understand the plot.

The Fault in Our Stars

         The Fault in our Stars

My choice book for summer reading was The Fault in our Stars written by John Green. The theme of this book is- there can be infinities within a numbered days, especially with love. The background of the book is that there are two teenagers- Hazel and Augustus, who have both have cancer. Hazel and Augustus originally met at a support group for kids that have been diagnosed with cancer.

This is the theme of the book because having a terminal case of cancer means that their sickness will end in death so they will not be together forever. Knowing this, they decided to try to fit an entire eternity of love in a numbered days. This shows the theme because they want to give each other their own little infinity. I know this because they don’t just sit around and think about how the other one could drop dead at any moment. They know what they want to do and the want to do it together.

Make a Wish Foundation is a organisation that asks kids with serious diseases if they had one wish to do anything in their lifetime, what would It be and then they would make it happen. After Hazel spent her wish on her childhood dream of going to Disney World, Augustus was the only one who was eligible to get a wish. Augustus used his one wish to take Hazel to Amsterdam to meet her favorite author of all time- Peter Van Houten. They also get a five star dinner right next to a beautiful canal. This is another example of the theme. This ties to the theme because the world doesn’t know very many seventeen year old guys that would give up their one wish to do anything in the world that they wanted to for someone else. The gesture shows how much Gus loves Hazel and that he would give her anything and everything she wanted and give her a little forever in a numbered days.

Another great example is when Augustus and Hazel went to visit the Anne Frank house there were very many steep steep stairs. Augustus carried Hazel’s oxygen tank all the way up and down the stairs and they shared their first real kiss. The crowd clapped at the heartwarming seen of kids that were so in love. This is a good example of the theme because it shows that all Gus wants to do is be with Hazel forever. Even though forever will not come for them.

A couple weeks after Hazel and Augustus returned from Amsterdam and Augustus had informed Hazel that his body was completely made up of cancer cells and that he knew he was going to die, Augustus decided he wanted to attend his own funeral. At his request, Hazel and Augustus’ best friend- Isaac all met up at the church and the two of them wrote eulogies about Gus. During her eulogy Hazel says, “I will not tell you our love story, because- like all real love stories- it will die with us, as it should. I’d hoped he would be eulogizing me, because there’s no one I’d rather have. I can’t talk about our love story, so I will talk about math. I am not a mathematician, but I know this: There are infinite numbers between 0 and 1. There .1 and .12 and .112 and an infinite collection of others. Of course, there is a bigger infinite set of numbers between 0 and 2, or between 0 and a million. Some infinities are bigger than other infinities. A writer we used to like taught us that. There are days, many of them, when I resent the size of my unbounded set. I want more numbers than I’m likely to get, and god, I want more numbers for Augustus Waters than he got. But, Gus, my love, I cannot tell you how thankful I am for our little infinity. I wouldn’t trade it for the world. You gave me a forever within the numbered days, and I’m grateful” (Green 259-260). Hazel and Augustus definitely knew by now that they were not going to be together forever- but they fit so much love and compassion into a numbered days- they made their own little infinity. For that, they were both eternally grateful. They proved that infinities can be within numbered days- putting emphasis on love.

The theme of “The Fault in Our Stars” is there can be infinities within numbered days. Gus and Hazel can show the world its possible to have a lifetime of love in just three months! Their infinity wasn’t textbook definition but for them, the amount of love felt like forever and their feelings and memories will last another whole textbook definition of infinity.