Childhood Frightenment

My main fear as a child was certainly one of insecurity. It was pretty much a fear of robbers, murderers, or my step-mom coming through my window. It was pretty traumatizing to me, to the point where I refused to sleep with my window open or my blinds up. I suppose it was pretty childish of me to think that my step-mother would come all the way from my father's house in Indiana to my mother's in Kentucky in the middle of the night, but the way she treated me lead me to believe she hated me, and I believed she would have the will to come through my window and even kill me.

I also remember my sister always wanting to sleep in the same room as me (for the exact same reason I would find out later in my childhood). I was cool with that though because I was scared too.

As I am writing this I'm thinking that most children would have much different fears like monsters and ghosts and things, but I suppose my exposure to violent movies and my awful step-mom would have something to do with that. Needless to say, I was very frightened of these intruders coming through my open window for about four or five years, and I guess I thought that not being able to see them would keep them from getting in, haha.

(This sort of sounds like an add-on to my divorce blog doesn't it?)

Dakota

Academic Team

As some of you may know, I am a participant on the Apollo Academic Team. I participate in science written assessment, Future Problem Solving (FPS), and Quick Recall. But I'm not going to talk about myself in this blog; rather, I'm going to try to promote said academic team.

We have many different areas of study and participation at academic team. The individual ones - arts and humanities, language arts, social studies, science, math, and composition - equal plenty of strokes for different folks. The team ones - FPS and quick recall - are very fun as well. FPS allows for teammates to work together to come up with a six step solution to a stated problem, and quick recall allows for teams to directly compete against each other by buzzing in and answering read questions.

Even at practices we have have a fun time, and they're pretty laid back. We have some laughs, but we can also be serious when necessary (game time). We go many different places throughout the year, including a few out of state competitions and various trips to other schools for Pennyrile tournaments.

Call us nerds, but we're a pretty freakin' cool bunch. If you are even remotely interested in just knowing more about the team, tell me or Ms. Mann or Mr. Paff. Tell other people too - we are in definite need of JV players!

Dakota

Mark Wood Concert

Three words - oh my freaking gosh. Last night's concert with Mark Wood was probably the most fun I've ever had on a stage. I mean there aren't words to describe how I felt as I was burning up the bow hairs and incinerating the strings on my violin as Mark Wood played mind-numbing riffs on his 7-stringed Viper violin. But I'll get to that in a second.

I woke up yesterday morning feeling a little better than usual seeing as I didn't have class. I went to school and waited in the orchestra room for our bus as instructed by our substitute teacher. The bus was late (shocker), but I didn't mind - less time I would have to play with this egotistical jerkwad. I was already tired of playing the songs, not to mention practicing them for 5 hours straight.

As I was unpacking my instrument in the auditorium, I got my first glimpse of him. Long, classic-rocker looking hair, a regular T-shirt, and skinny jeans (aka. chick pants). Wow this is gonna be a long one I thought to myself. As soon as I ascended the stairs to the stage to begin rehearsal, however, my whole outlook began to change.

First off, the guy wasn't a jerk, quite the opposite - he was polite but very energetic. A bit of an egotist, but what do you expect from a nationally renowned musician?

Then the magic began. He began to teach in a way that was very encouraging and didn't single anyone out (except the concertmaster and the first chair cellist). He simply played and had fun and made sure that we did the same. He incorporated a lot of choreography and little intricacies into the otherwise boring and routine playing of the songs. The practice blew by, and before I knew it, it was time to board the bus back to Apollo to catch our rides home.

At quarter till six, Nathaniel Ray and I arrived back at Daviess County to warm up for the concert. We warmed up, had about fifteen minutes off stage, then came back on-stage to a crowded house. After a quick introduction by Mrs. Higdon, Mark Wood jaunted from the wings to the center of the stage. He said his little speech, and the concert began.

From the very first note I knew it was going to be fun, but I had no idea just how much fun. The crowd roared every time we did a little jig or Mark Wood went into a crazy solo. Then he surprised me again.

Toward the end of the concert, before our very last song, he began a riff to Iron Man and proceeded to solo for a good twenty minutes on countless numbers of songs, and I nearly melted. It was sheer brilliance. I had to give it up for him. The guy was good, and he put his all into that solo. He was really exhausted afterwards.

We played our final song and at the end, we all bent down playing one note really fast and jumped into the air and threw the crowd into a frenzy. We all bowed and Mark Wood left the stage. However, the crowd encored Mark back on stage, and together, we took one more thankful bow, and that was the end of the most amazing playing performance of my life.

Then after the concert, I was lucky enough to get my violin signed by the man! The perfect way to top off the night. I can honestly say I will probably never forget this experience, once in a lifetime for sure.

Dakota

Friends

I have to say friends are about the most wonderful thing man has going for him. Putting this into perspective, can you imagine going through infancy without guardians, school without buddies, through a career without partners, through just life in general without Jesus Christ (or a higher power)? I'd say that that would be pretty dang hard.

For these very reasons I am thankful for the amigos I have come to know and love. My friends are pretty much the greatest ever. Anytime, anywhere, for anything, they’re there for me. Stereotypical though it may sound, they are one of the driving factors that mold my life and lifestyle. I sincerely believe that had I not met all of the people I’m honored to call my friends, I would be a totally different person personality-wise and possibly in a much different situation than the one I am in now, a negative person in a more negative situation.

I didn’t write much; I didn’t feel it was necessary. Those who are my friends, you know who you are – you know how much you mean to me.

So this one’s for you guys! Shout out to all my homies, y’all are the greatest! Hope I never lose ya!

Dakota

Divorce Victim...or Beneficiary?

As can probably be inferred by the title of this post, I am the child of parents who are divorced (as of 1997). At a glance, this would seem an instant negative. But I've been thinking about it recently. There really are both pros and cons to having parents that are separated (granted many of the positives are selfish). Here are some examples of these pros and cons.

Pros

Having divorced parents allows for me to experience two very different walks of life. At my dad's house, I live in a higher-middle-class-income neighborhood where there are alot of personable people. Dad can provide for alot more furnishings and luxuries for me and my sister than my mom can, which allows me to have some fun. At my mom's I live way out in the boonies in a double wide where there are little or no people and consequently no one to talk to. My mom and step-dad make substantially less money than my dad so they must be more frugal but they try to allow me and my sisters to do as many school activities as possible (money is hard to come by at my mom's house). Some may think this is a negative but it helps me to be humble and thankful for what I have as there are surely people that have it much worse off than me.

Separated parents allows for double the family and double the presents come Christmas time! :P

Cons

I have to travel back and forth from my parents' houses virtually every Friday and Sunday. I live with my mom during the week and with my dad on the weekends when school is in session, and with my dad during the week and my mom on the weekends when summer rolls around (as of the past two years, however, I've been working during the summer so I haven't been able to see my dad much at all).

My parents divorcing has opened the door for them both to find new life (and I use that word lightly) partners. My mom found my step-dad who I have no problem with except that he tends to drink a bit too much for my liking (I don't like alcohol to begin with though, so maybe I am biased). My dad, however, found my step-mom. Since I was five years old, this woman has wreaked havoc on my life. She abused me physically behind and "in front" of my father's back when I was younger, always treated me worse than my sister and her daughters, and basically made my life at my dad's house a living Hell. She has moved out and things have gotten way better in my opinion, though I don't know how my dad takes it. My dad has told me that she plans on moving back in. If she does, I plan on no longer coming to my dad's house.

Now that I finish typing this, I notice that this whole post sort of seems like a babble, and I didn't mean to do that. So I'll just end it here.

Dakota

Rain

For the past week, there has been no let up of the tears of the heavens. Off and on, everyday, God has sent downpour after downpour cascading to the ground. Even as I type this, it is raining cats and dogs.

In general, rain usually has a gloomy and overall negative connotation.

In spite of this, I love rain. To me, it seems to have a very soothing, very relaxing feel to it. I sometimes enjoy going outside barefoot, shirtless, with only shorts on, just standing still letting the drops cleanse my body, mind, and soul. It just feels so good to get away from everything, to just feel the rain beat a steady crescendo on my body.

I would love to live in a place where rain falls almost daily, possibly a place like Seattle. I've heard that depression rates are higher there (shoutout to Adam Hamilton), but rain makes me feel so good. I think I would almost rather have a torrential rainstorm than a perfectly warm, sunny day.

Did I mention that I LOVE RAIN?

Dakota

Money

Money seems to be the driving force behind every action, motive, or desire. To me, money is a very inconveniencing and rather moronic invention. What is the point in money if we could more easily just trade things we own? There would be no need for currency transactions, virtually no inflation, and just a lot less hassle for people in general.

However, as things currently are, money is very important. It determines whether people live a life of poverty or luxury (obviously), whether people live healthily or not, whether people can afford things that make life easier, etc.

“How much is enough?” is an interesting question. I don’t think there is a set amount of money one needs to obtain to have “enough;” enough to sustain the lifestyle one wishes to have I suppose. It is simply in the eyes of the beholder.

The lack of money seems to make things very hard in life. Strike that – the lack of money does make things very hard in life. It makes for affording things like healthcare, shelter, and transportation difficult, and quite frankly, without financial support, most things both necessary and not in life are made not acquirable. In essence, most would like to say that money can’t buy one happiness. This may be true, but money can buy one things that make one happy, among other things. I believe it indirectly makes the world go round.

Dakota

Pledge of Allegiance

We all know how it goes... "I pledge allegiance, to the flag, of the United blah blah blah..." I found myself saying this pledge yesterday and began to think. "What am I doing?" thought self. I don't even listen to the words I am saying when I pledge them. It's a simple droan for about ten seconds that really means absolutely nothing. Well, at least when I say it.

To me it kind of seems like praying. If you're heart isn't into it, what's the point?

So I've had an epiphany. Either say the pledge like I mean it or stay seated and be silent, because otherwise I am wasting the oxygen of other people who do mean it. Today on ENL when the prompter instructed everyone to "Please stand, attention, salute, pledge,” I stood up until the pledge was over but said nothing, then sat back down.

Is this unpatriotic? Maybe so, but it definitely isn’t patriotic to not be sincere in patriotism.

Dakota

Work - Yes or No?

I've been trying off . on to get a job since I quit my job at Holiday World in June.

My parents insist that I get a job while I am still in high school, and I want to get a job. But I don't want to have my job proficiency come to a war with my school proficiency. If I work, with all the rigorous IB (and AP U.S. History) classes I'm taking this year, I'm bound to have my grades slip at least a little, and I know that I need to be thinking about college before professions.

But I need the money. My dad bought me my car, but he said I needed to pay $1000 out of the $5000 it cost him because I would "take better care of it" if I had a share in the payment. My mom and step-dad are paying for my insurance right now, but once I get my license, it will skyrocket another $650, and they have told me that I must pay for this. So basically, I have to get a job before I get my license but I need my license to get to said job.

In addition, getting a job right now is virtually impossible with the way the economy is standing (or slacking, for lack of a better term).

Might anyone be able to offer some input on the little predicament I've got going for me? I'd appreciate it greatly. Thanks.

Dakota

U.S. History

U.S. History has got to be one of the most derailed, unpredictable classes I have ever had the.....contentment.....of having. The teacher, Mark Fuller, is by far the greatest lecturer, but his lectures are the most bizarre, random things. He throws subtle, subjective jokes into every sentence he says, and it is quite nearly impossible to know what to make note of because he is always so frivolous and joking.

Granted, I love the man, he's pretty much beast. But his grading also seems to be different for all of his classes and he always awards 100 points for all asignments, regardless of how long or how difficult they were.

I guess what I am saying is, the man is great, maybe not the best teacher. I don't care though; he spices up an otherwise dreadful class. Hats off to you sir!

Dakota