Master Chief vs. Professor Jimbo

Sometimes its hard to say "no". We've all heard of people who couldn't decline the drugs offered to them. Many people have dozens of credit cards because they don't know when enough is enough, and choose to say, "yes, I think I do need another one". When Mom asks, "will you clean your room today?", its never something you want to do, but always something agreed to. When you are all alone with that certain someone, "no" is the last thing on your mind.

While I've never experienced any of these things, the latter somewhat regrettably, it is clear to me that there are some forces in this world that are extremely difficult to blatantly turn away. Different people are susceptible to their own individual banes, and not one person on this earth is exempt. That's just how life works.

My folly today was nothing of a serious matter. I'm still reading positive numbers in my bank account, proud owner of one credit card. No "happy hour" with my "Mojo", or raging hormones opposite some girly friend. And yet I am rather unnerved and glum about how the day has passed. Here I sit at 10:19 PM, exactly 12 hours after waking up, wondering how on earth those hours passed without exerting one bit of effort to do anything worthwhile. You see, I was in my appartment all day today alone, and decided to take my vacation time seriously. It was no more than 10 minutes after I woke up this morning that I was on my couch, X Box controller in hand, saving the galaxy from the ill threat of the alien forces of the Covenant and Flood. At exactly 6:30, I put the controller down after successfuly destroying Halo to watch the credits roll.

Granted, I didn't play straight through that entire time. I played Ultimate for about 2 hours in the middle there, and...no wait...other than that, it was pretty much straight though.

So there I was, content with beating Halo, ready to do get on with the day and do what I had planned to do today: Physics homework. I was ready to get to work and get a jump start on my homework, but in the back of my mind, my mind was curious as to what happened next in the story I had just concluded. The Monitor said there were more Halos! Did the Covenant ever discover where Earth was? How is mankind going to defeat the Covenant?!

Halo 2 seemed to be calling my name from its resting place in the front room. It wanted me to play it, and I definitely wanted to oblige.

But here I had my choice: stay on top of my homework and give the gaming a rest, or screw Professor Jimbo, my Physics teacher, and continue the mindless, unsociable mess that had consumed so much of my day already.

Alas, I couldn't say no.

Of course, I could have said no. But that's besided the point. I didn't say no. So, after filling my belly, I resumed my position on the couch and let my Physics untouched.

Even now, several hours later, I'm only sitting here writing about not doing my Physics, rather than actually doing my Physics.

Obviously saying "no" to Physics isn't one of those things that I struggle with.

In all honesty, I had fun today. Ultimate was good times; I got to hang out with some really cool people. I made plans to hang out with Annie and Emily tomorrow, and I got to relax and veg out the rest of the day. Good times.

Yes, I am disappointed that all that time went to pot, but I can make up for it tomorrow. I'm at a ridiculously hard part of Halo 2, so saying "no" ought to be a little easier tomorrow :D

So, tomorrow I have some fun plans, but I've also got a lot to do because it didn't get done today. I have a lesson on Sunday that I have to plan, and a whole chapter of Physics to do. I'll try and get my lesson done in the morning before I do anything else, then I'll have some fun, and then I'll get my Physics done before it gets too late. Then, hopefully I can enjoy tomorrow evening as well. I'll have to really motivate myself to stick with the plan so I don't end up trying to get it all done tomorrow night. Yeah, that would be ugly.

So, I guess the moral of the story is don't fornicate, pop some Mojo, or sell your soul to Capital One and chances are you'll end up alright.

Oh yeah, and follow all those other commandments too. Them'r some good'ns.

On My Own

Tomorrow is my one-month anniversary of living on my own. I can't believe that. Its crazy to think that I haven't had my mom around to make me one meal, do my laundry, or do all the shopping. It was a rough transition, but I really feel like I've started to settle into the college life. Even though the title of this post suggests loneliness, I'm feeling pretty good. I miss my parents, but I call them occasionally and have nice chats with them; I don't feel homesick at all.

I think Molly is right though. If I weren't here with my best friends, things would be a lot harder. I'm really starting to feel very grateful that I'm here with my friends. I'm not going to take things like that for granted anymore. I hope I've been as much of a help to everyone here as they have been for me.

I hope that if anybody ever needs anything that they won't hesitate to ask. We are here together, we might as well help each other out.

Anyway, that's the end of my soap box.

One thing I need to get better at here at college is managing my time. For instance: I have an entire chapter of Physics to do before 1 AM tonight. Its 10:05 right now, and I haven't started. What was I doing for the last 2 hours? Watching Heroes. What was I doing before that? Playing Halo. Yeah, I definitely need to work on managing my time. I wanna go to bed right now, because I'm super tired. Not gonna happen :D

That being said, I should probably get to work.

"We're all in this together. Once we know that we are, we're all stars." HSM FTW

Virtue

She strives to live the words of God,
the truths that have been taught her
Ever holding to the rod;
She is the Father's daughter.

Her sacred beauty she holds dear,
as a gardener loves her rose
The virtue that she keeps within
flourishes and grows.

Every day I yearn to see
her beauty and her grace,
The smiling eyes and upturned lips
that sit upon her face,

To hear her voice, rich and sweet,
as soft and warm as air,
And hold her gently in my arms,
pure love forever shared.

The day she kneels across the altar,
our souls entwined forever
Will only come if I prepare
and worthily endeavor.

Above all rubies and wealth of worlds
is the virtue priced
Of the woman in my dreams
who strives to follow Christ.

Tribute

So many memories.

The last 6 years have flown by. I really can't believe its been that long since I sat down at a desk for the very first time in 7th grade at Eisenhower Jr. High. I sat there in Mr. Beagley's room, eyes open for any potential crushes, my brand now forest-green zip-up folder resting in front of my scrawny body. Courtney, if you read this, kudos to you. I apologize for my immaturity several times over.

The weekly sleepovers with my best friends, the Gardner twins and Chris Thatcher, always included a weekly report of who we thought was cute or otherwise repulsive. Occasionally we also debated who Levi ought to like, how much we liked or disliked Ms. Alsop, Mr. Lyman, Mr. Brough, Morris, Earl, or Wong. I don't even know how many times we acted out the scene of Mr. Earl in lederhosen saying, "GT Puzzle".

The hours we have spent playing Super Smash Brothers, Battle Tanx, Mario Tennis, Mario Party, Fusion Frenzy, and Halo have been astronomical. Honestly, the four of us could be pro ballers by now if those hours had been spent on the court rather than in one of our basements, our eyes wide and our hands firmly gripping a controller.

But that's not what I'd want. The good times we've had on those games will be something I will remember for a long time, and I wouldn't even trade that for Brewer's shoes, and Brewer's my homie. No sir, I wouldn't trade the Eternal Order of the Dead Sock Society for anything.

Lunchtime. Oh, the joys of lunch in the EJH cafeteria. We had our table reserved all three years; that was home to us. The chocolate milk bubbles, the tomatoes on the crotch, the ladies flocking to us...err...to Thatcher...the data matches, opened anxiously as we sat in our designated spots.

I always finished my lunch last, and was left alone for a good 5 minutes while my posse fortified the corner by C Hall. You'd think they would have waited for me, but no... Shoot, and what about our excursions to the drinking fountain in the corner of the cafeteria? That was an every-day event for us!

Band class. How can I even begin to recall the good times spent in that room in that remote hallway of the school? The first memory I have of Cadet Band is playing the Stars and Stripes Forever, the same arrangement the 4 of us played the year before in elementary band with Ms. Ryburg. We dominated that song hardcore; that was the shock and awe of the century, that was.

Before Jazz Band every day, waiting for Smith to get there was awesome! Turning all the combination dials in the hall to '0' was ever so much fun. I owned the alto sax during Jazz Band, with Thatcher behind me on his bone, sitting beside the Child Molester, and the twins and Nickmo off to the left with their clarinets on the Tenor 2 part. Beseme Mucho, Abracadabra!, Pennsylvania 65000, that crazy Spy Medley Song, Tequila, Smooth, Shaft, Channel One Suite, My One True Friend, La Bamba. Those songs were the ultimate. We were the ultimate.

Spirit week. The best week of each year, hands down. Oh man, the things I wore. It was awesome. Bathrobe with the waist tie around my head, my sick nasty nerd get-up (head-gear included), the Vietnam get-up (which, by the way, gave me the name CombatKyle), the decked out EJH colors (complete with Dracula cape), cowboy a freaking awesome Ninja Turtle, and many more. I even came to school dressed as Marge Simpson once, with everything from the tall blue hair to the long green dress. And yes, lets not forget the time Thatcher and I were a cow. Freaking awesome. We did a runway walk on the cafeteria stage and won a Smores Bar for our awesome-ness. I took Spirit King 2 years in a row, and feel pretty good about taking it Freshman year, had they had a spirit king. I even complained openly about the stupid coconut that was cut open at the Spirit Assembly one year. I won't ever forget dethroning the Freshmen our 8th grade year either. We got a day at Hollywood Connection for our amazing spirit.

Spanish class. I was bilingual by the time the summer of 9th grade came around. BYU Spanish fair was ridiculous, Thatcher and I dominated the impromptu conversations. We were unstoppable. Even when Horton trapped me in a box or threatened to make me eat my way out of the dung I'd stepped in I was unstoppable. And lets not forget, "I am I, Don Quixote!" or the annual "Dia de los Muertos" video. Wow, we were good enough to even make Caminos Peligrosos. "You've got Francisco!" Dang straight Levi. I remember walking every step of the way on La Gran Aventura de Alejandro. What a stud he was.

Academic Team. Sure, I scored more negative points than I did positive, but how could I ever forget the practices after school with the best kids ever? I loved learning those things, even if I didn't use them to dominate like my boys in the games. Peck, Mann, and Chambers were awesome. I can still taste Peck's cookies and pop. My circumcised square still smarts too :S I still listen to Thatcher's Nerd Jump and Nerd Win CDs, they rock. "I just torched a building downtown, and I'm afraid I'll do it again!" "...dinner with friends..."

Running. I was the skinniest runner ever. But man, did I run. I'd say not too shabby if you ask me actually. Chris dominated me in the long run (ha!), but I'm still proud of my 5.42 mile time. How many skinny 9th graders do you know who did that? Look at me and my bad skinny self. My skinny bad self that just loved to pee a hundred times before a race and puke a dozen afterwards. Bladder the size of a walnut, as I recall Thatcher saying several times.

Good times with Earl, thats for sure. Yessir, Coach Earl and his calfs. We even worked out with him in the weight room during CC. What a stud.

I do recall the time Thatcher's backpack was stolen from the park down by Lion's Club Fitness Center. Sucks to his ass-mar.

Seminary. Best seminary class ever. Good old Brother Whitmer. I read the Book of Mormon for the first time ever that year. I also learned all 25 Styx Mastery through the awesome power of music. Those songs rocked my world. I'm sure Whitmer would be proud that I still Remember Euticus too. :P

Oh man, Chris, your girlfriend is smart.

That girlfriend of yours was an adventure in and of itself too :D

Man, EJH was good to us. Thats the moral of story. And look at us now, 3 years later. It really has gone by in a blur. We've grown so much (in more than one way), and I've only gotten closer to my friends. My friends are freaking awesome. New and old friends alike; the group I hang with is certainly the cream of the crop.

So thanks everyone. Thanks for an awesome 6 years. And for Chris, James, and Levi, Katie, Molly, and M. We: lets rock next year hardcore. Utah State, hey, Aggies all the way!

This has been a walk down memory lane by yours truly, CombatKyle.

11 Months

It has now been exactly 11 months since last I posted. Why did I ever stop, I wonder. Time, habit, nothing to say. It all played a part. But here I am now a month until the one year anniversary of my interweb silence.

I've been talking to my sister for the last 38 minutes about something that has been bothering me. It is something that I really haven't ever experienced before, and I feel like a complete moron because of it. I even felt stupid talking to her about it, and the answers she gave me don't give me much hope.

I'm a happy person. I love life. School is a blast, water polo provides me with so much happiness (it has given me everything from raging pecks, to friends from all over the valley, to something to do with my time after school every day, to the fiercest competition of my life every week) and I have the best friends and family I could ever ask for.

And yet, despite my awesome life right now, I still feel like a moron. And really, I should feel like a moron, because lately I've acted the part.

Man, I don't even know what to say. I'm just glad to be on here venting once again. I don't want anybody to worry about me, because I really am happy. I'm awesome actually.

Just acknowledge the fact that I'm a moron and let me relish in my moronish-ness. I'll figure something out that'll help me tip the Scale of Moronity back towards neutral.

It'll take time and a lot of discomfort. But I guess if thats all it takes from me I'll be able to consider myself a lucky guy. Very lucky indeed.

Flight Plan

PLC was great. I learned a ton of stuff about leadership and the gospel, and my testimony grew through the roof. I feel much better about myself after coming home from it that I did before for several reasons. The boost of spiritual strength I got from it is the biggest reason. I came home with a lot of things to help me out. One of the biggest things I learned--or rather, relearned--is the importance of making and meeting goals. This is probably the the biggest way that we can progress as individuals, even if we don't always realize it.

So, at PLC, we were all challenged to make a Flight Plan--a detailed outline of what you want to achieve in the near future. It consists of goals that can be completed in a timely manner; goals that can be met, but are a challenge to do so. These goals are meant to make you a better person as you strive to meet it, and once you do, new goals can be set to further yourself even more.

So, with no further ado, I will now lay down my Flight Plan for you. I do this so that you might be encouraged to make your own objectives that you can strive for personally. It is something that each of us should do, and maybe I can give you some ideas for your own Flight Plan.

1) Graduate High School with a 4.0 GPA and 4.0 CPA
2) Reread the April General Conference talks this summer and do my best to follow what the Prophet and Apostles said.
3) Read the Book of Mormon again by New Year's.
4) Make it to every Cross Country and Swim practice this summer that I can make it to. Give 100% effort to make it worthwhile.
5) Live up to the Purposes of the Aaronic Priesthood and keep myself worthy to hold it.

The Purposes of the Aaronic Priesthood are:

• Become converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ and live its teachings.

• Serve faithfully in priesthood callings and fulfill the responsibilities of priesthood offices.

• Give meaningful service.

• Prepare and live worthily to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood and temple ordinances.

• Prepare to serve an honorable full-time mission.

• Obtain as much education as possible.

• Prepare to become a worthy husband and father.

• Give proper respect to women, girls, and children.

6) Go to the Temple at least once a month for the rest of my life.

These are the things that I am striving for at this time. These are some of the most important things in my life right now, and I am going to do my best to meet them. Some of them are going to be a real challenge, but I know that by doing my best to meet them, great things will happen. I hope that those of you who see this will follow suit and make your own personal goals. Make them "realistic, yet challenging" (in the words of Thatcher) so that you can grow.

I guess that is all I really have to say right now. I challenge all of you to do what I've talked about; it will make a difference in your life.

Summertime Blues

We all know how tiring this last month of school has been. With AP classes coming to an end, we crammed to prepare ourselves for the ever-feared tests. For a month solid I worked harder than I ever worked in my life. I really didn't even work that hard looking back on it, but at the time I thought I was going to die of work overload.

Now that the tests are over, school is basically coming to a close. I played Frisbee in English class yesterday, and I watched a documentary that tried to convince me we never landed on the moon in Physics today. Life has calmed down from the torrential hurricane it was before to a nice cool breeze.

Along with a big stress release, this breeze has blown something our way. It has brought in the prospects of the future. What will summer bring us? What will next year bring us?

As I began to think of such things, a realization hit me like I was a rabbit on the freeway. This summer is going to be harder than the last month of school has been for me. As Thatcher mentioned, I have a new interest in running Cross Country this summer with the team. Whether or not I run on the team next year is to be determined, but I am going to run with them as often as possible this summer. I am going to hang out with the team, run with them, and get ripped legs with them. When I went running with Chris and James last night, I realized just how much more in shape I am than when I ran at Eisenhower. We ran at a pretty good jog, and we went for about 3 and a half miles; back in the day, I would have died. When we stopped, my heart wasn't beating that fast, I wasn't gasping for air, and I didn't hurt at all. I felt pumped.

So, while I'm excited to run this summer and be crazy ownage, I remember the other two teams that I am going to be practicing with. The swim team is going to be practicing for 2 hours every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at about 9 o'clock in the morning. That means that I will be running every morning at 7, and going straight to the pool upon return to the school, getting in, and swimming for two hours. I'm determined to be a much stronger swimmer this year, and I'm going to give it my all at practice instead of the lousy half-way covenant of the previous year.

This means that before lunch time every day, I will have already had a four hour workout. that is really depressing. I know its going to be incredibly good for me, and I'm gonna get ripped doing it, but its going to be dang tough. Especially when I will be having water polo practice with a team I'm joining several times a week in addition to all this.

I'm really excited to exercise so much, because, lets face it, I'm really skinny. I'm gonna get ripped, and its going to be great. I am also going to get very rich this summer. See, in addition to these three team practices every day, I will have work for about 6 hours every day Monday through Thursday, meaning I will be in the water about 10 hours a day. I don't know about you, but I'd classify that as amphibious. That is a LOT of treading water. I guess it pays well, which is a good thing. For teaching for 6 hours, I'll be getting about 64 dollars a day. Very nice.

So, between Cross Country, Swim, Water Polo, 6 hours of lessons a day (plus whenever I'm scheduled for lifeguarding) and, of course, the weekly Frisbee Friday session, this summer is going to be DEATH, plain and simple. If I don't die of exhaustion, I'll prune to death in the water. I'd advise you to take some before and after pictures, because you'll be amazed at the changes...if all goes according to plan. I'm gonna be a few thousand dollars richer, a few more pounds heavier, have recognizable pectorals, calfs, abs, and biceps, and chlorine-bleached hair. I'm gonna be a new sort of guy.

Overall, this summer will be good to me, but I can easily see it being the hardest time of my life so far. However, the endless hours of movies that we are going to watch are going to be good times, and I am very excited for them. Let us not forget the list we have compiled, which I still have, and may we go through with our plans of watching each one of them.

Here we go, death comes for me, but I'll only be made stronger for it. Come and get me summer.

Procrastination

Procrastination

In the hustle and bustle of everyday life, the world can be a tiresome place to live in. With so many quotas and deadlines to meet, the world is constantly caught up in one huge rush order. We all know people who are obsessive compulsive about every little detail. They are the people who keep every piece of paper that comes under their possession in a marked file. They mark every due date in their planners, and get to work on it the moment they get home from school, no matter how long they may have to get it done. You may say that it is an admirable quality to be prepared, but upon closer examination, anybody can see that a person consumed by such a characteristic is simply robotic.

Why rush life? It’s a question I ask myself frequently. I look around and I see so many lost souls, confined to their programmed routines, never stopping to enjoy their surroundings. They have a deadline to meet, and their primal instincts tell them their project must be complete before its actually due. In the words of Ryan Shupe, these are the kind of people who miss things every day, simply because they are driving in the fast lane. They don’t get to smell the flowers or enjoy the ride; their destination is far more important to them than the process of getting there.

I am the kind of person who likes to smell the flowers along the road. In fact, I’d say that I’m the person most people see picking the flowers as they wiz by going a mile a minute. Everyone makes the word “procrastination” out to be an abomination, but in my opinion, it smells rather nice. While everyone else has the wind in their face and a huge assignment in the back of their minds, I find myself care-free and relaxed, strolling along on my merry way.

Of course, when the due date comes and everyone else has finished the work, I am still smelling the flowers on the wayside. Those finished with their work scoff at me and tell me there is no hope for one such as I. They tell me my procrastination has gotten me nowhere, that I can’t possibly accomplish my aims. If they could see clearly, they would realize that their workaholic mind-set has gotten them even further behind than me in the race of life, and they wouldn’t be chastising me. It is at times like this that I leave my flowers and pick up my pencil and gather my thoughts. I begin a steady sprint to the finish. I weave into my work every conscious particle of my refreshed mind, and I finish the race.

Panting at the finish line, I read back over my work and find something far more profound than any automated response my hasty counterparts pulled together. In their rush to finish early they forgot the most important element of work: play. Procrastination is not putting of work until the last possible second; rather, it is making work a walk, a game, and a sprint in the park. In my defense, I never put off work. I simply start my work with something that will get my mind off of it.

It is plain to see that procrastination is the real key to success. Forget automation. Infuse work with play, and with a little bit of a kick at the end of the race, you’ll finish stronger than any robot could ever manage. Take the time to smell the flowers. “Time flies too fast, I got to make it last. So enjoy it; relax, chill out, just give it a try. I say simplify.” Ryan Shupe has definitely got the right idea.

The Orange AP Test

Here's a little first-draft English assignment that I just wrote. It was due a month ago, but thats besides the point. What really matters is that I did it, and I'm going to turn it in tomorrow.

The Orange AP Test

Taking an AP class is a lot like peeling an Orange. When you sign up for your classes at the beginning of the year, you want to choose the juiciest, most plump classes you can find. It is your design to get the most for your money, so you choose carefully. When choosing, you must remember that you can only handle so many AP classes, just like you can only eat so many oranges before you tongue feels raw. Once you sign up for the classes, and the year begins, you begin to peel away the undesirable exterior, little bit at a time, trying to get to the good stuff on the inside. In any AP class you take, there is always a peel of worthless crap that you have to work your way through before you can get to the juicy, nutritious knowledge. You are always being fed the “how to pass the test” part of the orange—that’s the worthless part—and you never really get to the good “this is how and why this works this way”. Nobody is to blame for this, but that’s the way it is. The guy at the store who sells you the orange knows that you are gonna have to peel your way through the orange, just like the teacher knows that you have to learn how to take that single test at the end of the year.

So, the entire year we struggle with the peel. We can smell a hint of the really juicy part of the class all the time, but it is always out of our reach, because we can never really get the peel off completely. By year’s end, when it is time to take the AP test, the peel has been removed, but now you are left with an orange that went bad a year ago! It stopped smell good a long time ago, but you spent $83 bucks on it, and endless hours trying to peel it. You aren’t about to throw it out the window. So what do you do? You take the test, and you eat the orange. Its just terrible. The material that you learned all year long has gone bad, and the tasty juices are all but gone. You find yourself eating a dried up, worthless piece of biotic stuff that isn’t benefiting you in any way, shape, or form.

But you can’t stop eating it. You are in the middle of a test. The counselors are standing there, forcing you to eat the nasty orange. All you want to do is throw the orange at them, but that would benefit you even less, as you would lose all “privileges” to eat it as you are sent to the hall, your 83 dollar orange behind closed doors.

So instead, you muscle your way through the test. You plug your nose and force it down. You do everything you can do finish the orange in the remaining time, and make the best of your crappy situation. You do the best you can, despite wanting to hurl, and then, in the blink of an eye, the orange is gone. You’ve eaten the entire rotten orange.

You don’t know how you did, because the entire process became a blur to you. You feel a sense of anxiety as you realize that you won’t see the results for another few months. Your digestive system and the AP readers are so slow that you will have forgotten eating the orange when you finally see the results. The results are there, staring you in the face, and man alive does it stink.

The First Week of High School

The First Week of High School

As I am now nearing my senior year of high school, I look back and remember my first days of attendance at Taylorsville High School. My first week as a sophomore met me with several challenges and instilled in me a variety of emotions new to me. Looking back on that week, I think of several items that, would have saved me a lot of trouble had I known them at the time. I found these secrets myself through the course of natural events. I believe that, if applied, they will make the first week—and following high school experience—of any sophomore who applies them much easier and more fun. It is my hope that the secrets I am about to share will be for the benefit of the new students of the high school I love so much. May the sophomores who read this take it seriously, and may their first week of school be all the better for it.

My first word of advice is confidence. It can be easy for new students at any high school to feel intimidated or overpowered. However, those feelings will pass with time as you grow more accustomed to the high school life. Every other student at the school has gone through the exact same experience, and they all came out alive. Confidence is the primary factor for your success at school in every aspect of it.

The next thing all you sophomores need to remember is that high school—besides being bigger and busier—is a much different place that what you are accustomed to. With more diverse classes, many new people from other junior highs, and dozens of teams, clubs, and cliques, it can be even more intimidating. Just remember to be confident; open yourself to these new ideas. Introduce yourself, and get to know the people in your classes. You will be with them for the rest of your high school experience, and the longer you wait to introduce yourself to them, the harder it will be. If you enter your classes with an open mind and make a good first impression, you will find yourself making many new friends very quickly.

To add to this friend-making business, I am going to let you in on another little secret that I have discovered: the opposite sex does not have cooties, contrary to popular belief. Keep your eye out for that cute girl, or that studly guy, and then introduce yourself. High school is meant to be a fun time of your life. Eventually you will realize that the more friends you have of the opposite gender, the more fun it is. However, a word of advice: try not to get into a steady relationship. A good friendship with multiple people of the opposite gender is much more fun than a really tight relationship with one of them. Remember that you are only in high school once, and that you will have plenty of time later to have relationships. For now, take it easy, and have fun. Make wonderful memories that will last a lifetime, not a phony relationship that will last to graduation.

Another good way to have fun in high school and have awesome experiences is to involve yourself with the school. If you want to join a club or a team, join it. Remember that confidence is key; don’t back down from something that you want to do just because you are afraid to try it. Personally, I haven’t gone straight home after school since elementary school. I have involved myself with many teams, including Cross Country, Track, the Academic Team, Swim, and even Water Polo. When I joined the Swim team as a sophomore, I didn’t really even know how to swim. I joined Water Polo later that year not even knowing what it was or how it was played. If I had never gotten involved with my school, the only memory I would have of high school is going home and playing endless hours of video games. Yet here I am two years later, and I can look back on my high school experience and recall so many wonderful times that I’ve had on these teams. I have met many wonderful friends and gained many new skills; where I couldn’t swim before, I can now swim all four competitive strokes. Where I didn’t know what Water Polo was before, I can now tread water with ease, play the sport relatively well, and have a great time while doing it. I can say that I am proud to be a Warrior, because I have fought, lost, won, and become a better person by being Warrior. One of the best words of advice I can give is to take pride in your school and join the clubs and sports that will make you happy. It has made all the difference in my experience.

To sum it all up, start the year out how you want it to end. If you want good grades, start working for those grades immediately. If you want to have a lot of friends, start meeting people right off the bat, and it will happen. If you want to be a student body officer, a star athlete, the President of a club, part of the school musical, or even just a good student, then the best time to start is the first week of school when your slate is clean. Get on top of your work, investigate what the school has to offer you, and give the school what you have to offer it. Remember that your year will end the way that you want it to end, but you have to start now; confidence is the key.

I do not think that I have much more advice to give that can help you with your first week (and year) of high school. The only other pointers I can think of are to bring a chair to mass class change day (because the line is horrendously long) and to not be afraid to try the cafeteria food, because it is actually pretty darn good. Other than that, remember what I’ve said, and you should be ready to rock and roll. High school is what you make it; nothing more, nothing less.

Stem Cells: The Other White Meat

K, so this is my first post in ages. I just got on Google News because I was afraid that I don't know enough current events for the AP tests coming up, and I read an article about a proposed bill that would eliminate the restrictions to do stem cell research that Bush put up in 2001. The new Democratic Congress thinks they will be able to pass this bill with the majority that they have now. Well, the reason I am writing this post, is to state my opinion on the matter. Take it for what it is; my own, unbiased opinion. Argue it with me if you want, smile and nod, or just go on with your merry lives. Just don't criticize the way I think.

Reading this article, I got two impressions:

First, I thought about how great curing certain ailments and medical conditions would be. I mean, doing this research could ultimately cure my good friend Thatcher of his "diabetus". Yes, we couldn't make fun of him anymore for it; no more poking fun at his regular shots, asking the question, "does that sting?" just to irk him. No more snide comments about the 5 dozen bunches of bananas that he eats every day. No more peanut-butter blood. Shame for us, less hassle and longer, more comfortable life for Chris. Boo/Hooray. Mostly hooray :D

People worldwide could be cured of terrible things that they have to deal with every day. They would no longer have to accept that there is no cure for their ailments. They could live with hope of someday being cured, and living normal (medically speaking) lives.

But second, I thought about what the cost of this would be. One stem cell could save the lives of who knows how many people who are constantly living in a state of agony or crapped out blood sugar. The only problem comes when you look at what a stem cell really is. Are stem cells alive? Is there some form of life in that cell? Is using that stem cell, and killing it, murder?

That is where the debate comes in. Some people say that the cell is nothing but a bit of bio-matter, which could potentially grow into something some day. I think its murder. I believe that there is life in that cell, and that the mere fact that that cell will be a baby human some day, makes the use of that cell murder. Even though it would be for a good cause--to potentially save another's life--it would only be killing another living person to do so.

My view of abortion is the same. Its a baby. Let it live. Killing it is the same crime as dropping a baby of a balcony, as Michael Jackson is wont to do. Its murder, plain and simple. How can killing a baby be justified? I can only think of maybe three rare cases in which is would be. In the case of rape, if the fetus didn't have any chance of living anyway, or if having the baby would kill the mother, then abortion can be considered (maybe not even in the last one though...one life for another).

I guess this point of view is somewhat Republican, if I'm not mistaken. Even if its not, thats my opinion, and I'm sticking with it. I hope that Congress won't be able to pass the Bill, because doing so would only be the murder of who knows how many people. Yay for Bush and his stand for morality :D