The Ninth Grade Experience

“The difference between something good and something great is attention to detail.”
Charles Swindoll

It was a warm and crisp morning in Concord Massachusetts. I was headed toward the Fenn school, with its large, white, and beautiful buildings shining in the light from the warm and blinding sun up above. I noticed Ward Hall, painted white with black shingles that attached to an overhang with windows above. These windows had whites trim and some were chipped on the outside revealing the natural color of the old oak wood used to build the amazing structure. I continued my stroll past the hall and made my way into the brand new campus center. It wasn’t quit completed and it was easy to tell that the strong, tired, and hot builders didn’t want to be working on such a beautiful day. This building was white as well. It had a brand new wooden deck which i noticed immediately because of the yellowish color in the wood. I then looked up and was blinded by the sun for a moment, but then I saw the large circular window with green trim that looked as if it was a steering on the Pequod. The light was shining I entered the building and immediately noticed how bright it was, without any lights on and only using the natural light provided by the sun from above. I noticed the new candle figured engraved in the floor, and while I was inspecting my dear friend Conor stumbled into me. 

Conor who was making his way to SIA meting upstairs. I made my way up and noticed Ms. Mott preaching to twelve other boys about helping others, which is what SIA is all about. I entered the newly finished room and took a seat in the blue metal chain that was rocking back and forth annoying anyone who may sit in it. Ms. Mott continued her lecture about helping others when Harry jumped out of his chair knocking it side ways and slamming his bony knee onto the table. He then screamed, Bee! Bee! and flew out of the room as if he was just stung. Ms. Mott then realized how nervous we were about the bee and quickly dismissed, but not after telling us that we would meet next Friday. 

This five inch story sums up what my ninth grade experience has been like to this date. It has been helpful and important for myself and others too. Our teachers have put the proper building blocks in place for us to be successful in high school just like we have out them in place for others in SIA. It has also been filled with laughter and fun like when Harrison left the room screaming and running like there is no tomorrow. This moment was a small one, but there have been many moments filled with laughter and fun for me. My ninth grade year has been enjoyable and fun and I wouldn’t want any other way. 

How Change Effects Us

"I try all things, I achieve what I can"

-Herman Melville, Moby Dick

        If you don't try new things, you will never change. In the past, meeting new people or trying new things has not always been something I am open to. I am not always excited or willing to do it because I do not want to embarrass myself or be judged in a certain way. Trying new things and branching out and meeting new people has helped shaped me into who I am today. Sixth grade my first year at Fenn and I was one of twelve new kids in a grade of sixty. I knew nothing about Fenn and I didn't know any body at the school, so I was going to have to reach out to new people and make new friends. The first few days at Fenn weren't easy. I wasn't reaching out to others and I was just keeping to myself. All I wanted to do was go back to my old friends at Fenn. When I eventually reached out to others I started to become more comfortable at Fenn. I started to make more friends and enjoy my time at Fenn. I just wished that I had reached out to others early because I now knew I had nothing to loose. Meeting new people and trying new things helped me change and become better as an individual. 

“Happiness is a place between too much and too little.”

-Finish Proberb

Being happy is something that everybody wants. Everyone try’s to be happy and it seems to be their life goal. Everything we do, even if we don’t like it, is designed to help us be happy in the future. We go to school so we can become smarter and later get a job. People go to work to make money so they can pay for things that make them happy, like food, cars, and other toys. People play sports because it makes them happy and they enjoy doing it. Ignorance, doesn’t mean you can’t be happy. It may eventually lead there, but all it is just being less knowledgeable and lacking awareness. I know many people who are ignorant but love what they do and are happy. I have seen and witnessed many people who are ignorant but very happy. Last week, before my hockey game there were about three kids with no shoes and no socks on, and were just wearing a t-shirt and shorts. They were sliding around on the ice freezing cold, but were having so much fun and looked so happy. They didn’t care that they might get in troubled or catch a cold they were having fun and were happy. Everyone wants to be happy and don’t care weather they are wise or not. Happiness can come from wisdom but it doesn’t always. Wisdom can be very helpful when your at school or at work but it can also irritate and aggravate others making yourself and others less happy. Happiness is something that everyone strives for and is what everyone wants. 

Imaginations Make Simple Moments Remarkable

"Jim and I, fur-capped and moccasined trappers from Hudson Bay, off Mumbles Road, would hurl our deadly snowballs at the green of their eyes."
A Child's Christmas in Wales -Dylan Thomas

    The snow was coming down hard and all of a sudden the cats started to appear from around the corner. They were big and evil looking cats who didn't want to be messed with. That didn't matter to Dylan and Jim though. They were fur capped hunters, stealthily crouching through the garden with their eyes on the cats. When the angle was right they hurled their snowballs directly at the cat's glowing green eyes. It missed and the stealthy hunters came up empty this time, as the cats scurried away into the bushes.

Traditions Never Get Old

“As beautiful as simplicity is, it can become a tradition that stands in the way of exploration.”

- Laura Nyro

Knowing your grandparents is a gift. Each year my family makes the three hour trip to our grandparents house in Connecticut. All of our relatives make the trek as well. It’s a tradition each year that we gather at my Cousins on Christmas Eve and that we gather for dinner at my grandparents on Christmas Day. My favorite tradition, however is when my cousin walks around with his camera filming Christmas at my Grandparents to send to my great grandma in Florida. Each year my cousin Ted will walk around with his large Canon commercial film camera. He walks around the crowded house interviewing relatives asking them about their favorite gift, or questions about our cousins and relatives. The best Christmas was last year, everyone was packed into the living room and we all sat together and talked. Nothing spectacular happened but we were all filled with joy. It was Christmas and everyone was together, sharing memories talking past Christmas gifts and stories. Nobody thought about these moments that much, not even Ted who left his camera in the other room and for the first time all day didn’t have it in his eyesight. It is moments like these that define Christmas for me. Moments with family and friends gathered together just having a wonderful time. It seems as if nobody cares about these moments because there a tradition and happen year after year, but we all should because not everyone has a chance to gather as a family and relax. The moments are what make this tradition matter, and it is why I love them. Everyone knows traditions matter, but not everyone realizes how much they do. 

Wasting Time Doesn’t Always Feel Like It

By Andrew Heinze 

“The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use wmy time.” 

Jack London

Wasting time can be boring but it can also be enjoyable. When waisting tome, some people might read a book, others may play video games, and some might like to play out side and be active. I like to play outside and be active, I enjoy playing street hockey in my driveway or basketball at my friends house. Each day I often find myself with extra time to waste and a few days ago I had a lot of it. I thought about calling a friend, but when I stepped outside all I wanted to do was keep to myself and play street hockey, play around with my neighbor’s dog, or go down to lake and fish. I decided to go fishing, so I made the long walk down to the lake and looked out across the calm and peaceful water. I casted my line disturbing the still water, and I waited. It felt like hours of just sitting and enjoying the scenery when my line jolted forward and became taught. I quickly got to my feet and reeled hard. I saw the green and brown bass jump of of the water and I reeled harder. He was a few feet from the dock and I reached out and grabbed the line and hoisted the bass to shore. It was my first fish of the day and I knew that if I was patient there would be more to follow. When most people go fishing they typically give up after little success and move on to something else. I, however, enjoy the peacefulness and the beautiful water. I love feeling the tug of the rope and landing a fish. I don’t get bored because I know that I have nothing better to do, after all I am just waisting time. 

A Day Dedicated To Giving Thanks

“Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.”

-Melody Beattie

Thanksgiving is a holiday when we give thanks for everything not just the little things. It’s on thanksgiving that we gather around and share what we are thankful for. Many of share that we are thankful for the little and less important things but it’s important to be thankful for the larger things. Whether I am with my brother and parents or if I’m with all of my cousins and relatives we give thanks. We give thanks each and everyday, but thanksgiving is a time when we appreciate everything a little bit more. This showed even more last year than it has before. All of us were at my mom’s cousins house and we were all enjoying each other’s company and we were having a wonderful time. We had a wonderful filing dinner and right after my grandparents had to leave though because they were visiting other relatives. At first we didn’t realize how much they had an effect on us. But a few minutes after they walked out the door, we all missed them and wished they could’ve stayed and this made us realized how much we enjoyed them, loved them, and how thankful we are to have them. It made us realize how much we enjoyed their company and how thankful we were to have them. It didn’t matter to any of us that they might have yelled at us, our parents didn’t care about all the times they didn’t get along, all that mattered was how much we loved their presence and how we missed them even though we would end up seeing them the next day. We don’t realize how thankful we are for others and it’s important to recognize and thank them. 

Hard Times Form Your Character

“You're going to go through tough times - that's life. But I say, 'Nothing happens to you, it happens for you.' See the positive in negative events.”

- Joel Osteen

Tough times define what kind of person you are. In the sixth grade I was faced with hardship, but I know that I came out of the situation better than I did before. I had just received news from my dad that he would no longer be working at my old school, Pike. For me this meant that I would be leaving to and starting new at Fenn. It also meant that I would have to leave my friends behind. I first learned that he would leaving in the spring, about two months before the end of the school year. My parents sat my brother and I down at the dinner table and told us the news. I didn’t know what this meant for me, I thought I would be able to stay at Pike with all my friends, but this wasn’t the case. I was going to be leaving, and this meant I needed to tell all my friends. My best friend was who I told first. We were walking down the hallway when I asked him if he could talk for a second. He seemed surprised because I typically don’t ask him to talk in private but he went along with it. We made our way to the back of the library and we sat down. I told that I would be leaving, I told I wanted to stay but I had no choice, and I told him that this meant that we wouldn’t be seeing each other as much as before. I told a few others in private, but word got out that I would be leaving and it was soon public information. Going through these times were tough and I didn’t want to leave my best friends behind. When I first realized that I may never see some of these people again, it made me realize how much I loved them and how much they mattered to me. Leaving my friends behind was tough but it also meant new friends and a new start. 

More Than a House

  “Blessed are they who see beautiful things in humble places where other people see nothing”

-Camille Pissarro

On the Shores of Sebec lake in the woods of Maine lies a house. My families house that comes with endless opportunities and consist of thousands of memories. When we are up there, their is no technology, no distractions, just the lake, the boat, the woods, and the endless possibilities that come along with them. Water skiing, wake-boarding, and mountain biking are just a few examples of the endless possibilities presented to me up there. Water skiing is one of my favorite activities, cutting back in forth through the water and being able to skim across the water is why I love it. I was able to water ski when I was eight and I first tried to one ski when I was ten. I floated in the cool water with my skis falling back and forth, with the rope in between my legs, and with my life jacket rubbing against my neck. The roar of the motor and the jolt of the rope made me focus back onto my task at hand. The boat roared and quickly moved forward ripping me up and out of the water. I was up, but I wasn’t on one ski yet. I slipped my foot out of the boot leaving the ski behind, I swayed back and forth almost falling before I got my foot in the back boot. I had done it, I had dropped a ski and I was cutting through the water, in and out of the wake. My house isn’t just another house, it’s location and remoteness provide opportunities and freedom for my family and me.

 Buck was able to persevere and become a leader

 In a flash Buck knew it. The time had come. It was to the death.

(Chapter 3, The Call of the Wild, Jack London)

Buck was on top of Spitz in less than a second, ripping, tearing, and crunching his legs and stomach with his teeth. Spitz ripped himself away and circled Buck. Buck ran at him leaping should first, he missed and within a split second Spitz was on top of him ripping and tearing at his shoulders and legs. Buck pushed him back and made another run at Spitz, this time connecting with his should and knocking back and finishing him off once and for all. In the novella, Call of the Wild by Jack London, Buck fought for his respect and was able to persevere and become an amazing leader. Reading this book wasn’t easy, but it was worth it.