School Letter

Dear Admissions Committee,

Being ready for change, being honest to yourself, and having drive. These to me are hugely important qualities in any person’s life. I know that I reflect every single one of these values, it may be in a different  way than you, but I do reflect all of them. If you are not ready for change, then change will knock you over like a Peterbilt Truck crashing head on with a Mini Cooper.

Power of Community

How the Fenn community shaped me

Helen Keller once said; “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”I came into the Fenn community pretty much alone. I was the only 8th grader coming into a brand new community, and only knew two kids already here. I quickly learned about the power of the community of Fenn, whether it’s a collaborative group project on the Serengeti in Science class or playing recess football with your cohort after 2 hours of sitting in the same classroom.

 The impact of the Fenn community on me was powerful. So powerful that even after 2 months with all of my classmates, they all felt like brothers to me already. They made me laugh like brothers do, and they pissed me off at times just like brothers do. 

When I came to Fenn, I realized that I was just like everybody else. I was stuck in cohorts like everybody else. 

I was wearing a stupid mask just like everybody else 

I was socially distanced from everybody else just like everybody else, …and that is when I realized that I was not alone. I was not alone because I had the Fenn community. 

Last year the Fenn community prepared me for the challenges of ninth grade, now that I am in ninth grade, I have to embrace all of the challenges, whether it is getting a 70 on a global studies test, remembering what play we are running when I come out of the huddle, or even having no dessert one day for lunch. 

   The Fenn community is not just a community, it's a community of communities.

    Now in the grand scheme of things, the 70 on a global studies quiz, not having a dessert at lunch for one day, and forgetting a play in a middle school football game won’t really matter. 

What does matter is my impact on the Fenn community. Being a senior, I have a great part in shaping the community for the next group of seniors, and then the next group, and the group after that.And I want to be remembered as someone who really helped the Fenn community. Because the Fenn community was always there for me, I want to give back to the fenn community by being there for everyone.

So let’s reflect on not just the power of community, but the power of the great community we are all blessed to be a part of: the Fenn Community. 

Appreciating the Little Things in a Hard Life    

Blessed are they who see beautiful things in humble places where other people see nothing.
-Camille Pissarro 

Inspiring. That is the best word I have to describe The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. The book is a joy to read but also miserable and strenuous.  I enjoyed reading about the life of a kid so opposite of me. Alexie put me in the shoes of a poor kid on an Indian reservation. I found myself engaged in the main character. Arnold grew up poor, with a drunk as a father, and faced a TON of adversity, but what inspired me most was his ability to always look on the bright side of things, and always be thankful for what he has, no matter how big or small, in the same way it made me appreciate the little things in life. 

Dear Mateo,

Man life has been a dream recently, occasionally it gets a little boring, but I couldn’t really ask for anything better during the school year. Classes are going great, I completed my SSAT and lacrosse is going amazing. I haven’t seen you since you moved to Minnesota at the beginning of this year, how is everything going? I saw the pictures of your house that you sent me, they look dope! That’s actually so sick that you have a lake in your backyard, man I would go swimming in it with my boys so much bro. How is football going for you? I saw that you posted on IG and you are playing middle linebacker, looks dope. Glad I’m not on the other side of the ball when you’re on defense! Also, I’m reading this book in English class that is sick.

The book is called The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Basically it’s set in an Indian Reservation in Spokane Washington. The main character is Junior, he is a freshman in high school. His sister ran away to find love, his dad is drunk most of the time, and his mom is very caring. His family is super poor. He transferred schools away from one of the more poor schools in the rez, to one of the more financially stable schools that is mostly white. He is getting a ton of backlash, from his people in the rez for going to a different school. The author is actually not too descriptive in vocabulary but still gets his point across with words. When reading the book you can like really tell how Junior is feeling every day. Some of the main themes of the book are love, respect and facing adversity. Oh, I forgot to mention that Junior has like a crap ton of deformities and disabilities. So the main theme of the book is just how he overcomes all of his social challenges and faces a ton of adversity.

This book is so far really fun to read. To be honest, it makes it a lot easier and more fun for me to read because Junior has an interest in basketball. Although, our English teacher is making us write down lots of notes, and the themes of chapters, which is kind of making the experience less enjoyable. It’s still a great book, and lots of fun to read, but it would definitely be much more fun for me to read it without having to take notes and write themes and find quotes.

One major theme of the book is overcoming adversity. Because Junior has a lot of deformities and differences, he has to overcome a TON of adversity, also with the fact that he moved away from the rez to go to school makes it twice as bad. This quote is when Arnold walks into the gym at the rez to play his hometown team;

“The rez basketball fans were chanting, “Ar-nold sucks! Ar-nold sucks! Ar-nold sucks!”

They were all terrible to him because they view him as a traitor. The following quotes also come from the scene where Junior was playing against his hometown team.

“And as I ran onto the court, somebody in the crowd threw a quarter at me. AND HIT ME IN THE FRICKING FOREHEAD!”

“I jumped into the air, heard the curses of two hundred Spokanes, and then saw only a bright light as Rowdy smashed his elbow into my head and knocked me unconscious.”

These quotes really show how much adversity he faces and has to overcome, it is a really inspirational story about a kid who is a big underdog, who I have a feeling, will eventually end up on top.

Anyway Mateo, I hope everything has been going amazing for you in Minnesota. I know everything is going amazing for me right now in Sudbury! Wheeling and dealing baby you know the vibes! Love you bro.

Sincerely,

William Donald OBrien

Big Impact: The Day Everything Changed

You can never see everything in the jungle, by looking from a bird’s eye view. Blood pulsed through my veins and my head throbbed. My palms were soaking wet as we pulled into the parking lot of the doctor’s office. “I think I’m gonna go to sleep soon dad,” I forcefully said. “Try to stay awake, Will,” he replied, sounding fearful. I was fearful as well. I felt like crap these past couple days, I was just thankful to not have to be dealing with this in school. I tried to get out of the car and walk into the doctor's office, but my legs turned to jello instantly, and I steeply fell right to the wet ground. My dad ran over, picked me up and carried me into the doctor's office. We opened the door, and my dad ran to the desk. The nurses' faces looked terrified.  “what is happening?” Then all went black. I felt very at peace roughly 20 seconds before blacking out, the most at peace I felt in the last two days. The doctors diagnosed me with strep throat.

A Trip To Remember

The art of lateral thinking in a team is key, in order to gain a competitive advantage.

~Wayne Chirisa

When my parents told me about the ninth grade trip to Camp Caribou, I didn’t know what to expect. Before this trip I wasn’t too close with anyone in the ninth grade besides a few people. I was friendly with everyone, but not friends with everyone. My goal on this trip was to enjoy myself, make new friends, and get closer with my existing friends. What I didn’t realize about this trip was that my friends would also be my teammates.