A) The flowers are back, new pedals start to rack 

B) Baseball, lacrosse, outside sports start to spring 

A)the kids are starting to run track

B) The dining hall bell starts to ring loudly

A) The flowers are back, new pedals start to form

B) Baseball, lacrosse, outside sports start to spring 

A)the kids are starting to run track

B) The dining hall bell starts to ring loudly

C)  Can’t wait to get outside and play spike ball

D)Everything is coming to an end now

C)Everyone starts to become tall

D)can’t wait to not plough through homework now 

Ugh this teacher 

I ate the food  (a)

It is so great  (b)

He is so crude(a) 

Two more, I’ll wait (b)

He just won’t stop (a)

I am so done(b)

I am about to drop(a)

This is ain’t  no fun (b

Money isn’t everything 

By Harrison Bertos, Ryan Lewis, Mccliff Metellus

.

In the Book, Walden, by Thoreau, he challenges us to think about how we can save and spend our money. Thoreau Sought out a much more simple life than many of the people during his lifetime. He only had what he needed everyday and saved a lot of his money. Over time life and prices have gotten more complicated and later in the Money And Work chapter he talks about the little things like the cost of produce in Concord. Thoreau also talks about how time in comparison to money.

“I learned from my two years' experience that it would cost incredibly little trouble to obtain one's necessary food, even in this latitude; that a man may use as simple a diet as the animals, and yet retain health and strength” 

Henry David Thoreau is a brilliant, wise, amazing human being. Thoreau's pleasure in considering where to live is not in the actual type of material good, but in the contemplation of what a life could be like there. He seeks a place that is separate from society,  Thoreau believes that money isn’t everything, he spends barely any money in his works. Many people believe  that Thoreau is crazy , but I think differently. I can relate to him on many levels because people in life only need a few things to actually have a successful life.

Over Thoreau’s life time, he realizes more and more how to make the most out of his money

The Fenn Turf 

By Harrison Bertos

“No one cares how much you know, until they know how  you care”

-Anonymous 

      I dont ask a wounded person how he feels, I become the wounded person . The turf at Fenn is such a small part of my life, but it has changed me drastically as a person.  The long, mesmerizing, beautiful pitch has taught me to emulate the four core values respect, empathy, courage, and honesty. The lessons, the fun, the memories I will carry with me throughout my whole life. In the cold, rainy, field in the after noon we sat. Our Fenn soccer team dejected stood in the middle of the field in our loss to Fay.  I sat there as the captain, pondering what my teammates could’ve done better. I never thought about what I could’ve done better, I was mad because my team had lost the game and not me. I stomped off the field with anger in my eyes. I started to head to the locker room until  a man in a beautiful red jacket approached me. He changed my life with just a couple of words. “Hey (tapping on my shoulder) come here”. Listen to me. You have the strength to be one of the greatest soccer players, but you won’t be successful unless you are a team player. Have some empathy, and you will go places.”Some of the things he said I just let go through, but later in my room, I thought about his words.  They really meant something, this man had actually changed my life. This man not only changed my life. But, brought me to a state where I wanted my teammates to succeed more than me. This season I took his words into play, we ended up having a great season of only losing two games.  Always look ahead and see what you can do better, and  how to be a better person. A man who I’d never met before had changed my life with just a couple of words.

These type of moments are what have occurred at the turf throughout  my Fenn career. This is why the Fenn turf is so special to me. 

Take time to appreciate life 

By Harrison Bertos 

“How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.”

-Thoreau 

I walk around the grass in my blue, creaky, old house , rope in my hand, hauling my beautiful, wet, disgusting my dog Morgan . It was a nice  Sunday breeze, the smell of the new fertilizer my father has just put in soothes me. My day usually consists of videos games, watching sports or a documentary on the tv and maybe a soccer practice or twos week. As I lay down I feel brilliant, I haven’t felt like this in so long, I took this time in the grass, to relflect on how special life is and how I’ve been off track. I though about how lucky I am am to have food on my plate, and to have enough money to be on a soccer team. I truly don’t know our society has come too. I realize that people including me,  have been focused on other needs and not focused on appreciating on what life brings us. Devices control our lives, it takes us into a different universe we can’t control. People like me need to go outside more and take a minute of a phone and realize that nature is so special. Sometimes take a minute and go outside and experience lifes nature and what god has gifted us.  This might be a long quote but this repsensts what I’m talking about  “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practise resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms...” 

John Fitz

Essay Writing

Mr. Fitz Class

3/30/2014

Life's simple necessities 

By Harrison Bertos 

”Rather than Love, than money, than fame, give me truth”

-Henry David Thoreau 

     Thinking is limitless. In class recently we have been reading ”Economy”by Henry David Thoreau. More specifically, the first chapter, Walden in this Thoreau is arguing what are the necessities of life is, he outlines the differences between wants and needs. Thoreau adds emphasis and support to his writing outlining the basic needs in life. He believes that the basic need in life is clothes and food. I agree with Thoreau, but I also feel that you need a bit more needs in life. I feel like Thoreau is taking a different view on this. Thoreau makes us wonder, what we are worth? Do we have a distinct purpose in life? 

     Thoreau’s first chapter Walden focuses on the basic necessities of humans lives.  Thoreau believes that people in life only will need clothes and food and shelter he goes onto  say “Every generation laughs at the old fashions, but follows religiously the new.” What this means is to be yourself, don’t follow others.  He concludes his rants on clothing by lamenting the system in his time. Thoreau moves to talk about shelter, Thoreau goes into shelter and ponders the question: How fancy is a shelter, how much of your life are you going to exchange to get that shelter? He goes onto say 

“Before we can adorn our houses with beautiful objects the walls must be stripped, and our lives must be stripped, and beautiful housekeeping and beautiful living be laid for a foundation: now, a taste for the beautiful is most cultivated out of doors, where there is no house and no housekeeper.”  

     This quote that Thoreau stated really represents what Thoreau emulates throughout his whole life. Thoreau believes by saying that all of our houses must be stripped of our fancy stuff to really enjoy life. I was stunned by this comment at first, but then that’s when I realized that thinking is limitless. Thoreau is a beautiful, amazing, thoughtful writer that is able to influence the whole world with one sentence. 

     This has to be honest, one of the most interesting novels I’ve read since almost sixth grade.  I’ve been able to think about different scenarios that have occurred in my life while reading Thoreau. Thoreau has put me through a jungle of emotions that  I’ve truly enjoyed, one thing that I had related to during this time when I was younger. All I wanted was a special t-shirt. This  T-shirt  was pretty expensive, my parents ended up getting me it. But after they bought it I felt bad . I though my parents now and by me buying expensive things make them have to work harder on a daily basis. I agree with Thoreau’s thinking of life necessities, but I feel we need more than just clothes and shelter in life. Two other things in life that are basic necessities is family and friends. Friends and family are extremely essential to one’s life because no matter the cause family and friends  will always be there for you. Family is your life, the people who have helped you throughout fight through the hard times and encourage us to always do better. Especially right now since I’m moving schools they’ve helped release a lot of the pressure by believing  and putting a lot of trust in me. Lastly, one other need I feel like in life I need right now is school. Even though you can live without an education it is very important to have one. If you don’t have an education when you’re older it is very hard to make a living as you won’t be able to get a single job. 

      Thoreau has gave me the gift of  thinking is limitless, that there  is always another way, so never stop trying.  I’ll leave you with one quote after all “This world is but a canvas to our imagination.”.

By Harrison Bertos 

SPRING 

The flowers are here 

No evidence of snow anywhere here 

Spring is here 

The heat is  back  

 The baseballs, shot put and javelins are excited to be thrown 

Just don’t throw the old  snow! 

The bats swung around 

The bases are loaded now 

the hopes of a home run is there

 Oh whaaat? Spring is here?

Does that mean it’s t shirt time 

Get ready for the sun 

Spring is not my favorite season as I’ve never really liked it. The sports are just not my thing during this season , this was tough as I couldn’t really relate. But I was able to get these done after a while of working. I was able to think of times where I was watching these sports on tv and thought of different instances. 

Summer 

No school 

Time to run, to have fun 

to swim in the sun 

Summer Soccer tournaments 

No more homework, only soccer games and fun 

Winning trophies flood the grass  

I can’t tell the difference 

Lobster or my brothers back 

My mom had forgot the sunscreen 

The bonfires the fun 

I cannot stop jumping up and down

Summer starts right now 

When I was wrting these peoms I decided that I was going to express myself about experiences I’ve had. In my first haiku I wrote about Soccer because it’s  favorite sport so I wrtote about the summer tournaments I used to play in. Other ones like the bonfire one, I always have a bin fire at the start of the summer. These poems were easy for me to write because I was able to relate to them. 

Winter 

So long as there is

somewhere to dry my wet clothes 

I enjoy the snow 

The days continue on 

but the snow won’t stop coming down 

nowhere to put it

To many sleds to count

 I sip Beautiful Hot chocolate and think of 

The snow days that approach me 

winters over now

a rake leans on the tree bark

let the fun begin

 Fall 

Trick or treat 

Lollipops, buttercups, and skittles . 

The dentist will not be happy tomorrow morning 

Pass, shoot, goal 

On thier kness opposing players

 fall like leaves   

Leaves sit in the gutter 

Waiting to be taken out 

To make a large pile of leaves 

The leaves are falling 

The air is growing cooler 

Brown and gold surround 

At first during writing these fall poems I was stuck as I was trying to make them perfect and not actually me wrting them. I looked up differnt fancy words thinking that it would perfect my writing when it actually made it worse, I deleted it and restarted, after I started clean I made my work nice and felt way better about it. 

 In life there are basic necessities that you need to succeed 

By Harrison Bertos 

“for not till we have secured these are we prepared to entertain the true problems of life with freedom and a prospect of success.” 

-Henry David Thoreau 

       Life is  a rollercoaster. Life brings you through ups and downs multiple times where you will have to fight through it. In life there are things that you need, the basic necessities in life you will need to have. 

     In Walden Henry David Thoreau believes that in life the basic needs are Food, Shelter, Clothing, and Fuel Thoreau states “for not till we have secured these are we prepared to entertain the true problems of life with freedom and a prospect of success.” What Thoreau seas here I totally agree with, but in life I feel like there are a few more necessities I would need in my life right now. Currently for me in life at the point I’m at I am definitely in need of my family. Especially right now since I’m moving schools they’ve helped release a lot of the pressure by believing  and putting a lot of trust in me. One other need I feel like in life I need right now is school. Even though you can live without an education it is very important to have one. If you don’t have an education when you’re older it is very hard to make a living as you won’t be able to get a single job. Henry David Thoreau was a very wize man, he implied many ideas and created a pathway for many to follow. In a week he’s inspired me and I’ve learned so many new things. 

Try your best always 

Or never try 

The days that are rainy 

You’re  outside 

The days that are tough

 your still working 

Always try your best 

Or never try

Giving it all 

The Goal In life

When I saw this assignment I didn’t think of it as much, I would leave it for right now and finish it in the morning. But after a few minutes I was rushing and trying to think of an idea, after that I realized that poetry is more then just a few sentences it really has to mean something and relate to your life as a person. I have always believed that if you never give up you can be anything you want to be 

Who is this kid in the mirror 

Wearing a Barcelona jersey that says “Messi” 

Screaming every chance he gets 

sweat drips down his face 

mouths wide as can be 

strikes the soccer ball 

The ball drifts into the goal 

The kid doesn’t look at the crowd but stops 

He stares and  runs at his teammates

In awe of what they have done. 

This kid stands while all thinks it’s done

he takes the extra steps

 And that’s why he’s so special. 

This poem took a while to write, I never knew it would be so complicated to write about myself. This poem took about thirty minutes to an hour outside of school and in class, this took awhile because I kept on procrastinating and thinking nothing was correct. I wanted the perfect poem, that’s when I realized that I’m not perfect and no one is. This taught me to let my emotions out and  talk about truly anything I wanted to. I learned from this is that in poetry to never  think about what your wrting about just do it let out your feelings and you can open a whole new world. 

Ughhhh were back 

The poetry 

The books 

The wrting 

The formulas 

The questions 

The workload is to hard 

Ur head is tried and ready 

But one day you will thank them 

The struggle 

those mean, nasty, terrible teachers

but don’t give up because  it will all pay off 

One day 

Just wait 

During this poem I thought about this last term and to really not give up. I know that I’ve already been accepted to schools but I would like to make a good impression during the end of my Fenn career and the start of my Brooks career. This is what all the teachers  saying to us and I think it’s a great idea for this term for me.