A Walk Through My Mind

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A Walk Through My Mind Holly Wright

Huntsville Publishing Huntsville Middle School

May 10, 2012-2013

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Table of Contents Acknowledgements Part 1- Random all the way Day Dreams Getting’ Down with the Dirt Work Hard, Play Hard Life of a Baller Part 2- Writing on Que My New Years Resolutions Ruining Something that was Already Ruined Parents doing the Teaching A Day in Court Part 3- My Rollercoaster Hate is a Strong Word, but What About Love?

Are You in or Out? My One True Skill Drama. Drama. Drama. Oh did I Mention Drama?

Thinking, or Lack of Your Past Shouldn’t Break You 2

Dedication I would like to thank everyone who made it possible to write my anthology. To the students here at Huntsville Middle School who gave me the stories to write. Most Importantly though I would like to thank Mrs. Sullivan, our English teacher. She helped me write this year, and showed me new skills. I wouldn’t have done as good without her help.

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Part 1- Randomness all the way There’s just a part of me that likes to get a little random at times. When I wrote these writing’s, they were based on the first thought that came to my head. I like to write what the teacher tells us to, but sometimes it’s good to write what I want. The only reason these pieces go together are because each of them aren’t alike. They’re just what I felt like writing that day.

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Day Dreams I didn’t know exactly where the train was going. After paying my fare, I simply stood on the platform waiting for it to whisk me away to somewhere, anywhere but here. And that’s when it happened. I ran into Michael Phelps.

The Olympic Swimmer. I’m not sure what my face looked like, but my inside was a million lightning bolts. I’m sure I freaked him out. He probably was looking for a way out. I had always dreamed of meeting him. He was my favorite athlete. He smiled politely and said, “Excuse me, Miss.” After what was like twenty seconds I went and sat down. I think the biggest shock in my life was to see him sitting in the spot right beside me! I am pretty sure my jaw dropped to the floor. I didn’t want him to think I was crazy, so I just sat down. The worst I could do is be annoying to him. After awhile it looked like he had fallen asleep. I got out my book all about him. There were stickers, newspapers, buttons, everything you could imagine about him. As I began thinking about him I looked up to see if her was still asleep. But when I did, I saw both eyes open and him smiling that million dollar smile. He began to talk to me, and I told him I was a huge fan. I think he already knew that though. I told him I had watched all the Olympics he was in, and every show he appeared on. What he did next was the greatest thing ever. He invited me to go to the next one with him! For free! I was so excited I passed out. When I woke up I was in my bed.

Turns out it had all been just a dream.

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Gettin’ Down with the Dirt A time that I had to get down and get dirty was quite the experience. I wasn’t really used to having mud everywhere. And I do mean everywhere. It may have been new, but I really enjoyed it. I had went to an event with my bestfriend called “The Mud Bowl.” It was where church youth groups got together to have some fun. I think the funnest game we did was searching for the eggs in the mud pit. The objective of the game was to find the 10 missing eggs. Only they were buried in mud, so they weren’t easy to find. I think 10 out of 70 people actually tried looking for the eggs.

The others, including me, just tried to have a mud fight. The whole time you had mud getting stuffed down your pants an shirts, and getting it shoved in your hair and mouth.

You got to be wild and free. We got to knock people down and have a slip-and-slide party in it. We just got to have fun and mess around.

Then after awhile of that we decided to start looking for the eggs. After we found all of them it was time to change. As all the girls went to a tent, Bailey and I started throwing our clothes everywhere. Then we realized we both forgot clothes to bring. So we had to run back through the pit and wash our clothes in front of everybody. It was so embarrassing, but funny! Experiencing having this muh mud everywhere was a great time. I’d do it again in a heartbeat, even if it meant taking 6 more showers again.

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Work Hard, Play Hard One time I had to focus more than anything on was basketball. It was when our starters had to go to a different game and it left our second string here to play ours. I was one of the five who had to start. We all had to step up and prove that we could play without them. The team we were supposed to play wasn’t very good at all. In fact, I think they were the worst team in our division. So of course we won.

Winning wasn’t the only good thing to come out of it though. Becoming a team was. We proved to our coach we could handle it that night. We not only showed that we could start the game, but that we could also finish it. I had to focus on defense. I couldn’t let my girl have the ball. If I failed and she did, my next job was to make sure she didn’t do anything with it. I also had to focus on my offense. I knew that I had to put points on the board, so every chance I got I put it in the goal. I had to prove I could not only make them, but I’d take the risk to try and make them.

That night I got better and so id my team.

After that game we got to start most games. I would say that it was a great success. That’s the good thing that came out of focusing.

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Life of a baller Basketball isn’t just something you do when you get bored. It’s your life. You don’t just get to pick when you want to do it. You have to keep it going the whole way through. You work on your game every day. It never changes. You want to try and get better each time you do something.

Right now our team is going through off season. One of the hardest things to do when you’re a player. We are now getting ready to prepare for next season. Getting stronger, working on speed, and working more as a team. We don’t stop just because our game season ended. We have to keep in shape and by working harder every day, we accomplish that goal. Even in the summer time we don’t get but a two week break. Every day til then we are going to summer camps, practicing, and playing games. So out of the two and a half months we have, we get two weeks off. So if you don’t like this situation, you can’t play.

You have to want to do it. That is just the life you have to take. Also, when you’re on a team, you have to be a family. That means putting aside all differences and being a team. Even if you strongly dislike someone, when you’re on the floor you have to love them. If you can’t learn to do that, you’ll never be able to be a player.

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Part two- Writing on Que -When teachers ask me to write on a certain subject, I feel confident. I could write about anything they ask me to. This is where following the rules comes in handy. The writings that I put in this section are all based on a topic Ms. Sullivan asked us to write on. They aren’t all the same, but they have the writing on que part that connects them together.

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My New Years Resolutions My three resolutions for this year are: Be a better Christian, study and try to make better grades, and do at least one good deed a day. By making the mistakes I have, I thought I needed a change for the upcoming year. Becoming a better Christian will make me a better person. It will give me a good path to follow, and one I can rely on. I am going to read my bible everyday so I can increase my knowledge. This will also help me help others if they need it. It will give me the boost of courage I need. I will never fail to live everyday knowing God is the one who led me to doing this.

My grades are sort of okay. I usually make low or high B’s, But i know i can do Better. these past two year I have been lacking to pay attention. I just don’t really care anymore. I used to be really smart. I always had above a ninety five in every class. So hopefully I can get on track and start making the grades I know I can make.

My last resolution of the year is to do at least one good deed a day. I think it will allow me to have more respect for myself if I help a person out. I realized that people do things for me, but I never do anything in return. I thought it was time to change being selfish. Even if it is a small thing, I will still feel better knowing I did something to help.

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Ruining something that was already ruined Question: Could one person change the effect of a decision?

Answer: Yes. Say you had two people who wanted to fight eachother at school one day. Then right before they start fighting they decide to both call it off and be friends again. Well then a person who wanted to video it gets upset. So in return for the people not fighting, he decides to go and talk bad to the two people. Claiming so and so said this about you. Then it causes another big ordeal between those two people. Both people start getting mad and talk about fighting again. So if that one kid never would have gotten upset, the fight wouldn’t have happened. so yes to answer the question, one person can have an effect on the outcome of the situation. Just like how it can in the Jury. For the jury, if someone were to choose guilty, more and more people start choosing it because of that one person. But, if one person chooses to vote not guilty, maybe he can have the effect on all eleven others to make a decision with him. It really all depends on the situation you have. Sometimes one person may not affect it at all. It also depends what kind of people you are dealing with.

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Evidence isn’t always everything Question: Can you let your emotions dictate a point and still make the decision that’s right?

Answer: umm… i think it would take Both the evidence and your gut feeling. you can’t always rely on how you feel when the evidence is quite clear. Then again though, the evidence may be incorrect and your gut feeling is telling you that. It evens out better if you try to incorporate both things in the situation. Things turn out better than just picking one thing and sticking to it. In some cases though, maybe it is better to just pick one of the options. If you can relate to it, how do you know you won’t Be unBiased? like the casey anthony trial. I bet some of the juror members were mothers.

They probably wanted to vote her guilty because they might have felt disgusted that someone could kill their child. Another case would be that you have a gut feeling, but there is evidence clear as day. it’s like in your face kind of proof. so mayBe you’d want to rely on your gut feeling, but all the evidence is there. It depends on the situation you have, and how far your willing to go just to give the person what they deserve and should be held accountable for.

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Parents Do the Teaching If parents are grown enough to have the kid, shouldn’t they Be the responsiBle ones and teach their kid? They should try to do it to the best of their abilities. I mean I know kids mess up a lot and sometimes they don’t care what their parents say, but sometimes if you lead by example it gives them the opportunity to learn. Also, the parents need to have control. they can’t let their kid walk all over them. if they let them do that, they’ll go through their life expecting to do that with everyone. and that’s not okay. Then, they should teach them right and wrong. Not all kids are going to listen, but they should at least know the difference between what they should do and what they shouldn’t do. if they don’t, the kid will never know what the difference id and wont expect it when reality hits them. The last thing a parent should always do is love their kid. If they teach their kid that they’ll love them no matter what, it will not only give the kid an example but make them understand and feel like they always have someone there. Kids make mistakes. It’s part of life. And if the parents get mad at them and throw it back in their face saying it was horrible of them to do that, it just makes the kid angry and they’ll want to do it again.

They should be kind, and act like a friend would do, but teach them how it was wrong.

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A Day in Court “innocent until proven guilty.” this is what our court system has us Believing. it’s not true. my name is holly wright and i’m here to defend my client and prove that he is innocent. There are too many facts on why he cannot be guilty. there’s how the wound was created, the women across the street, and the old man down stairs. the Boy could have made the staB wound But it’s not likely. The angle of it was facing downwards. The boy was at least six inches shorter. If he were to actually stab his father, he would have done it at an upward angle. My client also had good knife skills, so he’d know which way to hold the knife and stab him.

Next is the women across the street who gave her testimony. She claimed that she saw the boy stabbing his father. What makes it interesting though is she contradicted herself. It was in the middle of the night and she said she was trying to sleep. When she heard the noise she looked over and saw the stabbing. But she also claimed she wasn’t wearing the glasses. how could she Be 100% sure that she saw him when she cant see good to begin with.

The last piece of evidence I would like to approach is the old mans testimony. He claimed that he saw the boy running down the stairs in a hurry to get out. The only problem with the statement is he could barely walk. And he used a cane. He had said that he ran to the door to see what all the noise was. How could he have done that if he could barely walk? He claimed it was fifteen seconds, but when the jurors reenacted it they said it was to take him about 45 seconds. Clearly he was lying. Even though some of the facts from the Boy don’t make sense, you can’t ignore the facts that were proven. you can’t convict him if there is a reasonable doubt he’s not guilty. the law says“innocent until proven guilty.’” the judge cannot ignore the fact that both testimonies were incorrect and that the wound is possible, but not likely. I leave here the facts of the case I presented to you in hope that you will find my client innocent. Thank you.

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Part 3- My emotional Rollercoaster These writings consist have my feelings that day. Sometimes I just needed a break to talk about something I was having trouble with. It has situations about dramatic things. I go through these experiences every day, so here’s a taste of what its like to see into my life. It’s usually bottled up, but when opportunity strikes you have to take it.

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Hate is a Strong Word, but What About Love?

Every day you always here couples say “I love you.” and “I love you too babe.” It’s either people talking or people writing it. People just throw it around like it’s nothing. To me, it’s one of the most powerful words you can use. They say hate is a strong word, but then they don’t even bother to glance at love being just as strong. I find it incredibly stupid how people can say they “love” someone on the first day they start dating. I mean I’m not saying its impossible, but how would you know on just the first day? I’m just talking about couples right now. I tell my close friends I love them, but its different. I’d do almost anything in the world for my friends. I think there’s a definition to the word. Just in your own words. For me, it means I’d give my life for them and I’d do anything possible for them too and never giving up on them. Even if I tell people I love them, I make sure I’m not just saying it because. I actually mean it. I get so angry at the people who only say it cause that’s what the other wants to hear. How immature. When we were little that was the time to throw it out there. We didn’t know what it was. I for one probably said it too much then. Whenever I hear someone say those words I turn to them and ask what they think love is. Once they tell me, I ask if the definition applied to the person they said it to. Usually there response is no. So why do they feel the need to tell them a lie? I just don’t understand some of these things.

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Are you in or out?

I don’t see why people have to choose groups. Why cant they all just get along? For me, I am not in a certain group. I hang out with quite a few people. I guess because it makes them look cooler, but I just really don’t understand it. The world would be in a better place if everybody could just be nice to everyone and talk to everyone. I understand you want friends to have the same interests, but just isolating yourself to one group doesn’t get you anywhere. Out in the real world you’ll have to work with all kinds of people. You cannot just have some little circle where you only talk to them. It just doesn’t work. Some people choose to join groups, but that doesn’t mean they’re only staying with them. Like if you join a club. You hang out with them, but you also have your friends who aren’t in it. Other times I see why you would want to choose to be in a group. Like gang members. People go there because they’re either forced, they need to feel apart of something, or its tradition. They think that by just staying with other gang members that it will be all they ever need. But in reality it doesn’t work like that. Gangs will say and do anything to get you to do what they want you to. Young teens don’t realize that. They just wanna be in a certain group cause they think its better. By getting to know and hang out with all kinds of people helps you to understand what some situations are like. That’s why I chose to be friends with everyone. It made school better because I could talk to anyone around me.

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My One True Skill My skill is standing up for people. I never let someone get by with making fun of somebody. No matter who it is, or what is being said. I don’t take any crap from anybody and I absolutely HATE bullying. More than anything. I guess you can say it’s the best thing I am good at it.

Even other people notice that I don’t tolerate stuff. They say I am mean, but that’s only if you make me mad by bullying. That’s when I turn into a pretty hateful person. For me to be good at this I had to learn not to care what others think about you. I had to put there comments aside. I had to not care about them even if it made me get made fun of for sticking up for them. If you do, you’ll always be two faced. And if you get down to their level you will start doing the same thing. Another thing I had to learn was don’t do it to show out. You have to let it come from your heart. You don’t just wanna do it because you want to show out. If you do it, it means you’re thinking about it. I do it on natural instinct. I don’t even have to think about doing it before I do. That comes in handy sometimes. The most important thing I learned was to always remain in control. I cant even do that often.

I’m still learning obviously. You have to keep in control so you don’t blow up. When you do that you say things you don’t mean. That’s been the case in a lot of my situations. When you lose control that’s when the person knows they have an advantage. And when you don’t have it, you lose everything you intended to have. When it comes to someone making fun of me, I just look at them and laugh. Laugh about how dumb they look trying to act like they’re perfect. I just find it hilarious. I don’t see why people would do it, but hey all the more power to them. I don’t care what they have to say about me. Also another thing that’s important, don’t let anyone stand in your way. If you plan on making that change happen, don’t let someone change your mind on it. Do what 18

you planned and stick to it. Taking it back will make it worse and it will make the person get an even bigger head. These are the things that went through my mind this year and how I developed it.

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Drama, Drama, Drama. Oh and Did I Mention Drama!

I needed a break from absolutely everything. Almost everything had been going wrong. Every day there was something new to fight on. Literally every day. It got so annoying. I couldn’t believe how many people were that immature. The fights were always about girls with girls, girls with boys, or guys with guys. Mostly it was all drama and how they didn’t like what someone was doing. Of course.

It can’t just be normal in our school. It was just tiring hearing it when you walk through the halls.

Another thing I needed a break from was all this dumb homework. I hate homework. I never do it. And then I found out about Benchmark. I have been studying the life out of me. I was ready to just not study or do homework for one night. I got tired of feeling stressed that I had to get it done that night before it was due. I got so irritated on me working my butt off for nothing.

I just needed time away.

The last thing I needed a break from was basketball. We’ve worked so hard this year that I’m so tired in the afternoon with all my muscles aching. Even though this feeling last about two days, it was good to get away for two days. Of course I missed it.

I had been doing it for years. I am just glad I got the chance to have a little break. It felt fantastic.

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Thinking, or Lack of.

Whenever it comes to thinking, not many people do it. They don’t care about how bad they hurt someone’s feelings on a daily basis.

If they were to know the damage they did, I wonder if they’d change how they acted. Sometimes life doesn’t come easy for us.

What if waking up was bad enough to make someone’s day turn horrible? Would it change your mind on how bad you treated?

Everybody is trying to be a “Somebody.” Well let me tell you. Being a somebody sucks. Like really bad. I hated it once I got to it. I spent my whole seventh grade year becoming my worst nightmare.

So why do people think it’s so cool to be “in?” I just don’t get it.

It’s like a constant game to these people. They don’t care about what they do or say. They never create things for themselves.

They don’t have a mind of their own, or a backbone either. One day I hope the world opens it’s eyes and see that God gave you your own mind to use it and think. Not to play the copying game.

Not always copying gets you places in life. What happens if your forced to do something on your own? With no help from previous ideas. Would you be able to step up and take the opportunity? If everyone would do just that, we’d be a step on the game we play called life. If people would only open their eyes and mind… and learn to think for themselves. Maybe it would be this bad in our world. Maybe it would be normal…

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You’re Past Doesn’t Make You There will always be people who remember everything you do and never let you forget it. It’s like they want to throw it back in your face so you don’t move on. It’s not like I could forget even if I tried. I’m reminded every day I wake up. I can never just one day where I forget my past. It will follow me til the day I die. It scarred me for life sadly.

The people who still talk about it amaze me. I can see it in their eyes that its what they think about whenever they look at me. I mean, how could they forget? It just makes me uncomfortable though. The vacant stares see right through me. Their eyes say “Why did she do that?”

That’s what makes me try harder and harder each and every day. I’ll spend my whole life trying to fix up what I ruined. I used to be that kid who never did anything wrong. Who judged people on what they did.

Then I got mixed up in the wrong crowd and made all the worst possible mistakes. Then it was my turn to be the one who got judged. It made me realize that nobody’s perfect and everyone deserves a doover. It took me a long time to forgive myself. I didn’t know at the time when I changed that I would turn into my worst nightmare. I changed after that. I became the good kid I was, but better. I never judged, I forgave easier, and I never did the same mistakes again. I swore to myself that I wouldn’t go back. Never in a million years. I know people think that somewhere inside me that I haven’t changed.

But you know, I think I have. I don’t feel the way I used to. Every day I’m wanting to prove all the people wrong. Wanting to show them what I’ve become. They judge me like they know what I went through. I’m not saying it as an excuse, but they weren’t there. They don’t know what it was like to be me. I’m the only one who will ever know. As if they don’t know, I hear what they say. I heard all the horrible things they said. It’s hard not to turn around and say anything back. I wish I 22

could just blow up on them and give them what they deserve. But I won’t. To me, it would be like giving them all I’ve worked hard for this year. It made me mad. How dare someone put themselves in position to judge me? They aren’t perfect either. Someday, I will change what they say. Even if it takes my whole life. I’m ready for it. I wish though that they’d just grow up. The people whom I least expected to do it were the ones who did it most. My teammates. Sometimes when it gets me down, I have a feeling deep inside where I hope something horrible happens to them. Then I think about what I have gone through. I could never wish that on a person. It would be wrong and it would be like wishing it on myself. I don’t think your past should make you. I think it only builds you up. It prepares you. I just wish other people would realize it. Maybe one day they will…

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