The Mind of a Teenager by Racheal Davis

The Mind of a Teenager

*Pictures by Google Images

The Mind of a Teenager Bohannan Publishing Huntsville, Arkansas May 10, 2013

Table of Contents Dedication Page

Part I

Wanna Make You Feel Wanted

Go With the Flow or No?

I’m Not Afraid

Purpose of Rules

Symbolic Meaning

Part II

The Things I Saw on that Day

Where Did It Go

Popularity

Turner Brown

I’ve Been Everywhere

Spring Break

Part III

Steal of Home Playing Long Ball It’s All About Time The Final Game

19 20 21 22

Dedication Page To my family, friends, and teachers who have helped me in life.

Part I This section of writing shows the normal side of me. In the part, I am not crazy, but I write about topics that are not made up, but are actually about me and my life and beliefs. Every piece of writing is about how I do things or what my beliefs about certain things are. I am very passionate about what I believe in and why I believe in them. I am very serious in this section. It expresses who I am as a writer when I have to be â&#x20AC;&#x153;normal.â&#x20AC;? Enjoy.

Wanna Make You Feel Wanted People join groups to feel wanted. Most of the time a person will find a group of people that may have similar interest. That person that joins that group may want to feel wanted. Maybe most people treat that person differently because they may like or dislike something that they don’t. They join that group because they know the other people will like them. Another reason someone may join a group is because they may possess some of the same skills as that group. For instance, football players may be in a group of all football players or a trumpet play may be in a group of just trumpet players. The reason for this is because you have some similarities in what you do, and can relate to the other people. Sometimes people may join a group because they may want to make new friends. Sometimes people get locked into a certain “genre” of people and don’t look to any other type, so they may just want to reach outside of what they normally do and meet new people. That is something I have tried hard to do this year. Become friends with people I never considered being friends with in the past. I feel as if I have done a great job of doing so. People have many different reasons of getting into a group. Some may be good, but some may be bad. In the end, however, it is what it is.

Go with the Flow or No? Sometimes people do things just to impress other people. For instance, I’ve known people who have done ignorant things, just to feel popular and become friends with the “popular” group. I do not find this very smart to risk your life just to make a group of people think you’re “cool.” If my group of friends want me to do drugs, which I am strongly against, I would stand up for me and my beliefs. I would try to explain to them that doing drugs was against the law and could potentially get them in trouble, or dead. I would try to scare them to death, just to prevent them from harming themselves, doing something against the law. Now, my friends are stubborn, and seem to do what they want to do, so they may laugh at me and keep doing it. If that was to occur, I would calmly walk away, and stay away from them for forever. On the other hand, if my friends want to eat at a fancy restaurant, but I want to eat pizza at Pizza Hut, then I would just go along with the crowd. I would go along with them because since all the other people want to eat somewhere fancy and I was the only one who wanted pizza, it’s not that big of a deal, so I would just go with them. Sometimes things are worth fighting over, depending on the severity of them. Also, some things are useless to fight over and may cause you and your friends to split. If something would put my life in danger or hurt my integrity, I would definitely not do it, but if it isn’t too bad, I wouldn’t argue and would just go along.

I’m Not Afraid Everyone has a fear. The fear of getting older is a fear many people have, but without aging, what is the point of living. Imagine staying the same age for forever. That would get pretty boring. Everyone thinks that getting older means only one thing: dying. You can’t live your whole life thinking about dying. Live your life by setting goals that you can look forward to as you get older. Live everyday as if it is your last day on this earth. Memories, make friends, succeed, fail, and enjoy your life while you still have it. One day, as your older self, you’ll look back to your younger days and you will ask yourself; what did I do with my life? Hopefully your response will be that you “everything I could possibly do.” Until then, tell yourself that life is very short. Make sure you live it as long as possible. I leave you with this: what is

Purpose of Rules The purpose of all the rules we follow and live with every day is to keep everyone from being annoying and allowing all teachers to be able to do their job. Life without rules would be very chaotic. Everyone would be doing things that, if there were rules, would be against them, or most likely illegal. Without rules, people would go insane, and never be able to get anything done because there would be no control over anyone. When teachers would try to talk, nobody would pay attention. When we grow up, we would not have any education and the world would be like the time of the cavemen. Then, you have to stop and think. Without rules, most likely there would be no control over anyone. When teachers would try to talk, nobody would pay attention. When we grow up, we would not have any education and the world would be like the time of the cavemen. Then, you have to stop and think. Without rules, most likely nobody would even bother coming to school. Rules are very important not only in school, but in society as well. They are a part of everyday life, and in order to stay in order, we need them. Some people don’t obey the rules, which is why they get disciplined. If you don’t obey the rules, fine. If you want to live life like I stated before, then don’t obey the rules, and I’ll be seeing you in jail one day while I’m being successful.

Symbolic Meanings If I were to be a symbol, I would represent leadership. I have always been a leader. I enjoy offering ideas to other people and having other people look up to me. When someone is having a problem, and they ask me my opinion, I get all happy inside. Just the other day for example, I had a baseball practice and one of my teammates was having trouble with his arm. He came up to me and showed me how he threw, and asked me how I threw and what I like would help his arm not hurt as much. After this happened, I had a great practice. To know that people want to know what I think makes me feel very special. I love leading. I am the president of Student Council, which proves that I am known from people to lead, and I wanted to be the president because I thought it would be fun to help people with problems. Something I have to deal with as being a leader is people disagreeing with what I say. If someone does disagree with what I am saying, I would hope that they speak up and tell me what their opinion is. More than likely, their opinion will be better than mine. We also may be able to put both of our opinions together and make an even better plan that either one of our ideas individually. With being a leader comes great responsibility. I have to be able to get things done and do what it is asked of me. I have to control other people and be a role model towards others. Something that I think qualifies me to be a leader, is I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t listen to other peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s opinions about me. If they talk bad about me, I blow it off and donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t start any trouble, when I just as easy could pick a fight with them. Being a leader is something I like about myself. Leading is something I do frequently and will help me in college and with whatever career I have after college.

Part II This section of writing pieces shows the side of me that most of my friends see: the crazy, outgoing part of me. Most of the writing means absolutely nothing but fictional things and people. Writing like this allows me to show people how crazy I can be sometimes, which differs from the serious side of me that I show to people I may not be very familiar with. I guess you could say this is the comedy side of me, which lets me act more freely and not be so serious.

The Things I Saw on That Day I was sitting in the middle of the hallway observing different things. Many different things were in that hallway on that day. Big, small, round, square, wide, tall, and short are many of the adjectives you could use to describe the things I saw in the hallway that day., I was standing in the cafeteria observing different things. Many different things were in that cafeteria on that day. Cups, balls, boxes, cylinders, containers, and covers are many of the nouns you could use to say the things I saw in the cafeteria on that day. I was lying in bed thinking about the things I saw on the two days I was observing things. Every person had their own personality and attitude. Everything I saw on the days I observed made me think about life. Some of those things continuously passed me. Everybody had them. Then I began thinking: some people cannot afford anything that I saw. Not just the people in the third world countries such as Africa, but here in the great United States of America as well. I have taken many trips to different states and seen some very heartbreaking things. People who do not have a home or a job would hold up signs asking for food or a job just to support their family. Honestly, most of the people like this have probably done things that put them in that spot. Those are the people I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t feel sorry for. But there are some people who couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t help themselves and just needed a good job or food. When I see people like this, I am heartbroken. When some of us have laptops and iPhones, we seem to take things for granted. There are people here in America starving to death and cannot do a single thing about it, but all we hear about on television or the radio, are the people in other countries. People donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t focus on people HERE, but they do focus on the people THERE. I understand everyone needs help, but in my opinion we should help our own country first.

Where’d It Go? The wing began to howl. Rain whipped through the air. Hail fell with violent force. Twelve year old Morgan was home alone. She was scared to death. Suddenly, the electricity went out. Morgan went outside to see a large circle about her house. It seemed like a tornado, but looked nothing like one. It was very mysterious and was purple and black in color. Morgan sprinted down the steps to the basement, and about halfway down there was a very large BOOM! When she opened the door to get inside, the door slammed shut. Freaked out, she ran to the corner and grabbed her raggedy old doll that she had had for years. She looked the doll in the eye and it glared at her. She began to softly cry. As she was waiting for the storm to end, she ended up crying herself to sleep. She woke up in the middle of the night. Everything was gone. She had lost every single thing she had grown up with. She clawed her way out of her basement, and seen her parent lying on the cold, hard ground. Terrified, she sprinted towards their limp bodies. She shook them as hard as she could, attempting to wake them up. Suddenly, they did. But it was not Morgan’s parents. It wasn’t anyone she had ever seen in her neighborhood. They stood up, and looked Morgan straight in the eyes. “Run,” they mouthed slowly. As she slowly began to walk away, the grabbed her body, and screamed as loud as they could. All of a sudden, Morgan was gone.

Popularity There was a fight at school today. Two witnesses were called to the office. One witness was an athlete, president of all the clubs, and was friends with everyone. That person has also never been in trouble. The other witness was a student who had been in all kinds of trouble the past few years. She seemed to always ignore people or get into arguments with them. People always made fun of her. The athletic student said that one guy started the fight and the other witness stated that the other person started it. Obviously, one person was lying. The principal thought things through, and decided that the first witness was most likely right. He gave the “lying” witness and the student who supposedly started the fight I.S.S. Later on, the truth came out and the principal was wrong. Now there was nothing he could do. The point of this story is that popularity is a big factor in some people’s decision making process. If someone had to decide who was right, and it came down to a popular kid, and a student who isn’t well known, most likely the “popular” kid would be considered as being right. This is wrong, and I hope that this will change. Some people only want to impress the popular kid, so they tell them they are right. Things should change and maybe one day, people will be judged by what they are and not by what people think they are.

Ol’ Turner Brown Once upon a time in a land full of watermelons, there was an African-American man. He ate and ate and when he didn’t think he could eat anymore, he ate more! One day while chowing down on a watermelon, a large man came up to him. The watermelon man, whose name was Dequine, fainted. The other man, whose name was Turner Brown, shook him and got him up on his feet. “WOW! You’re huge!” Dequine told Turner. “Seven feet, eight inches tall, size twenty-four shoe, and I weigh 421 pounds. Oh, and my name is Turner Brown,” Replied the scary-looking man. Dequine turned pale, and ran. After a grand total of five seconds of running, Dequine was caught. Turner just happened to run a four second forty yard dash. “Please don’t hurt me! I’m so sorry,” Dequine yelled at Turner. After a couple hours of contemplating what to do, Turner decided to let the man go, on one condition. He had to give him an endless supply of watermelons. After Dequine agreed, Turner turned around and left with an armful of watermelons. 14

I’ve Been Every Where I have traveled to Independence, Kansas, Joplin, Missouri, Kansas City, Missouri, Pine Bluff, Arkansas, Little Rock, Arkansas, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Muskogee, Oklahoma, Dallas, Texas, and Galvinston, Texas. On these trips, I met many professional athletes, music singers, made many new friends from different states, and have seen many famous people. In the places I have traveled to, I learned that in Missouri, the farther north you travel, the more preppy the people become. In Oklahoma, I learned that ths. e people are usually very polite and most people that were from where I went, were Indian. The people in Dallas and Galvinston are actually very rude and impolite. Advice I would give to people that are thinking about traveling out of their normal area is this: there is never a second chance to give a first impression. What I mean by this is if you do somewhere, and don’t like the people there; try advancing your journey to other places. I’m not saying that everyone there is like that, but I have seen that most of the time one person is similar to most of the other people in that particular place. On the other hand, if you like the people where you went, and enjoyed your visit, try going to that area some other time and try to meet even more people. You can discover many differences in people by looking at how the dress, look, act, eat, talk, and many other things. If you are in the northeast part of America, they will be different that most of the people in Louisiana. I have learned and noticed that the further north you travel, people’s voices change drastically from what they are here in Arkansas. I love meeting new people and traveling. I look to do this more when I get older.

Spring Break! Spring break is a time to relieve yourself from all the stress and torture you endure at school. I needed a break from all of the drama. Every year toward the end of the school year, everyone seems to start getting angry at everybody else. People have started to make rumors about other people which have actually led to an abnormal amount of fighting. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve heard many things about myself, which I just ignore. There comes a time in the year when we just need a break to get away from everything and forget about some things that have gone on. I also needed a break from getting up so early! I needed to get some much needed sleep that could rest me for the rest of the school year. I have to get up at 6:18 every morning and it will feel nice to get up whenever I want for a whole week. There was actually a whole lot more I needed to get away from, but if I wrote about all of it, I would end up writing a 1,000 page essay. I need to get away from certain people, certain classes, and just leave school. Luckily, in the middle of our last semester of school, we get one of the best school experiences there are: spring break!

Part III This section is probably the most accurate description of me as a person and writer. Everything in this part is about sports and anything involving sports. Writing about sports comes very easy to me because I have a natural ability to see things that most people do not see in the sporting world, and am able to put that sight on paper. Any time during the school year that we were able to write about anything we wanted, I would automatically start on something involving sports. Most of the time when I do write about sports have actually happened to me. I hope you enjoy the final part of my anthology.

Steal of Home I was standing on first base and our fifth hitter was up to bat. I advanced off the bag and watched the pitcher. He got in the stretch and peered in to get the sign. He then glanced over at me, and as soon as I seen him start toward the plate, I took off towards second. I slid in without a throw, as cheered sprung through the crowd. Sadly, the hitter ended up striking out on the pitch I struck out on. The pitcher got the ball and looked back at the hitter once more. I got my lead off of second base and noticed that the pitcher would always do the same thing every time he pitched. Once I seen this, there was no stopping me. Before he even pitched it, I was off toward third base. I slid in and listened for umpire to give the safe call. He did and I heard even more cheers. The game was tied at three when all this was going on, and if I scored, we won. I got my lead off of third and watched the pitcher look at home plate. I took another step off the base and as soon as I seen his leg come up, I took off toward the plate! Time felt like it slowed down the whole way I was running. I dove into the plate and listened for the umpire. â&#x20AC;&#x153;SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAFE!â&#x20AC;? He yelled. I was mobbed at home plate! We won! I stole home plate, which is a rarity in baseball, to get our team a very big win.

Playing Long Ball Something I consider myself good at, is baseball. I play shortstop and I pitch. Over the last few years, I have developed my skills to become better. An example is my pitching. I have got to where I can throw a lot harder and more accurate than I ever have before. Also, I have gotten better at hitting the baseball. I used to strike out every single time I came up to bat, and everyone would laugh at me because I wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t very good. Now, I can go up to the plate with confidence that I am going to hit it. I have improved at shortstop. I have got to where I can field any ball that is hit to me and make a good throw across the field. My coaches always have confidence in me to make a good play and not make very many errors.

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s All About Time One time that I used time management well, was in a basketball game one day. There was thirty seconds left in the game and we were down by five. I knew that there wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t much time to come back, and the other team was shooting a free-throw. I went to the other end to get ready for a shot. When the shooter missed both shots, we got the ball to me and I made a three pointer to get us down by only two. We had to foul with eight seconds left and I lined up to shoot another three. The shooter shot the first free throw, and missed. I was thinking about how fast I would have to get a shot off to get it before the buzzer. He then missed the second free-throw and my team got the rebound. I got ready to catch the pass, as a teammate dribbled down the court. I got the pass with two seconds left, and shot it with one. The ball was in the air for what seemed like forever. As the buzzer sounded, the shot went in! Sports are a way to learn time management, because you have to use it in every sport you play. Soccer, basketball, lacrosse, hockey, and every other sport there is, it is a must to have good time management skills.

The Final Game I was standing there, waiting to play. This is the final game of the season, and I began to get sweaty. I was starting to shake and get really nervous. This was my first time to be in this situation. It was the championship game! Everything Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve worked for all year is coming down to this. The game started and we got out to an early lead and the first quarter ended with us on top, fifteen to thirteen. We played pretty bad the second quarter, but as the half came to a close, it was tied at forty-two. I was thinking about how long this would stay with me if we won the game. It would be a powerful thing to know that I won a championship game. As the game continued, we started playing very good. The third quarter ended with us up sixty-nine to fifty-six. Everything went our way the forth, and we ended up winning eighty-two to sixty-nine. Everyone was so happy! We worked so hard to win this game and we finally did! Hopefully, it wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be the last!