WARREN WILSON Chapter 17 and John Muir
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hapter 17 in my AP U.S. History class was my favorite. Granted, I don’t really remember too much about Chapter 17, but I do remember John Muir. Not many people take note of him because he is only mentioned in the last part of chapter, and well, who reads the book anyway? But John Muir stood out to me because of his tenacity in getting away. Getting away from society, civilization, people, confusion, corruption, manipulation and everything else. He got away and returned himself to the one thing he knew to be true and organic, nature. He realized that there was no fallacy in nature, no pretense nor ostentation. And that was where he wanted to be. That is where I want to be. Not just in nature, but also in the state of mind that Muir had. I admire that he had a conviction and stuck to it. He knew what felt right, and he pursued those feelings. And that is what I encourage everyone to do. As you are weighing the decisions of your life, do not simply idle along and be dictated by what others want you to do. Take life by the reigns and do what Muir did — climb a tree in the middle of a lightening storm. Utilize your interests to heighten the experiences of
your life and don’t allow society to tell you that you are wrong, as there is no such thing as a wrong pathway. I am not here to relay some insight I have recently come upon or to tell you how to live your life. Rather, I am simply imploring you to live your life the way you see fit. Whether you want to stop using deodorant, become a plumber, smoke or subject yourself to a grueling 70-hour work week just to earn six figures, realize that you are not on the wrong path if you have justification and it makes you feel right. Use the knowledge you glean from the plethora of occurrences in your life to back up your decisions, and as long as you are not blindly following people who claim to be your leaders, your administrators, your rulers, or your authoritative figures, then you will never be in the wrong. Muir once said, “Civilization has not much to brag about. It drives its victims in flocks, repressing the growth of individuality.” This is the inspiration behind my appeal to you to stand your ground, make your conviction, and follow through. Don’t fall into the same old routine of society — a cycle of conformity.
UNC CHAPEL HILL
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s the final days of senior year grow closer, I can’t help but get a little nostalgic about my four years at West. At the start of the year — or even halfway through junior year (if I’m being honest with myself ) I was counting down to graduation like the best of them. However, despite all the anticipation and constant yearning for the final day of school, I’m starting to drag my feet a little, and it’s not just because graduation is on Friday the 13th. Let’s be honest; not all the times here have been the best. But I’m starting to realize that the good far outnumbered the bad. We have all made this school the best that it can be, from our fantastic student section at football games to the awesome kids in Mrs. G’s backroom. Even our faculty has left an irreplaceable mark on us, including Amy Zalevskiy’s combustion lab, swing dance lessons with Ben Seneker, and, yes, even watching Vector from “Despicable Me” in Michael Hale’s geometry class. Our class loves getting involved in any extracurricular we can, and for good reason. I’ve made some of
06 | senior editorials | wingspan | june 2014
Make it Facebook ‘official’ the best memories of my life as I laughed, and almost died, with the beautiful and strong ladies on the cross country team, and among my fellow band kids when even the Force couldn’t make your fingers move fast enough for “March of the Belgian Paratroopers.” Although it’s pretty obvious our class is the most outstanding, we wouldn’t have made it far without our wonderful teachers supporting us. I especially want to thank Elaine Hooker for protecting us from the Mafia, Tom King and the lovely Denise Cope for always being willing to talk with me and for reserving new books that you knew I would like. I would especially like to thank Mrs. G for taking us on so many journalism trips and putting up with all of our senioritis. I can honestly say the most fun moments I’ve had in the last four years happened in your classroom. I can’t decide if the best part of graduating is calling you “Bren” to your face or making our relationship “Facebook official.” But above all, thank you to my fellow seniors for making our time here so special. I am so glad this class is the one I’ll be graduating with in less than a week.