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Project Reflection

Posted by Merrik Saunders in American History - Jonas on
​What surprised you most about this information?
It surprised me how so mank people want to come to the US but when people first started coming to America they pushed the Native Americans out of there land.
What seemed quite obvious about explaining this data set?
When ever the US is doing good they let people in but as soon as things start going bad they want to kick immigrants out.
Looking at the overall trend and incorporating what you know about the US presently, predict and defend the immigration trend for the next two decades.
I think that if things start to get better then the US will be willing to hold more people from other countries.  I think that for now they won't let in to many people.
Describe how you made a decision on how to visually represent the information.
Well since it was a time line we decided to make it in that format.  What ever we wanted to talk about was right there ready.  All we had to do was click on what we wanted and talk about it.
What parts of group work were challenging?
I don't think it was that hard to work with my group. 
What would you do differently if you had this project to do over?
I would try to find more things that would effect the population.  I was hard finding more things on immigration especially in the earlier years.

reflection

Posted by Brandon Mangum in American History - Jonas on
​
  • What surprised you most about this information? I would say the biggest surprise i seen was when the population of immigrate decreased to 500,000 in 1940. i knew that it would be less people because of all the things that were taking place at the time. but i would of never thought it would go down that far.
  •  What seemed quite obvious about explaining this data set? the population of immigrate are shattered, there is not a steady rate in which it moves.
  • Looking at the overall trend and incorporating what you know about the US presently, predict and defend the immigration trend for the next two decades. i would think that the immigration rate will increase in the next to decades. the reason i say this is because right now our country does have much reason for people not wanting to come to the country. there is no war, the country is still an democracy and the economy is pretty good. these reason along with other will make immigrate want to travel to the U.S.
  • Describe how you made a decision on how to visually represent the information. we decided to make a google presentation powerpoint because everyone in the group can access it and it is one of the best form of presenting.
  • What parts of group work were challenging? i cant say we had a challenging but we could of worked better with communicating with each other.
  • What would you do differently if you had this project to do over? i would find more information about the date and see if i missed anything.


    https://docs.google.com/a/scienceleadership.org/presentation/d/1KKM8c1tQc4xmcnJpJWbk4SqKjZFAmAffBDsfDhkgF8A/edit#slide=id.gfdfe30f_9_0

Emergency Rush

Posted by Jennifer Perez in English 2 - Block on
​I was about the age of 6, small and young stuck in a dreadful hospital filled with sick children all around. The halls were filled with silence and cold from what I remember. Everything was different. Boys and girls in my same age group, should be ponder with their imagination or go out having fun, I wasn’t so lucky to be like them. Usually not many people remember what happen during the age of 6 or younger, my mother actually told me what exactly happen that day.

I was 6 years old, tiny and short. I woke up one morning with a cold but my parents didn’t worry because nothing serious was going on or that’s what I thought. Minutes and hours passed , it was around 7pm from what I have been told my sickness got worst. My fever rose, I was burning like fire and I felt like the sun coming after me, if you touched me. You’ll feel the heat going threw my skin but what I really felt was coldness going threw me. I was freezing to death, cold as ice. My face was pale, like if I was frighten by a ghost. I also had a sore throat, it was bothering me badly, I barely couldn’t eat anything. My parents decided to take me to the hospital. My fever got worse by the minute. In the car, on the way to the hospital, I couldn’t take it no more, I started to burst out crying. I was sore and worried about what is going to happen.

We arrived and I was rushed into the emergency room, I was small so I didn’t understand what was happening. I never realize that I would be so sick that my parents had to rush me to the hands doctors and nurses. Scared and nervous, bursting out crying. They told my parents I had to stay at the hospital for a while because something serious was going on. It was a sickness that I wasn’t allow to go out and if I do, A infection would spread and it will go straight to my blood and cause a serious issue. I didn’t know what it was exactly and i’m still not sure what it was till this day, but all I know it was close to death. My parents never taught something could happen to me this bad. My mother prayed and my father worried. It was about midnight when the doctors left, leaving me in a cold room with my parents, I was exhausted from crying. I was halfway asleep but I was realizing that how could something this bad could happen to me? I started to bring silent tear to my face.

I remember waking up in the morning, realizing the sunlight morning filled up the whole room, I notice I had IV attached to my arm, hearing the beep coming from the weird machine beside the bed. I was scare and started to cry. My dad came up to me and told me “Everything is going to be okay”. The nurse came in with breakfast and took records of me. The nurse told me there was a playroom that I was invited to go later so I won’t be bored. Hours past, my mom finally arrive at the hospital, with a angel bear in her hand and a mcdonalds kids meal, while my dad had to go out. My mom made me feel happy when she arrived. After a while, my mother and I went to the playroom together, I remember I met this girl, the same age as me. She was philippine with long black hair, like mine. She was my hospital buddy back then. We always used to meet up at the playroom and play monopoly board game together with other sick children and a nurse. We also ate macaroni and cheese together and visit each other rooms. I remember telling me her story, she was sick like me. Last time I seen her was when they took her away to surgery, I was in front of the room standing with my mom, she was laying down on the bed being pushed by doctors and nurses, we waved at each other saying goodbye, wishing her a good luck. I soon realized I wasn’t the only one.

Hours and days past, I was stuck in the hospital friends and family visited me everyday. I finally released from the hospital on the weekend. We went home on a rainy day, I was glad to be home because I knew I was safe and sound. One thing that I was curious about was wondering what ever happen to my friend from the hospital, Did she make it? Is she okay? Hopefully shes safe. I still wonder still this day and I will never forget her. I am blessed that I am better now and that I am healthy. Till this day I am shock because I was really sick and was going threw a lot of things when I was little and its not normal but now everything is okay.

Descriptive Essay

Posted by Stephen Eager-White in English 2 - Block on


Stephen White
Iron Stream,

I’m so excited. Today’s the big day. I’m at my grandmother’s house in the pool when my Aunt greets me with a surprise. ‘Are you ready?” she asks as she sips her daily cup of black tea. “Ready for what?” I ask in surprise. “For your first driving lesson.” “Of course” I reply confidently. I scarf down my lunch like I haven’t eaten in days then I dash to my room to slip on my nikes and throw on a plain old button up shirt. I slipped my nikes on so hastily that  I didn’t even bother to tie them and then I dashed down the steps and we head out the door.


I’ve been waiting years for this day to come. So we get into the car and she goes over the basics. “Make sure your mirrors are good,  put on your seat belt, and turn the car on.”  I turn on the car and put the car in reverse. I’m not even at the end of the block when she starts screaming at the top of her lungs “TURN! TURN!”  I slammed on the brakes as we were inches away from the curb. I had to catch my breath as I put the car in reverse to try the turn again. “I’ve been driving since I was 10 it’s not that hard” she says. I mumble under my breath as I grip the wheel and grit my teeth to make the turn.

I’m in an empty school parking lot learning how to drive near my Grandma's house. My interest in driving started when I was 12 and we went to the car show at the convention center and saw all the new cars. Seeing the car’s doors shine off the lights, breathing in that new car smell, and being able to sit in the drivers seat I could envision myself on the road. It was then that my interest in driving grew. As I complete the turning section of my Aunt’s homemade driving test we take it to the streets as I drive back to my grandma’s house. I was doing well as I turned back into my grandma’s driveway.

I get out of the car and immediately start receiving criticism. “You have to slow down” “you're not a pro” “both hands on the wheel” she said. “Alright, alright” I say annoyed. I just drove a car for the first time I still had the jitters and her telling me what I was doing wrong wasn’t what I wanted to hear right now. At this point, I wasn’t listening to anything she was saying. All I was thinking about was getting back in the car and back on the road. It was exhilarating driving on the roads I finally was old enough to drive I’ As I made my way in the driveway of course everyone asks hysterically “are you ok?” “how’d you do?” “Yeah I saw you swerving down the street a little bit.” I know they mean well, but give me a break it’s my first time. “Yes I’m ok” “I think I did pretty well” I reply aggravated. A little practice and I’ll get my permit and then my license, I think to myself. When I’m allowed to start driving I doubt I’ll be in the house at all unless it’s necessary. I’ve been looking forward to driving since I was a toddler playing with my toy cars.

Now I’m studying for my driving test that I will take in about 9 months. I took a practice  driving test thinking that I wouldn’t need help on it. When I saw the horrible results of the test I then decided to finally ask for help on driving. I knew I couldn’t do it on my own. When I got some help on the test I got a higher score the second time. It turns out that I didn’t know everything I thought I did about driving.


I also learned that asking for help and accepting criticism isn’t a bad thing. Even some people of higher power can accept some help and criticism in running their government. Even the mighty United States need some help. Even though our problems aren’t as big as third world countries we’re so in debt that we’re borrowing money from other countries and getting deeper into debt. Another domestic crisis is our ability to keep jobs in the country. And finally probably the healthcare crisis that affects a great amount of Americans.

Me and some dictators have some things in common. Neither of us take criticism well. Countries ran by dictatorship are usually ran by leaders who are in charge of everything and won’t accept help from any citizens. The citizens have no voice and maybe if the citizens were able to speak their mind and vote the country could rise. Most countries ran by dictators are not doing well at all and thats a fact and just need to accept help thats given to them sometimes like me. I think that all countries should be ran by a republic or a democracy. The United States is ran by a republic and the citizens get a say in who comes to power.

Descriptive Essay; To Be Great

Posted by Nadir Meeks in English 2 - Block on

There are people that in life that want us to do great things. Some people think that it might take years to be even good let alone great at anything. However, there are some things that just take a little thought to be good at. I can remember my dad telling me that I needed to do something with my life. He always said that I quit everything as soon as it got hard. I didn’t want to admit it, but I knew it was true. He even went as far as calling me a loser to make me do something with my life. So I decided I wanted to prove him wrong.

By the time I had gotten that conversation I had already been doing sports so I didn’t take it to heart, knowing that my dad can be harsh sometimes. I felt that doing sports was enough for, “doing something with my life.” I had already given the guitar a try, but had given up because, sure enough, it got too hard. I knew he was right it wouldn’t do me any good if I lied to myself. So a few months after track season was over I realized that just doing sports wasn’t enough because I had nothing to do after track except for just sit around and be told to do something. I decided to give guitar one more try, but the bass caught my eye for some reason. I was swaying back and forth trying to decide which one I wanted to stick with. For guitar I thought of  all the cool crazy solos that you hear in classic rock songs that people go crazy over, but with bass I thought of all the funky songs that have sick bass riffs that you can never forget. After a few months of going back and forth between the two, I finally made up my mind and stuck with the bass.

I decided I was going to learn the bass because I loved how sweet it sounded in songs. Luckily my dad had a spare bass lying around that he didn’t use so I had something to practice on. He gave me a book and a little advice and just told me to learn. At first I thought that I couldn’t possibly learn myself because I don’t have the self discipline to practice on my own everyday. I felt as though I needed a teacher so I could have a set time each day to practice. With that mindset it wasn’t long until when it started getting hard I quit once again on the bass. After a few months of being told I was a quitter and telling myself that I was a quitter I said I didn’t want to live life like this. So I picked up the bass again and toughed out through the hard points to prove my dad wrong and because I wanted to do something good for myself. It felt good knowing that my dad noticed my improvement from when I started to now. It actually got easier the more I learned about the instrument, so easy I even started over thinking it. For example, I thought learning the note of each fret was impossibly hard. With 4 strings that each have 24 frets, give or take a few, at first glance that seems impossible, but I found out that I didn’t need to learn each individual fret and that they all went in order which accelerated my learning massively. Some other key moments of when I over thought playing bass was when I learned how scales work and chord progressions. Those two things allowed me to understand how jazz works. People also noticed that I played bass and wanted me in their band. Even though I don’t really listen to the type of music they play I still feel good that I did something all the way through to get noticed by other people that I barely even know.

Overall it feels good to have done something all the way through. It pays out in the end. Although I’m still improving on my playing, but I can at least say I know how to play an instrument without having a single doubt in mind. Not only that, but my dad is proud that I finally did something with my life. I’m proud of myself too because not many people can learn from a book on their own. Even though I’m not great yet at I’ve at least made a good start being it.


Descriptive Essay, When one door closes another one opens.

Posted by Temperance Moore in English 2 - Block on



Did you ever have your heart set on something that you wanted really bad? Remember that feeling?  That feeling when you had so much hope that you were going to get it but you felt it wasn’t for you? That feeling when you felt like you were so close, you could just reach out and grab it...but then it slipped between your fingers. You didn’t get what you were hoping for. Know that feeling? I do. Maybe it wasn’t meant to happen at that time or maybe not at all. Maybe it wasn’t meant for me, I ponder in those thoughts.

It was a beautiful sunny morning. I’d been excited for this day all week and it  had finally come. There was so much I expected this house to have. I just knew it was going to be the one. The one that my mom and I were finally going to get for us, just us. We headed on our way down there with my mom’s best friend. The real estate agent wasn’t there yet, so we waited. In the meantime, we investigated the outside of the house.

“Wow, this is nice.”, my mom said. The outside of the house had a white picket fence with a latch, followed by a cement pathway that led up to cement stairs, where a white door greeted you. On each side of the cement pathway there was green grass and bushes. Just around the corner of the house there were wooden steps painted brown, that led to a beautiful balcony in the back. I could see tiny lights decorating the walls of it. It must’ve been from the old owners.

“I’m here!” said the loud voice of Emma Jean, the real estate agent. She unlocked the door. We stepped inside a porch first. The floors were wooden brown and the walls had a built in bookshelf. The walls were also wooden and painted green. We walked into the living room first. It was wide with light smooth wooden floors. The crumb ceilings were white and there was a slide-in door that led to the backyard.

I ran upstairs expecting to run into this huge hallway and big rooms. Since the downstairs was big, why not the upstairs? So, I ran upstairs and to my surprise, I stopped on a single square carpeted floor, with two small rooms on each side of me, and right in front of my face was a huge bathroom. That was it. That was the upstairs. My face went from a big smile to a confused stare. My mom came upstairs with the same expression on her face. I looked up at her with a disappointed look and she returned it with the same.

“You can make it work. I like it.” My mom’s friend said. My mom still looked unsure. She pulled me aside in private. “What do you think?” She said. I looked up at her, my face still disappointed, and I shook my head, “No.”

Those were one of many moments when I wished I hadn’t put my whole heart into this house being “the one” for my mom and I. Not only was this a big let down, but it was something that I was hoping and expecting would happen this summer and it didn’t. That didn’t necessarily mean something else wasn’t coming our way, another thing we both were believing and praying for.


“Look, I’m sorry but I just can’t give it to you for this price.” said the car dealer. He had a button-down shirt with a tie. It was neatly tucked into his dress pants.

“Why not? Isn’t it your job to do whatever it takes to make your customers happy? Isn’t that what your logo says?” My mom’s eyes pierced into his. He sat up straight, fixed his tie and said, “Yes, yes it is.”
“Then why can’t I have it for this price?” My mom said calmly. My mom and I had been in the car dealership building for hours. I wasn’t trying to get my hopes up after the last two car dealerships we’ve been too. We left disappointed every time. I still couldn’t help but have some hope left with this one. I always got my hopes up, I always set my heart on something, I could never help it because it’s just who I am. The dealer and my mom continued to go back and forth on what she could get the car for. I sat back, my patience was getting low.
“Ok. Come on Temperance, we’re leaving.” My mom said. Leaving? What? I thought. The look on my face confused. The dealer said nothing. There was nothing he could say, unless he gave in and gave the car to my mom for the price she wanted. I hung my head as we walked out.
“Wait!” The dealer was running towards us. “Look...ok maybe we can make...a deal.” He huffed, out of breath. My mom and I looked at each other with smug smiles on our faces. They did a lot more talking, a lot of negotiating, and a lot of paperwork signing but we came out of there with car keys and big smiles on our faces.
In the first story I was expecting something to happen that didn’t happen and in the second story something happened that I wasn’t expecting to happen. The house wasn’t what my mom and I had expected it to be and it was a little discouraging. Then to our surprise, we got a car that we weren’t even expecting. The significance of both these stories is that when one door closes another one opens. We didn’t get that house because there’s something better out there for us. We walked out of the two car dealerships I mentioned because there was a better car waiting for us at another car dealership. That is what I’m learning every time I feel like a door slammed shut in my face.

Descriptive Essay (Bryanna Jones)

Posted by Bryanna Jones in English 2 - Block on
​

Guffaws

“J...J-J-J-Jalisa” I said her name like a car trying to stop from sliding on ice.


“ are you trying to say my name?” she laughed.


“I-i-i j-just want-t-ted to ask you someth-th-thing.”


“Wh-wh-wh-what do you wa-wa-wa-want” she impersonated, horribly.


I just wanted to ask what she got for question 1. Now I didn’t even want to ask the question because all the students in Ms. Bates 3rd classroom were laughing hysterically. I looked down in disbelief and began to play with my khaki pleated skirt under the desk. I didn’t understand why my words would not come out. It was as if they were ready to run out my mouth but something was tugging them back in while they were still reaching for my lips.


“Bryanna. Are you done fooling around.” Ms. Bates asked. As she pushed her thin, curly, red bangs out her pale face. I nodded my head yes because I didn't want to humiliate myself any more. My classmates laughed because they thought my speech was a joke, I did too.

It was so hard to talk fluently, and it still is. I do not think anyone understands how frustrating it is trying to get your idea across, that should have taken 10 seconds, but it ends up being three minutes because the words are playing a quick game of tug of war with your tongue. Maybe I am special, but then again there is nothing special about a stutterer except knowing how to remix a sentence without even trying.

Ms. Bates called me to read a paragraph from the passage in the thick, yellow, scholastic book. I quickly gathered myself, and then begin.

“Puf-f-f-ins,”please do not start, I thought. Therefore, I took another deep breath and began again. “Puffins are three species of alcid,” good keep it going I thought.

“Ok, class what do think and aclid is” She interrupted. She is going to trigger my...”Bryanna please continue.”

I looked up at the dark purple banner that exclaimed “Read” it was as if everyone wanted to hear me stutter. Instead of reading, I raised my hand. “Ms.Bates can I go to the bathroom?” I asked, but I already foreshadowed that she was going to give me a resound “no!”

It was so hard to talk fluently, and it still is. I do not think anyone understands how frustrating it is trying to get your idea across, that should have taken 10 seconds, but it ends up being three minutes because the words are playing a quick game of tug of war with your tongue. Maybe I am special, but then again there is nothing special about a stutterer except knowing how to remix a sentence without even trying.


Ms. Bates called me to read a paragraph from the passage in the thick, yellow, scholastic book. I quickly gathered myself, and then begin.


“Puf-f-f-ins,”please do not start, I thought. Therefore, I took another deep breath and began again. “Puffins are three species of alcid,” good keep it going I thought.


“Ok, class what do think and aclid is” She interrupted. She is going to trigger my...”Bryanna please continue.”


I looked up at the dark purple banner that exclaimed “Read” it was as if everyone wanted to hear me stutter. Instead of reading, I raised my hand. “Ms.Bates can I go to the bathroom?” I asked, but I already foreshadowed that she was going to give me a resound “no!”


“Make it quick Bryanna, we’re going to discuss some things that might be on the reading test.” I quickly walked out of the classroom down the hall into the 3 stalled bathroom with Pepto-Bismol tiled walls. Then I opened my mouth wide in front of the mirror to see if there was anything that could indicate my stuttering episodes, there was nothing. My uvula was still hanging freely from the roof of my mouth; my tongue still cradled between teeth; my tonsils still looked like two big boulders creating a path for my food to travel. I did not understand why my words feel like they are fighting to escape the captivities of my orifice. As I walked leisurely to class I practiced some words without tripping over them.


“Ms. Bates.J- Jalisa, Jalisa.Yes.No.” I toke a deep breath between each word, which helped.


“Welcome back to class Bryanna, you took to long in the bathroom.” She said as her black irises and pupils followed me to my seat in her purple mess of a classroom. “Are you ready to read Ms. Jones?”


“Yes,” I said ready to prove to all of peers that I could read clearly. “Which pa-pa-pa-page are we on?”


“285, second paragraph.” The whole class turned to see my next move, which was turning from the title page to the text page. “Everyone know where we are?” she said looking at everyone’s book from the front of the class. “You can begin.”


“Puffins can vary in facial characteristic, but still remain the same color.” I said it. There was not a word trip. As I continued to read I concentrated on trying not to stutter that I forgot how to say simple word like “features” and “family”, they became more like “fatures” and “femelie”, but anything was better than stuttering. When I was finished, Ms. Bates had gotten tired of semi-illiterate third graders reading, so she read the rest herself. While she read, I placed my head in my hands and listened. I did not want read in my head because I sometimes stutter there too. I did not want to follow along because if I tripped on a word I would stay there until I figured it out, then I will be lost in the pages. Therefore, I sat in the navy blue metal chair and kept my eyes on Ms. Bates lips as she read, trying to decipher how she spoke without flaw. Her coffee stained teeth threw me off almost every other sentence; I stopped gazing and looked down at my own book. I read along slowly and steadily, allowing my stuttering to create a rhythm of its own.


Descriptive Essay Listen or hear

Posted by Lala Doumbia in English 2 - Block on
On a summer afternoon I walked into my apartment with a view of my living, dining room/kitchen looking like a jungle. As I walk through the door, I was feeling exhausted from my big day at school . It was back-to-school night. I was dragging my feet.  My dad decided to tell me in his deep voice "Oh you're going to have to move all your things in your room. we are painting the walls tomorrow." After he said that all of these questions ran through my mind. Why are we doing this now? I'm tired, can I go to sleep? oh my god I have homework. Then he added on "we have to move the things in the living room, your room, your brothers room , and last but not less my room." I replied "All this tonight!"

Then I walked into my room looking that my queen size bed, just wanting to throw myself on the bed and taping a nap. But instead I looked that my mother built in closet with a broken door with a mirror. The closet is big it takes one fourth of my room. After look that myself and putting my book bag down on the corner of my room where my window is.  I dragging my feet to the living room about to ask my dad " Can I work on my room while you and mommy work on the living room? We will get done faster ."
"No we all should work on the living room so when that done we can find a place to put y'all things." he replied to me. I thought to myself then we going to be here all night! I have homework and I need to sleep, I’m tired. I took a big breath and said “okkayyy....” My face change as a Cheetah running; but i keep my cool and help out. This always happening when they don’t understand that we can be done faster. I think that most out the time people hear what I’m saying but they don’t listen to what I’m saying. I hate when that happen to me. When  that think they are right all the time. I just want them to see my point of view. I feel to need to say think sometime my idea might help everyone not just your idea. After 5 mins my mom told me to work on my room. I wanted to say I just told dad that but he said no. My dad decided to tell me my mom was right . That I have school tomorrow. I started to laugh because I told my dad this. But they don’t listen to me. I think it because I’m young and they think they are right 90% of the time.

But the thing was that it remind me of when my mother tried to changed how her room. She wanted to me to rotate her bed 90 degrees. I thought to myself I’m going to die. The bed weighted like a truck. That day I want to stay in my room. But She keep call my name like a song “La La La La La La”. She didn’t think about how she going to open her closet; or where she going to put her T.V. Her bed was bigger than my room. I started to tell her that it would not work (but everyone know that it going to be a verbal argument).  
“Mom the bed is not going to fit when I rotate it because you're not going to get into your closet. I don’t think this is a good idea maybe you should leave it how it is.”  I told my mom. She looked that me “You're just saying that because you don’t want to move it.”  She relied
“ I would a meant that I don’t want to more it but if I more the bed it’s really not going to fit and If I rotate it you can’t tell me that we should move it back! I not going to do all of that .” I said nicely
“Well ok then when your dad comes he going to more it how I want it and I will see with my eyes if it fit or not.” She said looking that me like I’m just saying it because I don’t want to do it. But I really was telling the truth. Then thought I don’t want to do something I will always tell you the truth about the problem you have.

Descriptive Essay, Half as Long Twice as Bright

Posted by Charles Matthews in English 2 - Block on
​ “Dude, have you no morals?” Tiffany whined.

“Morals? What’s that.” I teased.

“Please hurry, your crotch is in my face.” Alex complained as I finally hauled myself atop the one story roof using my brother Alex as a step ladder.



It was a typical Summer day, with a clear blue sky that you could get lost staring up at, sun cranked up on 10, giving everything a heavenly glow, kids screaming, birds chirping a perfect day to laze about and waste away the day doing nothing at all, or so I thought. But then, came the boredom, it snuck into my house, creeped into my room, slithered it’s way into my bed, and set into my bones. It woke me, a 15 year old kid with a thing for getting into trouble, out of a peaceful dream of jetpack kittens and squirrels with eye lasers fighting over muffins. Looking around my cluttered room of chinese takeout and countless half full bottles of water it took me a moment to register that I was still clutching my playstation controller while my character on screen sat idle fidgeting impatiently through the night, waiting for me to steer him onwards to fantastical adventures. As I got up to give the console some much needed rest after staying on all night I stumbled over my older brother Alex, who was buried beneath a combination of clothes covers. The moments interruption gave me enough time to forget completely what I got up for in the first place , and following a very well trodden path through the hazards of my room from my bed to the door, I staggered my way to the bathroom instead. Yup,  just another summer morning.



One shower and two bowls of frosted flakes later I was lounging on the couch polishing off my third bowl of cereal watching Adventure Time reruns waiting for something spectacular to happen that would save me from my lethargic lifestyle I had taken up over the summer when Alex shuffled into the living room with sleep and exhaustion graffitied all over him. “Take your phone man, its been ringing for like 5 goddamn hours” with the flick of a wrist he threw it at me, caught off guard I watched it sail right into my milky bowl of frosted flakes. “Score!” Alex called over his shoulder as he walked off to the bathroom. In a panic I quickly scooped my phone out of its soon to be milky grave, and looked at the neglected notifications begging for my attention. Four missed calls and two unread text. Just as I was getting ready to read my waiting text another call popped up. It was Tiffany calling for what I assumed  was the fifth time, holding my phone at a distance because it was still wet from milk I answered the call. She was talking before the connection was even made , when i answered it was as if she were in the middle of a conversation with me “ . . . so now I’m on my way to your house so get dressed ya bum, kay thanks bye” Click. Being de-sanitized to her hyperactiveness at this point nonchalance, I wiped the phone off on my pants, threw it back down on the couch and went back to watching the misadventures of Finn and Jake knowing that things were about to get loud with Tiffany on her way.
Just like clockwork Tiffany came exploding through the door. Tiffany’s a petite girl being about 5” 4’ her head is adorned with shoulder length black hair that compliments her caramel colored skin with the barest hint of a pout on her lips she always seems to be giggling to herself, smiling to whatever she may be seeing in her head. With soft curves on her thin frame she bounces around with a grace of a ballerina and practically  radiates smiles, rainbows, and energy. Sometimes I think she lives life in fast-forward. Again she was talking as if we were having a conversation prior to her invading my house.

“ . . . cause then we wouldn’t have anything to do so I came over as fast as i can.” she babbled on

“You can’t keep coming in without knocking like you live here, I’m afraid I’ll be forced to call the police next time.”

“and you can’t keep leaving your door unlocked, thats a safety hazard mister.” She said decisively

I was preparing a witty retort when I realized she had me beat, either that or I was too lazy to carry on this losing verbal battle.
“So what brings you here?” I said quickly changing the subject not wanting to dwell on my lost
“Didn’t I tell you, it’s summer let’s go wreak havoc on the town come on get up get up.”
She said emphasizing her point by try to pull me off the couch, but I was a beached whale. Giving up she asked “Where’s Alex” Still watching tv I said “In his room doing his morning ritual of smashing baby seals, so don’t disturb--” with those final words I turned my attention back towards Tiffany only to realize she was already gone. “him. . .”

“Call the asylum Charles, Tiffany escaped again.”

“Har Har, I should be calling the cops on you, did you see the state of your room? I thought you guys were gonna clean up after the party. I told you i should have stayed where’s mom I need to say hi to her. Hey you think . . .”
On and on she went but at this point I learned to tune her out because if you listened all the time, I’m pretty sure your ears would explode from the sheer amount of things she says.
“Dude what are you doing still sitting there, get dressed, we have summer memories to makes.”
The house was trashed and my favorite tv show was going off, with the stale heated air suffocating me I decided that I didn’t have anything to lose by going outside
I went back to my room and picked up the first outfit that happen to be on the floor before me. I ending up rockin’ out in my purple skinnies, purple and grey vans, grey shirt, and my favorite Decepticons snapback (swag).
Stepping out of my room I turned to Alex and Tiffany and, breaking the dramatic silence as we quitely assessed one anothers outfits, I said, “In the words of Trey Songz himself ‘Leggo.’”



To this day I don’t know what lead us to the church. Maybe it was the way it demanded attention amongst the tiny row homes of Southwest, or maybe it was simply the big cheese himself beckoning us to his flock whatever the case one uneventful Summer me, Alex and Tiffany found ourselves standing in the shadow of this sleeping giant with a most perplexing question. The church looms over 56th and Chester and is long abandoned, it’s a old style cathedral church so its grey brick by brick design looks more like Dracula’s castle than a place for religion. It has an  eerie feel to it being the tallest structure surrounded by row-homes and corner stores and you can tell it has history just by looking at it. It has one lone bell tower that seems to piece the heaven’s itself and i gigantic faded red mahogony door that is impossibly huge for anything short of a giant to make use of. Upon closer inspection a tinier door is cut out of if making the larger one more for show than convience. The plan was easy, que spy music, we would circle around to the low roof around back of the church. Alex, being the strongest, would lift me, being the lightest/ I called dibs, onto the roof, from there I would slip in one of the many windows and open the door from the inside. Simple.




Let’s take a step back, ok? Let’s address the elephant in the room. Here we have 3 teens breaking into an abandoned church, just for the hell of it. Not only does this sound like the setting for a cheesy horror film, but it also just sounds wrong on paper. People may think that because we’re breaking into a house of holiness that were desecrating his almighty sanctuary, but i disagree, we aren’t being deviants, we aren’t spitting in the face of religion we’re simply doing it because we’re young and reckless. We have a saying my friends and I and its half as long, twice as bright. I want no regrets when I get older, I don’t want any ‘what if’s in my retirement I’ll do it all now and let God or whoever’s up there waiting for me sort it all out for me, but I won’t let doubts and worries hold me back from having a good time. Memories aren’t waiting to be stumbled upon, you have to go out and make them. Live life to the fullest and disregard everybody else, because at the end of the day you’re all you got in this world. Anyways, enough of that back to the task at hand.




4 attempts later and I had successfully gotten on the roof. Surprisingly it was pretty clustered, frisbees and nerf footballs from games that would be never finished. A baseball here some shoes there, reminded me of our room and i felt right at home. “Before my bedtime please.” Alex yelled from below, reminding me of my mission. I eyed the stain glass window, it was easily 3 times as high as me, square at the bottom, rounded off at the top much like a archway. On it, it showed Jesus arms out eyes clothes looking down as if deep in thought behind him was a shining light and he seemed to be coming out of it above his bowed head along the arch were the words “All are welcome, Come in” Well there was our invitation at this point being on the roof where the sun was baking all the debris like cookies in a oven I wanted to get in right away luckily for me the stain glass had a smaller push out window at the bottom that i suppose they used when the heat got to be to much. I reached down for the silver handle and gave it a pull . . . then a push. None of which opened the thing frustrated or maybe just heat crazed I lashed out and kicked it, in it’s self-defense a cloud of ancient dust plumed up and attacked my face going straight for my throat and eyes. After much hacking and cough i triumphed over the evil dust  spirit and regaining my composure I looked down and to my surprise the window was open ever so slightly. So I finished the job and pushed with all my might against the cold long forgotten glass caking my hands in dust and grime. “Hey I got it open!” I reported to the wolf pack eagerly waiting below for me to open the door. “Are you telling me this whole time you weren’t even inside?” Alex said with genuine shock in his voice. I ignored the slew of snide comments and slipped inside.




The church was unlike anything I’d ever seen before. I mean I’ve been to plenty of churches in my day but none were as majestic as this one. The absence of people allowed to me to really take the how huge the place really was. I felt like an ant on a basketball court in comparison, The silence was deafening, my footsteps echoed so loudly that I made a conscious effort to make less noise as to not disturb the silence  the main voyeur had stained glass windows all along the room so even though there was no electricity the room was bright from sunlight alone, the floor was all marble, with a dusty burgundy  carpet running between the clustered pews which were split evenly down the middle. The ceiling was what seemed like miles above me with a detailed portrait of what i suppose was the garden of eden where it showed lions and elephants all living in harmony, it was all a lot to take in and i felt like an intruder in this garden of eden of its very own.



Looking around I spotted the the grand faded red doors, though it was deteriorating before my very eyes, it clearly stood the test of time as it was the only barrier stopping my ragtag band of friends from seizing our new castle. I quickly spotted the culprit of our trouble, a simple bolt lock  running through a rusted iron loop keeping the doors from opening. With some effort I managed to undue the last guardian of the abandoned church and swung the ancient door open. I shielded my eyes from the blinding light of outside. Suddenly, the outside world was ugly to me, it was too bright, too loud, too chaotic, looking back inside the quite church untouched by what seemed like man and time, I felt like i was betraying my new silent friend, i felt like i was about to destroy a very delicate world. I had thoughts about closing the door and living in it’s peaceful silence forever. . . nah who am i kidding, forevers a long time and I’m only 15, shaking off what seemed like hypnoses from the church itself I called over Alex and Tiffany and couldn’t help but laugh at their expressions as their mouths hung in disbelief at our new playground.

“Can you say Halloween party?” Alex said.
“Hell yea . . .”