I stood at the window, poking my head out. Clueless as to the horrors about to take place. Observing the environment around my house. Looking up and down. I locked the door, slowly dragging my body up the stairs. I made my way into my bed and kissed my wife on the cheek. She slept so soundly, like a kitten. I laid my head down on the pillow.

I woke up and yawned. I could feel my heavy bladder. I walked down the dark hallway. What was that weird smell? Leaky pipe? Spilled hairspray? It had a strong metallic scent.  I walked into the bathroom and struggled to flip the light switch on, and took a piss. I approached the sink and scrubbed my hands. What was that smell? Was it me? I squeezed out more soap and scrubbed harder just to be sure, applying some deodorant as well. I hurried back to my bed and laid down. Why am I all wet? My pants were drenched with something, the smell had also gotten a lot stronger now. I got up from my bed and turned on my lamp.

I turned around and dropped to my knees. The tears instantly came running down my face. My wife. MY WIFE. I grabbed her hand, it was covered in blood. Everything was covered in blood. I stood up and looked for my phone. Where did I put my god damn phone? I ran down the steps and to the kitchen. Sweat was dripping down from every part of my body. I tried to pick up the landline, but I couldn’t grasp it. What was that noise? Sirens? I ran to the window. Red and blue violently bled into my kitchen, blinding me before I even opened the curtain. I put my eye up to the fabric and peeked through a small opening. Police surrounded my home. Who called the police? I took a deep breath and walked out the door. The men saw the blood on me, pointing their firearms at me in response. They approached me as I yelled. “ I didn’t do it”.

They wrapped the cold cuffs around my wrist as shock ran down my body. I was shoved in the back of the police car.

As I sit in this dark cell, I dread that night. Every second of it, but I can’t forget it. I’m alone and as clueless as I was when this all started.

Kutner, Max. Newsweek, Theres New Research on TV Binges and Depression. Published January 29, 2015. Accessed April 18, 2018. http://www.newsweek.com/if-you-just-binge-watched-house-cards-youre-probably-depressed-302842 (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

https://www.wevideo.com/view/1050040659

I tried to walk, but I couldn’t move. My arms and legs froze. I couldn’t feel anything. Thoughts racing through my head. I tried to breathe. Nothing came. I tried again. And again. The air slowly eased its way into my lungs. My body started to slowly come back. My mind as well.

Then I was aware of where I was, standing in the middle of the hallway. Supposed to be on my way to my 9th grade History. What had just happened? I felt my entire life flash before my eyes. I continued walking down the hall until I made it to my seat. I inched my head onto the desk. In that moment I couldn’t stand. My body was weak and tired. My legs shook. What just happened?

Eventually, I came to understand that I had an anxiety attack. Not my finest moment. Didn’t realize what it was  until I was told by my parents weeks later. My whole life got to my head. School, family, friends. Everything. Everyone always says the things you care about the most will hurt you. To be specific, what affected me so much was the constant changes in my daily life. In school I would be on track one minute, then the next I would miss a major assignment. Family is just too complicated to keep up with. Friends’ drama makes me want to never talk to them again. I wonder what it would be like to leave all those things behind. Throw it all away, and focus on myself. All of these things try to define me, and determine what I am supposed to be. How do they know who I am supposed to be if I don’t even know who that is?

Determining who I am is extremely important. I feel hellish heats roll over me when someone tries to tell me who I am, and tries to show me who I should be. Nitpick at me like some kind of play doll. Well guess what buddy, I’m not. This is my life. No one else's.

I remember sitting there. Hearing the loud voices in my ears. Not knowing what they were saying. Not realizing who was saying what. Until I found myself sitting in my bed regretting everything. Slamming my hand back and forth. Making little dents on my wall. Thinking about what just happened over and over again. I need to get my life together? What is wrong with me? My life? I am really that bad of a son? That bad of a person? Who are you to tell me any of that? Who is anyone to tell me? I am who I am. Deal with it. Instead of trying to improve myself for later, I just make it worse by resenting everyone and everything..

Everything may seem fairly confusing. I know it may not be making a lot of sense. Trust me, sometimes it doesn’t make sense to me. It’s hard to walk through life not knowing who you are, what you are going to do, and how you are supposed to turn out. It really doesn't help when you have everyone around telling you who you are, what you are going to do, and how you are supposed to turn out. They have to make it as difficult as possible for you to make a decision for yourself. What if I don’t want to do what you tell me to? What if I want to do my own thing?

They say because you care about them you have to stand down and listen to them. I can’t just do that.

I couldn’t do that for anyone. Including my friend from middle school. He wanted me do what he told me, and I had to be who he wanted me to be. Except he moved away. When he left. I didn’t know what to do. I worshipped him. He was like a brother to me. I fell apart at first. Didn’t think I’d ever have another friend again. I tried to talk to him as much as I possibly could. Fell into a rut in the process. I didn’t talk to anyone else. Didn’t socialize. My friend ruined my life.

Eventually I had to move past the fact that he moved to the other side of the country. At this point I was completely introverted, and didn’t see the point. I was ready to live out the rest of my life like this. Until I found a new group of friends. Kids that didn’t care who I was. Guys that will treat like an equal. So, I stayed in that friend group. We hang out everyday. I noticed a significant change in myself. I wasn’t afraid to do what I wanted to do. Didn’t have to listen to my friends. It was all me.

The summer before 10th grade my old friend came to visit, and check in. He came over and we hung out for a while. Did some stuff we used to do. He seemed to have changed. He was a kinder person than he was before. I was happy for him. I had the feeling that he found what he was looking for in life. Just wish I could do the same.

The last day he was here, we took a walk to his old house. The air was warm, and sweat poured down my face. We walked for hours. Until finally he was picked up by his parents because he had to catch his plane. We said our goodbyes. It was funny actually. The last thing he said to me made me laugh. He said, “Lose my number, I don’t like the person you’ve become”. The engine of the car slowly turned out, and drove away. Blowing all the dust in my face. I stood there. Couldn’t feel my legs, my arms were motionless. My breath slowly came out. All of a sudden I started to laugh. I couldn’t stop. I fell to the ground. What had just happened? I remember thinking that after almost three years of growth, I still am being told what I am doing wrong. People telling me who I am supposed to be. I thought my friend had changed. Had grown into a new and better person, just like I had.

Nowadays. I couldn’t care less about that kid. Don’t even consider him a friend. I haven’t spoken to him in a good year. I get the occasional text from him asking how I am, but I never reply. Friends and Family are an important element of finding who I am supposed to be. However, their job is to support me. They shouldn’t judge me. Family and friends will almost always be there, but if they cannot stand back and let me choose then I don’t want them there.

I have no clue who I wanna be. The kinda person I want to grow into or the kind of life I want to pursue. Just because I don’t know doesn’t mean it should be handed to me. If you don’t like how I act or talk then don’t talk to me. Or like my old friend, move all the way across the country. Doesn’t matter who I am as long as I’m the person I was meant to be.

Nerd culture involves so many different elements including video games, comics, and internet memes. These things are often times bashed on by individuals who believe that they  are “dumb” or they call the people “losers”. However, they may just be blind to see what nerd culture really does for the world.  In fact, nerd culture has a positive impact on nerds and the people around them because it helps them find an enjoyable place in the world where they can thrive.

A typical form of nerd culture that has been popular ever since the early 50’s and 60’s is comics. Some adults see reading comics as a  waste of time, but according to Scholastic, a publishing and education company, comics are extremely beneficial to children. Most children are visual learners, and it helps to see pictures that match the words. If most kids are visual learners then comics should help them with most of their studies. On the parents section of Scholastic website, the writer mentioned that a lot of plays from Shakespeare have a comic version. Children could learn about the importance and essence of a Shakespeare play without having to deal with the difficult language in the original play. This will slowly introduce the children to the topics, and as they become older they will have knowledge of Shakespeare.

Another very cliche model of the nerd culture is video games. People have made many different accusations about video games, one is that they are very unhealthy. A study done by Texas A&M University has given some insight on how video games help with stress management and lowers the chances of someone developing depression. The study involved 103 students that were all given a frustrating assignment, then they were randomized to either play a violent of nonviolent video game. The results of the study suggested that someone that plays a lot of violent games will become less hostile with something called mood management. Mood management is the consumption of some entertainment has the possibility of altering someone's mood. This suggests that  video games release all of the stress that an individual is holding in. The video games acts as some sort of escape from reality. Somewhere an individual can go to do whatever they want. Although some games may be extremely graphic or horrifying to some, it may actually help others go through life with a smile on their face because it releases negative feelings instead of encouraging them.

Internet memes are especially popular among the gaming community. Meme’s are definitely frowned on by many, and are often seen as insensitive and rude. People can be both of those things, it depends on what kind of person they are. Memes can help some people with issues they have with the world or even themselves. Motherboard, a website published by Vice, wrote an article about popular memes and Facebook thread about the recent Irma issue. A line from the article reads, “As the impending disaster barrels down on the southern shores of the US, residents are turning to an unlikely source for comfort: ironic event pages.” this shows that memes can help. While everyones houses and neighborhoods are being a torn apart by Irma, they feel sad and helpless. They cannot do anything to stop what is happening. It’s out of their control. What they can do, is laugh. Laughter helps when all they can do is hope for the best.  Notice the word “ironic”. The people are not laughing because they actually think that the disasters are actually funny, they are laughing to numb the pain. They would rather find comfort in laughter then sit in a laughless room where all everyone is doing is worrying.

If people who dislike comics stopped to think about it, they would realize that nerd culture is not just about being a loser who reads comics, plays dumb games, and looks at unfunny internet memes, but has a deeper affect and positive benefit on people. Nerd culture has a beneficial effect on the world, it educates our children, helps release stress, and helps many individuals numb their pain with laughs.

Hola mi llamo Mateo y vivo en Roxborough. He vivido allí toda mi vida. Siempre que pienso en ello, pienso en los parques. Me gusta el paisaje en Roxborough, pero algunas de las personas podría ser mejor. Eso es realmente yo cambio. Me gusta vivir allí. Roxborough tiene lugares para todos siglos. Restaurantes para mamá y papá. Parques para  los niños.

Yo pinté mi mural bajo el puente de la avenida Henry. Es un muy  grande espacio. El espacio no es ese espacio público, pero hay mucha gente que camina bajo el puente que puede ver mi obra de arte. Hay un sendero que está debajo del puente. El sendero entra en un bosque. Eso es en algún lugar que no vería un mural. La idea es diferente. Mi mural también atrajo a mucha gente al bosque ya los senderos. La gente querrá caminar y admirar mi trabajo.

Mi mural va a ser muy grande. La palabra "fraternidad".  Yo pinté uso la colores, azul y rojo y blanco. Yo escoger los colores porque ellos son los colores ese represente Filadelfia. Los colores de los Filadelfia Filis. He añadido un borde alrededor de las letras. El borde represente un seguridad en Roxborough. Roxborough se siente como una pequeña isla. Hay dos personas en el mural. Uno es mirando abajo y El otro está mirando para arriba. Esto muestra la fiabilidad.

Mi graffiti es un mural. Es presente a la comunidad y representa la comunidad. Debe ser un símbolo en mi comunidad en la vida real.

Matt Reed

Soy Yo

Mis raíces vienen de Irlanda

Pero yo vivo en Filadelfia  

Muchos creen que yo soy blanco

Pero yo soy  Irlandés en Filadelfia

Eso es mi verdad

Veo el verde de los Phillies

Oigo el tintineo del vidrio

Saboreo las papas mullidas

Toco el trébol pequeño

Huelo estofado

Irlandés trabajan todo el día

trabajamos con las papas

O días largos en la fábrica

Luego nosotros volvemos a casa a nuestros familias

Somos productos de Filadelfia

Pero somos descendientes de Irlandés

Filadelfia es un lugar de historía y amor

Somos como comida buena

Caminamos abajo de calles históricas

Vimos un ciudad de amor fraternal

Yo soy de Irlanda en Filadelfia

We watched Digital Nation, it was about the internet. The show gave stories on both sides of the internet, people who dislike it and people who enjoy it. The most memorable thing about this show was when the boy, Ryan, was cyber bullied. He ended committing suicide. This really just made me think about how dangerous the internet can be. It is important to watch shows like this so you don't just feel one way about the internet. Yes, the internet may be a scary place, but it can also be a place to play games and get helpful information. Talking to your parents is very important because they can keep you from the scary depths of the internet. For the parents that don't know how to keep their kids safe, I have some advice for you. Monitor your childrens activities, but don't tell them.

I really believe that my slide represents me as a person. It also does a good job of representing my Me Magazine. The key element of my Me Magazine is to show how I kept going no matter what I felt and went through. When I wrote “Don’t be afraid to show your true self” in my slide, I meant that people can not be afraid of showing how they truly act. People sometimes feel like they cannot be true to their real identity, when surrounded by their peers. So, my slide is to show people that is okay to let out their true identity. My picture is also supposed to prove a big point in my slide. The “skull” in the picture is supposed to be me. This is a metaphor for how  I let everyone see what is under my act I put on. I put on this act because I was afraid letting people see me. You may notice how you can only see half of the “skull”. This is because I wanted to represent me coming out from behind a wall blocking me from the outside world. I wanted to show you how I came to be the way I am today, by stepping out from behind the wall. I tried to keep my slide very simple like I learned on the website I visited (http://www.garrreynolds.com/preso-tips/design/).

​1. We watched the video about Jack and him getting bullied. Then we had to search ourselves on Google, and respond to the information/pictures we found.

2. This video reminds me of my childhood, and how I got bullied a lot. They made me feel really bad.

3. I really don't make that big of an effect online.  I really just go on YouTube and a lot of Social Media.

4. When people look at my Facebook, they may think I'm sweet boy that loves my family.

5. The goal of internet trolls is to make others feel bad. They want to get a laugh out of others pain, even if it was a joke.