WINNING ORATIONS

2006

2TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE FINALISTS HAPPILY EVER LAUGHTER………………………...………….(First Place)………….......……...3-7

By Kaitlin Blevins, Gilmour Academy DANCING THE ‘O’ BACK INTO ‘O’O………….………………(Second Place)….………….......8-12

By Michael Korte, Centerville High School SOFT HABITS……………………………..……………………….(Third Place)….….………........13-17

By Erin Bell, Gilmour Academy OPPORTUNITY GOES BANG……..……………………………..(Fourth Place)…..………....….18-21

By Jacob Mercer, Oberlin High School THE WORLD’S A STAGE…………….…………………………..(Fifth Place)…...............…...…22-26

By Shalini Goyal, Mason High School DANCE DANCE REVOLUTION…………………………………(Sixth Place)…………..………….27-31

By Heather Kay Merriman, Jackson High School SEMI-FINALISTS

(In alphabetical order) KRYPTONITE KOMPLEX………….………………………………………………………….…..32-36

By Melissa Cyperski, Jackson High School

STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS …………………………………………..…...37-40 By Makeda Farley, Shaker Heights High School

TODDLER LESSON FOR LIFE….…………….……………………………...….…… ….………41-45

By Lauren Fiorucci, St. Peter Chanel High School

I WANT MY MOMMY. .…………………………………….………….………….….… …..…….46-50 By Patrick Hewitt, John F. Kennedy Catholic High School

WHAT IS THE POINT? …………………………………………………………………………. ...51-55

By Vickey McBride, Ursuline High School I JUST WANTED TO WRITE THE PERFECT SPEECH ………………………………….…...56-59

By Amber Phelps, Chaney High School

The orations presented herein have been printed as written; they have not been changed to correct any grammar, spelling or punctuation errors. The Ohio High School Speech League does not claim responsibility for such errors nor does it attempt to verify the facts presented in the orations. ©2006 The Ohio High School Speech League

HAPPILY EVER LAUGHTER

Kaitlin Blevins, Gilmour Academy

“Ciao-èmerviglioso finalmente per incontrarla. Lei ha una bella casa.” Yeah… That’s

what I wanted to say. But of course, with all of my social graces – what did I say? “Realmente

amo abbracciarlo. È troppo difettoso che amate il bestiality così tanto...” Meeting the matriarch

of great Italian boyfriend’s family was not exactly going like I had hoped. There I was, sitting

with his family for the first time and instead of telling his adorable little grandmother that it was

wonderful to meet her and compliment her on her beautiful home, I had instead said how much I

loved embracing her and, as I was later informed, made some kind of sexual innuendo involving

her and some livestock. I don’t have a great Italian boyfriend anymore, but I did learn an

important lesson as I was running from his cute stucco cottage, dodging terra cotta and dried

garlic – I learned to laugh…even if it was at myself.

“Laughter,” wrote poet Galway Kinnell, “is our stuttering in a language we cannot yet

speak.” As a chronic laughter – I find this idea immensely appealing and I would certainly

prefer it to Italian, but perhaps laughter is even more valuable than a form of communication.

And if laughter truly is the “shortest distance between two people” as author Victor Borge,

Danish pianist and humorist suggests, then we must delve into the reasons that have caused our

giggles to become so quiet. Next we need to understand why we should shift our priorities and

begin to take laughter seriously, rather than ourselves. Finally, we must lean back, kick off our

shoes and remember how to have a good laugh, because goodness knows you cannot have a

good laugh in constraining footwear.

With all of the terrifying creations in the world: death, disease, Richard Simmons, who

would have though that laughter would join that list? Laughter has indeed become something to

4be feared – not wanting to be seen as young or juvenile, many adults, or teens for that matter,

are afraid to laugh with the reckless abandon that they did as children. The problem is that we are

connecting laughter to immaturity, which conveys a negative, irresponsible image. The affects of

which can be seen anywhere from the melancholy attitudes of the business world to the

entertainment industry where it has been 12 years since a comedic film won Best Picture at the

Academy Awards. But the fear of laughter delves much better than just an unwanted association

with immaturity, according to laughter expert Dr. Annette Goodheart, “People who are teased as

children are terrified of laughter – their own as well as other people’s. They were laughed at so

much that they now react negatively to laughter as though it was always aimed at them.” Even

though we may be hesitant to relive those days, we have all fallen victim to teasing at some point

or another and perhaps that paranoia persists within us all and when we hear other person

laughing we hesitate for a second to make sure that it could not be at us.

So now that we have touched on a fear of laughter it is important to remember why it

should be so cherished. In fact, numerous studies have recently been released attesting to the

health benefits of laughter. First, and perhaps most importantly, as James Kalat points out in his

book “Synapses, Drugs and Behavior,” when we laugh our brain releases endorphins that are

connected to the same receptors that opiate drugs target to relieve stress, so in essence laughing

is like taking opium, only you don’t wake up naked and in bed with Lord Byron, English

Romantic poet after laughing. In addition, Kalat states that laughter has been proven to fight off

colds, increase blood circulation and relieve stress. And perhaps my own personal favorite,

according to a 2002 article by author Maggie Scott-Weathers, “researchers estimate that laughing

100 times is the equivalent to fifteen minutes on an exercise bike.” Yet, with people such as

5Roseanne Bar and John Goodman in the world, perhaps they need to verify that statistic. It is,

however, an encouraging thought.

Now, taking laughter seriously may sound rather oxymoronic, but the numerous health

benefits connected to laughter are undeniable and a life without laughter is something that we

should be taking very seriously. I am not suggesting that we use laughter as a way of hiding from

problems but perhaps as a means to embrace them. Laughter expert Annette Goodheart agrees

and refers to the master of comedy, Charlie Chaplin, actor called "the funniest man in the world",

as a perfect example. In one of his most beloved skits he played a once wealthy man who, due to

a spout of bad luck, was starving to death. So in a final act of desperation, he ate his shoe in the

most elegant fashion imaginable. Goodheart suggests that “we are all a little like that starving

man. At some point we realize that the pretending, posturing and posing doesn’t work. We make

mistakes, we fall short, we don’t meet those expectations.” But through laughter we have the

ability to turn our mistakes into a positive connection by sharing our embarrassing moments with

others and finding the strength to laugh at them. It is then exposed that nobody is perfect and that

can be a marvelously therapeutic thing. So we cannot continue to fear or be embarrassed to

participate in a behavior that unites us as people, we instead must learn how to shed our serious

exterior and embrace our imperfect interiors.

Perhaps psychologist William James, American philosopher put it best: “We don’t laugh

because we’re happy, we are happy because we laugh.” Laughter isn’t derived from happiness, it

comes from tension, stress, and pain – if we are able to laugh at our mistakes and sometimes

even our own misfortune then we will be able to take the next essential step and stop taking

ourselves so seriously. In order to make this change, we first must remember the basis of

laughter and accept the fact that 3we all don’t have to agree on what’s funny. As Dr. Annette

6Goodheart states, “Laughter doesn’t need a reason, in fact, laughter is unreasonable, illogical,

and irrational.” Once we accept that we shouldn’t mind if we are laughing all on our own, we

have to get into the swing of things again and practice a bit. I tend to guffaw when I laugh,

occasionally there’s a little snort thrown in and sometimes I squeak. I know these things because

I laugh quite a lot, even when I’m alone. Since there is so much embarrassment associated with

laughing riotously in public, try out on your own at first; chuckle privately. You could laugh at

those giant, obese, body slamming aliens, also know as Teletubbies ® as my little brother does,

or you could laugh at men in tights, or both, together.

Speaking of men in tights, I still see my ex from time to time for a nice espresso.

Sometimes he brings his darling Italian boyfriend, and we all have a good laugh about the day I

got chased out of his house. It’s become even funnier since his grandmother was arrested for

something indecent with a cow. Alright fine…maybe I’m elaborately a bit…it wasn’t exactly a

cow but after losing my own charming, tight-wearing, espresso-making piece of Italy – I am

entitled to be upset! Now laughter, whether it is at an Italian matriarch or at ourselves, it is

essential to living a happy life. It has often been said that it is the littlest things that end up

mattering the most. So take a small step and learn laugh with complete freedom. No matter how

unusual your laugh may sound or even if you are the only one laughing at all – don’t repress that

overwhelming sense of joy. Because even though we might just be stuttering right now, but with

a whole world full of flamboyant Italians and bestiality involving grandmothers, I don’t think it

will be long before many more of us are fluent in the language of laughter.

7BIBLIOGRAPHY

Kinnell, Galway. The Seakonk Woods. Evert Publishing Concord, NH: 1985. Borge, Victor. Quotations. www.quotationspage.com/quote/26170.html. 8/29/05. Goodheart, Dr. Annette. The Latest in Laughter. www.teehee.com/latest.html. 9/1/05. Kalat, James. Synapses, Drugs and Behavior. Brooks/Cole Press. 1995 Scott-Weathers, Maggie. Laughing Matters. http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/6103/f02/web2.

8/24/05. James, William. Quotations. www.brainyquotes.com/quotes/williamjam157186.html. 8/26/05.

8DANCING THE ‘O’ BACK INTO ‘O’O

Michael Korte, Centerville HS

Arrrrriba! (Macarena dance moves…)

...I know what you’re thinking...chubby boy just cha-chaed his way to a 6, right?

Consider this-I was just trying to be original. When was the last time you saw someone turn the

Macarena into a line dance or a ballet routine?

Ok, ok, I’ll be the first to admit that was probably more outlandish than original, but at

least I tried doing something different. It’s no secret that if you want to amount to anything these

days you are forced to out sing, out jog, out run, out score, out think, out earn, out last, out love,

out wit, out play, out dance, and out speak everyone else. Let’s face it folks, with all these

expectations, being original is not as easy as it used to be…or is it?

No, No-I haven’t forgotten my speech, I just thought it would be more unique to present

the rest of my speech over here…ok judge, don’t have an anxiety attack… I’m just stepping

outside the oratorical box.

Could I please hear a thunderous oratory ‘amen’ from all of you who are sick and tired of

always having to be more thought provoking and innovative than the previous speaker? Sadly, it

was even suggested to me by members of the speech community that finding a truly original topic

on which to write my speech would actually be impossible.

However, I decided I could not accept that being original was impossible so I knew then

that I would have to take a risk. I vowed that I would do whatever I could to overcome the ‘play-

it-safers,’ even create my own original dance, if necessary, and permanently dance the O back

into OO.

Let’s take our cue from Grammy winning singer Pink, who claims, “If God is a DJ, Life is

a dance floor.”

9Today, Ladies and gentlemen I invite you to take my hand and dance with me as we

bring originality back to the dance floor of life, …I promise you won’t have to see twinkle toes

here try to re-invent the Macarena, but we will, first, swing straight into the cause of this problem,

second, waltz through the effects of this epidemic before finally learning the choreography to a

new dance- that will help to restore originality.

Feel free to join in; I call it the conformity-gesture dance. All right, as absurd as that is, it

is a demonstration of just one of the many causes of this massive obliteration of originality,

conformity. In this wonderful world of original oratory the delivery style which you and I have

accepted makes us all guilty of conformity…not only because we all gesture, but because we all

gesture the same way. In reality, is this truly how we speak outside of competition? “Oh my

gosh, Becky, is that a zit?”…No

Admit it; we will do just about anything to be just like everyone else. We’ll look that

look, or dance that dance, as long as it’s accepted by the group we’re facing. Even those who

say that they have never conformed and strive to be different eventually conform to groups of

nonconformists that are conforming by their nonconformity as they group together

unconformingly to…ok, I think you get it. Point being-the true individual seems to no longer

exist. Too many of us are settling for mere imitation and in turn are losing our own identity.

Celebrated American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson, reminded us of the importance of

being true to ourselves when he penned, “Insist on yourself…because, …imitation is suicide”.

OK, let me try something unorthodox, um will you please stand up, and help me deliver

my next point; you might need to dance a little…. Sweetheart it takes two to tango... Ok, you

pass- so tradition dictates that you can’t get up out of your seat while someone is speaking-so

what’s my point? Well, if someone came up to you and asked you to dance, what would you do?

10Most likely, nothing, because many of us are too afraid to take a risk. Too often we opt to just

sit against the wall and watch others dance, afraid to take that initial step, because we are too

worried about what others might think about us.

Understand that originality, at its core, is risk taking. Taking a risk does not necessarily

mean doing something absolutely insane. Maybe for you it means, simply ordering something

new in the cafeteria or telling that guy in your last round that his speech wasn’t the only thing

you liked about him. Or maybe it’s simply trying to be more accepting of the ‘eccentric’ dancers

on life’s dance floor. The important thing is to take a chance and not let fear prevent you from

trying. American novelist Herman Melville echoed this mentality when he said, “It is better to

fail in originality than to succeed in imitation”

One of the most obvious examples of this fear of risk-taking is the current state of our

film industry. Think back-the summer’s most anticipated films all had one thing in common-they

were all based on existing stories. War of the Worlds, The Fantastic Four, Batman Begins,

Bewitched, The Dukes of Hazard, The Honeymooners, Bad News Bears, Herbie: Fully Loaded,

and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory were all old books, TV shows, or movies. Acknowledging

this trend, I have already have pre-ordered tickets for Jaws 19, Rocky 27, and Back to the Future

part 36 ½. Joking aside, the film industry is thriving, making billions of dollars because we as

movie-goers are enabling the cycle to continue.

Even more disturbing, is the fact that more and more teenagers across America are also

falling victim to this reflux of redo. IReasearch.com recently conducted a survey of The Who's

Who Among American High School Students, and found that ‘80 percent’ of these scholars

admitted to plagiarizing on more than on occasion during high school. With this plethora of

11plagiarism we run the risk of losing our ability to formulate original thoughts, and express

ourselves creatively. However-I still believe there is hope.

So, follow my lead; together let’s start a new dance revolution. Understand it was

necessary for me to take a risk today, in order to express my passion for creativity and

originality. But remember what renowned American art critic Clement Greenberg once told us,

“All profoundly original work looks ugly at first!”

Learning the choreography to help us truly participate in the dance of life is simple. We

start by broadening our perspective, re-discovering what it means to “be ourselves” and

embracing the risk-taker we all have hidden inside.

So why wait? How sad would it be to go through life no knowing what could have been?

In the course of my research, I stumbled across an epitaph of an Anglican Bishop laid to rest in

1100 AD. The epitaph read, ‘When I was young and free and my imagination had no limits, I

dreamed of changing the world. As I grew older and wiser I realized the world was not going to

change so I shortened my sights, to my country, my family, but alas, they would have none of it.

And now, as I lay on my deathbed I realize, if I would have only changed myself first, then in

turn I would have changed the world”

What if someone had told the Wright Brothers, to leave the sky to the birds, told Thomas

Edison that candlelight was sufficient, or told Martin Luther King that he should not have been

such a dreamer? We owe it to these risk takers, these innovators, and these patrons of originality

to keep dreaming, and to keep taking risks.

If you are permanently attached to the gesture-conformity dance, try putting those hands

to a different use and learn to embrace those who cannot hear the music, but can still dance.

12So dance…. Take risks. Try something different. Dare to make a mistake. Express

yourself, and most importantly be yourself. Find that old box of crayons and color wildly outside

the lines, buy tickets to go see that out of the ordinary independent film, and dare to dance for

once in your life like no one is watching.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Canfield, Jack. Chicken Soup for the Soul. New York: 1994

"Emerson Quote." 2005 <http://en.thinkexist.com/quotation/imitation_is/13288.html>.

"Greenberg Quote." 2006 <http://www.worldofquotes.com/author/Clement-

Greenberg/1/index.html>.

“Melville Quote." 2005

<http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/h/hermanmelv121186.html>.

"Pink Lyrics." 2003. 2005 <http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/God-Is-a-DJ-lyrics-

Pink/F3FE4C8BCF41D58248256DCE0013CB33>.

"Plagiarism." Plagiarism.Org. 2001. 2005 <http://www.plagiarism.org/faq.html>.

13SOFT HABITS

Erin Bell, Gilmour Academy I get high every day Do crack with my friend Dawn By noon, people can tell—I am fully lit Pretty soon I start to come down And I spend the night blacked out What am I?

The sun. Like the rise and fall of the sun, the urges of addiction ebb and flow throughout

the day, rearing their ugly heads at certain unavoidable points despite our best efforts to kick

them out of our lives for good. Only, when the sun gets high it brings light to the world; whereas,

our addictions will eventually leave us in the dark. Now, don’t think you have to be

intravenously injecting heroin to be considered an addict. You may still be engaging in addictive

behavior in an attempt to make up for the fact that you’re not happy and wasting a lot of time in

the process. The problem is, most of us don’t even know we’re addicted, much less know why.

The challenge is to identify those obnoxious little time-wasting habits, learn a bit about why we

pursue them, and finally take steps toward phasing out our addictions in the hopes of leading

more meaningful lives.

We all know the first step is admitting there’s a problem, so before you decide this theory

doesn’t apply to you, let me describe for you a couple of the common soft habits in which we

non-addicts indulge. First and foremost: food… I’m sure that at some point you personally have

proclaimed “This is so addictive!!” in reference to one goody or another, although I think the

official copyright on the phrase actually belongs to my Aunt Joan. Or maybe it’s not food at all

that’s your problem, maybe you’re addicted to your computer—myspace, aim, bored.com,

hotornot, maybe some old-school Solitaire. I like that game The Sims myself. Shopping,

14gambling, collecting things like it’s your job, tivo-ing each new episode of The OC so that you

can watch it over and over and over again—all soft habits. We use them to make ourselves feel

better.

Pleasurable activities, much like addictive drugs, affect chemical levels in our brains.

There are many chemicals involved in the experience of pleasure, but three of the most important

ones are the neurotransmitters dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine. Engaging in addictive

behavior triggers the release of these feel-good chemicals, altering conditions in your brain so

that you feel happy.

Not surprisingly, it’s mostly the chemical release triggered by addictive drugs that gets us

hooked. These chemicals are also released when you ingest all those not-so-nutritious treats such

as chips, cookies, ice cream…. and CHOCOLATE. In fact, according to the Duke University

experts behind the book Buzzed, if you were to consume 25 pounds of chocolate, the effect on

your brain would be the same as if you smoked a joint of marijuana. Take my advice and don’t

try to prove that one, okay? Anyway, it certainly lends a new degree of legitimacy to the idea of

a chocolate addict.

For many of us this process of making up for undesirable chemical levels in the brain

takes place daily. Why do we need our mood-boosters? Psychology text book author Wayne

Weiten explains that our soft habits grow out of discontent, stating that “…when things are going

poorly in one area of their lives, people may try to compensate by pursuing substitute forms of

satisfaction” (368). So while, say, hours of video games might really be satisfying for you, you

must ask why you feel the need to distract yourself in this way from your reality. Mario and

Luigi may truly be the coolest Italian guys ever, but there comes a point where some living,

breathing, people friends would be more appropriate. Do you rely on your games because real

15life bores you? Are you depressed? Are you dissatisfied with the way you fit into the world?

These are the reasons why we resort to drugs, food, meaningless behaviors. These things don’t

actually fulfill us; they merely provide us with a momentary sense of satisfaction. But to those of

us for whom true happiness has remained elusive, our habits provide a much-needed feeling of

well-being that wouldn’t otherwise be there.

Now perhaps the worst thing about soft habits is that a select few of them have the ability

to mutate—to change into hard habits, the kind of habits that can ruin lives. The case in which

this is most obviously true is in that of drugs and alcohol. In her memoir, entitled Smashed,

Koren Zailckas shows us how the fairly common practice of recreational drinking can evolve

into an all-consuming, life-threatening habit if we’re doing it for desperate reasons.

Koren had her first drink at the age of fourteen. At sixteen her parents had to take her to

get her stomach pumped for the first time after she nearly drank herself into a coma. During

college, the problem only got worse, and one morning Koren woke up naked, in the bed of a

practical stranger, unsure as to whether she was still a virgin. By graduation Koren was drinking

seven nights a week. She was constantly hung over and vomiting, even showing signs of

stomach bleeding. Koren admits that she was drinking to escape inhibition and shyness – to

escape herself, as many of us do. She writes, “It’s my insides I need to hide. Privately, I feel

disfigured. I am ashamed of my gnarled soul,” (42).What happened to Koren can happen to

anyone who ignores serious problems and distracts themselves with their habits.

Now obviously someone who drinks seven nights a week is in worse shape than someone

who, say, avoids their homework for a few hours each night watching trashy TV, but why waste

any time pursuing meaningless habits? No one’s going to head for the grave thinking to

themselves, “Gee, you know, I really wish I’d spent more time smoking pot.” You won’t hit

16ninety and look back with a sigh because you just did not play enough virtual poker. In fact

your thinking will probably be more along the lines of, “If only I hadn’t watched Caddyshack

197 times that year…” You’ll regret the time you’ve wasted indulging your addictions. If you do

the calculations, you’ll realize that consistently wasting just three hours a day will add up to

almost 70,000 hours by the time all is said and done. (That’s assuming you can’t really waste

time before you’re fifteen and you live to the US life expectancy of seventy-seven.) That’s 2,916

days, or just under eight full years of completely wasted life. What if you could get that time

back? What if you could spend it with your family, or learning—honing some skill that could

bring you joy? What if you could spend it saving up and then traveling—something you never

thought you’d have time to do? What if you could spend that time living?

Now we cannot devalue relaxation—there’s a difference between relaxing and wasting

time on soft habits. Wasting time, by my definition, involves repeatedly craving an escape from

your reality. It has to do with engaging in some activity in the hopes that you can make it all just

go away.

Okay, so now that we’ve identified our motives, and the nature of our habits, what steps

can we take toward phasing out our addictions? Psychologist Stephen Gullo has come up with

some amazing tips. First, he tells us to keep in mind that cravings are not permanent. If you’re in

the middle of working on an important assignment and are suddenly struck with the urge to go

watch that I love the 90’s marathon on VH1, don’t give in immediately. The craving should fade

in about four to twelve minutes and definitely won’t last for more than twenty. Get past that little

block and you will have saved yourself hours. Get through enough of those little blocks of

craving and you will slowly kill your addiction to television. Gullo also suggests planning

so that you will have trouble indulging your addiction. If you tend to mindlessly surf the internet

17for hours on end, hire someone to set up web-blocks on the sites you frequent so you literally

can’t give into your cravings. Or make sure you turn your computer off after each use so it takes

more effort to boot everything up and get online.

A final method to beat your soft habits—remember what you want out of life. Consider

whether, in the years to come, you will look back fondly on the time you’ve spent indulging your

addictions. Decide if there is some more meaningful way you could be using your days, then

slowly replace the bad habits with good ones.

In conclusion, if we couple the aforementioned strategies with a support network of

friends, family, maybe even a professional or two, we can start living life addiction-free. Don’t

be fooled into thinking that constant amusement is the equivalent of fulfillment. Don’t take

momentary satisfaction when you could have real happiness. Don’t be ruled by addiction. The

sun might be content to live a life of uncontrollable ups and downs, but you don’t have to be. So

take the reigns. Confront your habits, soft or otherwise, head-on. After all, it’s your life. You

decide how you want to live it.

Works Cited

Gullo, Stephen. Thin Tastes Better. New York: Dell Publishing, 1995.

Kuhn, Ph.D., Cynthia, Scott Swartzwelder, Ph.D., and Wilkie Wilson, Ph.D.

Buzzed. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2003.

Weiten, Wayne. Psychology: Themes and Variations. Ontario: Vicki Knight,

2005.

Zailckas, Koren. Smashed. New York: Penguin Group, 2005.

18OPPORTUNITY GOES BANG

Jacob Mercer, Oberlin HS

*Bang!*

I had no idea what went wrong. We’d done this a hundred times before. I untie the lines,

I throw them on the boat, I push off the boat, I get on the boat.

I looked back to the stern where I heard the sound and I saw that the fender was caught in

the dock and had snapped its molded plastic cover. ‘Whoa, Dad, stop the boat!’ I yelled and I

ran back and I unsnagged the line. I pulled it back in the boat. The reverse motion of the boat,

in tandem with the holding force of the line, caused the bow to swing out perpendicularly to the

dock. Now we couldn’t just back up, cause we’d hit the dock; and we couldn’t pull around

forward because we’d hit the rock shoal a few yards ahead of us.

The next thing I know, my father is in the water and he’s physically pushing the boat into

position so we have a straight shot right out of danger. And my father, waist deep in rolling

waves looks up at me and yells, ‘Jake gun the engine! Gun it!’ And I’m standing at the helm,

and I look down at my shaking hand on the throttle and . . . I freeze.

A wave rolls under the boat, pushing it towards the rock shoal; I snap back, and I inch the

throttle forward. But it’s not enough, and another wave rolls under the boat. And there’s a

second bang. But this time it’s the prop hitting a submerged rock, and with a shudder the engine

dies. And another wave, and another wave and then . . . crunch; the boat rolls onto the shoal.

It would be easy to blame the accident on simply overlooking the fender caught in the

dock. However the truth is, little stuff like that happens all the time, and there is just no sure way

of avoiding it. What went wrong was that I had a chance, a moment, an opportunity to fix a

problem, and I didn’t take it, and it cost me. And it is because of this experience that I know that

one of the most important mental faculties a person can have is the ability to both correctly

19identify and then act on opportunities. I learned that there are three necessary things to

remember when dealing with opportunity; always be looking for opportunity, when you see an

opportunity, take it, and finally, when you miss an opportunity, don’t worry about. Just look for

the next one that comes along.

A famous man once said, “Results? Why, man, I have gotten thousands of results. I

have found a thousand ways something won’t work. But I haven’t failed, I’m not discouraged!”

No, this isn’t a quote from the Bush Administration. Thomas Edison said this. Edison tried

more than a thousand different filaments before finding one that actually lit his incandescent

light bulb. You see each new filament that he tried was an opportunity to make his light bulb

work; an opportunity he missed thousands of times. But he didn’t give up because he knew that

if he kept looking he would find it. And he did.

Edison also said that “a lot of folks miss opportunity, because it’s dressed in overalls and

looks like work.” True there are some people who don’t have to work hard to take advantage of

opportunity. To be honest, I don’t think Paris Hilton has ever done a hard day’s work in her life.

And seeing how I am just as gorgeous as Jessica Simpson I know I’ll never have to work hard –

actually, when you stop and think about it, really taking and using an opportunity is very hard

work. But don’t let that scare you. Hard work always pays off. And that is exactly Edison’s

point – don’t miss opportunities because of what they look like.

On a quiet a corner, of a quiet street just a couple blocks from my house, there is a statue

of a short bearded man wearing a Civil War general’s uniform. And, well, I always wondered

who he was.

I found out . . . his name was Giles Waldo Shurtleff, and he was a general for the North

during the Civil War. Shurtleff viewed the Civil War as the nation’s opportunity to end slavery,

20and he was not willing to miss his chance to make that opportunity a reality. When war broke

out, he immediately formed a regiment, immediately started fighting, and was immediately

captured by the Confederates. Spent a year in a rebel prison camp; got out as part of a prisoner

exchange. Union leadership gave him two options: they said, ‘You can go home, or you can keep

fighting.’ Shurtleff was not willing to miss his chance to help end slavery. He kept fighting,

and, at the battle of Fredericksburg, he was stricken with a terrible illness. Again Union

leadership gave him two options: ‘You can still go home, or you can keep fighting.’ Shurtleff

kept fighting. This time leading those he was trying to save. He formed the first black Ohio

regiment, and led them to victory in the Battle of Newmarket Heights. Shurtleff never once let go

of his opportunity, regardless of what it looked like.

You may remember I mentioned something earlier about missing opportunities. Well I

can tell you right now that every one of us in this room is going to miss opportunities, simply by

virtue of the fact that we’re all human. However, the important thing is, that just like falling off a

horse you gotta get back on; when you miss an opportunity, you’ve just gotta look for the next

one that comes along. Be like Edison with his light bulb or Shurtleff with his war, keep looking

for the next opportunity, because I guarantee you that with the next pop, bang, sproing or squeak,

there’s another opportunity.

I know so much about opportunity because I’ve lived it. A year ago, I couldn’t have told

you what I wanted to do with my life. Now I can. I want to be a musician. But not just any

musician – no. I’m going where not just the money is but, yeah, where the ladies be at. That’s

right, I’m gonna play trombone in a symphony orchestra.

This past summer my mother told me about a music camp for serious musicians, a group

I never considered myself to be a part of. None-the-less, I volunteered to go. And by volunteer, I

21mean I was signed up and forced to go. I brought a euphonium with me, which is like a little

tuba, and a trombone. I’ve played euphonium for seven years, but I’d picked up the trombone for

marching band the year before, so I had only about two months experience on it. We had to

audition for placement in the orchestra and, I thought, just to be audacious, I‘d audition on the

trombone. They gave me first chair in the orchestra. I thought there had been a mistake, but by

the end of my stay there I knew that my calling was to play the trombone. And I walked out of

the final concert, and I said to myself, ‘I’ve got two choices – I can go home, or I can stay and

work hard, catch up with the other kids trying to get into conservatory.’ I realized that this was

my opportunity to do what I love – play music. And now I’m studying under a retired member of

the Cleveland Orchestra and I have auditions lined up at 4 conservatories. I am taking my

opportunity.

Every day is a gift, a chance to find and grab any number of opportunities. In our daily

lives we must learn to always, always be looking for and using opportunity. Whether we do a

small favor, correct a mistake, or try again – whether we catch the opportunity on the 2nd, 3rd, or

4th or 1000th time; we need to be ready, be aware. Remember that bang from the beginning of my

speech? Not the one that startled some of you, but the second bang that was the sound of the prop

hitting a rock? Well that was the bang of opportunity. You see with that bang I remembered that

there was a tilt control on the engine and, with the push of a button, I could raise the prop. And I

did. And with a few waves and a couple of well-timed pushes the boat rolled over the shoal

suffering only minimal damage. I might have missed my first chance to save to the boat, but by

God, I took my second. Opportunity doesn’t knock once – it knocks as often as you’re willing to

listen for it. And sometimes it goes ‘bang’. Thank you.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Edison, Thomas. Edison quotes. www.thomasedison.com/edquote.htm. 1996. 1/24/06.

22THE WORLD’S A STAGE

Shalini Goyal, Mason High School

It was the overpowering gleam that first caught my eye – the celestial body clearly

outlined against the night sky. The brilliant glow caught the delicate sequins adorned on my

flowing red dress casting shadows across the courtyard. A single hibiscus flower was positioned

above my right ear – my hair had never looked so good, and I had never felt so wonderful.

Suddenly, music began to play, and a tall, dark figure emerged from the garden shadows. Mi

amor! He extended his hand for mine, and instantly we began to salsa across the dance floor

moving under a moonlit canvas. Our eyes met for what seemed like an eternity, filling with

passion and intensity – it was what I had always envisioned. After an exhilarating whirl on the

dance floor, he pulled me forward – I had long anticipated it. I closed my eyes, braced myself…

[STOMP] I was instantly shocked out of my dreamy sleep by the sound of books

crashing as students filtered out of the classroom. Collecting my books, I recalled the reason for

my pleasant tangent on the way to my next class. It had all started when my Enhanced

Communications Applications teacher began her lecture on “utilizing emotion and body

language in public speaking.” Having competed in speech for the last four years, I naively wrote

off the lesson. It was not until she came to the fourth or fifth PowerPoint slide before I

momentarily regained consciousness. At that moment, a revelation came to me as if my teacher

was screaming to the class Communication is more than public speaking. With a jolt, an oratory

came to me: What if communication was more than public speaking?

Since the beginning of time, the arts have molded and reflected the attitudes and

behaviors of society. This form of creative expression demonstrates the joy, the pain, the sorrow

of life and touches us in ways the orators of today fail to. We spend most of our time in front of

23the computer screen, checking our e-mail and IMing our friends – catching up on the latest

gossip. The paper is placed on our doorstep during the early hours of the morning, and before

dinner is on the table, Bob Schieffer delivers us our daily news – fresh off the presses. We

expect to be cultured individuals, but how can we when the information is given to us? With this

plethora of easy information it is easy to forget or overlook the messages of art, music, and even

dance – vital parts to human interaction and cultural identity.

The origins of modern art trace back to the days of the cave man. The primitive drawings

adorned on rock walls served as a method of communication – a step forward from the inaudible

[insert cave man noise] and frantic pointing of the Cro-Magnon man. Because an oral language

had not yet evolved, man had to rely on art in order to convey his message. The combination of

color and lines had certainly taken shape by the age of the Italian Renaissance and was perfected

by the era of Baroque, forcing the spectator to take a deeper look into the underlying conflicts of

European society. Recently the work of Da Vinci has come under question in author Dan

Brown’s historical thriller The Da Vinci Code. In the book, Da Vinci is allegedly linked to the

Priory of Sion, a ancient society formed in the late 11th century to preserve the secrets of times

past – in this case, a 2000 year-old conspiracy concerning the holy lineage of Jesus Christ.

Whether or not the theories presented in this work of fiction are taken to heart, it has ignited

debates within religious and historical circles and has prompted the creation of a series of

documentaries on both the National Geographic and History Channels, discussing the

controversial motives and messages within this eccentric Renaissance man’s work.

Because of the mass media available to us, we are now able to access artwork in

countless genres. Past the melodramatic headlines printed boldly across the face of most

newspapers lie my personal favorite – the editorial section. It’s a far cry from the exoticism of

24the Rococco, but political cartoons serve their purpose. Understanding the punch line

demonstrates much more than cognitive thinking, forcing us to analyze society through our own

judgment. On the way to milk and cookies, it’s impossible to miss the rough, but colorful,

sketches of mommy or the family dog from the kindergarten artist that display an innocent

compassion. There are so many of these examples that museums often offer exhibitions on

modern art, completely composed of household items. Okay, so maybe I didn’t enjoy

Washington’s “dog art” showcase composed entirely of kibbles and bits and legos, but art is in

the eye of the beholder – right?

Although art first comes to mind when dealing with forms of creative expression, one

cannot deny the true sweetness of a melody. When I asked my parents if I could join the school

band in 6th grade, I was met with mixed responses. My mom, a choir nerd for most of high

school understood my want to partake in an elective; my dad, on the other hand, didn’t see the

necessity of an $800.00 instrument to my academic success. After much coercion, my dad

finally agreed. On a day when our performance was less than satisfactory, our band director

dismissed us with some final words, “Music, can communicate so much without words.” A

simple sentence but a monumental idea that ultimately contributed to our success. Works such

as Husa’s “Music for Prague” demonstrates the feeling of sorrow the composer endured when

the Soviet Union invaded his homeland in 1968; our nation’s own national anthem was written to

show the true bravery of those battling the English during the War of 1812. More contemporary

styles such as rock, hip-hop, and punk aimed to change the attitude of society. During a time of

political and social unrest, the words of John Lennon’s “Imagine” pulled on the heartstrings of

Americans, calling for a more peaceful world. Today, our lives center around music. We

welcome MTV into our homes on a daily basis, spend hours downloading new sound bytes for

25our pc’s, and listen to our iPods when nothing but the expressive lyrics of Norah Jones or

Coldplay can soothe our troubles. Businesses thrive on this connection. Because consumers

identify easily with music, catchy tunes are often used in commercials to make products more

appealing.

It should also come as no surprise that studies have been done linking music and the

mind. “In 1996, the College Entrance Exam Board Service conducted a study on all students

taking their SAT exams. Students who sang or played a musical instrument scored 51 points

higher on the verbal portion of the test and an average of 39 points higher on math.” Clearly,

music is more than just a past time.

I’ve tickled the senses of the artistically enlightened and the true band geeks in the crowd,

but what about the upbeat personality? Along with visual art and music, dancing is also one of

the oldest and most symbolic of all art forms. In many cultures, dance is utilized as a way of

displaying emotions otherwise suppressed. According to Suzanne Youngerman, PhD, executive

director of the Institute of Movement Studies, “Dance often occurs at rites of passage, [t]hus,

birth, initiation, graduation, marriage, succession, and death may be marked by dancing. Dance

may also be a part of courtship. In some societies dances may be the only events at which young

people of different sexes can meet.” In Asia for example, dance is closely tied with drama and

music. In India, it is frowned upon to show sexual behavior in movies and television; therefore,

colorful dance scenes are incorporated to simulate loving emotions. In Africa, sub-Saharan tribal

dances are accompanied with large wooden masks and demonstrate a rite of passage. Hawaiians

use the hula to narrate stories and poetry, and in Latin America, samba, salsa, and the Columbian

folk dances, inspire movement and celebration. Martha Graham, American dancer and

choreographer, once said, “Dance is the hidden language of the soul.”

26 In the fast-paced, high-speed world of e-mails, text messages, and televised speeches,

the importance of artistic communication is sometimes lost. I certainly don’t take the time to sip

tea and listen to the classics while critiquing Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” before my ballet lesson,

nor would I want to. It is, however, necessary to realize the amazing benefits the arts can bring

us. Even if you don’t have an ounce of artistic talent, rhythm, or musical ability, the arts have

penetrated society and continue to affect us daily. So why not tough it out one night at the

symphony or embrace the heavy metal your child blasts at full volume? There’s an impressionist

showcase at the art institute, and you’ve always wanted to see an authentic Monet. My friend

and I have been dying to learn rumba; we just might take lessons at the community center.

Henry Miller once said, “Develop interest in life as you see it; in people, things, literature, music

– the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls, and interesting

people.”

The bell had barely rung in my communications class and I could already feel my

slipping. The familiar salsa beat pulsated through my veins. The same young man waited for

me out on the veranda. Maybe it would be worthwhile to take those salsa lessons after all…

Works Cited

Bass, Robert. Personal Interview. 15 Oct. 2005. “The Mozart Effect – What Is It?” Touchet1611.org. Mozart Effect. 15 Oct. 2005

<http://touchet1611.org/MozartEffect.html>

Quotationspage.com. 1994. The Quotations Page. 29 Oct. 2005.

<http://www.quotationspage.com> Youngerman, Suzanne. "Dance." Ecarta Encyclopedia. 1998 ed.

27DANCE DANCE REVOLUTION

Heather Kay Merriman, Jackson High School

Last year, Santa brought me the best Christmas present EVER. Dance Dance Revolution.

I would lock myself in the basement and practice for hours. As each combination of arrows lit up

the screen, my feet would methodically tap out the rhythm. I was obsessed.

However, unlike me and my slight infatuation with DDR, our society lacks a fervor for

dancing. Not for dancing competitively or at the prom, but for dancing through life. Instead, we

prefer to run. Run from one obligation to the next, never taking the time to appreciate, enjoy, or

excel. As Gandhi once said, “There is more to life than increasing speed.” For this reason, I

propose we start our own Dance Dance Revolution, in which we move through life slowly,

gracefully, savoring every step. And like any good dance, we must begin with the choreography.

First, we will slide to an ardor for dancing; then, we will link together with our partners, and

salsa, despite our inexperience. After throwing in a little twist, we will finally waltz with ease.

“You can’t see it: It’s electric! You gotta feel it. It’s electric! Before any dancing can be

achieved, you have to “feel it.” As famous choreographer Martha Graham once quipped, “Great

dancers are not great because of their technique; they are great because of their passion.” And it

is this passion for life that instills deep within us a desire to achieve, a desire to dance. Once we

obtain that devotion, dancing becomes natural; the steps, as easy as the dances you learned as a

child.

Take the Hokey Pokey, for example. You “put your right foot in” and “take your right

foot out.” Well, it seems as though families today, including my own, are doing a lot of hokey-

pokey-ing, rarely putting our whole selves into our relationships and frequently, quickly

28removing the small parts we do contribute. Perhaps, we are forgetting what it’s really “all

about.” In fact, according to the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, it is

incredibly important to bring everyone together for a meal. In their report The Importance of

Family Dinners, the center revealed that teens who have dinner with their family five or more

nights a week are “32% less likely to have tried cigarettes” and “45% less likely to have tried

alcohol.” (Of course, my father would argue that eating my mom’s cooking five times a week

could drive anyone to drink.) Regardless, your family is like your dance instructor, constantly

offering feedback and support. But remember, you’re never too experienced to learn a new step.

As a child, I secretly abhorred the Mexican Hat Dance. Because during the chorus, in

which the dancers are supposed to pair up, link arms, and skip around the room, I was always the

one left out. It seemed as though there would always be an odd number of people; so, while all

the other girls were swung around by the cute 2nd grade boys, I was forced to nonchalantly skip

in place, silently praying that someone, anyone, would dance with me. I have since come to

realize that in life, a dance partner is essential. No, I don’t mean a significant other (although,

fellas, as an anonymous author once said, “A man who dances has his choice of romances.”)

Rather, everyone needs a mentor. The Mentor Network, a national organization dedicated to

helping emotionally disturbed youth, cites that the relationship formed with a mentor “provides

the structure and support for development, growth, and change.” For this reason, my high school

started a Freshman Mentorship Program, in which 100 Juniors and Seniors were each assigned 5

Freshmen to introduce to the high school. For that first day of school, we were their guaranteed

dance partners, and they were so relieved to simply have to follow someone’s lead when that

obnoxious chorus began.

29 “If God is a DJ/ Life is the dancefloor/ Love is the rhythm/ You are the music/ You get

what you’re given/ It’s all how you use it.” While I have trouble salsa-ing to the lyrics of Pink,

the people of the Dominican Republic took her words to heart. In Musica: The Rhythm of Latin

America, author Sue Steward cites that the dance the merengue originated out of sympathy.

According to legend, when a national hero limped home from the revolution, the villagers threw

a victory celebration and danced with a slight dragging of the foot in order to not make the

veteran self-conscious. Similarly, when we do not possess certain abilities or encounter an

obstacle, we must adjust, and if necessary, create our own merengue.

Perhaps, our dance of adjustment will include an air track, the worm, or even a few head

spins. That’s right; our Dance Revolution even encompasses break-dancing. However, I will

refrain from demonstrating this one. The beauty of break-dancing lies not only within its breaks,

rest from the rat race, but also in the individuality of each dance. Break dancers refuse to

conform to a mundane routine. This importance of originality can be traced back to ancient

history. According to the Handy Religion Answer Book by John Renard, in Hindu scriptures,

each god has his or her own style of dance. As Lois Hurst once wrote, “Dance for yourself. If

someone understands, good. If not, go right on doing what you love.”

So, “C’mon , baby. Let’s do the twist.” In the 2004 hit movie “Shall We Dance?”

Richard Gere’s character John Clark is not dancing for himself. Working late nights, maintaining

a shallow relationship with his family, and essentially running through a monotonous life, Mr.

Clark lacks fulfillment. But after wandering into Miss Mitzi’s Dance Studio and taking weekly

lessons from Paulina, Jennifer Lopez, Mr. Clark’s life takes a little twist. Happier, his

30relationships improve. (Although, spending that much time with J.Lo would presumably put a

little spring in any man’s step,) Mr. Clark learned literally how to dance through life.

But what is the ultimate goal that every dancer strives to achieve? Beauty and flow. The

epitome of skill and grace. No, it’s not the Macarena or even the Booty Bounce. Gliding

successfully and advancing easily, it’s the waltz. In our own Dance Dance Revolution, waltzing

equates bringing all the other aspects of dance together into one graceful movement. Ultimately,

dancing relies on whether or not you are comfortable with yourself. Alice Walker’s

autobiographical story “Beauty: When the Other Dancer is the Self,” chronicles her struggle of

growing up with one blind eye. Shot by a BB gun at age eight, Alice was left with a slight

physical deformity. Embarrassed by the glazed over look in her eye, she walked with her head

down for nineteen years, until one day, her three-year-old daughter looked up at her and said

“Mommy, there’s a world in your eye.” Since that day, Alice has a recurring dream in with she is

dancing with a faceless partner. They are both joyous, waltzing perfectly together, when Alice

realizes that the other dancer is herself. She has finally accepted herself enough to dance with her

head held high.

So, remember- life’s not a sprint; it’s a dance. But for this dance, you don’t need to

practice until the wee hours of the morning on your DDR mat. After all, it doesn’t matter

whether you glide with the grace of Fred Astaire or do more of a dry heave like Elaine from

Seinfeld. What matters is that your dance is passionate and completely your own. That way,

when the music of life inevitably skips a few beats, you can just alter your steps and keep the

Dance Dance Revolution going strong.

31Works Cited

Califano, Jr., Joseph A. “The Importance of Family Dinners.” The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University Sept. 2003.

Checker, Chubby. “The Twist.” Prime Cuts Productions, 1950.

Dance Quotes. 10 Oct. 2003. 12 Sept. 2005 <http://www.kathleenacademy.com>.

Freedman, Russell. Martha Graham: A Dancer’s Life. New York: Clarion, 1998.

Gandhi, M.K. Gandhi- An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth. New York: Beacon, 1993.

Griffiths, Marcia. “Electric Boogie.” RAS Records, 1982.

LaPrise, Larry, Charles Macak, and Tafit Baker. “Hokey Pokey.” Acuff Rose Productions, 1950.

Mentor Network. 2003. 12 Sept. 2005 <http://thementornetwork.com>.

Pink. “God is the DJ.” Mean Girls Soundtrack. Rykodisc Records, 2004.

Renard, John. The Handy Religion Answer Book. New York: Visible Ink, 2001.

Shall We Dance. Dir. Peter Chelson. Perf. Richard Gere, Jennifer Lopez, and Susan Sarandon. Miramax, 2004.

Steward, Sue. Musica: The Rhythm of Latin America: Salsa, Rumba, Merengue, and More. New York: Chronicle, 1999.

Walker, Alice. “Beauty: When the Other Dancer is the Self.” In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens: Womanist Prose. Florida: Hardcourt, 1983.

32KRYPTONITE KOMPLEX

Melissa Cyperski, Jackson High School

I'm going to be honest, I was a precocious child -- I still blame it on the red hair;

however, regardless of the reason, I always seemed to have a goal -- whether it was plunking out

"Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star" on the piano or finishing the next chapter in Vampires Don't Wear

Polka Dots. So of course, it came as no surprise that I was quick to answer when asked, "And

what do you want to be when you grow up?" As coolly and calmly as I possibly could, I'd reply,

"Wonder Woman, duh." Well... it was either that or a trophy wife.

But all that was missing at the age of five was the license to drive the invisible plane, the

Lasso of Truth, and -- seeing as I was still using safety scissors -- the razor sharp tiara... okay...

so I was not your typical little girl -- not only did I want to be Wonder Woman, but I was in love

with Batman and Wolverine... oh and don't even get me started on Spiderman! But as I grew up,

I started to realize that maybe superheroes don't exist... so as you can imagine, I was crushed

when I found out that Toby McGuire was, alas! just an actor -- so it was only last year -- you

can't blame a girl for dreaming!

We've all grown up surrounded by superheroes: men and women such as Superman and

Wonder Woman who are strong, who save the world, and who can do no wrong. Children, much

like myself, look to these superheroes and hope to someday be just like them. However, as kids

grow up, they begin realize that superheroes are figments of the imagination and are then left to

locate a real-life hero. Unfortunately, in this day and age, there seems to be a lack of positive role

models. But maybe there's only a lack of role models because we're looking to the sky for that

spandex equipped, high-flying superhero instead of to Everyman here on earth.

33 When isolated, the idea of a role model, quite frankly, seems kind of absurd: basing our

aspirations, beliefs, and character on a person we normally don't even know. Social psychologist

Albert Bandura explains that humans learn behavior by observing it in others and repeat it when

it appears beneficial; unfortunately for us, we live in a society of Desperate Housewives and

steroid pumping sports starts. Our role models have transformed from the likes of June Cleaver

to those of the women from Sex and the City. Granted, there is no way I'm vacuuming the house

in high heels and pearls, but it's a much preferred alternative to the casual sex and designer label

obsessed women of present day society. Now, some may argue that is it not the job of the media

to promote appropriate role models, but as even Barbara Streisand knew, "Careful the things you

do... children may not obey, but children will listen."

Celebrities and other public figures are our most accessible role models: images of their

actions flood our homes and our minds every day. And let's be honest, we all know that most

celebrities are really horrible role models. What's worse is that they don't even seem to care. In

an interview with BBC, Britney Spears once claimed that she was, in fact, a good role model for

young girls. Enough said. Then, even a young Disney star is corrupt! Is there nothing sacred in

the world? Hillary Duff, the most innocuous of teen idols, was involved in some devious love

triangle between Aaron Carter and Lindsey Lohan. And the beat goes on. I find myself asking,

much like Bonnie Tyler, the sagely philosopher of 80s pop music, "Where have all the good men

gone and where are all the gods? Where's the street-wise Hercules to fight the rising odds? I

need a hero!"

And unfortunately we need a superhero now more than ever. A study conducted by the

American Medical Association in December 2004 showed that not only were teen and pre-teen

alcohol and marijuana consumption on the rise, but after drinking, “one in six teenage girls was

34sexually active” and “one in four either drove a car themselves, or rode with a driver who had

also been drinking.” But the problems are not just in substance abuse. They're in relationships,

self-image, and so much more. In fact, in the article "Left Behind, Way Behind," Bob Herbert of

The New York Times writes that only “two-thirds of American teenagers graduate from high

school within four years” and “less than half of those read well enough to succeed in college.”

And the pity of it is that in all our need, we overlook our most obvious role models.

Everywhere you turn there's a hero just waiting for the right opportunity to come out of the

woodwork. As esteemed motivational speaker James A. Autry once said, "I believe it is the

nature of people to be heroes, given the chance." Take, for example, a group of elementary

school students from Chicago who call themselves none-other than "Kids Who Care." These kids

find it, go figure, fun to help those who are less fortunate. In 2005, they raised over six thousand

dollars to aid tsunami victims. So when Hurricane Katrina struck here at home, they were quick

to act. These kids, no older than the age of ten, opened a lemonade stand and raised over one

thousand dollars within their first week of operation. They claim that when life gives you

hurricanes, you should make lemonade.

But not everyone is so quick to act upon life's lemons. Psychological research at New

York University and MIT has shown that Superman was actually too good of a superhero.

Subconsciously people compare themselves to Superman and believe they don't measure up;

therefore, they are less likely to volunteer and help others. Now, I don't know about you, but I

find this absurd! We cannot be afraid of failure. After-all, even Superman had his kryptonite. I

mean, all clichés aside, we can only be expected to be true to ourselves and try our best. In the

popular movie The Incredibles, all the world's superheroes are forced to give up their trade due

to the expenses of frivolous lawsuits. However, Mr. Incredible is not satisfied with a life

35confined by a cubicle and by the fear of making a mistake. He longs to be out saving the

world; and why should he be forced to hide his abilities? He thus begins to go out of his way to

find people in need of his assistance and, of course, ends up saving the world from a most certain

doom. Now, we can't all save the world, but we are not forced into a life of exile either. Just

because our work doesn't command the attention of the Associated Press doesn't mean we've

failed.

Just look at the children in Chicago being so small and yet accomplishing something so

great. And what about parents, teachers, coaches -- they impact every single life they touch and

are completely overlooked. They, as average men and women, are our unsung heroes. So where

are those 80s songwriters when you need them?! Because I've found our heroes... and they've

been here all along.

We don't need some barely clothed, foul-mouthed celebrity to show us how to be a good

role model because the potential to be a hero lives inside us all. You know, when I eventually

head off to college, I'm sure I'll over-pack... but there are a few things I know I'll leave behind:

my spandex suit, cape, and yes, even my razor sharp tiara... because I've finally realized that my

dream of being Wonder Woman has come true. I, like all of you, have the power to do something

truly great -- be it for an hour, a day, a year, or an entire lifetime. As the great author and

philosopher Ayn Rand explains, "Do not let the hero in your soul perish.... The world you

desired can be won, it exists, it is real, it is possible, it's yours."

36Works Cited

Albert, Aaron. “Wonder Woman.” About.com. 18 Sept. 2005 < http://comicbooks.about.com/ od/characters/p/wonderwomanbio.htm>. American Medical Association. “Teen Girls Drink More Than Boys.” 29 June 2005. 19 Sept. 2005 <http://family.samhsa.gov/talk/girldrink.aspx>. Autry, James A. The Servant Leader. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2004. Bandura, Albert. Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A Social Cognitive Theory. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1985. British Broadcasting Corp. “Good Role Model.” 23 Nov. 2003. 13 Oct. 2005 <http://www. moono.com/news>. Dadie, Debbie and Marcia T. Jones. Vampires Don’t Wear Polka Dots. New York: Scholastic Paperbacks, 1991. Gosline, Anna. “Superman Too Super a Role Model.” New Scientist. 19 Nov. 2004. 20 Sept. 2005 < http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn6679>. Herbert, Bob. “Left Behind, Way Behind.” The New York Times 28 Aug. 2005. Irvine, Martha. “Kids Sell Lemonade to Help Katrina Victims.” My Hero Project. 14 Sept. 2005. 20 Sept. 2005. < http://myhero.com/myhero/heroprint.asp?hero=Kids_ Lemonade_AP>. Rand, Ayn. Atlas Shrugged. Middlesex, England: Penguin Books, 1957. Schroeter, Judith. “The Ally McBeal in Us: The Importance of Role Models in Identity.” Things Change. Jan. 2002. 13 Sept. 2005 <http://www.theory.org.uk/ally.htm>. Streisand, Barbara and Stephen Sondheim. “Children Will Listen.” SeekLyrics. 18 Sept. 2005 <http://www.seeklyrics.com>. The Incredibles. Dir. Brad Bird. Walt Disney Studios, 2005. Tyler, Bonnie. “Holding Out for a Hero.” LyricsFreak. 14 Sept. 2005 <http://www.lyrics freak.com>.

37STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS

Makeda Farley, Shaker Heights HS

I would like to tell you a story about my grandfather; he was a wonderful man who I

loved dearly. Every summer my sisters and I went to New York to visit our grandparents. One

year, when I was around seven years old my grandfather brought home the most beautiful white

bunny rabbit and gave to my sisters and me as a gift. We decided to name it cottontail, and all

summer long we played with cottontail; and fed him until he became nice and plump. One day

we decided to let cottontail out of his cage so he could get some exercise, because he had gotten

pretty fat. Cottontail ran all around the house like a mad hatter, so we had to run and catch him. I

was the one that did it, but while trying to get cottontail back into his cage he scratched me on

my arm and I began to cry. I ran and told my grandfather what happened and he told me that he

would take care of it. The next morning we awoke to find cottontails cage empty. We searched

for him all around the house but could not find him. Finally, I asked my grandfather what

happened and he told me that he had taken care of it. Now, both you and I can infer as to what

happened to cottontail that evening, and I know it seems like a strange story, but it’s exemplary

of who my grandfather was to me. He was a protector and in this instance he was trying to

protect me from the “wild beast” that had attacked me. My grandfather was a tall man with big

broad shoulders and when I was little I used to think he was a giant, but now I know that he was

a giant and not because of his size.

My grandfather was a part of a mass movement of African Americans in the early to mid

1900’s. He was born in Mobile, Alabama to a family of sharecroppers. Sharecropping was a

predominant labor system in the south at that time. Based upon the plantation slavery system

sharecropping entailed workers, living on land in exchange for labor. These workers were

38constantly in debt and often treated cruelly, and many African Americans worked as

sharecroppers during the reconstruction period and well into the 1900’s. Low wages and the

slave like conditions of this system were important factors in the decision of many African

Americans to migrate north in search of labor. Added to this system was the deprivation of

educational advantages to African Americans, resulting in an extremely low literacy rate

amongst them. In the book “Black Exodus,” edited by Alferdeen Harrison, William Flemming

describes his educational opportunities as a young sharecropper, “We were needed in the fields,

so the white folks only gave us two months of schooling a year…so when I left I had no

intention of going back.” This lack of education was presented to me when I discovered that my

grandfather did not learn to read until he was forty years old, but he understood the importance

of an education and moved northward in order to provide his children with more educational

opportunities. Other factors contributing to the decision of many to migrate north was the

degradation and violence experienced by African Americans in the south. Jim Crow Laws and

Black Codes were created to make African Americans permanent second-class citizens. They

instilled an idea a white supremacy and black inferiority into African Americans in the South.

These strict segregationist policies were coupled with an unfair judicial system and increasing

violence toward African Americans post slavery. The development of the Ku Klux Klan,

lynching and the subsequent murders of many African Americans in the early 1900’s served as

the deciding factor for many in this mass movement northward. The US department of

Commerce Beaureau of Census reported a movement of “749,000” African Americans out of the

south between the years of “1920 and 1930.” Psychologist Thomas Woofter attempts to explain

this mass exodus as being caused by, “injustice in the courts, lynching, denial of suffrage,

discrimination, and inequalities in education.” These were all factors in my grandfather’s

39decision to move northward. He worked hard to achieve his American dream. He put all four

of his children through college despite only having a formal education to the sixth grade. My

grandfather believed the he could find a new life in the north. Consequently, his life serves as my

inspiration. Only through understanding my history can I even hope to understand my purpose

and identify my goals. I marvel at the strength of my grandfather and so many who have fought

in order for me to have the freedom that I have today. Even the basic freedoms of, “Life, Liberty,

and the pursuit of Happiness,” the foundation of this country denied to my ancestors fought for

by my people. Motivated by pain and fear with hope and faith, they moved northward and it is

my duty to continue in the journey, and to achieve the unachievable, and to become someone that

my grandfather could not even fathom. The actions of my grandfather and many other African

Americans at that time can be summed up in Langston Hughes’ poem “One Way Ticket”

“I pick up my life and take it on a train, Any place that is north and west and not south

I am fed up with Jim Crow laws, People who are cruel and afraid,

Who lynch and run, Who are scared of me and me of them.

I pick up my life and take it away On a one-way ticket

Gone up north, Gone out west, Gone!”

My grandfather died this past August, three days before my birthday; and when writing

my speech I was encouraged to write about a universal topic and I realized that this is a universal

topic because everyone’s legacy is beautiful including mine. I also realized that only through the

struggle my grandfather and the struggle so many others I am able to stand before you speaking.

He not only protected me from the claws of a wild rabbit but also from the viciousness of racism.

I know that what I believed when I was true. My grandfather was a giant and I am standing on

the shoulders of many giant and must stand tall.

40

BIBLIOGRAPHY Adero, Malaika, ed. Up South. New York: The New Press of CUNY. 1993. Hughes, Langston. “One Way Ticket” in The collected Poems of Langston Hughes. New York:

Random House. 1994. Woofter, Thomas. Negro Migration: Changes in Rural Organization and Population of the (line

not finished). Oxford: University Press of Mississippi. 1991.

41TODDLER LESSONS FOR LIFE

Lauren Fiorucci, St. Peter Chanel High School

Picture it. Sunshine Elementary. You’ve just said good-bye to your mom and dad for the

first time, let go of their hands, and are now walking into room 214 with Mrs. Montgomery.

“Good morning, boys and girls!”

“Good morning, Mrs. Montgomery.”

“Today is our very first day of Kindergarten, so we are going to learn all the rules of the

classroom, okay? Share, play fair, keep your hands to yourself. Don’t take things that don’t

belong to you, say sorry when you hurt someone, wash your hands before you eat, and make sure

you flush. Got it? Good. Let’s get ready for story time!”

Did we get it? I mean, did we really learn our Kindergarten rules, or were we simply just

told the rules? You know, I think Robert Fulghum was wrong when he said, “All I Ever Needed

to Know I Learned in Kindergarten”. I don’t think we’ve learned our rules, or the world wouldn’t

be as it is today.

So, that’s why I’m here. To teach you the two most important Kindergarten rules, Share

and Keep your hands to yourself. Those toddler lessons for life.

You know the story. You’ve experienced the pain. It starts slowly and subtly. A Cheerio

here, an Oreo there. Hand-me-down clothes soon follow, and before you know it… It escalates!

And your favorite toy in the entire world is in the clutches of someone else and…! In my case, it

was my glowworm, Glowy, as I affectionately referred to him. Glowy was my one true friend,

comforting and reliable. Every time I would poke his tummy, he would glow. That is, until by

orders from my parents, I had to… Share him with my sister, Alison, the Mike Tyson of the

playpen. I had to sit ringside as she did everything except bite the glowworm’s ear off. She

42would rip out his heart of batteries, tear off his magical tail, and even, perform Crayola plastic

surgery all over his face. Glowy would never be the same again, and neither would I, for I had

learned the painful lesson of sacrificial sharing.

Perhaps our toddler memories of sharing are simply too difficult for us to remember

because we’ve failed to learn the lesson. As children, we learned all too well that sharing was

necessary and it didn’t always feel good. As adults, it seems we believe that sharing is a nice

thing to do, when we want to feel good about ourselves.

You see, we are a generous nation. The United States sends vast amounts of money

overseas to countries ravaged by diseases, devastated by natural disasters, or even in crisis due to

economic failures. Furthermore, our nation’s generosity is not simply global, but also local.

Americans are quick to share with their fellow citizens during times of crisis. One cannot help

but be inspired by the stories of giving during times of distress, like the events of September 11th

or Hurricane Katrina. However, I suggest to you that our sharing during these types of moments

are examples of giving in order to feel good. It’s not to say that this type of sharing is wrong. It is

simply… insufficient. We must give not out of our desire for self satisfaction, but rather, because

we know we are obligated to do so.

Our parents never set aside special times for us to share our toys. We were expected to

always share our toys. Look, we all like to think of ourselves as generous when we put the

dollar-fifty in the Salvation Army bucket at Christmas or donate that can of soup at

Thanksgiving. But let’s face it, that one can of soup feeds one person, one meal, for one day.

What about the other meals in that day, that month, or that year? As the Salvation Army says,

“Need knows no season”

43 Sharing when at its best is a little like letting go of Glowy. I had to share all I had and it

didn’t feel good. But through this, at the time, traumatic experience, I learned one thing,

sometimes sharing demands a little sacrifice. A person’s magnanimity is measured not by how

much they give, but rather, how much they give of what they have. “For example, according to

an article printed in the Chicago Sun Times, Oprah Winfrey has given fifty million dollars to

charity, a hefty sum. But when compared to her one billion dollar net worth, her total sharing

percentage is a mere 5 per cent.” It seems Oprah tends to shed her vanity weight slightly faster

than she shares her money with others. On the other hand, I know a Catholic high school teacher,

who makes about thirty thousand dollars a year and gives about three thousand, five hundred of

it to charity. This makes his total sharing percentage about twelve per cent. So I ask you, who

has made the greater sacrifice in order to share? This modern day parable challenges us to ask

ourselves, are we willing to give and incur the cost of sacrifice? If our sharing is only limited to

certain seasons or times, and if our giving is only of our excess, then we have failed this

childhood lesson, and Glowy, was destroyed in vain.

Just as we must learn to share, we must also learn to stop ourselves from acting out upon

our immediate emotions. In other words, keep your hands to yourself. This is such a simple rule

with such profound ramifications. If only we kept our hands to ourselves, we could curb violent

assault. If only we kept our hands to ourselves, we could eradicate rape. If only we kept our

hands to ourselves, we could eliminate war. If only. It seems as though our society should be put

in timeout, for we have all broken this classroom rule.

Now, because some have failed to keep their hands to themselves, war and violence have

saturated our society. The late John F, Kennedy once said, “Mankind must put an end to war, or

44war will put an end to mankind.” War and violence have become as much a part of our

children’s lives as going to school. The only difference is war doesn’t get a summer vacation.

Because some have failed to keep their hands to themselves, a growing number of

women are fearful of assault. Assault is a growing and ever-present danger among high school

and college age students, especially women. “According to the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National

Network, as many as one in every six women will be raped in their lifetime. That’s every two

and a half minutes, another woman raped or sexually assaulted.” Although we cannot control the

hands or actions of others, we can applaud and support those who fight back against the violence,

without violence. These people are the diplomats who argue for peaceful solutions to

international conflicts, they are the brave women who testify against their attackers in court, they

are the lawmakers that write the laws that protect us, they judges who sentence offenders ten to

twenty, rather than three to five with a chance of parole. These individuals have learned the

lesson of keeping your hands to yourself and are now working to teach others. They are our

leaders. Perhaps, this is the time when we should all be playing Follow the Leader.

So, well, I know we all remember days of boo-boos and swing sets, car rides and

applesauce. Days we all wish we could go back to, when our only responsibility was to make

sure our toys were all put back in their place, and our only concern was to make sure that the

peas didn’t touch the mashed potatoes. It’s nice to remember, but it’s not enough. We must go

back in time and visit Mrs. Montgomery in her Kindergarten classroom to relearn these lessons,

or for some of us, learn them for the first time. It is only then can we take these rules, and apply

them to the world outside the walls of room 214. So, to become adults, to become better humans,

we must all learn to be five years old again, and use these toddler lessons for life.

45Works Cited

Ford, Edsel B., Jr. The Salvation Army. 2006. 6 Mar. 2006 <http://www.salvationarmyusa.org/usn/html>. Fulghum, Robert. All I Ever Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. 1989. New York, New York: Ballantine Books, 2004. Herrmann, Andrew. "Oprah's Gifts Hit $50 Mil. in '04." The Chicago Sun Times 1 Mar. 2005. 6 Mar. 2006 <http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/>. Kennedy, John F. Speech to United Nations General Assembly. United Nations Headquarters. 25 Sept. 1961. The Quotations Page. Ed. Michael Moncur. 6 Mar. 2006 <http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/John_F._Kennedy>. "Statistics." Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network. 2005. 6 Mar. 2006 <http://www.rainn.org/statistics/index.html>.

46I WANT MY MOMMY

Patrick Hewitt, John F. Kennedy Catholic High School

“Thank you. Next! Welcome to the University of Georgia. Do you need to register?” I’m

sorry if I’m not the most energetic person this morning, but I have been sitting behind this table

for hours, trying to guide clumsy freshmen through the painful process of college registration

Usually it’s not difficult, it just takes time, but sometimes you get that student who is completely

clueless.

“Yeah, hi, I do need to register.” So you begin the process again. I handed him the right

forms and began to repeat the same questions, and with each one, the student became more and

more flustered. Confusion spread across his face, and he looked overwhelmed by all the

questions flying at him at once.

“What are you planning on majoring in?” And then he exploded, not literally, but he did

have a mental break. He threw the papers onto the table and whipped out a shiny black cell

phone. After frantically dialing a number, he thrust phone towards my face and said, “Here, talk

to my mom.”

The counselor sat in shock, but what is even more shocking, is that the elements of this

story are true. A student indeed was so frustrated by the registration process at the University of

Georgia that he did call his mom to have her talk to the counselor. This student’s lack of

independence is disheartening. What have four years of high school taught this student? How did

he get into such a prestigious college? And most of all, why is he still so dependent on his

parents?

Today we will take a close look at the education system and see how it has changed to

adapt to the every-more college-bound student. We will look at what role parents are now

47playing in their child’s education and see if this is an improvement on parenting methods, And

finally, we will look into solutions for the ever-growing problems faced by parents and their

students in the struggle to get into college.

So our unknown student is now entering University of Georgia. Despite his lack of

independence, to get into such a university, he must have done well in high school. He probably

lettered in a few sports, held a few leadership positions, and possibly was a valedictorian. Who

knows, he may even have been on the speech team. And colleges look for well-rounded students:

maybe he played an instrument too, or was in the school play. He most likely had a job…to pay

for the gas to get to the office building where he interns for a congressman. He’s definitely in

dozens of clubs. And he might have volunteered at the local hospital. And it seems our unknown

student might have been very busy.

Why so many activities? Because colleges are no longer looking for students who only

get good grades. It is now not enough to be a 4.0 student. Today students are expected to do

more, accomplish more, participate more, and contribute more. This generation is the most active

ever, because students have to be involved to get into the top colleges. Today’s students are

joining as many clubs as they can, and taking leadership roles in just as many clubs. And if they

cannot do that, some students just start their own clubs. Our unknown student interns for a

congressman! So while I would like to give our generation a round of applause for everything

they do, I do have some questions.

Number one: are students joining clubs and groups because they are genuinely interested

in them, or are they doing it so they can write it down on a college application? At my school the

Key Club, a volunteer organization, is the largest group we have, but the number of students who

participate in fundraisers and service projects is only a fraction of the number who come to the

48meetings. So the people who pay their dues are not necessarily active members. It is sad that

kids join a club, just to list it on a college application. The same thing goes for leadership roles.

Often times students take positions on the for college app.

So, now our unknown student, who cannot even register for college on his own, has

somehow managed to participate in every activity he could. His parents must have helped him

immensely, and really, he is not alone. Indeed many parents have been taking larger roles in their

child’s life, many times because they want to see their little “bottles of sunshine” in a limousine

in front of the White House – and not just because they are the driver. Many parents have

become obsessed with having their child be the best and the brightest. Some stop at no lengths to

see their child succeed in everything they do. In fact, these over-involved parents have become

so prevalent that colleges have coined a term for them: “helicopter parents,” because they

hover…over everything. These new parents do college registration for their students. They call

universities to argue over a professor’s grading system. Some even harass schools until they can

get their student the right roommate or housing complex.

Indeed, it is not just in college that helicopter parents play a role. They have been over-

active in their child’s life for years. In high school they are the parents who do the school

projects for their children, the ones who run onto the baseball field when their child is called

“out.”

These parents have crossed the fine line between active parents and over-active ones. I

am not bashing parents who take a part in their child’s life, who wish to know what their children

are doing, but I am bringing light to parents who take their child’s life into their own hands.

When they refuse to encourage their kids to do well, but instead just do it themselves, they stop

49letting their kids live their own lives, but are doing the living for them. The child they are

raising can not live on his own, because he has never been given the chance to do so.

Parents are responding to a new wave of college students. “In fact, according to the

National Center for Education Statistics, the number of people attending college in America has

doubled since 1970!” With more and more kids going to college, children need something to

stand out on their résumé, but what price are parents paying for their child to look good on an

application? Parents are sacrificing valuable lessons when they refuse to let their child fail. When

they push their child to do so many activities, they take away time when students can participate

in activities which are actually meaningful to them. In the end, parents are churning out students

who have great scores and résumé, but haven’t really learned their independence.

So what can we do? With our college-focused education system we have students who

join clubs, just to write the names down on applications. We have parents who are so worried

that their children will not look good on an application, they refuse to let them fail. High school

is being used by students and parents. Students use it to join clubs and take leadership roles. We

need stop exploiting clubs for college apps, but use them for what they were intended: for places

to explore deeper about something students are actually interested in. Leadership roles need to

become positions for students who intend on doing something in that position. And parents have

to stop pushing students into these roles and into joining these clubs. Those parents who do need

to take a step back and let their child explore high school. Most of all, parents, you need to let

your child fail. No one is perfect, and you cannot expect your child to be. Encourage them to

learn from their mistakes, help them discover what they did wrong, but you must let them fail.

Only when students can explore their options, only when they are not made to be perfect, but

50they are allowed fail, only then can students every really grow from their experiences and learn

their independence.

The counselor remained in shock. But he slowly regrouped and shook his head. He then

took the phone in his hand, contemplated for a moment, and said, “I’m sorry Ma’am, but your

son is going to have to do this on his own.”

BIBLIOGRAPHY

National Center for Educational Statistics. Fast Facts. http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=98. 14 Sept 2005

Shellenbarger, Sue. Colleges Ward Off Overinvolved Parents.

http://www.careerjournal.com/columnists/workfamily/20050729-workfamily.html. 14 Sept 2005.

51WHAT IS THE POINT?

Vickey McBride, Ursuline High School

I don’t know about you, but I’ve become quite an accepting person. For the most part,

I’ve come to terms those little personal habits that no one can seem to break and even embraced

them in some cases. Quirks that may annoy you like fingers drumming on tabletops, feet tapping

on the back of your desk, or gum popping don’t bother me as much as they used to. This could

be because since I’ve entered high school, I’ve become one of the “quirky” people. I’m a

bonafide band geek...and proud of it! My friends and I enjoy a wide range of activities from

reciting lines from “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” to debating elements of metaphysics. As

if that’s not enough, I talk to walls. Basically, I’m in no position to get frazzled by that kid that

sits in front of me in chemistry and doesn’t stop murmuring to himself...however, that brings me

to one of my few weaknesses-chemistry! That class irks me to no end! The way the book is

written and the way the teacher speaks...sometimes it seems like a whole other language! You’d

think chemists would’ve found a way to translate chemistry-speak into English by now. They’re

supposed to be the smart one after all. This brings me to another one of my weaknesses. People

who aren’t articulate. Please, say what you mean, well, and mean what you say! Some people are

extremely knowledgeable about a certain topic yet tragically, cannot convey any aspect of that

topic to others. You wouldn’t think it would be such a difficult task but then again, you are the

gifted. You are speechies and you’ve pretty much mastered the art expressing your thoughts in a

progressive and cohesive manner that almost anyone can understand. This is why I’m sure you

share in my pain when you hear, or don’t hear, “Wull, *murmur incoherently*.” This

phenomenon is especially rampant among our fellow teenagers. What I’d like to know is what is

so wrong with being intelligible?

52Oh wait, I know! It takes work. According to my Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the

definition of the word articulate is as follows: “Expressing oneself readily and effectively using

clear, expressive language.” Clear, expressive language...ha! Unfortunately, humans are, among

other things, bundles of emotions. Lots and lots of emotions. It simply isn’t possible to hold all

of those emotions and impulses inside of us our entire lives. Thus, language was created to help

us connect with one another and realize our common plight as well as to help us find catharsis. In

other words, because we as humans are full of many different feelings, we created many words

to convey those feelings. However, out of the many words in the English language alone, people

seem to utilize only a select few of them. For example, when asked how your day was, I bet you

say it was good if it was in fact pleasant and bad if it was, well, not. Have you ever had a

superlative day? How about a rapturous day? Or maybe it was ghastly? Lugubrious? Amiable,

dismal, genial, dolorous! Why should you settle for just good or bad? I know good and bad seem

to fit with the clear and expressive part but I don’t remember reading anywhere that clear and

expressive equals simple. I know what you’re going to say now. We don’t all have time to whip

out our Webster’s Dictionaries and Thesaurus like you Vickey. Find time. I guarantee it will

make your conversations a lot more colorful. Not to mention that whole first amendment thing.

What does the United States Constitution have to do with articulation? Well, besides the

fact that it is a tactfully written document itself, the first amendment of the constitution’s Bill of

Rights protects all of us as we express ourselves as we see fit. You don’t have to burn a flag or

stage a protest to exercise that right either. You use it whenever you say awesome or marvelous

instead of simply cool. Everyone wants to seem creative, original, a true innovator. Well, what

better way to do that than in the way you speak? But who cares if our language diminishes? It

sure would make those godforsaken standardized tests a lot easier! Believe me, years after

53you’ve boosted your ACT scores up a few points, you’d begin to realize what you’ve lost. Just

ask Winston Smith.

You know Winston Smith. Protagonist of George Orwell’s 1984. Pawn of Big Brother.

Well, Winston laments the loss of personal freedom among the citizens of Oceania. The Party

controls every aspect of their lives from personal relationships to physical upkeep. They even

control the flow and depth of thought with organizations such as the Thought Police whose job is

to seek out and arrest thought criminals. The scariest yet probably most overlooked method used

by this totalitarian government is Newspeak. Newspeak is the language of the party and it’s just

like English only altered a bit. If you thought lugubrious was bad, try “doubleplusungood”. The

Party isn’t experimenting with different Latin and Greek roots here. It is deleting words

considered to be controversial or simply unnecessary and using that skeleton of the English

language to tide over this generation of comrades only until they can eradicate sophisticated

language as we know it completely. But why would a totalitarian government care to alter

language? One word-control. If the people have fewer words, they have fewer ways to express

themselves, hence, fewer ways to rebel against the party. And so the government of Orwell’s

1984 masters the art of mind control from the outside in.

Now do you understand? Language and thought work together in a circular fashion.

Thoughts present the need for language and the use of sophisticated language develops more

mature thoughts.

Consider the following example: Today was not a good day for Amelia. She failed a

crucial chemistry test and discovered that she now has a resounding “D” in the class. Her car has

a flat tire and wouldn’t you know it-she doesn’t have a spare. And to top off the cliched bad day,

her kitten died. So, in hopes of being cheered up a bit, Amelia calls her friend Ben and tells him

54about her dismal day. After recounting the day’s events, Ben offers to help Amelia study for

the next chemistry test, suggests a good auto shop that sells cheap yet reliable tires, and assures

Amelia that she will help give Fluffy a proper burial. First, problems occur, feelings arise and are

verbalized, then, solutions are discovered.

Of course, working on your wordplay is not the answer to all of the world’s problems

because there are instances where words fail us, the most notable example being love. Consider

for a moment, the idea of unconditional love? No matter what, come Hell or high waters, I will

be there for you. I will cherish you. I will love you. Go ahead. Rattle off every adage and poem

you know but I defy you take the immense idea of love and encompass every twinge of intuition,

every flood of emotion into a few mere words so that the entire world will know what love feels

like. You can’t can you? That is because this is the point where actions begin to speak louder

than words. Hugs, kisses, acts of extreme selflessness. That is how people learn the true

definition of love. This is true for other virtues as well. Hope is shown through persistence

despite adverse conditions. Faith, through trust and self sacrifice. Don’t misunderstand. Words

can be a powerful mediator between men. How else could one explain the number of songs,

poems, speeches, and stories that describe a vast array of human characteristics? The point is,

words are but one way.

So sing, dance, act, whisper, yell, pray-do whatever you feel is necessary to get your

point across. This is your world and it is what you make of it. It can be plain, precise, and

ordinary or fantastical, vivid, and unique. I don’t care! The choice is yours. As for me, I think I’ll

go with the latter. It might take a little bit of work but I believe it’s integral to my personal

growth as well as the growth of our society. To eradicate mental stagnation. To propel the world

55to a more sophisticated level. To simply liven things up a bit. That is the point and the

importance of being articulate.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Mish, Frederick C et. al., eds. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam Webster, Incorporated, 1994.

George Orwell. 1984. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1949.

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I JUST WANTED TO WRITE THE PERFECT SPEECH

Amber Phelps, Chaney High School

Hey! So how is everyone? Wonderful. See, I have this problem with procrastination

and I’m supposed to start this speech…and I’m not. Whenever there’s something I have to

do, I will do absolutely everything that I’m not supposed to do first. I talked to my friend

about this and he said that I should probably go see a professional on this kind of thing. And I

thought to myself why should I pay some stranger to listen to me rant, when I can force

strangers to listen to me and possibly get trophies for it. So, let’s flashback about four months

ago. WHOOSH! That was my time traveling sound. Just a little FYI. Anyway, WHOOSH!

So I thought to myself, “What am I going to talk about…what can I say?” So, I sat down at

my desk and there was this huge stain on it and I said, “I can’t work in these conditions.” So I

went downstairs to get some Orange Clean and I saw my dog sitting on the stair landing. So,

I went to pet him and he did the whole rolling over and showing the belly thing. You have to

reward that. So, I sat down and pet my dog for I don’t know, about forty-five minutes or so.

Then I went downstairs and by the time I got down there I forgot what I went down there for.

As I was standing there trying to remember what I was down there for, I looked around the

room and said, “I should paint this room.” So about an hour later I’ve got my paint mixer

blasting in the background and my Oshkoshbigosh overalls on. Then, my buddy Corn calls.

And I say, “I can’t talk. I’m writing.” Then he rants on about how he admires my discipline

and how he has such a problem with procrastination and I said, we should go to lunch and

talk about that. So, we went to lunch and we started talking about procrastination and the

waitress overheard us and she said, “Wow, I have such a problem with procrastination too.”

And I swear she stands there staring at me for five minutes before she decides to get my

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cheesecake. So that’s when I screamed, “Eureka! I will write about Procrastination!” Now,

this all might sound like something from my favorite comedian, Ellen DeGeneres, but

believe me, folks…this is a typical day in my life. WHOOSH! So here we are… four months

later. So join me as we identify procrastination, identify ways to eliminate procrastination,

and the benefits of procrastination.

Dr. Kevin P. Austin, a psychologist at Caltech University defines procrastination as,

“the promise to never put things off…again.” Procrastination, or at least the temptation to put

things off, affects everyone. Many people wrongly believe that putting things off results in a

relaxed, go-with-the-flow lifestyle. While this delusion may be true concerning minor

procrastination, it can be very detrimental. Eventually you will have to face the repercussions

of your habit. Procrastination is actually a symptom of perfectionism. Most people are very

surprised when they hear this. It is actually a fear of failure, and not laziness, that force many

people to put off so many aspects of their life.

Say for example a big term paper is due; the procrastinator will worry about the paper

endlessly for weeks. The procrastinator will think about how to do it, and plan on a killer title

and theme. After weeks go by, a few days prior to the papers due date, the procrastinator has

still not written their paper. The procrastinator will then consult with their non

procrastinating friends and find out that everyone but the procrastinator has finished their

respective papers. Why would the procrastinator indulge in this self-sabotage? Well the

procrastinator just wanted to do a perfect paper. Unfortunately the way some people push

past this emotional wall is to make their allotted task unimportant. They tell themselves these

term papers, tests, etc. don’t really mean anything. They don’t prove anything and they are

therefore stupid. On effect, they have told themselves that in order to get something done

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they have give up caring how it turns out. These are just a few symptoms that have been

associated with avid procrastinators.

Now let’s explore how to defeat this menacing ailment that affects all of us. It’s

actually not as hard to eliminate procrastination as one may think. The hardest part is to

recognize and begin to take the steps to remedying the problem. Anyone can learn the skills

to kick the procrastination habit. The first step is to stop thinking about your tendency to put

things off in negative terms. Don’t tell yourself, “I’m such a horrible procrastinator.” Focus

instead on the things that you do accomplish, the areas of your life where you are able to get

down to the dirty work. Everyone has at least one task they are good at sticking to, whether

it’s baking or painting your dining room. While some may argue that the reward for finishing

a task shouldn’t be intrinsic, it certainly doesn’t hurt to throw in a new CD or massage as a

bonus. Promising yourself a reward if you get something done can help you get the

momentum you need.

Although, prolonged procrastination can lead to a series of catastrophic events, some

procrastination can actually lead to success. At first, the term, “effective procrastination”

may seem to be an oxymoron. Such as, “military intelligence”. However, there is such a

term. Effective procrastination, as opposed to just wasting time, has two main elements: One,

the activity should not have a fixed amount of time for you to complete the activity. Meaning

that you can partake in this activity for 5 minutes just as well as 30 minutes. Two, it must be

something that completely engages your mind, otherwise you will just spend the time

worrying about the work you should be doing and get no benefit from the procrastinating.

Thus, watching TV is not an effective procrastination tool- it engages your mind but it is not

really a variable length of time. You could end up watching “Bonanza” on AMC, and all of a

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sudden your ten-minute break turns into a two-hour paralysis. You also want to avoid porn

sites for the same reason…let’s move on. Effective procrastination is even used in the media.

Have you ever caught a teaser for the news? It could be the most deadly thing in the world

and you could be eating it for dinner! We’ll tell you what it is…Tonight at 11. Is it

asparagus?! While this may be incredibly cruel, I dare you to tell me you wouldn’t watch the

news that night. Genius, I tell you.

Overcoming procrastination isn’t an all or nothing task. No one overcomes their

procrastination with only one time of doing things differently. It takes repeated efforts,

sometimes two steps forward and one step backward. But for right now, let’s take that step

forward toward creating an effective regiment for our respective lifestyles. In the words of an

eloquent unknown author, “Mama keeps the whites clean like the sunlight, Mama’s got the

magic of Clorox clean.” WHOOSH! Maybe 3 more quality points? No? Two? I did the

dance. No? One? No, okay. See, I never got around to my conclusion. Can you blame me? I

just wanted to write the perfect speech.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Brinthaupt, Thomas M. and Chul M. Shin. “The relationship of academic cramming to flow experience.” Mobile, AL: College Student Journal. Sept. 2001.

Austin, Dr. Kevin P. Procrastination

http://www.counseling.caltech.edu/articles/procrastination.html. 3 January 2006. Noland, David A. Procrastination: the art of delaying, not ignoring

Brunswick, ME: The Bodwoin Orient. February 4, 2005. “Clorox Bleach Jingle.” Oakland, CA: The Clorox Company. www.clorox.com.

3 January 2006