DarbyBrown008_Perspective Personal YB

7/28/2019 DarbyBrown008_Perspective Personal YB

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P e r s p e c t iv e2 0 1 1

DarbyBrown


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Just like the thin edge of this paper, life is often a very narrow line which westruggle to keep our feet on. For 15 years, I have carefully placed one foot in frontof the other and kept myself safely suspended on the line, and within my comfortzone.

I decided to take a plunge into the unknown, stepped off of the line, and viewed theworld from a completely different angle . I discovered the vast white region of thepaper that was waiting just one step off of the line, and I am lling it with the end -less possibilities that perspective can create. With one simple thought, I changed myfuture. My new perspective has brought with it new people, new opportunities, andnew ideas. It has established that anything is possible, as long as I look at it from theright angle. I can stand as tall as the Eifel Tower. I can play soccer. I can be in two

places at once. I can do anything , with a change in perspective.

Somewhere between the years of 2010 and 2011 , between my parents divorce, mychange in location, and my distorted social life, a question arose in my mind whatif I step off the line?It was always apparent to me that leaving the line was like walking off the edge ofthe earth, that there was a big bowl of nothingness waiting there to engulf you, andconsequently that there was no future for me past that skinny little line. I recentlyconcluded that there must be something there, even if that something turned out tobe a whole bunch of nothing.


3/9

Five people make their way intoFrance and immerse into the Frenchculture.

The fasten seatbelt sign went off with

a ding as the pilot welcomed his passengersto Paris. And welcome to Paris!, Darby re-played his words in her mind as she stood upto stretch her legs after the eight hour ight,Were nally here!

Darby, Emily Brown, and SavannahMartel made their way to customs, giddy withexcitement and practically skipping downthe moving walkway, with David Brown andDanielle Martel following behind. I was sureI could speak French to the guy at customs,but when he said bonjour, I let out a big,fat, American, HEY! said Darby. Theentire group stood out like sore thumbs.Getting lost, talking too loud, and speak-ing English were a few of their trade-marks, but the more time they spentthere, the Frenchier they felt.

Later that misty October

A s parpoint

of viewthey set off to nd 12 La Rue Jacob , walked up a long spiralstaircase to the top oor of the apartment, and settled into their temporary home.

Later that night, Paris famous trademark calledtheir name. The group walked for about an hour to ndthe Eifel Tower sparkling in the night sky. It slowly cameinto view over the rooftops as we got closer, said Dave,Darbys father, is looked spectacular when it was being

lit up with strobe lights. For the rst ten minutes ofevery hour, the tower is lit up with thousands of strobelights and appears to sparkle. They saw it glitteringin the distance, but it stopped before they could getclose. After an hour long walk, they had nally arrived. It was too late to walk up the tower, but theyadmired its warm glow from below, taking dozensof pictures and lining up to take each others pic-

by Darby Brown | Photos by Emily Brown


4/9

A Day at the Park| In the midst of the fall

Young Side of an Old City| Two aspiring artistsattract a crowd outside the Pompidou Center.Le Centre Pompidou includes a modern artmuseum that brings a new twist to the oldcity. All kinds of people come to show off theirtalent outside the center. These two were thebest, said Danielle, they made music usinghousehold items. Everyone thought they wereawesome.

Not everyonegathered outsidethe center was

as popular. Someothers failed towoo the crowd,including a sadvintriliquist anda lonely 80srockstar.

a busy schedule

Family feud broke out duringthe trip. Scared and upset, Darby andher sister descended the stairs into themetro station. People stared, but shewas too shaken to notice them.

Only one man caught her at-tention that night. He was lounged in acorner with a sleeping bag rolled up athis side, sipping from a bottle of pome-granate liquor. He appeared smelly and

For some reason, he had ahuge impact on me. It bothered me thata man that had nothing was so content,and here I was bawling my eyes out.said Darby,Maybe Im just crazy, butthat man taught me something in justthe few glances we shared. He probablyhad a cute homeless girlfriend some-where, and despite his living conditions,he was happy. A poor and happy life

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F o r e v e r N B l u e j e a n s


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F o r S a leForever N Bluejeans isnt just asong to the Brown family. The namesymbolizes eight years of memories

and a lot of love. Forever N Blue- jeans is the name of Darbys house-boat, which now sports a big oleprice tag on the front deck. It wentup for sale last April due to hardfeelings and nancial constraintsfrom her parents divorce.

h b i h h f il

ries with the boat. She and herfather used to take it out when shewas too young to drive the jetski

and sing along to Jimmy Buffett. Shewatched her rst scary movie on itand laid on the oor because the bigkids kicked her off the couch. Shelearned to ip off the roof into thewater and to park the jetski so that itnever got scratched. She led mas-

i f l d f bi

said Darby, but a boat can be re-placed. The people I grew up with,and the love and memories we share

cannot.I just hope they can keep comingdown, said Brandon Tallman, itwouldnt be the same without them.Likewise, Darby and Emily say theywouldnt be the same without thelake. Ive been best friends withh f l b

The Brown family boatis for sale, but thememories made on itarent going anywhere.by Darby Brown


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C a m p i n g T e a m

cause were intentsA yer for recreational soccerwent up around the YMCA, and TeamCamping was established. TeamCamping will always be known as themixed up team with the sucky players,said team captain Steven Mayborg.

Team camping had a gruelingyear, losing nearly every game andnot even getting to make shirts. Eventhough we sucked, we were still intents,Darby said, one time I was going afterthe ball and I tried to knee bump it, but itended up coming back at me and hittingme in the nose! Very intents.

That wasnt the only time Darbymade a fool of herself on the eld. Shebecame the but of all the jokes forfrollicing across the eld, kicking the balland missing it, and making little shiekswhen she got scared. Shes no good atsoccer, said one of the parents, LauraHall, but shes cute!

Despite their lack of skill, TeamCamping plans to come back for moreseasons. Its really just for fun, saidAlexis Shelburne, we all look dumb outthere trying to play, and its fun becauseno one cares!

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The world changes and I change with it. I change my lo-cation . My friendships . My home . My perspective . I usedto think change was bad, but this yeah has opened myeyes. Change is inevitable. You cant change that. Rollwith the punches and go with the fow because everychange you encounter will bring you a new point of view.

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DarbyBrown008_Perspective Personal YB