‘Life is too short to sit around worrying about all your troubles’

by Cody Repine

Having been born with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, every muscle in my body is severely weakened. I need help to eat. I can’t roll over at night. I can barely lift my arms. I have practically no use of my legs, and I can’t even bear weight. Try to imagine being bound by heavy weights. You can feel everything; you can still tense your muscles,but you’re not going anywhere. It’s like that.

I always find it funny when people say you can do anything, or anything is possible. I don’t agree. I’ve wanted to play the cello ever since fourth grade, but I know I’ll never be able to do that.

It may not be possible to do everything, but I’ve found that I can always learn to enjoy everything I can do. For example, I love my family and all of my friends. If anything my limitations force me to be closer to my family. I have to be near them all the time. It’s not like I can get mad at my family and just jump in a car and drive off, because I need them. I never resent others for what they can do that I can’t.

My sister plays viola, and I always try to support her in her musical endeavors. A passion for music is something we share. I like to listen to music. I can probably appreciate the cello more than a lot of people who play it, and certainly more than anyone who doesn’t. I can read music, and I know the cello parts to several pieces by heart.

I think it’s worth mentioning that I never let my health issues get the best of me. I wake up every morning and I move forward. Life is too short to sit around worrying about all your troubles. I’ve realized that life is rare as well. Earth is the only place it exists in the entire universe. As humans we tend to take life for granted, seeing as there are almost seven billion of us living it. At times we all have our problems, but generally life is a good thing.

This, I believe.

 

‘Every day I feel determined to become more like my brother’

by Nicollette Barreras

Strong. Thoughtful. Fun. Personal. Outgoing. My brother has all of these traits and more. Nothing can stop him. He is like my own Superman, saving me from the dangers of this world. He faces impossible, unimaginable tasks and dangers with the mindset of succeeding and making a difference in the world.

My brother wants people to know that there is someone out there who cares for them even if no one else does. I strive to be like him. When I was a child, I could tell there was something unique about him.

When I was 11, my brother graduated from college in California. My whole family flew there to support him and his accomplishments. That night, after graduation, we went to an authentic Thai restaurant to celebrate. Of course, my brother would order the strangest food on the menu that would make you scrunch up your nose in disgust. He enjoyed every bit of it until he was about to pop. After we finished eating, we thanked the Thai hostesses and left the restaurant. Outside, the moon was shining bright and there was a cold wind coming from the shore. An old lady clothed in rags and a blanket sat against the hard, cold building. I was so scared of the lady I hardly looked at her. And do you know what my brother did? He went straight up to her and handed her his left over Thai food. “I don’t have any money on me, but you can have my leftovers. Do you like Thai food? I hope so, because it is really tasty,” were some of my brother’s remarks to the old lady. He talked to her with a smile on his face like she was his grandma. I’m sure that lady had never had so much kindness showed to her from a total stranger.

Honestly, I could have never done that. I like to help people, but in that sort of situation I would have walked by that lady without a second glance. My brother showed me that night that no matter who you are or what your situation may be, kindness and courage are all it takes to make a friend out of a stranger. The older I become, I realize this statement is true. Kindness can be helping an orphanage or a simple act of giving someone food.

Every day I feel determined to become more like my brother. The more I focus on my brother, Gabriel, the more I feel his kindness filling me up to share with everyone around me.

This, I believe.

‘I believe what doesn’t kill you simply makes you stronger’

by Andrea Rutherford

I believe that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

Friends around me are always saying, “This is the worst thing that has ever happened to me.” And each time something bad happened, again they repeat it. But this statement it not true. What happened may be painful, hurtful and even scary, but it hasn’t killed you. You are still alive and breathing. When I was fourteen, my great grandpa Calvin fell and hit his head. He had bleeding in the brain and he got put into a nursing home.

He was very close to me. He always watched out for me and gave me great advice. When he was younger he was in World War ll as a Marine. He loved fighting for his country and he always had a story to tell and jokes to crack. But after the fall, he changed. He no longer told stories, gave advice or cracked jokes. He even forgot most of our family. I saw him less and at this point I thought it couldn’t get worse. I started to use the statement my friends had.

A year went by, and he stayed the same, talked little and had few interactions. Another year, and he became mostly unresponsive and refused to eat. I really thought I was losing him. One day, I was talking to my mom. We talked about my great grandpa and she told me that even though he may not talk as much as he used to, he is still that same grandpa he used to be. He is still the loving and caring person I have known my whole life.

Even though it is tough to see him like this, it has not killed me. It has just made me stronger and able to handle and face situations like this that happen in my life. I miss him and how he used to talk to me. But I believe what doesn’t kill you simply makes you stronger.

 

‘Everyone can speak, even without a voice’

by Anna Berry

Some call him stupid. Some call him weird. Some even retarded. Well, I say he’s funny. He’s cool and adventurous. But most importantly, I say he’s smart. I’m talking about my little brother, Joe.

From age two, my parents knew something wasn’t right — my brother didn’t babble. Laughing was mainly the only noise he made. A few specialists told my parents that he might be autistic. My mom and dad were finally told what was wrong. Verbal Apraxia. Without going into detail, his brain has issues sending the right signals to his mouth and vocal cords to form words. There isn’t a known cause, prevention, or immediate cure.

Joe was in a birth-to-three program to introduce him to word and object connections. They used some sign language for him to communicate. He attended pre- kindergarten at a local special needs school, but my parents took him out because his speech was not progressing. When he started kindergarten, there was a major increase in his communication. He was held back in first grade to learn his basics more clearly

Joe is now in second grade. He attends an Intensive Intervention homeroom at Georgetown Elementary. Along with the speech delay, a learning disability is present. He has had a huge increase in his speech, but still has trouble with math and reading. He is on his way to some day being able to communicate just as well as the rest of us do.

Not knowing how someone communicates is not a reason for not trying to talk to that person. My brother has taught me that everyone can speak, even without a voice; there are no language barriers. Everyone deserves to be heard, even if we can’t hear their words clearly. Joe finds ways other than speech to tell my family what he wants. My family and I also have to learn these ways to talk to him. Everyone can find a way to communicate with each other.

Everyone can speak, even without a voice. This, I believe.

 

‘I believe someone does hear our prayers’

by Saige Farese

In the society that we live in today many people have the “I have to see it to believe it” motto. This even comes true with the belief of God. I cannot judge these people because I used to be one of them. As for now, I have a different belief. I see through new eyes.

In my life I have experienced many deaths, but none were like the death of my great grandmother. She died when I was too young to understand death. At the time I had never learned that we have to let people go. After I learned that she was going to die, I felt scared and confused. I did not want her to leave. I saw the pain in my family’s eyes and I had to make it better. Being so young, I didn’t know what I could do, and then I remembered that my mom told me I could always pray. That night I prayed to God and asked Him to not take my great grandma away from me. I prayed that He would relieve the pain and make everyone happy again.

A few days later as Mom drove me to daycare, she confided in me that it would not be long before Grandma Hill passed. I turned to Mom and told her Grandma Hill would not die; I had prayed she would live. The look on my mom’s face saddened. She explained to me that her grandmother was very old, and when a person becomes that old, it is time for them to move on. She also explained that it was time for my grandmother to go to heaven. She said that grandma had lived a long, hard life and deserved to be in peace. Mom told me that death is just part of life.

With a new frame of mind, I prayed to God to end her pain and take her to heaven. Feeling stronger than ever, I walked into daycare knowing I had made my family happy. That day I learned that God really does hear our prayers, for not even an hour after I talked to Mom, Great Grandma Hill passed away peacefully in her sleep.

I believe someone does hear our prayers. I believe there will come a time when people must die, but most of all, I believe in God.

 

‘I believe in protecting my country and my loved ones’

by Zac Davenport

Protecting my country and my loved ones.

“Protect the things you love until the last drop of blood from your body.”

My great grandpa Bernard Lomont was a World War II Naval Petty Officer of the First Class. My great grandpa was a gunner on a ship shooting down Japanese planes near the Japan islands. I didn’t know my great grandpa very well, but I know one quote he would give:

“You must protect the ones you love and the country you love at all costs, even if it means giving your life away.”

My great grandpa helped protect the country he loved and the people he loved from the clutches of Adolf Hitler, Emperor Hirohito and Prime Minister Benito Mussolini.

I believe in protecting my country and my loved ones as much as my great grandpa. I will protect them not from Hitler, but from Osama Bin-Laden, the Taliban, Al Qaeda, and the rest of the terrorist groups in the world. I would prefer working out in the front lines the sitting behind a desk writing all day. Even if I became the highest military rank before the President, I will fight with my brother and sisters of arms and help them defend the friends and love ones as well defending our country. I could have been born in Russia, France, Japan or even North Korea, but no, I was born in the greatest country in the world — the United States of America. There is no other country like us. Besides protecting ourselves from attacks, we help protect and help those in need as best we can, spreading democracy to the countries that don’t have it and to those that believe in dictatorship and anarchy. My goal in life after high school is going to the Marines and protecting those I love and that need protected.

This I truly believe.

‘Writing…is the ultimate form of expression’

by Beth Brunmeier

I believe that pens are made of limitless thoughts and that their ink flows with emotion.

Ever since I was young I was encouraged by my brother Derek, whom I looked up to endlessly, to express myself through writing.  I was seven years old and furious at the world around the first time that Derek, ever gentle, showed me how to let my feelings pour through the end of a pencil in the form of stanzas and rhymes.

Even though I was only in elementary school, I began to carry a journal that ultimately held my life.  My thoughts, quotes, half-imagined stories, and anything else that was labeled as important in my immature, curious mind was ultimately written down.

Some days I’ll take out that old notebook, with its blue cover now stained and duct-taped from bits of carelessness over the years and flip through the brittle pages.  I compare it to the one that I carry with me now.  My writing style has developed, and my ways of thinking have gained perspective.  On good days, I can even think up better rhymes than “hat” and “sat.”

But even now I can still pick out the same child inside the lines that once wrote a poem about wanting to ride an elephant.

So, despite the fact that I was not (and am still not) a talented artist, singer, dancer, or able to play something perfectly on an instrument, I had a way to express myself.  I put my heart on pages and wove my most cumbersome secrets into cryptic poems.

This is why whenever I see someone my age that dislikes writing, I feel disappointed.  Why can’t they understand that with writing anyone can create entirely new worlds, with the life they’ve always wanted, the boundaries set only by how far their imagination will take them?  How can they not love the fact that by writing down the things inside of them, they can be remembered by people for generations to come?  Perhaps all they need is a person to show them how to write for themselves, like Derek did for me.  Perhaps school has brainwashed them into thinking that writing has limits, rules, and a designated purpose.

Whatever the reason, writing is my passion.  My hand is empty without a pen and my head bursts with words that have to get out.  Without writing as an outlet, I’m sure that I would explode.

Writing is not just a chore bestowed on us by teachers and schools.  It is the ultimate form of self expression.  This, I believe.

‘There is one thing that will never change — the presence of change’

by Tyler Coleman

One constantly occurring event in all of our lives is change.  Change by definition is “to cause a difference in; to alter.”  We as humans sometimes fear change, due to the presence of the unknown turnout.  Change can be in many forms, but usually revolves around our constant desire to improve our sense of self worth.  These can happen immediately or over long periods of time, with positive or negative effects.

Many of us have heard the saying “Things happen for a reason.”  However this may be true, I believe we as humans always have a reason behind everything we do.  These “reasons” almost always require us to change some sort of our lives, whether it is a simple alteration of a mindset, or a drastic personality shift.  With this being said, most personal change comes directly from our own desires, but frequently involves other people.  Everyday we encounter all sorts of people. People with different morals, values, and beliefs.  In order to remain entirely focused on our own core views, we have to identify which types of people have the ability to change us, and whether or not we will benefit from it.

I have witnessed many changes throughout my lifetime as a young adult.  Changes of all sorts.  The greatest and most common change is my experiences with other people.  I have seen my peers deliberately, but perhaps unknowingly change to attempt to fit in with another group of people.  They are frequently unaware of how vivid it is displayed to others, but in some cases it can be as obvious as putting on a mask.  This type is nearly always not good, because you often break away from your personal views and morals.

I believe that awareness of change is the key element in our success as citizens.  By awareness I mean constantly being conscious and open to doing something differently.  Nobody is ever 100 percent correct.  Perhaps the remaining portion can be obtained through healthy relationships with other people, as long no one tries to lead us away from your central values and beliefs.  With our world and society constantly changing, there is one thing that will never change — the presence of change.  It’s how you deal with it that matters. This I believe.

Tennis player, musician excels in the classroom as well

by Eli Bolus

Freshman Ryan Plunkett is five minutes late. “Sorry, I was talking to my friends.”  He sits down on the shiny brown bench across from the gym and places a pink snuggy at his feet.

He talks slowly and smoothly like he has done this before, and he probably has, having been president of the Student Council at Floyds Knobs Elementary and Highland Hills Middle School.

Plunkett plays bass in a local rock band.  “Unplugged is our temporary name,” he said.  However, bass isn’t the only instrument he plays.  “I play guitar, piano, and I used to sing.”

Plunkett has been playing bass for about a year in his band.  There are four band members other than Plunkett.  Freshman Garrett Jones plays lead guitar, freshman Andrew Nguyen plays guitar, freshman Nathan Hemminger is on drums and senior Zoe Pappas sings.

Their band does manage to stay busy.  “We had two gigs over the summer, but right now we are focusing on getting our set list better,” said Nguyen.

Music isn’t the only thing Plunkett does.  He also plays on the tennis team.  He is the number one singles on the J.V. team. Hesaid that he has been playing tennis since the end of fifth grade and enjoys playing very much.

Plunkett said that he does not plan on taking either activity much farther than high school.  “I may play tennis in college on the side,” he said, and he does not plan on taking the band any farther because their lead singer is a senior.

Even though he gets home at 7:30 every night, Plunkett still has straight A’s and has only gotten one B in his entire life.  He said that his family really helps him with everything, driving him to excel.  “With homework every night I may get to bed at 10.”

Plunkett added, “I enjoy staying busy like this but it would be nice to have some time to myself, things should slow down when tennis ends.”  So be sure to check out Plunkett on the courts or at an Unplugged concert coming soon to you.