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The following essays were written by Middle Schoolers during humanities this year, in the style of the National Public Radio program This I Believe. One student's essay caught the attention of the local news media: Read about it here, and read the essay here. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I believe in the concept of “imaginary” friends. When I was in kindergarten, I did not have many friends, because I secluded myself from my peers. And the more I drew back, the more people did not want to be around me, and that made me draw back more. Before I went “completely under”, my mind did something, it made me see and hear “people”. At the time I had no idea what was happening, little did I know that my mind made these “people” to stop my mind’s endless aches. So I believed they actually existed. For months I had my family succumb to the new “guest” at our house, I let him sleep on the couch, I provided him meals, which he never seemed to eat, and he became part of the family. Soon this got so amusing I never even needed friends, I just played with, Mr. Skaggs and my troubles vanished. We went on “adventures” were we could encounter evil robots to compassionate cowboys; I was the happiest “little boy on the planet”. Soon peers started to notice me… as the creepy kid who makes odd noises and jumps around like a lunatic; But Mr. Skaggs and I did not care; we had so much fun by ourselves... But this would not last forever. Two years later, my parents decided that Mr. Skaggs had to go, so they explained to me that Mr. Skaggs does not, and will never exist… I was crushed, I did not talk for a week, it felt like losing a good friend… no, it was like losing family… our house was broken, I did not talk to my parents, but my parents still tried to comfort me. In fourth grade, he was gone, I had “actual” friends now, and everything seemed to be normal until November brought frightening news, I had pneumonia. Pneumonia is an inflammation of the lung, caused by mucus, and it put me in bed from early November to January. I missed my birthday, Thanksgiving, New Years Eve, and Christmas because of it. I was, basically, in bed for three months with nothing to occupy me except my mind. Mr. Skaggs was back! I still could play with Mr. Skaggs. He helped me find solace in my mind, through the pain of missing all the “holidays”, Mr. Skaggs and I had a celebration in my head. Mr. Skaggs even turned my bed into the S.S. Jellyfish the most high tech submarine that ever propelled though the seven seas. “Fire torpedo one”, I would choke out, but he didn’t notice, he was Mr. Skaggs, and he could do anything. I believe that no matter the circumstances, there is always someone looking out for out for you. I believe that even an “imaginary” friend can be that someone. I believe in Mr. Skaggs. Back To The Top --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My belief started when I was in kinder garden going to school and Seabury elementary. It was your normal Washington day and it was pouring down rain. Now with just being in kindergarten it seems like a strange place for one of my most important belief to be shaped, but this is how it all happened. It was time to go outside for recess. This was not the most exciting thing at the time, going outside when it was pouring down rain, but who would care when you were just five years old. We all got our coats on and headed out the door. Everyone rushed for all the toys and it all turned to chaos. We were all getting soaked, but no one cared, we were all to amused by all of the toys. After having played with all of the toys but the balance beam, I decided that was the thing to go on. I walked over to the long wavy bright red shine metal balance beam. I jumped up onto it, and stated to walk along it with my arms stretch out to help me keep balance. I passed the first curve off to the left. I had been on this many times before and thought that I had mastered it so I decided to go a little faster. I passed the next two curves off to the left then the right. I decided to go just a little faster. I passed two more and stopped. There were only three more curves, right left then right. I stared at them. Then I broke out into a run. I passed one curve, I suddenly realized that it rain much, much harder than before. One bad thing about the balance beam is that is wasn’t the best manufactured thing ever. Both ends of it had large drips of metal that formed a point at the end on all for corners, and if I was thinking about this at the time then the pain would have been much worse when I slipped at the very end banging my chin on one of the sharp corners of the balance beam although it seemed nothing could be more painful than that. Before I knew it I was on the ground in pain, I had no idea what had just happened. Then blood started pouring out. Next thing I knew my mom was lifting me into the car and we were off to the hospital. I had not been to the hospital a lot before but I knew exactly where we were going since my dad was the head of the pharmacy. That night I was out of the hospital with my chin covered in glue. I had also found out what happened and how I got my chin cracked open. That must have been one of the scariest nights of my life. The next day I got to school, but I was not prepared for what was going to happen next. The day started out just like any normal day at school besides all the questions and people asking me what happened. But then the thing I would never think of happening happened. It was naptime and we were all sitting on are mats in the dark and complete silence when it happened. I was just sitting there on my mat and then I felt something in my chin. I tried to rub it off with my hand, but when I took my hand away it was covered in blood. My chin had cracked open again. I was put in my mom’s car just like the night before. The only difference was that this time it hurt even more and I was even more scared. In the middle of crying about half way to the hospital I tried to tell my mom just how scared I was. I was afraid that this might happen again. I don’t remember it all that well, but I do remember one thing. She told me that I have to confidence and faith in the people around me. She told me that if something happened the doctors would do whatever they could to help me. And just like that my life was changed and somehow I felt differently about things. That night just like the night before I got me chin glued back together. But that not the end of the story. For the next three days my chin cracked open once every day and every day I got it glued back together. On the fifth day, the night that I cracked open they finely they sent me to the emergency room and glued it as much as they could. The next day I woke up from nap time and I found the scab from my chin on the floor. I rush over to the to the bathroom to look in look at my chin. It had not cracked open and it was finally healed. I went outside for recess. The red balance beam was gone but I still had all my friends and my life seemed the same. When I look back on that week I realize that after the second day when my mom talked to me in the car the other three time my chin cracked open I was not as afraid as the first time, I had more confidence. This I believe. Back To The Top --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Just showing you care about someone's belief is letting them know they are being heard. A little comment about someone's values can mean so much to them. Showing you're listening is showing you care. I believe in respecting other people's beliefs. No matter how strange they may sound, I still respect the belief as long as they have a good explanation for why they believe in it. This may sound confusing why I would want to care, but it has come to mea a lot to me in ways that are hard to understand. At school, I was taught to be kind to people's feelings. I knew what the teachers were saying and what they meant; I just did not understand why I would need to show I care about something I know nothing about. The first time it hit me, it felt I missed out on so many opportunities to start new relationships with people. When I was in Chicago recently with my father, we went to the exhibit called, The Lions of Salvo. While we were going through the exhibit, my dad told me the story of how he would hold me up to the lions in sign of respect. I wasn't enthusiastic about his suggestion of us reenacting the scene of many years ago, so we just took a picture instead. A few days later I noticed that my Dad seemed frustrated. We had a talk and I found out the tradition meant a lot to him and I really hurt his feelings. Being told this helped me understand that a little respect can go a long way. You don't have to agree, just listen. Being heard feels good and hearing others is the same as giving back. I believe in open mindedness. Don't only hear what you have to say, but rather hear what everyone has to say. I am always open to other people's suggestions, and most of the time, they are right. It doesn't only help me, but also lets them know I am listening. I began to understand this when the presidential election came up. I was a huge Hilary Clinton fan and that was the only candidate I listened to. I only looked at the good things about her and the bad things about the other candidates. That's when one day a friend told me it was unfair to look only at the good side of something and the bad side of the other. I took his advice and searched for information on the other candidates. That's when I discovered they weren't all that bad. I promised myself from that moment on, I would look at both sides of things before I make decisions. Respecting what all people believe in and listening to what they have to say is one of the kindest things I can do. It helps me start strong friendship because they know I care about them. See what other people see, and that can only be done if you listen. Remember, listening is showing you care. Back To The Top --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I believe that school is one of the most important things in my life. I believe that if you get a good education it can take you far. I have not experienced the feeling of graduating from high school or for that matter, graduating from college because I am only in 6th grade. My story is based on the belief that my family loves me and the education part is integrated into the story. I first realized that my family loves me when I was 7, and in 3rd grade. However that’s not the main idea. I used to think that school was an extremely boring thing that I would have to do every day and I had had enough of this boring thing. I decided that I would try to avoid school as much as possible. One night I was trying to figure out how to eschew school. I thought so many different ways to skip school, some of them involving taking 30 minute showers, re-setting my alarm clock, sleeping in really late, pretending to be sick, stuff that would make me miss as much class as possible. These plans worked most of the time and some of them needed work on but I was finally happy. School was a lot shorter, specific classes were now not on my schedule. It was a Sunday night. The weekend was over. Tomorrow was Monday. Oh-No. That weekend, I had just gone to a friend’s birthday party and spent the night and it was a great weekend. I wasn’t looking forward to school the next day. On Monday morning right before I took my shower I asked my mom why I had to go to school. She said “Because we want you to get a good education. Without a good education you won’t be able to know things from left to right. Another reason that we are sending you to school is because we love you, and the most important thing in life is YOU. You will go to school because it is one of the best things in life.” That made me feel great. The feeling was like no other. For once in my life I realized that school was important. I was actually happy, and ready for school. I believed in school. My life was complete. I had learned that my mom and my dad love me. I packed my bag and I was set for that minute and a half drive to school. Since this incident I have tried to be as honest about going to school as possible. I don’t sleep in, I don’t pretend to be sick, and I don’t re-set my alarm clock. School has changed my life. I believe that without school I wouldn’t have met many of the friend s I have now. I have changed the way I look at school. School has given me a good education that will take me far. Sometimes I look back at this event and laugh. Now, if I have a choice of doing school work or TV, I would pick school work. The sense of always having your family there for you is outstanding. My family will always be there for me, even if they are not actually there or not the sense is still at hand. I love school. I love my family. I believe in school. I believe in my family. Back To The Top --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I believe in acknowledging everyone. People shouldn’t be treated like they don’t exist, no matter what situation they’re in or how you feel at the time. This became apparent to me when I was around six years old. I went to a birthday party that was held at a gymnastics center. I realized how much fun it was, and I decided to start gymnastics there. About a year and a half later, I moved to a larger gymnastics club in Auburn, and for the first time I was actually in a level: level four, the lowest that there is for competition in gymnastics. As the years passed on, I moved up in levels, and as I moved up, I noticed that the coaches that I worked with for years weren’t being as nice, as accepting of my mistakes. One coach was especially mean, and she had three ways of correcting people. Way One was just telling me what was wrong; this normally happened on days when she was in a good mood, which wasn’t often. On those days, almost everyone was happy because we weren’t being yelled at most of the time. Way Two was yelling at me, which happened most often. Way Three was the worst. Thankfully it didn’t happen very often. She would just ignore me and make it obvious that she wasn’t going to pay attention to me. She would glare in the opposite direction of me, and then I wouldn’t know what was wrong, so I couldn’t correct my mistake, whatever it was. Then, when I repeated the error accidentally because I didn’t know what was wrong, she would just become even angrier, and ignore me even more, until she finally snapped and yelled at me. I felt like gum stuck on the bottom of her shoe, sticking her sole to the pavement with every step. So I believe in acknowledging people, even if it’s just as small as a smile. Acknowledging people doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to be nice to them. Acknowledging people means that they feel like they aren’t invisible to you, that they aren’t just another brick in the wall. Even the homeless people outside of the coffee shop deserve to be acknowledged, if it means just giving them a small smile or putting a few quarters in their cup. I know what it feels like to be ignored, and I don’t think that anyone should be treated like the pebbles on the path, stepped on and then forgotten. Ignoring people doesn’t correct anything, it just delays the problem for a time, but eventually someone will have to deal with the issue one way or another. I believe in the power of acknowledgement. Back To The Top --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I believe in my family and the bonds, and trust we share together. This is a very important value to me because people’s families are a big factor that shapes who they are and what they believe in. Another reason I value my family is because of the fact that the lessons that I learned from them and the support that I got from them will always follow me wherever I go. One distinct event that shaped and helped create this belief happened when I was eight years old and in third grade. My class went to Olympic Park Institute (OPI). When we go there we would usually stay for about three days. We study the plants and animals of Washington there and do activities such as canoeing, hiking, and testing the river and lake that border the facility. On it was the last night we were there and I began to feel sick. My teacher looked at me and decided that we should call my house to tell my mom and dad that I wasn’t feeling well. So we called home and my dad answered. We told him what was wrong and he volunteered to go up and pick me up. OPI is not very close to my house. It is a little more than a three hour drive from my house there and about hours round trip. It was close to midnight when he got there and I was really tired so I don’t remember everything clearly, but I remember feeling extremely relieved and happy that my dad had come to pick me up. I was so tired I fell asleep in the car first thing. I’ve always known through my life that my family loved me but I think this was one of the first times I actually realized how much faith and reliability I can put into my family and almost no matter what they will believe in me. Even though this one turning point that changed the way I thought about my family, this belief is shown everyday in the little things my family do for me too. think that having such a strong family consisting of me, my dad, my mom, my 18 year old brother and my two dogs will help me become a great parent with my family in the future. The support, love and generosity of my family will lead me and be with me with whatever I do. I don’t know what I would have done and do without them and their help. Back To The Top --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I believe in accomplishment. I know that each and every one of us lives on a foundation which consists of our freedom, independence, and liberty, and it is on this foundation of which we have the right to do what we please. I believe that we can live up to this freedom, liberty, and independence that we have earned. We can make a goal, for an example, you can make a plan to make this building a certain height, or make the accomplishments that represent the height very amazing. It’s like the closer you get to finish your goal is as tall as your building will get. We are able to do almost anything on this foundation. I feel that as long as you believe enough in yourself and put your mind to the goal, you can finish your goal no matter what. My story reminds me of this when I went to the playground with my family. It is always hard to get up the steep hill with my bike but I still got it up the hill because I really wanted to go to the park. Right then and there my building got taller. I have never really got up the hill on my bike and because I was driven to my goal I could do things I had never done. As we got to the play ground I tried to put my bike trough the fence which my dad always had to do. I struggled but I got my bike trough, and again my building got even taller. I rode my bike to the swing set and tried to climb it. I knew I could not. My dad came and climbed on top like a monkey. Then he showed me how to. Even then I could not do it. I made getting to the top my goal and with nothing stopping me but myself, I tried a bit harder and then I climbed all the way to the top. Then my building sky rocketed. That day my building grew very big. I learned that day that nothing can stop you from finishing a goal you might have in life and that nothing will stop you except yourself. I felt that the only thing stopping me from climbing that swing set was me, because I felt that I could not climb the swing set I could not. Now I know that if you are compelled enough to do anything to finish your goal and that your goal is worth living for, you can do anything. This I Believe. Back To The Top --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Creativity has always been a part of my life, whether it be Plan A, or the Backup Plan. I have always looked for a new or different thing to do things. I really like finding things out for myself, and with my friends, too. The appealing thing for me is when the answer isn’t always right there. I find it more interesting to determine an original way – my own way. A few years ago, I decided to do something very small, but very creativity, too. My friend and I wanted to find out id Santa really existed.We were sitting on her bed trying to think of ideas when I saw her fingerprint kit. We thought that maybe we would be able to take fingerprints around the cookies, tree, and stockings. I guess we somehow thought we had no way to tell what our parent’s fingerprints were, but we couldn’t. My friend realized this, and we ditched the fingerprint plan. Next we decided to hide a camcorder to see who came and delivered presents at night.The only drawback was if someone found the camera first. We decided this was a great plan, but it wasn’t guaranteed to We needed a Backup Plan. Later that night, my friend came up with another idea. She told me to write a letter and asked very nicely for a signature. I wrote this beautiful letter and asked for a signature in a very disguised but straightforward way. We did this because we knew we could recognize our parent’s handwriting. We decided on one more Backup Plan. We locked all of the windows, doors, and blocked off the chimney. We really hoped that Santa couldn’t go through locked things. In the end, the video camera had died within 5 minutes, my friend’s dog ate my letter, and I decided the door locking Plan wasn’t very reliable. But, I was able to tell that Santa didn’t exist for a very different reason. The reason wasn’t part of my Plans at all. The From Santa tags were in my mom’s handwriting. Even though our creative plans didn’t work, this experience has made a big impact on my ability to solve problems. I had a lot of fun, too, trying to identify the true Santa Claus. I believe in creativity, and I really hope creativity believes in me. Back To The Top --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This story caught the attention of the local news media. Read about it here. We have recently had four police officers be murdered (five if you count Tim Brenton) even though my stepfather was not one of those four officers, he was an officer who was killed in the line of duty. He was Patrick Maher the officer who was killed six years ago on Aug. 2, 2003. Even though my stepfather was killed six years ago, I still remember when it was me who had a stepfather die. I was a depressed 5 year old that had just moved to Washington. I went to a school where no one knew what to do with me because they thought I had no reason to be a mope and no one wanted to be my friend. I went to that school all the way up to first grade. My teacher would yell at me for folding my homework assignment (a natural habit of mine) and things like that. To make a long story short, my mom pulled me out of that school in a hurry and put me in the school I go to now (which was obviously the right school for me since I still go there now). Ever since the five police officers were killed, my mother has been on local news channels a lot lately to talk about what those five families are going through. She also talks about this being the same thing that she and I went through years ago and the pain they feel with their loss. The news people (and police officers when she sees them) all ask Mom the same question, "So...how is Nick doing?" Since I'm never there with my mom when it happens, I don't know what she says to those people but I'm guessing it goes something like this: News people: How is Nick doing? Mom: Nick is fine thanks for asking. I still see a few police officers around town every now and then. Even though I am now 11, some of them still recognize me which I thought was surprising because some of them haven't seen me since I was 5, 6 or 7 years old. I guess I don't look that different from when I was younger. Ever since my mom got her new job as executive director of COMPAS (Council of Metropolitan Police and Sheriffs), I have been seeing police officers a lot more often lately, and I am regularly being asked how I am doing by the officers I see. But I know why they are doing it, and I am glad they do. For the last six years I have been a mope that had no faith in myself. Now I know that you can change your life. In fact, I have become confident in myself that I have joined the Boy Scouts. I have become a positive kid again, and I inspire my mom by being the best Boy Scout I can be, and my mom inspires me by keeping herself healthy. What this whole thing has taught me is that even after the loss of a loved one, you can still make good times happen. This I believe. Back To The Top --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I believe that parents are a very important thing in my life. My parents are my foundation and I learn a lot from them. They guide me to do good things in life, and if they didn’t exist, neither would I. I inherit many traits from them, and showing that I love them is very important. I realized that I want to show my parents that I love them when I was just 2 years old. I was in the middle of a Target store, and I asked my dad if I could look at the toys to which he responded, ok. When we arrived at the toy section, I saw the coolest thing. It was right at eye level. It was a 1 foot tall Buzz Lightyear. Yeah!!! It had multiple buttons on the chest and arm. Most of them made him talk, but 2 of the buttons didn’t work, my dad tried to tell me what they both did when it was out of the box. I got irritated because I couldn’t understand what he was saying so we went on to buy our other groceries. When we got back home I told my dad that I wanted that for Christmas. That was my top priority, a Buzz Lightyear! On Christmas Eve I was in bed with a horrible case of the flu, I was thinking about the talking Buzz Lightyear that I wanted for Christmas. The next morning, my mom and dad had to carry me down the stairs because I was so sick, and when I got down to the living room I saw tons of presents all around the Christmas tree. My mom and dad held me in their arms because I couldn’t sit up. My parents held each present up so I could see what the presents were because I was too sick to open any presents. At the end of the time we were opening presents, my mom found the last present under the Christmas tree. Both my parents opened it very slowly and when it was finally unwrapped I began to realize what it was. The Buzz Lightyear was right in front of me on my lap and it was mine. The big red button on the front made the wings come out on the back of Buzz. I looked up at my mom and dad and smiled and said, “Thank you for taking care of me when I was sick and giving me gifts that I wanted so much. I love you.” At that time I didn’t think I would ever get that for Christmas. I know now that Christmas is not all about presents. It’s about love, faith, and thanks for what I have. I believe in guidance, and parenting. I try to give them just as much love as they give to me. Back To The Top --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I believe in challenging myself to do difficult tasks and by doing so I can accomplish just about anything. Last Spring I had the opportunity to go to one of two camps for three weeks; one was in California and the other was at the University of Washington. Each one had its pluses and minuses; the one in California was far away and I had to spend three weeks without my parents but it was an opportunity to learn new engineering concepts and meet new people. The camp at the UW required me to get up early and take a two hour drive to get there and back every day of those three weeks but I would be able to go home at the end of each day. It was a difficult decision; I even sought out the advice from my teachers and parents in order to assist me in making my decision. I chose the one in California because it would help me become more independent. I felt nervous, REALLY NERVOUS, even after making this decision. What helped a great deal was that a friend had decided to go to the same camp, for the same session and class, which made me feel better about my choice. The first day of CTY (Center for Talented Youth) I met my “roommates,” saw my living space, ate lunch, and then said good bye to my mom and aunt. Later on there was a tour of the campus, then I (and all the other people attending CTY) went to the student orientation. I had dinner which gave me time to meet the other kids in the Science and Engineering group. I still felt nervous and anxious. As those three weeks went by, I got to know my peers better and learn many new engineering principles. This experience seemed kind of scary and daunting at first but it was worth it because I was able to enhance my knowledge on engineering, meet new people, and do something that none of my classmates have done. Most of all, I realized that even though some challenges seem great and at times overwhelming, once I put a lot of concentrated effort into accomplishing them, I felt like I could do just about anything! This experience helped create my belief in challenging myself to do new and sometimes scary things. Back To The Top --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I believe that life isn’t always fair. I believe that life will give you challenges and that it is important for us to overcome these challenges if we want to have a successful life. And although I have never had a terrible disease like cancer or autism, I have had a disease that has made me stop being able to do what I want to do, at least for awhile. About a year and a half ago I found out that I had a disease called severs disease. Severs disease is inflammation in the growth plate. It occurs mostly in active boys from about 8 to 13, and it can last for 2 months to a year. I found out I got this right after I joined a new soccer team. The soccer team I joined was really focused on out running the other teams. That meant running Although severs disease is not permanent, and I am almost over it now, I learned a very valuable lesson, I learned that life is not always fair, and that it is important to just keep on going, this I believe. Back To The Top --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Back when friendship, earning stickers, and having fun were the most important things on the planet, something happened to me. I call it Kindergarten. When I was 5 years old, I was a pretty good student. I almost never got in trouble, and I had only had to pull a card once in my whole life. Pulling a card meant you did something wrong and had to change the color of the card, and it would haunt you the whole day, and for me, my whole life. One day I got tons of stickers for doing a lot of good things and as a reward, I got to stay up and play with toys instead of rest and read. I felt special. One thing about that day was that I was really tired. I wanted to rest that day, but I was too shy to tell the teacher, and didn’t want to give up such an opportunity like that. So I continued to play with toys. Right after rest and read, I was still really tired and started to overheat, so I decided to take a little nap on my desk. Free choice was the last segment of the day; I figured I would wake up just in time. However, I didn’t. I didn’t wake up. Later on, they said that I had somehow “fainted.” Of course I didn’t know that, since I “fainted,” but I was told later on that is what happened. When I woke up, I was in the school’s office with packages of ice all over me, my sleeves rolled up, and I looked up and there was my mom, dad, and my teacher looking all crowding around me with scared and surprised looks. They asked me some questions about how I felt, and the next thing I knew was that I was lying down on in my parent’s car, while my mom was giving me something to drink in a sippy cup. They took me to a hospital, I remember them taking me out of the car, and putting me in a stroller, while they quickly rushed me into the hospital. It was all a blur after that. I had to stay home for about 2 weeks, and one of those days, my classmates sent me a bunch of letters saying things like “hope you feel better,” and so on. I believe in family. Without family, no one would be there to support or help you. My dad told me years later, when I asked him, that he and my mom immediately canceled the rest of their patients for that day just to come see me, when they heard what happened. And I also appreciate that the teachers did everything they could to make sure I was ok. It’s weird to think about it now, because this whole thing happened only because of me. It was one of the most traumatic moments I’ve had in my whole life. I will remember this moment always. No matter what, my family will always be there for me when I need them, and I will be there for them too. Back To The Top |