Graduation

Life changes so fast. Sometimes you think you have a part of your life planned out with maybe an event or a person. But then you wake up the next day and something blocks that event or that person leaves your life. Throughout high school, everyone goes through trials and tribulations. Thats what being a kid is all about. Some of us make decisions we know we wont regret. But for the most of us, high school is filled with broken promises and regrets. But do we choose to stand tall or do we fold? Never give up. Don't use any excuse such as age, financial situation, or GPA. As long as you want something bad enough and are willing to fight for it, don't give in; whether it be about school or even love. As high school comes to a close, uncertainty now runs rampant. With less than 20 days left of my high school career, the nerves begin to rise. You will recognize your true friends as the ones who you stay in contact with as we all go our separate ways no matter the distance. Those are the ones who will be there forever. I thank everyone whos come into life. God put them there for a reason. In about 3 weeks my life is about to be flipped upside down in the blink of an eye. I vow to live my life from here on out with no regrets. I will never give up in anything and will forever try my hardest in all my endeavors. Im prepared for the biggest event of my life: graduation

Six Word Memoir (and explanation) By Katie Madden

Always felt an outcast in suburbia

 When Mrs. Elliott informed us what our six word memoir assignment would be, I instantly knew I wanted to write something about the impact my hometown has had on me. I know that today the idea of contempt towards a suburban lifestyle can been viewed and pretentious or a cliché, but to me, it is the idea that has shaped me more than any other force in my life.

 Growing up I was a very happy child, but as I grew older I noticed that I was sometimes different than my friends and found myself interested in music and movies that my friends thought was "weird". Throughout junior high I was a generally unoriginal blob of a person who spent her weekends having stereotypical sleepovers and hanging out at Victoria Gardens. The only thing that separated me from my friends was my poetry writing, which I mostly kept to myself. “Emo” was the grand label of eight grade and I was afraid my peers would scrutinize my poems as fitting under that category.

I’d say my ultimate turning point was the summer before sophomore year. I dyed my blonde hair to chocolate brown and suddenly I became a whole new person. During 10^th grade I began to realize more and more how my surroundings made me feel trapped and suffocated. The stench of fabricated happiness emitted from the boring track homes that I rode my bike past. Frankly, I began to absolutely detest Rancho with its lack of culture, art, music, things to do, and any traces of beauty. Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice to see Cucamonga peak early on a clear morning, but besides that, Rancho has little to offer in the way of splendor.

For risk of being called pretentious, I try not to let others know that I think of myself as different. I try to veer away from conventional ideas and hobbies and beliefs, which is often extremely hard to do here. A lover of nature and of meditating, it is not easy to find a near place to be at one with the earth or find someplace that is not noisy or puts me at risk of trespassing on private property. I also very much dislike that we have no music or art venues besides local coffee shop open mike nights. The Lewis Family Playhouse does put on some good shows, but as a music lover, I wish I didn’t always have to travel to L.A. to see my favorite artists.

Enough with my rant/banter, I hope this makes some kind of point. Hopefully some of you can identify with how I feel and know that feeling like an outsider in your own hometown is oh so natural for us young angsty teens.

-Katie M.

Bucket List

1. Graduate High School
2. Teepee a house
3. Decide on what college I'm gonna go to
4. Go to my high school reunion
5. Find Happiness
6. Earn a million dollars
7. Go on an African Safari
8. Get married and have no doubts
9. Have kids
10. Have a huge family
11. Go to a Laker game
12. Skydive
13. Wait till I find the girl I'm in love with to lose my virginity
14. Run a marathon
15. See the Grand Canyon
16. See the Pyramids
17. Learn to surf
18. Learn to snowboard
19. Go to college
20. Graduate college
21. Go to Times Square on New Years Eve
22. Ride a jet ski
23. See the Great Wall of China
24. See the Eiffel Tower
25. Laugh until I cry
26. Cry because of happiness and not sadness
27. Get my wifes name/initials tattooed on me
28. Get my kids names/initials tattooed on me
29. Go to Mardi Gras
30. Kiss the most beautiful girl in the world
31. Run with the Bulls
32. Invent something
33. Help a complete stranger find happiness
34. Break a world record
35. Ride a horse
36. Go to a rodeo
37. Go to Vegas and gamble
38. Roadtrip with friends
39. Try octopus
40. Own a mustang
41. Go to the catacombs
42. Go on a hike
43. Climb a mountain
44. Go white water rafting
45. Build a house with my wife
46. Throw a party
47. Become fully in touch with God
48. Go camping
49. Get a bulldog
50. Spend a night on the beach
51. Ride a mechanical Bull
52. Fly in a Jet
53. Buy a significant other flowers and chocolates for absolutely no reason
54. Learn to play piano
55. Get a six pack
56. Discover my calling in life
57. Solve a Rubix Cube
58. Go on a cruise
59. Fly first class
60. Meet a celebrity
61. Write and play a love song on guitar or piano while singing it to a significant other
62. Learn how to cook
63. Ride a camel
64. Learn to ride a motorcycle
65. Stay home and watch a movie marathon ALL day and nothing else
66. Ride in a helicopter
67. Start a blog
68. Travel to all 50 states
69. Shave my head
70. Dye my hair a crazy color
71. Go skinny dipping
72. Tutor someone
73. Slam dunk a ball
74. Join the mile high club with my wife
75. Learn to fish
76. Sing karaoke
77. Learn a dance
78. Ride in a hot air balloon
79. Go scuba diving
80. Visit the Colosseum
81. Visit the Taj Mahal
82. Walk up the Statue of Liberty
83. Visit all 7 continents
84. Learn a magic trick
85. Learn to draw
86. Learn to say "no" without feeling guilty that I didn't please them if its not what I want and believe
87. See the president in real life
88. Donate to a charity
89. Create a video
90. Build a tree house for my kids
91. Go to the SuperBowl
92. Go to the Olympics
93. Try Gumbo in New Orleans
94. Go sailing
95. Bike PCH
96. Ride a gondola in Venice
97. Learn to play golf
98. Fire a real gun
99. Visit the Vatican in Rome
100. Literally give a homeless man the shirt off my back

Life

As the days count down to the end of the school year, I look back on everything Ive done throughout my life and realize I have no regrets. Everything I did, I did because my heart willed me to and those moments made me happy. Ive avoided drama all of my life until recently and begin to remember why I always got away from it. But as I move on to college, and with my life, I begin to become nervous. What was once thought to be happy days in my life are now filtered with uncertainty. I just hope I choose the right college with the right location to help me become happy. I hope I can find what happiness is, and keep it tight forever. Everything happens for a reason. I know God is always with me and I pray that he leads me and anyone who shall cross paths with me, to a happy and joyful life.

Tangled Plants Furzan A.

Nathan Price had seeds which he planted on the flat ground, arrogant in his ways, he went against the housekeepers advice by planting them in mounds. When it rained all the seeds washed away and then he learned his lesson by planting the seeds in mounds although he would not admit it. After the seeds germinated and grew it became clear that plants could not bear fruit since they were not native to Africa. The plants situation mimics the Price's situation, they are not native to Africa and have not adapted to it either. They are twisted and crooked just like the stems and leaves on the plant because they  cannot fit into Africa with their Western habits.

The Power Of Rewriting. - Keana M.

"Imagine a life so flawed it flows with devestating perfection. First, picture the sea. I want you to be its soul, the heart in the waves. The seaweed are columns of tangled, complex slime like bitter emotions overthought beyond all simple recognition. Every space is filled with thoughts: delicate, posinious dreams scaled like a snake, swallowing a mouse, digesting precious life in one bite. Letters strangling other letters in the misguided attempt to form words."


I enjoy exercises where we are supposed to rewrite the work of another author because not only does it allow you to express yourself, it lets you explore the words of the author while being creative.

Love Story Sestina- Keana M. & Katie M.

October mist blankets the city lights.
In the busy downtown, the mundane hipster
rides his fixed gear bike; on his back rests his guitar.
Off of his lips hangs a lit cigarette.
Thinking about the girl with the thick rimmed glasses,
he replays the first moment she walked into his life.

The girl wonders what he's doing with his life.
Holding back tears as memories, she stares down at the city lights,
longing settles at the bottom of the empty glasses.
He stole her heart at first sight- that young mustached hipster.
Hoping she'll encounter him again, she puts out her cigarette.
She closes her eyes, humming along to the radio's guitar.

As if she were there, he writes songs to her on his guitar.
He knows he needs her in his life
because, without her, he feels like a wet cigarette,
and his heart is beginning to resemble the dimming lights.
He thinks he'll never see her again- that beautiful jaded hipster.
Everywhere he looks he sees her reflection in the glasses.

Night after night, her tears fog up her glasses
because she can't help but think of him every time she hears a guitar.
To her, he is so much more than just a hipster.
She hopes that there's more to her life
then just looking down at the lights.
She pretends he's next to her as she lights her last cigarette.

He rides his bike to the corner store because he's smoked his last cigarette.
As the sun comes up he puts on his glasses
and the world flickers as the lights
turn off and the sun shimmers on his guitar.
He knows he wants more to his life
than just being a pretentious hipster.

The lovely female hipster
walks to the corner store in search of a cigarette.
She can't help but wonder what she is doing with her life.
Still pondering, she adjusts her glasses.
The cherry red wood of a guitar
catches her eye as it reflects the store lights.

Life has a way of coming together,
beyond hipster materialistic matters- a guitar, a cigarette, or glasses,
the lights of love, always allow two people the grace of being together.