Strange Dream

I had a very strange dream the other night. I was at a friends house and my grandfather shows up very distraught, asking me to drive him to Hibbard’s Nursing Home. I quickly agree and as we are making the drive there he begins to cry. We arrive at the nursing home and he takes me out back to a room and we go inside. There is a lady in there with my Nana, crying as well. I ask what is wrong and no one will answer my question. I decided to look around and see what was the matter since no one seemed to be giving any hints. I felt like something bad had happened. I open the bathroom door and inside the sink I see a ton of long, black hair and blood. Startled, I come back out to where my grandparents are. As I’m standing there, a strange being starts to army crawl slowly out of the bathroom. It is an old, naked lady, covered in blood, with black and gray hair. She comes in to plain view of everyone and then crouches, staring at us with her black eyes. My grandparents start into hysteria, saying “Oh Maude, I’m so sorry.” I have to look away because I can’t stand the demonic look of this Maude lady. It becomes too much for me to bare and I run out of the room and start throwing up on the grass outside. I woke up after this. I’m not sure of the significance of this dream, however I did recently apply for a scholarship called the Maude Mackenzie Scholarship. Since this is the only mention of the name Maude I’ve ever heard, this must have been the premise of my odd dream.

Interstellar Review

Last night I watched the movie Interstellar, a science-fiction story about a man who leaves his children for the betterment of mankind. He travels to outer space to help pioneer the journey to find a new planet for humans, once all of Earth’s resources are exhausted. My personal opinion is that it was a perfect blend of realistic circumstances and twists that will blow your mind. It forces your brain to try to delve itself into dimensions beyond just the 3rd. You literally feel like your brain is turning to mush as you try to wrap your mind around the circumstances that are taking place. Very few movies cause you to question your perception of reality, yet this one does so immensely. Never have I ever yearned to learn more about dimensions beyond the ones that we as humans know, as much as I have since watched this movie. Interstellar, if understood and interpreted in the correct way, will leave you awe-struck. Christopher Nolan, the director, has in my opinion, created a movie that will inspire the human race to want to learn more about this area of study. I believe that many more people will now try to find a solution to the question: What will happen to us once Earth is no longer habitable?

Touncess the Driving Cat

My cat, Touncess(named after an SNL skit), passed away this week from a ruptured aneurysm. In her honor, and because death is a prominent theme in this course, I wrote a poem.

For seven years I had a cat named Tuna,
I’m quite thankful that her death didn’t come soon’ah.
In the bathtub she did poop,
Yet she was my entire support group.
Always by my side,
My love for her, I could not hide.
She sure did like food,
And never was in a good mood
Towards anyone but me.
Next to the litter box she would pee.
My mom despised her,
Tuna with her shiny fur.
The bathroom will forever be her shrine,
Our spirits, will once again intertwine
In heaven,
Where we’ll spend years together after our first seven.

A Weekend in the Woods

Over the weekend, I cross-country skied with my AP Biology class into the Little Lyford camping resort in Northern Maine. We participated in various biology-related activities including animal skull identification, learning to conserve heat in survival situations, and learning how to identify trees, animals, and animal tracks. We did not have any cell phone reception, and the ski in was over 8 miles. We spent a lot of time in silence, just listening to the sounds of nature, and it really gave me a new perspective. Life in civilized places provide different learning opportunities than the woods do. In the woods, you get to see ecosystems, animal interaction, and many other aspects, first hand. I believe that the best way to learn about something is through these first hand experiences, rather than from a text book. Being able to physically see a process occurring allows you to make connections that commit it to your memory with much more ease than traditional, textbook memorization. I also realized how big this world we live in is. Modern means of travel such as planes, trains, boats and cars are really taken for granted by people, as you can essentially travel from the east coast to the west coast in a single day. If it weren’t for these means of transportation, our world would not be nearly as accessible. By observing the time the substantial amount of time it took to ski just 8 miles, I was really able to appreciate how far even a single mile actually is.

Ernest Hemingway Biography

Click here to view my Ernest Hemingway Prezi.

G’day Mate

If I could travel to any place in the world for free, it would be Australia. Firstly, because of the warm weather. Summer in Maine is by far my favorite season, and Australia has nice weather like this year-round. Also, the 10,000, white beaches are beautiful. Spending my days lying on the beach, swimming in the ocean or looking for seashells, would be ideal for me. Peace and relaxation are a key to happiness, and I feel that partaking in activities at the beach would be very soothing. Furthermore, Australia is the fourth happiest nation in the world according to the Legatum Prosperity index. Next, I find Australian accents and mannerisms very interesting. I would be very excited to meet Australians who have an accent and learn what all their sayings mean. Also, everything is much cheaper in Australia, yet minimum wage is still $16.88. Visiting the Sydney Opera House has also always been on my bucket list, as it is such a cool and unique building. Next, The Great Barrier Reef would be an amazing, natural destination to view. Finally, there are more kangaroos than humans in Australia, and I’ve always wanted to have meet a kangaroo.

Leaving Maine Personal Narrative

“You’re going to be homesick,” “It’s too expensive!” “Why wouldn’t you want to stay close?” These are things that I commonly hear when people find out that I want to attend college out of state. They question what the point of it is; what the benefit will be. I would like to formally express my opinion on this issue and why I have made this decision.

Being raised in a small town has its perks. You always have a neighbor to help you out when your car gets stuck in the incessant snow storms, there is a sense of community, little distractions, you can even become a self-made athletic superstar by scoring the game-winning 3 pointer against a rival school. Why then, would someone ever want to leave this behind? My answer is opportunity, perspective and timing.

One thing that no one can deny is that it is hard to get and maintain a job, or build a business in a small town, let alone in one of the poorest counties in the nation. Out of state, in the city, there is an abundance of opportunity, at all levels. The money, the connections, and the experience is all much more abundant because of the larger populations that result in more commercial and private businesses. More business means more money, more jobs with higher pay which therefore results in more opportunity for success. More success means more return on my investment in an Out-of-State college. I know that if I have the ability to make more money and connections after college if I am out of state, then I am most certainly going to take advantage of that. Knowing that I will most-likely make more money after college, it becomes worth it to spend that extra money it takes to leave Maine for college.

I also find it very important to grow as a person; to gain new perspective and see different things. Going somewhere you’ve never been before introduces you to a whole new world of awareness. Larger populations result in more diversity and therefore meeting people that are completely different from what you are used to. Therefore, that sense of similarity among individuals that happens in a small town changes to a feeling of diversity all adoring you. That sense of diversity gives a unique feeling. Change happens when you live somewhere different than where you grew up. No matter if you go from city to small town, or small town to city. I believe that change is vital in order to grow and mature as a person. It is imperative to see all sides of the spectrum in order to have a true understanding of anything.

Maybe the city life isn’t for me. However, I will never know unless I experience it first hand. College is the best time to try something new because there are no ties to family or kids that makes the city undesirable. At this point in your life you are completely on your own, and it is very important to use this new independence toward something that will be of the utmost benefit to yourself and your future. There’s never any harm in trying something new, especially during the most opportune time in your life.

The Allure of Swimming

It is a wonder to many what the attraction to monotonously swimming back in forth in a pool is. Why would you want to, day after day, for several hours at a time, put every ounce of effort you have into a sport that kills your shoulders, turns your hair green and makes your skin itch? I have had several team members that have quit as a result of being unable to answer this question. It is unfortunate that many are unable to experience the fulfillment and satisfaction that swimming can bring. It is imperative that you experience success in order to feel this, however, and success can only be achieved as a result of hard work, self-determination and motivation. I believe the reason people quit or fail to try it, is because some lack the ability to possess these characteristics that allow success. Swimming is not a sport that you can be a “natural” at, it takes hard work if you want to achieve success. Personally, because of my hard work I have been able to feel the satisfaction of continually beating my best time ever since I was little. I have learned that I can control my fate by what I put into each grueling practice. In basketball you must be tall, in track you must have long legs, and in football you have to be burly, however, swimming is a sport where physical structure isn’t much of a factor.mI’ve seen successful swimmers of all shapes and sizes: tall, short, chubby and extremely skinny. This shows that swimming is a sport in which success is almost entirely based on your dedication and determination, and this is why I enjoy it so immensely.

Found Poetry