I Just Wrote a Letter to Me

Dear Mr. Gonet:

I have seen the things you have done. I am quite proud of you for the way you have made the best of what was handed to you. The worst possible events, one right after another, were fought through and proved to be no match for you. I am sure it has not gotten any easier; graduation is coming, and you realize the fun is over and life is real. Much like the previous experiences, I am sure you can handle anything thrown at you.

By now you have to be over the mistakes you once made and learned from them. I hope you have done away with that bad habit of "why do today what can be put off until another day." That just made it tougher on yourself. When you allowed that work to pile up it made everything worse, but guess what, you got it all done. When you tried your hardest, you were able to be great at whatever you set your mind to. You maintained a super high GPA throughout freshman year, and when sophomore year got even rougher you maintained it the best you could. I do not know of any person who would complain about a 3.95. Keep it up and one day you will make a significant contribution to society and be known for it.

I hope you have kept your resilience. Your ability to go down, stay for a short while, and renew your drive is a rare and extremely valuable one. Everybody falls now and then, but the important part is to get right back up. That sense of humor hopefully is lively as ever. I understand as one gets older life can get pretty dry. Now remember, you have made it through what you though was the "worst thing ever" and are still alive. This means nothing can knock you down and keep you there. Get back up, use your good qualities and move forward. Your family, friends, and dreams will keep you going. Now I will not be around to see any of this or give you a kick in the butt, but little you has faith in bigger you. Make him proud.

Sincerely you,

Michael Gonet

Forgivness

Sometimes it can be difficult to forgive a person who has done wrong even if it is the right thing to do. When I am wronged and wish to forgive the person, there is this voice in the back of my mind that has to point out every reason under the sun to not forgive them. Some people do not change and will repeat the offense or have not earned forgiveness. Although it can be difficult, I try my hardest to forgive everybody especially if they ask to be forgiven.
Once I had this language teacher who loved to go home and think of new "fun" assignments for his awesome students. He gave these assignments over weekends and holiday breaks even when the students felt they were all caught up on their work and could relax and enjoy the days off. Then, he gave them a writing assignment over Memorial Day weekend. I have a personal rule of no homework that weekend, but that was broken this year. It is going to be pretty difficult to get over it this time. (But he did do a great job of making me a better writer)

Everybody Needs a Friend

Companionship is an important part of not only the human experience, but that of many living creatures. One human will marry another human to be bound to the one person they feel they could not live without. Humans need to know that there will be somebody there to share good times with them and talk, to pick them up when things are not going great, and just to know somebody cares. People occasionally ask, "would anyone care if I wasn't here?" Companionships allow these people to know that yes, somebody does care.
Animals also form beneficial companionships, although these are more for protection than emotional support. On shows such as National Geographic and Animal Planet, a common thing to show is unusual animal friends. Animals of different species have come together to fill the need for a friend. This little article shows a few odd friendships between animals and gives a short description: http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/photos/16-unlikely-animal-friendships/opposites-attract

My Favorite, the kitten and chick.

How the Rejected Respond

There is this special group of people in this world that feel they are above all and look down upon others. They often treat those they see as interior very poorly and reject them. This can leave the outcast with many strong emotional responses. In my experiences, the emotions follow a certain pattern. First is the sadness of feeling unwanted followed by anger and hatred. In extreme cases, malice can accompany these feelings and the rejected wish bad luck upon the ones who hurt them. There was this great basketball player in my junior high years that had few friends that were not players themselves and this made it hard for him to fit in. He hopped from team to team trying to fit in where he was treated kindly and with respect. Being that we are a CYO team, we were obligated to take him and give him a chance. He improved our team greatly and was a major helpful addition. The one thing I remember him talking about how he hated the teams that treated him as inferior. He was a perfect example of how people react the feelings of rejection.

It's Not My Fault

When parents warn their child not to do something, who's fault is the result if they do not listen? Most blame does, and should, fall on the child, while a portion does still belong to the parents. Say the child wants to climb a weak tree, but his parents warn against it. He then says, "I'm gonna do it anyway!" If the parents respond along the lines of, "Go ahead. See what happens," they now inherit some of the fault. Now say the child falls because the tree is slippery and rips his pants. That is entirely the child's doing and he alone is too blame. If the child falls from the tree breaking a bone or two, the parents now are partly responsible because they allowed their child to act in a way that could have resulted in severe injury to teach a lesson. My parents do not see this the way I do. My view is parents should be able to control their kids enough to keep them safe from such an event.

This Better Be Worth It!

Taking my family's campsite from what it was when we bought it to what it is now has taken all six years we have been there. When we bought it, we had to use a great deal of imagination for it was simply a muddy lot with a few trees. They had just run the bulldozer over the land. The second year we returned to find a very rich neighbor with a camper that could very well eat ours if it felt like doing so. (Repo men eventually ended that) My dad noticed a few neighbors had plastic border to contain the gravel and keeping it out of the grass. He got this great idea that we should too, but not the simple plastic. He wanted to use massive landscaping timbers two layers high! Our parking area could not be a normal shape such as a rectangle. It had to have about half a dozen changes in direction. It took a whole summer of measuring, cutting, drilling and hammering, but the border was finally in place and anchored with rebar. I tripped over it countless number times that summer. The work was long, difficult and very tedious, but the site looks great compared to what it was. However, grass still refuses to grow correctly. My only worry is now that we are getting a much bigger camper my dad may want to expand the area.

Sadly, pictures of the site will not be available until sometime in May, but I do have pictures of the campground itself.

Game room

Newest playground

One of the fishing lakes with lake view sites.

Devotion to Discovery

        Although people usually prefer to stay in there comfort zone, many venture outside those boundaries. Curiosity draws people toward the unknown. The most adventurous will leave everything they feel comfortable with, and jump into unknown worlds. Scientists often take expeditions to unpopulated areas that last months, even years. Mainly scientists also spend their time researching and experimenting topics of question. Some devote their entire lives to discovering the unknown.
        Curiosity is what drives people to question what they do not already know. If not satisfied, this curiosity can become a great obsession. Obsessions over knowledge have lead to many great discoveries due to the dedication it requires. The desire to make groundbreaking discoveries and become famous drives many others looking for a reason to be known. Still, others do so in the hope of finding meaning and reason for their life. They need that sense of accomplishment that accompanies discovery and success.
        Sacrifices are part of such a dedication, some more major than others. The large amounts of time used in exploration means less time for family and events. Important events that usually would not be missed are forgotten. Large get togethers for holidays are reduced. Friends can even be lost by the severity of an obsession over knowing. I know that when I'm determined to accomplish something important, I often ignore people and forget personal tasks. Friends and family are not happy and worry.

"Everybody Lies..."*

Not every situation requires complete honesty. In cases where the truth could hurt someone or cause more problems it is not needed. When questioned about events and who did them, I feel it is best to deny knowing anything. As long as it would not harm people, I feel it is a safe way to go. If I say I know even the smallest detail I will end up being drawn into the middle of the entire situation. I have had enough of that in my life. Eventually the person that tries to help gets tangled into the event and sometimes blamed. If I readily give up my information, I'll be able to rest knowing I have done all I can and I gave truthful information. Honesty can sometimes hurt more than it helps. When the truth could cause more problems, I have no problem keeping it away from people. I will not lie, just avoid it.

*This wise truth comes from Dr. Gregory House's wise words

"It's a basic truth of the human condition that everybody lies.The only variable is about what."

High School at a Glance

  I am in 10th grade at special high school called Early College. While I work toward my high school diploma, I will also be taking college classes to be put toward an Associates degree. Even though it can be rough and there is more expected from me, I am up for the rewarding challenge. While my numerous accomplishments keep me going, I have faced my fair share of struggles, and I hope I will continue to power through them to my future goals.
I have faced many struggles and pitfalls throughout my high school years. The most dangerous, fun and easy to say yes to is procrastination. Who wants to do today what they could put off until tomorrow? Lack of motivation does not do anything to help me out of the procrastination cycle. I need to get up and do that paper, but I really do not feel like it. Anything I am doing feels like more fun than that school work. English has also been a thorn in my side not only in high school, but my whole life. I speak the language every day, but the class is not that easy. I do not fail that class, but it requires a substantially higher amount of work than any other class. Even though these struggles have been a pain, I have also accomplished quite a bit through hard work.
My accomplishments are what keep me going and make me feel that what I am doing has a reason and is not a waste. I have managed to keep grades that I am very proud of. Grades are one of the most important parts of high school to me. Every class, except for one, has a semester average of an A. I have been invited to join various groups, most notably an Early Scientists program. Being asked and knowing that somebody wants me as part of their group is a feeling that some people will never know. I have also developed this sense of perfectionism that drives me forward. I like things to be as close to perfect as I can get them. I feel that gaining this sense is a huge accomplishment because not all people have it. I hope that my current accomplishments will carry me into my future to be just as successful.
I have very high hopes for my future. My high school years have shown me what I am capable of. I want to continue in my two strongest subjects, math and science. They are both my best subjects and ones I enjoy very much. Engineering seems to be the path I want to take in college. It has both a high employability and a challenging aspect to it. I like to challenge myself and take things apart, so I think it is perfect. I am most determined to keep my grades as close to perfect As as I can. Many people say it will not happen, but I can always try. I have done well this far. I have extremely high expectations for my future, but if I continue the way I am now I should have no problem.
    While high school has given me a fair deal of struggles, my accomplishments give me the drive I need, and I hope my success continues to my future goals. English has never been my friend. Every year it is my worst subject and threatens my straight As. My drive for perfection did not take long to develop and it keeps me from not doing things. If I remember an assignment, it must get done. Science and math are both my favorite and best subjects and I want to follow them into my future. My high school time has been a time of worth while challenges.

Long Distance Bullying

In this new age of technology one person can communicate with another from just about anywhere in the world. Being able to stay so far away tends to make the bullies braver than they would be face to face. In my opinion, people that spend more time on the internet seem to be more sensitive and bullies may feel they are easier to prey on. I think outside people would be more likely to step in if the bullying takes place over the internet. Make one spelling or grammar mistake in an online comment and people will jump all over it to correct it. I believe more people would jump in to help a victim rather than add to the problem. Over the internet, anyone who helps does not need to worry about the aggressor turning to beat them up next. It should feel much safer. I do not spend enough time on the internet to say I have seen this, but I have been thrown into many physical confrontations. I was neither the bully, nor the one being bullied, but a witness or the one expected to help. I remember in Junior High, helping one kid in particular. I did not like him one bit, but I could not just sit and watch. I do not recommend jumping in to separate people, but I was bigger than both of them. I felt that any decent human would help. I have no regrets from helping, but I know I would have many if I ignored the situation.