Loved EVERTHING About It

            I certainly enjoyed Everything Matters! by Ron Currie Jr. the most out of any of the books we have read thus far in AP English. First off, I loved the contemporary nature of it. I felt like this made it much easier to relate to. Even in very small instances, I could relate my current life to the book. For example, Junior has to use a “Gatorade of the Fierce Melon variety” at one point during the novel (Currie 89). “Fierce Melon” is without doubt my favorite Gatorade flavor so I could easily relate my life to Junior’s in this small but important instance. Additionally, I really enjoyed that Rodney played baseball. I love everything about the game and I really came to admire Rodney’s character. Rodney simply “doesn’t feel pressure…It’s what makes him so good” (Currie 72). I am very jealous of Rodney’s baseball abilities and approach to the game. I often think way too much in the batter’s box and end up letting that prevent me from having a quality at-bat. The final reason I enjoyed the book revolves around Junior’s decision to focus his life more on his relationships when given his second chance by the entity. The entity basically tells him, “Do whatever you want, I don’t care” and he decides to go back and cherish the time he has with the people he loves (Serensky 5-27-11). I absolutely loved how Junior spent his last moments in the second universe in “a warm package of humanity” as opposed to “alone at the summit of Maine’s tallest mountain” (Currie 302, 261). The juxtaposition of the two endings highlights that Junior’s decision to focus more on the people he loved really helped to make his life better and more enjoyable. Everything Matters! encapsulated many of my own interests and also conveyed messages that hit home to me. I consider it one of the best novels I have ever read. 

Can't Beat Dodgeball Glory

10. Just making my list is an experience that occurred at the beginning of my sophomore year in APUSH. As an intimidated young sophomore taking my first AP class I felt “like I was too dumb to” handle such a rigorous academic environment (Kesey 210). To my surprise, I scored a perfect 10/10 on my first essay on Puritans. Most of my fellow APUSH students freaked out over their sixes and sevens so I felt pretty thrilled and felt that AP classes were not all they’re cracked up to be.

9. This one may not be the most academic thrill in the world but it occurred in school and with an academic instrument. Way back in the awkward freshman days, I was an avid calculator gamer. “It is obvious that [my] social spheres [were] widely different” as a freshman (Wilde 37). But anyways, I got the most epic high score ever witnessed in the history of CFHS. I played one game of Avalanche for over a half hour straight in Mr. Salyers’ study hall and scored 25,252. I have never seen anyone get above 6,000 so yeah; it was thrilling to say the least.

8. Undoubtedly the most difficult time thus far in my high career has been my AP Computer Science class. Every Friday we have two nine point AP problems that just rocked my world for a while. I “press[ed] ahead with getting clobbered” weekly on the Friday problems, usually scoring a 3 or 4 out of 9 (Currie 105). But two Fridays ago I had my breakthrough, scoring an 8.5 and 9 out of 9 and feeling as thrilled as anyone could about two 9-point assignments.

7. Who wouldn’t feel thrilled after finishing a 25-page paper at 4 in the morning? Well after hours of exhaustive work I finally hit ctrl + P and witnessed “‘the end, the absolute, irrevocable, fantastic end’” of my first ever data sheet (Kesey 304). The moment I printed the mother load of analysis and pain I felt all sorts of stress and anxiety lift from my body.

6. If you text and drive, you may be “in the waning moments of your existence” according a highly acclaimed study done by the great Alex Hurtuk and Jimmy Boldt (Currie 261). Alex and I did our 10^th grade research project on cell phones and driving and we aced it, I mean we really aced it. Getting such a good grade on such a large project gave the 10^th grade me quite the thrill.

5. Tenth grade English class…Ms. Beach: “We are going to have a guest speaker tomorrow, he doesn’t have any arms or legs.” … Lizzy Burl: “Does he have bones?” … Alex Kreger: “Yeah he just rolls around like a big gelatinous mass everywhere.” This was one of the funniest moments for me in school. The speaker may have been “legless and armless” but he was anything but boneless (Currie 113).

4. Moushumi! Enough said. I felt “so full of sympathy” for whoever had to play that part (Kesey 233).

3. The second greatest day of my school career occurred on the day before winter break of my sophomore year. I sat in second period APUSH class and watched as Mr. Brownlow stood atop a desk with his famous wooden stick ranting about sectionalism or something when BAM! the power went out. Mr. Browlow immediately let out a frightful scream as all of us wondered what was going on. After about ten minutes in the dark word came through that we could leave school if our teacher talked to our parents first. After my mom and Mr. Browlow chatted for a brief minute, I booked it out of class, met up with my best friend Charlie Micunek in the hall and sped out of the school, starting winter break six periods early. That school day seemed “to me to be in every way the visible personification of absolute perfection (Wilde 31).

2. On December 10, 2010 I was going to hear whether or not I made it into Dartmouth College. The email came out at exactly 4 pm and beginning at 3:59 I stared at my computer screen… waiting. “The suspense [was] terrible” to say the least (Wilde 52). When I finally opened the email and saw that I had gotten in, I felt so relieved and thrilled. I felt that my previous 11.5 years in school had finally paid off for something.

(Alex K)

1. Some may not consider my most thrilling academic moment in high school very academic but because it happened during the actual school day, I find it perfectly academic. It was Springfest 2010, the day of the annual dodgeball championship. This dodgeball tradition sets itself apart from all other traditions in the school. It’s a time when the ENTIRE student body watches an athletic event together. In past games, the fans have been divided, whether it be by grade or by social orientation. The 2010 game was far different on the other hand. The game featured the heavyweight team, Team Cheesed, against the surprise team, the East Washington Mafia. I played for East Washington Mafia. Before the game began our nervous team huddled in the girls locker room (one of the teams had to be in there) and got pumped up for the most important sporting event in any of our lives. As we approached the stairs to make our appearance on the court, the entire gym filled with boos as Team Cheesed took the floor. Moments later we ran onto the floor to massive cheers. Once the game began, we garnered more and more support from the crowed as everyone but one or two people cheered for us. Chants of “MAFIA, MAFIA, MAFIA” roared through the building as Team Cheesed players fell. After winning the first game and losing the second, the championship came down to one final game. We came out strong and took an early advantage. Taylor Mendel, Austin Sauey, Danny Murtaugh, Alex Kreger, myself and even Jillian could not be stopped as we dodged and dipped our way past incoming balls and fired some back with often-deadly accuracy. The final seconds were a mad rush as EWM players charged, balls flying, toward the one or two remaining Cheesers. As soon as the last opposing player fell, the crowd erupted. I felt greater “joy and love in just this one last moment” than I had experienced in all of high school (Currie 302). I had never been in such a loud gym in all of my life. We had done the impossible, defeated an over confident team with some of the best athletes in the school on it while uniting the entire student body behind us. I am very positive that Chagrin Falls High School will never see a comparable game ever again. It was quite the feat and quite the thrill. Surely number 1 material.

If I had to Choose One...

 I would choose “Winter in the Summer House” by Robert N. Watson. I could relate to the poem the most because my dad’s side of the family owns a summer house on Long Island, New York and we go up there for two weeks every summer. It’s a place where I would “play with wonderful expression” as a kid (Wilde 1). I have a lot of good memories of the house and the poem seems to evoke the old man’s memories of his house as well, although his have more of a melancholic tone to them. Nowadays our summerhouse in New York “seems to be the proper sphere for the man”  (Wilde 35). We enjoy going boating, kayaking, throwing the baseball around and shooting our pellet rifles on the dock. Similarly, the manly old man in the poem “[keeps] his tools / In pegboard tracings” and drives an “old Dodge” (Watson 9-10, 13). The poem also brought up memories of the house itself. Built in 1941, the house is pretty old and has “cracks in the hardwood floors” and “the walls [are] painted but not covered” (Watson 4, 6). “I cannot deny it,” the charm of living in a somewhat older house for two weeks really makes the experience great (Wilde 39). Watson poem really brought out some memories of my families house on Long Island, thus making it my favorite of all the poems we have read this year. 

FIELD TRIP! FIELD TRIP! FIELD TRIP!

            Honestly what day could possibly beat the day we went to see “Othello”? I mean we got out of school, saw a pretty awesome play and ate FOOD! It was a day that seemed “to be in every way the visible personification of absolute perfection” (Wilde 31). The play itself was amazing on its own although our comfortable VIP seats made the experience so much better. After looking down at the other students below, I “wish they understood that there is joy in [the] fact” that we have the chance to have fun doing something AP English related outside of school (Currie Jr. 302). After getting off the bus the good times continued in the Sands Community Room. To top the day off completely, the pizza man showed up late, ensuring that we would miss the remainder of the school day. After gorging on pizza, cookies and not salad, we went into groups and “discussed the theatrical effects of the play.”  Upon leaving school that great day, all of us AP English 12 students were “swimming in that kind of tasty drowsiness that comes over you after a day of going hard at something you enjoy doing” (Kesey 255).

Suicide By Comet is Definitley the Way to Go

Lady Bracknell (Marriage Counselor): Tell me of your marriage troubles Sir Ralph.

Ralph: “We were a mismatch” (255).

Lady Bracknell: Ah I see. I am sure you must have had a long engagement; it appears everyone is doing it these days, such indecency. “To speak frankly, I am not in favour of long engagements. They give people the opportunity finding out each other’s character before marriage” (48). I can assure you Sir, that your rather lengthy engagement brought the demise of your marriage.

Ralph: Yeah I guess that could have had something to do with it. I just feel that society pressures long engagements these days.

Lady Bracknell: “Never speak disrespectfully of Society, [Ralph]. Only people who can’t get into it do that” (47).

Ralph: Ya know what? I’m gonna get real weird with it, “I’ve decided to commit suicide by comet” (254).

Lady Bracknell: What kind of nonsense is this? A comet? Have you any self-respect?

Ralph: I guess not anymore now that I live in an abandoned shack in the desert. Goodbye Lady Bracknell.

Lady Bracknell: A comet? I have never heard of such a preposterous idea.

Not Such a Good Day for John Sr.

            All right, I know my ten-year-old son is a cocaine addict, but what do you what me to do? I have to work long hours just to pay the bills and keep food on the table. I felt my treatment in the AP English discussion was quite unfair. I mean, I have to work all day and I simply can’t keep on eye on my son. My wife has not been of much help, “[she] doesn’t seem to notice” his very odd behavior (41). I’ve sadly had to discover my son’s addiction on my own without any help from my alcoholic wife. So yeah, I feel like I was treated unfairly. I saw some of the signs, I knew the whole “no more baseball” crap was odd and as soon as I saw that his “pupils [were] huge” I had to act (43, 45). So I did like any parent would. Many of the students referred to me as a bad and ignorant parent, and to some extent I was a bit ignorant but what else do you want me to do? Baby-sit my kid 24 hours a day and watch my electricity get shut off and watch as my wife and kids go hungry. One of the only students who cut me any slack was Thomas Donley, he said, “John Sr. is a great, hard working American dad and can’t help if his wife fails to notice her son’s odd behavior.” I appreciate Thomas’ admiration for my hard work and utmost devotion to America. As for you other AP students, you try working twelve hours a day with an alcoholic wife and see if you can spot your kid’s addiction right off the bat. Most of you wouldn’t last ten minutes in my shoes, so buzz off and quit criticizing me … or else I’ll break “your weasel neck[s]” (79). 

I Don't Think Big Rodney Ever Took AP English 11

Jimmy: Rodney, did you ever cogitate Advanced Placement English 11 during your high school studies?

Rodney:  “I don’t know what that means. Please stop trying to confuse me.” (131).

Jimmy: I’m very sorry; I did not intend to confuse you. I just wanted to know if you took a particular English class in high school. I had a great experience in the class and it helped me a lot to become a better writer and overall student. I just wanted to know if you had a similar experience.           

Rodney: “You know how bad I am with time” (131). Was high school before of after middle school? I can’t remember.

Jimmy: It was after, when you hit in front of Ted Williams.

Rodney: Oh ok, I remember. I never took any Advanced 11 English Placement or whatever that was.

Jimmy: Well Rodney, you missed out on a great class.

Rodney: All I did in high school was baseball and I would “play Street Fighter III and Dreamcast” sometimes too (128).

Jimmy: It’s unfortunate that you missed out on such a quality learning opportunity.

Rodney: “I don’t mean to be rude or anything, and I’m not saying your wrong … but I don’t think that’s true at all”