For the Mccandless project, me and a few friends decided to dress up in funny outfits and go to Panera and Kroger. First we went to Panera. When we first walked in, it was kind of awkward because almost everyone looked at us. There was a table of 4 people and they pointed their finger at us and laughed. It was pretty funny though to see the way everyone reacted. Another group of people walked in and made fun of us the whole time, and it was actually pretty funny. They would talk about us and we would just stare back at them to make them feel awkward. A few times, one of the guys in the group would come up and start talking to us. When we were ordering food, one of the workers asked why we were dressed like that and we all just looked at each other and laughed. Then, another worker said to us " My manager really likes your outfits " , so at least one person was nice! Then we went to Kroger. We didn't stay very long and didn't get much looks there either so it wasn't as much fun. Then the last place we went to was cold stone. No body was in there either but the worker looked at us very weirdly. After that, we just walked outside for a few, got some more looks, and then left. It was actually really fun to see the way people reacted and I wonder if that's how people feel when they always dress weird, like every body is just laughing at them. Yeah there was a few mean comments here and there, but it never really bothered me and it was a really good experience!

"Don't try to understand everything, because sometimes it is not meant to be understood but accepted." I chose this quote because I think it really sends a message out to people that you don't need to understand everything that happens, sometimes you just need to let it go and live with it. I believe in this quote because if I don't understand how sometimes happened or why it happened, sometimes the best thing to do is let it be and I accept what happens and I don't need to understand everything that happened in this world. If everybody went by this quote, I think life would be so much easier. Nobody would be fighting to figure things out, they would just accept everything for how it is.

 

IMPERFECT

    As I’m getting ready of the first day of junior year, I look out the window to see the fall leaves falling off the trees and the happy sun peek out of the fluffy white clouds. “Today is going to be different. I’m not going to think about everything that  has happened this past year. I will be happy again.” I said to myself. About a year ago, my parents died. Ever since then, my life has changed. A month after my parents death, I became depressed. Nothing was the same with them gone.  I lived with my aunt Jenna and brother Carter. Carter didn’t take our parents death very easy either. He hangs out with the wrong group of people, does drugs, and just doesn’t try to have a meaningful life anymore. I’m just hoping this year will be different and everything can change back to normal. “Elena! come downstairs! You have to leave for school or you will be late!” Jenna says. I go downstairs to notice that Carter is already gone. Jenna walks up to me , and looks me in the eye, “ Elena , are you sure you are okay?”

“Yes Jenna…  I’ll be fine”

    “Promise me this year will be different. You will start to go out again, I think being around some friends can really help you. Maybe you will even find a boy”

    “ Haha okay. Thanks Jenna,”

When I get to school, I find my two best friends Caroline and Lexi. They both run up to me and hug me. It actually made me pretty happy to see them again.  We all walk into school together and finally catch each other up with everything that has gone on.  “Alright , well I better go. Don’t want to be late on the first day back!”  I start to walk to class  and all of a sudden, I’m on the ground. “Oh gosh! I’m so sorry!” I look up and a guy puts his arm out waiting for my to grab his hand so he can help me up. Once he helps me up, he says, “I’m sorry, that was my fault. I should’ve looked where I was going. "I try to say something but nothing will come out. All that I can really pay attention to is that I am talking to Own Taylor, the guy I have had a huge crush on since freshman year! He is perfect. His eyes are as blue as the sea and his teeth are as white as paper. I'm surprised he actually stopped to help me up instead of just walking past me like I’m nothing. I didn’t even know he knew I existed! “Are you okay?” he says to me.

    “Yeah, I-I’m fine” I say as i feel my cheeks slowly getting redder by the second. “Well, I should probably get to class, I’ll um… see you later I guess..” I say and then walk to class. So far, today has actually been going better than what I expected! All day was great until i saw Amanda and her little clique. Ever since freshman year, they have bullied me. I never really knew why but one day they just started and it never stopped. It’s not like I’m the only one they bully though. They are the 3 mean girls of the school. I guess they just find in joy in hurting other people's feelings...especially mine. Amanda knows that I like Owen, so she hangs all over him and act like they are dating every time I’m around. She makes sure she makes a fool out of me too. One day, she thought it would be funny to trip me in the lunch cafeteria. I was walking to my table after I got my lunch, and in front of everybody, she stuck out her foot and tripped me. I fell on the floor and my food fell on me. My yogurt was all over my new shirt and my water was all in my hair. Lets just say by the end of the day, my hair was a big poof ball. I never really knew why but usually after a while, they move on to a new person to mess with, but ever since freshman year, they have all had something against me...If only she knew what my life was like now.

    It’s 7:30 p.m. when I get a phone call. “Unknown” it says. “Um hello…” I say in a confused voice. “ Hey Elena! It’s Owen.” A million things are going through my mind, I just don’t know what to say!” “So um, I was wondering if you wanted to hangout Saturday night?” He says.

    “Oh yeah, sure!” I say in a nervous voice.

    “Alright great! I guess we will talk later then!” I hang up the phone and by now, I’m bouncing off the walls.

It’s been a few months in school now and things are going great! Me and Owen have been dating for a few months now and I’ve learned so much. I always thought Owen had the perfect life, but I was wrong. Mine and his life are actually very similar. When he was 5, his dad died in a car crash and when he was 9, his mom died of cancer. He told me that at first it is all very hard, but everything got better at one point and I just had to be patient. He also helped me realize that not everybody has a bad side to them. He got me to finally feel happy again. He took me to the bridge my parents died on. At first I did see how it would work. When I was on there though, it took me back to the day of the accident. Everything was normal one minute, and the next, the car was flipped over the bridge and all I could do was stare at my parents while the car slowly filled up with water. That made me realize that I should be happy for the people I have now and actually surviving, other than just feeling bad for myself. I was finally happy, I was doing things with friends, and most importantly laughing again. I ended up going to someone to talk to and it actually helped a lot. I also finally stood up to the mean girls. They haven’t talked to me or even laid eyes on me since I stood up to them. Too bad I hadn’t done it any sooner. Carter also started to get help and is making better choices now. He stopped hanging out with the people he was hanging out with and went back to his old friends. Also, he joined football again and started to focus more on grades. Just as I thought everything was getting worse, really it was all just getting better.

5. I specifically changed the way I said things, and I added in a lot more detail. I also Think the way I worded things the second time were better than how I said it the first.

6. I think the peer review and shearing my essay with an adult helped me improve my writing the best for many reasons. First of all, it gave me feed back of what others think of what I wrote. They can help me make a sentence more clear if I need to and also they can check for spelling or grammar mistakes. I liked having a parent read my essay because then I get an older persons perspective on what I wrote and they may catch mistakes better than students can.

7. I think what will help me improve my writing this year is having a few different people read my writing because then I can see what multiple people think of it. Also, if people make notes on it, then I can remember them for the next paper I write to try to make it better than the one before.

8. There are many things that I can do to make me a netter writer but I think something I need to work on the most is not adding too much information in my paper. Adding information is obviously good but sometimes if you add too much then it will cause you to have run on sentences and you may forget to add in the things that are required to be in the paper.

Summer Reading timed essay

      Over the summer, I read the book "Choke". The theme of the book is don't let anyone pressure you into doing something if you don't want to do it.
       The first detail is that the main character didn't want to play the choking game. The choking game is when someone chokes another person and if they want them to stop, they squeeze their shoulder but they have to trust that the person choking them will let go.  If they don't tap out, then they pass out for a few minutes. The main character, Chloe, got forced to play the game by the "new girl." She said to Chloe that if they didn't play, then they are no longer going to be friends, so of course she ended up playing. The first time they played, she tapped out. The new girl got very upset and didn't talk to her for a few days. She got pressured to do it again, but this time promised not to tap out just so she could keep her friend. I think that Chloe didn't need to feel pressured into doing it and she should've realized that obviously the new girl wasn't truly her friend if she got mad over stupid things that got seriously injure you.
       The second detail is Chloe was just playing this game so she could be popular and be like everyone else, therefor she had to play the game. Whenever Chloe wouldn't play she would threaten to not be her friend anymore. Later on, she figured out why the new girl moved to their school. It was because they played "the choking game' at her old school and she ended up getting expelled because of how dangerous it was. By the end of the book, the "new girl" had permanent brain damage from the game. She would never have a normal life again. If I were in Chloe's position, I would never play the game again, and I never would play it to start. She should've realized how dangerous it really was and also should've told a teacher what was going on. I understand she wanted to be popular, but Chloe made it obvious she didn't feel comfortable playing the game, so she should've just never played.
        The theme of the book was to not let anyone pressure you into doing something you don't want to do, like the new girl pressuring Chloe into playing the game. Chloe realized all the consequences and thought being safe was a lot better than changing your life forever.