Changing For The Better

Should we change our friends from the person that we originally met? Do we actually have the power to manipulate our friends from who they are? If we do change our friends, are we really helping them, or are we doing it for our own benefit?

All of these factors should be taken into consideration when we have a conversation about changing our friends. I very much believe that we have the power to change the people we know and persuade them into making large life decisions. The people we surround ourselves with will change the way we think and deal with certain situations, whether these people are aware they are or not.

Even small decisions are affected by our friends and family. I probably would not have joined Marching Band without my sister repeatedly talking about her time while she was in it. That happiness and excitement she showed while talking about it and the pride she had while marching gave me excitement for the time I could finally do it for myself.

Another example of this persuasion can be seen through my brother. My brother was always interested in Boy Scouts and League Bowling, both of which are activities that I now participate in myself. Out of curiosity I followed along with my brother to a few of his meetings and competitions. Without trying to and without even knowing it my brother changed my life. I now am very active in Boy Scouts and Bowl in League every Friday after school and enjoy these activities very much.

Changing a friend is a slightly different case. Unlike my family, I didn’t grow up living in the same house as my close friends and don’t see them all of the time. Though, I believe that we can still see this changing of character happen. I am two months older than my childhood best friend, so rightfully, I was always the one to try new things first. He always pushed me into doing the scary things like jumping off of the tall diving board, and I was the one who had to ask our parents if I could spend the night. Over time I became more comfortable with the trying the ‘scary things’. He didn’t have to push me to ask our parents I just did it. He didn’t have to force me to go down the big slide, I just did without worry.

Over time I began to think that it was my time to teach him a lesson. I began to urge him into the same situations that he had placed me in my entire life. If one of us needed to speak up and ask a question, I didn’t fall into the second hand nature of doing it first, I made him stand up for himself. After helping each other over time, we both changed for the better. We both can stand up for ourselves better than we could have ever done without the help of each other.

The ability to change friends is very realistic and it happens everyday, whether we are aware of it or not. We should all try and make our friends the best that they can be. Urging them into trying new things or standing up for themselves is fantastic. We should take this into consideration when deciding who our real friends are. True friends encourage each other and change them to be the best them they can be.

April 2, 2019 0

The Art of Leadership

Throughout our lives we are sometimes put into positions of leadership and are held responsible for other people. I myself have been put into a few leadership roles through school, or other extra curricular activities. When you are put into these roles, you not only have to rely on yourself to accomplish a task, you must also encourage others to do their part as well. We no longer only have to worry about our own problems, but have to incorporate and help everyone.

In the Litchfield Marching Band, I am the Section Leader of the Tubas. Throughout the season, I am responsible for guiding the other members of the section. I keep myself up to date on the music and movements of the show, while also helping the younger players with their own parts. As a leader I try to lead by example. I do my best to keep from messing around or doing things that I would frown upon them for doing. I don’t believe that people should be leading if they themselves aren’t capable or willing to do what they are asking others to do.

I also experience leadership through Boy Scouts. A large part of the organization is to build common character traits such as honesty, teamwork and most importantly leadership. The children participating in Boy Scouts are meant to lead the troop itself, not the adult leaders. As the Senior Patrol Leader, I am in charge of guiding all the kids to advocate for themselves. I help them to make decisions for themselves and see them through to their completion.

Leadership in itself takes many different character traits. In my mind, a very important thing for leadership is confidence. Leaders most have the confidence to delegate tasks and to inspire others to do their best. Without confidence people won’t listen to anything that you say. If you cannot believe in yourself, then how can others believe in you. Leadership is an important asset in life and can help in many different situations. But to be a leader takes many different skills and traits that take time to form.

February 27, 2019 0

The Power Behind Knowledge

Knowledge, what are we without it? We go to school for thirteen years to earn it. As the Human Race, we would have absolutely nothing if we didn’t have knowledge. Imagine your life without medicine, smartphones, cars, electricity, indoor plumbing and without the knowledge of knowing how to write. All of these come from our pursuit of knowledge.

The average person spends 2,275 days in school, that’s 15,925 hours or 955,500 minutes or 57,330,000 seconds. All this time adds up to about 8% of the average American Lifespan. Some people even add onto this time by doing further postsecondary schooling. We take all this time out of our lives because the intelligence we gain in school is essential throughout our lives. Some of the most famous scholars of history devoted their entire lives to the pursuit of knowledge.

I myself see knowledge as more than just book smarts or your grades in school. To me it is all around us. Knowledge comes in many different shapes and sizes. Some forms of intelligence come from us just being told how to do something and being able to know it instantly. When I’m told that Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492, I just know, it doesn’t take time or practice to learn this fact. Others types of knowledge you gain come from practice and hard work, such as learning how to play an instrument or throw a bowling ball to get strikes.

Knowledge is a huge asset throughout life and can be used in many different fields. Though I don’t think you can accurately compare people’s’ intelligence to others. Can the world’s greatest artist compare his extensive knowledge of painting to the world’s greatest pitcher with his great knowledge of throwing curves and fast pitches? When I think of this, I think of my brother and sister. My brother is and always was very book smart. He rarely studied for tests or tried his hardest in school, but got steady A’s. My sister on the other hand got steady A’s but worked for them. She studied and did her best work on every school project. Though, my sister was very good in band, she played the Bassoon and Alto Saxophone. On the flip side my brother could not play an instrument to save his life. He tried trumpet, trombone and clarinet, he just didn’t have the gift. So who has more knowledge, who is more intelligent?

December 20, 2018 0

Coming of Age

As a human, we all come to a time in our lives where we are force to grow up. Sometimes this happens because of tragedy, sometimes this happens out of new responsibility, and sometimes it just happens naturally. We all experience this differently, but when it happens, you know that your aren’t the same person anymore. You are more mature, wise, and responsible.

I believe many people “grow up” through high-school and college or entering a long-term career. Leaving your parents and finally becoming independent pushes you to grow up. You are forced to learn time management and have to become financially stable. I believe this coming of age is a good thing for people. Without these barriers to overcome, people don’t learn to do things on their own.

I myself believe I am pretty mature for my age. Though I believe I still have some “growing up” to do. I look forward to getting a job, going to college and being able to support myself. All of these things require you to grow up, and help you do it along the way. I myself have grown up through Marching Band and Boy Scouts.

Throughout the Spartacus Marching Band Season, I was a section leader. I was put in the position during my sophomore summer and was given some responsibilities. I had to make sure everyone in my section knew what was happening, from knowing their music to updating them on when our practices were.

As a sophomore it was hard to get people to listen and respect me. A few of the members of my section were older than me and the rest were around my age. Many of the other members of the band didn’t believe that I truly was section leader. Because of this I needed to act more mature and take charge. At first I needed to push more authority to get people to accept the role I was put into. As time went on people realized that I normally knew what I was talking about when I said that people were playing wrong notes and hitting wrong sets.

One of the best things to help me grow up and take more responsibilities is Boy Scouts. In today’s schools, Boy Scouts is generally looked down upon and is not very popular. Though I can tie a pretty good knot, the skills I have learned from Boy Scouts will help me for the rest of my life.

In Boy Scouts, I am the Senior Patrol Leader or SPL for short. As SPL I lead meetings, send out emails to keep parents updated, make decisions for the troop and am given information from the district to relay onto my fellow scouts. These things have helped me learn time management, organization, leadership skills and public speaking skills.

Many things in our lives force us to grow up, but luckily for me, most of those things have been good. Not everyone has this opportunity, some people grow up because of a death of a relative or having to support their families as a young adult. Though in different ways, we all have our coming of age.

November 6, 2018 0

Misconceptions

Misconceptions are a very common thing in today’s society with people jumping to conclusions and ready to jump down your throat in a heart beat. As a highschooler misconceptions are a large part of everyday life and having to explain yourself is not uncommon.

For starters as a tall and relatively thin teen, I am constantly asked if I am in cross-country, track, baseball, and of course basketball. Though to be honest the traditional high school sports never really interested me. I prefer to stick to the, as my colleagues would say, ‘nerdy activities’ of bowling, choir, and marching band.

Many misconceptions lie around the marching band and the school band itself. Many people believe that marching band is for nerdy kids or people that are not very good at any other sports. Though in the band we have a whole slew of people. From football players to volleyball players and from choir singers to people in no other activities at all.

As the Sousaphone Section leader for the band or in other words, the person that is in-charge of everyone that carries one of the largest instruments in the band, marching band is a lot of work. From memorizing your parts, to marching for hours on end in the heat of the summer, to doing a lot of push-ups for mistakes, all while still entertaining towns people in parades. This requires a plentiful amount mental, emotional and physical strength, much more than what most people would think.

As a typical high schooler would, I have been assigned to read the book Persepolis for my English class. The autobiography goes great with the topic of misconceptions as is follows the life of Marjane Satrapi, a young Islamic woman. Marjane wrote the book to dispel some of the misconceptions and stereotypes about Iran. She writes of the misconceptions around Iran, such as all people from Iran are terrorist or have radical beliefs. In her school, Marjane was forced to wear a veil and hide her body because that was the ‘correct’ thing to do. She is taught that the Shah or ruler of the land, was chosen by her God. The government was forcing these thoughts onto her, but that doesn’t mean she truly believes them.

In today’s society, you can not go through the day without being targeted or targeting someone else with a misconception or stereotype. That’s how we were born and taught to behave. We know that we shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover, but most think of people differently because of what they wear, what car they drive, or what house they live in. We as a society just have to break that habit and force ourselves away from the human nature that lets misconceptions control our lives.

October 17, 2018 0