Rubber Bands and memorable?!

To study the abnormal is the best way of understanding the normal as William James once said. But lots of people can say they’ve had a “colorful” or “hard” upbringing. Me on the other hand would say I had a “normal” upbringing in my eyes to you it might be abnormal. My parents stayed together, I always had a roof over my head, I didn’t have to move crossed the country every year because of one of my parents jobs, it was “normal”. But my second grade year things took a turn…for the better.

            In October of 2001, my mother and father along with a close family friend and his wife bought the local weekly newspaper. My Tuesday nights were now filled with me “Stuffing”, as we called. Stuffing is when you take the  insert, the piece everyone throws away with sales at the grocery store, and you put them into the freshly printed newspaper. Now altogether there were 5 kids, so this Tuesday night tradition was more of a parents working kids playing night.

Some of my most memorable memories were on these Tuesday nights. From eating pizza shop, riding on a dolly, to rolling chair races, the memories will last forever, but one sticks out like none other. It was a Tuesday night, and the kids were tired of working, when we found a large stash of rubber bands. When my brother pulled one out, put it on his index finger, pulled it back and ZIP off it went towards me, the war had began.

            The rest of the night the kids ran around, through and even through the roof of the building. The war had just gotten good when my older brother, decided to go into the ceiling. The building was like a little building inside a big building; so once on the roof you could stand and still be inside. We removed one of the ceiling tiles, and he climbed up onto a counter top and up he went. Next thing you know he's up their shooting rubber bands down and no one knew were they were coming from.

            But like everything it had to end, after the parents finished what we left, we had to leave. The rubber bands were picked up and put in their place, good byes were said, and home bound we were. Now this isn’t my best memory but its is one of my favorite, along with many others. But I will be able to say I had a “normal” upbringing, not boring, not perfect, not colorful, but normal, to me at least.

School Spirit and Homecoming

             High School Homecoming. You see it in all the movies, the stud athlete and head cheerleader become homecoming king and queen. While that may not always be the case, homecoming is still a big deal in the high school experience.

With my own high schools winter homecoming soon approaching, this Friday, walking through the halls is bright and cheery. Music fills the halls and classrooms between classes, students are dressed up, and the school is decorated to the theme. Winter and fall homecoming, have to be my two favorite weeks in my small town.

Being a freshman, this all is a new experience, but the newest is having to choose if I go to homecoming. This year I had to decide go to the homecoming festivities (boys basketball game and a dance) or go to a debate tournament. Although the decision was a no brainer to me, to others it was not.

I do like debate and the tournaments, but I don’t like it enough to give up one of out of my eight Homecomings. This decision did get me thinking though. Our wrestling team will also have to miss our homecoming, due to districts. Isn’t homecoming about school spirit, and bringing the school together? Then why are two of our extracurricular groups not going to be able to make it? Could there have been better planning?

To me this is just not right.

• • • • •

Upper classmen have been saying homecoming is stupid. This shows what school spirit is becoming theses days. The most I see school spirit out of almost all of the school is when we yell our “battle cry” at school pep assemblies. Surely schools have a little more spirit then the occasional pep assembly.

So I leave you with this I’ve got spirit yes I do, I’ve got spirit how bout you?