Lightning Struck?

I decided for the next couple of blogs I am going to tell short stories about my life. I feel like this will be more entertaining for me and the reader.

One time when I was about 12 years old I was supposedly struck by lightning. I was at my house in Lorena, Texas with my dad and two dogs. My dad was on the couch reading the newspaper and I was playing on the computer when a huge thunderstorm hit. Now me and my dad just the week before had built our dogs a new doghouse to stay in; however, the dogs were not familiar with the house yet and were not aware that in the event of a storm that would be the best place to seek shelter. So for about thirty minutes my dogs were in a panic trying to find a good place to keep dry, but unfortunately they ended up soaking wet and shivering in a corner of the porch. Once the storm had seemingly past I took it upon myself to show the dogs how to use their new house. The doghouse was about 35 feet away from the house in the backyard underneath a fully grown oak tree. Once I was about 10 feet from the doghouse, beneath the tree, all I remember was seeing a flash of white light. Next thing I know I am on my couch and my dad is trying to wake me up. My clothes smelt burnt and it took me awhile to regain my full conscience.

It is still hard for me to comprehend what happened that day and I am just thankful that I am alive today.

simply nonsense

So to be honest...I hate blogging. I think I have a very solid argument of how blogging is single-handedly destroying my life and the rest of this world as we know it today. Okay, maybe that is a little too extreme; nonetheless, I feel like this assignment is nothing more than a load of horse do-do. The obligation to "freely" write about ones life doesn't even make sense to me. I have enough on my plate already and I don't need a pointless assignment to stress me out even more. Furthermore, I also don't see the point in me reading about somebody else's life knowing that they are only writing because they have to. Even right now I am thinking of what else I should write in this blog when I could be doing something much more productive and worthwhile with this time. I guess to put in plain terms this homework is just nonsense...simply nonsense

Sugar Rush

For the past two years I have been working at an after school program from 2:30pm to 6:30pm every Monday through Friday. I have a group of thirteen 3rd graders that I take care of throughout the day. I really love my job and enjoy the kids in my group. Yesterday however, was a Friday accompanied with the added excitement of the day before Valentines Day...aka the worst day of the year. It was absolutely crazy. I dont think the kids did anything but intake as much sugar as possible during the entire school day. Once that bell rang at 2:30pm my life was absolute chaos. The kids rushed into the room with little regard for authority. All the kids were tearing through their pixie sticks and fun dip as if it were the last thing they would eat. Luckily every sugar rush has a crash and that is exactly what happened. About 4:00 o'clock pm all the kids began to complain about their stomachs aching and all I did was say, "I told you so". I also used this time to teach my group about the rapidly increasing obesity and cavities rates in America. Needless to say, they did not care. All in all I love hanging out with these kids everyday and hopefully having a positive influence in their lives.

Financial Progess

So for the last 3 years of my life I have been pretty irresponsible with my finances. I came into college with really no awareness of how to manage mine or anyone else's money. Many times I would thrive on recklessly squandering countless sums of money without conviction. This past year however, my viewpoint was shifted. Just recently I came across a moving presentation that totally reversed any thoughts I ever had regarding my funds. The man promoting his ideas had a very clear and powerful message. Not only did the speaker uncover the disappointing truth about societies finances, but he went on to suggest a well thought out plan to fixing this problem. I am now two months into this new outlook and I can honestly say that I am very satisfied with the results in my check book as well as my conscience. I just hope I can keep up the discipline and maturity that is required with this change.

Injury Plagued

Over my 21 years in life I have suffered many injuries. I love to play sports and this consistent theme in my life is proving to be a tiresome reality. Ever since junior high my injuries have kept me off the field, lowering my hearts desire to remain an active athlete. As of today I am a senior on the Texas State Ultimate Frisbee Team. This is our best season in school history, and our team has been named the favorites to represent the state of Texas at the National competition. Yesterday though, the inevitable happened. I was running through a routine drill and out of nowhere my hamstring just simply snapped. Right now I do not know the severity of the injury but history tells me that this is not good. With only a few months left til the big games, I may end up watching from the sidelines once again. It seems as though I can count this as another devastating loss in my sporting career. But now lets focus on the positive. I guess if there is one good thing that come out of these plagues, let it be this. Adversity does not hold supremacy over a person; adversity merely introduces a person to who they truly are.

two days difference

The first of two days looked somewhat like this. I woke up around 1:00 in the afternoon and had a bowl of cereal. I turned on the xbox 360 and started playing a video game. I played this game nonstop for at least 9 straight hours, pausing only for restroom breaks and to cook a pizza. Once I had finished playing my game I decided to eat another bowl of cereal and watch sports. As I was sitting on the couch I started to realize just how lame my day really had become. I am a big fan of sleeping in and playing a lot of video games but for some reason this day had a sour feeling. I decided right then that my next day was going to look different, hopefully finding more satisfaction in it.

Once again I here my alarm, except this time it was set for 8:00am instead of 1:00pm. I woke up, hopped into the shower and began to plan my day. I did not have a car so i figured my roommates bike would have to do. I started off by riding to Grins, a restaurant in San Marcos. I visited a friend working there, had a bowl of soup, and then was on my way. Next, I stopped by a local coffee shop and decided to sit down and read a little bit of the book I had brought with me. As I was reading I became side tracked by the family sitting near me. It was a family of four, two parents, a son, and a daughter who apparently had a slight mental retardation. Is was really a privilege to watch how this family interacted with each other. They all were very kind to each other and had this indescribable connection between them. I left there smiling. As I was riding away I decided to go to Walmart. On the way there I had to stop at a traffic light where an old lady caught my attention. She waved me over so not know what to expect I moved towards her. When I got to her I noticed a small bucket she was holding, apparently for a fundraiser. It turned out that her and I had a lot in common and talked for a maybe a good fifteen minutes. I again walked away smiling.

As I look back on these two days I a noticed a simple difference between the two; I found a tremendous amount of satisfaction out of the second day but did not in the first. Before hand I would have guessed the opposite because the first day just sounds like more fun. I guess it is true though that humans are social creatures and find more satisfaction in community than in solitude. This was good a reminder

Adulthood

I just left my English 1320 class. The topic of discussion today was surrounded by the question, "When do we leave our adolescent stage and enter into adulthood"? This question led to many different opinions from my classmates. Some said that a single experience such as a birthday or an educational graduation would provoke this transformation. Others mentioned this change could stem from becoming more independent; having to accept the responsibilities that require a higher level of maturity. A well paying job or living on your own were examples of this.


As the class progressed I began to wander into my life, thinking upon the people who meet my personal criteria of what an “adult” looks like. Growing up, my standard for an adult was someone who could legally drive a car or pay the utility bills. A few years in college though has totally changed my perspective. I do believe that becoming independent and having a good work ethic does help achieve a higher level of maturity, but is that all that separates adults from adolescent? As I was filtering through these people in my life I started thinking of the experiences they had endured, and lets face it, everybody has to endure what life brings at some point in time. To my own surprise though I do not feel like it is the circumstance or the outcome of a situation that determines who a person is. I think it is how we as people respond to life, either making the choice that is best for our personal interest or choosing what is best for the situation at hand. In those decisions, regardless of the outcome, proves to me a person who is deserving of the title adult or not. I think true adulthood is earned not through an elaborate resume, but through the respect of others.