Freshman Vs. Self
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senior editor KAITLIN MEDLIN editing staff FRESHMAN VS. SELF LAURINA BIRD memoirs ALISA BULLOCK from the ninth grade EMMA CRENSHAW ALICIA CRISWELL ELLIE DANFORD NATALIE DOAN-DUNNUM JOHN ELAM JOANNA EHRISMAN MADDIE KARTCHESKE DEVIN KLIBANOW GEORGIA MARION-SPENCER ALETHIA ORBIH MARY SANDERS NANCY SULLIVAN DAIJA TERRY supporting editors LILY ABELS BRIANNA BEAN EMILY BUSCHMAN COREY COLEMAN DESTINY EVERETTE RACHEL FRIEDMAN DIANA HONEYCUTT KATHLEEN JUNKER ALEXIS MCKENNEY JAMIE MOORE MATTHEW PARIS ADAIR TOMPKINS translator ABIGAIL SERVIN-MONDRAGÓN managing editor Durham School of the Arts Class of 2015 Durham, North Carolina ALEXA GARVOILLE Published by DSA Publishing Durham School of the Arts 400 North Duke Street Durham, North Carolina 27701 garvoille.wordpress.com/publications lulu.com/spotlight/AlexaGarvoille All memoirs and introduction Copyright © 2012 by the authors. All rights reserved. EDITORS’ NOTE: Although these memoirs are based on true events, the details de- scribed may have been altered by the authors to protect the privacy of the individuals involved. Additionally, some authors have chosen to publish under pseudonyms for privacy purposes, which in no way compromises their copyright protection. ISBN 9781300303800 Printed in the United States of America by Lulu.com For Durham Contents DSA Publishing Club Staff 10 Introduction freshman vs. self Sarah Schaedler 14 The Half-Empty Glass J. D. Bower 21 Electric Rollerskates and Epipha-knees Anna Herndon 30 Where Art Thou? Here, Living My Life in This World. Sydney Curtis 38 My Precocious Childhood Jolie De’Luwa 49 The Write Way Kailey Morgan 68 Rising Fears: Confessions of an Overdramatic Teen Julia Illana 76 Memories of My Grandfather Isabelle Love 82 In the Dark Danielle Bishop 86 Hell on Earth Maria Fibela de la Angeles 90 My Angel vs. society Yuzu-chan 100 The Life of an Otaku Sydney Biles 106 Battle Against My Secrets Sidney Andrew Gwaltney III 115 A Dangerous Feeling: My Adventure Diaries De’Sontia Rowdy 119 Finally, the State Fair Lauren Phillips 122 Summer of ‘11 GLC 128 Formal Disaster Ashleigh W. 134 Trapped G-Man 139 A Short Memory Aiyana Elizabeth Torres 142 Learning to Love Myself Allison Weasley 146 Suzuki Camp: Stories of a Childhood Priscilla Garrett 153 Painful Beauty freshman vs. parent Trisha White 158 Love or Hate: A Daughter’s Desire for Attention Sean Howard 165 Bastard H. V. Solomon 169 Ex-Stepdaughter Angie Raudales 176 One Teenage Life Sofia Arredondo 180 That Man Called My Father Andrea Torres 187 Being with Dad Diamonique Johnson 194 A Disaster Waiting to Happen Idania Rosales-Alas 198 Forgiveness Brings Happiness John Woodbridge 201 Tough Love: A Story of Diminishing Returns Antonio Cervantes H. 205 A Guy Story Justin Young 209 A Day in the Car Serenity Smith 214 How’s Daddy? Mike Walters 219 Life’s Tough BN 223 Days with My Father vs. culture Samantha Sanders 230 The Second Life Constanza Palacios Bustamente 235 Good Morning, Chile! Paula Marchis 246 The Awkward Change René Sanabria 250 Going into a Different Place Luna Lawliet 253 Across the Blue and Black Sea Abdel Mouliom 260 Adventures from Africa to America A. Jacinto 266 My Life as a First Grader Promise Woody 268 How People in Church Act, Boy You Would Not Believe It! Yuliana Carrizales 272 Life in America Julia Henn 276 They Came Back: The Time I Met My Togolese Family vs. environment Bongsha Bollybush 290 Flight to Nevada Gabryel Wilson 294 My Life in Germany Larry Stevens 299 A New World: My Venture to Indonesia DeKhayla Barnes-Hankins 306 The Adventures of Moving Edwin Garcia 311 California Lights Chadwick Copernicus 314 Forgetting What Doesn’t Matter Suyana Ellzey 316 At Immaculata Melody Rose 320 One Giant Leap freshman vs. family Benjamin Conner 326 Papa, Dogs, and Baseball Ecila Walcott 331 The Important Things in Life L. B. 335 My Dysfunctional Family Uche Ekenna 392 Believe It or Not: The Perils of Sibling Abuse Swag Daddy 345 Tree House Michael Vincent Stacatto Hodgens 348 Autism for Dummies Bryn Mason 356 Over the River and Through the Woods Kearra Williams 369 Sisters Dante Otero 373 Playfighting Hector Muñoz 377 Thoughts of Depression Bird 381 A Tale of Brotherly Love Kendall Conder 390 Taking Another Look vs. body Aonani 400 The Moment I Promised Emily B. 409 Far from Perfect: A True Story of Surviving Brain Cancer Haley Elizabeth Mosley 414 I Have Tourette’s, But Tourette’s Doesn’t Have Me Pablo Viveros 421 The Pursuit of Soccer Devin Klibanow 426 Ain’t That a Kick to the Head Victor Kidd 434 Homecourt Advantage: Chaos at Duke Jo Marquette 437 Motivation Deolu Akintunde 445 Desperation and Frustration Jairo Fernandez 450 When a Champion Is Born Jonathan White 456 Taking Down Fear: Tears, Jeers, and Internal Fears vs. hormones Kimberly Orellana 464 No Longer a Kid Tyler Perry 469 Middle School Is in the Past Luis Dimas 473 The Day I Got Drunk John Trollingwood 476 Remembrance and Affection Emerson Short 483 Frosty Paradise Jeric Taborn 488 Third Grade Bites Cole C. 492 Playing Bear Justin Sharpe 497 Party on the Water Alexa Jackson 501 My Renaissance: Sunnyside Bronson Ungricht 504 California Skater freshman vs. nature Kinsey Everhart 512 Grayson Sam Joel 518 The Place to Be M. Fibonacci 523 Life Off the Worn Trail vs. loss Kasey Sorrell 532 Forever? Never. Anitra Allen 537 Life Without Chuck Laura Chaparro 543 I Might Have Saw an Owl Jessica Miller 547 One Less Pair of Shoes PMW 551 A Son’s Sleepless Nights Samone Lunsford 556 A Family Affair Clare James 560 Forever Friends Gaby Molina 564 In a Wink of an Eye Daniel Garcia 570 Summer of 2009: Life Comes from Death Sara Adams 577 Cutting into My Emotions Leslie Vijil-Rodriguez 581 The Story of My Cousin and My Friends Itzel Gomez 584 The Big News Lory Galdamez 587 A New Start Jazmine Harris 589 Too Many Pieces L. B. Brennan 597 Leaves Falling vs. destiny Noah Byck Mlyn 608 Quakers vs. Bulldogs Elizabeth Kline 614 From the Top DeMario Tatum 622 Trouble Don’t Last Always Artago Jones 630 Time of Change Pinky 632 The Worst Night of My Life Osvaldo Garcia Perez 636 What Came of It Bryona Borden 642 The Series of Hurt Joshua Cousin 650 The Obamas and Optimus Prime Anoviua Rush 656 Everything Happens for a Reason T. E. 662 The Story of the Next Great Ventriloquist and Stop-Motion Animator Malik Hester 666 The Drummer Within Cassie Keesee 670 Fragments of the Heart Una Healey 676 The Colors of Simplicity Charmecia Rose 686 The End introduction We are here on a mission to make a book, not point out hypocrisies in our peers . whom we love. Ms. G. AS TEENAGERS, WE’RE ALWAYS TRYING TO DISTANCE OURSELVES from oth- ers, whether it’s intentional or not; the idea of touching someone foreign to us is almost uncomfortable. Despite the fact that we see each other every day, and make eye contact with one another every once and awhile, most of us hardly know each other at all. And even more, we don’t question each other’s walls. And adults look at us all the same way. We are lumped togeth- er, seen as the same, like apples on a tree. But every apple has its own flavor and its own bruise. This book is the third in a collection of memoirs written to show what actually goes through the minds of high school students. This project was born out of a desire for freshmen to share our own bruises. Age and life experience are equated in the minds of many as one and the same, but loss can’t be measured in any incre- ment of time. For some, the material in this book may require a suspension of disbelief. For others, it may seem like we are trying to break down a wall that never existed in the first place. That is what this book tries to remedy. By writing memoirs, we express, and learn to recognize the expression of, who we are. Writing is a way to divulge the things we would never talk about in person: abuse, self-discovery, hope, change, or even a simple day-in-the-life. Memoirs are an attempt to bypass our biggest adversary: our fears. But before that happens, we have to fight against ourselves. Students hear about several literature-based conflicts in Eng- lish classes: man vs. nature, man vs. society, man vs. man, or man vs. self (known as ‘dichotomies’ in Fancy Academic Talk). In our DSA Publishing Club Staff 11 case, it’s freshman vs. self. For the past three years, the club has focused on the idea of high school students channeling our inner thoughts and feelings in writing. We are constantly stereotyped by adults and other peers, but rarely have the chance to address those assumptions. What first started as an English assignment has now grown into a long-term project. In 2009, ninth grade students at Dur- ham School of the Arts were told by their English teacher, Alexa Garvoille, to write a memoir about important events in their lives. Ms. Garvoille first got the idea to publish the memoirs from Stuart Albright, a colleague at Jordan High School whose creative writ- ing classes had self-published their own collections. A few months later, the Publishing Club was born––and it was born small. The club only consisted of then-ninth graders Kaitlin Medlin, Joanna Ehrisman, Ian Leslie, and Fenn Walsh-Seaman. By the next year, the club had expanded to fifteen members strong. This year there have been even more members, and finishing the book of memoirs has never been easier.