March 19, 2013

I am a shy person. If you ask some of my friends, most will agree. I don’t know why I have timid tendencies, I just have trouble going up to people. I’m not one of those cliché characters seen in movies living by themselves in the wilderness to get away from people, but sometimes I do find myself alone.

I remember at the beginning of ninth grade eating lunch by myself and wishing that I could gather up the courage to sit with other people. Eventually I did, but it took a couple of weeks. Nobody was being mean to me or anything, it was just me. Now I don’t remember the excuses that I made to myself (subconsciously) to not sit with the others. But since I’ve decided to be more social, I am much happier. Everyone is really nice, and I have things in common with other people.

I guess a reason that I didn’t feel comfortable being around others at first was that I was homeschooled throughout the entire course of middle school. Maybe I can’t blame it on that, though, because other people feel the same way I did and they weren’t homeschooled.

I am still a little bit shy, but not really as much, and when it hits, it goes away fast. Now, whenever I see someone sitting by themselves for days in a row, I introduce myself to them. Then we start talking, and they realize that it really isn’t that bad to talk with people you don’t normally have conversations with. When the next day I see them sitting with a group of kids laughing, I remember that I was once like that, and helping someone becoming more social makes me as happy as can be.

Reading

February 10, 2013

Everybody has something that they love to do — something that, no matter what, will always cheer them up. For some people it is video games, for others it is playing sports. What I like to do is a bit different. When I have free time, I like to read.

Now wait a minute, hear me out. Ever since I was a little kid, I always felt at home in the library. I was fascinated that the writings of so many people could be stored in just one place, and chances were they didn’t even know each other.

When I got older, I decided to write a book. By then I knew that I loved to read fiction, fantasy and adventure so that is what I began writing about. By that point I had read many literary works, so I incorporated different ideas from the books that were my favorites. Not main ideas, but little things. At first I thought it would be cool if I wrote a book where the heroes in all my favorite book series met to fight off a huge evil, but I had trouble figuring out how to do that, so I decided on another idea instead. I don’t want to give anything away, but I am still in the middle of writing my story (I only started it about a year ago) and I think that it is turning out great so far.

I see that I went off track from my original topic. I hope that you didn’t fall asleep in the middle, but if you did, now would be a good time to wake up.

Obviously, reading helps with English skills like grammar and vocab. But that usually isn’t enough to convince people to read. I would say that reading is fun, but then you might disagree with me.

However, reading does open up your mind to new ways of thinking, as well as new ideas. Think about it for a while. If you’re like me then, in my opinion, good for you!  Now try to convince other people to read.

If you don’t like to read, all you have to do is go to your local library. If you don’t know where that is, then you can find out online. When you get there,  ask the librarian if he or she has a good book to recommend to someone who doesn’t read that much.  It may sound old-fashioned but they live for this kind of thing.

Or you could just ask one of your friends to lend you a book, as they are probably going to have at least one book that they like.

I do not really have much more information to convince you with, but I will say this. I read so much that I did really well on the English language portion of the PSAT.

Try reading sometime. After all, what is the worst thing that could happen to you if you read a book?  You might accidentally learn something.

Standing still on the sidelines

January 20, 2013

I know that there are people like me out there, people in the same situation that I am in. In fact, I even know some of them. But it still feels like I am in the minority, not to mention being treated like a little kid.

By now, you probably have no idea what I am talking about, so let me get straight to the point. Driving. Permits. I am 15  and seven months old, which is one month older than you need to be to get your permit. I asked my mother if I could start taking lessons when I turned 15, but she said I had to wait until I was 18. That was three years away!

I was pretty angry and gloomy. Lots of other people were talking about how excited they were to get their permits, or about how they got it if they already had it.  I had to sit on the sidelines, listening to everyone’s stories.

I am trying to persuade my parents to let me get my permit. To all the people out there who are having the same problem, don’t give up. Keep on trying, and eventually you will succeed.

It also helps to think about all the things that you do have — a cell phone, a computer, a private school education… the list can go on for eternity. Remember keep on trying and don’t give up hope. There are others like you out there, dealing with the same things that you are going through. They keep on going, so why shouldn’t you.