Passing or Failing?

Feeding off the nervous energy from the other students who are cramming before they take the most important exam of their lives, I sit in agony waiting for this exam to start. Every table is full of students cramming probably thinking “man, I should’ve shown up for those classes”. Then you hear the voice of the vice principal, on the mega phone announcing that the doors to the gym will be opening. Like a herd of cattle being corralled to their death, I realize it wasn’t the smartest choice to skip out on all those classes. Walking with the sea of students I feel my hands begin to sweat even more. Seeing my name on the wood desk, I begin to sit down, the chair is still warm. Sitting waiting for the go ahead to start this exam that will determine whether I pass or fail English 11. I pick up my pencil with shaking hands and begin to fill the bubble sheet, making sure I color the sheet properly. I hear students flip the page, I start to panic, and I’m still on the first 10 questions. When I finally finish the multiple choice questions, I realize that I have an hour and half to finish an essay that I had a choice to write before the exam. I can start to feel my mouth dry cause of the anxiety I am feeling. I manage to finish the exam with in the 2 hours that are given. As I walk out of the gym I see that I was the only one left writing this exam. I get many sympathy smiles from the teachers that are still in the gym. I sigh in relief that I have managed to do this exam that I wasn’t prepared for.    

Spoken Words

The poem “The Crickets Have Arthritis” written by Shayne Koyczan is about a man who shares a room with a 9 year old boy who has cancer. This poem explains how a man feels about sharing a hospital room with a young boy with cancer.  “I manage a smile…and it feels like the biggest lie I’ve ever told” shows how the man can’t look and smile at his roommate without feeling guilty, because he knows that he will be here for a while.

 

The poem “Miracle Worker” written by Taylor Mali is about how he compares teachers to miracle workers.

As I shuffled into the classroom, I knew that Mr. Van Camp would never believe me. I looked at my scuffed shoes and mumbled, "My homework is not done, Sir. I do have a good excuse though."

       " This is not the first time your homework has not been completed. Perhaps," Mr. Van Camp suggested, "it's time to speak with your parents."

       "Please, you have no idea what will happen to me if you phone my home," I moaned. It looked as if he was going to fall for my story.

      "Well, let's hear your excuse. It better be good."

       “Okay, well Mr.VanCamp, the thing is if you call home my parents wouldn’t allow me to go back to Africa this summer. I need to go back this summer; my kids are waiting for me to come.”  I really hope this story will help convince him to not call home. He looked at me some doubt that this was the reason.

          “Also, our house is undergoing renovations at the moment, so our land line is disconnected. Everything is all over the place” I exclaimed, “I will have this assignment in tomorrow morning.”

          “Well, if you really wanted to go to Africa, wouldn’t you want to get your homework done right away so you can make that a possibility?” He didn’t seem, too impressed with my reasons. It seemed like he was expecting a grander reason then the one I have given him.

 

             "That is a very true Mr.VanCamp, but its hard to work when your work place isn't the neatest."

 

             "Yes, that is also a very good point Tessa, but you also have to make do with what you have." He explained as he walked over to his desk, grabbing a pen and a paper.

              What is going write down? Suddenly I got a nervous pit in my stomach. "Look, I understand that going back to Africa is important to you." Mr.VanCamp began to explain, "but passing my class should also be very important to you too."

 

            "Yes, sir, and it is important to pass your class." I exclaimed. It was very important to pass this class because I would like to graduate from high school the first time around. 

 

           "Then you need to hand in your homework on time." He voiced with a stern tone.

           

            "I will try my best to hand my work in on time for now on." I responded, and headed to my desk and took a seat. That class Mr.VanCamp assigned us homework, hopefully I can get this assignment in on time.  

              

Is he really bluffing?

 

If you were in a relationship with someone who constantly lies, would you believe them if they told you that they wanted the bear to attack them instead of you?  In the short story “Bluffing” written by Gail Helgason, a couple was going for a hike to celebrate but little did they know that they were joined by an uninvited guest. Liam decided to take his girlfriend Gabriella up to the lake to tell her that he was going for a big climb with Clive. While Gabriella thought that they were going to sign the lease for the lake house, she got up, frustrated and left while coming across a grizzly bear. Liam had always put himself first in their relationship, so it wouldn’t be hard to believe that he would be lying when he said “I meant the bear to come after me instead of you.” Also, when Liam had finally caught up to Gabriella, “[he] wasn’t stepping back. He was running as fast as he could” while leaving Gabriella behind. Liam had him and only him on his mind when he first spotted the bear.  While on the hike the couple had spotted a couple of guys who were also heading up to the lake. “I’ll handle it” Liam said while telling the two teen boys that “…some grizzly had himself a dandy breakfast.”  He could’ve easily just let the boys hike to lake as well, but he was being selfish about his plans to go hiking with Clive. These are just a few of some examples, but all in all, Liam was lying when he told Gabriella that his plan was for the bear to attack him.   

The woman who has a story

With each line on this old woman’s face tells a story, that she has been through.  She comes and sits on this bench every day at the same time to experience changing of the world. When this woman first started to come to this bench, there were neither wrinkles nor no creases on her worn face that would tell a story. She was in her youth. This woman enjoyed coming to the park, with her smokes in one hand and her favorite straw hat on her head. She was a creature of habit, as her friends would say. No matter the weather or how busy she may be she would always make time to come and sit to take a step out of the real world and fall into her won. Her eyes were once bright as the sun that shines in the sky; but with her stories are the reasons they no longer hold the same shine. The jewelry this woman wears was her great grandmothers and was passed down to her mother and now to her. But not all of it was theirs. Some of the rings she’s wears are her old, tanned fingers were from the places she has traveled in this world. The beautiful teal, ring that is resting on her small, wrinkled finger was from the time she and her friends had the grandest idea to travel to the coast of Australia. She has a lot of stories that have been shared with family and friends; but there are still a few that she holds close to her heart that she has kept a secret. If you ever see her sitting taking a long drag off her cigarette, while she is people watching, don’t be afraid to take a seat beside her and ask some questions.