First off, I am not that bad of a person, but I do find some things stupid, so if I insult you or your beliefs, I don’t care. Well, we had a speaker come to school today to tell us about the Columbine shootings that occurred on April 20th, 1999, that day before my 8th birthday. I actually didn’t know what had happened at the time, my mom was telling me that my Aunt Cindy(who lived in Colorado) was really scared and everything(though my cousin’s didn’t go to Columbine) . I really didn’t pay much attention though, because it was close to my birthday and like every seven-year-old, all I cared about was what I was getting. We still lived in Barboursville at the time.

Anyways, the speaker cam in and told us about a person named Rachel Scott, who was one of the victims of the shooting, and about her beliefs and ideals. She was a very idealistic person who believed in love and compassion and everything good in the world. She kept a journal, she was nice to people, and she wanted to change the world. Well, first off, not to be mean, the only reason we know about her beliefs is because of the fact that she died, and the only reason we’re listening to them is because the shootings happened. I don’t like that things are like that, but i’s true, before we prevent something from happening, it has to already happen.

They wanted us to make three promises:

1. Eliminate Prejudice, be good to people for who they are.
2. Dare to Dream, set clear goals and write them down.
3. Choose Good Influences, don’t surround yourself with violence.
4. Use Kind Words, one good deed can make a huge impact.
5. Stat a Chain Reaction, do good deeds, keep a journal, and be a good person, you never know who it could influence.

These are good things to be involved in, but not everyone can do it. I’m sorry it’s just human nature, though I think it is a good thing for them to try and influence as many people as they can. The thing about keeping the journal, I could never do, unless you can consider this blog a journal. I did enjoy the presentation, it was sad that this happened, and I hope that nothing like this will ever occur again, though in all likelihood, it will. I did like the whole thing they did at the end with the picture and the whole “prophesy” thing, it was enjoyable how things like that happen.

All-in-all, I found the assembly to be a life changing experience, and I think people should follow these promises as closely as they should follow the Ten Commandments or any other set of religious code.

My next topic is on the most influential people in my life… this one is kind of hard because I have a really bad memory.

1. My father; he is only an influence because he has taught me how not to act, he did(may still do) drugs, doesn’t pay child support, and left me and my mom to live in poverty when I was about two.
2. Bob Butterfield; he was my mom’s fiancee for about six years, and the closest thing I’ve had to a loving father. Though he could be a little strict, he always looked out for me and had my best interests in mind.
3. My maternal grandfather; He is one of the most intelligent people in our family(actually our whole family is smart, they just suffer from the same problem I suffer from: laziness) and also he’s one of only three people in my immediate family to have a college degree(second was my cousin Jared, third was my mom).
4. My cousin Justin; Me and him were best friends from the time I was four till the time I was thirteen, then he moved. Though he was six years older than me, he would always ask me to come over and we would play. He also protected me many times.
5. Mr. Lilly(for lack of a final person to think of, plus he is a pretty cool guy); He’s one of the best teachers I’ve had, and he’s one of the only teachers I can talk to about basically anything. He talks about the way he acted in high school, and it kind of reminds me of me… strangely enough he’s a teacher… and that’s one of the professions I was thinking of going into. Creepy.

Until later– “There’s no turning back now that you opened up to your mind.”(Hahaha, Mr. Lilly!)