Magic Moments (Prompt #33)

    I'm not socially awkward; I'm just an introvert. I'm not shy; I just prefer not to initiate conversations. 


    Sometimes life leads us into awkward and uncomfortable situations. Why? Who knows. All I know is that everyone experiences them. It's one of the perks of being human. 


    Who ever decided that changing your clothes should be mandatory for physical education classes should be beaten and strung up by their ankles until they come to their senses. They must've known that they'd be responsible for daily awkward situations. Let's get one thing straight before I even begin my story. This is my disclaimer: I am in no way, shape, or form an athlete. I'm clumsy and am quite lucky if I make it through an entire day without tripping over something and falling on my face. 
    Sophomore year. High School. First day of dance class. I walk into the girls locker room where at least thirteen other girls are already seated on the floor waiting for everyone else to show up. I chose a corner in the back where I could sit by myself. The room was definitely old. There were walls and walls of lockers whose paint was chipping and tops were caked in multiple layers of dust. There was an aging brown, leather love seat pushed up against a tall counter-like table. Everything was old, including our teacher, Coach Swift. Her name was pure irony. 
    After everyone was seated on the cold, cement floor that smelled like bleach, the coach came in. "Okay ladies. Welcome to good 'ol dance class. We're going to head down to the dance room. You'll find uniforms in every size on the counter in the back. Each of you grab a t-shirt and a pair of shorts and hurry to put them on. Yes, you have to. Don't complain or try to get out of it. It's mandatory and part of your grade. Now lets see some hustle!" I was horrified but I seemed to be the only one. I kept my cool and followed the others back to the counter where I grabbed a white cotton shirt and some black gym shorts. I waked back to my corner. 
    Girls were getting naked left and right. I have nothing wrong with the human body. I guess I just didn't feel comfortable seeing my classmates in their underwear and vice versa. I didn't want to join them. It must've been obvious that felt uncomfortable. " Be careful. Some of the girls like to play grab ass as soon as you take your pants off." I turned around, face flushed, to see a girl in her jeans and bra. " Hey. I'm Brittany and that was a joke... Jesus! Look at your face! I didn't meant to embarrass you. Listen, just between you and me, there's a restroom right around the corner. Why don't you go change in one of the stalls?" I looked at her and said, "Thanks, but I'm okay. This is really no big deal" and with that lie, I reluctantly began to take my clothes off. Brittany shrugged and put her gym shirt on. I had successfully managed to change my pants while she was putting her shirt on. Next came my shirt. As I went to lift my shirt over my head, I elbowed Brittany in the boob. "Ow!" I heard as my head came out of the shirt. She was looking at me while she folded her arms across her chest in defense. "Oh. My. Gosh." I said. " I am so sorry. I swear I didn't mean to. I mean I'm not like that. I wasn't trying to cop a feel or anything." She just continued watching me in silence. " I'm not saying that I have anything against girls who are like that. Oh wow. I'm just going to stop talking now. I am really sorry though." We just stood there in awkward silence. Brittany started laughing. It was still awkward for me. What was I supposed to do? Laugh with her? No. That could just do more damage. I chose to stick with the vow of silence. "You're a dork! In just three minutes of meeting you, I've learned that you like to grope girls and you're not a lesbian. We're off to a great start. Let's head to the dance room, shall we?"

To Be or Not to Be? (Prompt #29)

First Person:
    I looked at them from across the room. "Why couldn't I be like that?" I sometimes asked myself. Maybe it was because my family wasn't wealthy. That couldn't be it. Our school was in Apache Junction and many of their families weren't any better off than mine. It wasn't that I was some sort of outcast without friends; I just wasn't popular. That group of kids sitting on the other side of my math class, clustered together, always seemed like they were having such a great time. I wanted to have a great time in math class...
    I watched that same group of kids almost everyday. No, I wasn't some kind of obsessed stalker. I wanted to be one of them. I wanted to be part of their inseparable click. What drew them together? Looking at them from my seat in the corner I could see that though they all looked very different, they acted very much the same. They all had similar laughs and mannerisms. They used the same slang and improper grammar when the spoke (and probably when they wrote too). And though I did find all of this quite annoying, I still wished to be a part of it, if even just for a day. I wanted to be popular.




Third Person:
    It wasn't that she wasn't likable. She just wasn't one of them. She cared too much about things that didn't even matter to most high school students. She was in three different choir classes and spent her free time in after-school clubs. Though they didn't know her personally, they knew about her and people like her. She was wound too tight to have fun with them and she'd be one of those narks who would leave or go find an adult at the first sight of alcohol, drugs, or maybe even cigarettes. Taliena may have been a fun person to spend time with according to her own friends' standards, but definitely not to the popular kids'. She was too different to be part of the popular crowd. It would never happen. It was for the best though. Nerds shouldn't be popular too. It would upset the natural balance of things. 

Week 10: Peer Review

Brandon:
    Brandon, Week 8's posts were really different, but definitely in a good and interesting way. The topics were all very diverse and I didn't get bored while reading once. My favorite of the three was "Dialogue: What's Your Name Again?" It brought me back to when choosing my favorite Pokemon was my biggest worry. It was really entertaining. The only suggestion I have is maybe cutting out or revising some of the things you put in your writing. I know you're writing non-fiction and we're all grown-ups in college, but I just feel like somethings aren't as appropriate as others. Besides that though, just keep up the awesome work!


Chelsee:
    Hey Chelsee! Your Week 8 posts were really very interesting. I felt that I really got to know more about you. The only suggestions I have for you this week are: add more to the length and maybe try using more dialogue . I especially enjoyed your post about your grandfather and my suggestions are aimed mainly toward it. Because the post was about someone so dear to you, it would've been nice to read more. All in all, great work!


Alyssa:
    Hello there! I just want to start your peer review off by saying that I love your blog. I haven't read a post yet that I haven't absolutely loved. With that said, your post for prompt #25 was my favorite of the three. I think this is because I found so easy to relate to. I have been in an eerily similar situation and your post brought back memories. The only suggestion I have is for post #27. When you give your readers a list of what you're going to write about, make sure you give them just that. I knew it was all there but I felt like I had to go looking for it. I can't wait to read more next week! 

Week 8 Peer Review

Brandon: 
   Hello Brandon. I really enjoyed reading your post this week. It gave me some insight to what happened in Tuscon and the speech that took place afterward. I really appreciated your attention to detail and how you gave us (the readers) some background info on the shooting before you went into the description of the president's speech. I look forward to reading your posts for the rest of this semester. Keep up the great work!


Chelsee:
    Hey Chelsee. Let me just start off by saying that I found both of your posts for this week to be very insightful and entertaining. Your first post was really great and though it was four paragraphs long, I felt like I needed more. I wanted to know more about what you were working for. Why did you want a job at the age of 15? Was it difficult juggling school and your new job? Your second post was quite informative. I really didn't know much, if anything, about the bookstore being sold. I'm glad you chose to write about this. I can't wait to read your posts next week!


Alyssa:
    Hello there, Alyssa! Your posts this week were great! I really think I'm going to enjoy reading your writing for the remainder of the semester. Your first post about responsibility was honest and refreshingly open. I appreciated your ability to talk to your readers and tell them about yourself and your life without sugarcoating anything. Your second post of the week had just the right amount of description. I could see the bar just as you described it and wished I could go see it for myself in person. You have the amazing ability to know just how much description is enough. Not too little that readers don't know what you're talking about, but not too much that there's no room for a little imagination. Great work! I can't wait for the weeks to come. 

NAU Lecture Hall

    The lecture hall is huge. There is no light but the few florescent rays streaming down slowly, diminished from the dank and dusty vaulted ceilings. There are about 300 to 400 students all from various grades spread throughout the enormous classroom. It smells of old books that haven't been opened in decades and a mixture of colognes that attempt to mask some of the students' "study parties" from the night before. 

    From the eighth row up, I can hardly see the the teacher's aid and the professor, let alone what they choose to be pertinent information that goes up on the white board with a dying white-erase marker.  I try to sit alone, that is two to three empty seats in every direction of myself and it appears that most everyone who doesn't have a friend with them tries to do the same. Who knows why. Maybe we don't want to talk to each other or maybe we just find strangers distracting while trying to decipher what's being discussed and written in the front. On several occasions, a couple brave souls have sat by me. We don't talk. We don't even look at each other. It's the definition of an awkward moment, except for it lasts 50 minutes and not a singular moment. 
    Luckily, I find the history of the English language to be interesting. I find it interesting enough to read the textbook after class on my own time. I do this because even though I strain to obtain information in the lecture hall, sometimes all of my hard effort isn't enough and I hardly get anything out of it. I can't be the only person with this problem. The professor is at least 70 years old and his T.A. can't be older than 22 years old. Together, the old age and nervousness make the lectures long, quiet, and shaky. We blame the lecture hall. It's old and outdated. The extent of the technology in the room consists of a newish projector and small laser pointer for the board. The class would be so much better with a microphone and new projector that links the computer to the projector, like all of the new smaller lecture halls have. Until the classroom and the teachers are remodeled, we'll just have to continue to limp along and struggle to learn something. 

A Family Divided (Prompt #20)

      When I was six years old, my parents got a divorce. My two younger sisters, ages 4 and 1 at the time, didn't understand the concept. To be completely honest, I'm not quite sure I grasped the entire concept myself, but if I didn't understand then, it didn't take me long to figure the rest out. Soon after the paperwork was done and the assets divided, my mom moved my sisters and I about five hours north of our father, five hours north of our home. Looking back now, I don't blame her for trying to get away but back then we were all angry. My sisters and I didn't see our dad for the next two years. We didn't know why and my youngest sister soon forgot about him altogether. My mother worked a full-time job and a part-time job on the weekends just to keep our household going. Things were rough. I do remember that much.
      When I turned eight, I was handed more responsibility. I was happy to help my mother in any way I could at this point. I had learned that we moved because she thought it was the best situation for my sisters and me and I assumed that we hadn't heard from dad because he chose not to contact us, not because our mom prevented it. I was given the responsibility of watching my two younger sisters. Now, you might think it inappropriate for an eight year old child to be babysitting a six year old and a three year old, but she was desperate and I was responsible. After school, Kanisha (my sister closest in age to me) and I would ride the bus to our apartment and my mother would pick up Tylissa (my youngest sister) from daycare during her lunch break and bring her to us. I would make sure Kanisha did her homework. We would do chores together and make sure Tylissa was kept out of trouble. Over time, I learned to cook and made dinner for everyone. I grew up fast, but I'm not complaining. We all do what we have to when the pressure is on. I would do anything for my mom. Taking on the responsibility of keeping our household together at the age of eight has helped me become the strong and responsible person that I am today.