Having no care for getting in trouble is a big part of being a kid. I can recall a lot of times from elementary school where I would do things without thinking of the consequences. For as long as I could remember, our school had a Valentine’s Day dance, but me and my friends never actually danced. We would run around the hallways, cafeteria and gym playing tag instead. Every once in a while you would hear someone say “slow down” or “come here” which would make us run even faster. 

The next day in class, our teachers would tell us that we couldn’t do that and said if we did something like that again we would not be allowed to play football during recess.  So in short, we did not have any repercussions for our actions. This was an important part of me being a kid because now as I get older, I have to think more about how my actions could affect me in the future. 
AT MCKINLEY I LEARNED HOW TO PAY ATTENTION 

McKinley also taught me about growing up. Some of the things that I learned in elementary school I still use today because they were the basics, and are probably some of the most important things you learn in life. 

How to pay attention. Paying attention is one of the most important skills you can learn. On the first day of fourth grade, we all sat on the rug in a circle to introduce ourselves and some kids were talking to each other when someone else was trying to speak. My teacher had all of the class be quiet so he could say that one of the most important rules in his class was to pay attention when someone else is talking. He then pointed out a girl in my class and that we should be more like her because she was looking right at him and hearing every word he said. Ever since that day when someone is talking I try to give them my full attention. Obviously I am not perfect, but I try. 

Dating back to fifth through seventh grade, my friends and I would play a game, called the Donkey Lover Ring and it was our favorite game of all. We would get a bottle cap and we would throw it at each other during the school day, and if you went home with it, you were eliminated. 

My friend Andrey and I were the last people left in the game and when the final bell rang at 2:10 p.m., I was running around the building chasing him and eventually I was just going to wait outside because he had to get on his bus. The dean asked me if I was playing the game when I was waiting and I said yes. He continued to just stand there and look at the buses. When Andrey came out, I threw the bottle cap at him which hit him and I started to run to my bus in the snow. But the teachers said nothing and I made it on my bus just in time. 

When I came to school the next day the dean did not say anything and we ended up playing again. So even though the teachers and the dean knew what was going on they did not say anything despite the fact that we were throwing things at each other and somebody could have got hurt so there was a lack of repercussions. 

Now when I look back on the donkey lover ring I realize how there was a high possibility that someone could have got injured. So I am surprised that the teachers did not do anything to stop it. 

AT TOMLINSON MIDDLE SCHOOL I LEARNED TO MAKE DECISIONS 

The donkey lover ring now when I look back on it has taught me important things about growing up. I learned how to be a good decision maker. When I was in middle school we would do a lot of group work and projects so someone was always there to help and generate ideas. Also I played a lot of sports like basketball, baseball and track and those are all team sports so everyone had a common goal. But in the donkey lover ring everyone was playing for themselves and you had to make a plan of how you are going to make it to the end. When everything did not go according to plan you had to make a quick decision. 

When we were in the final three I tried to form an alliance with Yuri and Andrey so I would play both sides and there would be no chance of me going home with it. Unfortunately only my old friend Yuri wanted to form an alliance so then we had a common goal of getting Andrey out. So our plan was he was going to give the ring to me and I was going to go find Andrey and give the ring to him. Then the end of the day came and I saw Andrey go sprint and hide and I knew I would not find him. So when it came time for me to get the bottle cap from Yuri I decided I was not going to. I made that decision in the moment and made it by myself and thought of it by myself. Throughout the day when I look back I knew I was not going to get the ring from Yuri because it is an individual game and I had to make sure that I was in the finals at the end of the day. 

In the end it worked out and there were no hard feelings. After the game ended I was able to think on my own and not afraid to make decisions. 

Even though I am a high school student I am still a kid. A big advantage of that is I still have a lot of support from people around me. But in the future I am going to have to be more dependent on myself. So it is like a luxury.

In Fall 2021 I had a project in my marketing class. The project was we had to choose a brand and we had to get a pumpkin and make it tie into the brand we choose. So I decided that I was going to do Jet Puffed Marshmallows. So for my project I used one of my pumpkins to make a s'more. So I used cardboard to make the graham cracker and the chocolate and painted the pumpkin white to make the s'more. Then just put it all together. Then I wanted to go above and beyond so I decided that I was going to make another element to my project. I made a fireplace out of wood and used another pumpkin in the middle to stabilize it. Then I used tissue paper to make it look like flames were coming out the side of the pumpkin. But there were still a lot of struggles along the way. 

I needed a lot of support on this project. I needed financial support in order to get all of the materials necessary to create my idea. My mom was very understanding and she was okay in running to Michaels and getting supplies. At the store I got a pumpkin, a cake box and some candles. The next day I ended up switching my idea completely so we had to go back to the store and my mom was okay with it. When it was all done I did not like the way so I knew I needed some more materials to make it better. I decided that I was going to make a fireplace so we had to get another pumpkin, more cardboard and some wood. Throughout this project my mom ended up spending around 40 dollars for a school project. So I am very thankful for that.  

During this project I did not just have financial support I also had creative support. On our first trip to Michales I did not know what I wanted to do yet and she helped me brainstorm ideas. We eventually came to a decision that I was going to make the pumpkin into a cake. But in the middle of the day my mom texted me and she said marshmallows and I knew that was what I was going to do. My mom also suggested that I add a smore with a rod and put it over the fire and put green on the base like grass. Those suggestions helped me finish and be happy with my project. So my mom was giving me creative support and in the future as I get older that support may not be there because I am going to have to be more independent. 

Fairfield Warde high school has taught me a lot about growing up as teachers give less guidance on projects. This shows that teachers trust students a lot more in high school. Also, some decisions we make in high school, like our grades, can have an impact for the rest of our lives. So it is very important to be responsible. 

During this project there was also a big theme of responsibility. Even Though my mom was helping me think of ideas and get materials I still had to do all of the work. 

I ended up in class being very productive. On the online portion of the project we had to do research on our brand so everyday in class I would work on that piece of the project. This helped me a lot because at home all I had to do was the physical part of the project while in school I only had to do the research. Organization is a big part of being responsible because in the end I was able to get all of the written work from just my class time. 

At home where I worked on the physical part of the project I was responsible. I ended up having my physical part of my project done a couple days in advance because I structured my time well. 

In the end of the project I ended up getting a one hundred out of one hundred. This is because I was very responsible. I ended up turning my project in on time which is a responsible thing to do. I also had a day to day of what I wanted to accomplish on the physical portion of my project which is part of the reason I got an A because since I made everything so structured it was very easy to finish my project. All in all I try to do this for every project I am working on because learning these lessons on responsibility now will help me in the future.