If You Knew Me: by J.

If you knew me, you would know that the person you see is not truly who I am. You would see a confident person with positive vibes. In reality, I’m the complete opposite of that. If you knew me you would know that I have a lot of passion for the people I care about. If you knew me you would know that I don’t really enjoy school because it keeps me from doing the things that I love. If you really knew me you would know that my family background is a hard story to tell.

If you really knew me you would know that I’ve always had a love for cosmetology and everything that has to do with beauty. If you really knew me you would know that my parents are divorced and have been since I was four years old. If you really knew me you would know that I am adopted by my great aunt and uncle who I now call mom and dad. If you really knew me you would know that I have twelve siblings, five half siblings, one step, and six adoptive. If you really knew me you would know that I color-code my closet, but my room gets very dirty still.

If you really, really knew me you would know that my parents never get along and rarely agree on anything. If you really, really knew me you would know that I suffer from depression and anxiety and have been going to counseling since I was four. I just stopped going last year. If you really, really knew me you would know that I could be in a room full of people and still feel lonely. If you really, really knew me you would know that I can’t even ask for ketchup or napkins, or get a lady from Walmart to help us with our scanner, without having an anxiety attack. If you really, really knew me you would know that I have a weight problem and have had one for a long time now. It makes me really insecure. If you really, really knew me you would know that I am afraid of people my own age. I never do very well with my peers unless they’re my friends. If you really, really knew me you would know that sometimes I feel like I do not belong, that there’s nobody to fall back on.

If You Knew Me: by C.

If You Knew Me…

If you knew me you would know my name is C. I have blonde hair with the underneath dyed brown and blue eyes. I’m fourteen and I have a nine-year old brother. If you knew me you would know I’m an athlete.  I play softball and it’s practically my life. I’ve been playing for about five years now. If you knew me you would know I’m a country girl who loves to hunt, fish, and go mudding with my dad. If you knew me you would know I love joking around, especially with my friends.

If you really knew me you would know I play the violin. Not many people know this because everyone says I don’t seem like the kind of girl who plays the violin. If you really knew me you would know I’m extremely picky about a lot of things. If you really knew me you would know I’m a lot like my dad but look more like my mom. If you really knew me you would know I’m not good at writing or talking in front of groups of more than 10 people unless I really know them. I get really nervous and feel like I’m going to mess up. If you really knew me you would know that I’m extremely scared of clowns.

If you really, really knew me you would know I have really low self-esteem and have no confidence in myself. If you really, really knew me you would know I always feel like I’m doing something wrong. No matter how hard I try, I always feel like I’m messing up and disappointing people. If you really, really knew me you would know I’m almost constantly fighting with someone in my family. It’s not always my fault and I hate it, but that’s how my family is. If you really, really knew me you would know I’m in constant fear of something happening to my parents or my brother or my parents getting a divorce. I know a ton of people go through it, I just don’t want to be one of them. If you really, really knew me you would know I shoot my bow, read, or listen to music as an escape from everything. Even if it’s only for 10 minutes, it helps.

This Is Me.

If You Knew Me- By Zach

If you saw me, you would see that my favorite color is black, which I wear a lot (goes with almost everything). You would see that I am obviously a punk kid, another moron that spends his class-time in the halls. Or that I don’t care for people. This is mostly false. If you don’t respect me, I don’t respect you. Quite simple actually. But that is only if you saw me.

If you knew me, you would be able to know that I am actually a nice person. You would know that I am VERY energetic but I lack in ways to use this energy. I spend most of my time listening to music and playing video games. I have two families that have their own ups and downs to them, whether it be the responsibility of watching  3 boys, or having the least say out of 4 teens. My family isn’t always understanding of me, though. That is why my friends are more family to me sometimes. They know more about me than most.  C is my little brother who outgrew me.  He’s pestering, sometimes annoying, but he has always been there. J is the weird brother that is always energetic when I see him, the one that I share most interests with. T is the big brother that is sort of irresponsible, but is right down the road (literally) when I need him. M, little sister, is misunderstood but full of energy.  All of us are friends, and are all we need.

If you really knew me, you would know my favorite bands are My Chemical Romance, The Offspring, and Falling In Reverse. You would know that I am generally pleased with my life. But I’m not all happy. Not everything is black and white. You would know I’ve never met my biological father. And that the dad who raised me didn’t know I wasn’t his son until a few years ago. That same year, my uncle who I looked up to died of cancer. That year was the worst for me. 2013 sucked. A lot. My life is a roller coaster, with ups, downs, and the stupid loop that NOBODY enjoys. But I’ve got friends who care, who help me survive the loops.  Practical misfits of a generation, bound together in the fact that we are alike.  I’m one of them, and I am glad that I am.

Sickness- by Audrey

Sickness is overwhelming.
He is savage,
malicious
unmerciful.
He knows no boundaries
follows no rules
releases no one.
He screams and shouts and cries
at your unbearable pain
or insurmountable damage.
Uncaring, Sickness rips at your soul
with his charred hands
and glossy, unseeing eyes.
Cloaked and tattered,
Sickness steals comfort
and rouses anxiety.
He ravages the psyche
and burrows in the darkest pits
of every body.

Single: by M.

Single. How to explain what I have learned about being single… Well, I could describe it as being free from consequences, not having to make sure that somebody else is okay with me doing something with other people, but it also means not having anybody to do things with. It means not having to fight about all of the small things, but not having any of the small things to talk about at all. It means not having to deal with another’s drama, but secretly wishing it was there.

Single. How to explain what I learned about being single… Well I could describe it as lonely. Being single is lonely because you pretty much don’t know what to do with your life. You sit at home, thinking of that person who brought you such joy, while at the same time, wishing for a person just like the one you are thinking about. You sit and you ponder and you search, hoping to just find that person who will make you happy. Sometimes you think you find them. You start to develop feeling for this new person and wait on them for days and weeks and months, disappointed because they don’t feel the same way. Or maybe the reverse: you find they have feelings for you and you hate to admit you don’t have any for them.

Single. How to explain what I learned about being single. Well I could describe it as confusing. Being single is confusing because you want, more than anything, for somebody to step up and say they like you, or to give you small hints that they are interested in you. So without realizing it, you start to read into the things that are not signs, and ignore the ones that are. You gain a sort of over-confidence that makes you think you can go for the most popular, best looking, most talented. Only, you find out that they aren’t interested in a “guy like you” or “such a good friend.” You learn that you shouldn’t go for someone who can do better than you because it only increases the chance of them cheating on you or finding someone newer and better than you.

Single. How to explain what I learned about being single… Well I could describe it as a black hole. I can explain being single as a black hole because when you are single you find that girls “friend-zone” you way more than when you weren’t single. I can describe it as a black hole because when you are single it is hard to get back into a relationship, no matter how hard you want to get back there. It is a black hole that, once it sucks you in, is impossible to get back out of.

Single. These are the things I learned by being single.

 

Breathe- by Aaron

The screen flashes 2:01; I lie in bed thinking.

No. Not thinking. Obsessing. Obsessing over my day, over what happened.

I can still hear the booming voice demanding that I stare, silently, at the wall. I can still feel the needles in my face, igniting a fire beneath my skin. I can still feel the helplessness and humiliation dancing through my veins.

Insults batter me from every direction–from acquaintances and strangers alike. Some intend to be funny. Some intend to insult. They all cut.

The demons of my life grasp at my motionless body. Muscles clench in agony. My body coils in on itself and my breathing staggers. My nails dig into the flesh of my arms as I let out a silent cry for help. I count to three, trying to calm myself: deep breaths in, deep breaths out. No luck. My breathing grows even faster, coming out in irregular gasps.

I rack my brain for something.  Something that could help get me out of this horrid reality. Then I hear it. My iPod lying abandoned at the food of the bed. Music caresses me like a soft breeze.

I instantly recognize the voice. As I listen, my muscles loosen. My nails release their grip from my skin, leaving traces of the angry crescent moons on my arms. My breath evens.  If she can do it, so can I. She has put her story out there for the world to hear. Her goal is to make sure no one ever feels like she has.

Finally my body relaxes, and I can feel peace whispering into my mind.  I pick up my iPod to stare into the face of Demi Lovoto. I think about how brave she is. She knows bullying. I think about all the things she is. Selfless. Kind. Caring.  The list goes on and on. The how sacrificial she is hits me.  She told her story knowing that she would be judged and hated. She knew that people would bash on her whenever they could. But she did it anyway. She did it to help people like her.

She did it to help people like me.

 

World’s Foremost Authority: Global Hunger- by Adam

Global Hunger

My name is Dr. Adam _________, Ph.D. with my doctoral degree being in field of Global Hunger. In academic circles, I am referred to as the world’s foremost authority on the crisis that is world hunger.  To this end, I see our whole world in a state of war. Every year this war has taken the lives of untold numbers of people.  Whether the total numbers are in thousands or millions, this war had impacted everybody in some way. The war I speak of is global hunger. Some colleagues of mine and I have been trying to provide a solution to this tragedy for years. After trial and error, many disappointments and dead ends, we have found a solution. That answer is simple, yet vital: lunch boxes.

A study that I head at the University of Bologna has made the scientific breakthrough of this century. You may be wondering at this point, just how lunch boxes will stop global hunger. Here is my answer. These are not regular lunch boxes. These are the results of hours of intensive researching and years of field testing. Many people even claim that these lunch boxes have nearly magical properties, but that is not accurate.  Their properties are the result of science.  These lunch boxes use the latest up-to-date cooling and sealing technologies which keep food from spoiling, in most cases, for years.

In an experiment designed by Oxford University, England, tests were established to discover how long different foods can be kept in our lunch boxes compared to other commercial ones.  The results were off the charts. One of the biggest shocks was that these lunch boxes could store a container of milk for almost a year, and it did not spoil! Perhaps the most amazing aspect of these lunch boxes is that they do not require an external power source.  They do not use any electricity.  This fact means the lunch boxes are cost efficient to maintain.

Another added benefit of these lunch boxes is that they are easy to use and environmentally friendly, meaning renewable.  They are also affordable for everybody everywhere.  People from every part of the world, in whatever economic situation, can afford one.  They also come in different sizes.  Engineers are currently designing a lunch box the size of a refrigerator and are on the cusp of finding the way to get these lunch boxes to reseal after they are opened.

These lunch boxes will solve the problem of global hunger in a very important way.  Food will no longer spoil!  Now shipping food to areas of need will be very easy, and they will be able to store that food safely and securely for a very long time.  This will also help in areas where there is no refrigeration.  Many places in the world do not have easily available electricity.  People will be able to store all their food in these lunch boxes.

There is one issue with all of this, however.  We need your support, both verbally and financially.  We need to get the word out about these lunch boxes.  Tell your friends, your neighbors, and your relatives about this amazing breakthrough.  The word needs to get out about these new lunch boxes.  See our Facebook page to see how to spread the word and how to financially support this huge revolution in fixing word hunger.

**Editor’s Comment:  Please note that this was a quick write activity. All research was fabricated by the writer and does not actually exist. Factual holes will also clearly exist. The assignment is an exercise in building ethos, pathos, and logos.

Brainwashed- by Anonymous

Brainwashed

All of my life, I have been studying the effect of music on the emotions of a human’s brain. I have found that every song carries an emotion with it, affecting the listener with such feelings as happiness, sadness, fear, dread, etc.  Research from London’s School of Music Psychology have shown that “when a person hears music, certain areas of the brain show increased activity, while other parts show decreased activity.” In fact, in one of my own tests, I scanned brains on a hundred test subjects while playing a song each of them considered happy.  The scans showed that every single person had an increase of electricity in the part of the brain that processes joy and a decrease in the area which causes sadness.  This finding was revolutionary.  Until that test, scientists did not know that specific music had the ability to target specific areas of the brain.

Sometimes, when music is strong enough, it can create an effect similar to brainwashing. When music with just the right pattern and structure is played, it can alter a brain’s processing of emotion so much that the change can edit how a person lives their lives.  A newly uncovered example of this would be the Allied’s secret use of music in World War II.  The Allied forces actually tested music-driven mind control techniques on Japan.  This was done by dropping remote devices in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, three weeks prior to the atomic bombs, that played loud music proven to cause rebellious and riotous behavior.  Unfortunately, no one truly understood the powers of persuasion they possessed, and the rebellion became widespread. Rumors of these mind-controls tests have been around for decades.  Just last year, the vigilante group Citizens Uncovering Cover-Ups (CUCU), published their highly acclaimed report exposing these tests and the subsequent targeting of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  Using identical techniques, I reproduced a similar test on a group of subjects that forced them to dance uncontrollably.

It is no secret that the war in the Middle East is still raging.  The loss of life in these countries, due to the unrest, is staggering.  All of this could come to a halt if our military reproduced (responsibly) their strategy from World War II.  Research published by the Australian Commission for Peaceful Music Solutions (ACPMS) states that piano music has the most rapid effect on individuals, turning aggressive behaviors to peaceful ones.  “The piano has the perfect range of notes and tones to calm anger,” according to Dr. Baker of the ACPMS.  My research has found the perfect song, the title of which I choose to withhold from the press at this time, that can control 98.8% of a test population.  If our military can drop similar devices into the Middle East, peace is sure to result.

There are some who disagree with this.  One reason is because so many people died when using these tactics in World War II.  At that time, we had a tool we did not fully understand and therefore chose to cover up its disastrous results. Thanks to the tireless research and work of scientists in the Music Mind Control Research Institute, the threat of death from music exposure has been eliminated.  They found through their tests that if the “beats per minute (BPMs) are not in the right range, it caused internal hemorrhaging” in the brain.  Now that they have found the correct BMPs, death is no longer a risk.

Others believe that it is ethically wrong to exercise any kind of mind control over others. Again, advances in technology have found ways to prevent this.  Piano music, in combination with the string tones of a cello, have been found to remove aggression completely, but to also encourage peaceful conversation and compromise.  The addition of the strings helped thinkers access and consider arguments of logics more efficiently.  In fact, the Canadian government has found that reaching “bipartisan agreement on hot topics is much more likely… when those discussions are underscored with a piano and cello combo.”

This strategy can save lives.  It is time for America to take a stand, to take a stand on promoting peaceful compromise instead of deadly aggression.  It is up to you to help promote this change.  Write your senator, call your legislators, and share this information with everyone you know.  Text “#savelivesnow” to the number XXX-XXX-XXXX or visit our website http://www.savelivesnow/musicforachange.com to find out how you can help.  Together, we can end this war.

**Editor’s Comment:  Please note that this was a quick write activity.  All research was fabricated by the writer and does not actually exist.  Factual holes will also clearly exist.  The assignment is an exercise in building ethos, pathos, and logos.

Poems are… by Tucker

Poems are…

Tasteless.
And Pointless.
Murmuring. Vile.
And sarcastic filth.

Hushed whispers defined by dread.
Disillusioned intellect.
Childish pleading, shining with fright.
The unspeakable words, dipped in doubt.

It’s ironically ingenious.
Inconsequential disappointment.

Those shining souls mention dull words,
lost throughout our beautiful
lives. Our glimpse of thought:
synthetic failure.

Cruel frustration
we recall
daily.

He’s Full- By Megan

He’s full.
Full of it.
Full of greed and
hatred and anger.
He walks cocky and self-
conceited, without a doubt.
Why, they ask? Why is he like this?

They have no answers. He is odd, no
doubt. But it was she who transformed him out
of this childish way of life. It was
she who brought him back to earth, back to
reality. How they ask? Why
would someone like her be with
someone like him? She loves
him. No one knows how.
Or why she does.
Until now.

She sees.