Final Week Before Break

     This past week we finished The Laramie Project and turned in our papers. After finishing The Laramie Project we were introduced to our new project which is our pro vs. con debates and chose our partners.  The new project seems very intriguing and i'm sure the entire class wont have any issues arguing some of there topics. Topics like the drinking age in America, abortion, etc. these are all huge debates in our country and everybody has there own opinion that they feel strongly about. I chose milk with my partner Jackson because its something we wouldn't could both learn more about because it's an issue were both not that familiar with. With topics like alcohol and abortion you hear about them everyday and everybody already knows a ton about them but the issue of milk and if its really that healthy for you is rarely talked about or at least the majority of the population doesn't hear a lot about. Something you can learn more about and become a master of is more appealing to me then a topic i already know a lot about. Jackson is a smart kid and its another reason why we both chose milk because we think we can take an issue like milk and turn it into a serious and intense debate. Jackson has the task to debate why milk is bad for you, i'd day his job is more difficult than mine because based on the information i have right now i believe milk is healthy for you. Knowing each side of the debate, pro and con must be ten minutes each we have a quite a large task but it's going to be interesting to see what we find out and learn about milk. On my side of the debate there are a lot of pros to milk. The majority of the people in the U.S believe milk is very good for you. I grew up with my parents telling me milk made me stronger so of course i wanted to drink it.

        There are a lot of nutritional pros to milk. Milk contains almost every nutrient a growing child needs including carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, etc. Like i said before milk helps you grow and with your overall development. Milk also helps with blood flow which prevents things like strokes which can be deadly. It can help the overall health of your heart and who wouldn't want that. Most of the pros of milk are all nutritional which is a good topic to argue for because health is a serious topic for everybody. Milk aslo boost vitamin D greatly which is a really good thing because Vitamin D can lower your risk of getting cancer. Cancer is such a prominent thing in the U.S now and knowing milk can reduce your chances of getting it is something i can use to my advantage in my debate. Milk also increases higher levels of bone mass which creates stronger bones in young people. Milk is really appealing to parents because they want there kids to stay healthy and safe and have stronger bones like my parents did. It will be hard to argue against milk when there are so many pros for everyone who drinks it.

Why Matthew Shepard's Murder Wasn't A Hate Crime

Jack Atteridg

Ms. Menough P.2

November 18th, 2014

                  The actions of human beings will never be sure and the media, as well as literature has attempted to understand these actions through The Laramie Project, The Book Of Matt, and the ABC News 20/20 Report. The Matthew Shepard case has the ability to draw different viewpoints and everyone has different views on morality and this case allows them to express there own view and there own opinion on what happened the night of October 12th, 1998. Shepard’s murder being a hate crime is heavily questioned in Stephen Jimenez book The Book Of Matt and there’s a lot of evidence showing Shepard’s murder was not because he was gay. The murder of Matthew Shepard was not a hate crime because of the Evidence in The Book Of Matt, the biases in the Laramie community, and the cultural media explosion that occurred in Laramie after Shepard’s Death.

           In Stephen Jimenez The Book Of Matt, is endless accounts and witnesses that prove Shepard wasn’t killed because he was gay. Shepard and his killer Aaron McKinney were not strangers, they knew each other. Shepard and McKinney had been seen numerous times together around town. They weren’t best friends but certainly not strangers. Laramie is such a small town almost everybody knows of everybody or has seen them around town. Shepard and McKinney being in the same places a lot of the time isn’t a coincidence. “Aaron had been to gay bars and, you know, had been around gay guys and was very comfortable with that”(Jimenez). McKinney had been seen numerous times at several gay bars, not in Laramie though because there are no gay bars in Laramie. McKinney and Shepard were both into the the rapidly growing drug scene in Laramie at the time. The main drug being Methamphetamine. “ Well, first of all, i learned that Matthew had become a user of meth(Jimenez). Knowing both McKinney and Shepard were involved in drugs brings up more suspicion and probability that they weren’t strangers. During the time of Shepard’s murder McKinney had been up for days on meth. “ Well, Aaron McKinney had been a meth dealer for three years prior to the crime”(Jimenez). Not only was Aaron using but he was also dealing and Matthew knew that. When Matthew moved from Denver to Laramie he wanted to leave the drug scene behind but when he got involved he probably got introduced to McKinney. The drug has the ability to take over the mind and take away one’s judgement. That night on October 12th, 1998 McKinney was craving the drug more than ever and clearly would of done anything to maintain his high. McKinney knew Shepard could of had drugs on him from previous knowledge and chose to rob Shepard because of that. There’s also a ton of proof that McKinney could of in fact been bisexual. Doc O’connor a limousine driver in the Laramie area has driven both McKinney and Shepard and knows them both fairly well. O’connor said that he and McKinney had a sexual threesome with another woman. McKinney being so willing shows he’s not that homophobic at all. O’connor has even said that McKinney could very likely be bisexual from all the encounters he had or heard about with McKinney. The Book Of Matt is filled with proof that McKinney and Shepard knew each other and were into a lot of the same things including sex.

          The Laramie community is one of the most biased and single-minded communities this country had in 1998. Laramie is such a secluded town that the views and the people don’t change. “ And they brought me into their room and told me that if i did that scene, that they would not come to see me in the competition. Because they believed that it is wrong-that homosexuality is wrong”(Jedediah Schultz, pg 10). Jedediah’s parents wouldn’t come to his theater competition because they believe the theater crowd and culture comes off as homosexual. The people are brought up in a very old culture. Skin color, sexuality, race, etc. is so important to these people and the majority of the community is beyond judgemental. When the Laramie community found out about Shepard’s murder they jumped right to a hate crime because discrimination and violence against gays isn’t something out of the ordinary in Laramie, Wyoming. “ President Bill Clinton condemned it as a hate crime”(Rachel Martin, Host). Even the President of the United States believed this murder was a hate crime. McKinney had a bad boy reputation too and easily made sense to the Laramie community that McKinney would beat and rob someone who was gay. Most people didn’t know the truth about McKinney and Shepard though. It was the perfect scenario for a hate crime; two thugs with bad reputation in Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson singling out a gay person to abuse and rob in Matthew Shepard. It’s the ideal hate crime in one of the most probable place for someone to be singled out because they were gay in Laramie. “ As far as the gay issue, i don’t give a damn one way or the other as long as they don’t bother me”(Marge Murray, pg 15). Even the people who don’t mind the gay community in Laramie like Marge want them to keep there distance. It’s extremely hard to be gay in Laramie. It’s especially hard to argue when the killer himself McKinney reported that he killed him because he was gay and even told his girlfriend at the time to tell the police the same thing. He wanted everyone to know that he killed Shepard because he was gay. Right of the bat is extremely suspicious. At the time of the murder everybody was too afraid to step out and say anything about the case. Nobody wanted to be the person to say that maybe this wasn’t because he was gay but something else. It was a hectic time and you had to just listen in and follow along.

        The explosion of the media in in Laramie is one of the most monumental news explosions to ever occur in this country. There had never been anything like this before in Wyoming history let alone Laramie. “ So i was talking to my sister on the phone and thats when the whole story came up on channel 5 news and it was just like ba-boom”(Trish Stegar, pg 40). The community was shocked and didn’t know how to respond. The attraction this story got is what allowed people to start exploring into other conclusions about why Matthew was really killed. If Matthew wasn’t gay this media explosion wouldn’t have occurred and that’s one thing that really drew the Westboro Baptist Church to Laramie. “ But this murder is different, because the fags are bringing us out here trying to make Matthew Shepard into a poster boy for the gay lifestyle”(Reverend Fred Phelps, pg 76). All the attention was both positive and negative. Without the attention the case got things like The Book Of Matt would of never been created. The attention and the media allowed people to gather their own theories and opinions on why Shepard was killed. People started to realize that this murder could very likely not be a hate crime. “ In my opinion, and based on all the research and investigation i’ve done, it’s that Aaron McKinney wanted the drugs and the money that he believed that Matthew Shepard was in possession of that night. And Aaron assaulted four males in a 24-hour period. One of them was against a gay male, and the other three were against straight males but somehow, we can isolate this and say it was an anti-gay hate crime”(Jimenez). McKinney had nothing against gays, Shepard and McKinney knew each other, the meth induced rage McKinney was in during the murder, all these things show you that this murder was not a hate crime.

       With all the evidence provided it’s easy to see that Shepard’s murder wasn’t a hate crime. Once the story got more attention and people began opening up to other scenarios people began to understand the deeper truth in this case. Matthew Shepard was into drugs and the Laramie drug scene, so was Aaron McKinney and that’s how they knew each other. This murder was drug related and had nothing to do with Shepard being gay. How can a murder be a hate crime when the murderer himself had nothing against gays? A robbery gone wrong influenced by McKinney’s meth-induced rage and craving for the drug is why Matthew Shepard was murdered.

Works Cited

'Book Of Matt': An Alternative Motive Behind The Infamous Murder."NPR. NPR, n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2014.

Kaufman, Moisés. The Laramie Project. New York: Vintage, 2001. Print.

Abc News 20/20 Special Matthew Shepard. N.d.

"Npr 10 Years Later Matthew Shepard." Interview. n.d.: n. pag. Print.

Jimenez, Stephen. The Book of Matt: Hidden Truths About the Murder of Matthew Shepard. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.

My essay and my view

        Recently we've been forming our opinions on whether or not we think the murder of Matthew Shepard was a hate crime or not. With all the evidence gathered from the Laramie Project, The Book Of Matt, 20/20 special, and other reports there is substantial evidence on both sides of the question. It's easy to see how this story is used in so many schools because it allows the student to base there own opinion and express how they feel which is crucial in our countries school system. I personally believe that Matthew's murder was not a hate crime and instead a drug deal gone wrong. The Laramie community in general does not support the gay community and it's easy to see how a well known thug in Aaron Mckinney would hurt someone who is gay in Matthew Shepard. These two men knew each other though and this murder was not because Matthew was gay. In Stephen Jimenez's book The Book Of Matt there is proof from Doc' Oconnor and other members of the Laramie community that they had seen Aaron and Matthew together before and they did in fact know each other. Laramie is a very small tight knit community and it's hard to not know somebody or at least know somebody who know's somebody and that's why it's hard for me to believe that these two men didn't know each other. Matthew and Aaron were both into the drug scene and some say that they had even been in business together. Aaron needed drugs and Matthew could of been carrying some or selling and because Aaron was in a meth induced rage at the time of the murder its clear he would of done anything to get drugs or money from Matthew. Aaron had been up for days and craving the high more than anything and would of done anything to continue that high. You cant forget about Russell who at the time wanted to get Aaron drunk and in my opinion just wanted to help his friend rob Matthew. That's why he tied Matthew up, so they could easily rob him but then it took a turn for the worst when Aaron rage and the meth took over.

          Aaron knew Matthew could of had drugs on him or to sell and picked Matthew because he knew him and wanted to rob him. Matthew accepted the ride because Aaron was a familiar face to him and didn't think something like this would of ever happened to him. What's sad is Matthew was defenseless and couldn't do anything to stop what was happening to him. Aaron wouldn't kill someone because they were gay. There's proof from Stephen Jimenez and Doc O'connor that Aaron could of in fact been bisexual. He participated in a sexual threesome with Doc O'connor and another woman. Doc says numerous times that Aaron did not hate gays and in fact could of been bisexual. Doc drove Aaron around numerous times in the back of his limo and knew Aaron and how he viewed the gay community. Aaron was unstable and would of done anything to get his hands on some drugs and that's why Matthew Shepard is no longer alive. It goes to show you what one of the worst drugs on this planet can do to the mind. It can turn you into a monster and that's what Aaron Mckinney was that night on October 12th, 1998. Russell could of stopped Aaron and he has to deal with that guilt everyday for the rest of his life but really Aaron couldn't of been stopped because of the state of mind he was in. Russell made a minor attempt to intervene and was struck in the face by the butt of Aaron's pistol. Aaron was even assaulting his friends and that was because of the meth. Aaron had nothing against gays and that alone is enough for me to know this murder wasn't a hate crime. 

In class quotes

" Because they believed that it was wrong-that homosexuality is wrong. They felt that strongly about it that they didn't want to come see their son do probably the most important thing he'd done to that point in his life"(Jedadiah Schultz, 10).

" It's a tough business, as Matt Shepard knew, and all his friends know, to be gay in cowboy country"(Newsperson 1, 45).

" Yes, i would, your honor. Mr. and Mrs. Shepard, there is not a moment that goes by that i dont see what happened that night. I know what i did was very wrong, and i regret greatly what i did. You have my greatest sympathy for what happened(Russell Henderson, 81)

Deeper into the Laramie Project

         This past week we got an in depth look at the Matthew's Shepard killers Russel Henderson and Aaron Mckinney. Learning more about them allows you to understand why this murder happened in the first place. Mckinney is ruthless, even to this day he's not the least bit sympathetic nor sorry for what he did to Matthew and the Shepard family. In the 20/20 film Mckinney shows his sociopathic mentality and its pretty disturbing to the viewer. It's also disturbing to know that Mckinney could be lying about his sexual orientation and the murder still. There's evidence in The Book Of Matt that Mckinney was in fact bisexual and even had a sexual threesome with Doc O'connor that Doc says was in fact true. In the film Mckinney denies that he's ever had any kind of sexual interaction with a man which i believe is a lie and he's still lying to this day. Mckinney knows the beating he put on Matthew was savage and brutal and yet has never apologized because he's a ruthless human being. He had the opportunity to apologize to the world in his 20/20 interview and im sure the thought never even crossed his mind which is so disturbing. Mckinney deserves the punishment hes received and he's lucky that he isn't dead. Usually people like Mckinney don't survive in prison.

     This week we also got a new view of Russel Henderson and how the sentence he received could of been unfair. Just in the picture above you can see the scar that Aaron Mckinney left on Henderson's face when he struck him in the face but the butt of a .357 magnum the same weapon his used to beat Matthew with. Henderson tried to intervene when Mckinney was beating Matthew and thats why Mckinney struck him with the pistol. Henderson knew what Mckinney was doing was wrong and tried to stop it but ultimately returned to the car because he didn't want to try and stop Mckinney again. Henderson coud of stopped the murder and he knows that, he states that in the 20/20 film and you can see the regret on his face which is something you didn't see with Mckinney. Henderson was a eagle scout, a overall good kid who took a couple wrong turns along his path but deep down he was a good person. In the 20/20 interview Henderson apologized to the world and the Shepard family which is something most people didn't see coming. Henderson never struck Matthew, he tied him up to the fence  which wil never be okay and ultimately is why he's serving his double life sentence but he didn't want Matthew dead like Mckinney did. It's unfortunate what happened to Henderson but he could of stopped this murder and thats why he is in prison. At least he knows that what he did was wrong and feels sympathetic and wishes he could take that day on October 12th, 1998 back more than anything.

Last week and the Laramie project

        This past week we got a really good introduction to the Laramie Project and began reading and analyzing the book. Really focused on the culture of Laramie and the community and the impact the media had on this story. All the support from both the media and the community really allowed Matthew Shepard's story to get out into the public and receive the support it did. Although at times the media could of been a lot much for the Shepard family to handle at the time they did a great job of using Matthew's story to make sure something like this doesn't happen again and thats special. When it comes to the community most would say Laramie was really just a dot on the map and thats it. After Matthew's story Laramie became a town everybody's heard of in the U.S and that says something about the community of Laramie. Most people in Laramie work minimum wage jobs and dont live anything like the life of people living in the cities. It's a farm town that up until Matthew's story was left alone and had never received any media attention. The culture and the community changed quickly after the murder and the people of Laramie had to adapt. Being known by most people in the country as the place where that kid was murdered was not what the people of Laramie wanted at all. Instead they came together and brought awareness and support to Matthew's murder and thats something the people of Laramie can be proud of.

          We also began forming our opinions on whether or not we think Matthew's murder was a hate crime or something else. So far there has been a lot of evidence from Stephen Jimenez and his book The book Of Matt that Matthew's murder could of been something else beside a hate crime for him being gay. That possibly it was a drug deal gone wrong and Aaron Mckinney was under a meth induced rage and was really a ticking time bomb. It can't be a robbery because you dont do something to someone like Aaron Mckinney did to Matthew Shepard only for some shoes and a wallet. According to Jimenez Matthew and Mckinney knew each other and had been in business with drugs and could of led to the whole confrontation. If it wasn't a hate crime it had to of been drug related and there's quite a bit of evidence to prove that. Learning more about Mckinney and his accomplice Russel Henderson will help form my opinion because its still unsure. There's so many theories and stories that come with Matthew's story and that;s why this incident is so intriguing to everyone. Its still unsure to a lot of people as in what actually happened and thats fascinating because this story needs a conclusion. Everyone has there own opinion and thats another thing that is so interesting about this story because everybody has different views. It's just good to know Matthew's story didn't go un-noticed and got the support it did.

Hate crimes and more blogs

        With the powerful presentation in class and our notes on hate crimes i've learned that the world we live in can in fact be a horrible place and bad things do happen. There's so much hate and now rightfully so we have hate crimes to try and stop the hate thanks to President Obama and the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. hate crime laws. Hate crimes are "traditional" offenses like murder, arson, or vandalism with an added element of bias. People go out of there way to commit a crime based on someone's race, religion, disability, ethnic origin, and sexual orientation. In Matthew Shepard's case it was because he was homosexual and the two boys who murdered him took advantage of that and committed the crime out of hate. Matthew Shepard was a innocent boy who was taken advantage of and killed because he was "different " from what these boys thought was the norm and didn't like the idea of a homosexual kid which is when you see that the world we live in is messed up at times. In James Byrd Jr's case he was killed because he was black. The men who killed him were extreme racist and said to have been active members in the KKK which is one of the main things i think of when i think of hate. There's no other group that demonstrates more hate and hate crimes then the KKK. Knowing the KKK is still active reassures me that once again the world we live in can be a bad place.

I'm glad hate crimes are getting more serious and more awareness because we need a solution and quickly and i think we will be able to eliminate all the hate on this planet one day.

















          Another presentation i really enjoyed this past week was A Wolf At The Table by Augusten Burroughs. Augusten is an amazing writer and his ability express his pain and leave the reader with an image is remarkable. The reader always feels bad for Augusten and i've never even read one of his books. The book is all about Augusten's relationship with his father and how much of a struggle his childhood was at times. Augusten grew up with un-stable parents especially his father who was a messed up man. I couldn't imagine growing up in his scenario and most people feel the same way and thats why people are so fascinated with his books. Learning about Augusten has taught me a lot about being able to move on and be yourself. Augusten is able to persevere so can we. He overcomes his mentally un-stable and abusive father and pursue his writing career even though he wasn't so sure about writing as a profession. Augusten and his book can teach us a lot and i really enjoyed the presentation in class and learning more about such an amazing man's story.

second week of presentations

        This week there were numerous presentation on A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah and now i can see why so many kids chose this book for there memoirs. Learning Ishmael's journey is life changing, i dont know if theres many people who can relate to the horrors that filled his life. The videos show in class really emphasized how horrible life was for many kids Ishmael's age in Sierra Lione where he was from. Running from war and seeking your family might be one of the most horrifying things anyone can endure. During his story in search for his family Ishmael comes across a village where his parents are supposed to have taken refuge. When he comes across this village he finds it burned to the ground and bodies everywhere. At this time he was only a boy and finding your whole family killed is the worst thing that could happen to anyone. His ability to keep fighting and move on though is remarkable and thats where people learn to fall in love with Ishmael's memoir.

     Ishmael does some horrible things during his time as a child soldier but it was either that or death or even death for your whole family if you refuse to the rebels request. Being able to survive that lifestyle and escape is takes a lot of perseverance and thats why the picture above. Whats special is Ishmael is able to escape this life and come to America and share his story with us. People here are fascinated by his story because nothing like this happens where we live. Once we here of Ishmael's journey it makes us realize how lucky we are to live where we do in the best country in planet. I really enjoyed learning Ishmael's journey and can understand why there were numerous kids in our class that chose this book.

         The other memoir i really enjoyed this past week was The Open by Andre Agassi. This story hit me really close because i can relate in many ways with Andre's story. When it comes to tennis and sports in general Andre is so revolutionary. He knew he was good at something and made the most of it which anyone can respect. Even though he didn't enjoy tennis most of the time he did it to make his father happy and because he knew he was good. Sometimes i dont like hockey that much because of what it has done to my social life but i continue to do it because my dad wants me to and because im good at it. I want to get a college scholarship for hockey and thats worth sticking with the game. Its the same thing with Andre, he was able to make a career out of tennis even though it wasn't his favorite thing. You have to respect someone who wants to make everyone happy and i see that in Andre. Pleasing his father was so important to him and thats what he did. 

  

      Watching the video of Andre;s last match was also really interesting because you see how thankful he is for the game of tennis. Even though he didn't enjoy the game part of the time he loved his fans and did find joy in tennis eventually. Seeing him show respect to his fans was really special. He was such a good guy and people knew that which was important. He one grand slams and at times didn't even care. He said losing hurts more then winning feels good which also shows you how much he hated failure and disappointing his father and fans. Success was so important to him and that's why he was so special in the game of tennis but in sports in general. Someone who hates failure as much as he did is something special in all of sports. His story is so special and im glad i learned about it in class.

Memoir Presentations

      By far my favorite presentation i saw was the Fab Five. This story is so remarkable and life-changing when you get to the bottom of it. These five men changed college basketball but also changed the game of basketball all together and gave the young black athlete hope. Starting all five freshman was unheard of especially all five being black. One thing i loved about this story was Michigan University, they put the best five players on the court and didn't care what people thought which was revolutionary at the time. Another thing extremely special special about this story was the E:60 done on it. E:60 is a ESPN show that documents the greatest moments in sports and i was able to watch it last year. The first time i saw this film it changed my perspective on sports and thats pretty powerful.

They changed the game and changed the perspective of the athlete which was so important. The athlete went from the norm of the white athlete and corny high shorts and boring white shoes to the acceptance of the black athlete and long baggy shorts and black shoes. You have to put the best possible players on the court and Michigan was the first school to step out of that racist norm. Five black freshman starting for a big university was now a thing. Another thing that was special was the bond these five men formed after there freshman season. They were five all-stars and friends getting the opportunity to play with each other and dominate the game that they love. Even though there journey ended horribly they shocked the world and thats something to remember.

Another memoir i found extremely interesting was the last lecture. Randy Pausch's story is inspirational and heart warming and i really enjoyed learning about it. Knowing you have months to live and remaining positive like Randy did is one of the coolest things i've heard in a while. I cant imagine how i would act and feel if i was in Randy's position. I know i wouldn't be as positive as he would and i would probably be upset that my life was being taken away at such a young age. The last speech he gives at Carnegie Mellon was so inspirational and i would of done anything to have been able to be there and experience that. Being able to joke around and have fun with his audience who he knows feels bad for him was so awesome. My favorite part was when he did push ups showing the audience that he in fact may be in better shape then them and he's dying. I love that attitude and respect him so much for that.

The most disappointing part of this story is what Randy leaves behind. Randy left behind his wife alice and his three children. There father was taken away from them to early and they deserved to know how great of a man there father was. I know they will find out one day how amazing there father was but the saddest part is knowing they wont get to experience him. Even though the story is so amazing and life changing its also very sad and i bet a hard read when you learn that Randy is going to die. All together learning about Randy Pausch and his last lecture impacted me and im glad i learned a little about it in class.

The War

   


         The War was a perfect portrayal of the need of guidance and the unnecessary need for violence most of the time.  Through memoir and the facts of history this movie is able to show people that even though people may understand war, war will never understand people. The film perfectly conveys the message that there our solutions to the problems we face without violence no matter how badly you want violence to solve the issue theres better ways and thats what Kevin Costner does perfectly in his role of the father of Stu and Lidia. The film brings up numerous issues like race, money, family, and success and the fear of failure and it gives the viewer ways to overcome these issues.


          The war does a really good job of conveying meaning and emotion which are two of the main points of the film. The meaning of parenthood and raising your children to be better then there peers and to not make the same mistakes as you has a lot of meaning in this film. Kevin Costner suffers from PTS in the film and struggles from his experiences in Vietnam and all the violence. Because of what he's been through he makes it his mission to show his children that violence isn't the answer and i think that's the main point of this film and its a brilliant message to get across. When it comes to emotion Stu was very emotional throughout the film. Stu's passion and emotion is something that turned him into a man towards the end of film and realizing his father was watching and he realized just how influential his father was on him and in a good way. Memoir really allowed this film to leave a message in the viewers mind. Instead of a narrator or just one persons view, The war was a combination of numerous peoples memoirs which allows the viewer to get different points of view all supporting the idea that violence isn't the solution.


         Music and sound is one of the most important features in this film because most of the time its very depressing and dark. One of the most vivid sounds was the water tank. The water tank sounded like a raging waterfall and was extremely dark inside. You can only imagine how terrifying it would be to jump into that tank but Stu does it twice. The first time he does it to out do the Lipnicki's for the tree house and the second time to save Billy Lipnicki's life which goes to show you the kind of person Stu became at the end of the film thanks to his father. One thing i noticed when it came to the music was when Gimme Shelter was played during the battle scene with the Lipnicki's at the tree house. When it comes to the Vietnam war i always associate it with this Rolling Stones song and that also may be because of Forrest Gump but its something i noticed. The music and sound were ultimately pretty dark and loud because thats how this film was intended.


       The main two conflicts in this film were violence and race. kevin Costner wanted to make sure the youth in this film knew that violence only makes things worst most of the time. The Lipnicki's are constantly bullying and taking advantage of Stu and Lidia and they cant do anything about it because there father is teaching them violence and retaliation isn't the answer. Something else thats really special is how kevin Costner is able to help and change the lifestyles of the lipnicki's as well who suffer from an abusive father, limited food, and horrible living conditions. The other main conflict was race. One of the most important scenes from the film is when Lidia stands up for Elvadeen when she's sent to the back by there extremely racist teacher. Because of the way Lidia was raised she wasn't going to allow a girl to be mistreated because of the color of her skin but aslo because she was her best friend. This is because she was raised properly and had a very influential father. Another main point of this film was to convey the struggles of PTS. PTS is a serious disease that many war veterans experience because they're so haunted by there past. You get a vivid example of it in the begininning of the film when Stu wakes up his father and his father grabs him as if Stu was a threat. There violent pasts make them think that its not over and it can be extremely serious. Although PTS is horrible Kevin Costner was able to handle it extremely well in my opinion. All together this collection of memoirs leaves the viewer thinking that maybe violence isn't the solution and does a really good job of portraying that message.

This last week in class we continued to work on our college essays and read our memoirs. I've gotten pretty far in my memoir and have been amazed with my Reymundo's story. The young and childhood days for Reymundo were torture and it seemed the only way out for him was to join a gang and gain a sense of family and protection the his abusing parents. The story is fascinating and every time i sit down to read it i enjoy it which usually doesn't happen for me very often with most things i read. In addition to reading my memoir i aslo got to meet with Ms. Menough and go over my college essay. I have some really good content but need to make it longer and go more in depth in some parts of my essay. All together last week was a pretty successful week and i got a lot accomplished. I've been revising my college essay on a separate doc and im really happy with how its turning out. I took Ms. Menough's advice and went more in detail and the more important aspects of my paper. With my critiquing and Ms. Menough's my essay is going to be the quality i want it to be at when im done with it. I know the schools im applying to will find my essay very intriguing and interesting because of my love for the game of hockey and the ice rink. I have so much experience and so many stories with the game that i believe ill be able to blow away my readers with an in depth look at how somebody can love something so much. I'm glad i got the chance to review my essay with Ms. Menough and get other peoples advice on my writing.

This week in class we started writing our college essays and continued reading our memoir books. I chose the picture of CU Boulder because its the school i would like to go to if hockey doesn't work out for me. Both my parents went to CU and i've been raised to be a buff. My parents took me to my first CU football game months after i was born. I love the campus and culture and im still deciding what i want to study but as of right now im pretty sure on CU. My love for CU goes farther then my family and my familiarity with the university. The location and the people in the community are my kind of people. I love the laid back approach but when it comes to academics the students know when things are important but still know how to have fun and i respect that. I want to enter the business school and i know the business school is highly respected and if i can get into that i will have a bright future when im out of school. Knowing im close to home is also important to me because i'm not one of those kids who wants to get away. I want to experience the college life and become more independent but i like the idea of having my family close by. When looking at CU i see that its the perfect place for me which is why im so eager to get the opportunity to go there.

This week we also continued to read our memoir books and mine only got more intense. On the second page of my memoir i've already found out that my main character was raped by his brother at a young age and his brother threatened his life if he told anyone about it. This is just in the first couple pages of my memoir i cant imagine what im going to find out in the whole book. I've read about three chapters and have enjoyed my memoir so far so im happy i made a good decision in choosing my memoir. As i read deeper i learned more about my main character Reymundo. He lived a miserable life and did the horrible things he did in order to survive and fit in. The struggle to be accepted is so great that Reymundo begins experimenting with drugs and alcohol as well as sex at a very young age. Being new to America Reymundo believes in order to fit in he must do these things and this is when his starts turning for the worst. Reymundo's life at home only makes things worse. At home he's beaten and abused both mentally and physically. He quickly learns that he'd rather be away from home and stay away from his abusive parents. Leaving the house and entering the streets isn't a good idea either but Reymundo learns that the hard way. Reymundo's journey is truly remarkable and i've enjoyed every part of it.

world around us

This past weekend when i went to Detroit for hockey i experienced something that to some may not seem like that big of a life experience but to me was pretty eye-opening. In the airport on the way to Detroit i left behind my computer and wallet at the spot i was sitting at on the wall that had a charger. I had left my stuff there, i have no idea how but i did. I had walked a good distance away and a man came running up to me giving me my laptop and wallet. I was shocked because i couldn't believe i had left that behind but also that this man came running up to me and gave them back. It just goes to show you how there are still good people out there and are doing the right thing. This experience made me consider the world around us and made me think that maybe the world around us isn't that bad after all. This is more then just the world around us but also the integrity of the people. The good people have integrity and know that maybe they might not want to do the right thing and return someones wallet but they do because they know its the right thing. Doing the right thing can be hard sometimes and thats by the world around us can be a struggle but overcoming that is something special.

memoir book

This week in class we chose our memoirs for the upcoming project. The memoir i chose was My Bloody Life the making of a Latin king. I chose this because it seemed really intense and real and right away i wanted to know more when i first heard about it in class. My memoir is a story about a young runaway Reymundo Sanchez who joins the Latin Kings at the age of 14 by committing his first hit(murder).The story Reymundo has to tell is remarkable knowing all the horrible things he did at a young age in the streets of Chicago.He lived the highs of the gang life but also lived the lows the life can bring. Knowing we have to do a presentation on our memoir i thought a presentation to the class about the gang life would be really interesting to the class. All together i'm really happy with the memoir i chose and i look forward to reading more into it and learning more about the crazy life of Reymundo Sanchez. knowing we have a large presentation on our memoir im glad i have something that will shock the class when i present. His story is shocking and frightening at times. When people first hear about it they dont believe it which is why i think its so powerful. knowing i have something so powerful will allow me to get into my presentation which is important. Sometimes the material you have to present with isn't important to you and then your presentation shows. Im just glad i will be able to give a good presentation to the class and not bore them.

About me

Hockey has been one of the biggest parts of my life for the last 10 years. The teams i've played on and the kids i've played with have made me the person i am today. With the routes i've chosen i plan on continuing to make hockey the biggest part of my life behind my family and school. I want to be able to play in college and im trying my best to make that dream a reality. The last four years i've been playing with the Roughriders who im still playing with this year. Next year i want to be able to play junior hockey and my goal is the USHL(united states hockey league). The amount of time and work i put in is what its going to take in order for me to achieve that goal. The ultimate goal though is to play division 1 college hockey. My family plays a huge role in me achieving my goals as well because they have sacrificed so much to allow me to play at the level im playing at now. If it wasn't for them i wouldn't be where i am today.

Another big part of my life is the affect breast cancer has had on my family. Both my mom and grandmother had breast cancer and both were able to overcome it. These times were some of the hardest times my family has ever had but it also made us come together and brought us closer. I chose the race for the cure picture because almost everyone in my family has done it and it was an amazing experience. My mom is also a big runner and when she got the opportunity to run it she was stoked. Now my mom and grandma go to anything they can to help spread awareness and its become a big part of my families life.

Besides hockey the other sport that i play is lacrosse which has also been another big part of my life. I've been playing lacrosse for six years now and im really glad i got into it. Some od the best times i've had on out of state trips with any team i've been on have been with the teams i've played lacrosse with. Every spring break the Monarch team goes to San Diego except last year we went to Philadelphia which was still a good time. Ever since my freshman year i've really enjoyed coyote lacrosse. As you can see sports is a big part of my life and besides hockey lacrosse is the next best thing. Being able to play for your school is another thing i really enjoy because with hockey i play for club. All together lacrosse is a nice break from hockey and the times i've had playing lacrosse i'll never forget.