Reaching the Summit

     For this post, I thought I'd talk about a place at which I spend a lot of time: Summit School, my second home. I love this building a lot! The only thing that would make it better is if it had Wifi!
     Here's a bit of history about the place.

Here's the logo from my sweatshirt

     In 1909, a cemetery had to be moved to build the building, so all of the bodies were exhumed. Thomas Feigh was a wealthy philanthropist who built "Thomas Feigh's Hospital for Crippled Children." He cared so much about kids that he wanted them to live a full life because he was born with a "club foot" and couldn't walk. Most of the kids that came there had Tuberculosis.        Throughout the 100 years that the building has existed, it's been lots of things: a home for unwed mothers, a home for wayward girls, and a safe place for children.
     I actually attended school there from 1999 till about 2003. Some students who attend Marshall also went to Summit, too! My mom had volunteered at Summit for many years, and then she became the Executive Director in 2006. She's been working there for 8 years, and I can honestly say that she is an amazing person. She spends so much time there working and making sure that it's safe and up to code. My mom also tries her best to make miracles happen. I admire my mom so much because of the things she has to deal with on a daily basis.

A view of the snow from the Toddler Room window

      I also wanted to talk about some of the things that happen at Summit. I say that Summit is haunted, but I wouldn't say that it's bad. I believe that it's by good spirits, considering that the bodies that were moved were nuns and priests from St. Scholastica. Sometimes my family and I hear kids running up stairs. I think that's because they weren't able to when they were alive. Occasionally, we hear talking, singing, whistling, and keys jingling. A lot of the children that attend Summit look past the adults that work there to say hello to a man. When the adults turn around to see the "man," nothing is there.
     One event in particular has stuck out in my mind. My mom and I were leaving Summit one evening, at about 5:30pm. As we were approaching the door, I saw a white flash, about the size of a person with their arms open, but just from the waist up. Both my mom and I stopped. "Mom, did you see that?"
     "Yes, I think so," she said quietly. We quickly ran out of the building and didn't look back. Every time I think about it, I get goosebumps. It was so scary, but I don't think that it was supposed to be scary, looking back. Maybe the spirit wanted us to embrace it.
     A lot of interesting and wild things have happened at Summit, and I can't wait to see what happens next!

Acting Out

     Dr. N wants us to write an independent blog post, so that we feel like our blogs are more of our own. I think this is a great idea because then these blogs won't seem like they are solely for English homework! 
     I'll be talking about what I wrote my college essay about: theater. 
     I love acting, as many people know, and I'm currently in a musical called Guys and Dolls.

Here's a picture of the poster

The songs always get stuck in my head at the most random times; they're all so catchy! It's basically about gambling in New York in the 50's. I play a tough mobster from Chicago; his name is Big Jule. Yes, you read that right; I'm playing a man, again! This is my second time being a man in a Marshall show. We have seven rehearsals left till opening night. I can't wait until it all comes together. We're nowhere near ready for an audience. We'll get there hopefully by the end of this week. November 14th, at 7pm is our first show!
     Marshall Drama has been going through some changes, but I'm hoping that my last year as an actor for Marshall will be a good one, as all of the others have been! 
     Also, I haven't done a show at the Duluth Playhouse for about 4 years, but I got the awesome opportunity to be in Hairspray! I'm one of the Dynamites; her name is Judine. I received an email from the director with my script attached to it,

Here's a screenshot of my script

and I can't wait to start. I love the important message of this show. It's about equality and it takes place in the 60's.  It goes up in March, and rehearsals don't start till January! I have to my lines memorized by the first practice! I'm apprehensive because these kids that do Playhouse stuff are from all over the area and they're all super talented! I'm looking forward to learning a lot. 

What I Learned from my Shawshank Presentation

      My Shawshank Redemption and Rita Hayworth project was about Solitary Confinement. I worked with Julia and HanVit. It was a really interesting topic because I didn't really know much about it, just that one is alone in a room with little to no contact with anyone. It's pretty much just that, but there's more to it: a lot of psychological damage can be done. I always imagined the Security Housing Units, or SHUs, as dark, dank, and dreadful; and they definitely used to be (it's nicknamed "the hole,") but now they are bright, white rooms that have an eerie, sterile feeling. According to the Center for Constitutional Rights, the psychological repercussions are similar. I think that when you can't talk to anyone, you're going to be thinking a lot, and probably feeling a lot of emotions, like anger or sadness. Suicides are most common in the SHU.          
     This helped me understand the novella better because I realized that how horrible the prisoners feel about going in there. A lot of the prisoners that go in are not the same when they come out. Some are different though, like Andy, a character in the novella. Red, the narrator of the novella, says that he doesn't "think solitary was the hardship for Andy that it was for some men. He got along with himself" (King 36). Doing this project helped me realize that freedom and time are a privilege that should not be taken for granted. 

Summer of Illumination

When I first wrote this post, I still had the title the "Summer of X." I tried to think about what this summer of 2013 meant to me. It was a summer of firsts and a summer of lasts, but then I thought again.
     "'What should my title be? 'The Summer of Nothingness,' because I didn't do anything? 'The Summer of Laziness,' because I felt like I hadn't accomplished anything?'" That's when I realized that I learned about myself. I wanted to call it the "Summer of Enlightenment," but I feel like my summer wasn't a huge cultural movement in the late 17th and 18th centuries. I certainly did learn a lot though, and it was mostly about myself; I feel like when I look back, I will see that it was a turning point in my own history.
     As I started the Zoo Projects this summer, I learned a lot about commitment and that I care for other people a lot more than I care about myself. It's so important to be there when no one else can. During a lot of practices for these plays, I remember that there was always a small group of us. A lot of people had other priorities, but not me. I learned that I have a hard time saying no, and I learned that I like to be as involved as possible. I love to help other people, even if it means that I am giving up something for myself, such as my free time or my sanity. At times, I wanted to stop doing the plays because I was too lazy, but I definitely knew that when it came to drama, I didn't want to quit; I knew how much these little plays meant to Ms O.

Kara and me at the airport,
before she left for Tanzania

     When my sister, Kara, went to Tanzania for the month of July, I learned how much I depend on her. She is my best friend and she drives me everywhere, even crazy. That's obviously not the only reason why I love her so much, but it definitely adds to the list. Kara is super smart, and she's always making me look bad in front of my parents. I learned what it would be like to be an only child, sort of, and it was not very fun. It was nice on occasion, but it was just lonely... I did hang out with my friends a lot, but it's not the same. I also learned that once I got past the loneliness, it was okay to be alone. I don't want to be clichéd, but I did become more independent after the fact.
     Now, I think this summer has really changed me because I feel like I am on the right path to getting where I'm supposed to be. I know myself a little better now, and that can help me understand what I want in the future. I try to "cum grano salis," that is to take things as a grain of salt, and not too literally. I used to get upset really easily about little things. I mean, I still do, but now I get over them faster, and I think that's important because I need to focus on stuff that matters, like getting ready for college, not dwelling on little things that will mean nothing in a week's time.
 

Snapshots of My Summer

     To start off my summer, a few Marshall students and I volunteered our time for the Lake Superior Zoo at Proctor because we all enjoy doing these little plays that we call the Zoo Projects. The plays we did were "Goldilocks and the Three Bears," "Three Billy Goats Gruff," and "The Tortoise and the Hare."
     In the first one, I was Mama Bear. This play was in June on a Saturday. It was a rainy, foggy day; it was also the day of Grandma's Marathon! We were going to do it outside near the bear exhibit, but we moved inside.

Elle and I taking an animal selfie

     Next, I was the middle goat. This was in July on a warm, sunny Saturday in front of the Petting Zoo. I don't really like the smell of barnyard animals, so I didn't really enjoy it that much. This one was only Marshall students; all of the Proctor kids were busy. We had a lot of fun for this one because we had cow bells around our necks. My ears were always ringing after practice.
     Lastly, I was Leonard the Lion. Ms O had each person pick an animal and try to act like it. Since my sister had just come back from Africa, I picked a lion.
     Messing around was the most fun part of each play! Before and after each practice, Ms O would have these expectations of what she wanted to get done that day or for next time, but we were always goofing off, and we were lucky to pull anything together. I had such a great time meeting new friends from Proctor.

Kara with students at a secondary school

      July was the longest month of my life. My sister, Kara, went to Tanzania for a service learning trip. She goes to CSS in Duluth. She had to take a semester long course about the culture and a bit of the language. Also, they had to ask for donations from local businesses to get things to bring to the monasteries and the orphanages.
     My sister says that this trip really changed her life. It changed mine too because I had to go the longest I've ever been without her. I missed her everyday.
     Before she left, I wrote a letter about how much I'd miss her. I snuck it into the sleeve of her jacket, and wrote on the outside, "Don't open till you miss me! :)" She listened! She told me she found it two weeks into the trip. Kara wrote a letter back to me, and gave it to me when she returned home. That evening in the airport, waiting for her, was so exciting.
     On the way to the airport, Kara called me and my mom.
We asked her, jokingly, if she had become a nun, and she said, "Yes."

A male lion sniffing the air

We went silent. "Are you kidding," we asked.
"No. I'm not."
The rest of the ride we were silent.
When we arrived at the airport, we said, "You don't look like a nun!" And she says, "Oh, I thought you asked if I was by the nun!"

A zebra "photo-bombing" some flamingos 

Among other places they went on the trip, Kara and her group of 11 other students went on a two day safari in Kilimanjaro National Park. They saw four of the Big Five: Lions, Elephants, Giraffes, and Hippos. She didn't see a Rhino. 
     "Zebras are like the deer of Africa," my sister said because they are everywhere! Kara took about 1500 pictures during her month long trip. All of them were absolutely amazing.