Living for the Weekend

Well I'm done writing about my book for now...so I guess I'll get personal? Basically all my life I've been living for the weekend, or any other fun events to come. Whenever I'm loaded with homework, I'm always ready to press fast forward and dive into the weekend. I was just sitting here thinking about how I wish that this week could be over so that Spring Break could arrive more quickly. But what if we really could fast-forward through the things that were less fun for us? Would that just be all jolly and fun, or would it be a major problem? Come to think of it, that would mean that I would probably be skipping through some major life-changing experiences. So maybe it isn't good to look so far ahead all the time. Rough times usually just make you stronger. All of those times when I'm loaded with homework, maybe it's best that I stop trying to look past the present. I started thinking about how much time in my life I'd be throwing away if I always just fast-forwarded through everything that was painful or seemingly superfluous. Every second of your life makes you exactly who you are today, so I say, live every moment of your life in the present, no matter how hard it is. Then maybe later when you're soaking up the Sun in Florida on Spring Break, victory will taste even sweeter knowing that you've made it past the obstacles.

Mass Effect

It's terrible how massive an effect a mass murder can have on a community. As i continued reading Columbine the reality hit me hard. A larger portion of the deaths occurred within the first 5 minutes of the shooting. Just 5 tiny minutes. So that's like me jumping in the shower and then getting out to find that my friends had been brutally murdered. All these people were just going to high school having an average day before Dylan and Eric, the shooters, decided to initiate their sadistic game. Dave Cullen does a phenomenal job of portraying the players and the victims in the story. He specifically mentions the names of those who were murdered, and indicates the emotions felt by their families and the ones who loved them. He illustrates the importance of those who were murdered to those who cared about them. Not only that, but he depicts the mourning of the loss of Eric and Dylan, the killers. Eric and Dylan had many friends at their large high school in Denver. Eric had always been worried about maintaining social status in the hierarchy of Columbine High. All of these friends of Eric and Dylan were shocked by the news that their friends had operated a mass murder in their own high school. The friends were both shocked, and afraid, because they knew that they would be suspects in the operation. Just for being friends with Eric and Dylan, they were at risk for being suspected in taking part in the conspiracy. Families were called by their children immediately after their safety was ensured, as the effect of the murder spread across Denver. While the shooting was taking place, the media tried to televise the happenings, and police and SWAT forces from across the community were sent in to stop the cataclysm. The event affected the community first, and then the rest of the nation.

The vituperative quickness of the event should make people think about how terrible it is to take life for granted. One minute you're living your daily life, and the next, it's all over for you. Even a simple 5 minutes can mean the difference between life and death. For this reason, we can never take a second of our lives for granted. I'm speaking for myself too. I've taken so many things for granted that it's hard for me to forgive myself sometimes. Maybe we get multiple chances at success in certain areas of life, but we only get one chance to live. And while we're living here, we might as well leave our mark on this Earth.

Columbine-Dave Cullen (Nonfiction) Pages 3-111

Change is the Only Constant

As I read further and further into Columbine, i feel more and more involved in the plot and the emotions associated with the story. The true story is so powerful. The author uses the two eventual school shooters, Eric and Dylan, as main characters, along with a member of the teaching staff, Mr. D. Before the shooting. The portrayal of Eric and Dylan as two average guys who attended school talent shows and athletic events, and were looking for a date to the prom adds power to the story. Here are two average kids who are searching for dates to their junior and senior prom, just like everyone else. Then, one day, Eric ends up killing the girl he had asked to prom. It's crazy to think about. They go to the football games just like everyone else in Columbine. Who would have ever guessed that Eric and Dylan would end up killing the others who attended the games. Who would have guessed that Eric and Dylan, who had maintained strong school spirits, and who had seemed to be normal in almost every sense of the word, would be the ones to take the lives of their co-students. The author, Dave Cullen, will be describing the relationship that Eric or Dylan had with one of the kids one moment, and in the next moment he'll allude to the fact that Eric and Dylan would end up killing that kid whom they had a seemingly healthy relationship with.

Change can happen so quickly. Actually, in a matter of a few seconds, our whole nation has just been changed. Just moments ago, the House passed the healthcare reform bill. The only thing that is truly constant in any place at any time in our crazy world is change. Change can be a school shooting, change can be a break-up, change can be a move, or change can be a healthcare reform, but no matter what form it comes in, change is always there.

Be on Your Toes

Well I'm supposed to write about the book I'm reading, so here it goes. I'm reading Columbine; a book that describes the Columbine school shooting that occured just years ago. The stereotypical depiction of the shooting is radically different from the way the book tells the story. I like how the author, Dave Cullen, tells the story of the shooting through the mouths of the kids who were affected by it. The use of child characters to portray the events that led up to the devastating shooting adds feeling the novel. He speaks through the lives and actions of average high school students who have no worries. They're all just high school students, going about their lives, and one day everything changes. One day they wake up and their lives are not at all like what they used to be. It was not just about the shooters, it was about the lives that were lost, and the families and friends who mourned for the loss. It was about the school; the community. It goes to show how crazy things can happy in the most normal of places.

(Here's my attempt at connecting the novel to everyday life) Imagine a couple of emotionally unstable students bringing guns to Homestead. We all think those types of things will never happen to us, but that's a bad way to think. We all believe that we're perfectly safe, so we kick back and relax. Everyone should be on their toes because crazy things could happen to anyone, at any time, in any place. The same goes for people who text or drink and drive, or have unprotected sex. Nobody is immune to the misfortunes of life. I'd say it's good to be optimistic, but it's bad to feel invincible. I thought about all of these things when I was reading. The portrayal of the shooting by Dave Cullen goes far deeper than the stereotypical story that everyone hears. It was not just about two psychotic kids who played violent video games and decided to reenact one of them in trench coats with rifles. I can't quite say that Cullen's depiction is refreshing because I would hate to associate such a happy and hopeful word with a tragic school shooting, but it really is good to hear the story the way it should be told; through the lives of the average kids who had their lives suddenly and drastically changed by the tragedy. It is my firm belief that none of us will ever be able to truly understand the magnitude of tragedy that can be associated with Columbine until we experience a tragedy of equal proportion in our own lives.