Dear Anne,

    I don’t think holding in your opinions is the best idea in the world. Why should you care if other people think your opinions are stupid when it could help them? Exactly, you shouldn’t. You have to be heard, you have to make them know your opinions aren’t worthless, because you and I both know that you’re opinions are important. I’m not saying rush over to them and scream in their faces. This could take some time. Take time explaining everything, and do it in the most mature manner you can. They may still not believe you, but that doesn’t mean you should hold it all in again. Make every opinion mature and worthwhile and then they’ll begin to get the idea that you’re more than a “child”. Listen to me Anne, even if they never believe you and they condemn you for life, never stop giving out your opinions. You’ll hurt yourself in more ways than you can imagine. If you hold it in, you’re going to seriously limit the amount of human interaction you have, and that can just lead to depression. Other peoples live’s may be at stake as well. If you know what they’re doing isn’t such a good idea and you don’t say anything, they may get hurt…badly. If you stop speaking out you opinions, then pretty soon you won’t be speaking at all. It will drive you crazy. Just remember this Anne, no matter what people say, you opinions are important.

Yours truly,

Nick C.

Supposedly, I’m going to have to persuade you now into thinking that my opinions aren’t stupid (maybe silly at times, but not stupid) and why I refuse to keep them to myself. Here I go:

  I think of it like this: every action has a reaction. My actions are my words, your reaction is how you heed it. Unless I do it on purpose, my opinions are never stupid and should never be ignored. What I say makes sense, it has a purpose, and most importantly, it’s useful. Why should I keep opinions to myself when they may help other people, or more importantly, me? I believe that a person can only hold in opinions for so long before he or she instantaneously combusts (hence instanteneous human combustion), and honestly, I don’t want to explode into a firery mass of burnt flesh and body organs. In fact, I want my opinions to be heard so that people don’t think I’m timid and scared, because they would sure get a surprise later on. Opinions are an important thing in this world, and should be regarded in calm silence, not raw anger or jublilant happiness, and I intend to be heard.

Our English techer asked to write a short post explaining what we would take (and why) if our parents asked to pack a small bag but didn’t tell us where we were going or for how long. Here I go:

 If my parents told me this, my first reaction would probably be “Why?” I would probably keep saying the same thing for so long, my parents would have to render me unconsious and drag me away.  Anyway, if I was forced to pack my tiny bag no matter what, I would have to bring (dramatic pause) books. No, I’m not saying this to get on the better side of my English teacher (although it is an advantage), but because books are an important part of our culture. Although I wouldn’t exactly bring books like the bible, bringing you’re average book could still prove worthwhile. If a massive war began and the world fell into an almost irreversible choas, then we would still have some piece of it perserved in writing. The words of great authors of our time (at least they’re the greatest authors to me) would still be in our hands, not to mention they’d be a great way to pass the time. I’m not saying this would be the most practical thing to bring, but it is important.

What is courage to me? Well, I think that most people think of courage as the act of doing something other people wouldn’t normally do, because they would be scared, but I think slightly differently. For me, courage means being able to push your physical and mental boundaries to limits you have never explored, to do something that you feel is extraordinary considering your fears and physical limits. Walking across two 50ft buildings along a narrow plank of wood without any type of safety at all may seem extremely easy for one person, and therefore makes it just another ordinary stunt, not a courageous stunt, but for a person that is afraid of heights and has insecurity issues, it may just be the most terrifying ordeal that person has ever had to perform. That is courage, that is pushing your boundaries. But being courageous doesn’t always involve life-threatening danger, though. An act of courage can also be a small thing, like asking someone out or standing up to the school bully (well, that is quite life-threatening.) Just as long as you go out of your comfort zone and go beyond your self-induced limits (because really we have none), you’ll know that you were showing what courage really is. Like this guy