The First Confrontation

An editor's life is a busy one, especially when said editor has a part-time job and is enrolled in the Honors Institute. Until lately, nothing particularly interesting had been happening. I've been getting on okay with my writers, meaning that nothing negative has happened. Other than a few instances in my personal life, which I will decline to mention, life has been fairly humdrum. And yet, simultaneously, things around me seem to be heading into a crescendo.
Spiritually, my life has been getting much more interesting. I recently began attending Wednesday night youth services again, which has been food for my soul. I missed the passion that comes from pursuing God wholeheartedly with like-minded peers. It's unlike anything else. More importantly, I feel like things  are escalating. I feel a strong need to initiate a prayer time before the services to make them even more intense and fulfilling. Why I think this is necessary is difficult to pinpoint. It's part of that "crescendo" feeling I mentioned earlier, but I have no idea where it's headed. Perhaps it will lead to the next step in God's plan for my life. I'm also teaching Sunday School in the morning now. It's not a big deal, I'm just teaching out of a book. I brought the book, "Dug Down Deep," to our youth pastor and said I thought it was important that we teach the youth about the basic principles of Christianity. Of course, he responded by laying it back on me. The book is pretty much about basic theology; the non-negotiables of Christian faith which every believer should know. Stuff like the deity of Christ, the Trinity, what the cross means to us, and good stuff like that.
On a different note, things around the newspaper may soon get a crescendo of its own. For the first time, I will be writing an article for one side of a controversial issue while another writer opposes me. I will be writing in defense of Proposition 26, a proposed amendment to Mississippi's State Constitution which has drawn a lot of negative fire recently. In essence, if 26 is passed, human embryos will be recognized as people, which will entitle them to basic rights like the right to live, which would effectively end abortion in Mississippi. If you remember one of my previous posts, "Deafening Silence," you know that I am definitively Pro-Life. However, Planned Parenthood and the ACLU have launched a campaign aimed at putting doubt in the minds of conservatives. The maddening thing about it is that if people would just read the actual amendment, do some research, and use good sense, then the claims of organizations like PP and the ACLU would be shown up for the hollow sham they are. Since everyone else is too lazy, I'm going to do the research and put it all into my article.
My opponent is the President of the Student Democrats Club at JCJC. I've never spoken to her, although I see her around campus all the time. I never knew she was the president of a club, though. Anywho, I'm pretty excited to see how this all plays out. If I play my cards right, she'll just be repeating the same old things that have been circulating on the internet recently, and I'll have an article refuting each and every point she might make, and then some. It turns out that there are quite a few doctors and lawyers who support 26, so making my case should be easy. I'll post the final article on here, probably sometime next week, and let you know how everything went. Until then, dear readers.
S.D.G.

My Fifth Dimension Theory

     College is useful for all kinds of things, like knowing how to categorize the theories you have come up with over the years. I recently learned about metaphysics in philosophy, and realized, "Hey, one of my theories is about metaphysics!"
     The theory itself is about the structure of reality, and occurred to me when I learned about the different dimensions. It isn't original by any means, I just sort of re-invented the wheel. C.S. Lewis wrote about it in his book, Mere Christianity (one of my favorites), long before it ever entered my head. It goes something like this: There are four dimensions of reality. The first dimension is a straight line which can only go in one direction, right to left. The second is made of straight lines which can go in several directions; right to left, forward and backward, and all the degrees in between. A square is possible in this dimension, and wasn't in the first. The third dimension is made of lines which can go in all the directions of the second, as well as up and down and all the degrees in between. The concepts of depth and volume are introduced in this dimension. A cube is also possible here, which is made of six squares. I'm a little fuzzy on the fourth dimension. I'm no physicist, but I think that space and time are what makes it unique. Anyway, the theory asks the question: What if there were a dimension beyond ours? What if there was a higher level of reality that our reality was a part of, just like the squares from the second dimension were a part of the cube of the third dimension? If this were true, there are two things we can deduce from it.
     1. We could not know anything about this dimension other than that it might exist. Imagine that someone was born and lived in the second dimension and somehow was able to visit the third dimension and learn about it. If he went back to the second, how would he explain to his friends the concepts which make the third dimension unique? He could draw a representation of a cube, but to someone who had never seen depth or volume for himself, it would have absolutely no meaning. In the same way, if it were possible to somehow experience the fifth dimension, no one would be able to explain it to us because it involves concepts which we have never seen or felt for ourselves. This leads us to the second point.
     2. We cannot imagine anything that does not already exist in our dimension. All of our "original" ideas are just things which already exist, rearranged in a new way. Take the idea of dragons, for example. A dragon is just a compilation of ideas which already exist, such as scales, wings, feet, teeth, animals, and certain shapes. Even the fire-breathing thing is a combination of the existing things breathing and fire put together. All we mean by original ideas is to combine existing things in ways that don't occur naturally.
     Another point, but this is purely speculation, is that the fifth dimension could be what we refer to as the spiritual world. In that sense, spirituality would be more real than the material things around us. The possibilities for this theory are limitless. What if, instead of just one other dimension, there were an infinite string of them? Of course, the obvious drawback to this theory is that even if it were true, it could never be proven.
     In all probability, someone else has already written in a lot more depth about this than I have. In any case, I thought it was a neat idea, and I hope it keeps your minds busy until my next post.

The Opinions Section

     It's about this time that the realization finally sets in that I won't have time for anything anymore. I have bartered my time for an education. This is the second week of school, and the first wave of assignments is beginning to form out in the deep. Sure, I've had a few piddling tasks to complete along the way, but the serious stuff is almost here.

     Probably the most interesting part of my school this year will be managing the people who write for me in Opinions. The Opinions section is almost always made up of the slightly odd people, people who have forsaken the approval of society for their beliefs, such as myself. The problem is that our beliefs usually clash with each other, which has great potential to get ugly. I set a few rules in place that will hopefully prevent most or all of these impassioned interactions. Most of it is pretty simple stuff, common sense things like "don't say something that you know will tick someone off," and "don't argue with anyone." I also said that articles should only be discussed with me, which will hopefully reduce the chances of a controversial topic coming up during meetings. The hardest thing will probably be holding my own tongue. It's never been a big problem in the past, but I seem to have gotten gutsier and a bit more confrontational over the course of the summer, especially about my opinions. Not that I'm complaining. It helps to have some backbone, but it wouldn't be very good management if I told my writers to behave and then started on one of my rants.

     Originally, I was going to tell my writers to put a lot of emphasis on supporting their ideas with logic and not just the power of the printing press, but I don't know if I can do that anymore, because it would be easy for me to find logical flaws in any opinion that disagreed with mine. Since I can't run the section that way, I'll have to let a lot of illogical things slide, which kind of irks me, but I can live with it. It will probably give me a lot of ideas for more articles. Anyway, that's the news for the moment.

     I'm getting sort of tired of saying "until next time" at the end of every post. I need a catchphrase. Oh well.

Things To Keep In Mind When Reading About My Opinions

     If you tell someone that what they're doing is wrong, does that mean you hate them? That seems to be the popular opinion concerning the religious demographic. Sure, every once in a while you come across a "christian" who shouts hate from the rooftops. But anyone who actually takes the time to read what Christ said will get a different picture. To be sure, the Bible is uncompromisingly clear in saying that homosexuality, addictions, lust, etc. are perversions and sins, but Christ also advocated a "love the sinner, hate the sin" philosophy. The reason that real Christians speak out against homosexual relationships and the like is because they love gay people. The whole idea behind Christianity is to save people from going to hell and give them a relationship with a loving God instead. If we really hated gay people, we would keep silent and let them go to hell. That is the absolute worst thing that could happen to anyone according to a Christian.
     Many people think that the old "love the sinner, hate the sin" philosophy is just a way to weasel out of being called a hatemonger. The truth is that that principle is one of the most basic operational rules of Christianity. It is required, and without it, no one can say that they are a follower of Christ. The best example that I can think of to illustrate this concept is the account of the adulteress who was about to be stoned by an angry mob. The religious leaders who were leading the mob asked Jesus if he would throw the first stone. They knew that the Old Testament Law required the death penalty for adultery, and they were trying to make Jesus out to be a heretic for disobeying the law. This is when Jesus said, "Let him who has no sin throw the first stone." Turned out that no one threw a stone. This is important because it lets us know that we have all broken God's law at one time or another, multiple times, in fact. In other words, since we are all criminals, we don't have the right to punish other criminals. After the mob dispersed Jesus told the woman that her accusers were gone, and then said, "Neither do I condemn you. Go, and sin no more." This tells us that although we have broken the Law, Christ wipes our record clean. However, we are also told not to break the Law again in the future. The problem is that anyone who has tried to live by God's standard soon finds that he is incapable of keeping the Law, no matter how many chances he is given. So what is the point of trying? Trying IS the point. One of the absolute essentials for pleasing God is to come back to Him no matter how many times or how hard you fall. Always strive to do your best, but be forewarned that your best will not be enough. That is why we need Him in the first place.
     One more thing, and then I'm done. I mentioned earlier that we should not punish people who do wrong, because we have done wrong ourselves. That relates to the verse which says, "Judge not, lest you be judged."  The thing I want to clear up is what the Bible means when it says, "judgement." It means judgement in the sense of punishment, as in, the Lord will one day deliver judgement to the earth. It means you don't kill someone for committing adultery, or beat up or insult someone because they're gay. If you want to do those things, it means you are hating the sinner, and that has horrible consequences for both the judged and the judge. It doesn't mean that you can't tell someone they're wrong in order to keep them from going to hell. No Christian in their right mind would believe the Bible tells them to do that.
     I can't speak for all the so-called christians who say that God wants to wipe homosexuals from the face of the earth, but I can speak for myself and say to all terrorists, abortionists, porn addicts, homosexuals, murderers, rapists, etc.: God loves you, and He has something wonderful for you if you will only believe in Him.

A New Name

     I would love to write in this blog more, it's just that not much has been happening lately. At least not in the sense of "me doing stuff." However, as I said in my last post, I have been learning quite a bit lately about following God and my role in His plan. One thing I have been considering is renaming this blog. Not that I think that "A Writer's Journey" is a bad name or anything, but ever since I've felt that God put a writing gift in me (more than a year ago), my focus has been getting less on the Giver and more on the gift. I would like to remind myself and inform others that I write for one purpose only: to give glory to the One who has redeemed me. I don't write to make money or for fame, and I mean that in the strictest sense. Usually when people say that, they mean that they're not trying to make a lot of money, or garner too much attention. What I mean when I say it, is that if I never get hired for a single paying writing-related job in my life, I won't care. I've stopped caring about where my next meal will come from or how I'm going to survive. My God is much too powerful and much too faithful to His followers for me to worry about those things. The goal is not my survival, but God's glorification. Of course there's always the genius who will read that and say, "Well it's hard to glorify anyone if you're dead because you didn't worry about surviving." As I've already said, my God is faithful. He worries about the survival part for me. What's that, Mr. Genius? It's irresponsible to think that way if you have people depending on you, like a family? I say my family (no, I don't have one of my own yet) would be much better off in the hands of Someone who knows exactly what they need and how to provide it, instead of relying on a flawed, corrupt, and foolish man such as myself. Of course, that's not to say that there's no effort required on my part. I have the responsibility of taking the opportunities that God sends to me as a means of survival, such as a job, and working as hard as possible to make the most out of that opportunity. I also have the responsibility of discerning which opportunities I need to take and which I don't, but that will come automatically as long as I stay close to God and seek His will. As I've said before, I don't think that these beliefs are radical. I think that any Christian who has spent a decent amount of time reading scripture must come to the same conclusion. Politicians, stand uncompromisingly for what's right and let God worry about the votes. Singers, sing for Christ and His glory, and let God worry about where you'll perform next. This applies to everyone who has been given a talent from God. After all, our abilities are not our own. We didn't choose them. That's why they are called "gifts," because someone had the sense to realize that they were of a divine nature, and therefore couldn't have come from ourselves. All of us have four choices when deciding what to do with our gifts. We can use it for ourselves, we can ignore it and not use it at all, we can use it for others, or we can use it for God (which usually also requires using it for others).
     Anyway, if any of you could help me come up with a new name reflecting this attitude toward writing, I would greatly appreciate it. Until next time.

The Summer So Far

Where do I even begin? It's not that a lot has been happening this summer, but the things that have happened are so important that I hardly know which to tell about first. When all else fails, go chronological, I suppose. The first thing that happened was that I went to the Ramp. It's a ministry in Alabama, in a small town called Hamilton, I believe. the Ramp is sort of like a gas station for Christians. When you're running low on fuel and you feel that life has lost its luster, you go to the Ramp and get reminded why we're living here at all. We got there on a Thursday night, and I'm glad we did. That way I was able to get all the dead stuff off of me, the things I had been bogged down by without even realising it, and I could use the whole rest of the weekend to focus totally on learning from and praising God. The schedule for Friday and Saturday went something like this: get up at about 7 in order to pray. After praying, eat breakfast as quickly as possible so that no time is wasted in getting to the Ramp. After arriving, get inside the building and start worshiping. Break for lunch (optional). Eat lunch as quickly as possible and return to the Ramp. Start worshiping again, with periodic interruptions as God gives words to the ministers. Break for supper (optional). Return and worship, then hear a prepared message. After dismissal, return to temporary residence, pray, and read the Bible. Sleep (optional, but recommended).
It. Was. Awesome. And it was only the beginning. When I got home, it was like the Ramp came with me. I loved praying. I loved reading God's Word. Now when I read, God continually reveals things to me that I never saw before. I'm currently keeping track of them in a notebook next to my bed, and you can bet there will be some interesting articles in the Opinions section next semester. I think it's safe to say, because I've proven it many times, that I prefer a good message to a meal. God has been doing other things too, but that's a bit more personal than I'd like to get on this blog. Let it suffice to say that God has been working on me in a rather spectacular and supernatural fashion.
Now I would like to get on my lovely soapbox for a moment. I don't consider the kind of life I've recently started living to be radical. I consider it standard Christianity. I can't imagine living any other way. To return to the powerless, dreary, ball-and-chain Christianity that I used to have (as it now appears to me), and that I see so many other Christians needlessly putting themselves through, would be sheer madness. Do yourself a favor, and let God break you apart, then rebuild you. That's one thing that God has been showing me. We all have pride. Every last human (including myself and others like me, of course) is infested with it. What's so bad about pride? It blinds you to your faults, your sin. Think about it, would it be easier to preach the gospel to a university professor, or a homeless man? I'd take the homeless dude every time. The reason is that a professor is full of himself (generally speaking, of course). He has great confidence (and as a side note, confidence usually means pride) in his knowledge and thinking ability. Sin? Why should a distinguished man like him pay any attention to that? Repentance? Fit only for the common rabble. Salvation? The learned and the accomplished are above such things. On the other hand, someone like a homeless person, if they're desperate enough, knows that they are nothing. They are ready to cling to whatever hope someone gives them. What is the difference between these two people? Not much. Where they were born and who their parents were can probably account for most of it. Things that no one can control or boast about. True salvation can come only when we realize that we are insignificant blips in the universe. Deeply corrupted, sinful blips, at that. That is why pride is so dangerous. That is why, when I pray for people, I pray that they would have their souls broken, that God would hold all the filthy, evil rottenness of their life right in front of their face, and then offer them His glorious Redemption.
Anyway, that pretty much sums up my summer. Oh, and I'm learning spanish.

More Steps On the Journey

It's almost the end of my first year at Jones, so I figured I'd better update what's been going on since my last post. You know that Opinions article I posted not long ago? It turns out there will be plenty more where that came from, since I'm going to be the Opinions editor for the Radionian next semester! That's right, ladies and gentlemen, it's another step on my journey to becoming a professional writer. I've already come up with a few ideas for some articles, and whatever I consider my best work, or deem not quite right for the newspaper, will get posted on this site. You are very welcome. To be honest, I got kind of scared thinking about all the responsibilities I will have to shoulder as an editor, but I'm plunging in head-first anyway. That's the only way I'll be able to do this. If I try to wait until I think I'm ready, I'll never do it. I'm thinking about going ahead and writing some of the articles this summer, just so I'll have less to do when the work starts piling on in the fall. On top of being an editor, I might also have a service project, if Dr. Taylor decides to give us one next semester. I'm hoping that we'll just spend fall planning out the project we'll be leading in the spring, but you never know.
This year has gone by so quickly. When I think that I only have three more years of college, it seems like I'm already graduating. Of course, I will be graduating next year, since Jones is only a two-year college. My plans are to go to Southern Miss after Jones, but that's subject to change. My mother doesn't really like the idea, because there aren't many Christian influences there. I understand how she feels, but it's pretty much going to be that way wherever I go, unless I decide to go to a private Christian university like Mississippi College. But if I went there, I'd probably have to borrow money, not to mention move into the dorms, which would make things even more expensive. Any other Christian college is out of the question, since most of them don't even have newspapers. I'm also interested in working on a radio station, since I've been told for a long time that I have a "radio voice." I'll be studying journalism anyway, so it would be a shame not to at least give radio a shot. Who knows, I may even try television news.
From now on for this blog, I'll try to divide the posts up into three different categories.
First: Ideas. These posts will contain some of the random thoughts that fly through my head on a daily basis. These posts will also probably become the building blocks for some of my opinions articles.
Second: Steps. These posts will be about the events of my everday life, as well as those that take me closer to my goal of becoming a professional writer.
Third: Works. These will be the articles or essays that I consider to be my best, as well as any blog-exclusive pieces I write.
I think that this system will help to better organize my posts so that you, my readers, can have a general idea of what's in them before you even read them. Also, if there's one section that you particularly like, you can read similar posts just by clicking on the label. Until next time, readers.

Becoming Faust

This is the article I wrote for the last edition of our newspaper this semester. I think it's one of my best yet. Please tell me what you think.

We live in a unique generation. Never before have so many people had so much access to entertainment and information. For the first time in history, almost anyone can learn about current global and local events, as well as other information on any topic imaginable. While the benefits of such power are vast and undeniable, there are also drawbacks which are far harder to recognize at first glance.

For those who are unfamiliar with Faust, he is the main character of an old story that tells about a man who sold his soul to the devil. In exchange, he received 24 years of unlimited knowledge and the service of a demon with magical abilities called Mephistopheles. As one might expect, Faust gained the power to experience all the pleasures the world had to offer. Usually, this was at the expense of someone else's wellbeing. However, at the end of the play, the devil showed up just as promised and dragged Faust to hell.

The first thing that popped into my head when I heard the story of Faust was, "That guy was not very bright. Who would sell their soul to burn in hell for a measly 24 years of pleasure?" Then I remembered an assignment I needed to work on, but I decided to check Facebook instead. I knew I would regret it later, but I tried not to think about that as I traded away valuable study time for nothing more than temporary enjoyment.

Education is becoming increasingly important in today's world. A college degree is expected of anyone who does not plan on becoming a manual laborer, and sometimes even for those who do. Fortunately, a college education is easier to attain now than it has ever been. Unfortunately, the college drop-out rate is also higher than it has ever been. A 2010 estimate stated that only 56% of college students will earn a bachelor's degree.

What caused this incredible increase in failure? Ask the students who spend almost 24 hours a month on Facebook. According to the site’s own statistics, that is how much time the average person spends on their website. Remember, that is only the average. That is taking into account all those people who made a profile but never use it. Take those people out of the equation, and the numbers you get could be astronomical. The statistics for YouTube viewing are hardly any better. The average person spends almost two hours a week watching YouTube videos. Think about these numbers for a minute. This is the amount of time some people spend working part-time jobs.

So what does all this have to do with that Faust guy I mentioned earlier? Much more than one might think. Today’s students have made a deal with the devil. Unlike Faust, however, we do not get a magic demon to cater to our every whim or unlimited knowledge. What we get is mind-numbing oblivion in the form of Facebook games, YouTube videos, and other online distractions that serve no purpose beyond providing a temporary diversion from unpleasant tasks like essays or studying for a test. Just like Faust, many students will meet with tragic consequences. Of course, I am not saying that Facebook and YouTube are responsible for the 44% college dropout rate, but I would not doubt that they are a contributing factor.

We live in the entertainment age. Our lives are centered on our own enjoyment. While students from countries such as China and India are making incredible strides toward advancement and progress, we barely even know what our class assignments are. The bad news is that our contract with the devil will not last forever. One day, the amount of time we lost to cyberspace will catch up with us. If we are not careful, we could find ourselves out of college with no degree and a bleak-looking future.

So what can we do? Repent. It is time we chose the hard road of doing what we need to do. Try setting a weekly limit to your Facebook visits. Try to limit yourself to one or two YouTube videos a week. Whatever your time-consuming pitfall is, put some type of limit on it. Remember, this is your future we are talking about. It is about time we started ripping up the devil’s contracts.

Book Ideas 1

Sorry about the delay, dear readers. Fortunately, I have not been idle during this time. I've been writing like a madman these past weeks, which is the main reason I haven't been able to spend much time here lately. For this post, I decided to make good on something I said I might do in one of my previous posts. I said before that I might talk about some of the books I plan on writing, and now is as good a time as any to do it. The first book idea that popped into my head was sort of what got the whole thing rolling. It started when I was in a car travelling with one of my best friends to spend a night on a retired Navy battleship, the U.S.S. Alabama. We were playing 20 questions out of boredom, and my friend had been coming up with mythical creatures for me to guess, which actually didn't work out very well, since I was pretty knowledgable about those kinds of things. Anyway, once, when I was having a hard time figuring out one of his creatures, his dad asked, "Now this isn't one of those creatures you made up for your little world and that only you know about now, is it?" That comment moved us away from the game and toward a discussion of his "world." I had just finished reading all of the Lord of The Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia books, so I was very impressed that my friend had undertaken the endeavor of creating a fictional world. I had given it some thought myself, but the amount of detail that had been present in the books I had read, especially Lord of The Rings, had intimidated me. I figured there was no way I could do something as involved as imagining every detail of a different world. However, once I listened to my friend tell me about his ideas, I began to think, "If he can do it, then I can too." Soon after that, I began to think about what kind of mythical creatures I would have in my world. It took until the end of the vacation, but finally I managed to come up with one that I was satisfied with. When we pulled into my driveway, my friend was asleep, but I tried to tell him about my ideas anyway. He gave an approving mumble and fell back asleep. From then on for long time I was constantly thinking about all the different stories that might take place in a different world, other creatures that might live there, and so forth and so on. Finally, I was confident enough in the level of detail that I started to write a book, and I'm still writing it today. Unfortunately, I haven't gotten very far, since I went through a long period of inactivity because of other things. But I hope to pick up the pace again soon and get more written. That's the first book idea I had, and I'll tell you about some others another time. If someone requests it, I might even post some chapters I've completed and you could tell me what you think. The next post will come very soon, as soon as the campus newspaper is out, which will be on April 20. I can't release it now because my editor asked me not to. Something about usage rights or some other such nonsense. Until then.

My Most Important Story

Most writers write about experiences they've had. Even in fiction, there are usually elements that can be traced back to the author's personal life. So far, I've neglected to say anything about the most important experience of my own life: my walk with Jesus Christ.
I didn't convert just because I was scared of going to hell. I first started believing because I thought it was the right and prudent thing to do. I've always been odd like that, for as long as I can remember. To be honest, I don't remember how old I was or exactly when I accepted Jesus. I do remember that it was a long time ago. Of course, being as young as I was, I couldn't understand the implications of what I'd just done. My understanding of it went something like this: I am sinful. Sin separates me from God. God provided a way for me to be with Him by sending His Son, Jesus. That was about it. Oh sure, I felt kind of bad for some of the things I'd done in the past, but I didn't figure they were really that bad. I was thankful to this strange being who forgave me of sins I didn't feel bad about, because I figured it was probably a good idea to get on His good side, just in case everything I heard about Him was true. I had no idea what it meant that He loved me, and I didn't know what it meant to love Him back.
Recently, that's been changing. I don't know when it started, exactly, but somewhere along the line I started loving God. As I get older, I realize more and more how despicable I really am, and the idea that God still loves me becomes more amazing and unbelievable. I think to truly accept Christ, you have to realize how much you fall short of anything right or good. That sounds kind of self-depreciating, but God can't work with proud people. If you don't think you need God, then you'll never want to get to know Him or love Him. That was my problem. Once I started comparing my life with Jesus', I began to realize how far from perfection I was. None of my motives were pure, none of my actions were things He would have done. Jesus was the picture of perfection in every way I looked at it, and I was the opposite of Him. The more I looked, the uglier it got.
I'll warn you upfront, it's not easy to compare your life to Christ's example, and once you begin to understand, there's no going back. You'll have to make a decision to be either with God or against Him. I still have a long way to go in my walk, but at least I'm on the best path. The only path, really. I think that may be why people view Christianity with contempt. The idea that there's only one way to God upsets some people, and understandably so. Maybe I'll talk about that next time. If you disagree with me about something, or about everything, please let me know and we can go deeper into this. See ya.

The Honors Institute

     I wasn't sure what to expect from Honors Forum. I had attended it once before I became a student at Jones, when my older brother, the living legend Caleb Houston, was still going there. I tagged along one time, I can't remember why, and sat in the library while he attended classes. During a break, he came back to check on me and asked if I would like to go to his next class with him. I figured it would be better than playing games on his laptop, so I agreed to come along. I've always been afraid of new people, and was even more so back then, but once everyone found out I was Caleb's brother, they were the nicest people you could meet.
     We played a game where a circle of people join hands and crowd together to make the circle tight. Then, you put someone in the middle of the human fence and they try to get out. The secret is to just ask, and the fence-people will let you out. It was supposed to illustrate that the problems we face in life could be a lot easier if we would just ask for help. We did some other things which I don't really remember, and then it was over. I thought it was one of the coolest classes I'd ever been in, so naturally when I decided to go to Jones I joined the Honors Institute. The full tuition coverage and book money they offered didn't hurt, either. Now that I've been in it for a while, my view of it has changed somewhat.
     Of course I couldn't appreciate this from just one visit, but there's a lot of work that goes in to Honors. Also, and I know this will make me sound conceited (which I guess I sort of am), but I'm not used to being around people that are smarter than me. Whenever I hung out with my old friends, they would get annoyed with me for knowing more about things than they did. Whenever they had questions about troubling concepts in school, or were just curious about something, they would ask me and I would tell them about it. It wasn't long before I developed a reputation as the smart kid. When I went to Jones however, the people I met in Honors were as smart or smarter than me. It was humbling to say the least, but I finally realized that there are a lot of people in the world who are a lot more intelligent than I am.
     Overall, the Charles Pickering Honors Institute has been a great experience for me, even though I joke about being in an "Institution" sometimes. I have a feeling I'll be drawing from the resources it has given me for a long time.

The Second Semester

Well, ladies and gentlemen, I'm back. Finals weren't nearly as hard as I expected, so that was good. I was glad to have a break for a while, but near the end I was ready for school again. As for how I spent Christmas vacation, I'm afraid there's not much to tell. We made a surprise visit to my older sister's house for Christmas this year, which almost ended up being a disaster because we didn't bring a key to get into her apartment. Fortunately, she arrived about five minutes after we got there, saving us from freezing outside in the 20 degree weather with a strong wind. It wouldn't have been a very happy Christmas memory to come home and find your family frozen on the doorstep. Now for the question I've been hearing all day: What did you get for Christmas? This year was a pretty good haul. The most useful thing I got was a new car sterio with an auxillary port (the place where you plug in your mp3 player), which was desperately needed since weeks of listening to my limited CD collection on my college commutes got old pretty fast. The most stylish gift I got was a t-shirt with one of my favorite quotes printed on it. It comes from the penguins on the movie Madagascar: "Smile and wave, boys. Just smile and wave." I also got a book from the Uncle John's Bathroom Reader series (one of my favorite series of all time). It's a collection of information on trivia and interesting news. Most of the information is pretty lighthearted, and makes for a great way to make your bathroom time more productive (let's hear it for multi-tasking). I've actually learned so much and collected so many books from the series that my family claims I learned more from Uncle John than I did from my formal education.
Today and yesterday were the first days of classes. I'm taking seven classes this semester, which come to about 18 hours a week. I've decided to try to write for both newspaper and yearbook, and see which one best suits my writing style. All this has to be balanced on top of working my regular job at the plant during the busiest season of the year. Needless to say, I'm going to be busy. In other news, I've been asked to write a series of articles for my dentist, who happens to be an old family friend. I'm going to have to do my very best work for him, since he's planning on using the articles to put on his website and possibly even in a book. As for my work at The ReView, I'm thinking of submitting my dental articles as a series of columns entitled: Straight From the Dentist's Mouth.
So that's what I'll be doing this semester. No problem, right?