Senior Memory Book
(College prep English 4)
The Senior Memory Book (SMB) assignment is a project that is completed through out high school. you wright a chapter on a given topic every 2 weeks or so. these are my entries into the book.
Who am I?
Who am I?
When I hear the words "Who am I ," the first thing that comes to mind is Joe Shipbaugh singing the song from Les Miserables, when he rips his shirt off and sings "Who am I? I'm Jean Val Jean!" But if it is me answering this question I would have to say that I am not sure who I am.
What I can tell you is that I live in the middle of nowhere: about a half mile off the road, down a long tree covered driveway. I live in a quaint little cape-cod house that is a light gray-blue with dark blue shutters. There are flower gardens in the front, and a large yard in the back; along with eight and a half acres of woods with paths for walking.
The fact that I grew up with all guys in our neighborhood has greatly effected who I am today. For as long as I can remember Tony Sacco has been a part of my life. Our parents always told us that when we were younger we were like an old married couple, and we would sit close on his bed and talk for hours, we were best friends. Then we added another guy to our group. We were around three years old when Nathan Toussant moved into the neighborhood; he was two houses over from me, and after that it was all history. We did everything together. If they wanted to go play tackle football, guess who was taking them down? If they wanted to go climb trees, guess who was racing them to the top? I was just one of the guys. Until elementary school, I did not even know that girls weren't supposed to be friends with boys. Even after we started school we were all still close. Though many years have gone by I know if something happens and I just need someone to be there for me I have them.
When I am asked who I want to be in the future, the only response I can give is, I want to be someone who is happy and content with life. As far as college and majors and such, I have a lot of ideas. My most recent one is archeology but last week it was double-majoring in photography and marine biology, and the week before that it was preforming arts and then the month before that it was being Super Woman. I am someone who is almost always sure of her self but then I look for my self in the future but for some reason I just cannot see it. When I hear other people talking about how they want to live in places like New York City and have a husband and 20 kids, the only thing I can think is how do they know this? We are only teenagers and the only thing we should be so sure of is that we are going to graduate from high school and go to college or the military or into poverty as Mr. Riley always says, "we only have three options." When in truth we have endless options.
As a person, I am for the most part peoples secret keeper. For some reason I can meet someone one minute, and the next they will be telling me things they have never told anyone before. My friends say I am becoming the town shrink,and personally it can be too much to handle some times, and I just feel like I am breaking. Nevertheless I somehow manage to hold my self together for the sake of everyone else. Some times I feel like the Greek Titan Atlas carrying the world on his shoulders.
Aside from this epic weight, I can always put a smile on my face, jump on stage and become someone else for just a little while. It is one of the greatest feelings in the world, to simply forget about the world behind the lights and just sink onto someone else for a short time. The fact that I am good at it makes it all the better whether it be dancing, singing, or acting. The stage is my sanctuary from the real world.
To tell the truth I am many things: I am a daughter, I am a sister (and an amazing one at that, according to my sister who should know best), I am a friend, I am an actress, I am a snowboarder and an ice skater. I am sure if I were to asked other people about myself, they would all have something different to say. To tell the truth it is kind of cool to be so many things even if it is confusing, and that is just the way I like it.
When I asked my friend Mikayla who I was she said, "You are who you are. The real you is not perceptible to just anyone's vision. You have to invite people to see the real you, And when they see the real you, the way they viewed you before will be just a memory of the past". I do not think I could have said it better myself.
Molly Haines, 16 September 2010, CP English 7, Mrs. Carroll, Minerva High School
Before I Was, There Was..
Before I Was, There Was...
Before I was born there was a whole legacy waiting for me to come along. There was the old history and the distant family including Uncle Winny, Princess Diana, Squanto, The Scottish Clans, "The Highwayman" who came riding , and a young man named Richard Moore who sailed over on the Mayflower oh so many years ago.
I suspect you were looking for something a little more recent. I have been blessed with a wonderful loving family starting with my great grandparents on my mother's side. Their names were Frances and Charles Scrimshaw (Nana and Grampy) unfortunately I never got to meet my Grampy. He died the day before I was born of a stroke, but from what my family has told me he was an amazing man with a very "Molly like" sense of humor and a love for sweets, just like me :). My Nana was an artist much like my Mother and I. She was an amazing person. She died at the age of 93 of a stroke just like her husband. I was ten when she passed.
Moving on to the next generation we have on my mothers side, Ny and Papa. I have rarely seen two people love each other the way that they did. They meet when my Papa was in the air force and my Grandma was the hat check girl at the USO dance hall in Dallas Texas. They meet in February and were married the next April and remained madly in love until the day that my grandmother passed away, even then my grandfather never stopped loving her. My grandma was wonderful in many ways. Whenever we would go up to visit her she would hide Butterfingers all over their house for my sister and me to find. When we found as many as we could we would sit on the kitchen floor and share them, and just laugh at how much fun it was. When she started to get sick and the doctors did not think she was going to make it, we went up to visit her. I was 8 years old around the time. I remember that every one had left the room and it was just the two of us in her room. She was hooked up to so many machines it was hard to look at. I was sitting on her bed holding her hand and just talking to her about how I was going to make her proud and to this day whenever I do something that I feel good about I am just like, "this is for you". My Grandfather passed away right before I started my sophomore year in high school. He had been in and out of the hospital for years having operations on his heart. But he waited till there was no way Caity and I could be there. I had just left that morning for my summer gym camping trip and Caity had left for collage the day before. I do not think that I have ever cried so much in a phone call. My sister told me to call her if anything happened she said she would rather hear it from me than any one else, that was the one of the hardest parts of it.
On my Fathers side I have my Grammy and Papa Haines. They have been married for 60 years. They have three kids including my father, and three grand kids including my sister and I. They are extremely loving and wealthy. They like to take the whole family on vacation whenever one of the grandchildren graduates, it is a lot of fun and the whole family gets to celebrate.
On the down side my grandmother is very proper, and always expects the best from us, but we love her just the same. She is one of the most awe inspiring artist I have seen. She even sells her work at art competitions and at Broadway Joe's, the local coffee shop. Anywhere you go in the community people know who she is. She is a member of the board at her local library. She has earned the respect of every one and the entire community loves her for what she does. My grandpa is, in my mind, a super hero. He has fought in World War two, beat cancer, had a hip replacement and a couple of knees, had a pace maker put in right before we went to Europe on vacation, and finally had his appendix out just for fun. He can still walk nine holes of golf (he will be 90 next year). In his spare time is a wine aficionado, a highly active member of the Kiwanis, and the Secretary of the Greenville Country Club Geezer Golf.
Now we are finally down to my Mother and Father. They really are the two most constant things in my life. Whether it be driving me to god knows were for play practice, or helping me do my homework they are there for me. Some times I know my father and I butt heads really badly, but at the end of the day when he sets his bags down when he gets home from work I can jump up and he will catch me and give me the best hug in the entire universe.
My mom is my best friend we do so much together she helps me with every thing from making my semi dress, to teaching me to climb trees when I was little. She is so amazing and I would not be who I am today without her.
Lastly we have my sister. When we were little no one could fight like us, but as we have grown that has gone away for the most part. Now that she is off at college for most of the year, and at her boyfriend's house a majority of the other time I hardy get to see her. It upsets me quite a bit, but I know if something wonderful happens I can call her and she will be just as thrilled as I am.
Well, there it is. I have a long quite crazy family history, but in the end I have a group of people who love me, and I love them, and as Barney said, "we're a happy family".
Molly Haines, September 30 2010, Mrs. Carroll, CP English 7
Before I was born there was a whole legacy waiting for me to come along. There was the old history and the distant family including Uncle Winny, Princess Diana, Squanto, The Scottish Clans, "The Highwayman" who came riding , and a young man named Richard Moore who sailed over on the Mayflower oh so many years ago.
I suspect you were looking for something a little more recent. I have been blessed with a wonderful loving family starting with my great grandparents on my mother's side. Their names were Frances and Charles Scrimshaw (Nana and Grampy) unfortunately I never got to meet my Grampy. He died the day before I was born of a stroke, but from what my family has told me he was an amazing man with a very "Molly like" sense of humor and a love for sweets, just like me :). My Nana was an artist much like my Mother and I. She was an amazing person. She died at the age of 93 of a stroke just like her husband. I was ten when she passed.
Moving on to the next generation we have on my mothers side, Ny and Papa. I have rarely seen two people love each other the way that they did. They meet when my Papa was in the air force and my Grandma was the hat check girl at the USO dance hall in Dallas Texas. They meet in February and were married the next April and remained madly in love until the day that my grandmother passed away, even then my grandfather never stopped loving her. My grandma was wonderful in many ways. Whenever we would go up to visit her she would hide Butterfingers all over their house for my sister and me to find. When we found as many as we could we would sit on the kitchen floor and share them, and just laugh at how much fun it was. When she started to get sick and the doctors did not think she was going to make it, we went up to visit her. I was 8 years old around the time. I remember that every one had left the room and it was just the two of us in her room. She was hooked up to so many machines it was hard to look at. I was sitting on her bed holding her hand and just talking to her about how I was going to make her proud and to this day whenever I do something that I feel good about I am just like, "this is for you". My Grandfather passed away right before I started my sophomore year in high school. He had been in and out of the hospital for years having operations on his heart. But he waited till there was no way Caity and I could be there. I had just left that morning for my summer gym camping trip and Caity had left for collage the day before. I do not think that I have ever cried so much in a phone call. My sister told me to call her if anything happened she said she would rather hear it from me than any one else, that was the one of the hardest parts of it.
On my Fathers side I have my Grammy and Papa Haines. They have been married for 60 years. They have three kids including my father, and three grand kids including my sister and I. They are extremely loving and wealthy. They like to take the whole family on vacation whenever one of the grandchildren graduates, it is a lot of fun and the whole family gets to celebrate.
On the down side my grandmother is very proper, and always expects the best from us, but we love her just the same. She is one of the most awe inspiring artist I have seen. She even sells her work at art competitions and at Broadway Joe's, the local coffee shop. Anywhere you go in the community people know who she is. She is a member of the board at her local library. She has earned the respect of every one and the entire community loves her for what she does. My grandpa is, in my mind, a super hero. He has fought in World War two, beat cancer, had a hip replacement and a couple of knees, had a pace maker put in right before we went to Europe on vacation, and finally had his appendix out just for fun. He can still walk nine holes of golf (he will be 90 next year). In his spare time is a wine aficionado, a highly active member of the Kiwanis, and the Secretary of the Greenville Country Club Geezer Golf.
Now we are finally down to my Mother and Father. They really are the two most constant things in my life. Whether it be driving me to god knows were for play practice, or helping me do my homework they are there for me. Some times I know my father and I butt heads really badly, but at the end of the day when he sets his bags down when he gets home from work I can jump up and he will catch me and give me the best hug in the entire universe.
My mom is my best friend we do so much together she helps me with every thing from making my semi dress, to teaching me to climb trees when I was little. She is so amazing and I would not be who I am today without her.
Lastly we have my sister. When we were little no one could fight like us, but as we have grown that has gone away for the most part. Now that she is off at college for most of the year, and at her boyfriend's house a majority of the other time I hardy get to see her. It upsets me quite a bit, but I know if something wonderful happens I can call her and she will be just as thrilled as I am.
Well, there it is. I have a long quite crazy family history, but in the end I have a group of people who love me, and I love them, and as Barney said, "we're a happy family".
Molly Haines, September 30 2010, Mrs. Carroll, CP English 7
School Bells (K-3)
School Bells (K-3)
I was one of the lucky kids I got to school out at West Elementary in East Rochester instead of M. I. Day with the city kids. The great part about west is how close we all were, and still kinda are. We still say that west was the best and mi day is gay, but it is all done in good fun.
My kindergarden teacher was Mrs. McCully and I had my two best friends in my class with me. The thing I remember most about kindergarden is play time when we would get our play dough out and sit at our tables and play, I was the only one who hates for there colors to touch. The other thing that I have been reminded of recently is that I am a reason for a friend of mine to be home schooled. Apparently Nathan and Tony used to charge people a nickel to kiss me. When the teacher found out she sent out letters to all of out parents. After that my friend Matt became home schooled for being one of the boys who kissed me.
In first grade I had Mrs. Richison as my teacher. Again Nathan tony and I were in the same class. I remember got jobs for the week on our proud lion board. The better you behaved the higher up on the list you were for choosing what job you had. I also remember she had this blue piano and she would have all of the kids sit o the ABC rug and we would sing song and sometimes mrs. fox class would come over and sing with us. It was also in first grade I got my first boy friend but that is a completely different story.
In second grade I do not really remember much except for the fact that Mrs. Daulbaugh but back then she was know as Mrs. Beckley. I also remember that I got married under the monkey bars that year.
In third grade I had Mrs. Beckley again but that year her name was Mrs. Hunn for some reason. But through out these first few years of school I leered a lot from my ACB's to my 123s adding and subtracting how to read they gave me the building blocks for the rest of my life.
I was one of the lucky kids I got to school out at West Elementary in East Rochester instead of M. I. Day with the city kids. The great part about west is how close we all were, and still kinda are. We still say that west was the best and mi day is gay, but it is all done in good fun.
My kindergarden teacher was Mrs. McCully and I had my two best friends in my class with me. The thing I remember most about kindergarden is play time when we would get our play dough out and sit at our tables and play, I was the only one who hates for there colors to touch. The other thing that I have been reminded of recently is that I am a reason for a friend of mine to be home schooled. Apparently Nathan and Tony used to charge people a nickel to kiss me. When the teacher found out she sent out letters to all of out parents. After that my friend Matt became home schooled for being one of the boys who kissed me.
In first grade I had Mrs. Richison as my teacher. Again Nathan tony and I were in the same class. I remember got jobs for the week on our proud lion board. The better you behaved the higher up on the list you were for choosing what job you had. I also remember she had this blue piano and she would have all of the kids sit o the ABC rug and we would sing song and sometimes mrs. fox class would come over and sing with us. It was also in first grade I got my first boy friend but that is a completely different story.
In second grade I do not really remember much except for the fact that Mrs. Daulbaugh but back then she was know as Mrs. Beckley. I also remember that I got married under the monkey bars that year.
In third grade I had Mrs. Beckley again but that year her name was Mrs. Hunn for some reason. But through out these first few years of school I leered a lot from my ACB's to my 123s adding and subtracting how to read they gave me the building blocks for the rest of my life.
More School Bells (4-8)
More School Bells (4-8)
When I look back through the second half of elementary school and all of middle school the thing that comes to mind is change. In fourth and fifth grade nothing changed for the most part but as soon as middle school happened every thing changed.
I remember my first day of middle school, it was my first time using a locker. I got so confused and it would not work I wound up missing my bus and having to sit there in the hallway waiting for my mother to come and pick me up I have never forgotten my combination after that. the other thing that changed when i started middle school was my friends i still had my friends from west but they changed once we were put with the kids from M. I. Day i also made alit of friends from their as well. the whole social aspect of school changed. It was the first time I noticed the stereotypical cliques. We had the jocks ,the preps, the she jocks, the creepy kids, the band geeks, the choir kids and the kids who didn't have a group.
I remember when we moved over to the new school. I was in band so I got to go over a day before every one else to help set up the band room. The new building was so different from the old one anti has automatic sinks witch distracted a lot of my friends form helping in the band room. another thing i remember about the new school was the fist middle school
dance. it was the christmas dance and i was kinda nervous i did not know what to expect. but
once i got there it all just went away i found my friends and i was the only girl in sixth grade to get asked to dance my a seventh grade boy witch was an amazing felling.
Seventh and eighth grade were an odd time for me some would say it was my body changing other say it happens to everyone. I had dated an older all through seventh grade but eighth grade year he went to the high school and we decided to break up, or more or less he said I am out. That kinda messed me up for a little while but in the end I came back to being the some old molly we know today.
I Grew Up Here
I Grew Up Here
A long drive way with a canopy of trees above it you cant see whats at the end until you round the corner. Finally there it is, a small blue house with dark blue shutters, and a large garden in front with birds and butterflies fluttering about. That small blue house is the house where I have lived my entire life.
Once you get past the front gardens you get to the back yard where there is a large clearing with a thee huge trees in a row to give us enough shade so we don't over heat in the summer. At the back of the back yard there is a fire pit where my friends and I have made some amazing memories. You can even go farther back than that there is eight and a half acres of walking paths that are the perfect place to go if you just want to disappear for a short while.
Now that we have covered the out side of my house let us venture in side. Once you walk through the front door you are standing in the living room. This room is painted white and has a bright red couch and a red patterned chair that my mom always sits in and the "Father" Chair that has bin in the same place for 20 years and will die long before it gets moved. In this room there is also the lovely fish tank that houses some random fish one is something like an eel and the other truly crazy one is a pair of sharks. So let us move on to the rest of the house we have a dining room with a lovely piano that when my sister plays you can
hear it all over the house. Right beside that is my favorite room in the house, our kitchen it may not look like much but it has the most amazing food come out of it anything from pie to potstickers every thing tastes better then it comes out of my kitchen.
Lastly let us move up the stairs to my lovely lofty bed room. It is a large room painted purple so it look smaller. The ceilings slant out so my room literally looks like a loft on one side i have my futon for my friends to sleep on when they stay the night. then in the middle we have my bed that is facing my keepsake/makeshift keepsake shelf so when i am falling asleep i can look at it and see all of my fond memories. and finally on other side of my bed is my art studio with my drafting table and piles and piles of art work i have made over the past few years.
I grew up begin the only girl in the neighborhood I lives right in between Nathan and Tony. Tony and I have known each other since the day I came home from the hospital I would not be who I am today if it wasn't for him or Nathan come to think of it. Growing up as one of the guys made me stronger than most girls and I had more fun climbing trees and playing football than doing hair.
now that we have left the neighborhood we can move on up to the Village of Minerva where i have done my grocery shopping gone out to eat in and gone to school in this little village for my entire life. it may seem little and pointless but if you look really hard at it you will find that it is a collection of people all wanting one thing, a safe a happy place to raise a family and despite the amount of parties and the recent hight in drug use Minerva has that we may be small but like the school mascot we are a lion. This whole village has the heart of a lion.
A long drive way with a canopy of trees above it you cant see whats at the end until you round the corner. Finally there it is, a small blue house with dark blue shutters, and a large garden in front with birds and butterflies fluttering about. That small blue house is the house where I have lived my entire life.
Once you get past the front gardens you get to the back yard where there is a large clearing with a thee huge trees in a row to give us enough shade so we don't over heat in the summer. At the back of the back yard there is a fire pit where my friends and I have made some amazing memories. You can even go farther back than that there is eight and a half acres of walking paths that are the perfect place to go if you just want to disappear for a short while.
Now that we have covered the out side of my house let us venture in side. Once you walk through the front door you are standing in the living room. This room is painted white and has a bright red couch and a red patterned chair that my mom always sits in and the "Father" Chair that has bin in the same place for 20 years and will die long before it gets moved. In this room there is also the lovely fish tank that houses some random fish one is something like an eel and the other truly crazy one is a pair of sharks. So let us move on to the rest of the house we have a dining room with a lovely piano that when my sister plays you can
hear it all over the house. Right beside that is my favorite room in the house, our kitchen it may not look like much but it has the most amazing food come out of it anything from pie to potstickers every thing tastes better then it comes out of my kitchen.
Lastly let us move up the stairs to my lovely lofty bed room. It is a large room painted purple so it look smaller. The ceilings slant out so my room literally looks like a loft on one side i have my futon for my friends to sleep on when they stay the night. then in the middle we have my bed that is facing my keepsake/makeshift keepsake shelf so when i am falling asleep i can look at it and see all of my fond memories. and finally on other side of my bed is my art studio with my drafting table and piles and piles of art work i have made over the past few years.
I grew up begin the only girl in the neighborhood I lives right in between Nathan and Tony. Tony and I have known each other since the day I came home from the hospital I would not be who I am today if it wasn't for him or Nathan come to think of it. Growing up as one of the guys made me stronger than most girls and I had more fun climbing trees and playing football than doing hair.
now that we have left the neighborhood we can move on up to the Village of Minerva where i have done my grocery shopping gone out to eat in and gone to school in this little village for my entire life. it may seem little and pointless but if you look really hard at it you will find that it is a collection of people all wanting one thing, a safe a happy place to raise a family and despite the amount of parties and the recent hight in drug use Minerva has that we may be small but like the school mascot we are a lion. This whole village has the heart of a lion.
Hide and Seek
Hide and Seek
When I was growing up I was the only girl in my neighborhood. So I had the love childhood filled with playing football and baseball in the back yard fallowed by rocking out to some N64 Donkey Kong Racing. When I was little playing with the boys was all that I knew and even when I go tot elementary school I was still just one of the guys and played like them just the same.
My favorite game to play when I was little my favorite game to play was make believe. I know it is not necessarily a game but that was how we played where it be we were monkeys swing from the tree tops, or the teenage mutant ninja turtles. That was how we had the most fun. the way we organized it was one of us would pick what we were going to play then the others decided who would play what parts. for example if we were going to be the power rangers and tony had made that choice, then Nathan and i would pick who was going to play what role (i was always the pink one and tony the red). after we had made those decisions we could be lost for hours running the woods acting as though we were super heros. Some times I would play the villain some times I would be the damsel in distress and on some occasions I was even aloud to save the day. I personally think the amount of time I spent pretending to be someone else gave me the miraculous ability to become who I need to be in a flash on stage.
Just more prof of the Amazing power that a child's imagination can have one there later life.
When I look back on my child hood I think of all the fun the boys and I had. I was one of the luckiest kids in the world I had a family I could rely on and the two best friends a girl could ask for. Whether it be climbing trees, playing a board game or even playing make believe they treated like a normal kid no different just because I was a girl and for that I am so thankful.
When I was growing up I was the only girl in my neighborhood. So I had the love childhood filled with playing football and baseball in the back yard fallowed by rocking out to some N64 Donkey Kong Racing. When I was little playing with the boys was all that I knew and even when I go tot elementary school I was still just one of the guys and played like them just the same.
My favorite game to play when I was little my favorite game to play was make believe. I know it is not necessarily a game but that was how we played where it be we were monkeys swing from the tree tops, or the teenage mutant ninja turtles. That was how we had the most fun. the way we organized it was one of us would pick what we were going to play then the others decided who would play what parts. for example if we were going to be the power rangers and tony had made that choice, then Nathan and i would pick who was going to play what role (i was always the pink one and tony the red). after we had made those decisions we could be lost for hours running the woods acting as though we were super heros. Some times I would play the villain some times I would be the damsel in distress and on some occasions I was even aloud to save the day. I personally think the amount of time I spent pretending to be someone else gave me the miraculous ability to become who I need to be in a flash on stage.
Just more prof of the Amazing power that a child's imagination can have one there later life.
When I look back on my child hood I think of all the fun the boys and I had. I was one of the luckiest kids in the world I had a family I could rely on and the two best friends a girl could ask for. Whether it be climbing trees, playing a board game or even playing make believe they treated like a normal kid no different just because I was a girl and for that I am so thankful.
