Krista Ramsey

     I think that, by now, everyone who has had English during third trimester has seen a little bit of Krista Ramsey's lecture on journalism. You could argue different points to prove the true message she wanted us to get out of her presentation, but I think that they would all eventually lead to something along the lines of voice being the key part of your writing. Without voice, writing lacks personality and nobody likes to read anything without personality. As she went on, she became to sound less like a teacher and more like a mentor. She began to talk about the power of average stories about average people doing more-than-average things without notice. About halfway through her lecture, she said, "Shame on us as writers if we underestimate the power of good people, (Ramsey). This was probably the most impacting line she said through the seventy-two minutes she was talking. I know this because after she said this, every pencil was raised, every head dropped, every eye focused on lined notebook paper, and every hand scribbled down her words. I would bet money that there was not one person in the Harvard Room that chose not to quote that statement.

      So, why am I writing about this weeks after the presentation? Well, it's because of our current studies of columns and creative nonfiction. Especially our creative nonfiction paper. We have our first rough draft due soon, and I've been working on it every night. Each night referring to the notes I took during her presentation. We all had to pick a topic that we feel especially drawn to and strongly connected to. It doesn't have to be a huge, worldwide issue that you could write about for years trying to solve with your words. But that's not the point. Krista Ramsey probably doesn't have a deep connection with her subjects when she first gets her assignments, but you can tell that she has a more powerful bond with the people she writes about than Gorilla Glue on a cracked Nutcracker. I think our teachers gave us the columns to study and set up Krista Ramsey's presentation before we started writing so we would understand how we can use our voice to emphasize a small topic enough to make it appear to be just as exciting as anything we could see on TV.

     Speaking of TV, my creative nonfiction piece is on how music, television influences us as we allow ourselves to be impacted by what we see and hear (this was an easy one to connect to myself and Fahrenheit 451, everyone in that book is brainwashed to the max). You may not think about it a whole lot, but the sources of entertainment we are exposed to greatly impact how we mature and how we act. I know your parents think about it, mine do for sure. Everybody changes over time, that's normal, but what you chose to be exposed to is what you choose to grow up to become. Krista Ramsey has certainly grown up since becoming a writer, there is no way in heck that she was that influential and could move people so well with her voice before she exposed herself to her sources. Now, music and TV may have had little contribution to how amazing a person she is today, but it does prove the point that we are impacted by almost everything around us (it just so happens that music and TV are among the top influences of teens).

A Cadet for the Corps

     As of now, I have read through part one of Absolutely American by David Lipsky. Multiple characters have been introduced so far, but I find none more special than Don "Whitney" Herzog. This fine squared-away young man is my role model. He's living my dream. He's real. He's what a West Point administrator would call a "shining cadet." He is 100% without a doubt exactly who I want to be.

    I don't know where you want to go to college, but I'm sure you would like to be a stand-out applicant. I'm sure that if you could, you would give anything to read the true story of someone who lived your dream, going to the same places you want to go and doing the same things that you want to do. I'm sure you'd take the opportunity to read about it in a second. I did.

     Don Herzog had a very successful high school career. Even though his high school was not the biggest, he still earned the postion of Class President. He also strived for straight A's, which I am doing now (cough, cough, Mrs. Bross, cough). Excuse me. What is truly amazing about this is that he never really strayed away from the things that normal teenagers do, dabbling and experimenting with different things. Even when he got to West Point, even though he probably had to ease up on the teenager fun, he was still an outstanding student and leader. He was ranked 13th in his class (out of 1,000). When I read this in my book, I annotated that "this will be me."

     There are other ways that I connect with Whitney: his life goals are extremely similar to mine. Lipsky introduces Whitney's goals on the first paragraph of Part One: "For ten years, Whitney ran his life like a checklist: West Point, then the Infantry, then the Rangers, the Army's elite," (Lipsky 3). This is my checklist. This is my dream. This is my future. For the past two years, I have planned out my life to strive for the same greatness that Don Herzog is acheiving right now.

Step One: West Point. Duty. Honor. Country. Three values that are pounded into every ounce of your being so one may understand the meaning of service. One fulfills the duty of serving his nation, and does so with honor so that his country remain in peace. These are not the only things drilled into one's head at the academy--while attending, one receives the top education offered to any college student, in addition to military and leadership training.

Step Two: the Infantry. The Army's hellhounds. If you're in the Infantry "you know how to sleep in the cold and you know how to kill people," and you know how to move with a purpose and get through any obstacle placed conveniently in your path (Lipsky 4). It may be one of the MOS's (military occupational specialty) with the least book smarts but infantrymen know how to survive in the worst conditions. Some (especially my Dad) say the Infantry doesn't prepare you for the real world, but I think it gets you more than ready for society after a military career. After being in the Infantry, there is not a lower point one could have in his life: the mental strength you gain is more useful than the handy-dandy skills you learn in any other part of the military.





Step Three: the Rangers. The Army's elite. Lead the way. One of the Army's Special Forces regiments. Any soldier can be an infantryman, but it takes a special kind of killer to be a Ranger. The Rangers are special for any mission, specialized in all terrain for all situations. Reacting on short notice with incredible effectiveness is a Ranger's way of life. They use specialized weapons and techniques and infiltration systems to complete each mission. One gains more mental strength in the Rangers than in any other part of the Army.

           
    
     After the army, I'm not sure what Whitney wants to do yet. Maybe he doesn't know what he wants to do yet. I do know, though, that he will be ready for anything life can throw at him outside of the military. He will be ready.