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Journal Prompts Responses - For some of our Warm-ups Journalism class, we respond to unique writing prompts, in order to practice our writing and creativity skills. Please peruse our responses for your enjoyment!

• Who is an interesting public figure, artist, or writer that everyone should know about? Why?

  • Felix Ames, he is an R&B singer with 125k monthly listeners on Spotify. Ames just dropped his first studio album recently and it's one of the best albums of the year. I think he deserves way more attention especially for the quality music he is putting out. He also has a very loyal fanbase and seems to be super modest!

  • In terms of interesting public figures, I find Alexander the Great as a subject that people should be aware of. With what dwindling supplies he had at his disposal, he conquered all of the known world and his speeches are fascinating to read albeit motivational. Then he died.

• What are some fascinating stories from history that don’t get told enough?

  • In 1692 during the Salem Witch Trials, 19 people were hanged and one man was pressed to death by putting him between two large stones (talk about being a rock in a hard place). The total amount of people executed was 20, and an  additional 5-10 people died when in custody due to the horrible conditions.The youngest person was accused of participating in witchcraft and was arrested. She was a 4-year-old girl named Dorthy and unfortunately she succumbed to the horrible conditions and died in prison three months before her mother was executed for being an alleged witch.

• Who did you recently interview and find incredibly interesting?

  • I recently interviewed Mr. Davis the new high school science teacher. Although he was very interesting the probably two most interesting things I have learned about him are that he has actually had two degrees he majored in. One major is for teaching history, he had a deep passion for history but finally decided being a history teacher wasn't for him. The second major is for teaching science, he realized he had a joy for science and went and took some classes and labs and his mentor is the one who told him that he thought he would be a great science teacher due to his passion for teaching. The second most interesting thing is that when he was in college he did a study program in Ireland.

  • I interviewed Mr. Johnson lately and I find him pretty cool. I knew he gave off similar vibes to Mr. Gresoi, but after interviewing him, I see that their personalities are similar. Sure, their hobbies are significantly different, Mr. Gresoi shared more appreciation for gaming and being tired all the time in his little apartment. Mr. Johnson on the other hand is very outdoorsy. Unrelated to similarities with Mr. Gresoi, I was surprised to find that Mr. Johnson is 5'5. I asked him what about him makes him unique and he proudly said, "I'm short!" He is so silly. I told him we're twinning because I am also 5'5.

• Who’s an athlete that overcame extraordinary circumstances to become a champion or medalist?

  • Although I don't know anyone in specific, I decided to emphasize on a broader group. When you think about it, every athlete which partakes in the special olympics is an athlete that's overcome extraordinary circumstances. To refrain from letting a disability (whether mental or physical) be an obstacle and doing what you want to do, that by itself is enough to give you a shot at being a champion or medalist. For example (although the Special Olympics were not popular at the time), Neroli Fairhall, a representative of New Zealand for the Olympics, was the first paraplegic competitor in the 1980s.  

• Which circumstances and decisions most influence a person’s life, relationships, health, or career?

  • I feel like something that can influence someone's health, career, life, and relationships is the people around them. People who surround you will affect your life.

• Where would you like to be ten years in the future, and why?

  • In ten years, I would ideally like to have a career that in some way relates to science. If I could make over 70,000 dollars a year before 10 years have passed then I would find this acceptable. I have always thought about the idea of buying a rather expensive car and living in it, however this is stupid and I should not do that. I see myself moving either back to my hometown or somewhere in the south. I will probably stay in Maine for a short time after I graduate high school, probably to finish my degrees and then find a suitable career in the sciences. I would like to live in a city, it could be dangerous or not; I just want to live in any city. If I make enough money than I could probably return back to a metropolitan area. 

  • Where would I like to be ten years in the future? Well, I want to be thriving. I see how life is portrayed on social media, I see how my family lives life, how my friends live life, and ultimately I don’t want that for myself. Of course, anyone could say that they don’t wish to live a poor life full of work. I don’t want to be rich, or to be rewarded for little work either. I just wish that it didn’t take so much work to barely get by. I see my father work tirelessly all the time, he says that he’s gotten used to it. Leaving early in the morning before I wake up for school, not returning until hours after I’ve already got home. He works a dangerous job. Though, we barely make enough to keep up with bills. Having to go days without power, “fend-for-yourself” dinners, and we haven’t gone on a vacation in years. In ten years, I’ll be 27-years-old. Somehow, I want to find a way to not struggle.

• Describe the first five things you would do if you just won the lottery.

  • If I were to win the lottery I would put one half into a savings account that doubles your funds over time. I would then put a lock on the account, making it so I could't touch those funds until I was 30; this gives it time to grow. Then with the other half, I'd use it to pay off any bills or payments like college fees, house mortgage, etc. If I have any left over, I would split it between family members that could really use some money as well as children charities.

  • There are many possibilities of what you could do if you win the lottery. It depends on a few things, such as how much you win and if you're in debt or not. Let's say you win a million dollars in the lottery and you aren't in debt. In that situation, the first thing I would do is help my family with house repairs so our house can be new again. The second thing I would do is pay for my own house so I can live alone and not have to deal with other people because let's face it, people can be annoying. For my third thing I would set aside money for college and a car so I can get a good education and be able to drive where i want to go. For my fourth thing I would donate to some charities so that other people can benefit and hopefully it will make their life better. For my fifth and final thing I would save the last bit of money for if I need it. There could be things I need it for like car or house repairs of my own and other items like groceries.

• Describe your survival plan in the event of a zombie apocalypse.

  • I picked the survival plan because that seems something I like. So I would board up all the windows - an every day essential. Then have canned food also. I would have a crossbow and bats ready just in case I saw zombies, and I would steal items from the people who turned into zombies.

  • If I woke up with amnesia tomorrow, I wouldn't want to remember much. I already don't remember my childhood, so I don't mind losing those memories. I can always look at the photos of my younger self. I'd want to remember the basics of who I am. My name, my friends, my family. I'd want to remember even the bad things I've experienced with my parents. But, I don't want to remember anything bad I've experienced with other people. Break ups, friend groups splitting, fights with friends. I'd want to forget those things forever. I understand, these negative interactions mold us as a person they alter our personalities and mindsets sometimes. It's important to know the negative in order to strive to be good. But all these experiences I've had are so minuscule and stupid. I'm such a sensitive person, I let these small things affect my day to day life and my emotions. I'd love to forget those memories so I could live my life in peace. Maybe I'd stop having dreams of people from my past who don't really mean that much to me.

• If you woke up tomorrow with amnesia, what memories would you want to come back to you? Which would you want to forget forever?

  • If I woke tomorrow with amnesia there would of course be memories I would want to remember and some memories I would want to forget. Although I would want to forget some memories I don't think I would want to forget them forever as I believe that they made me the person I am today. Some of my memories I would want to remember are my first date with my boyfriend, all of my adventures made with my boyfriend, all of my time spent with my boyfriend, my family vacations, getting my puppy, my childhood, and so many more memories. I feel as though I would want to remember all of these memories because these are the times in my life when I have felt pure happiness and I don't want those memories or feelings of pure happiness to go away.

  • If I woke up with amnesia tomorrow, I wouldn't want to remember much. I already don't remember my childhood, so I don't mind losing those memories. I can always look at the photos of my younger self. I'd want to remember the basics of who I am. My name, my friends, my family. I'd want to remember even the bad things I've experienced with my parents. But, I don't want to remember anything bad I've experienced with other people. Break ups, friend groups splitting, fights with friends. I'd want to forget those things forever. I understand, these negative interactions mold us as a person they alter our personalities and mindsets sometimes. It's important to know the negative in order to strive to be good. But all these experiences I've had are so minuscule and stupid. I'm such a sensitive person, I let these small things affect my day to day life and my emotions. I'd love to forget those memories so I could live my life in peace. Maybe I'd stop having dreams of people from my past who don't really mean that much to me.

Editorial Essays - Our Journalism class learned all about editorials, which are articles to present the newspaper's opinions on various, relevant topics. Here are a few to peruse!