Personal Essay: A Not So Family Vacation

The summer of 2004 my parents, younger brother, and I took a vacation to one of dad’s favorite childhood vacation spots, South Dakota. The plan was to drive the ten hours to Custer, SD and spend two weeks camping at the Beaver Lake Campgrounds. My dad invited his sister, her husband, and their three kids to join us as well. I spent weeks bragging to my friends about my plans to see Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, and all the parks we had learned about in our textbooks. In my mind, I was planning an adventure into the wild, or at least as wild as it gets for a fourteen year old. I had my bags packed to the brim and barely had room for all my little disposable cameras. I wasn’t going to miss a single wild moment of this trip. Little did I know but this trip was going to change my life.

Personal Essay Intro Paragraph

It was June tenth of 2008, the day after my birthday; my identical twin, Ethan, had decided to host a party. He was the drum major our senior year and so he thought that to promote “unity in the band”, a phrase which I came to despise, he would have a party to make incoming freshmen more comfortable with the older people in the band. There was a ridiculous amount of Mountain Dew and an abundance of cheap bags of chips. The party was quite a feat, we had paintball, football, and a bonfire planned for later in the evening. Paintball was set up in the grove, about fifty yards west of the shop, where the food and drinks were. Directly across the driveway to the east of the shop was where we had the football field. And just north of the shop was the pump shed where the hose was hooked up to spray random guests. Me, as the antisocial pessimistic twin was under the impression that this party was going to be a complete failure, so I sat inside and watched TV for the first hour. My dad finally had enough of my pessimism and forced me to go outside and socialize. I was furious. To vent my anger I went and played paintball where I got to shoot at all the people that I disliked, which was very soothing for me. After that I moved over towards our makeshift football field and that’s where the entire day went to crap.

A New Approach

The purpose was to capture the opposing team’s flag. This flag was in the form of a brilliant green glow stick. Dressed in all black and camouflage, the teams were split ten on ten. The boundaries were Fall Hall Road and the edges of Robinson Creek circling the camp. It was a drizzly night with only the light of the stars to guide our paths. In the middle of the Northern Wisconsin woods, I became a warrior, army crawling through the unknown territory of the opponent. As the flag guard stood watch, I slyly made my way to his feet without him knowing the difference. Afraid that he had seen me, I laid there silently with my face to the ground until I knew it was safe. As my brain raced with thoughts of tactics to capture the flag, I tried to recall my memory of the land that surrounded me. The land I’ve known so well since I was eight years old was now dark and difficult to maneuver quickly through without getting caught and thrown into the jail cell. It was terrifying, but it was my desire to be the fearless conqueror.

Casey Project

Everett Casey Nature Center and Reserve Project Groups

(see www.ecomfa.engl.iastate.edu)

Habitat Management
Jessamy
Cody
Jarred
Qi

Outdoor-Classroom Plan
Alex
Yao
Nick

Creek Management Plan
Macy
Troy
Mark
Kyle

Prairie-Restoration Plan
Tacie
Ramsay
Crystal
Ben

History
Yasmine
Matt
Wes
James


Project Requirements
• A map
• A four-page-minimum written summary, with at least three outside sources, one of them primary; at least eight concrete steps toward accomplishing the plan; or, in the case the History group, eight specific historical developments
• A visual: a chart, a graph, photographs, etc.
• An ten-minute oral presentation involving all group members.
• The plan should be of professional quality, on a level that could be presented to the university.

Field Trip, Saturday, March 27, 10:00-2:00

Meet at the the Transit Hub in the parking lot to the south of Stephen’s Auditorium and north of the football stadium:
http://www.fpm.iastate.edu/maps


Come prepared to get dirty and wet. You should consider bringing a rain coat..

Bring pen and paper.

Consider bringing:
Field guides
Camera
Lunch

Journal: Smokey the Bear Sutra by Gary Snyder

It seems that Gary Snyder has used Smokey the Bear in order to support his political beliefs such as when he says, “Trampling underfoot wasteful freeways and needless suburbs; smashing the worms of capitalism and totalitarianism;” and also when he says “Wearing the blue overalls symbolic of slaves and laborers, the countless men oppressed by a civilization that claims to save but only destroys.” He uses small gestures from a character and gives them radical meanings. He gives Smokey the Bear a kind, enlightenment in some points like when he says “Smokey the Bear will Illuminate those who would help him,” but then goes on and give the character a violent side directed to people who don’t agree saying “HE WILL PUT THEM OUT.” I think this is an ironic thing to do because he explains that he doesn’t like totalitarianism in the United States but I think in a way he is being as authoritative in his writing as a totalitarian would be over a country.

Journal: Having Faith by Sandra Steingraber

As a woman, I feel that Sandra Steingraber’s piece, Having Faith, is very important. It explains how much harm you can do to your own body as well as your children if you pass on these pesticides from your food to your breast milk. I think Steingraber is right in wanting this information to be explained to people everywhere, especially women because it so intimately affects their lives and the lives of those most important to them. I think it is right to explain to people the harm in pesticides so that women no longer have to be afraid to breast feed, which should really be the healthiest thing for their babies. As long as farmers use chemicals to grow their food, however, we can’t make the steps to living a healthier life, therefore women need to push the importance of organic foods and educate others.

Journal: Silent Spring by By Rachel Carson

I like the way Rachel Carson begins her piece with “A Fable for Tomorrow.” It makes her point of view very clear and shows exactly what she believes is the perfect way to live in the perfect town. She shows that perfect town, with “fields of grain and hillsides of orchards where, in spring, white clouds of bloom drifted above the green fields,” and then explains all the things that could go wrong, such as the day no birds sang and the voices of no animal could be heard all because they had died from pesticides. This clear introduction set up nicely for her to explain how pesticides are killing animals and that although there is no town in America who has seen all the animals die like in the fable, every town has suffered from at least one of the horrible deaths of animals. I think with the mix of the story and the facts and anecdotes, Carson was able to change the way people think about pesticides and how they affect the environment.

Journal: My First Summer in the Sierra by John Muir

In the piece My First Summer in the Sierra by John Muir, I love the quote “Wonderful that these sublime mountains are so loudly cheered and brightened by a creature so queer.” Muir is talking about a small grasshopper in the Yosemite Mountains. I feel that this line really gives a sense of scale to the world, this small grasshopper is living in the mountains, an immense, gigantic body of heavy stone, and yet, Muir feels that the grasshopper gives the mountains cheeriness. He sees the bounce of the grasshopper as a happy jump and therefore characterizes the mountains as a place of happiness. I think this shows that no matter how big a creature truly is in the world, their spirit can change the way others look at something. I believe this can be applied to humans as well, our character can really influence everything around us.

Journal: A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf by John Muir

When John Muir writes “The world, we are told, was made especially for man—a presumption not supported by all the facts,” I agree with him questioning how the world was created solely for humans while every part of nature has a role in the life circle which is necessary. I think it is greedy for us to believe that everything in the world is made to help us when there are so many other living creatures on earth. I think that Muir is a bit radical in saying people believe that anything which doesn’t help a human is satanic but I agree that religion sometimes can make us believe that we are the most superior of all species and that everything around us is there to serve us. I think religion makes us appreciate that everything around us has a certain purpose but it still puts human beings at the center of life.

Journal: Industrial Tourism and the National Parks by Edward Abbey

Edward Abbey makes a good point as he criticizes the “modernized” national parks. He writes about how for years it was understood that the parks would be “preserved in a primitive way so as to screen out those tourists unwilling to drive over dirt road,” but that was no longer the case. Roads had been built to allow for more visitations and the “old magic” was destroyed. I agree with Edward Abbey in saying the magic of nature is destroyed by placing roads within the parks. I believe the only reason parks need to increase their visitation is for money and no other reason. It is greedy of people to take profit in the environment while ruining its true qualities. To truly preserve the parks is to leave them in their original conditions, in their natural state. Putting roads in the park is like an oxymoron; modernization of nature’s beauty can’t be done without disrupting the nature itself and therefore should not be done.

Ninemile Wolves

I chose Ninemile wolves because I like the wildness of the piece. I like it much more than the other pieces we have read because it deals less with pollution and more with just the fight between humans and wolves. I also liked how Rick Bass wrote and expressed hope that the wolves would someday return.

Blood dazzler

I chose to use blood dazzler for my rhetorical analysis. I love the way that she writes and I love New Orleans so I thought it would be interesting to dissect her poems a little more.

Nick dudak

A First American Views His Lands - N. Scott Momaday

I chose "A First America Views His Lands" by N. Scott Momaday as my topic of interest for my rhetorical essay. I enjoyed reading this piece & found a connection to certain subjects discussed in the piece.

Having Faith

I will be writing about Having Faith, because I liked the style of writing and the messages within it.

A First American Views His Land

My rhetorical analysis will be over "A First American Views His Land" by N. Scott Momaday. I really enjoyed reading his writing. I was interested about what he had to say about Native heritages in early America. Also, I thought his reading was very creative in that he inserted a poem throughout his piece.

Everything Is a Human Being

I will be focusing on Alice Walker's "Everything Is a Human Being." Although I don't neccessarily agree with everything she said, I enjoyed her writing style. She made a lot of very interesting claims that make me look at the world from a new perspective.

A Thousand Mile Walk to the Gulf

I will be focusing on "A Thousand Mile Walk to the Gulf". I really enjoyed how Muir used ironic humor to make his point. Most of what he said made me look at the human race and how egocentric we really are. I'm sure I'll enjoy writing more about the subject.

Insudtrial Tourism

I will be focusing on Abbey's Industrial Tourism and the National Parks. I really enjoyed Abbey's writing style and found it very entertaining and easy to read. I also somewhat agreed with some of his views, however extreme they were.

Death of Wildlife

"Silent Spring" is an essay about chemicals killing animals after they have been sprayed on plants. The chemicals the essay mentions is DDT and Aldrin. Aldrin is one that is one hundred times as strong as DDT. According to Rachel Carson, if we don't change our ways and lower the usage of these chemicals, all animals will cease to exist. The beginning of this essay puts many problems that many different cities are having and putting them together as one giant problem. That is what could happen if the chemicals killing the animals are still being used in the future.