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Monday, February 22, 2016

"Transition" by Jethro P


     Think back to your first day of school. You were about five or six years old, being walked
to the classroom for the first time ever. Think back to the clothes you wore in your younger
years or the Power Ranger or Spongebob backpack that made you a popular kid at school.
     Think back to learning the letters of the alphabet and how to count. Think back to meeting your
first best friend or imaginary friend (no one’s judging), having your first sleepover and eating
junk food all night, having your first red card pulled on you and crying about it (maybe this was
just a “me” thing), and all the infinite firsts that may come to mind.
Let’s fast forward to junior high school. Most of us felt like adults already going in sixth
grade. If it was anything like Ned’s Declassified: School Survival Guide then you would have
thought middle school was insane. However, what we thought was serious wasn't really that
serious. We cared about colored skinny jeans, jerking, hitting the dougie, buying silly bands, and
the list goes on.
     Present day, here we are doing things we would actually do in the real word, or what our
elementary school selves would call “grown up stuff”. It's great that we've grown to become
adults but it's kind of depressing at the same time. We don't know when it happened or how but
it did and there's nothing we could do about it. We can't go back because time only moves
forward. In a blink of an eye, apple juice turned into alcohol, blowing bubbles suddenly became
marijuana and cigarettes, candy became drugs, sleep overs turned into parties, scooters turned
into cars, best friends became strangers, and coloring books became study guides. Suddenly,
everyone drives and we become less dependent of our parents. When did that happen? When
did we stop asking for rides and permission from our parents? Life just flashes by and we are
unaware of it. Every time we look back at where we came from, the road becomes longer and
what happened yesterday soon becomes what happened a year ago.
     There's a beauty in all this, though. Every time we reminisce about childhood memories,
we can't help but smile. That's the beauty of living our lives; everything comes to an end. That
makes every memory that much more precious. As graduation day approaches, high school has
to come to an end but we can look back and see all of the friendships we made and reminisce
about every major event that helped shape us into who we will be. It's a good thing that
everything comes to an end because it teaches us how to love harder, grow stronger and
cherish every tiny detail in our lives. Once you learn how to accept that everything comes to an
end, you can live every day happy and content. Life can go faster than you think but you can
slow it down and just appreciate everything in between.

38 comments:

  1. Beautifully said Jethro Presto. Personally knowing you; I have to concluded that you are one of the funniest, most ambitious, respectful and loyal person I have ever known and to have you write this piece completely emulates repetition of the phrase "enjoy the little moments." What you wrote is perfectly in agreement and correlates to the lives of what I am assuming is the senior class. The syntax and repetition of phrases commanded me to do as you wrote, "Think back to this and think back to that," and reading the ending paragraph, I smiled and then I felt sorrow, because you're right; things do come to an end, and it matters how you cherish your moments and what you choose to do with them.
    -Samar Elshekh P.3

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  2. Jethro, I really enjoyed reading your piece. It really got me thinking about how much time has passed since we first started school, and here we are now, 3 months away from graduating high school. This piece was beautifully written and I loved the part when you said, " It's a good thing that everything comes to an end because it teaches us how to love harder, grow stronger and cherish every tiny detail in our lives" because it's true. Thank you for this insightful piece!

    Daveena San
    Period 2

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  3. samantha QuintanillaFebruary 24, 2016 at 3:29 PM

    wow, Jethro, that was really well said. The part that hit me the hardest was the whole "candy to drugs, scooters to cars, sleepovers to parties" part because it is all so true. Especially when you asked "when did we stop asking our parents for permission" i know i can't remember the last time i did. The whole idea about growing up is captured with a bittersweet tone that appreciate in your writing, and with such a relevant topic you reminded me to update my FAFSA, lol. Overall it was a casual but emotional and i really enjoyed it.

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  4. Jethro, I really like this piece. I love reading stories about growing up and moving on because I can relate so much. I miss the middle school days when all we worried about was if mom bought us the new pack of silly bands or the purple skinny jeans. :) great job
    -Emily French, period 5

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  5. I like how this piece encourages one to relive past memories and I thought it to be very accurate. I went through a plethora of emotions both while and after reading this and it is incredulous how quickly time flies. Beautifully written and nice thought-provoking message, thank you for that!

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  6. Aw, Jethro, this definitely made me extremely nostalgic. I definitely see where you're coming from in this, and I, myself, occasionally ponder this change in our lives. I remember that as a child all I wanted was to grow up, but somewhere between the time of wanting to be mature and actually becoming mature, I stopped wanting that. I became scared of the future, almost. Reading your piece sparked some of those feelings again; however, aging is an inevitable fact of life and something that we all have to accept. Overall, great job on your piece! I really enjoyed the topic and reading it as well!
    Sabrina H P2

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  8. Wow Jethro great job piece i really like how you compared childhood memories to high school. your piece made me think that these we don't ask our parents for permission to do things and that we have grown up so much since then. great job.
    Lailah Harris
    period 1

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  9. This was a very deep and thought provoking message. Thanks for posting this, it really has me thinking about my childhood. Really loved the message.
    -Michael Retana P.1

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  10. Wow Jethro, this made me like super sad and not want to grow up even more lol. But I love this piece and how you incorporated things you and I'm sure many of us experienced. That's what kept me reading, remembering that I did that too in middle school or realizing how true everything you said was. Love it.
    -jazlynn garcia
    period 2

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  11. Jethro, in one piece I flash backed to elementary school and middle school. Oh my, some stuff I'd like to remember and some that I do not want to remember. Anyways, this story was very relatable especially since we went to the same school so I know the stuff you were referring to. Since, graduation is less than 3 months away your piece was nice and reminiscing because in a few months the seniors will be considered adults. Also, at the same time I feel like you were using burlesque when talking about middle school because when we refer to middle school we laugh at those times; the long hair, the colored pants, and the dance moves.
    Miren Cancio
    Period 5

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  12. Thank you for this amazing piece Jethro! Your piece is completely spot on to my thoughts and many of our thoughts lately. Your piece made me look back to the good memories of my childhood. From the very beginning line I was hooked, I loved how you continued to use the words “think back” because you really made the reader make their own connections to the topic you presented. Well done.

    Emily Gonzalez
    Period 2

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  13. I absolutely loved this piece and I completely agree with it. Each time period you expressed brought back so many memories. It really made me not want to grow up lol. This whole year think ive said "graduation is sooo far" almost everyday. And although I might want to move on to the next chapter of my life, I should still take the time to live in the moment and appreciate what's happening now. High school was such a great experience and I shouldn't be so anxious for it to end. After all, I can never come back to this time so might as well enjoy it right? This piece was extremely well written so good job!!
    -Annika Joshi p. 5

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  14. Very true message indeed. I really wish more people in the world had this mindset. Life is too short to be taken for granted. Of course, not everything in life is going to be easy or positive but it isn't always going to be difficult and negative either. We really need to take the time to be grateful for all we have. Great job on your piece! The message was wonderful!

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  15. This really just reminded me that I'm no longer 12 years old with no worries. I'm closer to being an adult than a child now and have to own up to it. Everything you said was true about life and that we are meant to advance in life. I love this piece for saying the truth that some of us fear.

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  16. Dang, this piece made me feel really old, Jethro. /; But it was very well said and written, and I totally agree with your perspective on "growing up" and the concept of transitioning to new things in life. Very well written!
    _Kelene H
    P2

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  17. Jethro I loved this so much! You truly captured how we all feel and it made me reminisce on the good old days when life was innocent and carefree now we are all growing up and that time seems like so long ago. Wonderful job!!!!

    Alexa Ayala
    Period 2

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  18. I love this piece so much. It encourages us to look back and reflect on times that are so important to us, especially considering were growing up so quickly it's so important sometimes to just take a step back and enjoy it and reflect!

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  19. This entry definitely shares the truth of its title- "transition". I love this piece because of its truth. A part that made me reflect on my life myself was when you stated that we do not know when this change occurred, but that it did. That claim is relatable to my own life, as I'm sure it does to others' lives as well. Great entry!
    Natalia Garcia
    Period 2

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  20. And as the realm of time continually passes on through the hands of the clock, we must take the time to reminisce the persistence of memory, in which you inscribe powerfully on. Without the past, there is no transgression or realization of how far we as individuals have come. An entirely relatable, imageric piece that touches the lives of many, awesome job Jethro!

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  21. I really enjoyed reading this piece, and it helped me realize how beautiful endings really are. As bittersweet as it may seem, all things have to come to an end; this piece helped me realize how reflections of the past shouldn't be something to sulk about, but rather a part of our life that we could look back on and be happy about. Thank you for the insightful and helpful piece, great job!

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  22. I really enjoyed reading this. It really made me look back and reflect on all of my decisions from junior high and elementary and see how all those decisions that i made when i was a kid made me into the person that I am today.
    -Jazmine Hernandez
    -Period 4

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  23. Wow this piece really made me think about fast life has gone. I recall being just a freshman now im days from graduating, its crazy! I feel like the worst mistake ive made during this long process, was to not take time to enjoy the process. But as it is almost time, i feel like theres still time to enjoy all the little things. thank you for making me realize how far ive came, and how much further i have left to go!

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  24. well said. i totally agree. Life goes by fast you really have to embrace every moment.

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  25. Wow, Jethro, this piece really gave me a new perspective on life. Now that I look back, it really feels that just yesterday I was a Freshman- a week ago, I was in middle school- and so on. I've always believed that to really enjoy life, you need to slow down and realize that nothing lasts forever, and you need to live in the moment. Once again; good job!
    Taylor Sandoval
    P.5

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  26. this was a great piece I loved it this speaks to me like everything we thought was grownup stuff as you said wasn't even close to the things that go on in higschool its a whole differnet ball game from elementary to middle school to now. life passes by so quick and you said it right we never go back to our roots which is the sad thing about us great job hope you do more.

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  27. I absolutely loved your work Jethro. It's amazing how you were able to connect with me, and I am assuming many others, while still conveying an concise point. This story reminds me of a old theory proposed by Paul Janet. This theory stated that, as we live, years begin to feel shorter because they make up less of our lives. I think that works well with this beautifully written piece.

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  28. I LOVE THIS SO MUCH!!! Everything is so relatable, and by far probably my favorite story all year. And it makes you sit her think while staring at a computer screen and realize how life just comes at you like a truck. What happened to the days of innocence where we had no care in the world. To becoming someone that is stressed over colleges and Cal Grant and FAFSA. It crazy that you don't realize the little things in life. Gave me so much to think about. This story is extremely well written. Enjoyed every word.

    Allyson Bol
    Period 2

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  29. Wow this piece of literature was divine, I'm still a freshman so I can still kind of relate but still. Wonderful job on connecting our childhood's to us now. I love how everything actually became grownup stuff without realizing it.

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  30. What's good Jethro!? Lol but anyways, I loved your piece. It captured the thoughts many high school students today have, but combines them into one essay. It is very relateable and I can correlate with my own thoughts about my childhood and my soon to be college life. Great job, man! It was a good read.
    Rodrick Hill
    Period 2

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  31. Nice Jethro. This piece was great. The things you said in the story were true. I may be a freshman but life did move quicker than I thought it would. I really like how people can relate to this because in less than 2 months you and the other seniors will be off in the world before you know it. Great job!

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  32. Nice Jethro. This piece was great. The things you said in the story were true. I may be a freshman but life did move quicker than I thought it would. I really like how people can relate to this because in less than 2 months you and the other seniors will be off in the world before you know it. Great job!

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  34. This was so beautifully written and it really made me sad lol. I could not agree more with you on this. Your piece really made me go back and think about all of my memories from the past few years. The line that really stood out to me was when you said "Once you learn how to accept that everything comes to an end, you can live every day happy and content" because ive really come to realize this. Overall amazing job jethro!!
    -Legend Holman p.3

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  35. I really loved this piece because it really is relatable. Your descriptions and comparisons made it super easy to connect with. You really did a great job with reflecting most peoples childhood memories. Great job Jethro!
    Victoria hurtado
    Period 5

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  36. Your writing is very nice and it makes me kind of want enjoy what little of high school i have left. Good writing man and your ability to surprisingly understand what many of us did as children is kind of funny.

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  37. Its scary to think how much of the world we have yet to discover and that one day it will be us that decides our own path and how we will spend the rest of our lives. It seems as though high school was a bordered wall from the real world and the way in which you describe how your emotions and thoughts stemming from the past years and how they have morphed into this last year is extremely relatable and Im sort of relieved to see that I'm not the only one that has these same thoughts too. Nice Job.
    Hunter Fierro
    Period 5

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  38. This piece made me think back to all those times. You did a good job bringing back those memories. Nicely done.

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