2 The Oakwood Times <strong>May</strong> 18, <strong>2007</strong> 4 OK, well I suppose this is the column in which I’m supposed to drone on about how I will either miss high school and how it was the best four years of my life, or how I’m so stoked to leave this place which has been my prison for the last four years, and dispense some sage-like seniorly advice to underclassmen along the way. I’m sure you have all heard both stories, so I will keep this part short and sweet. UNDERCLASSMEN: If you really love high school, savor it, because as cliché as it sounds, it does go by fast. If you are a freshman counting down the days to your graduation, well, again, it goes by quicker than you think, so you’re in luck as well! I’ve had my share of good times, bad times, and mediocre times, but, quite frankly, I don’t think this will be the best four years of my life. I’ll always remember things like our outing at “Moonglow Beach” for the senior picnic or pretending to be a race car with Laura at cross country meets, but I’m ready to say goodbye and move on to a new chapter in my life. Moving on! I’ve discovered a new sport -- paintball. When it was announced that the seniors would be “You only live once.” This is something I’ve heard since I was young, but now that I am older I actually understand it. If I actually think about the fact that I really only live once, it kind of scares me. It makes me want to do something really out of the ordinary like go skydiving or not clean for an entire day. =) (This would be extremely hard me since I am a compulsive cleaner.) This quote makes me think about my past as well. I look back on the four years I have spent here at OHS and how much I have grown up since I first walked in the doors of this school. I think about everything I have been through and how it makes me who I am. In these past four years I have cried a lot, laughed a lot, got in trouble, flunked a few Spanish and algebra tests, struggled, fought, but most of all grew up. I have also struggled with life’s biggest challenge - death. I have lost both a cousin and a grandpa in a matter of one year. I never thought I would get through it, but obviously I lived to tell the story. I could really get to like this paintball thing Poo’ oo’s News By Erin Pouilliard paintballing for the Meets & Exceeds reward trip, I was a little leery. Being the wuss that I am, or maybe just because of basic instinct, I really don’t like having things shot at me from guns. Especially things that leave huge bruises and welts. My brother paintballs at home, and I’ve seen the damage those innocent looking little balls can do. He’ll come home after a day under fire, sporting big red and purple painful looking marks all over his body. That have penetrated layers of sweatshirts and sweatpants. Ouch. Being the genius that I am, I wore a pair of snug jeans and a T-shirt. I wasn’t really worried, because I figured this game wouldn’t be very hardcore since there were a bunch of girls on the trip, and we would be wearing protective vests anyway. Then, the instructional video we had to watch started going into reasons why we HAD to keep our facemasks on -- one being if we got shot in the eyeball, it could shoot out of our head. Greeeeeeat. I was officially starting to get scared. As we entered the playing field, I tried not to think about what life as a blind person would be like. Our team (we were separated into two teams) searched Although losing my grandpa was the worst experience I have ever went through, it made me a better person. He was the one that taught me how to cherish every moment of my life. There are times when every high school student feels that their life could not get any worse. But, it is not the bad things that happen to you, but how you recover from the bad things that really mean something. I am a believer that everything happens for a reason. Since we only live once why not make high school some of the best four years of your life. When people say high school is the best part of your life, they are lying. Really, if these are the best days of my life I have NOTHING to look forward to in the future. During this year people have said, “Jenna, just do it, you only life once.” Most of the time these people were talking me into something I really was scared to do or thought I couldn’t achieve. Life is so extremely short, there is no one better that could have taught this better Behind these Hazelbaker eyes By Jenna Hazelbaker than my cousin and grandpa. So, what are you going to do the next few years of you life for a place to hide our cone (we were playing capture the flag…cone…whatever), and found a nice little nook at the back of the course. I volunteered to stay back with Jeff to guard the cone from the opposing team, because I figured I’d have less of a chance of getting shot at. Well, after a few minutes of not firing at anything, I decided to test out my gun. Nothing happened. No paint bullets, no splatter marks, nothing. So, I had to venture from my safe little hiding spot to the front counter to get my gun fixed. I was trying to master walking on the floor that was covered with a decade’s worth of paint without slipping, when I came face-to-face with two orange players. Oh, hey, it was my best friend and another friend I’ve known since kindergarten -- pointing paintball guns at me -- then firing paintballs at me. Lucky for me, Meghan was a horrible shot, but Travis pegged me up toward the shoulder. Surprisingly enough, it didn’t hurt. But that could be because I got hit in the vest. I managed to sneak around the rest of the day without getting hit. When we were all finished, everyone had beastly welts that they were comparing with each other. I’m not going to lie, I was a little jealous of the war wounds that everyone else had to show off for their valiant efforts on the battlefield. But not really, because I didn’t really want purple bruises on my arms to go along with my Prom dress. Although I spent a lot of the time crouching in a box or scampering from spot to spot, I had fun, and I would definitely give it another go. So, if you have the chance to go try out a new sport, do it! You might surprise yourself. You only live once, why not enjoy it Cherish your friends and enjoy your time with them Sit around and feel sorry for yourself or have fun and live for today I am not saying go out and get in huge trouble. I am telling you that your life is now! Don’t let petty fights get between you and friends. If I have any regrets about high school it would be the fact that my group of friends aren’t friends anymore. We can’t have the fun times we used to have. We have now missed out on so many fun things that we all could have shared. I am not saying it is any one persons’ fault it just happens. It is sad that it happend to us. To all you underclassmen, remember that your friends are important. They are the people that will be there for you. If they aren’t there for you, then they aren’t your real friends. Go have fun and enjoy your family and friends. Be spontaneous. Enjoy your life! You are young, healthy, intelligent people, you have everything going for you, go live your life. After all, you only life once.
The Oakwood Times <strong>Special</strong> <strong>Senior</strong> <strong>Issue</strong> Congratulations <strong>Senior</strong>s! Class of <strong>2007</strong> 52 pieces inside
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- Page 27 and 28: May 18, 2007 From the Lips of Laura
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