Personal Essay- Event Not Easily Forgotten

It was dark for about three hours now and it was like any other summer night. It was the end of August and I had just gotten home after a typical summer day of hanging with friends and going to the beach. The crickets were chirping which set a nice background tune to put me to bed.  It was a good night; everyone in my family was in bed. I was quietly sitting in my bed when suddenly the silence was broken by the ringing of the house phone.  It was almost midnight when the phone rang.  From the second the phone started to ring I knew that nothing good was going to come from it. I popped out of bed and went down the hall to answer the phone, just has I turned the corner to the kitchen the ringing stopped and I saw my mother standing in the kitchen with the phone. The look on my mother’s face was one that I never want to see again. She was pale white and look like she had seen a ghost. I quickly asked her what was wrong and she started to cry. She finally muttered out that my cousin had been shot. My first instinct was that my cousin who was stationed in Iraq at the time got wounded. However, it happened much closer to home. My mother told me that it was in fact her nephew and that he got shot at highland plaza in Holbrook. 

This was just a quick ten minute drive from my house; I quickly grabbed my clothes and headed out the door. We had to go to my cousin’s house because with all of the confusion my aunt was not sure if she had locked the door to her house. We had no idea what was going on, we didn’t know if the people who shot him could end up going to his house. The ten minute drive seemed like it was forever, not knowing if my cousin was going to survive was the worst part. As we arrived at his house everything seemed normal. I grabbed the bat out of the trunk and headed into the house to make sure there was no one in there. As I look back on that night that was probably a stupid move, especially if there in fact was someone in the house armed with a gun.  I was filled with anger however and really overwhelmed by the whole situation. After checking out the house and realizing that everything was fine I locked the door and we headed to Brockton Hospital. As we arrived at the hospital we met up with the rest of my family. It seemed like my family was the only family in the waiting room at the time. We waited for about an hour for the doctor to come out and tell us how he was doing. He informed us that my cousin was very lucky and that he had been shot in his right shoulder. Apparently the bullet had gone in one side and out the other. He was lucky to be alive; the bullet came within inches of his heart and within centimeters of a main artery. He was in critical condition and had to be flown to Boston Medical Center. We all piled into our cars and headed for the highway on our way to the next hospital. After arriving at Boston Medical Center we finally were able to find out what had happened. Apparently my cousin was sitting in his car in the parking lot of a movie rental store when three kids driving a white Acura Integra pulled up and hit him in the face with their pistol. They ripped him out of his car and then he took off running. It was at this time that he was shot in the back by a pistol, the bullet went in one side and out of the other. He then ran through some woods to a neighborhood where he collapsed on someone’s porch.

Once we got to Boston Medical Center we were informed that my cousin was now in stable condition and that he was going to make a full recovery. I remember that night like it was yesterday, everyone was so nervous and silent while in the waiting room that you could hear a pin drop. One thing that I do not understand about the whole thing is how someone could kill another human being over a car.  Things could have gone a lot different for my cousin that night and he is lucky that he is still alive. The people who tried to kill him however were never caught or tried for the crime. Maybe someday they will get caught but I highly doubt it. My cousin today has made a full recovery and works for a towing company in the same town.  He has told me that he feels weird when he is driving around town because he could walk right by the person who shot him and not even know. This was one of those events that stick with you throughout your life. I never rule anything out if I’m driving through an area that I don’t know because you never know how desperate someone may be.

Party Schools

            Being rated as one of the top party schools in the country may be good for the students but it definitely is not good for the school itself. Schools such as Penn State are considered among the top educational institutions in the United States. I am sure that the professors and the administration would prefer their school to be known as an educational institution over a party school. I am sure that the administration and the University Police Departments at these schools try to crack down on the campus in an attempt to get the school off of the top party school list. I have been told by many people that prior to the number nine rank on the playboy list Plymouth State was more of a party school than it is now. I do notice that there is a very high police presence at Plymouth State. On the weekend I not only see the University Police and the Plymouth Police but also New Hampshire State Police and the occasional sheriffs car patrolling streets such as Russell St., Pleasant St., and High St. While out at parties I notice that after a certain point the police are bound to show up. In a way they do stop kids from partying too hard. I mean it is winter and its cold as hell, there is only so many different parties you can go to in one night without giving up and going back to your room. I know many people who have been arrested on campus for just looking drunk.

Drinking and partying at Plymouth State can be a very fun activity to partake in don’t get me wrong, however it is not always fun and games. There are many things that can go wrong here at Plymouth State at night when you are trying to have a good time. You could get written up by your community advisor or even worse get arrested. I myself have had a run in with the University Police and it ended with a $370 fine.

            On the second Thursday in September my roommate and I had just left a party in the Student Apartments. As we were walking through we met up with another friend of ours that we had just met. We were just standing in the student apartments when we suddenly became illuminated by a flashlight. It was two undercover University Police Officers, as they approached us they began asking questions about who we were and what we were doing. As they approached us the kid that we just met took off running. Me and my roommate were then arrested and brought to the Plymouth Police department where we were held for two hours. We were released without bail and it was just a big waste of time. In the end I was given a $370 dollar ticket and had to take three alcohol classes. It did however get the message to me that the University Police doesn’t mess around. They called in all their resources to catch the kid who ran. They ended up catching him in the end and he got kicked off the football team. After the incident I talked to him and he said he ran because he didn’t want to get in trouble because it might have jeopardized his football season. In the end being rated the number nine party school in the country has caused Plymouth State to become stricter about partying.

Life Changing Moments

  There are many moments in life that have lasting effects on people. People become who they are because of the events that happen throughout their lifetime. Throughout my life there have been many defining moments. However I feel that most of the moments that make you a better person are moments that you can learn from. One moment that I learned from was when I just got my license at the age of sixteen. I was young and wreck less and happy to be behind the wheel of a car. In my opinion I was too young to get my license, as are many kids today. A sixteen year old boy does not have the maturity to be in control of an automobile. As soon as I got my car I wanted to go fast and race my friends around town. I looked at getting a car as more of a toy rather than a tool to get me from point A to point B. I was surely going to lose my license at the rate that I was going until one night in October. This is not a horrible story that will affect people or change their outlook on life. However this did have a lasting impact on how I look at my life and the choices that I make. I was driving north on the highway in a 2001 Nissan Maxima. I then accelerated my speed to over one hundred miles per hour and soon realized that there was a cop behind me going the same speed that I was. He pulled me over and was extremely aggravated when he approached my door. However after talking to me for over ten minutes he informed me that he was not going to issue me a ticket because he lost his ticket book that day. He told me to go home and then sent me on my way. This experience greatly affected the manner in which I drive. However, I also realize that I am lucky that I did not harm myself or others. When driving at those speeds the smallest bump could send you out of control. I am lucky because I am sure that there have been many instances of people driving at those speeds who end up crashing or getting arrested. The moment I pulled out of the breakdown lane I instantly knew that this was going to be a moment that changed my life because I realize that things could have gone differently. I do not think that I was mature enough to handle the responsibility of driving a car. In my opinion I think that kids should have to wait until they are eighteen years old to get their license. I think that many kids today can’t handle that responsibility. The majority of my friends crashed their cars within the first year of getting their licenses because they were doing something that was irresponsible. Kids who are just getting their licenses need to understand that a vehicle is not a toy but more of a tool. I think that if I fully understood that when I first got my license that I would not have made the mistakes that I did. 

              

SuperBowl XLV

The Green Bay Packers are the 2011 super bowl champions. The majority of people that I have talked to were in favor of the packers. At the beginning of the game I thought that it was going to be a blow out, however in the end Pittsburgh came back to within 6 points of tying the game. The Steelers had way to many turnovers to win the game and Ben Roethlisberger’s performance in the first half was poor although he did rally in the second half to bring the Steelers close. Many people just do not like Roethlisberger and would rather see him lose than win. In my opinion I believe that Ben Roethlisberger did not deserve to win a super bowl anyway, He is just a shady character between crashing his motorcycle without a helmet or sexually assaulting a 20 year old girl at a hotel in Georgia. He ignored his coaches wishes to wear a helmet when he rode. This was also the second time he was accused of sexual assault, he was accused a few years earlier in Nevada. His behavior is questionable and should not be considered a role model of children across America like many quarterbacks become after winning the super bowl. I know I wouldn’t want my children to tell me they want to be just like Ben. Stars in the NFL should be held to a higher standard and should not be involved in allegations such as the ones against stars such as Michael Vick or Brett Favre. The Steelers have won the most super bowls in the NFL including one recently. However Green Bay has overcome many obstacles to make it to this year’s super bowl. Their transformation from Favre to Rodgers clearly affected the team’s performance as well as the number of injuries that the Packers roster had.