MR. SALSICH'S POST

I have especially enjoyed all the comments on this week's forum.  You are brave young people to be so honest. I was particularly struck, just now, by Olivia's post. It takes courage to be so honest and open with classmates and a teacher. When I was her age, I would never have been able to do that. I applaud Olivia, and all of you. 

Olivia's post

I feel confined mostly all the time, but when I fell really confined is when I think that no one cares and my mom and dad are mad at me and when my sister picks on me. I usually go to my room when I feel like this and listen to music and finish my homework if I have any. Sometimes I will stay in my room and not go down stairs until dinner time because I am afraid of what they will say. I think I put it on myself, because in my mind I think everyone is out to get me and I'm afraid to face my fears. No matter how hard I try to face them I can't, and it goes in a big circle, over and over again. The situation gets better than worse, better than worse. It gets annoying after a while, and that's when I feel even more confined.

Zack's Post

To me everything is confining. Physical, abstract, important, superfluous, everything has limitations. In school I have do the work and meet the expectations. On the sports field I follow the rules and play for the team. Hiking I fatigue or meet shear walls of granite. Sitting hear I have 107 buttons to push and if I don't look at the screen I won't know what I typed. Even gravity and brick walls can make me feel cramped and claustrophobic. Even infinity has finite possibilities: it is always infinity and whatever you add or subtract to it the status qou remains.

My problem is I don't want limitations. I want boundlessness. I want to push the limits and find that were never really there. James Cook said, "Do just once what other say you can't do, and you will never again pay attention to their limitations again." I don's care if you have limits but I don't want to ever find mine. I want to just go and go and go and never have to stop going; be it math, soccer, or seeing how many flights of stairs I can jump I never want to have to turn around. I guess that's way space and rockets and the stars or mabye even death appear in my writing so much, I dream of a place where all these limits are gone. I'm hoping for a place with no gravity or brick wall, where I can take the square root of a negative number, write a fifty-two sentence paragraph, even write jubberish and have it be intelligable. I hate to be told, "No, that just can't be done", not when there are more than an infinite number of planets and stars to explore, not until we find a Higgins particle, find the universal equation for everything, and still haven't made "jkaionqegioasdfoiqawewqfei-jgasdoaew" mean something like "the squishy noise of a yellow snowball hitting you in the back of the head and then dropping onto the turtle shell ate your feet". Not until all of that is true will I stop feeling atleast a little confined.

Tristan's Post!

I have rarely been confined in my life. I am happy to say that I am generally around people who want me to spread my proverbial wings, and fly away to wherever I want. This was not the case last year. I must say that since I moved down to Durham, North Carolina, I haven't been in any way the same person that I was before. I was confined. I not only had to bottle up my emotions as a result of having to live with a stepmother who had very different ideals as me. The whole year, I spent my time surrounded by mental walls at home, and social barriers at the schools, where the stress was put mainly on being cool. I started having trouble getting work done, I rarely had friends over, and I walked away with what most would think of as nothing. I know I walked away with new life experience that would change me forever.

Julie's Post

The time when I felt most confined was when I was at the Leadership conference in Boston for 4 days. We were not able to go outside and for four straight days, we had to be under strict supervision. After four days of not being able to go outside or stay anywhere alone, it felt a little overwhelming. On the other hand, we were very busy so we did not think about it too much. I have to admit that at times, I felt trapped in this bubble of people and it felt like it was endless.

Lydias post

Sometimes I feel as though I am confined to my own home. In the summer or on break when it seems like nobody is home, it can get boring hanging out at your house all the time. Doing nothing is great at first, but after a few days, you start to crave some sort of activity. Luckily, I have not had to endure this for long periods of time. However, even in small doses this kind of solitude can be extremely confining. It is very fortunate that there are easy fixes to this confinement, because if I was not able to go to the beach with a friend or do something with my brother to break the monotony, it would be very difficult to make it through the summer.

Kate's Post

Some nights when I have a lot of homework I start to feel confined. The stress that is put on me to finish all my homework starts to worry me and I feel like I have to finish all of it right away. I get so trapped that it starts to effect my work because all I can think about it what happens if I don't finish it all. I always seem to get my homework done and I feel stress free.

Hannah's Post

A time when I felt confined was when I was taking the SSAT's. Once I enter that room, there is no leaving and it's time to give it my all. Usually, the SSAT's dont intimidate me, but this time I knew it would essentially be determining what route I am going to take for the rest of my high school years.

Sarah's Post=]/

Whenever I'm with my best  friends, I feel confined, but in a good way. I can never stop laughing, and I feel like I'm trapped in a bubble of happiness. This bubble pops and pops a little bit more every time my friend makes me laugh, and once it bursts, I really feel trapped and sometimes cannot even catch my breath. This kind of confinement comes at rare times, and when it does, I feel on top of the world.

Wendell's Post

A time when I have felt confined is when I was on a Double Black Diamond trail at Killington Ski Resort. It was taking me a while to make my way down the trail because of the steepness. As went to make a turn I caught my edge and went flipping down the trail, gaining speed every second. This was a terrifying moment of confined. There was no way that I could get out of the flips. It felt like a sense of claustrophobia that I couldn't escape from. Luckily, my brother had been waiting at the bottom of the trail and was able to stop me from going off a cliff. 

Gabe's Post

The time I feel most confined is when I am taking a standardized test. Knowing that I am not allowed to get up and move makes me feel claustrophobic. My mind races and I suddenly feel unable to concentrate. 

Caroline's post

One of the most recent times where I felt confined was the week of exams. The entire day was spent in my room studying. I was allowed out of my room, but when I left, I felt as if I should go back. Somehow, I felt as if I had to study all day with no breaks. Also, during the exams, I was scared to move. I was so stressed and tired that I just wanted the tests to be done with. Next time, I will plan my time better, and hopefully be more relaxed.

Kyle's Post

There is a re-occurrence of times when I feel confined.  These are influenced by my stress with schoolwork, family issues, or my social life.  I feel that when I am stressed I am enclosed by strong bars of invisible worry that laugh and mock me when I try to break free of them.  When I am stressed its usually not because of something someone said or did, its not caused by some event from the past.  My stress usually comes from an event that will take place, something in the future.  That event is kind of like an unknown force that watches me until I get close enough for it to jump in front of me and block my path.  But I usually gain my freedom by keeping in mind that no matter what happens I will still be moving ahead and the problem will be solved.

Scarlet

I must agree with Ceilie that last week I did feel very restricted. But I feel this way most of the time. School, to me, seems very pointless when stuck in classrooms, sitting, writing and trying to obtain information that will likely exit our memories in the next month. In a song by Bright Eyes, he sings, " Well, my teachers, they built this retaining wall of memory, all of those multiple choices I answered so quickly. And got my grades back and forgot just as easily, but at least I got an A." I feel that a lot of us could relate to this. We study to get the grade that will impress our parents and the people around us.  But once we achieve a grade we can be proud of we forget the information. So are we really learning anything in the confinement of our classrooms? Or should we be set free to see the world and learn ourselves from the mistakes we make? I often feel confined when going to school because to me the more rational choice for education would be to let us explore and learn from the world before our years of childhood slip through our ever-changing hands like the flies that buzz around these dull classrooms.

Ceilie's Post

This past week I especially felt confined and restricted. During Exam Week I had to stay absolutely focused on my schoolwork, trapped in a bubble of painstaking effort and solitude as I studied for my final exams. I couldn't waste time dawdling with unimportant things and had to work solely on my studies. I also felt trapped as we were in the classrooms taking the tests. We were all in our own worlds, trying to answer each of these questions correctly with no way to get out of it. Two hours were spent sitting, typing, writing, thinking and all we could do was work to pass the time. 

Kimo's Post

I'd like to think that I would be able to survive without any of my unappreciated abilities. Without sight, I could still survive, though it would be painful to live without seeing all the wonders of the world. Without my arms or legs, I could still function "normally." But I'd never be able to play music, or to dance to m favorite song. My smell, My hearing, my tastes, all bring me back to childhood memories only remembered through these nostalgic experiences. Without an of these, a part of my childhood would die. I simply do not want to be crippled. I do not want to feel the jealousy at everyone I meet, to think why don't I have what they have. But life is unpredictable, and I never know if the next turn around the bend can bring devastation to my life. Sure, I could function without any of these, but do live like that would be to live without a soul.

Sarah's Post=]

If I were to lose any of the abilities I use day in, and day out, I'm not sure what I'd do. To smell my mothers cooking in the morning, to hear the loud, chaotic music that soothes my pains, to play sports, looking at the beautiful snow that has frosted the ground and the trees, and to be able to hug a person; living without these neccessities would be very hard. If I had to choose one to live without, I would choose my sight. I've seen many magnificent things throughout my life, and if I could give a blind person my eyes, I would.

Ty's post

If I was to have any physical handicap, I would mainly dislike being blind. Being blind would be the worse handicap for me because I rely on vision too much to not have it. I cant see friends because i wouldn't know what people look like. I would also not be able to do everyday necessities and that would make my life very difficult for me.

Gabe's Post

The handicap i would dread most would be paralysis. In a situation such as Stephen Hawkings, he is paralyzed from the eyes down. If i were in that situation, it would be torture. Not being able to talk to my friends, not being able to play sports, and not being able walk. Every day i am thankful for the ability to be a mobile person.

Kyle's Post

The worst disability for me would be deafness. You wouldn't be able to listen to music, you wouldn't be able to hear emotion in some one's voice. It would be torture to be able to see people laughing, but not be able to hear the joyous sounds. The delightful sound of the birds, the soft chuckling of a babbling brook, the whispers of the wind as it passes, you wouldn't be able to hear any of those wonderful sounds. I could live without a limb, I could be blind, but I could never be def and try to live a happy life.