Coming of Age Draft

           So there’s this girl who didn’t play kickball with everyone during recess because she’d rather be doing some extra credit assignment she had volunteered to do or she was too busy reading the newest addition of National Geographic magazine. That was her idea of fun. While others surrounded themselves with friends and the latest fashions, she was perfectly content with the comforts of her studies, learning was the highest of her passions. Her success in school and the never-ending enhancement of her intelligence was what she had valued most.

           She thought of her mind as if it was a library. A library that was under constant renovation, constant improvement. It was her responsibility to fill the library with an overflowing amount of books and knowledge. She felt as if she had more books in her library than most of the other kids at her school, and she was proud of that. She was exceptionally smart, she was the “nerd” with few friends, but she was happy. Up until middle school, that had been my whole life. I was the girl who loved science instead of shoes, read scholastic catalogs instead of magazines. 

           When my elementary school days came to end, things started to change, starting with my address. After living in North Carolina, stranded in the country for way longer  than I would deem healthy, 5 years to be exact, I moved here to Hawaii. Getting out of the cornfields was one of the most exciting things that has ever happened to me, I was thrilled. For the first two years in Hawaii, I was homeschooled. Those two years I felt as if I was sheltered from the rest of civilization, I didn’t have many friends, didn’t get out much. So without much to say about my middle school years, it was pretty uneventful. But middle school also came without transition. 

           Going from a small home schooling environment to a public high school with over two-thousand students, I had no idea what to expect. And the best image of high school I had put together in my head was a compilation of High School Musical and Hannah Montana, if that tells you anything about my cluelessness coming into high school. I came into high school with an all too much naive perspective on how it was supposed to be. I was expecting cheery teenagers that would all get along tremendously well, and they’d all be into getting good grades and I could go on with a long list of completely unrealistic expectations I had of high school. In short I was very unprepared for what was to come.

           

Writing Position Statements

3 Position Statements

1. Tourist deaths at local attractions are the state’s fault because there was a lack of signs posted, they weren’t posted around other potentially hazardous areas, and if there were signs, they weren’t adequately maintained to warn visitors. 

2. Tourists are responsible for their safety when visiting hazardous attractions because; signs have previously been placed in various sights and attractions only to be ignored, the state can not be held responsible for any lack of common sense on the person’s behalf, and it’s impossible for the state to know every hazardous point of every attraction, it’s the tourist’s responsibility to know which points to avoid. 

3. In Hawaii there are many incidents at tourist attractions but both sides are at fault because there are a lack of signs on the governments part, tourists should use common sense, and tourist services like Triple A should have warnings about attractions.

Mini Essay

          Though the amount of fatal accidents that occur in the state of Hawaii's main attractions are few, they are still very real and tragic. Millions of tourists come to Hawaii seeking new adventures and thrills, and much of them flock to the many outdoor sites and attractions that Hawaii possesses. Some of these adventurous locations can be hazardous, and there's controversy over who is responsible for the safety of the visitors that visit these dangerous sites, the state or the visitors themselves.

          The responsibility of the safety of Hawaii’s tourists should not be completely placed on the state of Hawaii and it’s departments, much of the tragic mishaps that occur in hazardous attractions are in large part due to the tourists themselves. Tourists are responsible for their safety when visiting hazardous attractions because; signs have previously been placed in various sights and attractions only to be ignored, the state can not be held responsible for any lack of common sense on the person’s behalf, and it’s impossible for the state to know every hazardous point of every attraction, it’s the tourist’s responsibility to know which points to avoid. In the island of Maui on Nakalele Point blowhole, occurred the disappearance of California resident, David Potts. In the parking lot of the site, there is a sign that reads "Blowhole: Park and walk at your own risk". Potts was dancing around the blowhole when a wave struck him from behind and took him into the hole. This goes to show the previous statement on the responsibility of tourist's safety is quite accurate, Potts was aware of the blowhole's danger, but he still chose to act recklessly in it's presence. After the incident, search teams returned to the site the same week and noticed that visitors "continued to gather around the blowhole, despite being told that someone in that same location just a few days ago". Though warnings and signs should be provided, in the end it is up to the individual whether they heed the warnings and act accordingly, or act unheedingly. 

          In the end, the safety of tourists lies in their own hands. It's their responsibility to have the right sense of judgement in the right time, the right place, or in Potts' case, the wrong place. The state should have signs placed at these locations, but the majority of the liability falls upon the tourists and their ability to make sensible decisions. 

As I come into a new year of high school, I'm coming ready and eager to further expand on what I had barely touched on last year, my goals of academic and scholastic growth. But this year is about more than just the books and extensive essay writing, its a time for me to go out and find myself; who I am, where I want to be, what I want to do. And that's where my new blog title came from, I am investigating my own juvenile self, searching for the who, what, when, where, and why's of myself and my life.

The revisions and changes I made to my blog are fairly simple. I went to a more simple background, went with simpler colors, added simpler fonts. The image I used for the header was a photo I took while I was hiking, and the font I selected in the header is a clean, fresh looking font that I think brings a little more to it all.

Thanks for stopping by!

GLO Portfolio

http://breemarteen.wix.com/final-portfolio

Metaphor Poem

A sailboat
constantly finding myself being pulled out into the ocean
because the
simplicity of the shore
won't satisfy me anymore
my sails taking me
beyond places I've ever seen
the course I'm set upon
so easily affected by
the winds and waves so keen
keeping me from finding home
I am a sailboat.

Metaphor Poem

A sailboat
constantly finding myself being pulled out into the ocean
because
the simplicity of the shore
won't satisfy me anymore
my sails taking me
beyond places I've ever seen
the course I'm set upon
so easily affected by
the winds and waves so keen
keeping me from finding home
I am a sailboat

First Semester Writing Portfolio

http://beachygurl4ever.wix.com/breemarteen