I can only write my memoir once

[Richard Stone]

Richard Stone walked into his classroom, and placed his briefcase on the desk. Grabbing a marker from his drawer, her walked to the white board and across the top wrote: “If I can only write my memoir once, how do I edit it?” ― S. Kelley Harrell in two lines on the board. Getting a different coloured pen he wrote Journal topics:, and under that he wrote the following:

R.E.S.P.E.C.T
Write about a person who you consider to be a hero, someone who has inspired you, or someone you have great respect for. Be sure to explain who they are and why they have earned your respect.

Desert Island
Our class has just won a trip to Hawaii because of the hard work that you have done during the past few weeks. Unfortunately, the airplane we travel on has mechanical difficulties and crashes on mysterious tropical island. The bad news is you are the only survivor and you will be there for the rest of your life. The good news is the island has an unlimited supply of food and drinking water and you can have 3 people and 3 objects brought to you on the island. Which 3 people and what 3 objects would you choose and why?

Technomania!
Are you a fan of technology? How has technology changed your life in the past two years? How has it changed the way we communicate as a society? How has it impacted your education?

IssueFest- Take a Stance!
In an article you just read about a plan that is being proposed to pay students for achieving good grades in school. Are you for or against this plan? Take a stance on this issue and support the stance you take with ideas and examples.

2020 Vision
Create a 2020 vision for your own life using a 2, 5, 10 plan… where will you be in 2 years from now, where will you be in 5 years from now, and where will you be in 10 years from now. Be sure to include some information about your personal life, your academic life, and your career life in each of the 2 year, 5 year, and 10 year phases.

Walking back to his desk, he lifted the cardboard box from the floor and placed it on the chair. Opening the box, took out a stack of journals and spread them out on a desk that looked like it was holding the door open, with a sign tapped to the door that said 'pick one' and an arrow pointing toward the journals.

When the bell sounded, Richard moved the desk and closed the door to signal the start of class. "Good morning ladies and gentlemen. He greeted with a warm smile. "As you all entered, you would have collected a journal. If you didn't, please do so now." He paused so that anyone who had missed the subtle hint to pick up one of the books could do so. "This topic is going to be on journal writing. I'm hoping that you took the time since you entered to read the board, and maybe some of you have taken the incentive to actually do what I am about to request. I would like for you to pick one of those topics and use it for the first entry in your journal."

He fell silent to give the students a chance to take in what was on the board and to pick which of the five they wanted to write about. "Some of you may already keep a journal, while this will be a new experience for others. For the next while, this is how we will start our classes, no matter what else we are doing. When you arrive, there will be five topics that you can choose from and then you will spend ten minutes writing. While there is no pass or fail on what you write, please remember to date each entry. Your journal id the story of your life, something your children may even read in the future." He smiled. "Ok, I'll be quiet now and let you all write. You have fifteen minutes, so don't rush through it." He walked over and sat down at his desk, pulling out his own journal, as he may as well do the task he had set for them.

Tag:
Cara-Jean Kitchi
Fionn Paquet
Khalid Al-Kuwari
Martijn van der Berg
Nicole Victors

OOC: the link is for no more than a guide of what the journals look like and what colours it comes in, I don't care what colour everyone chooses, and you can all have the same colour if you want. The link is just a visual because I like visual guides.

[Cara-Jean Kitchi]

Cara adjusted the messenger bag on her shoulder and fixed her hair for what seemed like the millionth time, she just couldn't get her bun to sit properly that day. With a vexed hiss, she deftly yanked the pins out of her hair and let the heavy braid tumble down her back, she'd just let the double French braid hang down.

Walking through the door to the English classroom, she came to a sudden stop when she saw the table of books and after a quick inspection, she selected a light blue journal and hurried over to her desk in the front corner of the room.

Once her desk was set up, she turned her attention to the board. While she didn't think it was required, she quite liked the quote Mr Stone had written up so she copied it down into her binder and then read the rest of what was there, not quite understanding what it meant, and she didn't like that.

She listened to the instructions and nodded her head, the words on the board making sense now. She had kept a journal for as long as she could remember, though she had never used prompts before and doing a journal for class disconcerted her a little as private thoughts went into a journal and she wasn't sure what she thought about writing things down that she would possibly hand into the teacher. After all, enough of her journals had been used as evidence against Andrews during the trail, and now her foster father held those very private thoughts and unwanted memories of hers.

None of the five choices jumped out at her, though the only one she could relate with would be the top. She just hoped that it was okay that the person she respected was an Olympian she had never met; she, like most gymnasts, had lost of respect for Nadia Comăneci, for both when she was an Olympian but also for the work she had done since.

Opening the journal to the first page, she picked up her blue pen, dated the top of the page and began to write, her pen quickly skimming over the page as she wrote down her thoughts and feeling toward the retired Olympian who rewrote the rules for gymnastics when she scored the first ever perfect ten.

[Fionn Paquet]

Finn strolled through the halls as he made his way down to the English class. His eyebrows rose when he saw the table at the door and with a shrug he grabbed an olive green book. "Morning." He greeted the teacher with a smile and made his way to a table in the back row and dropped down.

He read the board an his eyebrows rose, though he listened intently as Mr Stone explained what they would be doing, his nose curled at the thought of journal writing, as surely there were other things, better things, that they could be doing, though he didn't say anything as he read through the options on the board again. He blew out a breath as he read through the options on the board again. The desert island one sounded interesting, so that was the one he picked to write on, turning it more into a short story than what he assumed would be classed as a journal entry.

He opened the journal and dated the top of the page, pressing the end of the pen against his lips, he was lost in thought as he wondered how to start it. Should he start it as him already being on the island? Or should it start before they board the plane and then again when the plane began to have trouble and then continued once he had crash landed? So many options and he wasn't sure what to chose.

[Khalid Al-Kuwari]

English was always a difficult subject. It was exhausting to do all his thinking in a foreign language. On the walk to his next class, he gave himself a mental break by listening to khaliji music until the next bell rang. He grabbed a black journal solely for the fact that it was the only one that didn't look too garish in color. He dropped his backpack next to his desk and sat down. He read through the prompts a couple times making sure he understood all the words. The first one would be easy, the second one sort of made no sense, and the last one just didn't look interesting. He listened to the teacher explain the assignment. He couldn't ever recall journaling as an activity, but maybe it was just an American thing. He dated the first page using both the Gregorian calendar and Hijri calendar. Instinctively, he opened up to the last page first.

Keeping a journal didn't sound terribly interesting. He wasn't much of a feelings person, and it wouldn't be long before the novelty aspect wore off. He tried to think through the prompt. Being paid to go to school and get good grades. Money was a pretty strong incentive for people, so he figured that the prospect of getting paid would mean better work. For the high achievers, it would only be a tangible reward for already good work. It was probably most effective for the students who just needed a little push to get better grades. If it meant more students studying hard, then he was all for it. He put pen to paper and started formalizing his thoughts.

[Martijn van der Berg]

Tijn left the barn just in time, slinging his backpack onto his shoulders as he walked (very quickly) in the direction of the academic building. He walked inside and grabbed the first book on the stack of 'take one' journals, which just so happened to be red. He glanced around, spotting Cara and smiling as he walked over to her, “Hey, how's it going?” He hadn't seen her in the barn earlier, but it was very possible that he'd just missed her. Her ponies had been fed, so he didn't doubt that she'd been around.

As he heard the theme for the next bit of the class, he frowned. Introspective things, that was always fun. Couldn't they just write another story instead? He opened the journal to the first page and then dated the top corner, before he looked back up at the five topics they had to choose from, trying to decide which one interested him the most. Perhaps he could write about somebody he respected... Would talking about a family member count? He couldn't imagine moving to a new country and starting up a new life, like his grandfather had. As long as he made his point clear, perhaps that would be fine. With that in mind, he grabbed his pencil and started writing.

[Deleted]

love is a dangerous game

After her last class, she packed up her notebook, text book and pencil case into her backpack before she headed out. As she left the classroom, Nikki fixed her fishtail braid and placed the familiar purple headphones on her head, walking toward the English Literature class. This time, she was listening to Billy Joel's Greatest Hits and turned into the various corridors and when she read the correct room number, she walked into the class. She saw the pile of journals and turned off her headphones, putting them around her neck before she glanced at the remaining journals. She picked up the pink one and headed to an empty desk. Nicole put her headphones into her bag and pulled out a pen. She read the board and as soon as her eyes laid on the R.E.S.P.E.C.T topic, her eyes widened. She put down her name, date and the topic and started to write about her grandfather. The pen seemed to flow across the page and the silence set in. Nikki placed her pen down on the table and reached down for her water bottle, wanting to take a drink of water. She opened the bottle and took a few quiet sips before she set it back down on the desk. All she could hear were other students writing their journal entries. Nikki picked up her pencil and continued to write about her Grandfather and how he basically raised her ever since she was a young girl.

notes

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Outfit

[Richard Stone]

Richard noted the mixed reactions to the task at hand, but he'd address that later.

When he had finished his journal entry, the book was closed and tucked back into the top drawer of his desk. Rising to his feet he walked over to the board and erased the topics, as the students were all writing so that didn't need them any more. He then wrote across the top: Why you should keep a journal: And then waited until the time was up. "There are many reasons why you should keep a journal, and here are the bullet points for the why. The rest of the explanation with be in the handouts you'll get at the end of the class." He grinned, knowing that he could hand them out now, but then he wouldn't get any creative answers from the students when he asked them why they thought they should keep a journal, not really caring in the slightest if they did or didn't want to, and he wrote down each point as he spoke, putting each on a new line. "*Your journal has the potential to be both therapist and a dear friend who listens without judging or interrupting and is open 24 hours a day. *By getting into the habit of consciously and attentively looking back over your journals, you’re able to track your personal patterns of behaviour that help you achieve goals and respond effectively to challenges. *Journaling is inexpensive, accessible and is easily self-managed. *Journals are creative portals. Because you’re in dialogue with your inner life when you write in a journal, you solve problems and get creative. *Journals give voice to your dreams and aspirations but are also safe spaces to release negative feelings, hurts and disappointments that could get in the way of those dreams and aspirations being realised. *Keeping a journal requires us to write out our goals. *Writing requires us to think through the why’s and the how’s. *A journal proves we have solved problems in the past. * Keeping a journal naturally reminds us to articulate next steps. *Writing reminds us to think beyond the obvious. *Even a private journal provides accountability. *A written account allows our story to inspire others." He capped the pen again as he turned to face the students. "Can you think of another reason to keep a journal?"

[Cara-Jean Kitchi]

"Good morning." Cara softly returned Martijn's greeting. "At least we aren't writing fiction."

Her pen moved quickly across her page as she put her thoughts into writing; her neat and precise script filled the page easily and before too long she had finished and she placed the pen at the top of her desk as she read through what she had written. It felt strange openly writing in a journal, when her journals had always been so private... at least until recently anyway.

Closing her journal, she moved her folder closer, picked up a pen, and listened intently as Mr Stone spoke, and even though he has said that there would be handouts, she still wrote down everything that was said. She could understand why each point would create a good reason for a person to keep a journal, but she knew that her reason to write down everything came from more psychological reasoning. When the teacher asked the question, she wrote down the answers given by the other students but didn't offer a reason of her own, as she couldn't think of one that hadn't already been put on the board, and the reason of 'to get it out of my head' didn't exactly sound like the most sane thing to say out loud.

[Fionn Paquet]

Finn was having a blast writing about his desert island, even though a couple of times it had almost been a dessert island, and he'd already created his home on the island before he remembered that he was able to call in reinforcements, though that's where he was stuck as he didn't exactly have any close friends that he'd want to share an island with, so he took full advantage of the word can and opted not to have any people arrive, though the objects he chose were: a trampoline - he was a gymnast after all and, while he could use other things around the island for the other apparatus, he couldn't replace the tramp. Flint, as it lasted longer than matches and he wouldn't always need to use it. And lastly, a sewing kit.

When the teacher called attention back to him again, Finn was pleased with what he had created and he listened as Mr Stone spoke more about journaling. A grin appeared on Finn's face as he couldn't wait to tell the Congressman about their current topic, though he would just forget to mention they were personal journals, as he was enjoying his idea of convincing the man that he was going into photo-journalism when he graduated. "It gives us proof of who we are." He said.