Tiny Town Transformations Growing up, Abbie Smith always shied away from crowds. She was known for hiding behind her mom’s legs in public, running when approached by new people, and asking if she could stay in the car instead of going out in public. This tendency toward nervousness was more than just a bad habit; it became a prevalent part of her personality. Starting high school is tough for any incoming freshman, but Abbie encountered an additional challenge entering the newest phase of her life. Unwillingly, she left all of her friends behind and started over at a brand new school. Significantly more rural and much less populous, Doyline High School had practically nothing in comparison to her old school in terms of social and academic
advantages. Her previous school had clubs, honors courses, and football games – her new school offered none of the above. After spending a significant amount of time trying to figure out exactly how to get involved and meet people, she decided to do the once-unthinkable: try out for cheerleading. Two years later, Abbie was no longer the kind of girl to avoid social interaction. Through her experience with cheerleading, she discovered an unexpected personal trait: the love of leadership. She had only been cheering for a year before becoming a team captain, and she soon found herself branching out in other aspects of her life as well. She grabbed hold of any opportunity – club, homecoming court, fundraiser – that her diminutive high school could offer. Once the kind of girl who was too afraid to speak to cashiers, Abbie became a salesperson and gradually worked her way into a leadership position at her favorite local store. Abbie’s newfound independent spirit continued to lead her along new paths and eventually inspired her to stray from her small town’s norm of attending a local college. It is because of her tendency toward leadership and pursuing new adventures that she chose to leave her comfort zone and enroll in Louisiana State University, leaving hours behind her the safety of her hometown, job, and loved ones.
After reading the case study Welcome to the new town manager, by Mary Jane Kuffner Hirt, I established three major problems the community of Opportunity needed to correct. These problems involved the water & sewer system, the balancing budget, & the pay-as-you-go method. The city manager, Jennifer Holbrook, must implement strategies that would correct these problems quickly.
High school. It’s tough. Especially if you’re a freshman. Everything changes when you get to high school. You start to notice specific people more, your friends start to change, and even your likes and dislikes change. These may just sound like the typical high school cliche sayings, but in the novel Sleeping Freshman Never Lie, written by David Lubar, Scott Hudson had to go through all of that in just his first year of high school. Throughout the novel, Scott Hudson encounters many changes in his freshman year of high school including, the arrival of a new baby sibling, friends coming and leaving, being on student council, writing for the school’s newspaper, working on the school’s play, all while he is chasing the “girl of his dreams”. The
8th grade, 8th grade from the opening day to the signing of the yearbooks. This is the year of memories, goodbyes, and regrets. 8th grade and I’m still realizing that there are people in the world that would die to go to a school like this. A school where every body knows everyone’s name, respects everyone, and where violence and fighting are about as common as the Yankees missing the playoffs. When I’m done with my homework and go to bed, as the days of 8th grade wind down, summer will come and go, and I will find myself in one of those giant, scary places called high school.
Theresa M. Letrello & Dorothy D. Miles (2003) The Transition from Middle School to High School:
The tiny house movement is quickly spreading across America. Many people are discovering the simple, less materialistic life of owning a tiny home. Such people are finding that tiny homes are the best form of living because it is cost effective, environmentally friendly, and energy efficient. They boast the beginning of an adventure filled life, without the stress of modern living.
Have you ever had to transfer to an unfamiliar school and say your farewells to your closest of friends? Has the usual “Oh, you’re the new kid” ever echoed in your ears? What about worrying if you would have to sit alone at lunch or if the popular crowed would accept you? Well, according to her old friends, Ellie Harrison is considered lucky to have the opportunity to move schools. In Meg Cabot’s book, Avalon High, Ellie has moved to Annapolis, Maryland and will start fresh at Avalon high school. Ellie is accustomed to moving around a lot due to her parents being professors; however, Ellie is not sure what to expect as this new beginning in her life is about to start. What she does not know is that Avalon High is not just an ordinary school, and not everyone is who they appear to be.
Experiences in people’s lives shapes them in unexpected ways. Whether that means changing in a positive or negative manner… that depends on the person. However, change is a part of life -- it is inevitable. Sometimes circumstances are out of people’s reach when destiny is only controlled my life itself. In the novel, Everyone Leaves by Wendy Guerra, she reveals that challenges least expected determine a person’s growth in life through the protagonist, Nieve Guerra. Although Nieve desires to leave Cuba, her chances of escape are obstructed by obstacles she faces in the novel.
Jim was always in the company of others. Evidence of this is, "He seemed to move in a continual spotlight. He was a star in basketball, captain of the debating club, president of the senior class and the glee club and he sang the male lead in the annual light operas."(pg.61) Laura was the exact opposite of him. She was a bit of a wallflower. She did not like being around other people because she thought that they were mocking her, so this is why she tried to just blend in with the crowd.
Small towns are looked down upon and criticized because they are small; however, they might be the best town of all. All of the people who reside there are thoughtful of one another, care for their neighbor, and their family. Small towns have good cultural values of what is considered good, desirable, and proper (Schaefer 2016:63). Residents feel like they are a part of something bigger than the town. People who grow up in small towns have better morals, give more athletic opportunities to children, and have a sense of community.
Whom can you trust? Who are your real friends? People are not always, what they seem to be and the truth and their true selves shatter how you see them. In the book paper town, by, john green, Margo learns that the town people she thought she could trust. Her boyfriend and best friend are sleeping together.
Living and growing up in a small town is better than doing so in a big city.
Paper Towns takes place in Orlando, Florida. The book begins in a neighborhood called Jefferson Park. The narrator, Quentin Jacobsen, also known as Q, and his neighbor Margo Roth Spiegelman, both young kids, are at a park and discover the body of Robert Joyner, a man who has committed suicide. After that the book flashes forward to Quentin and Margo as high schoolers who have grown apart. Randomly, in the middle of the night, Margo shows up at Quentin’s bedroom window dressed like a ninja, with black face paint and black clothes, to get out of her house without her parents seeing her.
Imagine it is one’s first day in high school. Standing in front befalls the entrance way to your new future, thinking of what lies ahead from the perspective of a middle school grad. One would perhaps have mixed emotions as to what to expect. Observing the new students around the corridors, it transpires as if they are dragging their feet to progress inside, for the reason that they are fresh from the blissful summer days; they are in exchange, yet again, to the reality of school homework, projects, reports and tests. Some have queries and doubts in their minds; what does one expect of themselves getting into a high school life such as this? “What remains in store for me, I wonder…” “This school year is going to be subsequently much tougher
I’ve finally made it. When you first land here the immediate difference is all around you whizzing around you creating a sense of life. It 's a sense that you rarely have in a small town it 's bigger I can’t quite obtain a hold of it. It moves fast all through the night and during the day. It peaks in all of my senses to create a brand new sense of the life of the city.
Have you ever been the new kid? Have you ever been a new kid to 6 different high schools? Well even if you have been the new kid at least once you know how it feels. The first day you walk into a school you have never been too. Everyone is staring at you. Inside you are freaking out, wondering if you are going to walk into the wrong class or be late. We all know there is lunch during school and this is a hard time for a new student.