Quit Dreaming, Start Living

            Do you remember being a child and riding an imaginary mythical creature across the pastures of your living room?  The carpet transformed into a grassy sea of luscious beauty unknown, and your walls became trees with framed faces that spoke to you in a secret language.  And you, you were the ruler over all of your made up empire riding across the lands of your owning on the most majestic beast known to man.  Well, being a student at Lake Hamilton, you can turn your dreams into something more, now that you are older, and start living your chosen reality.

            Growing up in the Lake Hamilton School District, we have been allowed to express ourselves and have been given many opportunities to expand our horizons and establish a concrete foundation for a stable future.  Lake Hamilton has given us the tools, such as leadership, organization, and responsibility, which we need in order to be efficient in the world as independent citizens of society.  It has given us the knowledge we need to be a productive generation. 

To begin, Lake Hamilton is the number one rated school district in the state of Arkansas based on scholastic criteria.  Lake Hamilton has reached many goals in the task to better the education standards for students.  First, the school opened up more doors for students to be able to take Advanced Placement courses.  An Advanced Placement course is a class that allows students to challenge themselves and receive college credit if applicable.  Taking an AP course also gives students the contingency to apply such tools as leadership, organization, and responsibility to the well-being of their success in life. 

AP students must be leaders and take the initiative to be punctual and in command (therefore they have beating sticks).  But, they must also be willing to listen, as a good leader is required (so big ears are apart of the criteria).  Advanced Placement students are organized and have their plans in order.  They generally know exactly what they want and strive to keep order when completing their (field) goals.  And last, these students are responsible and do not solely rely on their teachers to pull the slack when they do not understand something.  They perform research and go through a lot of trial and error before they get a project even remotely correct and then there is the task of revising.  The teachers basically say we suck until we reach perfection.  AP classes are rigorous and take precious time and attention to complete.  It takes patience and drive to pass and someone who is willing to figure things out on their own (a diabolic super genius or Scott Fredericks).  After taking an Advanced Placement course, students are required to take an AP Exam which determines whether or not a student is allowed.  Lake Hamilton has had no problem meeting the standards set by the College Board.  The College Board to AP students means death.  Ok, maybe not death but demise similar to extinction. 

  Being a senior at Lake Hamilton, I reflect on the opportunities that I have had and the risks I have taken.  I have taken two AP classes, AP English Language and AP English Literature, and both of them have broadened my ability as a writer.  In each class, my mind has been stimulated and challenged to think outside the box, although I would rather be buried in a box full of packing peanuts.  I have been encouraged to analyze the hidden meanings and universal themes of riveting and twisted works of literature.  Aside from AP classes, I have also had the chance to express myself through the Future Farmers of America and LH Singers.  I have expanded on my leadership skills and identified my talents through hard work in the FFA and long hours singing in our school’s choir.  Through singing with our school’s choir, I have discovered an outlet to relax and let my emotions blossom into a beautiful sound rather than cause a scene.  I am currently the LH FFA president and am working towards a better tomorrow.  We are collecting non-perishable food items to benefit the hungry members of our society, and anyone can donate!  Besides these great clubs, Lake Hamilton has assisted in helping me find who I am as a person and allowed me to make my dreams turn into a potential reality.  I have dreamed, grown, and learned, and now it is my time to shine and begin living a life all my own.

So, I encourage you to evaluate your tool box and consider your options.  If you obtain a leader’s perspective, organization, and the responsibility of a mature teenager, then you have the best chance to begin living in the real world after high school rather than being forced into the real world, lost in a dream.

Taylor Duke