Mind Over Matter

Senior Survival:

The idea of Senior Survival is for the senior class to participate in activities that encourage them to work together and bond as a class. Last Sunday, AAA made it happen for the first time! After returning home around 10 PM from 4 long days of Leadership Conference, I woke up well before dawn to leave school at 6 AM to head to Collegedale.

I had somewhat of an idea of what was going to happen that day, but at the same time I was totally oblivious. We arrived to Southern University's Outdoor Leadership property and the fist thing I saw was a whopping 40 foot tower. --- I guess I knew what we were going to be doing how huh? The bus pulled into a parking space and it all began.

We did a couple of team building games on the ground before tackling that tower.  Eventually, it was time! The Outdoor Leadership experts explained to us how we were to manage surviving the climb: teaching us how to use the harness and letting us know that one of our friends would be on the ground belaying us--literally holding our lives in their hands.

My friend Kevin and I decided to tackle the "Giants Ladder" part of the tower together. It wasn't long until we developed a strategy that worked! However, it wasn't long either until we were tired out and ready to quit; 3 more steps was the deal and we'd both call it a day and be satisfied. In no time 3 steps were climbed. Simultaneously our female friend made it to the top of the Pirates Ladder.  We both looked up. . .the top was so close. There was no way we were giving up now after a girl made it. In the blink of an eye I was pulling Kevin up to the top platform, 40 feet above the ground.


After lunch, we took a 6 mile canoe trip in the Ocoee River. I love to canoe, and with Dillan as a great partner, this trip was a success! We tackled rapids, maneuvered through rocks, and sped passed the slow pokes displaying the epitome of teamwork.

The adventure ended with a decent dinner at a Mexican Restaurant and hanging out in Chattanooga for a couple hours in the morning.  Senior Survival was a great way to bond our class.

August-Septemer

Geez Louise!! I've neglected this blog so bad!! Things have been crazy busy and1 crazy hectic! So many things have happened since my last post..

Spiritual Retreat:
 
At the beginning and end of each school year, AAA holds a retreat for students to have fun, meet new friends, take a break from school, and most importantly gain a spiritual blessing.  

This year's year opener was like none other: FUN, FUN, FUN!! Students arrived and busted out the swim suits, wasting no time! Out of all the attractions at Cohutta Springs, I only went swimming and attempted to shoot some hoops [due to a rain shower].  However I didn't let that stop my fun, sitting in a dry cabin and talking to friends about basically everything was just as pleasing. 

Roasting marshmallows and making smores is a AAA traditon that never gets old. <--AMAZING! Friday night's worship through song service <-- SURREAL Choir performed for the first time of the school year and did pretty decent! <--PRAISE GOD :P Alumnus, Adam Brown was the speaker for the weekend <--AWESOME!

Choir Retreat:

Unforgettable! AAAs first spiritual retreat was a SUCCESS!! We literally flopped around around our choir directors house and did a lot of nothing. I never realized how relaxing doing a lot of nothing really is! 
www.aaaburrow.com/adoramusretreat

Academics: 

Boy that Senioritis has already kicked in... Kinda.. My grades as of now are all A's!! I've had some pretty low grades  along the way [The F I received on the Beowulf tes today! :P] But luckily those grades are holding up.. Now I just need to get my life together and start applying for schools and scholarships and studying for ACT ..smh 

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The busyness doesn't stop especially seeing that I'm on a bus to Camp Kulaqua in High Springs, FL for Southern Union Leadership Conference.  I return Saturday night to leave Sunday @6:30 AM for Senior Survival followed by View Southern [Southern Adventist University] 
A LOT MORE TO COME!!     

The Classes [Semester 1]

English IV:

English IV is by far amazing!  Every morning I feel relieved that I can walk into school with a smile on my face, knowing that my first class is one I do not resent.  Ms. Cook is an exceptional teacher.  Her skill goes far beyond the fact that she teaches her students well; what makes her such a dynamic teacher is her passion for what she teaches.  She never fails to give her 100% all in what she presents to students.  To me, seeing her job as an "occupation" is inaccurate,  her job seems to be more of a privilege.  It is clear that Ms. Cook takes pride in forming a good relationships with her students and instilling in them her passion of English.  Ms. Cook has definitely helped improve my writing skills and I will miss having her as a teacher when I graduate.


Spanish II:

Mr. Ale is so cool!  He is a perfect example to any young man because he closely resembles the title, "a man of God".  Everything he talks about in worship makes loads of sense.  Mr. Ale is a pretty funny guy, not to mention his amazing Chilean accent.  He gets tripped up on words from time to time which is actually amazing because it brings a lot of personality to class time.  It's bizarre, because no matter how chopped up his English gets, I always get the point he's trying to get across.   If there was anything I would not want to change about Mr. Ale, it would be his accent, and his spiritual example to his students.

As for Spanish class, over the last 2 years of Spanish classes with Mr. Ale, I have learned the most out of all my other previous spanish classes.  Thanks Mr. Ale!


Physics:
Because she is new, I don't know much about Ms. Hinds.  However, I do know that she forces us as seniors to be independent with our work..  She never hands anything to us and forces us to dig deeper into Physics on our own. Ms. Hinds is epitome of peculiarity and abnormality.  If it makes any sense, she acts so youthful but at the same time she demands the respect she deserves.  Ms. Hinds is definitely one of the cool people you'll find at AAA.


Personal Finance:
Mrs. Abbott is one of the toughest teachers.. ughh. She's so.... TEACHY!  In her class freshman year, I thought I was going to DIE!!  I was always scared to take her classes after that. -_-

One way you can track my maturity at AAA is through her classes.  From freshman to senior year, I have transitioned from her Desktop Publishing class being my least favorite to her Personal Finance class being my favorite!  Mrs. Abbott is very descriptive in the way she teaches. She gives lots of examples in class to help us understand concepts better.  Personal Finance is such a practical class that I can certainly use in the future; and because of that, I feel very much relieved to run out of dreadful Physics and run to Personal Finance.

Even though she is a tough teacher at times, I can proudly say that Mrs. Abbott is one of many who has molded my maturation throughout my AAA years.


Choir:
AAA Choir has succeeded through many obstacles during my 3 years in a row commitment.  We've pretty much had a change in direction every year.  This year, our director is Mrs. Gayle Moore.  She has sacrificed so much for us.  She spends money out of her own pocket when she isn't obligated to, takes long trips to work with us, and does so many more "unrequired" things.  She shows a lot of love for each and every one of us individually.  You can definitely tell she enjoys doing what she does! Thanks Mrs. Gayle!

The Buddies

One thing AAA has to offer that almost every student can agree to, is a boat load of friends.

I made it my goal to have some kind of friendship with every student that walks through the door.  

Captured through my computer webcam: Here is a VERY small percentage of friends...

More to come!

- Greg

The Motivation

My first couple days of school started off kinda shaky.  Things just weren't going as planned and I wasn't willing to accept it.  The student body was different, the work load was slightly different, and there was already that one class that I knew would be the death of me.

The wrinkles started to iron out, but it wasn't until the end of the week that gained some closure and assurance that everything would be okay.  Anyone who knows me well knows that Michael Jackson is BY FAR, my favorite artist.  I, being 17, am a HUGE fan owning a lot of rare items and knowing so much more about him than most people ages 30+.  Friday after school, as I was riding back home, my mom's iPod was playing Michael in the car.  Off The Wall, wasn't always my cup of tea, but I did have some kind of love for it.  As a musician, I always seek the musical ingeniousness of a song.  Finally after about 17 years of hearing this song, I was finally able to look past the musicality of the song and dig deeper into the lyrics.  I could always sing most of the lyrics, but I never really sought the meaning of the song until that day.

After a week of foolish anxiety that was oh so stupid beyond compare these words spoke to me and coerced me to view my school year with a whole nother appoach.  With the last note of the song, I made my vow to push foward and look to the finish line. 

With that said, Class of 2011, 8th grade, HIGH SCHOOl, and College.  LETS GRADUATE!!

When the world is on your shoulder

Gotta straighten up your act and boogie down

If you can't hang with the feeling

Then there ain't no room for you this part of town

'Cause we're the party people night and day

Livin' crazy that's the only way

So tonight gotta leave that nine to five upon the shelf

And just enjoy yourself

Groove, let the madness in the music get to you

Life ain't so bad at all

If you live it off the wall

Life ain't so bad at all (live life off the wall)

Live your life off the wall (live it off the wall)

You can shout out all you want to

'Cause there ain't no sin in folks all getting loud

If you take the chance and do it

Then there ain't no one who's gonna put you down

'Cause we're the party people night and day

Livin' crazy that's the only way

So tonight gotta leave that nine to five upon the shelf

And just enjoy yourself

C'mon and groove, and let the madness in the music get to you

Life ain't so bad at all

If you live it off the wall

Life ain't so bad at all (live life off the wall)

Live your life off the wall (live it off the wall)

Do what you want to do

There ain't no rules it's up to you (ain't no rules it's all up to you)

It's time to come alive

And party on right through the night (all right)

Gotta hide your inhibitions

Gotta let that fool loose deep inside your soul

Want to see an exhibition

Better do it now before you get to old

'Cause we're the party people night and day

Livin' crazy that's the only way

So tonight gotta leave that nine to five upon the shelf

And just enjoy yourself

C'mon and groove (yeah) let the madness in the music get to you

Life ain't so bad at all

If you live it off the wall

Life ain't so bad at all (live life off the wall)

Live your life off the wall (live it off the wall)

So tonight gotta leave that nine to five upon the shelf

And just enjoy yourself

C'mon and groove (yeah) let the madness in the music get to you

Life ain't so bad at all

If you live it off the wall

Life ain't so bad at all (live life off the wall)

Live your life off the wall (live it off the wall)

The First Day :(

I walked through those double doors expecting the worst.  I didn't quite get the worst, but I didn't necessarily get the best either.  I can remember all the way back to my first day at Kindergarten and for every grade since then, the first day of school was the best thing in the world to me!  For the first time in 12 years, this day felt no different.  No enthusiasm, no anticipation...nothing.

It's official though! May 21: Baccalaureate @11 AM; Consecration/Parent Tribute @ 7 PM; COMMENCEMENT @ 8:30 PM.  And what better way to motivate my self than to wear my 8th grade graduation cap all day!  The school year kicked off with chapel, getting AAA students spiritually ready for the upcoming school year.  It was followed by 1st and 2nd period- English IV being one of my favorites, Spanish II..not quite.  Lastly it was time for the SA Ice Breaker.

One thing I bet your school doesn't do is have a swimming party on the first day..  go figure.  As odd as it may sound, Ice Breaker seemed to really be a success forcing students to mingle with the new and meet one another.  

I can 100% guarantee you I know exactly why my excitement was at a zero.  Our class was always known for hanging with the big guys.  Of course were the annoying freshman, but we didn't let that stop us from kicking it with the older kids.  Ever since then, that's the way its been.  The grades below us.....errrr NOT SO MUCH.  With that said, the mere fact that our closest confidants are now graduated leaves us lost... bored.  Of course we have each other, but the older kids we looked up to (and often looked down upon lol) are now gone, and we now have to learn to play their role.  

Being a big brother in school is also strange.  I've had plenty of females at school call me their "big brother", but now I literally hold that job title, and it really is a "job title".  Looking after your sister is no joke.  Keeping behind her, watching the knuckle head boys, making sure she's happy, and making sure she hasn't lost her belongings SMH really isn't easy peezy lemon squeezy.  

Today wasn't the bomb, but come on it's AAA, that's more than definitely gonna change! :)  But on a good note, I did realize something.  Best friends are definitely what's up and I appreciate them 100%!  They are my backbone. The care that best friends have for each other is sooo surreal, both male and female.  I mean there's nothing like looking your homeboy in the eye and saying, "I love you man"..on occasion.  You don't even need the, "No homo" followup.  Just that genuine man to man friendship makes things so much easier.  And the female best friend:   There's nothing like the opposite sex setting you strait.  There's just some things the homeboys don't get like the homegirls do.  Then that beauty and finesse.... yup, the dudes can't bring that to the table.

For now, I'm definitely viewing school with a whole nother attitude, so I can actually appreciate my Senior year. And I'm gonna hold those backbones close to get through it together!

Peace!

The Preparation

Almost a week ago I showed up to AAA hours before registration.  Much work was needed to be done, and fast. The school newspaper seemed to be a success so far, but it was my duty to attract parents and students to view the website and encourage them to subscribe.  The goal was to achieve 50 more subscribers to our newspaper.  This number seemed so unreal, but my the end of the day, we had 70+ new subscribers.

Besides this success, I still had to register for school- for the final time.  Locker- check, anthill photo- check, choir- check, trip sign ups- check, books- check.  And the final verdict was announced: it would be english IV, Spanish II, Physics, College Personal Finance, and Choir. And a tentative second sememster: Bible, Pre-Cal, Economics, College Comp 101, and College US History.

This year is no joke! No mercy. Surprisingly, I'm really upset that school starts today, but I'm gonna let that go and accept it. So here I sit on Duluth Hwy in my car just seconds from walking into the building. Here goes nothin!

The Pre-Season

It was just last week that I took a long drive to the school.  As newspaper editor, I had to make some early adjustments.  Sad as it may seem, I felt sooo happy to walk into those AAA doors and sniff that AAA air!  It had been too long, yet the summer went by so fast.  I walked into the teacher work room to be welcomed by my principal Mrs. Forsey, school developer Mrs. Darmody, and Mr. Darmody the yearbook teacher.  It didn't take much time for us to get hard to work.

When the meeting was over, I realized I had a lot cut out for me in the upcoming school year:  Editor-In-Chief, possible spot as a class officer, possibly 2-5 college courses <--- :O AHHH, regular courses, choir ?, and who knows what else.  When does one find chill time.. Oh geez louise, don't even get me started on these trips.  Spiritual Retreat I and II, Senior Survival, View Southern, choir retreat, Oakwood University's College Days. Prayer conference, Italy trip or Kenya mission trip, another possible mission trip, Class trip, Basketball games (in which yours truly will NOT be playing), choir trips, ...etc.  Goodness gracious, my pockets are EMPTY! All A's is this year's goal; and with all of these obstacles in the way, I'll need plenty of prayer.

Soon after the meeting, my parents showed up with their checkbooks and sad faces to register me and oh yea, my SISTER in ^_^ to get us financially clear.

 After their long talk with the finance lady, a peek in my old classrooms and lockers, and a look at the blank wall of where our senior class picture would hang,  I had nothing else to say but, "Here goes nothin!"