One Book, One Bettendorf

It was raining the day my Mom had her car accident. It was the kind of rain that was obnoxious because it would pour and then drizzle all day long. But that afternoon I wasn’t concerned about the rain. The only thing that I could focus on was the sight of the driver’s side door of my Mom’s truck crushed in.

It was a Wednesday afternoon and as soon as I finished my biology test, my Mom was supposed to meet me to take me home for fall break. She said that she had stories for me from back home and we were both extremely excited to see each other. Unfortunately we wouldn’t make it home as soon as we had hoped we would. As I was packing, waiting for my Mom to arrive at my school, I got a call from her. When I picked up the phone she was hysterical. She told me that she had been in an accident close to the school, but that she was okay. I have never heard or seen her upset like she was that day, and when she said she was okay, all it meant to me was that she wasn’t seriously injured but could be hurt.

In a panic, I grabbed my keys and my phone and ran. I ran as fast as I could to where she was. When I was about one hundred yards away from the crash site, I could see it. Her truck that we called “big red” was completely smashed in on the driver’s side door. At that point, I couldn’t tell the difference between the rain and the tears on my face.

When I finally reached her side, we embraced through the shattered window. Her door wouldn’t open because of the impact from the other car. Other than a scratch on her hand from some of the glass, a bruise on the arm, and being a little shaken up, she was completely unharmed. The other driver was unharmed as well, but his car was totaled. We ended up driving home with the door smashed, no window, and it was still raining. We were able to repair “big red” and the insurance company later told us that if that had been any other car, then my Mom would have been seriously injured.

I believe that my family is the most important aspect in my life. I was willing to do whatever it took to get to my Mom that day to make sure that she was alright. For me, my family is everything. I don’t know what I would do without them and I don’t know what I would have done if something had happened to my Mom that day. My family members are the people who will always be there for me, and I will always be there for them.

Rachel Senkpeil

I believe the most significant question I can ask is “why?” Why is why the most important question? Throughout life I have constantly been pestering people with the question as to why they act the way they do. Most people do not like this, however, I feel it is necessary in order for me to understand what I am talking about. Besides, how can I truly understand something without understanding the implications? Many people assume I am referring to more difficult philosophical questions which is true. Nevertheless, it is often times far more important to question the things I believe in without doubt. Soon I see that many things I believed to be true are in fact overlooked and taken for granted. As long as I am capable of retaining that child like curiosity I will always find solace in the questioning and deconstruction of ideas however small they may seem. In truth, whether I find the answers or not is irrelevant. It is instead the questioning that I learn from, not the answers. Therefore, if I were to pick one question to be the most important it would be: why?

In addition, look at how versatile the word is alone. It can be applied to an infinitesimal amount of areas. Look at religion, all doctrines and spiritual texts are merely answers to the questions why? Maybe the scripts weren’t even intended to answer questions but instead used as a means to invoke further questioning. Regardless, of the context in which it is used it is an all around good question. It can be used relentlessly over and over yet get nowhere but somehow it is that innate human curiosity which drives us to continually ask the questions why? It is perhaps the most important one word question throughout human existence. Without it we would not have been able to achieve what we have in the fields of science or technology. This goes to show the power of questions. The mind was built for questioning so why waste it?

Ben Sidmore

I believe that competition is a force that drives us to become the best that we can be.  Early in my life I remember some instances of competition that may not have been life altering, however, they still were important. In pre-school or kindergarten there were times when the teacher made the class copy notes and I always tried to be the first one done. As fast as I tried there was always this one girl that ended up beating me every time. One time instead of copying notes I watched her to see how she always got done before me. I realized that she only looked up a few times and got the whole thing copied, while I was looking up for every word and sometimes even twice for longer worlds. So from that point on I worked on trying to read more than one word and then writing what I read down. Even though I knew she probably didn’t even try to be the first one done, through scouting my competition I ended up beating her.

Mortal Kombat II is a video game I will never forget. I remember how fast I became the best at it and beat everyone I played. However I could not beat the 1st player mode. Time after time I failed to the computer. I tried everything I could think of to beat it, played with every player, and used all the moves but in the end still ended up losing. I became so frustrated that I threw it in the water hoping it would break so I wouldn’t be tempted to play it again. It was a misfortune when it didn’t break and I continued to still play it. I ended up buying a guide for the game which led me to beating 1st player mode. Even though I beat the game it still won in the end. I did not feel justice in not being able to beat it without help. Also the game took so much of my time and made me so angry it was not worth it.

In a way I believe life is like Mortal Kombat. The best will win most of the time, however, they are still beatable. No competition big or small is worth trying to lose.

Aaron Gustafson

It was after quitting my job at a grocery store that I learned food service was the way to go. The work is way easier and the pay is the same of higher. You get to make and prepare an essential part of everyone’s day. If you’re allowed to eat some of what you make that’s just an added bonus. The best part of the job is that if anyone messes with you, there’s going to be hell to pay.

I find that pizza places are the best. You have the most diverse co-workers and the food is great. The managers can be a pain but you learn that what they say isn’t really that important. Honestly, if you are older than twenty-five and you work in a pizza place you’re wasting your life. The only bad part about the job is that you can’t eat every slice of pizza. If you did, you would find yourself quickly out of a job.

Sometimes you will get the occasional jackass who thinks that he is having a worse day than anyone else and therefore giving himself the permission to be an ass. Even if this is true and he is having worse day than anyone else, that won’t excuse bad behavior in your restaurant. If this happens just give him a stern look and nod your head. Believe me he will shape up and act proper. If he doesn’t catch your drift and continues to be an ass just put something nasty in his food. Under the cheese that way he will eat it and won’t even realize it.

Being in the food business gives you power over people’s lives. You have the power to affect the lives of your customers in which ever way you see fit, depending upon how they act. You do easy work and get paid just as much as anyone else with a minimum wage job. This is why I believe that food service is the best minimum wage job on the planet.

Jordan Kerr

I believe that people should be afraid! People should be afraid of UFOs. Yes, UFOs are a big question that needs an answer fast. We all know of people who have seen these aliens. There have been many sightings where aliens have been spotted but the events have been covered up by our government. Our government has been hiding this important issue ever since they first appeared. Why is the government hiding this terrifying issue from its people? They are doing this because aliens are much faster, smarter, and much more advanced than us. They are a major threat to society and this can cause a panic in our world.

In 1947 in Roswell, New Mexico, a flying saucer crashed on a ranch. The U.S. military began a top secret investigation of this crash. The government tried its best to cover up this issue and stop the media from revealing to its readers what happened on that mysterious night. We as citizens only know that a crash happened on that night and nothing else. The government, however, knows much more than its people about this occurrence. In many similar events like this one the government has done a great job of covering up the story. Many events like Roswell will happen in the future and the government will lie to its people and coat the true story.

If you’re thinking now of UFOs, then let me tell you, you are not alone. There are many people like me in this world that want to know the true stories. Most people, however don’t care of this issue because it doesn’t effect their lives. This is the main reason why today UFO books in our library are collecting dust. The government needs to tell the truth to its people before they come. Sometimes the thinking about this issue worries me that one day they are going to come and people will not be prepared. So the next time you look up in the sky at night, you are not only looking at bright stars but there are people up there looking at you as well.

Nishan Singh

I believe in helping people-all people. Some may say that the little deeds really don’t count in the long run, or that some people don’t deserve to be helped, or that they need to learn their lesson the “hard way” to “learn responsibility”. I’m not suggesting that you guiltlessly spoil anyone you may come across, but it’s good to remember that a helping hand is always greatly appreciated. Everyone deserves help every once in a while, and not just the ones that I may deem worthy.

Sometimes when I’m walking to second period, I see a group of people huddled outside the obviously locked door. For on reason or another, they are just arriving to school and are too lazy (or don’t have enough time) to walk around to the front of the school to the correct door. They’re practically shivering. They knock and beg and plead for someone to let them in. Of course, not all of them are innocent.

Many of them have a first period study hall, but many of them also just felt like skipping. They got to sleep in and take their time getting ready and maybe even enjoy a hot breakfast, while I suffered through the horrible class known as government. Why should I help them? Those kids need to take responsibility for their actions and be late. Maybe they’ll even get a detention for it. They deserve to be left out in the cold, right?

And yet, I let them in, because this is a huge analogy for life itself. Sometimes you have to forget about whatever feelings of hate or revenge you have for someone. Sometimes you have to just get over it, because people need your help.

After I let them in, they joyously thank me and sprint to wherever they may be going and I smile to myself. I smile because I helped someone out today. I could have saved someone from getting that dreaded fourth tardy of the semester, thus saving them more than a few Saturday schools. I could have saved someone from simply suffering the embarrassment of arriving late.

It may seem small, but the small things add up in the long run. I’m proud to be one of those nice girls who lets the late kids in before second period. Some may call me a pushover, but that’s ok. I’ve probably let them in before second period at least once anyways.

Erin Claeys

The earliest combination of the pencil to the eraser dates back to the late 1850s by a man named Hymen Lipman. He patented his revolutionary idea and sold its rights to another man named Joseph Reckendorfer for $100,000. Little did he know that the intuitive idea and design would make such a great impact on the future of writing. But I’m not here to tell you the history of the modern-day writing utensil; I am here to explain just why pencils do have erasers. There are two diversions of this thought, the literal, and the metaphorical.

You see, erasers were first put on pencils as a way of removing pencil (graphite) from certain papers. The eraser was an easy way to clear up a mistake, that humans often do, and rewrite it on the same parchment that the mistake was previously written on. Instead of having to start over completely because of small error, you could simply take out your eraser and smoothly rub away your mistake. Simple right? Before the time of erasers, one mistake would ruin the entirety of whatever it was that was being written. But, perhaps the time before erasers taught people to be careful of what they wrote. Maybe not.

Yet there is another whole perspective on which to view the purpose of erasers on pencils: metaphorically. I believe that erasers were put on pencils because of the fact that people make mistakes in LIFE. It is only human to do so. Yet unlike the simple rubber eraser, it is much more complicated than rubbing away mistakes in life. Mistakes in life are much harder to erase, if you will. You have to work hard to resolve and/or fix these “errors”. I like to call these types of fixes, “life erasers” simply because of the metaphor of erasing a humanly mistake from one’s life. But, don’t worry if you run into a life mistake, life is full of ‘em, as long as you learn from them, you can avoid running into similar life mistakes later.

The reason why there are erasers on pencils is to erase the mistakes that people make in writing. Fact: people make mistakes. Fact: people can “erase” these mistakes with kindness, support, and just plain ol’ love. Learn from your mistakes, save the eraser for something else.

Lucas Meyer

I believe in trusting your instincts because when you don’t, you always wish you could go back and follow them. I say this because there has been many times when I wanted to do something and my instincts were telling me to do it, but for some reason I seemed afraid or scared to do it. When I didn’t follow what my instincts were telling me, I paid for it in the end.

One time that I will never forget is when I was sitting at the poker table with six friends and we were playing Texas Hold’em. The blinds were 10/20, I was dealer. I was shuffling the cards and for some reason I had a feeling this hand was going to be big. Wasn’t sure if I was going to win, just I knew that there was going to be a lot of chips in the pot. I dealt out the cards to my friends and waited until my turn to look at my cards. The small blind and big blind posted their 10/20 blinds and the rest of my friends folded until it was my turn. When I looked at my cards, I saw QQ. Of course I raised it, I mean I’m dealer and most likely have the best hand, so I raised it up to 100. Small blind folded right away, but big blind re-raised me to 200. I was thinking he had KK or AA, so I re-raised him to 350 to see what would happen.

The worst possible thing happened to me, he went all-in. He had more chips than me, so if I called and lost, I would be out. I saw there and thought. Of course my other friends at the table were getting mad, saying hurry up, but I couldn’t decide the right choice. My instincts were say call, but I felt bad about it and thought that I was beat. So I folded and I asked him what he had and he flipped over JJ. I was so mad! I couldn’t believer that I folded! We started flipping the cards over to see who would have won. The flop was Q of spades, J of spades, and 2 of diamonds. I literally stood up so fast and just started yelling. The turn came with an A of clubs and the river was an 8 of clubs. My friend laughed and called me an idiot. Four hands later I ended up getting out on some stupid flush that one of my other friends caught on the river.

I couldn’t believe how stupid I was and from then on I knew that if my instincts were telling me something, to always follow them because somehow they are just always right, maybe not for you, but always for me now. What an experience it was for me. That right there has made me a better Texas Hold’em player today

Kendall Cosgrove

A relationship is the same as a friendship with some added attachments. Friends make and break all the time, but the second they reconcile all the “breaking” is forgotten. I believe that a relationship can be treated just like a true friendship. Mistakes happen but most friends forget and move on. When this happens in a relationship all is lost and the world is over.

In today’s world mistakes define a man or woman. Whatever mistake they make, it is stuck with them; they are labeled forever more with their one bad choice. Relationships are the definition of mistakes. Young teens can become so focused on finding the perfect man or woman that the only thing they see is the mistakes of their perfect partner and then leave them. Friendships don’t work like this. Friends fight all the time and still find a way to ignore the mistakes. So many more relationships would work if only teens could focus on the good.

Being in a relationship for over a year really teaches me to not focus on the mistakes but focus on the good. As a seventeen year old it isn’t easy. We have broken up twice about six months into the relationship. Mistakes were made but when that person became my best friend I learned to forgive. Just like any fight with my friends I got over what had happened and did what I needed to do for myself in order to keep my closest friend around. That is what a true relationship is, a real friendship.

A real friendship is not just break-ups and make-ups. A true friend is someone that is trustworthy even with a deepest secret. For example, my boyfriend knows more about me than my best friend. I feel comfortable enough with him as a friend to tell him these secrets and know that I can trust him. Sometimes I feel that this is what parents do not understand about teenagers in relationships. I hear a lot of parents say that they do not get why their child does not just date and not be so committed at a young age. What I believe they do not understand is that a committed relationship is more than what some time parents worry about. That someone is someone who is always there to listen and can normally have the right thing to say, every time.

I look forward to a phone call every night because normally my day is very stressful. That phone call is what relieves my stress because it is not just a boyfriend calling it is a friend calling because they want to. It is someone who really truly cares to call and ask how my day went, and will listen to me rant about classes and drama. This I believe is what a true relationship is, a true friendship.

Kelsey Hull

I will live until I die, but I will not die before I’m dead. Having advanced almost three score and nine into this life I find life to be a most important consideration. Life in the sense of “living” rather than “life or death”. Taking what is here-now and enjoying that to the fullest.

As a child I had no concept of what life was except that it was. In mid-life I lived with an arrogant possession of it, some thought without any consideration of tomorrow. Others just shook their heads in wonderment and let me go on. My boss, Corps of Engineers Colonel, saying “You’re so far out on the cutting edge you’re slipping in the blood”. My theory was if you want more do more. If the candle isn’t bright enough, light the other end. Do more? Cut the candle and light those ends.

Then I had an incident. Excruciating pain in my back and chest. I couldn’t expand my chest to draw a breath. Want more, do more. I quickly took up diaphragmatic breathing (stick your tummy out when you breathe in) and avoided suffocation. After about 6 weeks the Chiropractor saw something he didn’t like, the Internist didn’t like it either nor did the Cardio-Vascular surgeon. This incident is a Type IIIB aortic dissection, which at the time meant nothing to me.

This is where an attitude adjustment is supposed to come in. With that name I could go to the Merck Manual and look it up. Very interesting statistics. 80% die in the first 30 days with an additional 12% to follow within 5-years. Wow, an 8% 5-yr survival rate! Guess I should be thinking in the sense of life or death, right? Got some positive reinforcement along those lines. John Ritter and Lucy were both in the 30 day majority. A retired Doctor asked, “What’s it like living with a time bomb in your body?” followed by “I’d rather have cancer”. (Not sure but I think he must have been a proctologist.) A contrasting opinion came from a friend’s bridge opponent, a practicing physician. “He has what? He’s still alive? He’ll live a long time. Two spades.”

I pondered my options for two or three seconds. I was here-now. Life had always meant living. I decided it still did. My Doctor knowing my weekend recreational activity was building retaining walls out of 8’ railroad ties gave me a 50# lifting limit. Also knowing I had lived in big snow country (Green Bay, Michigan’s UP, and Colorado’s mountains) said no snow shoveling! Shucky darn. Two restrictions I’ll have to learn to live with.

I still run across those who know nothing about me but are of the same opinion as that proctologist, that I am lucky to be alive. (Emphasis on lucky, not alive!) I allow them their thought with the caveat that it ends at my nose. To those who listen I tell them that I will live until I die – and I will not die before I’m dead.

Richard Lemke