Last Semester of High School

Sorry for the late post. My life is sorta hectic right now. To sum up the activities I'm involved in during this final semester would take a very long sentence or many short ones, but I'm not one to take the easy way out so here it goes. My activities this semester include: ultimate, IB(which has many categories of its own), playing with the Southwestern Quartet and orchestra, college auditions visits and applications, State Orchestra, hopefully some down time, and East Orchestra, AP Statistics and Film Studies which aren't IB classes so they don't fit within its envelope so I guess they needed to be listed separately.
It feels really odd being a senior, especially in these last few months of my high school career. While my life may not be as exciting as many of the books in which I find myself engulfed, it does have its moments. Throughout my childhood I can always remember seeing these amazing things that Hannah and Andrew were doing, but it was all past a misty barrier, as if the things I was witnessing were in a dream and not a place I could enter. This is not so anymore. When I sat upon the stage with the East High Orchestra at Midwest Clinic this past winter, I had fulfilled one of my many childhood dreams. This is true for many things other than this I've also come to realize.
State orchestra has been an incredible experience for the past two years. My musical repertoire has grown exponentially and my skills as a cellist have as well. The people I was able to meet due to these events are some of the most interesting individuals I have come to know. I have also made into state for the third year. This is definitely a highlight for my life and I am excited to play Stravinski's Firebird as well as the First Essay(the composer is either barber or boyer can't remember). Also in the category of orchestra I have also been granted the honor of sitting principal cellist in the East High Orchestra.
One more place in which my life as come full circle is Ultimate. Once again we have the chance of going to the national tournament. This is taking place in Oregon which has put some strain on us in that we need to fund raise ludicrously fast. Over the last two years we have accumulateda healthy sum of around 4000 dollars but a trip to Oregon would be best done by plane and due to a really inconvenient and kinda dumb rule that club money cannot be used for individuals. An understandable rule in many cases, but apparently this also applies to plane tickets which are bought individually so any chance of going by plane is going to be out of our own pockets or outside of the school fund raising. Several ideas have been suggested for getting around the rule such as investing it in stocks or buying a "club pot of gold" which we would then trade for money that wouldn't be in the clubs name; however we are nothing if not determined and are prepared to do what it takes to get there. It may end up being the many seniors doing a hardcore 30 hour drive with a few people flying. Fun stuff.
I'm happy to say I feel really good about our ultimate team. Two years ago we lost 5 or so incredibly gifted senior players and we weren't sure if we could pull our team together after that but I'd say our team is better now than it ever has been, or at least has that potential. Its in this instance I again see myself having grown as an individual. Freshman and sophomore year I looked up to the upperclassmen as the elite. In my mind they were everything I wanted to be. I'm sure as a tiny underclassmen I admired them almost to a fault and did everything I could to be as awesome as they were. Looking at my skills in the current moment, I feel as if I have mastered the sport of ultimate. I'm not perfect but I believe if I could make a pie chart of the things for which I am in possession of a significant amount of awesome skill, Ultimate would take up the largest percentage, closely followed by cello, and the ability to create unnecessarily wordy sentences. I don't want to sound like a narcissist but I think I can safely say that if my freshman self saw me now, I would be just as high on his list of who he wanted to be, and that is a really good feeling.
Life isn't all good, but it wouldn't be fun without a few challenges to overcome. When I find myself wishing my life were different and that so many things had never taken place I like to think of my favorite Lord of the Rings quote: "So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in the world than that of evil." So as this chapter of my life closes I look forward to the new. As far as I can think I have no specific dreams or accomplishments that I have set out in front of me once I graduate (other than the usual make it through college, get a job, make millions, discover Atlantis kinda stuff), so it'll be a whole new adventure. I hope to find my limits, pass them, and keep on trekking.
Erik Shook
Also the two videos below are just fun. One is cute with some very well done filming and the other is just funny.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09hLxQE5Zuo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LBKVXyrHcw&NR=1