Student Models

A Cowboy's Journal I am so upset at myself. I don’t know where my head was. Finally, here I was, with $80 to my name (which is meager compensation for a two-month cattle drive), and then I lose it all gambling. Just one night, and now I am bankrupt all over again. Yesterday was my 22nd birthday, as well as my payday, so I allowed myself a little gambling in Abilene, Kansas, a cow town.

A Fable Once there was a bunny. He had a big problem. He didn’t think he was special. He wanted to be someone different. He went for a walk. First he met a lion. The lion said, “What are you doing, little rabbit? It is a lot of work watching my kingdom.” “Well, then, I’ll be on my way,” said the little rabbit. He thought, “I don't want to be a lion!” Then he met a turtle. The turtle said, “What are you doing, little bunny? I have a long way to go and I’m really slow.” “Well, then, I’ll be off.” The last animal he saw was a mouse.

A Happy Day One day baby Josh came home. He was in a yellow blanket. My mom let me hold him. He was blowing bubbles. He didn’t cry.

A Lesson to Learn My little brother is so irritating. All day long he says, “Eddie, I wonder why people can talk but animals can’t.” Or, “I wonder why the ocean looks blue.” Of course, I don’t know the answers, but I don’t let him know that. I just make up reasonable explanations, and he accepts them as if I’m the smartest person in the world. Before I answer one of his questions, I usually tell him that he’s pretty stupid and asks too many questions. Well, yesterday we both got our report cards. I got B’s and C’s, and he got straight A’s.

A Story of Survival “Brian Robeson was stopped and stricken with a white flash of horror, a terror so intense that his breathing, his thinking, and his heart had nearly stopped.” This quote from the book Hatchet by Gary Paulsen shows why this book was too good to put down. Brian Robeson, an eleven-year-old boy, left his home in New York to go to Canada to see his father. He was on a plane (a two-person plane) in the middle of the Canadian forest when the pilot had a heart attack. Brian was stranded in the air with no real knowledge of how to fly a plane.

Adam’s Train of Ghosts Something happens inside of me when I listen to the music of the Counting Crows. Raw, uncensored emotion pours from the mouth of lead singer Adam Duritz.

Adopting a Pet from the Pound Owning a pet from the pound or Animal Rescue League has many advantages. First of all, a child feels good about rescuing an abandoned or abused animal and giving it a whole new life. Besides, if the animals from the pound aren’t adopted right away, they might be put to sleep. Having a pet also means lots of responsibilities. A child has to feed, clean up after, brush, and exercise the pet. Another great advantage of having a pet from the pound is the price of these cute and cuddly animals.

Ann Do you have a friend who loves you? Well, I did. Her name was Ann. She was a very close friend of mine. She was almost like family to me. Ann was very kind, and she had bright blue eyes and curly gray hair. I loved her very much. She invited me to go swimming every summer. We had a lot of fun all those summers. But she could not get in the water most of the time because she was sick. Sometimes my sisters would come swimming, too. But it was better with just Ann and me because I just wanted to spend time with her. Ann always listened to me when I had a problem.

Ant Poem Ant Very Little Working quietly always Making houses, tunnels, roads Amazing!

Anticipating the Dream “And we are scatterlings of Africa On a journey to the stars Far below we leave forever Dreams of what we were.” —Johnny Clegg I am sitting with my grandparents in the spectators’ section of the echoing auditorium, my baby brother on my lap. I’m not sure what I expected this morning, but thus far it has been an incredibly boring experience. The judge is half an hour late, and to add to that, Graeme, my brother, is tired and fussing, and would evidently much prefer his mother’s lap to mine.

Caught in the Net “Hello. My name is Kim. I’m an online-aholic.” There. I’ve said it. I guess I’ve been addicted for quite some time now, but I have just begun to realize it. My first interaction with the “Net” began when I was only 15 years old. My dad was the computer coordinator at our school, so he wanted to try Internet access at home before installing it at school. We became America Online members in 1993. None of my friends had email back then. My relationship with email started like a Romeo/Juliet conspiracy.

Cheating in America Did you know that 7 out of 10 students have cheated at least once in the past year? Did you know that 50 percent of those students have cheated more than twice? These shocking statistics are from a survey of 9,000 U.S. high school students. Incredibly, teachers may even be encouraging their students to cheat! Last year at a school in Detroit, teachers allegedly provided their students with answers to statewide standard tests. Students at the school told investigators that they were promised pizza and money if they cheated on the test as told.