Graduating Crossroads and Open Doors Seniors in the Class of 2020!!

Graduating Crossroads and Open Doors Seniors in the Class of 2020!!
There is a long list of unique, life-long lessons that are yours forever: it is hard to cut your own hair; pets, little brothers, and Xbox are not good study mates; you know what 6 feet looks like; Zoom cameras can broadcast weird stuff; “I’m not a morning person” can become a way of life; original hair colors are back but the NBA isn’t; gas prices are low and food is high; Resiliency is a whole new section on your resume; and daytime TV is really bad.

So many fun little lessons of quarantine, epidemiologists, masked masses, and hand sanitizer that smells like Everclear.

But please don’t ever let yourself be defined as the Corona Kids or the Class of Covid. I vigorously wave the BS flag on that. Your 13(+) years of hard work rise above some lowly germ. Your smiles, friendships, and sense of humor will put this “Rona in remission. The only thing personal about this pandemic is how you rose above it.
I shared hallways (It will always be My Hallway!), classrooms, rapture and despair, Check and Connect, library sessions, and on line communications with about 24 of you. (I hope we never shared The Pit!) Maybe someday, by chance, we can exchange a real handshake and a hug; it would mean a lot to me.

But for all you grads, congratulations, The Tassle is Worth the Hassle!, and you will certainly be the unforgettable CLASS OF 2020!
Tom Matlack, Teacher GFSD 1988-2018

Ways to Face Your Fears

    Take a look around the room, as your eyes gaze across the different bodies, just know that almost every single one of them has a fear. Depending on the person, how they choose to react to their fears with vary and differ between every person. Nearly 10% of Americans have a fear in something, with most of the fears revolving around social fears. A fear could also be known as a phobia and there are hundreds of phobias in the world, there’s a phobia for almost anything that you believe could be a fear. The few most common phobias are; arachnophobia (fear of spiders), ophidiophobia (fear of snakes), acrophobia (fear of heights), agoraphobia (fear of open space), and cynophobia (fear of dogs). In life we can either face our fears by choice, unwillingly, or not face the fear at all and run from it.
       One way a person may face their fear is by choice. In my life a fear I chose to face was getting onto I-5 or the trestle. Merging onto the trestle raises my anxiety through the roof and I’m instantly scared of getting into a crash trying to switch lanes. Going fast doesn’t faze me, it’s always just changing lanes that truly makes my heart race. However, most of my doctors appointments are in Everett so I have to use the trestle to get there. I also like to go to concerts, and most concerts are held in Seattle, which means that I have to use the trestle and I-5 in order to get there. So, in order to face all of those fears, I drive to my own appointments and I have been the driver when going to a concert in Seattle. I face those fears every time I go to the doctor and if I’d like to get out of my house and go have fun out of my hometown, then I’ll need to continue to use the trestle.
       Another way to face fears is unwillingly. This one is kind of embarrassing but oh well, it was an actual fear. As a kid I had this weird fear of the vacuum that was in our pool in the backyard. I would actually start to cry out of fear over the thing. Anytime I looked at it it made my heart race and my mind was telling me to get out of the pool. My family members would laugh at me, and my dad would never take the vacuum out of the pool, since the pool needed to stay clean and it messed with the vacuum to take it out and put it back into the pool a bunch of times. Day after day, the vacuum never left the pool and my eyes always stayed on it, and I made sure not to swim near it. Because they never took it out of the pool, I had no other choice but to be okay with it and I told myself that it wasn’t going to suck me up. Now, the only thing that bothers me with it, is how loud it is over the summer time.
       The third way to face a fear is to simply run from it. I am terrified of spiders, and I will not share the same room as one. If I know there’s a spider in the room, then I’m out of it! I will scream and freeze. If there is literally any other person with me I will immediately ask them to dispose of it. They got no business to be in my home, they can stay 3,000 lightyears away from me. Although, they do help with the fly problems over the summer, they still are my top fear. I don’t understand how people can make pets out of those things, they actually make the hairs on my arms stand up. I don’t think I’ll ever not be scared of spiders.
      All of the reactions stated above are all common within people, and there are so many different ways that a person could choose to react to their fear. And depending on the fear could depend on how the person reacts to it. Like my fear of the pool vacuum, I got over that since that thing wasn’t going anywhere, while someone else could get over their fears in other ways. Someone could get over their fear by simply telling themselves over and over again not to be scared, the fear could just go away as they get older, they could go to therapy, or they could even get hypnotized to no longer have that specific fear. However, in my life, between these three fears, I faced them by choice, unwillingly, and by running from them little crawlers!
-Faith Court

Christmas Memory

Christmas has always been my preferred time of the year, I’ve always thought maybe it was because my birthday is five days before Christmas, and that’s halfway true. Growing up my favorite part was unwrapping the presents, and just the gifts in general. I wanted to count how many were mine under the tree on Christmas Eve, although my mom wouldn't let me, then I would slink by anyways. But the last few years Christmas has felt very different, maybe it’s because I’m becoming an adult, I’m not really sure. I believed in Santa for a while. I disregarded my cousins fake stories about how he isn't real until about the seventh or eighth grade when more people in middle school told me. So up until that point Christmas had always seemed like this magical time of year filled with laughter and joy and gifts from Santa Claus, after it was like all the magic in the world was a lie and now I have to lie to my future children which was heart wrenching to little Brooklynn. This last year or so I came to the conclusion of what Christmas means to me and it’s not at all what little Brooklynn thought it was about which was the presents. Christmas to me is love, it’s memories, and togetherness.


December 25, 2019 
I had woken up at around 8:30 am and I was the first one up as always. I glanced over at the tree to see if our new Christmas tradition was hidden, I know that my mom stayed up pretty late waiting for my brother to go to sleep so I wasn’t too surprised when I found the pickle in the same spot. We got a Christmas pickle ornament and the person who finds it on the tree gets to open their presents from Santa first. I walked into the living room and sat in front of the fire, it was pouring heat, which is only a thing when my Grandpa Harvey's home. I didn’t want to wake anyone up yet, so when my cat kindella started meowing for me to notice her we went outside and enjoyed some fresh air. When we went inside everyone was up, the pickle got hid and my sister found it because I was busy texting Isacc and telling him Merry Christmas. We sat down to open presents and my grandpa always videos us and it’s my favorite thing. When I’m older I can watch these videos and remember how much love my grandpa and my parents had for us. It’s not just because they gave us presents but also because they provide us with a roof over our head and a full belly at the end of the day, no matter the circumstances they have always made sure we have everything we need. I didn’t have enough money to buy people gifts this year and I always feel really bad feeling like I need to get my parents something cheap. All though this year I have realized that the gift of time and energy or just a listening ear to my mom is very helpful, and my grandpa loves quality time with me but he’s only home on the weekends and that’s usually when Isacc comes over. I really need to make an effort to spend more time with him. I hate thinking about it but this is like my last Christmas, as a child at least. I hope that things don’t change, I know sometimes change is good but it’s also scary. I don’t ever want Christmas to become a dreadful thing like how my step-dad makes it seem. Christmas to me is about spending time together and being happy and that’s never grim in my eyes. “Brookie here’s one of your presents” said my little brother Skylar. “Okay thank you bubbbs” I replied.
-Brooklyn

Animals Should NOT be in Zoos!

-Kyleigh Case

Where do we draw the line for right and wrong?

Where do we draw the line for right and wrong?
When is it okay to complete the mission no matter who’s affected and how?
No matter what the reason may be for going out on an operation, no matter how evil and greedy the reason may be, the most important thing to remember is are you protecting anyone?
Is anyone being protected and being kept safe with whatever action you’re about to take?
What’s the point of fighting if there’s no good moral reason to fight for?
Soldiers are trained and bred to take on anything that’s thrown at them and to complete the mission no matter the cost.
At the end of the day, are we really protecting our freedoms?
Are we protecting families being attacked by the terror the plagues where we operate?
If not, you yourself have become something of an accomplice to the actions the greedy take.
-Aiden McNeil

I am 17

I am mad.

Three hundred 

And thirty one 

Trans and gender diverse deaths this year 

Three hundred 

And thirty one

Murders.

Trans people 

Are four more times likely 

To live in poverty then the general population 

Trans people

Experience unemployment 

Twice the rate of the general population 

41% of trans people 

Report attempting suicide 

Compared to 1.6% of the general population 

Trans people 

Are a topic

Seen as controversial

They are seen as something similar to politics

Now I see politics as

Who to vote for

Height restrictions on buildings 

What to do about conflict with other countries 

I do not see it as something

That differs whether someone should have rights or not

The ninth amendment says: 

“The enumeration in the Constitution, 

of certain rights, 

shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.”

Which should mean that 

Trans people’s rights shouldn’t be argued or fought over

When that would never happen to a cis white mans rights

We gained rights for women

For black Americans 

For anyone that needed them

And now that these rights are assumed

They’re still arguing that we don’t deserve them

I am 17

I am too scared to use public restrooms 

Because people might yell

Or might do something much worse

I am 17

And I am too scared to get mad 

At someone calling me a girl 

Because they might get a lot madder

I am 17

And my mother told me she stopped loving me

When I came out

I am 17

And I regularly get asked

About my genitalia 

In public spaces 

I am 17

And I’ve tried to commit suicide 

3 times 

I am 17

And I’m scared

I won’t live to grow up 

Like my siblings 

I have the right to be angry

Do you?

-Jude Jackson

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