Thesis of a Twelve Year Old - Circa 1986
Opinion: Alaska is the best place for me to live.
People here are free to the pursuit of happiness, and beliefs,
under a protection from of one of the most creative documents
ever to be drafted by mankind.
We are ruled by law, and the appreciation of each of our neighbors,
though we may never truly know their heart. God protects us too.
At incredible expense, our nation was founded by trials and error.
Those first explorers came to discover and seek this higher purpose.
Our fathers wanted their children to live and endure for all time.
Democracy is the ultimate expression of their love and philanthropy.
This republic has been led by great men and tested by fools. We still stand.
Great homes, however, come at high cost. The exercising of our rights and
priveldges shows how much we care, and proves we walk a distinguished trail.
Eternal vigilance is our duty, and to share our joy, our ideas, our
hope and liberty with the world.
Wolves adapt to change…
Opinion: Decades after I wrote this response, to a question that my teacher Mrs. Miles had asked me in school, while teaching us all about govenments… she had asked the class to write about ‘what it meant to me’ to be a citizen. People still ask me who I vote for, and with who I put my allegiance. But, as always, I have believed this choice in life, to be a personal matter left up to a person’s conscience.
Especially lately, people still ask me what my views are, and then eventually it comes to why I even believe in “God” at all. They poke fun at my idealist perspectives. They claim I have a naive world view, and point out distorted ethics, skewed by my being very, very pragmatic.
It often comes to a point where my anger rises, even now; I know it will get the best of me, when I fail to rely on the values I hold closest to my heart. Yet even in the worst of arguements, when all is said, I still go back to that time in class with a beloved elementary school teacher who made the biggest difference in my life. While it takes a moment to center myself, I remember the calm and patient method she used to guide us in finding our own answers, with such skillful grace. Then I offer an answer to the question. My reply is the same, as it has been since I was a child:
”One day there will be a change.”
And then I ask the same question, as I always do:
“What do you believe in?”
1 year ago