Winter Break 2012-2013

        I got home and I worked on my Lego City sets and the next day I cleaned out my room a little bit. We decorated our Christmas tree and I made three toilet paper roll dioramas by gluing pieces of paper to the inside of toilet paper rolls to make a picture. One was for Abby, my cousin, of Harry Potter riding a broomstick against the backdrop of Hogwarts Castle, and the other two were for my friend Erin for Christmas and her birthday, which was on November 22. One was of Bilbo Baggins running from Gollum with the ring from The Hobbit which was one of her favorite books, and the other was of a famous historical women’s rights advocate, Carry Nation, who I learned about in my history class last year, showing her taking an ax and chopping down a bar, for which she was famous. The latter I thought was a good idea for her since Erin was a die-hard feminist. The next day I got a call from Tyler asking me if I wanted to go see The Hobbit: an Unexpected Journey because he is an AMC employee and could go to screenings for free and bring one friend. Gladly, I said yes.

               

Later that day, my mom and I went to Barnes and Noble where I got a new journal for my meditation journal and a new bottle cap from a drink I bought at their café which I added to my sign when I got home. That night I also got an offer from my granddad to move boxes at his church for a food drive on Tuesday morning and I said yes. The next day, Tyler’s mom picked me up and took us to an Italian restaurant where I enjoyed some delicious steak before we went to see the movie. After the first few minutes of it, I was immediately hooked in, partly having loved The Lord of the Rings for most of my life, and could hardly think of anything else. It was a great movie, I thought.

                The next day I went to my granddad’s church and helped several elderly people there move boxes. I met them as well as their priest, a short, dark-haired woman, Mother Cindy. We got the boxes to a community center and my granddad paid me $20. Afterwards he took me to an ice cream shop in town where I enjoyed pumpkin flavored ice cream. We talked the whole time and then he drove me back.

                After my job for my granddad, I took to focusing on my real job and called Phil and told him I would be able to work over the break and he said he would put me on the schedule. I found the Kansas City star article about The Hobbit movie in our recycling bin and I retrieved it and hung it on my door, partly because of its significance to me as a screenwriter, and partly as a door decoration and a collector’s item. I also rode my bike for half an hour around my neighborhood, then got back and practiced my flute for half an hour. Later that night I called Erin and the next day I went to my old high school Horizon Academy in Roeland Park for a reunion and I saw my old friend Ian Sneid, who is also autistic and goes to Johnson County Community College. 

                Later that day I tidied up my room and the outside of it, which was full of Cam’s stuff, and picked up some airsoft gun pellets which I put in an origami box to use in making a cat’s ball. Later I took Wally for a walk and then my granddad picked me up and we went to the Pathless Land where I gave Ben a Buddha statue I made out of bread dough from the UCM cafeteria. He loved it and even set it on the table in the middle of our circle. The next day I made another toilet paper roll of the Buddha preaching his first sermon in Deer Park and later I read my book The Skull Mantra. The next day I made my dad’s Christmas present who is a psychologist: a toilet paper roll diorama of a quintessential therapy session with a guy sitting on a recliner. I also covered my toilet paper roll diorama with brown construction paper to make them look better.

                For the rest of the day I called Hen House and found out I work on Sunday from 9-5:30 and I cut rings from toilet paper rolls, covered them with construction paper, and glued them together to make a Christmas ornament. I also made a toilet paper roll of Punakha Dzong, a famous Buddhist monastery and Tibetan Buddhist pilgrimage site in Bhutan. The next day I went to a bookstore in Downtown Overland Park and I bought a drink, getting a new bottle cap for my collection. Later that day, Dad, Jamie, and I went to my grandparent’s house where we celebrated Abby’s birthday. I saved several paper plates we used to make into things like Frisbees and ring toss games and I poked a hole in a plastic bottle cap I saved to put a toothpick through it for Sherry for Christmas.

               

The next day I went to work where I got a new bottle cap for my collection on my first break and a USDA bottle cap where people write six-word memoirs inside during my lunch hour. On my last break I got some saltwater taffees and saved the wrappers to make into a bracelet. The next day I made a draddle for Sherry and an origami kawasawi rose for Cam for when on dates with Nora. I also made a toilet paper roll diorama of Taktsang Dzong, another famous monastery and pilgrimage site in Bhutan and I made the saltwater taffee wrappers into a bracelet.

The next day, Mom, Dave, Jamie, Cam, and I opened presents. I got some Beavis and Butthead boxers, a Buddha bar, a survival tool kit, some tweezers, a wallet to fit the shape of my pocket, a National Geographic 50 of the Last Best Places in the World, Lonely Planet’s Dream Trips 2013, a Lego Architecture Rockefeller Center, and a map showing the decline of European colonialism from Mom, a tree’s tooth from Washington from Jamie, some Nerds from Cam, a $200 check from my grandmom (my mom’s mom), and a $25 Lego gift card from my Uncle Andy and Aunt Marge. I built the Rockefeller Center and later Jamie, Cam, and I went over to our grandparent’s house with my Dad where we also met our Uncle Todd, Aunt Laura, and cousins Abby and Eric. From Uncle Todd and Aunt Laura I got a five-headed Ganesh statue that they bought in Colorado, a book called The Maya, a stamp magnifying glass and tweezers, and a Tibetan paper wall hanging from Colorado from my grandparents, and a book called Family Guy and Philosophy; Buddhas, Bouddhas, Buddas, and Boeddhas showing Buddhist sculpture throughout the ages; Good Citizens: on Creating an Enlightened Society by Thich Nhat Hanh; two Jew’s harps for my ethnic musical instrument collection from Kazakhstan and China; and a bird tweeter to attract birds from my dad. I gave each of them their presents and they all liked them as well, including my dad who got a kick out of the toilet paper roll diorama. Then we went on our walk through the park in Lee Summit, an Edwards’ family tradition, then came back and eat steak, fries, mashed potatoes, and Yorkshire pudding and I read Family Guy and Philosophy in a nock in my grandparent’s upstairs floor.

The next day I got my THRIVE progress report which said I passed all my classes, except not posting the grades for my credit courses on there, and good remarks about my internship and other areas of college life. That night my granddad and I went to the Pathless Land as usual and I got a new bottle cap from a drink I bought at the café and learned of several other books of J.R.R. Tolkien’s writing (published and edited by his son Christopher) such as The Lays of Beleriand, The Shaping of Middle Earth, and The Lost Road and Other Writings. I also bought a copy of the magazine issue Saveur: 46 Delicious Recipes from Around the World and two Lonely Planet books, one on Botswana and Namibia and one on Zambia and Malawi. The next morning I went to my art class with Jack and I got back and cut out several rings from toilet paper rolls to make Christmas ornaments. The next day I cut out pieces of construction paper to make toilet paper roll dioramas of Tango monastery, Tsonga, Cheri monastery, and Lhuentse Dzong in Bhutan and I got some more glue from Bruce Smith and a Snapple drink along with a new Snapple cap for my collection, and two sodas from Better Cheddar getting two new bottle caps for my collection and adding them to my sign.

The next day I called work and found out I worked 3:30-8:30 the next day and Monday and Saturday from 3:30-8. Later I went to see The Hobbit: an Unexpected Journey again but with Jamie, Mom, Dave, and Kate. The next day I got a call from Phil asking if I could come in that day at 12 and I said yes and I also got a new bottle cap (not a crown cap) during my break and a new USDA cap after work. The next day I got another USDA cap from my drink during my break at work and I found a new bottle cap lying around the house which I added to my sign.

As the first day of January came, I started making a toilet paper roll of Tsonga monastery in Bhutan and later my friend Erin and I got together and I gave her a present for Christmas and her birthday. She gave me presents for Christmas and my birthday as well: two DVD’s History Channels Barbarians Volume I and II. We went and ate at the Cheesecake Factory and afterwards we went to Barnes and Noble where I got a Lonely Planet book on South Africa, Lesotho, and Swaziland, and a Winter 2012-2013 issue of Parabola magazine. The next day I met up with my Granddad and he gave me several old Smithsonian magazines he had for my collection and we went to Pei Wei, where I got a new bottle cap from my drink, and Half Price Books where I bought a Lonely Planet book on West Africa, The Lays of Beleriand, and The Children of Hurin, before going to the Pathless Land. I went to my art class the next day-Jack for some reason wasn’t there-and later on I got a haircut. The next day I made a toilet paper roll diorama of Lhuentse monastery in Bhutan and the day after that Dad, Jamie, and I ate at an Asian restaurant. The next day I went to work and made a bracelet from the Hershey’s Nugget wrappers from the ones I got on my break. On Sunday I went to brunch with Dad, Cam (Jamie left for Washington), and my grandparents at a fine Mexican restaurant before I went to work again.

On the first day of the week when I woke up I felt stressed that next year I would be making the big transition to regular UCM, understanding now how certain people who were going through big transitions felt. I felt a lot better after I did my daily meditation and on Tuesday I found a new bottle cap in the Prairie Village shopping center and I realized I was glad I didn’t live in a country like Sudan or Afghanistan, which might discourage bottle cap collecting due to its connection with alcohol content. I also made a paper mache bowl for all my mani stones. The next day I went to work and later went to the Pathless Land with my granddad and during the next day also I went to work. On Friday, I rode my bike and my dad and I ate together at BRGR so we could see each other one last time before I went back to UCM. He also ordered me some stamp hinges for my collection. I went to work the next day and the day after that I got a flu vaccine, suddenly sympathizing with all those professionals I know who do a lot of tedious paperwork, then I finished packing up and my mom and I went to Target where we bought shredded Mozarella cheese, pepperoni, and plain bagels to make pizza bagels, beef jerky, and some lollipops for snack food. After that we drove back to UCM.

Exit Internship, Enter Finals

On the first day of December I finished my paper mache paperweight with my name on it and I worked on my travel plans to Liberia. I did some laundry and I got my mom to wire $50 from my account at home to my account at school. Then at 6:50, I went down to the Black Box Theater where Tyler and Jack would be giving a performance for their Jazz Dance class. I saw it and thought it was great and I thought the school seeing them was a wonderful way to make students aware of people with disabilities on campus.

                When I got back I watched The Medallion with Tyler and a few other THRIVE students who came to join us and I started on another paper mache paperweight with six rocks embedded in it each having a letter painted in white watercolor pencil forming the word “Wisdom.” The next day I started making my Christmas present for my cousin Eric: paper maches bust of Aang from the show Avatar the Last Air Bender, which he liked. 

The next day I went to my Public Speaking class and listened to a presentation on the pros of space travel: apparently space travel had given us so many of the modern luxuries we have today. That night I went to a Christmas party over at a local resident of Warrensburg’s house where I filled up on turkey, rolls, but still had somehow room for cherry cobbler. I also ate some delicious mangos which suddenly made me eager to shop at fruit markets when I visit Africa and other places on my travels. The family who invited us let us THRIVE students take home some food and Tyler and I brought back some mangos and blackberries. I also talked to Mom that night and she said instead of her wiring me $50 she would just sent a check of $100 from my account at home.

                The next day I got a CD rewritable from the vending machine to save my power point for my speech on in the Lovinger building and I finished my notes and my power point presentation for that speech. I also went to the THRIVE Award Ceremony at Mazzio’s Pizza where I won five awards including: an award for finishing Plato, an award for Awesome Attendence in Person Centered Planning, All 4’s in Participation and Accountability in Transition Planning I, All 4’s on my Progress Report, and for the award we all get, The Reporter Award. For each award we got to pick out a prize from a table. I picked out three bouncy balls for my collection of bouncy balls (which I’m now thinking of quitting as I have so many collections), an origami swan, and a mouse pad to use as a coaster for my water bottle on my desk. When I got back I had a lot of trouble printing off my sources for my speech for my Public Speaking class until I decided to give it a rest for a while and go run on the treadmill. When I got back however, I had no luck with Tyler’s printer but then Hillary found out about my problem and let me use her printer so I got my sources printed off.

                The next day however, I couldn’t save my power point to my e-mail account because my internet wasn’t working.  9:00, the time my class started had come and nothing was working. But then fortunately Kriti heard of my problem and lent me her flash drive. I got to class and gave my speech and felt incredibly relaxed as I did so and I apologized to my teacher for being late and explained it to him and he said it was no problem. Back at my dorm, I found some more pebbles and turned them into mani stones and I returned Kriti her flash drive. Later that day I went to the Muleskinner office for my internship and they said it would be better if I came tomorrow. I told them that I had something going on at 3:15 tomorrow so we agreed on 2:30.

                The next day I got as much done as I could on writing the first thirty pages of a screenplay for my Screenwriting class. I got done twenty-six pages and I turned it in. I went to the Muleskinner office at 2:30 and did some editing. Then I went to my mock interview with Mr. B realizing only minutes before I went in that I didn’t have my resume. Mr. B said that was alright and I could just e-mail him.  Otherwise the interview went pretty well. Mr. B said that I was confident and gave appropriate responses to his questions. When I got back I e-mailed him my resume and that night I also enjoyed taking several cartoon pictures with my cellphone camera, such as Tyler, Kriti’s boyfriend Josh, a female Asian student who swiped cards in the cafeteria at late night, and Salman from my Public Speaking class who worked in the cafeteria at late night. I also sent those pictures and several other pictures of my time in Warrensburg to my Dad.

                The next day I bought some new mechanical pencils at the Union bookstore and I went to the library and read that Lonely Planet book on Mongolia where I learned that Mongolia is a good place to buy stamps, such as ones featuring religious images, wildlife, traditional dances, and even ones with the faces of celebrities on them such as Princess Diana and Jerry Garcia. Then I went to the Lovinger building and printed off my take-home Screenwriting exam which I learned was due on the 13th. I did some laundry later that day and I worked on making two paper mache paperweights, one with six rocks embedded in it each with a letter on them forming the word “Wisdom,” and the other with ten rocks embedded in it with letter on each of them forming the word “Compassion.” Together they said two key Buddhist principles, wisdom and compassion. Then I displayed these paperweights from my window so people walking by would be reminded of these great values. The next day I finished those paper mache paperweights and later that day I learned that I can write twenty-six pages of a screenplay in only a few class days and suddenly I felt much better about my ability to get a screenplay done.

                On Sunday I went down to Hasting’s and bought a Winter 2012 issue of Buddhadharma magazine for my magazine collection and on my way back, a car pulled into the parking lot of a gas station only two or three blocks from UCM and called my name. I looked and saw Cassie and Mckinsey in the car with Cassie in the driver’s seat and she offered to give me a ride back to UCM. I got in and thanked her for doing this. She said, “It’s no problem. It’s really cold out right now. I’d do this for anyone. I just think it’s the right thing to do.” I enjoyed hanging around them and what a kind person Cassie really is. Afterwards at dinner while Tyler and I sat with Jack, Kayla, and Amanda, I asked the three of them if they would like to, with Tyler, who had already agreed, and me, like to buy our own house that we use as a hang out place and they thought that would be a great idea. Tyler told me Gabe, Zach, and Alex from last year’s THRIVE students were also up for it.

                The next day I went to my Public Speaking class and took my exam which I thought went pretty well. I also got back a grade for something else in the class and I had an eighty-two out of one hundred points. The next day I worked on my take-home Screenwriting exam and I went down to Crazy Dog’s where I got a beer and some food to relax, along with a new bottle cap for my collection that came with the beer. The day after that, I finished my Screenwriting exam and I signed up to be checked out the next day. I also started packing up. The next day I turned it in and also got my screenplay pages back and got one hundred twenty points out of one hundred fifty. Later that day, I finished packing up and I made a Christmas ornament from my origami swan as well as one of my Buddhitz sticky notes and a Feng Shui coin. Then Jenna, the CA from the first floor of Ellis came in and inspected my room then said everything was fine. After that, my mom arrived and I put my stuff in her car and we rode on home.