The Birth of a New Year

I made it to UCM and with the help of Dad and Jamie, I got all my stuff into my new dorm. I filled out some paperwork for Jena Rhodes, the CA for the first floor of South Ellis. I saw the sister of one of the new THRIVE students who I dated during my middle school years. Her name was Elizabeth. We broke up many years ago and moved on but we still remained friends. We caught up on news and I learned that she was now engaged. I told her congratulations and after she left, I proceeded to unpacking my things. I put up my Buddha poster and my Lego Architecture sets and my bottle cap collection along my windowsill and set up my altar. I built my Sungyemun Lego set which I put with my other Lego Architecture sets along my windowsill.

After I got unpacked, the THRIVE students, first and second year, and the mentors, went to the TV Lounge and introduced ourselves. Then we split into groups each led by a mentor to go look around the campus so the second year THRIVE students could help the new students get more acquainted with it. I got paired up with Nathan, Jack, Taylor, and Autrey, Sheldon, and Paige, three of the new students.

I went to the Campus Kick-off that night before me, Hillary, Phillip, Amanda, Dave, and Kayla went to see the comedian Rob Gleeson perform in Hendrix Hall. After seeing the comedian, I got back to my room and then Tyler and I went to a meeting in the TV Lounge where we were given our roommate agreement forms. After the meeting, Tyler and I got to our dorm and filled ours out. 

The next day, all the THRIVE students went to see the Convocation before we went to Brunch with the Deans. That night I went down to the Rec Center for the first time in a while but realized I forgot to bring my earphones to watch TV. Thankfully Tyler was gracious enough to let me borrow his headphones until my earphones came in the mail.

The next day I went to my Screenwriting class which took place on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:30-10:45. One of our assignments would be to find three sources for a movie and pick one. I already had two ideas but was debating on a third.

After class got out I deposited my three paychecks in my bank account at UCM and withdrew twenty dollars. Then I went down to the Einstein Brother’s at the library where I saw Cassie for the first time in months. We were both glad to see each other. I asked about her summer and she said it went good.  She told me about working at a summer camp then asked me about my summer.  I told her about going to New Hampshire and working at Hen House. It was good to see her after three whole months. 

Unfortunately my Student ID wasn’t working in the cafeteria so Esther, the check-in lady, had to write my name and number down on a sheet of paper until I got a new ID. I called my mom that day and asked her that she send me my earphones and she said they would come on Thursday. Still hoping to do whatever I could for Jack’s mom, I took one of my meditation cards, the Medicine Buddha one, and set it one my altar, in the hopes that this bodhisattva (Buddhist saint) would help Jack’s mother as I honored him during my daily practice by bowing before my shrine. But I knew I had to not expect it to cure Jack’s mom and not base my faith off whether it does or not. In Tibet, the Medicine Buddha is venerated in devotion when loved ones are sick. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t.  Either way it is a way to help realize and awaken one’s Buddha nature.

The next day I went to my Public Speaking class and after that, I went to the Union and got a new ID. I also printed off my syllabus for both of my credit courses, some papers for my Screenwriting class and a paper for me to read for my Public Speaking class called What Every Yale Freshman Should Know. Then I went to the bookstore and got my Screenwriting textbook.

Afterwards my ID card still did not work in the cafeteria so I went to Housing and found out I had not signed up for a new meal plan so I signed up for the full meal plan like I did last year. During lunch, I looked on-line at Lonely Planet’s section on Nepal, to go there as a Buddhist pilgrim and I read about a strange Hindu temple in which a woman multi-tasked by combing her hair as she makes love to her husband. After lunch I read Chapter One of the textbook for my Screenwriting class where I learned that true screenwriters spend about five hours a week on their screenplays, so I decided I could probably work that around my schedule. I went to my Transition Planning class, which, this year, would not be taught by Mrs. Carter but a teacher named Mike Brunkhorst, or Mr. B as he liked to be called.

                The next day when I got back from my Screenwriting class Alex Place, the brother of Elizabeth, asked me if I wanted to go rock-climbing with him. I said sure and we went down to the Rec Center and ran into Jack on the way and he agreed to join us. Unfortunately the rock-climbing wall was closed so we went back to the dorm. After that however, I went to the library to try and work on Plato math and, in addition to seeing Cassie, I saw and interesting thing on the wall of the library called 19 Possible Discoverers of America before Columbus. There were several Norse explorers mentioned, and Indian one, an Irishman, Danish and Portuguese, a Black African Muslim from Mali, but what stuck out to me was a Chinese explorer named Hui Shun. Hui Shun was a Buddhist monk from China in the fourth century and supposedly landed in Guatemala where he taught and preached Buddhism to the indigenous people of the region. In fact, the name Guatemala was believed to be named after Gautama Buddha, the Historical Buddha. 

So Buddhism maybe had reached the West before Columbus. I had always speculated so after I read the book Buddha or Bust: In Search of Enlightenment, Happiness, and the Man Who Found them All. The author, an American Buddhist journalist named Perry Garfinkel, suggested in his chapter on Buddhism in America that Buddhism had reached the New World before Columbus blended of course, with traditional Native American beliefs, just as Christianity is among several Indian cultures in North and South America, such as the Maya. Now more evidence was starting to pile up.

I was going to work on Plato math but then I got a call from Jessica asking me to meet her by the UCM bookstore at 12:45 to pick up my books. I got there and mentioned I had already picked up my Screenwriting textbook and so I got the book and the packet for my Public Speaking class. I went down to the library to work on Plato math thinking about that temple I read about in Nepal and then it came to me, the third source of an idea for a screenplay. A screenplay that takes on how we multi-task so much in our society about a woman who makes love to her boyfriend whiles she does other things such as papers, phone calls, and credit card bills. 

Afterwards I worked on Plato math and went down to the Rec Center. I came back and read the paper for my Public Speaking class, then went upstairs to check my mail and, sure enough, I had gotten those earphones from Mom. 

Tyler went home the next day to work at his job over the weekend at AMC Theater. That night I went to New China Buffet with Hillary, Philip, Amanda, Philip’s friend Marty, Kayla, Daniel, Kimmie, Jack, Corey, Emily, and Autrey, Tyler, and Paige, some the new students from THRIVE, and a UCM student who was thinking of becoming a volunteer.

On Saturday, my mom came and we went down and ate at Crazy Dog’s. Then we went to Hasting’s and I sold some of my old books and DVD’s I didn’t want and got $11.50 worth of store credit. I also got a crossword puzzle and I got a thing where you scratch at the surface and get three matches in a row, you get a prize, which they were giving out with every purchase. I got three matches so I got five dollars store credit the next time I sell anything at Hasting’s. After that, Mom and I went back to my room and she helped me hang a drape over my windows.

Unfortunately I realized when I tried to do Plato math that day that my earphones weren’t working. After that I went back to my dorm and then went to the cafeteria. I saw that Spongebob Squarepants was on so I tried to sit near the TV. At the table next to me was Mckinsey and across from her sure enough was Cassie.  Cassie said, “You can sit here.”

           I sat down with them and talked. I found out Cassie was living in the Foster/Knox apartment building. Time flew by fast as we ate and as I sat with Cassie, I noticed something going on inside me that I just couldn’t express. We finished dinner and Mckinsey said, “Well it was good to see you.”

Cassie said, “Well, I’ll see you around, maybe at Einstein’s.”

“Yeah,” I said.

That night I found out my study hall nights were Monday and Tuesday.  I also watched Pawn Stars on the TV that Tyler brought as he was home for the weekend.  I worked on Plato again the next day and I worked on a few of my screenplays for a full hour.  That night I did my homework for my Transition Planning class and my Public Speaking class and I ran on the treadmill, watching King of the Hill on my phone, which was actually very frustrating.

The next day I went to the UCM computer store and bought some new earphones, some really cool red, black, green, and yellow earphones which came with a bag to carry them in and smaller earpieces. They worked fine and I used them as I did Plato math. I also worked on a few of my screenplays for another hour that day. That night I went to study hall and after that I went to the Rec. Center and ran on the treadmill using my earphones to watch King of the Hill and they worked great.

When I got back from the Rec. Center that night, Alex said, “We should hang out sometime.”

“Sure,” I said.

I asked Alex what kind of stuff he likes and he said, “Japanese stuff, antiques, Nintendo, looking at Medusa stuff.”

“Cool,” I said. “We should watch Pawn Stars some time. It has a lot about antiques.”

“Ok," said Alex.  

The next day during my screenwriting I class there was a student who needed a note taker so I volunteered to be one like last year. Then I went down to Einstein’s in the library before I went there to work on my screenplays for an hour and Plato math. I worked on Plato and my screenplays for an hour the next day and went to study hall again. The next day I worked on Plato math and worked on some of my screenplays for an hour and the next day I did my exercise for my screenwriting class.   

Tyler left on Thursday morning and when I went to Einstein’s that day, I found Cassie wasn’t there because she was sick. So I sent her an e-mail saying I hope she gets well soon and gets all the things she needs for her classes. Later that day I finished Plato math and did my homework for Public Speaking. 

Back to School Season

On the first day of the month, I went to my shift from 10 to 4 and afterwards I went to the Pathless Land with my granddad. I worked from 1:30 to 5 on Friday and the next Monday I worked from 7 to 10. On Wednesday I worked from 10 to 4 and after work I talked to Mom about birthday presents for mine was coming up rather soon. I mentioned the Lego architecture sets, which I had several of at home and she said, “Hey ,why don’t you bring them to school?”

             “Ok, yeah,” I said.

I went to the Pathless Land with Granddad that night and I worked on Friday from 1:30 to 5 and on Sunday I got a call from Phil the manager saying that they could use me on that day until 6:30. I got there and 1:30 and when I got off work my mom told me that Jack’s mom needed treatment tomorrow and Thursday so he wouldn’t be going to art class. Her sister was also flying in from Boston. That night I e-mailed Cassie, one to tell her about Jack’s mother so she would be forewarned if she saw her, and two, to wish her a happy birthday for her birthday was on August 14, where mine was August seventeenth, making her almost exactly one year younger than me.

                I too did not go to art class the next day because I had a psychiatrist appointment with my new doctor, Kevin Mays replacing my old one who retired this summer. Before I went though I got a call from Phil asking if I could fill in a shift down at the Hen House on Roe from 2 to 7 and I said yes. So the next day I went there and when I got off my mom, Dave, and I watched Casablanca from the library, which was mentioned in Cinema Nirvana.

                I worked again the next day and went to the Pathless Land only Granddad wasn’t there that time. He and my grandmom were in Maine, so I went with my dad and he had a good time there. The next day I went to my art class and afterwards Mom and I took Jack to Pizza 51 restaurant before going home. It turned out Jack’s mom’s operation had not worked, but they were going to take her to the hospital tomorrow to try it again. For the rest of the time, Jack and I swam for a little bit, though we soon stopped because the water turned out to be way too cold, and for the rest of the time we watched Family Guy episodes on the DVR. That night I packed The Skull Mantra, The Case of the Man Who Died Laughing, Surrender or Starve, my bird-watching book, Upside-Down Zen, Cinema Nirvana, and The Origins of Myth and Symbol, along with my journals, Lego Architecture sets, my altar supplies, and my flute.

                The next day I got new shoes as I seemed to have already outgrown the one's I got at the beginning of the summer. After work, my mom, Dave, Jamie, Cam, Nora, and I went to Elsa’s indulging in exotic Ethiopian cuisine as we had earlier this summer. When we got home I opened presents. I got a blue and black Mexican poncho, or drug rug as Jamie at Evergreen State College likes to call it; a book called 1616: The World in Motion about how that year impacted the course of history through changes in society in Europe and Asia and the slave-trade in Africa; I got a Lego Architecture set called the Sungnyemun based of the Sungnyemun gate in South Korea; a marker sketchpad; and a Hotei figurine with a bell inside it. For those of you who aren’t full time Buddhists like me, Hotei is the fat, laughing Buddha you see in Chinese restaurants.

                It was a pretty good birthday and the next day Dad and I went down to the barber shop in Prairie Village where I got a haircut. Then we went down to Target where we got shaving cream, razor blades, toothpaste, neo-sporin, deodorant, soap, shampoo, tea, snack food, and a binder. I went to Old Chicago to eat with my dad, Cam, and Nora for my birthday and then Dad and I went to Barnes and Noble where I got a book Treasures of the Buddha on sacred Buddhist art and architecture throughout the world and two penny folders for my coin collection. Then my dad and I got home and I opened his present, which was a xylophone from Ten Thousand Villages, a store selling handicrafts from the third world to help artisans in those countries, since he knew I collect ethnic musical instruments.

                The next day before heading off to UCM with Dad and Jamie, I went to Mom’s and got my clothes and other things I needed for school and we loaded them into my dad’s car. Then before going off to school, we went to my grandparent’s house where I got my birthday presents: a decorative calligraphy brush and a DVD called Blessings: The Tsoknyi Nangchen Nuns of Tibet, which talked about Tibet’s Buddhist nuns and how they successfully preserved their faith under Chinese occupation. Then we said goodbye and drove off to UCM.

Many Reunions

On Sunday I called Jack and asked if he and Tyler would want to get together at my house on Wednesday and he said yes. The next day I went to my art class with Jack and I got a call from a woman named Danielle asking me to take part in a THRIVE focus group. My phone had broken earlier so I couldn’t answer it, but when I got home I was able to talk to Danielle and she asked me if I could talk on the phone on Wednesday at 10am about what went well with the THRIVE program and what didn’t and I agreed. Then at 7 I went to work and at 10 I got off.

            The next day my mom and I rearranged my altar a little bit. I put up images of Tibetan Buddhist saints and so on who I recite mantras to in my daily meditation, including the White Tara, a manifestation of the Green Tara; Chenrizig, the Bodhisattva of Compassion who the current Dalai Lama is believed to be a manifestation of; Manjushri, the Bodhisattva of Wisdom; and Padmasambhava, an Indian Buddhist monk who brought Buddhism to Tibet. I got these images from a pack of cards my dad bought me while I was in tenth grade.

I went to get a new phone for me before I went with her to her yoga class. After that we got home and then went to eat at Saigon 39 before going to see the movie Moonrise Kingdom. Overall, I thought it was pretty good and I liked the story line. After we got out of the movie theater, we saw in the parking lot a small stray kitten. We tried to grab it, but it got away. After we couldn’t find it, Mom left it some of her chicken from the restaurant and I left it some of my rice and vegetables.

The next day I took part in the THRIVE focus group with Hillary, Zach, Gabe, and Dave. I told them that what I was ready for the THRIVE program partly as a result of having gone to Johnson County Community College for three years, that I liked about the THRIVE program was how I began exercising regularly after taking Adaptive PE, how I learned to become a better textbook reader, and how I learned to ask for help. After the focus group was over, Tyler and Jack came over and we swam, ate lunch, and I gave them a grand tour of the house.  That night after they had left, I went with my Granddad to Winstead’s, then Barnes and Noble, then the Pathless Land. The next day I went to my art class then went to the library to pick up the DVD of Casablanca that I ordered.

On Saturday I helped pull weeds from the back patio in preparation for a party for people from Dave’s choir. I went over to my friend Erin’s house and we watched two movies, The History of the Celts and Good Fortune, a movie about why foreign aid in Africa is doing the opposite of what it was intended to do, since we both have an interest in history and political science. After I got home I took Wally for a long walk and I called work and found out I work on Monday from 7 to 10, Wednesday from 10 to 4, and Friday from 1:30 to 10. The next day I went to Yoga class with my mom and Dave.

The Cradle of Civilizations

I emptied the cat’s litter box and packed some more before we went to the airport. We got on the airplane and took off to Boston, Massachusetts. We took a bus to our hotel where there was a jar of chocolate and macadamia nut cookies for visitors. Mom, Dave, and I each took one then took the elevator up to our room. It had a living room with a foldout couch, a television that hung on the wall, a dark wood desk with steel legs with wheels, and a lamp in the corner. There was a microwave and a sink in the corner facing a dark wooden framed mirror and a trash can. The floor had rectangular ceramic tiles a carpet with orange and gray waves on one side and dark gray and light gray waves on another. The only other rooms were the bathroom and the bedroom.

Mom and Dave looked up restaurants and decided on the Garden of the Cellar. We took a taxi and reached Harvard College. Mom and Dave liked its gothic architecture, but I thought it was kind of ugly.

We made it to the Garden of the Cellar where we sat at a small table. Mom sat next to Dave and I sat across from them. I drank a glass of water then had a keg beer. The appetizer included bread with olive oil and for dinner I ordered a cellar burger, medium, with mustard on the side. The burger was huge and came with rosemary fries. The mustard was rather spicy but that was good and I shared a small round donut with Mom, which came with several dipping sauces. After we paid and left, we walked through the neighborhood where I saw several bookstores until we hailed a taxi and rode back to our hotel. We each had a chocolate and macadamia nut cookie before we took the elevator up to our room.

The next day I got up, took a shower, and then went down to breakfast. I had two cinnamon rolls which tasted very fresh, a cup of orange juice, and a sausage patty. On the television was a man talking to a fortune-teller in Morocco then to a man in Mali.

After breakfast we brought our stuff down to the lobby and walked up the street from our hotel. We passed an antique shop with a brightly painted sign and after a taxi ride we passed several old-fashioned colonial neighborhoods and saw the obelisk, which was nearly thirty stories tall. I climbed the steep spiral staircase up the building occasionally holding onto the wall to let families go down and use the railing. I made it to the top where I could see Boston below through rectangular windows.  The walk down was considerably easier than the walk up.

After that we saw Freedom Park and made it to where we could see the U. S. S. Constitution and a World War II destroyer in addition to a magnificent suspension bridge. In the distance I could see a tall clock tower. We followed a brick line known as the Freedom Trail until we reached an old cemetery, which was a great way for me to contemplate our own mortality. After passing several shops and old colonial buildings, we reached the Old North Church, where one lamp was lit to warn of a British attack on ground, and two lamps were lit to warn of a naval assault. I looked in the gift shop then went back to it so I could get some water from the vending machine for which I bought a homemade cherry lollipop, a blue and white candy cane stick, and while I was at it, a pocket owl as a souvenir. Then I bought bottled water from the vending machine before we went on a guided tour of the church.

We went into the foyer through a side door up a steep wooden staircase into a room then up another steep wooden staircase into the bell room. Our tour-guide, a short, dark-haired young woman, led our group back down the stairs and through an underground charnel room, explaining that parishioners wanted to be buried where they worshipped, before the city of Boston cracked down on it, proving to me that religious freedom is not absolute and does not cover practices that are harmful to the welfare of others.

We went through a door into low-ceilinged charnel halls one containing the tomb of a British general when the British seized the church. It twisted and turned every so often until we made it outside and the tour was over.

After the tour was over we saw the churches Garden of Assisi. Then we left through the back way and saw a giant statue of Paul Revere. We walked farther along and saw the house of Paul Revere before we went to a seafood restaurant, where I got a shrimp roll and some lemon tea. We ate lunch by a fountain where Mom shared with me some lobster from her sandwich and then we took a taxi back to the hotel, got our stuff, and drove to New Hampshire.

            We passed peaceful country road, coming across a bearded man sitting on his front lawn wearing only shorts and then we reached our house, a quaint little cottage next to the lake. We went a few houses down where I saw my grandmother, Uncle Andy, Aunt Marge, Uncle Kurt, Aunt Barb, and my little cousins, Kyley and Hunter. After dinner Uncle Andy and Aunt Marge drove me back to our cabin and my mom and Dave came back a while later.

The next day we went to see a waterfall and Castle in the Clouds, the mansion of Thomas Gustave Plant, who made his fortune in the steel industry. After dinner tonight we went out for ice cream. I got raspberry sorbet with gummie bears. We looked at the docks, which had several boats and one great yacht. We looked in a shop selling shirts before we went back to our cabin.

The next day I woke up and later I went down to the beach where I kayaked while taking pictures with my newly charged camera. I picked out several reeds, which I took to our cabin and laid them out to dry and then give them to people as gifts. For dinner we went to a seafood restaurant where I drank a Samuel Adams Summer and ordered some pan seared swordfish. After dinner, my mom, Dave, Uncle Andy, Aunt Marge, and I drove down to an ice cream shop where I ordered a two scoop Denali Chocolate Moose Tracks, which turned out to be much bigger than I expected.

The next day Mom and I went to the Libby Museum and then had lunch with my grandmom, Uncle Kurt, Aunt Barb, Kyley and Hunter. I ate a delicious grilled cheese sandwich with bacon and then Mom and I explored the town. After we looked in a jewelry store, I went to the bookstore where I had been hoping to go. I saw one book that really interested me called In the Shadows of the Buddha about an American Buddhist pilgrim in Tibet who saw the atrocities the Chinese are committing and went to great personal risk to smuggle out evidence.

            That night I had dinner over at Uncle Kurt’s, Aunt Barb’s, Kyley’s, Hunter’s, and Nannies cabin. After dinner Kyley and I drew on this portable sketch board she owned which you can erase when you’re done and start over. That night I felt I really bonded with her.

The next day Mom, Dave, and I climbed Mt. Washington. When we got to the top we took the train down and then went back to our cabin. That night we ate out at the town. I had a hamburger, which was rather big with some fries.

On the last day Mom, Dave, Uncle Kurt, Aunt Barb, Kyley, Hunter, and I ate steak Florentine, mangoes, potatoes, and tomatoes. The next day we dropped Cam and Graham off at an airport at Manchester, New Hampshire, then Mom, Dave, and I flew to Memphis, then to Kansas City. When I got home I called Hen House and found out I work on Monday from 7 to 10.

First Months Back at First Home

On the first day of summer, I called Hen House and found out I work on Sunday from 4-8, Monday from 3-8, and Friday from 1:30-10. That day I also e-mailed Cassie Burghoff, whom I became a quick friend of, asking for us to stay in touch over the summer and get together some next year. My work schedule got changed so I don’t work Sunday, but I did go to work on Monday and Friday. On Sunday I had a parmesan chicken dinner my mom cooked, the first home-cooked meal I’d had in a while.

On Wednesday, my granddad picked me up at my house, and we went to Winstead’s and Barnes and Noble before going to the Pathless Land like we used to do before I went to UCM. On Saturday when I was with my dad for the weekend, I went to a local bead store and bought three blank pendant pieces on which I would hammer a design with a nail to make a necklace for my mom, grandmom, and Sherry for Mother’s Day. On Sunday I went with my mom, Dave, and Cam to a local Prairie Village restaurant called La Provence for Mother’s Day and at work I filled out a W4 form. That day I saw my old friend Alex Habib’s mother at work, and she gave me his cellphone number.

The next day I started doing something I did before I went to UCM. I dug through the Lego bucket at home and put the pieces to the Harry Potter sets, which got scattered a long time ago, into bags according to which set they went to, put the ones I didn’t know which set they went to in a separate tub, put the pieces to a lego ninja fortress into a separate bag, and put all the megablocks, bionicle, playmobile, and connex pieces I found in their own boxes. I also hammered a flower on the pendant for my mom and gave it to her. She loved it. I hammered a Chinese symbol for harmony on a necklace for my grandmom, who loves Asian art, and I hammered a cross inside a Star of David for my stepmom. When I went to the Pathless Land with Granddad the next night, I gave him my grandmom’s pendant, which he said she would love. When I got to my dad’s house, I gave him Sherry’s pendant to give to her and Dad said she would love it. The next day I went to my art class with Jack and worked more on some watercolor drawings and on Friday I worked from 1:30 to 10.

On Saturday I had a day off so I rode my bike to the Corinth library and checked out two books: The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Screenwriting and The Lonely Planet Guide to Travel Writing.  The next day when I went to work, I found out I work on Monday from 6-10, Friday from 1:30-10, and Saturday from 7-3:30.

On Monday the next day I went to work from 6-10, and on Wednesday I went to Winstead’s with Granddad and Barnes and Noble before going to the Pathless Land. On Friday I went to work from 1:30 to 10. Dad picked me up and told me that I my History class I got a C, and in my Creative Writing class I got an A. My dad told me the THRIVE staff sent a very good report about me along with it too.

The next morning, I went to work from 7 to 3:30. I found out that day that my work hours for the week are Sunday from 4 to 8, Monday from 6 to 10, Friday from 1:30 to 10, and Saturday from 7 to 3:30. When I got home, I read the report from the THRIVE staff and it was very nice. I went to work on Sunday and Monday and went to Winstead’s, then Barnes and Noble, then to the Pathless Land with Granddad, and on Thursday I went to my art class with Jack.              

On the second day of June, there were hot dogs and burgers provided to employees during their breaks. After I got off work, I walked home and looked in the store in the Prairie Village shopping center Bag and Baggage, where I saw Lonely Planet Phrasebook India and Lonely Planet Phrasebook Africa which are two places I have long wanted to visit. I got home and ordered a book called Cinema Nirvana: Enlightenment Lessons from the Movies. I also placed two books on hold from the Corinth Library by Robert D. Kaplan author of Ends of the Earth: Imperial Grunts and Eastwards Towards Tartary: Travels in the Middle East. The day after that I went to my art class and work, and the next day I ordered a book online called Upside-down Zen: Discovering the Marvelous in the Ordinary. 

            My granddad on my mom’s side of the family was coming into town to visit us so I asked if I could get someone to cover me at work on Friday. I went to the Pathless Land with my other granddad as I do most nights, and the next day I went to work and found out my shift was covered. My pop-pop, as we like to call him, and his girlfriend Sandra came in on Friday and we had dinner along with Cam’s girlfriend Nora. Then the next day I went to work from 7 to 3:30. The next day I went to work and the day after that I went to my art class then later to work.

            The day after Monday I watched some birds in my backyard for an hour. I also rode my bike for half an hour and swam in our backyard pool, which I figured I’d better do before time runs out to do it. My granddad was away in Canada, so my dad and I went to Pei Wei for dinner, and I got a bottle cap for my collection that I started to do from my Kirin Beer. Then we went to Half Price Books, and I looked at a book on Harry Potter collectibles. My brother Jamie, who recently studied abroad in China, came home from Evergreen College in Olympia, Washington. 

            The next day I found out my neighbor, Mrs. Han offered to pay me to pull weeds from her backyard on my way to work. The next day I went to work and after that I pulled Mrs. Han’s weeds. I went to work the next day and the day after that I had a day off and went to my family lake house at Lake Lotawana and Jamie gave Dad and I souvenirs of his trip to China. I got a wooden Hotei head (Hotei is the fat, laughing Buddha), a Chinese dream catcher, and a pencil from the Chengdu Tibetan hotel. There I watched the birds, and my grandparents came and Jamie showed us photos of his trip to China before we went to dinner. I also talked to my friend Erin.

            The next day I went to work and asked off for the fourth of July and the day after that I had a day off during which I found some photos from my middle school and high school years and put them in the photo albums I got in Warrensburg. On Wednesday, instead of going to the Pathless Land with my granddad, I worked from 4 to 8 because of I was covering for another courtesy clerk.

            On Friday I went to work and found out my work schedule for the next week was Monday from 3:30 to 8; Wednesday from 12 to 5; Thursday from 3:30 to 10; and Saturday from 1:30 to 10. The next day, after work, Jamie, my stepsiblings Kate and Graham, who were in from town, my mom, my stepdad and I went to eat at Elsa’s Ethiopian Restaurant where we quickly filled up on Beef Tibbs, Doro Watt, injera, and other food of Ethiopian cuisine. The day after that Jamie and I ate lunch with and stayed over at our dad’s and ate dinner with our grandparents before Jamie left for Evergreen the next day.

            The next day I went to work and the day after the next day I went to work and went to the Pathless Land with my granddad and on the way, he gave me some coins he brought back from his trip to Canada. I went to work the next day, and I got hired by Mrs. Han to water here plants and feed her cats on Sunday and Monday. I went over to her house so she could tell me what to do and I helped her moved her geranium plants from her upstairs balcony to her backyard.

 

The Waning of the Year

After the weekend I cut out letters from blue construction paper and glued them to my bottle. It said, “Autistic Pride.” The next day I felt absolutely exhausted before I went into my Workplace and Community Skills class, and I took several long natural breathes to stay energized. When I got back to my dorm, I took a nap on my bed for abut fifteen minutes.

The next day I went to my Person-Centered Planning and talked to Teresa about my tiredness. She said she has allergies and was so tired yesterday and that’s when I figured that I must be tired because of my allergies. Then, instead of going to my Creative Writing class, my class went to the Art and Design Gallery near the Lovinger building and heard three UCM alumni writers at a reading.  Unfortunately, the next Thursday I spilled tea on my laptop that day and it wouldn’t come on. The next day I went to my History class but found out it was cancelled. As I was leaving to go back to my dorm, one of the international students I take notes for came up to me and asked me if I would study with her in History.

We went to the Union, and we looked over our notes and our book, asking ourselves questions about what he book had just said. I told the student that instead of memorizing the material, she should try categorizing it. I told her to look for connections between each piece of information and to go over the headings of her books and her notes and turn them into questions. After 1:50, she thanked me for helping her and then said she needed to go to her next class. I got back to my dorm and cut out some more letters out of blue construction paper and glued them to the other side of my rocket. They said, “Liberty, Equality, Perserveration.”

The next day I retyped my story for my Creative Writing class and saved it on my flash drive. I got back and went to the rocket launch with the THRIVE students although after launching a few rockets, the pump appeared to be damaged, so we cancelled the Rocket launch. After that I went down to King’s Chef Buffet with Hillary, Philip, and Kayla.

On Monday during Learning Strategies class, Mrs. Carter showed us where the exam schedules are in our planners. I looked at mine and found out that classes on at one o’clock on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays are on May 2 from 2:00-4:00. I took another quiz for my History class and I got a five out of six. The next day I did my homework for my Workplace and Community Skills class, where we printed of compared two careers and found out what the working conditions were like, the physical conditions, the skills and knowledge needed for them, the employment outlook, and the salary. I compared “Writer” and “Producer or Director” and I found out that for both of them required knowledge of the English Language, Communications and Media, Sales and Marketing, and Fine Arts are needed. I realized that learning about what I need to know for the jobs I’m interested in could help me choose classes to take. Both require the ability to listen and ask questions; understand verbal and written information, and at least a High School diploma or GED.

I compared “Animator and other Multi-Media Artists” and “Music Composers, Directors and Arrangers.” I found out both of them require an understanding of Sales and Marketing, the English Language, Communications and Media, Customer and Personal Service and Fine Arts. I also learned that they earn about the same salary and employment opportunities for Animators and other Multi-Media Artists is few in Kansas City, while the employment opportunities for Music Composers, Directors, and Arrangers are few in the United States.

Producer’s or Director’s outlook in Kansas City was moderate and Writer’s outlook was high. They also made about the same yearly and annual salary. Then I compared Music Director or Composer and Animator. After comparing each of these careers, I choose my three favorite ones and ranked them according to what I found out about them. It turned out I liked Writer and Producer or Director just the same. I also learned about self-employment and careers in the military.

That night ran into Cassie as I was going down the stairs in the THRIVE hall and said hi to her. I asked her how work was going, and she said she was exhausted and ready for the summer. I knew exactly how she felt. I asked her if she was taking any classes during the summer and she said no, and that she was also going to look for a job and I told I planned on doing so to. 

“Well, it’s good to talk to you,” I said

She smiled.

“Good to talk to you to, Ben,” she said.

On Wednesday I took another History quiz and got six out of six. After class I went to my Person-Centered Planning and told Teresa about my computer, and I realized that computers are like the human body. They have all these different parts or organs and all of them need to be working or the computer to be working.

On Thursday I went down to the OAS office and scheduled my exam for Learning Strategies on Monday at ten and my exam for my Personal Math class on Monday at eleven. I also scheduled my History exam for 2:00 on May 2. During my Workplace and Community Skills class, each of us met individually with Jessica about our classes next year and our internships. Jessica met with me, and she told me that next semester I would be taking Transition Planning with Mrs. Carter at 10:00 and I would be taking Adaptive PE at 11:00. I told her about my interest in working for the Muleskinner next semester for my internship and she said she would try to arrange that. I also old her five of the five of the classes that I planned on taking at UCM and next year I would take two of them for credit. I told her about Film Appreciation, Cross-Cultural Cinema, Film History, Modern Sub-Saharan Africa, and Modern East Asia.

After class, I went down to a computer store next to Sonic and they looked at my computer and said it would cost me one hundred dollars for them to take it apart and see what was wrong with it. If the logic board was damaged, they said I would cost two to three hundred dollars to repair it. They did say that they would probably be able to get all the old documents off.

After I went to the computer store, I got a twenty-five-dollar Barnes and Noble gift card for myself. Then I went down to Hasting’s and saw two books Filmmaking for Dummies and Screenwriting for Dummies. I looked at the second book and it had some good advice about dealing with writer’s block. It said that when you go through writer’s block, your imagination may just be expanding, and you need some time for your ideas to adjust to it.

That night I ordered a book online called The Skull Mantra. It is about a Chinese detective (Inspector Shan) in a gulag in Tibet who is suddenly assigned the case of solving the murder of a Chinese policeman and must solve it to save a Tibetan monk who has been accused of the murder. Later Kimmie drove people to Walmart. I went with her, Amanda and Pierce and got dry rice. The next day I put it in one of my UCM bags beneath my computer and closed it up.

The next day my computer still didn’t turn on. Jack’s parents came on Sunday night and I let them take it to my mom’s house. On Wednesday I went to a mandatory meeting in the TV Lounge where Daniel and Kimmie explained the checkout procedures and told us who we would ride with to the THRIVE Award Ceremony at Mazzio’s Pizza. I would be riding with Jill Larsen, Dr. Downing’s secretary.

The next day, I bought a UCM mulezod, two folders (one for my creative writing portfolio and the other for memorabilia of dates when I find a girlfriend) and a UCM pen with my THRIVE points. After class got out, Jessica and I meet with an academic advisor, Krisana West, and they helped me decide on my major, which would be General Studies, which meant I would only need one hundred twenty credit hours. We looked over the requirements. I already had my written communications requirement filled out, my Social and Behavioral Sciences, my Cultural interactions, my Arts and Humanities, and my Interpersonal Skills. I needed one credit class in Oral Communications, Mathematical Reasoning (I had a College Algebra class at JCCC which I failed), one in Physical Sciences, one in Technology, one in Literature, and one in Integrative Studies to complete my General Education requirements.

We looked at what I already had in the way of my General Studies degree. There were four categories of requirements and each of them had to have an upper-level class except for one of them, which required two. There was Arts and Humanities, Social and Behavioral Sciences; Math, Science and Logic; and Areas of Interest. That night I went to the THRIVE Award Ceremony at Mazzio’s and won an award for: More than twenty completed modules/lessons in Plato Reading Comprehension; More than twenty modules/lessons completed in Plato Language Arts; More than twenty modules/lessons completed in Plato Math; More than twenty-five hours in Plato Math; Award for Plato Top #3 (tie with Tyler) time on task overall-69 hours; Completing one level of Plato Language Arts (a level being the equivalent of one academic year); Completing three levels of Plato Reading Comprehension; Award for 90% or above attendance at Person Centered Planning; Outstanding attendance and participation in THRIVE classes award; Average of four’s on weekly progress report; and the Creative Writer Award.

The next day I gave the student in my History class who needed notes a copy of all the notes I took since Easter. That night I saw Sherlock Holmes: a Game of Shadows with Jack and Emily, which I had seen before, but it was still pretty good. Over the weekend I worked on my revisions for my Creative Writing class and a paper on what I learned from three or more of the writers we read this year. On Saturday I was surprised yet pleased to hear on the phone with my dad that he married his girlfriend, Sherry. On Sunday I saw the King of the Hill episode where Hank and Bobby enter the father-son rifle tournament, but Hank’s repressed memories of his father cause his performance to suffer. In the end, Hank goes to a “sports psychologist” who teaches Hank to visualize what he wants and to say talk about it like it really happened. I realized that could help me in a lot of areas in life. The next day I got a call from Jessica saying a man at the Muleskinner paper would love to meet me tomorrow and talk about possible internships. 

I waited in the Union for 2:00 when I would take my History exam. While I was waiting, I saw a girl from my Creative Writing class walk by and learned that our last class is on Friday. I also went to my Creative Writing teacher office and turned in my portfolio.

At about 2:00 I went into the Testing Center and took my exam, plus the optional technology final, which can replace our lowest exam score. I had a hunch that I did fairly well.

The next day I began packing my things. I selected 4:15 for my checkout time with Landon, the CA on the second floor of South Ellis. The next day I went to my last Creative Writing class, where my short story was work-shopped, and I filled out a teacher evaluation form. When I got back, I finished packing up my things. As I loaded them into the car, I saw Julie, a short girl with Down syndrome walking out of Ellis. I said, “Hi, Julie.” And she said, “Bye, Ben.  I’ll come visit you next year.” Then at four, my mom came and helped me load everything into the car and we drove back home.

My Fellow Autist On-Screen

On Friday I got my exam back and found out I got a seventy-six percent on it due to a ten-point curb. After class I went home with Jack and his dad for Easter weekend. On Saturday, Mom and I saw the movie Salmon Fishing in Yemen in which the main character was a man with Asperger Syndrome. On Sunday Cam and I hunted for our Easter baskets in our backyard and then we had lamb for dinner. Afterwards I went back to UCM with Jack and his parents. I got back and Daniel gave me a two liter bottle to make a rocket for the THRIVE rocket launch.