Dear Jerry,

I am going to tell you some about being a musician. I play piano, synthesizer, acoustic and bass guitar. When I was almost seven, my parents took me to my first piano lesson. I was slightly happy and slightly bothered about it. I think I was mad because I saw this activity as a completely unnecessary addition to what I THOUGHT was a crowded and busy schedule. I was a little six year old boy so I fought multiple times over those first few months over WHY I had to do this. I cried and moaned and fussed but my parents never budged from their position. I eventually realized that piano was not going to go away and I grudgingly accepted piano as a part of my life. After about six years with my original teacher, I was getting so good that my parents moved me to another teacher. I have been with this teacher for about four years. Piano is now an integral part of my life and I cannot imagine my life without it.
After about seven years of playing only piano, my parents signed me up for guitar with our music pastor, and I have been spasmodically progressing in skill. This was about two years ago. Since the bass guitar has the same fingering as the acoustic guitar, I learned that as a side project. The first instrument I played in a group setting was the synthesizer. I started playing the synth on Wednesday nights for my church worship band. The synthesizer is more commonly known as the keyboard and it is used as a filler instrument for the small breaks in the musical phrases. It fills in the harmony to add a sort of background ambience to the music. After playing the keyboard for a couple of months, I asked to be “promoted” to the piano. I was given the O.K., and my teacher and I started to work on several songs that were scheduled to be played in two weeks. On that day, I felt nervous and excited. I was pumped full of adrenaline and I played very well. I was very happy with the experience.
I would not ever give up being a musician for several reasons. One, how many guys my age can play a hard instrument well and stick with it though all the difficulties? Not many, and I play because I could if I wanted to, make a living out of it. Two, I play because I love it. I truly do enjoy most of the time that I spend practicing and improving my skill. For me, it is not wasted time. Three, I play because I can. There are not many people who have the ability to play the piano well even if they wanted to. The piano is a very hard instrument to play. I am not saying that because it makes me look better. I am saying it because it is true. I am determined to use my gift of music and to not let it go to waste.

Sincerely,
Zachary.

Dear Jerry,

As you may know, this is my last year of school and it has been a crazy one so far.
When you are younger people are always asking, “What do you want to do when you grow up?” Then when we get a little older and into middle school they change the question to, “What do you want to do with your life?” And finally when we get into high school they change the question once again to, “What are you going to go to collage for?” These questions didn’t always scare me but as time passed I kept getting a little more nervous, because in all honesty, I had no idea.
Last year I had decided that I wanted to go to collage to become a nail tech, but I finally realized that I didn’t want to do that because I was passionate about it, it was because I thought I HAD to go to collage. The pressure was getting to me and I felt like time was passing far to quickly. Until one day, my awesome teacher put a crazy idea into my head that I had never even thought about. She told me to think about going to collage to become a sign language interpreter/educator. At first I thought it was such a crazy idea, but then one day I finally realized that it is something I really want to do.
Now I am looking at going to FGCU next year and am finally at ease with what I want to do. The moral of the story is that, don’t let anyone pressure you into thinking you HAVE to go to collage. Do what you are passionate about and be your own person. Also, listen to those crazy ideas people give you, because you never know what will come out of them.

-Maddy

Dear Jerry,

As you may have already known, I have been a public schooler my entire life up until this year. Both homeschooling and public schooling set their goals in teaching their students well and helping them become successful in their later life, but as one who has experienced both ways of education I can boldly say they have two whole different teaching methods. I was a very smart student since early elementary school mainly beause I had a nanny who taught me lots before I even started kindergarden which put me ahead of the game and by the time I hit first grade, everyone knew I was a smart cookie. As time went on and I hit middle school, school started getting pretty rough. The objective of doing good in school and participating in girlscouts, and attending all the meetings took a toll downhill because there was something that got in my way: boys. From then on coping with the issue has become an ultimate goal, pretty much my goal to make it through the day without stirring trouble. I’m here to tell you that public school was never a big help with kepping your head straight, distractions were always lingering your way and tension was always stirring between fellow classmates. Going to a public school has just become a social club and here and there you would find a straight a student like me but its getting rarer by the year. Juggling both my school and social life became quite a chore which made me always stress. That season in my life as a middle schooler was a bit hard and a common question I was always asked is “how do you do it?” I never really knew what to say, besides “I manage.” A characteristic about myself that I am very thankful for is being able to balance the time I have with different activities equally, and my hard work ethic. Being a very popular girl in school since early on spiritually never helped me. I have to be straight forward with you and say, its for sure that public school is not the environment for a christian. Each year both I and the few christians I knew and communicated with have noticed my faith leaving and the ways of the world taking over in my heart. Though I still am facing many challenges today, I am very thankful and proud to say I am a home schooler. Im glad I made the transition and started the road to recovery now, though I regret not doing it earlier. I have to admit, when I was in eighth grade and my parents told me that they were going to put me in homeschooling, I was furious. All my life I was a public schooler and then all of a sudden I come home and my parents say that I need to enjoy my last few days in public school because they are going to be my final. I did not take it very well. I was caught in with the ways of the world and I took part in the stereotype for homeschoolers. I thought I was going down a road of social suicide. Boy was I wrong. Homeschooling is far from social suicide; in fact it’s a very social place. You get to interact with others, you just don’t have the extra drama to deal with. Life as a homeschooler is awesome, I find myself liking it more every day because I am learning a whole lot more and I have more opportunities to help others in the process. One Room particularly has been a great help in my life and with the help of my two very good teachers-Miss Sarah and Mrs.Becca. I have learned so much already and I am continuing to learn more and more. If you’re in public school, they give you assignments and you better hope you know how to do them because if you don’t your grade is going to plummet down south. I am very happy and grateful for the opportunity to be part of One Room Learning and the way I am taught is just such a help. I wouldn’t want it any other way, because I am happy where I am.

Sarah Jasmine

Dear Jerry,

You may have heard me talking to some of my friends at school about GameStop’s new policy of allowing people who have a CCW permit to carry a weapon openly or concealed in their stores where the law allows. I thought that I would have to write to you about this. I have a very solid opinion on this topic. I think that this new company policy will make their stores much safer. I mean, seriously, what thief is going to rob a store where the customers might be armed? No fool would ever rob a bank, store or residence where the people inside might be carrying a gun and would legally be able to take out someone that meant harm.
I have heard many people who were complaining that GameStop was being extremely foolish in allowing guns in a store that caters towards children and younger adults. I am a little puzzled at their reasoning because I wonder if these people realize how many Americans carry a concealed weapon for self defense. On December 31, of 2011, there were more than 8 million active permits in the United States. My home state, Florida, had over 843,000 active permits in July of 2011. The population of Florida in July of 2011 was nineteen million people. Therefore 4 percent of Florida’s inhabitants were authorized to carry a concealed handgun in public places. With more than 260 million privately owned guns in the U.S., the probability that you see someone with at least one gun on their person in a public place is extremely high. When I mention this fact, many people ask me why a store that caters to children allows weapons into their store. That is a legitimate question. I think because the people who have a CCW permit are not crazy people, or criminals or evil. They are law abiding people who would never shoot someone else intentionally unless that someone was posing a legitimate threat to others. GameStop knows this. If someone would be foolish enough to go on a rampage in a place where weapons were present, he or she would be quickly subdued and brought to justice. I ask people why most shootings occur in places that are designated gun free zones such as movie theaters, schools, and government buildings. They usually cannot think of an answer! I know why! If a place is set apart as a gun free zone, the law abiding people will obey and leave their guns at home, while the people who mean harm are simply going to disobey and bring a gun inside anyway. If an evil or mentally insane person is going to shoot a place up, there is no reason they are going to say, “Oh. That is a gun free zone. I can’t commit a mass murder in there. I am not going to break the law by bringing a gun in there.”
Do you see how ridiculous gun free zones are? I do. I applaud GameStops support of our constitutional right to bear arms and I intend to patronize their store for all of my gaming needs
from now on.

Sincerely,
Zachary

Dear Jerry,

There are two things that I love most of all: guns and cars. So, it would make sense that my dream job would have something to do with those things.

As was said so eloquently and memorably by my good friend Chris, “You are going to drive a tank for your job because, it’s a car, AND a gun, all in one!!!” I don’t quite want to drive a tank for a living, though it would be awesome! I have always told people that I am not sure yet what I want my future career to be. I also have never given this topic much thought before because it never seemed really important at the time. I was handed this topic by my peers during yesterday’s blog topic shuffle, and I was slightly put out that it bumped off two other possible topics that I would have liked much more than this particular topic. When I really thought about what I wanted to do for a living it seemed like a better and better thing to write about. Now that I am sixteen, finding a good job is a much more pressing issue than it was when I was only eight or nine.

Well, my dream job would definitely deal with, in some way, cars and/or guns. I have recently begun investigating jobs at an exotic car dealership. There are quite a few of them here in Florida. I would like to try out a job as a technician in the dealership’s collision and repair center. I would really enjoy working on the cars that are brought in to the dealership because I enjoy problem solving and fixing things that are broken. I have also thought about working in a car speaker and stereo shop installing the wiring and electronics for new, upgraded speakers and stereos.

My second possible dream job would be work as a gunsmith and vendor for several different makes of guns. I would enjoy disassembly, cleaning, repairing, and reassembling the firearms, both old and new, that would be brought in to me for repair, or cleaning. I am especially interested in how some guns can go through extreme conditions and not fail or malfunction. I am also an ardent Second Amendment supporter so, this would be a way of making my sentiments on this sensitive subject clear without causing a fight. I like to work with mechanical things, so these two things (guns and cars) would definitely qualify as mechanical devices.

My dream job would definitely have to be a job that I enjoy. I do not know if I would actually like disassembling guns or fixing cars for a living as I have done neither, ever. I would definitely have to try these jobs for a couple months before I could say with certainty that either of them are my true dream job.

Sincerely,
Zachary.