Katie+L

My name is Katie. This is a portfolio of some of the pieces that I did during my senior year of highschool. I chose the best one's in my opinion and my teacher's.

This was the first poem that I wrote during my creative writing class, and it's probably my favorite one as well. We had to write about important events in our lives, and as we did we had to write it in a certain format that you can see pretty clearly as you read it. I really liked the way that this one turned out. :)

Around then.. **


 * Around 2005, I met the best friend I have ever had. **
 * Around 2007, I knew what it felt like to hurt. **
 * Around 1995, I got my ears pierced for the first time. **
 * Around 2010, I was ready to find out what my future had in store for me. **
 * Around 1998, I became an aunt for the first time. **
 * Around 2007, I realized my sister was the best friend I could ever have. **
 * Around 1999, I saw my dad for the last time. **
 * Around 2009, I found hope and love again. **
 * Around 1991, I opened my eyes to see the world. **
 * Around 2009, I became legal. **
 * Around 2005, I became a New England fan for life. **
 * Around 1995, I kicked a soccer ball for the first time. **
 * Around 2002, was the last time I kicked the ball with a cast on my arm. **
 * Around 2008, I met the person that changed my life. **
 * Around 2009, I realized that everything happens for a reason. **
 * Around 2007, I looked at life differently. **
 * Around 2006, I knew what I wanted to accomplish in my life. **
 * Around 2010, I will walk the halls of EHS for the last time. **

This poem is called a Cirque, I also really enjoy this one. It reminded me about my boyfriend, whom is in the army so I wrote about the things that I thought about when you hear that word soldier, and then the opposite of that which is a civlian. I really like the way this one ended up too! Soldier Strong, resilient Power, strength, intelligence Fight for their country and never give up Selfless

Civil Patient, kind, love Power knowing they’ll always be there Fighting for themselves everyday, anytime Selfish

Lover Kind and caring Smile, embrace, patient Always there for you, constantly Happy
 * THE NEXT CIRQUE IS PROBABLY ONE OF MY FAVORITES AS WELL. I REALLY LIKED THIS WRITING STYLE A LOT AND I THINK THAT IT TURED OUT PRETTY GOOD MYSELF. THIS WAS MY FAVORITE WRITING STYLE WHICH IS WHY I PUT BOTH OF THESE ON HERE. **

Fighter Showing strength period Harsh resilient power Never give up, always stay strong Have strength

​WE HAD TO WRITE A POEM ABOUT WHATEVER PICTURE SHE HANDED US THAT DAY AND IRONICALLY IT WAS A PICTURE OF KIDS GRADUATING AND SINCE I'M GRADUATING SOON IT REALLY WAS AN ENJOYABLE THING TO WRITE, SINCE YOU CAN TELL, I'M READY TO BE DONE WITH IT. ** Nothing but smiles All the while You’ll walk the halls for the last time Remembering all the crime

High school love that may never be forgotten But don’t fret you may always be with them Ready for the cap and gown No one will have a frown

You may shed a few tears Some may have many fears You know it’s time to move on Although you may not know what’s going on

Graduation can be a hassle Especially with all of the tassels It’s going to be worth all the trouble When we get to leave on the double

Never having to walk the halls again Make sure you don’t fall when they call your name After all this time wanting your diploma For 13 years you felt like you were going into a coma

Parents there to support you Your mom cries until she doesn’t know what to do You walk across the stage and realize you’re done Class of 2010 did it and now we’re ready to run!

For this poem, which was towards the end of our poetry section for creative writing, we had to write about a place that we really like but we had to include similes and metaphors, which was definitely harder than I expected. It turned out alright though, plus it's about probably my favorite place ever. __ Gatlinburg ____, Tennessee ____ (: __

The mountains have snow covered caps Hikes as long as the Great Wall of China Seem to take as __long as World War 2__ Never knowing what you may come upon in the cold.

Not so many people here in winter Locals, still kind as ever __ A warm hug after a long day __ As you site in front of the fire, trying to keep warm

Everything changes when the sun comes out Not much snow, it’s finally summer Bathing suits out Only for the hot tub of course

Gatlinburg is not the warmest of places Even in the summer Still taking long hikes And just enjoying the beautiful views This poem was a cool one to write, basically the whole class helped you to write it and I think it turned out pretty cool with all the action words in it. I like the way we did this by just passing arounf eachothers note books and addin whatever you wanted.

POP (:

POP! Goes the balloon The clown makes the animal He is such a loon But he is good at making mammals

YELP! The balloon popped The clown made a scream He began to make an animal and the stopped He thought the balloon was too mean

NEIGH! The child plays and Runs around with his balloon horse Holding his parents hand This day is the best, of course!

POP! There goes the horse Everyone jumps from the sound The little boy was sad of course Everyone starts to gather around

FIZZ! Goes the clowns soda pop As he takes a break Kids are running and yelling and he yells, “STOP!” He wished this day was over, so he could enjoy a big steak

WHAM! Goes the kids foot on the clowns leg He fell to the floor and began to cry He asked the kid not to kick him as he beg Some days as the clown leaves for work he asks, “Why?”

This was the most interesting poem by far, we listened to I think six different songs and every paragraph is about a seperate song and how you felt during that song or what it reminded you of. The range in music was vast, to say the least but I realy enjoyed writing it because it was a very different style.
 * __

Musiccc (: __**


 * Cruel intentions had the crazy boy **
 * She just couldn’t see him as just a toy **
 * Can’t believe the connection is so strong **
 * It may be wrong, but we can’t change the past, but look into the future **


 * Upbeat relationship. You, me, together **
 * You yell, I yell, never giving up is key **
 * Yellow is bright, like the love in our hearts **
 * I’ma be there, no matter what, ‘ight? **


 * The little things in life mean the most **
 * Having you makes me want to toast **
 * You have my heart, and I don’t want it back **
 * Believe me when I say we’ll make it through this, for sure **


 * We’ll eventually get to where we need to go **
 * Your smile makes me giddy over and over, on and on **
 * God must have sent you to get me where I am now **
 * He must get what I want in life, and get what I need **
 * Makes me feel like I’m on clouds **


 * The pain we feel might put doubts in our minds **
 * But we’re not the kind **
 * We know we’re not better off apart **
 * We’ll rise up always, no matter what **


 * Daring the distance, taking the chance **
 * As if cocamo was where you were at a glance **
 * We’ll get to the future fast, then take our life together slow **
 * Distance means so little when you mean so much, for sure **.

This poem was about our favortie restaurant, trying to make people feel as if they are actually there which I thought that it was really cool. I really like the way that it turned out as well.
 * __ Olive Garden (: __**


 * Reminding you of autumn **
 * With all the dim vibrant colors **
 * The atmosphere is dark **
 * Yet comforting **


 * All the smells of italy **
 * Wrapped up in a room **
 * Knowing salad and breadsticks are coming **
 * Yumm.. it’s never too soon **


 * All the noises, like a high school cafeteria **
 * Yet it’s still quiet enough to concentrate on who you’re with **
 * Reminding you of a huge Italian family **
 * Loud, cheerful, and definitely good **


 * Olive garden is family **
 * Family sharing a meal **
 * Family sharing memories **
 * Family spending time together **

For this poem our teacher gave us a prompt or question and we had to write a poem about it,like what popped into our minds when we thought about it. It really made me think about the way I felt when I was a kid, and being so free spirited, so I liked this one.
 * //__ HOW DOES PURPLE TASTE???? __//**


 * PURPLE TASTES LIKE A POPSICLE **
 * PERFECT ON A WARM SUMMER NIGHT **
 * MAKING LITTLE KIDS SMILE **
 * WITH THERE PURPLR LIPS IN A BIG GRIN **


 * PURPLE TASTE LIKE SUMMER **
 * BRIGHT AND CHEERFUL **
 * HOT SUMMER DAYS **
 * SOMETIMES COOL SUMMER NIGHTS **


 * PURPLE TASTE LIKE SUCCESS **
 * WHETHER MAKING A SMALL ACCOMPLISHMENT **
 * OR A HUGE PRIZE **
 * PURPLE MAKES YOU FEEL LIKE ROYALTY **


 * PURPLE **** TASTE LIKE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL **
 * SIDEWALK CHALK AND HOPSCOTCH **
 * NOT HAVING A CARE IN THE WORLD **
 * YOU JUST WANTED TO HAVE FUN **


 * PURPLE TASTE LIKE GROWING UP **
 * NO ONE KNOWS WHAT THE FURTURE HOLDS **
 * YOU KNOW YOU HAVE TO SMILE AND HAVE NO REGRETS **
 * PURPLE TASTE LIKE YOU’RE LIVING YOUR LIFE **

For this non fiction piece we had to describe a part of history, and I chose the GRANDE OLE OPRY because of all that has happened there lately, with the flooding and how beautiful it really is and not a lot of people would think of it as part of history but I do.

WALKING INTO THE HUGE BUILDING, SEEING ALL OF THE OLD WOOD WORK AND THINKING HOW MANY COUNTRY MUSIC STARS WERE MADE THERE WILL GIVE YOU THE CHILLS. COWGIRLS AND COWBOYS, WELL SO THEY TRY TO BE, ARE ALL AROUND TRYING TO FIT IN. YOU HAVE TO ALWAYS BE PREPARED TO SEE A BIG STAR, MAYBE EVEN YOUR FAVORITE, BUT YOU NEVER KNOW WHO’S COMING. IT’S BEAUTIFUL IN THE WAY IT’S BUILT, SO MANY SEATS, DOESN’T MATTER WHERE YOU SIT, YOU CAN GET A CLEAR VIEW. OUTSIDE YOU SEE THE HUGE OPRY LAND HOTEL, AND THE EVEN BIGGER MALL. ALL THE PEOPLE EXCITED TO BE IN THE HISTORY OF COUNTRY MUSIC, AND TO BE IN THE TOP COUNTRY MUSIC CITY, NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE. SO MANY PEOPLE ARE SURROUNDING IT, BEAUTIFUL BUILDING ON THE OUTSIDE AND SHAPED LIKE A BARN, WELL ON THE STAGE, ON THE INSIDE. IT’S AMAZING WHEN YOU’RE THERE, THINKING OF ALL THE PEOPLE THAT HAVE SAT WHERE YOUU ARE NOW AND ALL THE PEOPLE THAT WILL BE THERE IN THE FUTURE. YOU TRULY FEEL LIKE YOU ARE A PART OF HISTORY WHETHER IT’S DOLLY PARTON, OR KEITH URBAN, IT MAKES YOU FEEL LIKE YOU ARE TOUCHING ONE OF YOUR IDLES LIVES, OR UST BEING A PART OF WHAT’S HAPPENING THERE. THIS PLACE IS JUST TWO STORIES TALL, COMPARED TO THE OVER 1000 ROOMS AT THE OPRY LAND HOTEL, BUT IT HAS A LOT OF HEART.

THIS PIECE IS ABOUT WHAT I WANT TO DO WITH MY LIFE BASICALLY, THIS WAS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR, WHICH I'VE NOW CHNAGED MY MIND BUT I THINK THAT PROVES THAT IT'S OKAY TO NOT BE AURE ABOUT WHAT YOU WANT TO DO ALL THE TIME, SOMETIMES YOU JUST NEED SOME TIME TO DECIDE.

When I graduate high school the career that I am most interested in is to be a Pharmacy Technician. Working in the medical field has always interested me. I believe by working in the pharmacy you are also helping people with there lives and making other people’s lives better. When I was growing up, I remember my mom going to school to be a nurse and how all of the challenges she faced, like having kids and going to college, she didn’t let those challenges stop her. She still went to school to achieve what she wanted, and she did. My mom has since gone for more schooling and I can tell that she really enjoys what she does. Even though the career that I am interested in is not nursing, it’s still in the medical field and she inspires me to go after what I want. In order to be a teacher I plan on taking my ACT again, even though my score is good, I would like to still improve it. After that I plan on going to college to take classes in the filed that I’m interested in. I will still keep my job to help pay for at least some of my college funds, and then I will get some financial aide for it as well. I also plan on trying to get a job at Walgreens, in doing so Walgreens pays for your schooling and also will help by me making more money. I believe by doing all of these things I will be able to achieve my goal in having a career as a Pharmacy Technician. The only challenges that I see myself facing in the coming months about college are; the first is picking the right college for me to go too. This may be the most important step and there are just so many colleges out there that I could see it maybe being some what difficult to choose the right one to attend. The second challenge that I see myself facing is one that the majority of college students go through, finding the funds to go to college. I know that this problem happens for a lot of college students, but it’s something that I will need to think about. Like finding the scholarships that I will qualify for, and applying for them. This may also require me to hold one or two part time jobs, or try and find a full time job. I am one of those people that cold not make up their mind to try and pick what they “wanted to be when I grew up.” I have always considered myself to do something in the medical filed, but I was never quite sure which career I wanted to do though. Now that I have thought about it I have come to the conclusion that I want to be a pharmacy technician. When I volunteered in the pharmacy at Jewish Hospital I remember how much I enjoyed being in there. I know that I will have to work hard to achieve my goal, but I also know that it is worth it completely.

This next piece was a very interesting one, basically having to stalk people, or "people watching". It was a lot of fun though and you'll get what I did once you read the essay. It wasn't creeperish or anything, it was finding out how many people did something that really annoys you.

“Have a nice night?” With no response. That just grinds my gears. At work the customer is always right correct? Well I think that when you tell someone to have a nice night they’re supposed to say, “Thank you!” or “You too!” But most of the time they just turn around and walk away so I was wondering if this actually happens as it seems. I’m pretty sure that most of the time it does happen, in fact I’d even be willing to bet on it. People just don’t know how to be polite most of the time, which makes you really appreciate the one’s that are polite though. It also makes you make sure that you always are nice if anyone is servicing you. My predictions for the theory, “How many people actually have manners?” are that’s going to end up just like it seems that most people are just unappreciative of how nice you actually are and they just want to get there food and leave. I say this because every time I have a customer at my job, I ALWAYS tell them to have a nice night and thank you, and it seems like 99% of people just ignore it, turn around and walk away with their food. As I observed this, I had a piece of paper with two columns, one with “yes” above it, and one with “no” written above it. The “yes” column was for if the customer told me “thank you” or “have a nice night too”, and the “no” column was for is they just ignored me and walked away. I took records of this for probably a good two hours, and the results didn’t really surprise me at all. Multiple questions were going through my head as I kept putting the tallies under the “no” column. · Why don’t they even say thanks? · Were they just not brought up to be polite? · What if they are just hungry and want to get home? · Maybe they’re just in a rush? But no matter what I asked myself, I just didn’t get it. The results that I got were out of 22 people total, 10 of them said “thank you” or “you too” and the rest of them just kind of turned around and walked away or they were on their cell phones. So basically, this didn’t surprise me at all because of what I had realized already, people just don’t care. The conclusion that I had cone to even before doing this project was definitely correct, a lot more people were more polite than I expected though, it wasn’t really an overwhelming majority, but still more people just ignored the “Have a nice night” then taking two seconds and saying “thank you.” I’ve learned multiple things from doing this project, to always say thank you, and to no matter what remember how hard the people that are working, no matter what your job is it’s not always easy. It’s nice for people to show appreciation towards you every once in a while, or actually more so than that would be good, but some people just weren’t brought up that way so just don’t let it get to you is what I have concluded.

THIS WAS A PAPER THAT I HAD TO DO IN ENGLISH THAT WAS ABOUT A BOOK, ON A BEST SELLERS LIST OF OUR CHOICE AND I CHOSE CONFESSIONS OF SHOPAHOLIC AND THEN I HAD TO WRITE ABOUT IT, IT WAS A VERY GOOD BOOK AND IT WASN'T JUST ABOUT SHOPPING LIKE YOU WOULD THINK, THERE ARE A COUPLE TWISTS IN THERE AS WELL.

__Confessions of a Shopaholic__ is a book that shows what happens when you get addicted to shopping and a movie that shows how hard it is to get your finances when they get so out of control. The novel showed in great detail how Rebecca grew up and took control of her life after everything that she went through, and how she even found love through all of it. The movie shows how through everything Rebecca kept a positive attitude and she tried her hardest even when she wanted to give up to it all. “When I was 7 most of my friends stopped believing in magic. That's when I first started. They were beautiful, they were happy. They didn't even need any money, they had magic cards.” All Rebecca wanted was to be happy and she thought that by shopping and filling her life with all the material things she wanted, she would be happy. But you can’t buy happiness, no matter how much you spend. The themes of the movie and the book are the same, even though almost everything else in them is different. The theme of money can’t buy happiness is obvious in both of them, Rebecca has so many troubles with her finances from trying to buy everything that she wanted to fill in her life with everything that she thought that she needed to be happy. And it eventually becomes obvious to her that filling her life with all of these material things is not going to make her happy. And I think that’s the point that the author and director were trying to make, and that’s why they stuck with the same theme for each of them. The other element that I have decided to focuses on is the characters in both the movie in the book being the same and why they decided not to change them, but they changed almost everything else like the plot and so on. The characters of Rebecca and everyone else that are the main characters like Luke, have the same names yet in the book Rebecca ends up falling for Luke and never works for him, but in the movie she ends up working at his office, but still falling for him. And Tarquin in the book s Suze’s cousin, but in the movie it is her boyfriend even though in the book Rebecca actually went on a date with him. So even though the characters might have the same name that does not meant that they are anywhere close to being the same people. I think the director might have changed the movie to make it more interesting even though in the end I think that the book and the way that it was set up were much better. I think that the charters names and things were left the same so that the movie could somewhat relate to the book, but I think the director changed some of the things that they do to try and make the movie make more sense or to try and make it more entertaining even though in the end I think that if the director would have left every thing the same the movies would have had a lot ore success and be a lot better than it actually was. Rebecca learned that money can’t buy happiness, no matter what the cost of something or how much you buy. You can only make yourself happy by being passionate and doing what makes you happy and being with people that make you happy. Even though a lot of the scenes changed in the book, I believe that both were done very well, even though I preferred one over the other. Both also taught some very important lessons in life... Never become so obsessed with something that it takes over your whole life.

This next piece is a paper I had to write for my English class, about an issue that interested us. The title is "Already too late?" because it's about global warming and things that you can do to help. And the ways that people aren't helping. It's basically about how if we don't start to realize that we need to help, it'll be too late.

Twenty percent of America’s carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels since 1990 have been reported. Fifteen percent of carbon dioxide emissions are forecasted for the year 2020( [|http://www.edf.org/] ) if we don’t do something about global warming immediately. It would definitely not be good to let our planet end up like this, so why in the world are you letting I happen? The change needs to happen as quickly as possible. If people care and had compassion, everyone would do what they could to try and save our planet because it is not too late, yet. The going green movement that is going on is one of the best ideas out there in my opinion. Instead of people just talking about “going green”, now people are actually taking action and turning off there lights, which save energy, and unplugging their cell phone chargers, to save energy. There are so many ways to help save our planet. I’m a very caring person, and if everyone cared as much as I do about the planet, or actually about them and the people around them, then they would try and start finding ways to protect them by saving the planet. Global warming is causing more disasters that threaten not jut the planet but also all of our lives. If the planet is destroyed then we are destroyed. And he earth is already showing signs of climate change. Temperatures are rising, the Artic is feeling effects (ice is rapidly decreasing). Also, coral reefs are being bleached, flooding from the temperatures rising, and the ice melting. A rise in wild fires and heat waves, and other extreme weather events. All of the effects of global warming are just not worth the risk of people ignoring it or saying that it’s not actually taking place; the signs of global warming are affecting everyone, so people need to start believing and also start acting to save the planet.

This next one is a piece where we had to read a book that we had a connection with, something that relted to our lives in some wasy and I chose the book "Dear John" because of reasons you can see in the paper. This is probaby my favorite paper that I have ever written and my favorite book that I have ever read as well, this is like the only thing I actually enjoyed in English this year. **"I love you, not just for now, but for always, and I dream of the day that you’ll**
 * take me in your arms again."**

You could say that Dear John by Nicholas Sparks and my life are a lot alike. I related to this book in so many ways that it even surprised me. But this is a book that a lot of people can relate too, a true heart break, yet the most touching love story that I have ever read. A different kind of love, a passionate, understanding and a willing to let go kind of love that is rare to find. When I read this book, I opened it and the similarities started. John Tyree decided to enlist in the army after graduating from high school not knowing what else to do. He was a hell bent young man who was determined to do what he wanted, when he wanted it. But as they say the army changes everyone. John got more respect, a better tolerance for people, and well his lack of caring was still there. Then one summer while on leave, everything changed. When he first met Savannah Curtis, She changed everything and with there ups and downs they fell madly in love in the first weeks of meeting each other. But like every soldier, leave doesn’t last forever and he had to go back to Germany where he was stationed at, and leave his love behind. They vowed to stay together, but you know things have there way of changing when you’re apart for so long which is where the similarities started to fade away. Me relating to this book didn’t just have to do with me having a boyfriend who is in the army, who’s stationed in Germany. Not the fact that we’ve been together for over a year, or even that we have been through almost everything Nicholas Sparks writes about in Dear John. But I know what Savannah was going through, I know how it feels to see the man you love just walk away to the plane, and you’re so scared. I know all the emotions that you feel when you don’t see the person you are madly in love with for long periods of time. But I also know the excitement and how you count down the days until you see them again. I know how it feels when the only person you want comes home. Sure it’s hard but I just couldn’t fathom how Savannah could just kind of give up, until the end of the book and it made more sense. But still John and Josh have a lot in common, so do me and Savannah. Being an “army girlfriend” isn’t always easy, but you know when it’s worth it. But Savannah also knew that she needed to give up, and sometimes when you truly love something you have to let it go. This book actually taught me many things, like not matter how tough things are, I am truly lucky and blessed to have my boyfriend and that going through all of this is making me into a stronger person. But possibly the most important thing that it taught me is to love with all your heart, no matter what the circumstances might be because when your relationship is worth it, you know.