Peppermint Hot Chocolate. It's just good.

Tonight I had peppermint hot chocolate at Starbucks. I'm not saying that you should go there, but by all means, find yourself some peppermint hot chocolate.

This is part of a speech of tribute that I'm writing for my undergraduate speech class. I decided to pay tribute to the man who trained my brother and I on the river, and was the River Program Manager at Noah's Ark Whitewater Rafting for years. This is just what I have done so far.


I want you all to close your eyes and turn off your adult brains. Remember with your young mind someone that you looked up to, someone that you would do anything to be like when you grew up. It could be an athlete, an actor, an astronaut. Someone who was excellent at what they did and held your respect firmly without even knowing it.

You can open your eyes. For me, a young boy going rafting, that person was Cory Scheer. Cory was a man's man. He was the head guide at Noah's Ark Whitewater Rafting, in my ten-year old mind the best company in the world, and undoubtedly was represented by a lifelike statue in the Pantheon of Raft Guides not only at Noah's, but on the whole river. He was an imposing figure, towering over the crowd of guests at the safety talk, and his top of the line Lotus Design whitewater lifejacket covered with rescue gear convinced me that we obviously had nothing to worry about. I was clearly right, because I survived the cold water and massive waves that almost swallowed me out of the boat. I can honestly say now that from the moment I walked away from that trip, I knew without a doubt that I wanted to be just like Cory Scheer. After what seemed like a lifetime, I was finally old enough to apply as a guide. My brother and I were hired and began river training under Cory in mid-May when the snow melts and the river is like an angry torrent of chocolate milk.

One thing that I learned right away was Cory's incessant focus on excellence. If our group of training boats was too spaced out, hitting rocks, or enjoying ourselves too much, Cory's shrill and unmistakeable whistle got our attention. Once, one boat was lounging around on our third ten-mile run of the day. Cory turned around, and I knew that we were all going to get it. I stared in disbelief as Cory shouted at all the boats to flip. I thought that he was crazy. I gasped as 40 degree water plunged around my exposed skin. I've never swam so hard in my life as I did to get back in my boat, and I know that I was mildly hypothermic. But we all got the point. This was not supposed to be fun, and Cory wouldn't lose sleep if we swam a hundred times.

I've got to keep writing. This is due Friday and I haven't finished or practiced yet. This is going to be a busy week! Enjoy life outside of the blogosphere. And don't forget to find some peppermint hot chocolate.

mid-semester mediocrity

It doesn't need to be said that I my lack of entries is pretty lame. I know.
As a first step in redeeming myself, I'll just list some things that describe my life right now.

School: undergraduate ends, graduate begins. not more challenging, but more busy. searching for graduate internships back home. I also have a cubicle in my departmental building (as a 1st year grad student)

Classes: environmental law, public speaking (argh), ceramics, senior capstone, graduate seminar, experimental design, intro to international ministry, teacher's assistant for hydrogeology, challenge course facilitator (yes!)

Free time: soccer, frisbee golf, music, walking, hanging out

Music: emery, anberlin, something corporate, and mae. a little jimmy eat world and
saosin

Thoughts:
Have I changed since being in college? If so, how? If not, why?
Will I find a good internship? How about a job? Where? Doing what?
What will people think of me if I choose not to pursue a career immediately after school?
Am I becoming more intelligent through all this?

This is the abridged version. Sorry, but i'm not externalizing everything on a web page. Not everything fits into the framework of words.

live life.