Narrative-Final Draft

Ryan Stenzel

Shiela Allard

Written Communications

3 November 2010

My Grandfather

                  My grandfather, Joe Sheehan, had many great qualities.  He was always known for giving you advice if you were going through a bad time.  Grandpa always looked at the world from a good perspective.  My grandfather influenced many people throughout his life.  He touched the hearts of his family and even people outside of our family.  Everyone knew Joe Sheehan by name and reputation.  He would help anyone in need without asking for anything in return.  In my opinion this and his amazing work ethic made him one of the best men I have ever had the privilege of knowing.  Some of the reasons why I think my grandfather was such a great man are his generosity, his work ethic, and his warm heartedness. 

                While I was growing up, my mom would sometimes leave me in my grandfather’s care while she went to work.  My grandpa owned his own lawn care service, which he often let me help with as soon as I got old enough.  Anytime we were mowing a lawn, my grandfather was generous enough to pay me for the extra hours I waited while he visited with each client.  I remember this one time while we were mowing an elderly lady’s lawn, Grandpa and I didn’t even get a chance to finish mowing the lawn before she invited us in for lemonade.  I was only around ten at the time, but I still remember it like it was yesterday.  My grandfather and this woman could have talked for hours about the history that they shared and the stories that they knew.  After we left that day, he told me that getting to know a customer like that was one of the most rewarding parts of having your own business.  My grandfather loved these connections he made with other people.  Anytime he did work for someone, he would charge very little, if anything at all.  Even when my cousins and I were with him, he would make sure that we all learned something before we parted ways.  Like I said before, he taught me everything he knew about business and family and how they do not need to walk hand-in-hand.  He taught one of my cousins all about farming and how to run his own farm.

He also taught me everything that he knew about owning a small business.  Grandpa gave me some of the best advice I have ever heard to this day; “You need to find a career that you like and enjoy going to work every day.”  Besides telling me little bits of wise advice, he taught me how to do simple bookwork and accounting, how to fix small engines, and how to do a lot of farm chores.  He had the best work ethic out of anyone I had ever seen.

Grandpa always preached to me about family and friends being the most important things in life.  He said that I would understand what that meant when I got a little older.  He was right, as usual.    When I was not being babysat or working with him, he would be at our house visiting and having a good time.  He treated everyone that grew up with my aunts and uncles like they were family, even when they turned into adults.  He also would get to know anyone, no matter the circumstances. 

As I got older, my relationship with my grandfather only got stronger.  This all changed when he was diagnosed with esophagus cancer.  He was a smoker for a good portion of his life, but the doctors didn’t think that is what had caused it.  They really didn’t know.  They put him on chemotherapy which just seemed to make him get worse.  He just kept getting thinner and weaker as time went on.  When my family and I would go out to visit him, he was either asleep or incoherent.  He was so heavily medicated that he did not recognize me or anyone in my family for that matter, a lot of the time.  This went on for a while until one day he just didn’t wake up.  This was July 29, 2004.  I got a call at my house from my mom, who had already left to go see him.  I was all alone at the time so naturally I broke into tears.  I didn’t understand why my grandpa had to be taken away from me.  I felt like somebody took a part of my heart and crushed it.  My mom sent our church’s nun to pick me up.  When I arrived at my grandfather’s house, I was not in the greatest situation.  I could barely walk in the door let alone look at him.  Every time I even tried to look in his direction I would break down.  When he died I did not think that I would ever be able to get over it. It seemed like he was taken away from me for no reason.  It really hit me when we went to the cemetery and put his casket in the ground.  I don’t think I have had a dramatic experience like that since that day.  I was not an easy person to be around for the first few months of his death because I was depressed and sad a lot of the time.  That attitude seemed to change as the rest of the year past and my brother Jake was born.  My youngest brother was born on July 29, 2005 at around the same time in the morning that my grandfather had died the previous year.  This gave me a whole new perspective on the situation.  To this day I believe that my grandpa just wanted us to know that he was there for us.  He was there when my brother Jack and I were born.  He was also a huge part of our lives as we were growing up, so I looked at this event as a type of closure.  I realized that he would always be with my family and I in spirit.

                The long and the short of this story is that my grandfather brought joy to many peoples’ lives.  His death taught me that you only have so much time with your family and friends and you should cherish every moment like it was to be your last.  He was one of the wisest and most generous men I had ever met and one of the greatest people I have ever had the privilege of knowing throughout my life.

Caledonia Criminal Justice Center

Caledonia Criminal Justice Center

                I read an article in the Caledonia Argus about the progress on the new criminal justice center in Caledonia, Minnesota.  The article talked about how the progress on the building is going.  Because they did not have a lot of rain for a while last month, they were able to work almost every day to get the building built.  According to Rich Reding, from Knutson Incorporated, the company building the new court house, “Schedule wise, we’re running pretty well,” Reding noted. “Having to put up with the very wet summer was a challenge, but we were able to catch up quite a bit during the last three weeks”(Warner, 8).

                Personally I did not think the building needed to be put in Caledonia in the first place.  They had to tear down multiple buildings to make room for this huge new structure.  I know the building is supposed to house more inmates and nicer offices, but at what cost?  They built this place a block away from an elementary school.  What if an inmate escapes?  They could go and kidnap a child and do harm to them in some way.  The old court house is pretty close to the school also, but they put this one even closer.  Another reason I do not believe that we need a new building is because the old court house is a landmark and is part of the city’s history.  I would hate to see that place torn down.  I do not know if this is their plan, but if it is they can expect to get an earful from Caledonia’s citizens.  The construction of this place is another issue.  Every other day there is a different road blocked off to through traffic because it makes it easier for them to haul their raw materials around.  This just makes it more difficult to navigate around the town.  In conclusion, I do not agree with this new criminal justice center at all.

The Man Who Lives Without Money

The Man Who Lives Without Money

                I read an article about a guy named Josh Stevens who took a pledge to live without money.  He started six months ago in May by pledging to a company called Groupon that he would live off their Groupons for a full year.  Groupon is a coupon company that basically charges half of what a product is worth.  For example, you pay Groupon $50 for $100 massage.  Then they split the profit with the company that they received the deal from. 

                Six months ago, Josh Stevens was going to enter into business school until an opportunity had a presented itself.  Groupon was offering $100,000 grand prize for a contest that required the participator to live off only Groupons for the year.  They supply him with an unlimited supply of free Groupons as long as he used them as his only form of currency.  This requires some creativity because you can only get Groupons for certain items.  Stevens said that he had to wear a suit made of paper when he started last May because there were no Groupons for real clothes available at the time.  He also mentions that the best way to explore a new city is to get lost, instead of sticking to a plan and only seeing certain sights.  He said that it is one of the most inexpensive ways to see good parts of a city that you would not normally see if you were traveling with money. 

                I think that this is a great idea for someone who doesn’t have a job or responsibilities.  If you have a job, there is no way that you are going to be able to wear a suit made of paper to work.  If you have responsibilities to a family with children or a job you cannot go for a year living on Groupons.  This would be a great experience for a college student or a single person to have.  Personally, I would not try doing this because I do not think that I would be able to handle living on coupons.  We think that it is bad living from paycheck to pay check, well I can about imagine what it must feel like living coupon to coupon.

               

First Draft of my Narrative

Ryan Stenzel

Shiela Allard

Written Communications

7 October 2010

My Grandfather

                My grandfather influenced many people throughout his life.  He touched the hearts of his family and even people outside of our family.  Everyone knew Joe Sheehan by name and reputation.  He would help anyone in need without asking for anything in return.  In my opinion this and his amazing work ethic made him one of the best men I have ever had the privilege of knowing.

                While I was growing up, my mom would sometimes leave me in my grandfather’s care while she went to work.  He would always teach me a lot about vehicles and motorcycle.  He also owned his own lawn care service, which he often let me help with as soon as I got old enough.  He taught me everything that he knew about owning a small business.  He also taught me that family and friends were the most important things in life.  He told me to find a career that I liked, but also make sure that it makes enough time for family.  When I was not being babysat by him, he would be at our house visiting and having a good time.

                Some of the reasons why I think my grandfather was such a great man are his generosity, his work ethic, and his warm heartedness.  He treated everyone that grew up with my aunts and uncles like they were family, even when they turned into adults.  He also would get to know anyone, no matter the circumstances.  Anytime he did work for someone, he would charge very little, if anything at all.  Even when my cousins and I were with him, he would make sure that we all learned something before we parted ways.  Like I said before, he taught me everything he knew about business and family and how they do not need to walk hand-in-hand.  He taught one of my cousins all about farming and how to run his own farm.

                As I got older, my relationship with my grandfather only got stronger.  This all changed when he was diagnosed with esophagus cancer.  He was a smoker for a good portion of his life, but the doctors didn’t think that is what had caused it.  They really didn’t know.  They put him on chemotherapy which just seemed to make him get worse.  He just kept getting thinner and weaker as time went on.  When my family and I would go out to visit him, he was either asleep or incoherent.  He was so heavily medicated that he did not recognize me or anyone in my family for that matter, a lot of the time.  This went on for a while until one day he just didn’t wake up.  This was July 29, 2004.  I got a call at my house from my mom, who had already left to go see him.  She sent our church’s nun to pick me up.  When I arrived at my grandfather’s house, I was not in the greatest situation.  Every time I even tried to look in his direction I would break down.  I realized on that day that my life would never be the same, but then that changed one year later.  My youngest brother was born on July 29, 2005 at around the same time in the morning that my grandfather had died the previous year.  This gave me a whole new perspective on the situation.  I realized that he would always be with my family and I in spirit.

                The long and the short of this story is that my grandfather brought joy to many peoples’ lives.  He was also one of the wisest and most generous men I had ever met.  He was one of the greatest people I have ever had the privilege of knowing throughout my life.

               

Bomb Threat Article

Bomb Threat

               

I read an article in the Caledonia Argus about a bomb threat that had occurred at the high school.  The police said that a note was found in one of the bathrooms that talked about a bomb being detonated at 3:07 in the afternoon.  The school was evacuated at 2:40 and all of the students were transported to the local elementary school to be put on their correct busses.  The police and fire department searched the building, but did not find anything suspicious.  They brought in a dog that was capable of finding explosives to search the building that evening.  The school canceled all of the athletic events and the parent-teacher conferences for the evening also.

                I think that having the Caledonia Police Department involved in anything that is as serious as this matter.  This is like letting a five year old child look for car bombs in Afghanistan.  I honestly do not believe that they are trained enough to deal with anything like this.  I also believe that the students that currently attend this high school are always just looking to get a day off by doing something such as this.  I really don’t think that any of them would go as far as putting a bomb in the school though.  I know because when I attended the same high school, we were always thinking of crazy ideas to get the rest of the day off.  They might as well just wait until the winter to get a day off because a bomb threat takes this a little too far.  It seems like these kids think that school shootings and bombings are a joke.  The administration needs to take some steps towards educating them on how bad these situations could really be.  If they would show the news reports and the stories about all of the previous school shootings and bombings to these kids, I believe that they would gain a new perspective on the subject.  I would hope that whoever did this realizes that none of this is funny and they need to either grow up, or get some help.

Ken Block Gymkhana Practice

Video Reflection

Video Reflection

                This video explained a lot about the kinesthetic learning process.  These kids get a chance to go to a camp and build things without having to worry about their parents hassling them about their learning habits.

                I think that this is a great idea.  There are so many kinesthetic learners in the world that don’t have the resources to be able to learn this way.  This camp gives these kids a chance to learn about building things in a safe environment.  They also have the opportunity to learn how trial and error is worth the feeling of success at the end of a project.  The camp must also do wonders for their social skills because they work in teams and share the success and the failures.

                Our education system could definitely learn from these teaching practices.  If there were more classes that focused on the kinesthetic way of learning, I think there would be a much higher student success rate.  Instructors do try very hard to conform to everyone’s learning styles, but there is only so much they can do.

                I have been lucky by being able to learn in many different ways.  I can usually learn by any means necessary because that is what I had to do in high school.  Every one of my instructors taught things in a different manner than the last, which meant that I either had to pick up on it or risk failing.  I think if I had to pick one though, I would have to choose kinesthetic learning.  This is because I find it much easier to learn things by just doing them.  The only example I can think of is when I started working at my job.  I only had to do something once in order to figure it out.  No one was going to take me by the hand and show me step by step how to do these things, so I just  learned by repetitively doing different things on the job. 

                I think the thing that stood out for me in this video was when he said, “Success is in the doing, the failures are celebrated and analyzed.  Problems become puzzles and obstacles disappear.”  This made me think about what learning really is.  It is about finding out how to overcome obstacles and how to learn from your failures, rather than dwell on them.

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/gever_tulley_s_tinkering_school_in_action.html