Students React to Anna Quindlen's visit - cont...

Daniella Maholick

    This past week has been nothing but hectic. I missed about a week of school for many reasons and now am stuck playing catch up. Ugh, I hate falling behind! I missed a guest speaker, Anna Quindlen, whom I would have loved to meet. While researching her I found that she was ONLY the third woman in The New York Times' history to have written a regular column for its Op-Ed page. I probably would've asked her about the feeling she had when her books became movies. Or if the thought of her books becoming bestsellers ever crossed her mind. And did her children influence her to write children's books?

    It stinks that I had to miss all these days and that I didn't get the chance to interview her when I was looking forward to starting the interview project. I still am kind of worried about how much work I missed and how I am going to make it up. Regardless, I am going to try my hardest to keep my head up and ride out these few more months with hopes of graduating in May or June. With a special thanks to Mary Ann, my oh so wonderful English teacher LOL, who's words encouraged me to hang in there. Seeing and reading about successful women helps me "keep my eye on the ball" as Mary Ann would say. It helps me keep my priorities straight and believe that I can accomplish such wonderful things, just as Anna Quindlen, Oprah Winfrey, V.C Andrews and a lot others.

    I am thankful for being back in Kenmare. This rough week has made me realize that Kenmare is not just a alternative high school, but it is also a support system. The staff is always there to help someone back up when they see they are going downhill. They're like pillars that help a person stand, for which I am exceedingly thankful. For a short period of time, I lost my view of the big picture and how an education is so important, but now, just knowing how much faith others have in me made me want to strive harder to get where I truly want to be. The staff at Kenmare gave me that extra push that I needed just when I was ready to give up. When life throws you lemons, make lemonade! (Mary Ann is over my shoulder making fun of this last sentence, telling me I can come up with something better.)