The "Storm"

As the AP exams approach, the teachers at my school nickname this time the "Storm" because of the amount of work the students go through. I have 3 AP classes, help!! The only thing I've had a chance to read is 30 pages of European history text and some essays about poems written by people I've never heard of or care to hear of again. Why do teachers do this to us?

Catcher in the Rye and the Taste of Change

Have you ever read a book that as you turn to the last page you get this taste in your mouth like your life is changed? The taste that promises you are nearing the end of the journey you experienced alongside the speaker. If you haven't I suggest: A) You read a book. B) You start reading more powerful books. For there is nothing like the feeling as you encounter the last sentence of the most powerful work of literature you have ever had the privilege to embark upon.

Last night, I finished 'The Catcher in the Rye' by the recently departed, J. D. Salinger. This was perhaps the tenth book or so that left me in a state of contemplation over the protected mindset of Holden Caulfield. As a teenager I think alot of us can relate to Holden's fears of being hurt. How many times have I lied to someone because its easier, or because its what they want to hear? How often do I make excuses why I shouldn't do something without simply admitting I'm afraid? How many times have I made plans to leave?

What I found most appealing to me, personally, in C.I.T.R. was that Holden continously makes plans to travel out west, but ends up staying in NYC. I'm right in the middle of my college search, and I, like Holden, am an Easterner planning to travel out west or even to a foreign county. Will my fears keep me here as they bound Holden to NYC? Do I really want to leave everyone I know? I've placed a certain distance between myself and everyone I know to protect myself, but will I wake up one day to realize I've mad a mistake?

I guess I won't know until I'm old if my decisions will have been the right ones in the long run. I just wish I had the answers now sometimes. I have so many questions, and so few answers.