Willa Cather's Broken Arrow Pride

The blazing hot spotlights flick on. The theatre is silent, allowing me to hear the pounding of my heart. Heat radiating off of the light panels warms my face. I grin from ear to ear and whisper to myself, “I will remember this.” It was the friday night show of the orchesis concert, Mrs. Good had sat us down to tell us a story about a past student. Her student, Margaret, loved performing and lived for the rush of adrenaline when she stepped foot on stage. During her senior show, she whispered to herself, “I will remember this.” Fast forward three years, Margaret was walking through the quad of her college campus, the sun peered out behind the clouds and the angle the the sun hit her face brought back a rush of emotions and memories. We were all told this because she wanted us to never forget the feeling we got when we performed. “If you are rushing through the dance moves or caught up in the moment, pause and breathe, remember why you are on the stage in the first

“Life is a journey that must be traveled no matter how bad the roads and accommodations.” - Oliver Goldsmith

On April 11th, 2017 in the Louis Armstrong Theatre, I attended the GVSU “University Band”. This up-beat ensemble lasted about 90 minutes; the talented students of GVSU’s university band joined together to perform multiple different songs ranging from a Waltz to a Dixieland Jamboree. All of the songs that the band played for the audience were all well-known, popular songs that they all enjoyed. Having the opportunity to attend this concert has opened new musical paths for myself and has allowed me to enjoy and kindly critique something that I perhaps would have never had the chance to otherwise.

“Life includes unforeseen incidents that prove critical to promote personal growth. Life rarely gives us what we want. We are lucky if life gives us what we need in order to fulfill the path that was in place at our birthing.” ― Kilroy J. Oldster, Dead Toad Scrolls. People will go through the journey of life. The life is not a destination but a journey. As people go through, they learn, experience, and gain. The journey of the life matters because the people can earn experiences and those experience makes people better.

The wind tousled my hair around as I closed my eyes and took deep, shaky breaths. The faint sound of the crowd cheering upstage didn't help with my nerves, so, instead, I turned my ears to the delicate waves rolling up the beach. I opened my eyes and gazed out at the lake; now an open canvas for the golden sun which had began setting. Quietly, I plucked each string of my guitar- though I’d already tuned them several times. On the outside, I may have seemed ready, content, and excited; however, on the inside, no matter how tranquilizing the back stage scenery was, I was terrified to the core.

given another morning to live, there is only one end. And that end is death. Another great quote from the

”Life should be an exciting adventure. It should never be a bore. A man should live fully, be alive. He should be glad to get out of the bed in the morning. He should be doing a job that he likes because he does it well.”

The other band finished their song. The audience clapped, and hooted, and called out embarrassing pet names for their kids. We walked on stage and sat in our designated seats. The stage lights beating down on us were hot and I needed to squint to see. The audience was a collection of tiny dark specks I was looking out at past Brown’s wide yellow clad torso. Zoe had pulled the music stand in front of us into position, flipping through the pages in the folder and finding the song and the solo page. She handed the latter to me. I grabbed it hard, crinkling the side. And Brown began counting the tempo. Brendan stood and went over to the music stand. I would follow after twenty measures. We lifted our instruments into playing position, and I bit down hard into my mouthpiece. Brown was snapping his fingers softly and began to mouth the tempo. I let my foot fall into the rhythm of the

The way I see it,life is like a camera,focus on what's important,capture the good times,develop from the negatives,and if things don’t work out,take another shot.This quote means that life is full of surprises and opportunities,you should always put the things that are most important to you ahead,always live your life the way you wanted to,learn from your mistakes, and if things don’t seem so bright just learn from it and start anew.During my life I have had so many good times and also made many mistakes on the way but that won’t bring me down. Let’s take a moment to reflect on my life and what shaped me into becoming the smart and charming individual I am today.

The world as a classroom really speaks to me. Life is all about learning and moving onto the next big thing. Our whole life until we turn eighteen is focused on school, passing the tests, and succeeding. After that we go to college or go to work, we do not want to stay in that place for too long so then we focus on

That was my cue. I started to run out on stage like I was supposed to, but instead of seeing the bright stage lights and an audience of 1,933 expectant faces, all I could see was a blurr. All I could feel

Everyone knows that they are going to die eventually, but it’s what people do in between the time they open their eyes and when they close them that__________? Matters? Is important?. Life is full of trials; try and fail. People find things they love to do and they find things they don’t. When they find it their purpose, they master it. The pleasure of working towards fulfilling a purpose That pleasure is happiness and that is what life is for. To be happy, not in an immoral way but by doing what we love. That's what real happiness is. Does a person have to know they will die before they can live your life to the fullest? People “die” emotionally or mentally everyday .T and

The headliners were Madeon and Porter Robinson, both DJs. The latter is my favorite of all time, which created much suspense for me and my friend when we arrived to the venue. Ever since we were assigned this project, I immediately thought about this show. Before taking this class, I always thought music was one of the greatest and most raw forms of art and I cannot go a day without listening to it. Doors opened and there we were, T-minus three hours until the headliners came on. The wait was rather boring as the other smaller DJs were neither as good nor as well-known as either Madeon or Porter Robinson. When one a.m. hit, the crowd was ready. The show started strong as they both played their most recognized songs, and we were having a great time. Then as an hour passed, Porter went to Madeon’s side and started playing the piano. In this moment, I felt as if nothing else mattered in the world. I started to match the sound of the piano with the songs I knew and then I realized he was playing my favorite song, Fellow Feeling. The song, which will be in the PowerPoint presentation, embodies how we can have a certain perception of someone or something but as we grow closer to them we realize the reality of who or what they are, which changes our perspective. It embodies the infamous saying that everything is more beautiful from a

Some people don't realize how simple, yet complicated life is, that the point of it is not to ‘lose or win or become successful', but to die knowing that you have lived your life to the maximum and get the satisfaction from that. That you have created and destroyed, that you lived and the sun shone on you, and most importantly, that you left a footprint behind you.

Life is a complicated twist of suffering, laughing, and learning all merging to tell a great story - or great many stories. Based on this view, "it is not the end goal or outcome of life that gives life meaning but rather the quality of the story, the quality with which one lives out and develops his or her role."