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The True Meaning of TGIFKristel KlankWhen I was younger, TGIF was the highlight ofmy entire week. In the mid-90ʼs my family, along witha million others, looked forward to gathering aroundthe TV every Friday night to watch our favorite line-upof shows on ABC: Step by Step, Family Matters, BoyMeets World, and Full House filled our night from 8 to10.We just couldnʼt get enough of those lovable family-focusedsitcoms.In elementary school, I remember sitting around thelunch table with friends deliberating what would happenon our favorite shows. Were Jesse and Becky reallygoing tie the knot? What stupid things would Ericdo this week? Eight oʼclock couldnʼt come quicklyenough.But as everyone grew older, my friends and I didnʼttalk about TGIF as often and the crowd in our livingroom started to thin out—at one point all 6 of us,including the family dog, congregated in the livingroom and passed around a big bowl of popcorn. Soon,I found it was just me, my sister Gretchen, and momsitting in front of our old television: dad was workinglater and traveling more, Kelly found a boyfriend thatshe couldnʼt bare to be without for even a night, andEric simply grew up.But I swore Iʼd never let go of my beloved TGIF.Yet sadly, I eventually grew out of it too. Lessoften did I find myself sitting in front of the TV singingalong to the theme songs I once knew so well.TGIF was replaced by high school football games andsleepovers. I no longer made time for some of my firstchildhood friends: Cory Matthews, Shawn Hunter, andTopanga Lawrence.But, I guess my family wasnʼt the only one whoseFriday night schedule grew busier and started consistingof things that seemed more important. We werenʼtthe only ones who stopped making time for it becausebefore I knew it TGIF was cancelled and replaced bymore popular shows with racier storylines.Yet even now, I still find myself searching thechannels for my childhood favorites; I still look for thefamiliar faces of the Tanner family and always hope tofind Urkel standing in the Winslowʼs living room in hishigh-water pants sporting those ridiculous bug-eyedglasses—but I rarely do.But, what I have found is that most modern familiesno longer make time to gather together on Fridaynights to watch some good old fashioned TV and sharea bowl of popcorn; that the term TGIF is no longer associatedwith the classic line-up, but rather a term thatexpresses how relieved people are for the weekend.But for me, TGIF will forever bring me back to thedays of my childhood: those Friday nights when myonly care in the world was if the popcorn was butteryenough, and if everyone had a place to sit.The Game of LosingCatherine PastrickLose your baby teeth, receive some well-earned moneyFrom the tooth fairy.Lose a button from your favorite baby dressHave your mother sew a new one on.Lose your favorite dollWho happened to be your faithful side-kickFind a better one at the store.Lose your grandmaCry, but move on quickly because youʼre too young to know.Lose your first best friend to the big, mean moving truckCry for days, but continue your friendship through lettersUntil the childhood connection eventually fades.Lose your first assignment in grade schoolApologize, and start over fresh.Lose your elementary clique when you start middle schoolForget about them, and meet new ones.Lose your first, childish “boyfriend”Be sad for a few days, but move on quicklyIt wasnʼt anything comparable to real love.Lose your brothers to collegeTalk daily to continue your relationship.Lose your innocence and purity to your first real boyfriendFeel relieved, yet sad that you let down your parents.Give all of your love and time to make it workBut, lose that same boyfriend to selfishnessBegin a long stage of never-ending depression.Lose your best friends becauseThey accuse you of being differentAnd youʼre never the same again…Ode to My Honey Crisp—The Best Apple Alive—Hannah FritzkeEach and every time my teeth carve into yourImperfect jacket, I can rely on you to be crisp and firm.You are unlike any otherWanna-be, soft and mushy,Who call themselves “Apples.”You are sugar sweet amd yet you makeMy cheeks tingle with acidity,I have to rapidly close my undeserving lips soThat your juice does not spray out.You may not be a shiny supermodel Red Delicious, on the outside,But on the inside, you blow their skinny peels off the runway.My love for you reaches deep down to the core,Since tasting your sweet innardsI havenʼt been able to cheat on you, Honey.20 Spring 2008
Mr. InvincibleJordan EdwardsOur usual fifteen-minute drive to the gymis now filled with clouds of smoke from halfa pack of cigarettes instead of long conversation.As we cruise along the bluff, lookingat the frozen lake, I crack the window (evenat 30 degrees) to give the smoke a placeto escape, for a source of fresh air. Heʼsmanaged to light up two cigarettes from thetime we left the house to the time we pulledinto South Shore. He takes one last dragbefore he drops the bud on the ground andwe make our way toward the treadmills.And after only ten minutes of running,my brother wonders why he is bent over,panting heavily, and has to stop. Itʼs as ifeverything Iʼve said to him goes in one earand out the other. “Why does it matter? Iʼmgonna die someday,” he says as he lights upanother cigarette for the drive home.I canʼt understand why David wont quitsmoking after seeing my grandma die oflung cancer. I question if he notices mygrandpaʼs eyes brighten, and then saddenwhen we bring her up at dinnertime,his struggle to hold back tears even after2 years. I wonder why he disregards theSurgeon Generalʼs Warning posted on everypack of his Marlboro cigarettes. My brother,like millions of teenagers today, still choosesto light up even after reading the SurgeonGeneralʼs Warning. Even after seeing theTruth adds. Even after listening to a familymember nagging you to quit.Teenagers think theyʼre invincible. Theythink they can go through life toughskinned,that it will never happen to them,that even though they choose to live theirlife in the fast lane— theyʼll make it throughwithout a ding or bruise. I see this kind ofmentality in my brother, David. He doesnʼtsee the true harm heʼs doing to himselfevery time he buys a new pack.Many people, like David, fail to thinkabout their futures. Millions of “Invincible”teenagers today donʼt think about thefamilies, their thriving careers, and theirfreedom they may have to give up twentyyears from now when they are diagnosedwith lung cancer. Nobodyʼs thinking abouthealth, about having to miss their childʼssoccer game because of a chemo treatment.Like my grandma, they will be counting thedays, not knowing the last time they willsee their loved ones. They will have to livein fear, in pain, and in regret. Their choiceto smoke will affect their children, friends,and family. Seeing their children grow upmay be out of the question, and it will allgo back to a choice they made as adolescents—thechoice to smoke.So why, even after all these repercussionsare drilled into teenagers heads, do theychoose to light up? Is it to look cool? Tolose weight? To fit in with the party scene?Itʼs a question I donʼt have answer to. Afterseeing the rapid decline in my grandmaʼslife after her lung cancer diagnosis and thepain she went through before her death, Idonʼt think Iʼll ever be able to understandpeopleʼs justifications for why they smoke.I refuse to listen to my brotherʼs argumentfor his habit, and I am disappointed thatafter my grandmaʼs death, he didnʼt learnanything about the consequences of smoking.He thinks heʼs invincible, that it wonʼthappen tohim. But I wont stop nagging him untilthe drives home are smoke free and I canroll down the window to feel a cool breezeblow through my hair instead of clearing acloud of smoke.Danielle MoitNot There YetRyan PawloskiOpening the double doors to alecture hall and quickly greeting mystudents, I take my position at thefront of the room. I waste no timelaunching into the detailed process ofchemical bonding. A student raiseshis hand, and we start into a discussionabout covalent bonds. After tenminutes of this, I pause, realizing thatmy students have begun to teach mejust as much as I have taught them. Ismile to myself. Discussions like thisone are why I wanted to teach after Iretired.Iʼm not there yet though.Letʼs step back about twenty years.Iʼm working in a chemistry lab, researchinga new medicine which willhopefully aid millions of people infights against a number of deadlydiseases. Just last year I helped developmedication that froze cancer cellsin their tracks. Working in a researchlab allows me to continue to learn andapply my chemistry knowledge evenafter I have graduated from textbooksand dorm rooms. I get to help peopleand keep learning at the same time.My dream.Still not quite there.Ten years earlier, Iʼm sitting inmy dorm room laboring away at atextbook thicker than the EncyclopediaBritannica. Hand shaking, I finishwhat seems to be the hundredth pageof notes on stoichiometry, gas laws,and titrations. Even as I relieve thepain in my hand, I canʼt wait for thenext set of notes for calculus. I gatherup my books and head out the door.I have to get to class early to talk tothe professor about an internship at achemistry lab that Iʼm interestedin.Iʼm almost there.A year earlier, Iʼm sitting in mybasement. The only light in the roomglows from the computer monitor.Tapping on the keys, I form wordson the page—writing out my future.I check every word and check everyconvention, hoping this essay helpsgive me the opportunity to make thatfuture happen. I hit print. That iswhere I am now.afterglow 21
Page 1: AfterGlowSJHSLit Mag2008
Page 5 and 6: Escape.Elisha SchoepleinThe South A
Page 7 and 8: The not so perfect coverLexy Dilley
Page 9 and 10: Ice CreamKristel KlankYou taunt me
Page 11 and 12: The Shofar*Devora GleiberI sit in a
Page 13 and 14: Never look backKelli CelmerWe step
Page 15 and 16: My Canine FriendJackie McElroyEvery
Page 17 and 18: Love SpotsHannah Fritzke“Whatʼs
Page 19: Just the MomentCaitlin Claytondonʼ
Page 23 and 24: Caucus Chaoscontinued from page 22h
Page 25 and 26: What Snow Days Taught Me About Life
Page 27 and 28: I hateCatherine PastrickSundays fil
Page 29 and 30: Hickory, Dickory, DockMegan Sandber
Page 31 and 32: I Am From…Caitlin ClaytonI am fro
Page 33 and 34: in 3 days, and 2 days, and 1 day I
Page 35 and 36: The View OutsideCaitlin ClaytonThe

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