The Road Less Traveled

Quest...There are a lot of feelings and thoughts that I now relate to that word.  I don't even understand it anymore.  It's going to take me a while to complete this, and so this blog may come in late.

Quest is a story, Quest is a lie, Quest is a tale, Quest is a time.  Quest is a space, Quest is a voice, Quest is a failure, Quest is a choice.

Quest is a veil, Quest is conformity, Quest is challenging, Quest is enormity.  Quest is power, Quest is fake, Quest is perfect, Quest is cake. :)

Quest is corruption, Quest is illegal, Quest is purple, Quest is frugal.  Quest is evil, Quest is good, Quest is savage, Quest is food.

Quest is mind, Quest is soul, Quest is following, Quest is a tool.  Quest is truth, Quest is lie, Quest is something that cannot die.  Quest is death, Quest is life, Quest is projects, Quest is strife.  Quest is waiting, Quest is staying, Quest is looking, fighting, playing.

Quest is coping, Quest is fire, Quest is chains and Quest is higher.  Quest is hypocrites, Quest is great, Quest is wonderful, Quest is hate.

Quest is Quest, Quest will live, Quest is here and will never end.

Quest is everything and nothing at the same time, and I don't know what I'm going to do now.  This whole class was a social experiment, and now that we've been isolated from the rest of the district, we feel differently about things and cannot live separated from community and a group that understands us as individuals.

GAH.  THIS IS HARD.

McCallum has become the embodiment of Quest, and I think that every Quest kid respects him and looks up to him.  If you have never had McCallum, you do not know contradicting things in the same sentence and mind-blowing stuff that makes sense and makes your brain hurt *breath*.  End of run-on sentence.  This is really hard for me because I still don't understand Quest.  I've watched seventh grade Quest students go through their English class, and I see similarities everywhere between all the Quest groups.  I've heard from my mom, who was a substitute teacher for second and third grade Quest students, after warning her, what Quest was like.
"I'm subbing for second and third grade Quest."
"Good luck."
"They're just second and third graders!  I'll be fine."  I rolled my eyes and muttered under my breath:
"Wait and see...."
A few days later...
"I had two kids in my class who, whenever they had the chance to be together, would not stop talking!"
"What class were you subbing for?"
"The Quest class."  I glance across the table at my brother and mutter just loud enough for him to hear:
"And it only gets worse from there."  I see my brother nodding along with me in agreement, and we share a secret smile.

Quest is powerful.  It changes people.  You cannot be in Quest and remain unquestioned, unchanged in how you see the world.  Because you will be questioned, and your life will be hard through middle school.  But there is always the light at the end of the tunnel of Quest, and McCallum's class makes up for it all.

NOT ANY EASIER TO WRITE THIS.

I really enjoyed having McCallum as a mentor, especially for my novel writing.  It is especially pleasing when McCallum asks in class: "who wrote for NaNoWriMo?" and to raise my hand and say "thirty-nine thousand words."  McCallum has given me something to work towards - his appreciation and amazement with my work.  I want to impress him and have him say "great job".  His feedback means that I have something that could change the world, and that I want to publish someday so that the world can feel the power of my words and how they impacted McCallum, my 'beta reader'.  He tested the power of my words, and I want others to feel that power.

STILL NOT ANY EASIER.

OK.  Maybe that was a lie, but this was really difficult to write.  I don't understand my Quest identity - I don't think any Quest student understands who they are in Quest.  They just exist in Quest.  They are.  They are the ones who will change the world.

Writing from the heart is difficult, but McCallum encouraged me, and I will keep him as my mentor through the internet until I publish, and then beyond that.

To the North Star, and then straight on 'til morning!

-bookhouse4

GAH.  I'M DONE WITH THIS.

Goodbye Quest.  See you later, alligator.  More references to things that don't make sense.
One word: Quest.  Confusion.  Two words...
I'll shut up now.