I Was A Tree Once

Why are we capable of such dignified ascension of the average and expected? It's probably because we have never been either. Our English class has a unique chemistry that rivals that of the Curies. Settling disputes through Jenga wars and daring to decry influential literature, we demand nothing less than passion. Emotions run high when Jenga blocks waver, swaying with our expectations; every class member leans in with bated breath and often baiting words, transfixed to the point of enchantment. However, we have learned to transfer our frustration at the toppling Jenga tower into driving excitement in Socratic forums. This driving emotion force has fueled our late night reading and early morning classes. Emotion inspired dedication to the book you now grasp. It is the emotion of a class all its own, and this is ours.

We started Mr. Simonsen?s Honors English III class as two separate groups?often set to compete against each other in grades and taunting each other playfully in the process. However, we did not realize that at the end of the year we would have something to show for the unity between classes that we were unaware existed. Two classes of very different students?nonetheless each intelligent and innovative?have come together to produce this book of short stories. Each story exhibits and represents a piece of every individual student and may seem insignificant when they stand alone. But when they are placed side by side, as they are in this book, they complete a puzzle that we did not know we were working to piece together the entire school year.