James Bartholomew the 50th, an adventurous young lad whose one dream was to climb the most dangerous mountain in the world, neared the top of Mount Squiggly, a mountain so dangerous and squiggly, that no one dared to climb. After two whole years of climbing the mountain, James reached out his arm to claim victory, finally arriving at the top. All of a sudden, a flock of hawks attacked him. In a desperate attempt to scare them off, he uses his backpack but it was ineffective. One of the hawks swoops in and grabs the backpack. As it flew off, James could see his laptop falling out. In a last-ditch effort, he tries to reach for his laptop, but another hawk swoops in and hits him, throwing him off balance. James rolls down the mountain hard and fast. He tries to catch a grip, but the mountain’s smooth squiggles won’t allow it. About to accept defeat, something grabs his hand. He quickly looks up to find a being made of coding and light coming out of his computer holding on to him. James was at a loss for words. Before he could say anything, the being tells him, “Your story does not end here.”
— Rohail, Glenbard West High School
Mary awoke at 6 a.m., as usual. She had neglected to complete both her homework and her duties since she had been napping. She had been worrying about the two tasks, and when she awoke, her homework and chores were completed. The floor was polished, she noticed a robot vacuum there, and instead of the settings on the top, there was a smile on the screen. Instead of being delighted, Mary felt terrified. She had told her mother the story and had been told she was insane … until it began to happen to everyone. Nobody was studying anymore because they had gotten the answers by asking the question aloud. Machines are 3-D printing houses, creating clothes, and even educating as a result, the human race becomes more lazy. Technology is giving a hand, but for how long? Until they have had enough and betray mankind.
— Zahraa, Glenbard West High School
It was a dark day for me, my best friend just got into a car accident, and she was in the ICU. I had no idea what I was going to do. She was my ray of sunshine in life. I had nowhere to go, my family was away on vacation. Nobody else knew but me and her family. I was there, I saw it happen. I kept on blaming myself, it was my fault she got into the mess, I was the one who wanted ice cream, she just wanted to stay home. I opened my laptop and soon the pain weighing down on me eased up. I got lost in the world of stories of incidents just like hers. As I was getting lost in the world of the internet, the phone rang. It was the hospital, she was gone. As I bawled my eyes out I opened my laptop up again. I found comfort now in the internet, it gave me a sense of hope. I felt like I could communicate openly without being judged and slowly the weight of her death lessened.
When I was 15, I was struggling with a friend relationship issue in school. I didn’t have any friends so I always ate my lunch alone, hung out alone, and slept during all of the break times. I wanted to make some friends but for some reason, everyone in the school was avoiding me so I was so gloomy. One day, while I was doing SNS at my home, someone texted me. I didn’t know her but she was different from other students in my school. She kept talking to me and was kind to me. She was my first friend in my school life, also my first online friend. I was so happy to make a friend so I always chatted to her in school too. She is still my best friend now, and I’m thankful to her. Because of her, I was able to overcome my friend conflict and didn’t have a gloomy school life.
I was climbing a mountain.
Every day I would fall back down only to get up and do it again.
By the end of the week I would be exhausted. Yet still I had to keep climbing this mountain, being tired wasn’t an excuse. I was told I needed to stop complaining.
So I did.
But then something amazing happened. I got a friend. His name, Social, Social Media
Now every day I would climb this mountain with my friend.
Climbing became easier, My friend would share our experiences.
I got more “friends.” I felt loved by others.
Others who used to make this mountain.
I didn’t care. It felt good to have a boost up.
One more friend, another step.
Everyday I was excited to know who was listening to my friend.
Not that I cared who.
But, secretly, this friend was building that mountain.
Now every step I took had to be flawless, or I would trip.
All that time being “perfect” I began leaving my true self behind.
But then, one day, I did trip. I turned to my friend for help.
But my friend betrayed me.
I fell …
I plummeted past the base into a deep pit.
I looked up to see my “friends” looking down on me.
Laughing …
I spent weeks trying to get out of that pit.
Then one day I decided to put my friend behind me. Slowly I was raised up, higher and higher. Till finally, I had reached the top.
Today, I have new friends.
But these ones were real, not online.
I still see my old friend from time to time. But I make sure to take breaks to ensure I can reach the summit every day.
