ESSAY CONTESTS www.TheCitizensWhoCare.org 5th "Through My Eyes" Essay Contest Winners A booklet called Through My Eyes contains the top 25 essays and will be available for $5.00 at Words & Pictures, 407 Oak Street, Brookings, OR 97415. 100% of the proceeds from the sale of this booklet go to support these contests. Booklets from the first four contests are also available at Words & Pictures. These top eight essays appeared in The Curry Coastal Pilot during April, 2010. First Place Second Place Third Place Fourth Place Fifth Place Sixth Place Seventh Place Eighth Place Background   First Place - Anonymous It was the year 2003, I was in the seventh grade of school, and life was good. My friends and I had been doing great in school, good grades, stayed out of trouble, and we were going to join the soccer team later in the year. My two best friends, Jeremy and John Gorman, were twin brothers I had befriended when I first moved to this town. Jeremy was the smart one they would always say, he had a future, always reading up on biology and wanted to be a biologist. John, on the other hand, was on a whole different spectrum, he wanted to be a pro soccer player. They did everything together, at least, until that fateful day in March. Jeremy, John and I were walking from the middle school back to their house. We planned to hang out in their room and play Jeremy's PS2, which he had just gotten as a Birthday present Six days ago. It was strange, thinking back on that day, how simple everything seemed school, homework, play, sleep. A Cycle you never thought could change, but simple times come to abrupt, tragic ends. All thanks to alcohol. They say he was always a problem drinker; he periodically would be carried home by his friends from the local bar. They told John later than he had gotten in a fight with his wife while they were drinking and stormed out of the house, driving off. That man, driving while drunk as he was, caused a most cataclysmic change to our simple cycle. As we walked, laughing down the road to the twin's house, the man came swerving down the road and hit Jeremy, killing him instantly. They say grief built hate, but John never showed it, he was shell shocked, didn't talk for days after the accident. I remember him being pulled out of class many times in the weeks following the accident, always to go talk to some counselor. Back then I didn't understand how he felt, to me I had lost a friend; to him he had lost a brother, his other self. Maybe that's why he did what he did. It was two months after the accident that the ambulance showed up at the Gorman's home. The siren's filled our road on that cold June morning. I went outside and headed over to the Gorman's home, and began asking questions, wondering what happened. I finally saw Mrs. and Mr. Gorman sitting in the kitchen next to a police officer crying. I overhead the conversation; John had hung himself from Jeremy's bunk bed. I felt blown away, my mind was shocked, both my best friend's were dead, gone forever. I headed out of the house, but stopped. On the table in the living room was a letter in a plastic baggy, a letter from John. It read: "I'm sorry I did this, but I couldn't stand the pain, every morning waking up with him missing, I felt broken. I hate that man for what he did, he was so stupid. But it's ok now, I'm going to go see Jeremy. Bye mommy and daddy, I love you" I read the note from afar; saw some of the smudges from tears littering the paper. I turned to Mr. and Mrs. Gorman and watched them cry for awhile, unsure of what to do. Finally, I left the house and went out to the curb, thinking about it all, how the man, being drunk, drove out from his house and started this all. I held my head in my hands, and cried. Second Place - Blain Tidwell Having seen what alcohol has done to the families of alcoholics, I have come to realize that I have truly been blessed. The fact that alcohol has not take over the lives of any of my loved ones is something that I am extremely grateful for. I don't believe that I could handle it if my life were as hard as some that I have seen. The families of alcoholics are some of the strongest individuals I have ever met. The hurt and heartbreak they go through are things that no one should ever have to live with. A child not having any new clothes because their parents spent all of their money on beer is terrible. Their stories are so dreadful that you cant help but cry. It is somewhat difficult to not drink because of the peer pressure most teens go through. For the most part, To me the best way to prevent drinking under peer pressure or not is to think of how the families I have seen are. I know I don't want my life to be like that, and I wouldn't want to put my children through that torture later on in life. When I think of how my life could end up, it is extremely easy to just say no to drinking. I find it disgusting how easily alcohol can take someone's life. Whether its drunk driving or getting alcohol poisoning from binge drinking, it is completely preventable. I consider how much I love my family and friends, and I know that drinking is not worth the risk of never being able to see them again. There is a great amount of things that I enjoy doing instead of drinking. I don't think that you need to have something altering your brain so you can have fun. Just being yourself and living your life sober is a great way to experience things, rather than hardly being able to function because you have had just a little too much to drink. Third Place - Anonymous "9-1-1, what's your emergency?" My throat was dry as a desert, my hands shook and tears strolled down my face wishing I was dead. (Sniff.) "T-t-there has been an accident." It took everything is my bruised body to hold back my whimpered cries. "Okay, I need you to tell me where you're located."  The last thing I remembered was sitting next to my two best friends at the homecoming after party the seniors were all invited to. My head was throbbing as I tried to see a sign. "Um, I think it was 28th and Main?" "Alright, I need you to try and stay calm. An ambulance is on..." It was the last thing I heard before the world went dark. I woke up 3 hours later in Intensive Care with broken ribs, black eyes, bruised legs, and my face and arms were badly cut with glass. All I could think about was Lacey and Britney. My mind raced wondering how bad they were hurt and where they were. I balled my eyes out until my parents and doctor came in the room. I held my breath as the doctor told me the news. I didn't want to believe it, but I knew it was true. Britney had died shortly after arriving at the hospital. Lacey had barely managed to make it. For several nights I drowned my hands in tears of guilt and sorrow wishing I could have changed the past. I had lost my best friend and hurt another over what only seemed as 4 drinks. The following month Lacey and I attended her funeral. My heart wrenched as I saw her body lying in her coffin. Looking at her once delicate face made me wonder why it was so important that I drank that night. Just because everyone else around me were doing it to pass the time and make things "fun" didn't mean I had to be part of that. Being with my two best friends was good enough for me. The most heartbreaking moment after everything was said and done was that I never got to say goodbye. I never truly had the chance to tell her how wonderful of a friend she was to me. From that day forward Lacey and I had vowed to never drink again. Just because someone tells you its cool or everyone is doing it doesn't mean that you should drink. Always ask yourself this; would you risk you friend for a drink? Fourth Place - Anonymous What's in a promise? What makes those two words so significant "I promise."? Nothing but poignant meanings from a reliable gentleman. That could be debatable because in this case it was her father. This is a story of what could have been, but more importantly the opposing, what never was. All based on one promise and a poison. She woke up early that morning, November 26th, 2007. I don't know how long it had been since she last saw her father, five months, six? It was her birthday and the only gift she received was a no show father and an empty seat. Despite resentment she lied that his apologies weren't for granted, as she hung up the phone with the caller ID stating "police station." Her heavy make up and ironed yellow sun dress in vain, she withdrew herself from the skew balloon and confettied table and retreated to her room, too prideful to cry. At night she listened to talk behind closed doors, of her fathers most recent DUI and arrest. With this, old memories flooded back like projected slide show clips, all in horrific detail. At five years old she first witnessed abuse. A cloudy minded man throwing fists in her sibling without a tear shed or a sympathy spoken of. Countless times was the boy at the age of fourteen, left bruised and battered like a war hero. Too young to be hardened but old enough to be aware of his fathers disease. This leaving him passive to the situation as a whole. Her mother in her youth did the same. Triggers could be pointed to her temple and her own bruises bare her stories, yet she stuck around. All, almost pitying the man for being an alcoholic, for having a looming demon he could not rid. The young girl, in her prime became all too familiar with the flashing lights upon bedroom walls. Red and blue. Police were of the regular and she was the one to summon them in some circumstances. Neighbors looked down on the whole family with sympathy and some disgust, up until one day her mother took her away. But only her out of legality. Nothing could be done to save her brother from the next slow moving years of hell. Only imagination could venture you further. Moving through the memories of later years she spotted a sloppy man coming home from work and forgetting her name, passing out at random and progressively worsening to seizures. She wondered now, would there be no end? In the morning a respectable man, in the afternoon a drunk. Before long no amount of promises to quit were enough. He proceeded to drown himself in the ways of a feign until he became what she feared most, a monster. Her last thought of him until the next day. Everything was so silent in her room, her yellow dress still laying softly on her bed. Police explaining the disaster. Alcoholic, withdrawal, seizures. It was November 28th, 2007 my father, behind bars, died. I never let on that I knew he was arrested again, im glad that wasn't his dying notion. Things like anger were a thing of the past, there was no use when he was gone. It was two days after my sixteenth birthday that he was never able to attend. And never will be attend one again. If I could only go back maybe I could stop him, but I'll never get the chance. Because death is permanent, and alcohol is a murderer.   Fifth Place - Anonymous Who would have thought the fermentation of fruit, hops, barley and other things would develop into a drinkable fluid capable of destroying personalities, bodies, and in extreme cases, lives. After all, this is all the drink consists of. In plain scientific terms, it is simply a weak poison, with short term effects of disorientation and illness. Yet somehow, this simple fluid has become a stronghold and gateway into and for many desperate situations. I have no bad experiences with alcohol on a personal basis. My parents never drank irresponsibly, and I have never either. I have never woken up on a floor after a night of drinking covered in throw up, I have never had to disguise a painful hangover, and I have never destroyed relationships with my intoxication. I have never been hit, yelled at or abused in any sort of way by a drunken parent. Neither have I had to watch a close friend get rushed to the emergency room for alcohol poisoning. All the stories of hardships have luckily not become mind. I have no personal experiences with the damaging effects of alcohol. I have however heard them. I have listened to my friend's heartache after a drunken episode with her parent, I have heard worried accounts of friends parents drunken driving escapades and I have watched as my cousin had to bury not one but three people she loved due to parties gone terribly wrong. All this has kept me sane about my own experiences with the drink. Alcohol, in moderation, with a healthy person both mind and body is typically nothing to outlaw. But alcohol in the hands of a weakened willpower or child is deadly. My opinion is that it is not the drink, but the state of the person consuming it. People need to become more personally responsible or their issues will not be fixed. Sixth Place - Anonymous Drinking has never been part of my regular weekend plans like others in my high school. I have never felt the need to get drunk with my peers and do irresponsible things as often as possible. Unfortunately there are many students at my school that feel that drinking is one of their most fun pass times, I do not agree. I have seen the negative effects of drinking underage. I have seen the risks that you can encounter; tickets, loss of respect, and mental damage. Some students of Brookings-Harbor high School have experienced the negative risks associated with understand drinking. When you are caught drinking underage, if you play a sport; you will be suspended from the team. Unfortunately some of our sports teams during the 2009-2010 year have already dealt with this punishment. I wish the students of my school, and future students, could recognize and respect the risks associated with drinking. Many younger students that are getting ready to start high school soon should be prepared for social pressure to drink alcohol. While there is pressure to drink by some of your peers, there are also other students that do not choose to participate in underage drinking. To younger students that do not want to drink, take the time to look for other kids like you that have better things to do. Participate in a club, spend time with your family, or find a part time job. If you look, you can find other friends that won't try to pressure you into doing things that you don't want to do. If you set your own limits and uphold them through the help of your friends, you will not need to worry about social pressures. It may seem that "everyone" has drank or partied, but it is not true. Look harder and you will find a large group of students that do not believe in underage drinking, too. Seventh Place - Anonymous I didn't know that a fun night out with friends was going to turn into the worst night of my life. I was staying out of town with a few friends for the weekend. That Saturday night we chose to attend a sweet 16 birthday party. We knew there was going to be alcohol there and we were still okay going. This was going to be my first party and I was especially excited. We arrived to the house and drinks were already flying around. We started drinking and playing games. More people started to show up and the house started to get crowded. I knew nobody there and became the "Cute out-of-town girl." I ended up drinking heavily and started to feel extremely sick. An older boy walked me into a spare bedroom. The boy laid me down and I fell asleep. I had no idea what was going to happen next. I woke up from an immense bang. The door slammed shut and two boys locked the door. After I became more aware I started to panic. I tried to scream, the boy covered my mouth. I tried to fight him, he punched me in the face. I was so scared I didn't know what I was going to do, so I just laid still. The two boys ripped off all my clothes and did exactly what they wanted to do. I couldn't do anything about it. Alcohol played a big role and I will never forget what happened. I was young, innocent, and dumb. I was beaten, slapped, and mind and body was torn apart that night, all because of poor decisions and the effects that alcohol had on me. I haven't picked up a drink since. Eighth Place - Anonymous Growing up I have always been around alcohol, I'm not saying that my parents were alcoholics, but that every night they would have a large glass or two of wine. Alcohol never really affected my life until I was thirteen. It was at that age that I received a call from my mom telling me how my oldest brother Daniel was in the emergency room. Later I found that he had gone to a bar, got drunk, picked up a girl then fell asleep at the wheel of his car on his way home. He had crashed into a brick building, injuring himself and the girl. They were both in critical condition. A year later my cousin died. He was seventeen years old and the driver of the vehicle. He had three friends in the car who were lucky enough to survive the accident. As it turns out my cousin and his friends had been drinking. They were on there way to my cousin's house when he swerved and crashed into a tree, dying on impact. His funeral was heartbreaking, I had never met my cousin before but even that didn't mask the pain I felt. In fact it made it all the worse, I had never met my cousin and now there was no chance I ever would. Not even a year ago my brother Daniel moved up to Oregon and was visiting my mom before moving to the coast to live with my dad. He had broken up with his girlfriend of four years so that they wouldn't have to deal with a long distance relationship. After a couple days of Noelle calling every hour or so to beg him to come back, my brother cracked. Overcome with depression my brother started drinking, then when the alcohol couldn't take away the pain he started popping pills, he managed to swallow the entire bottle. Thankfully around that time my mother called home to check on him, after talking to him for a minute she immediately hung up and called 911. My brother was rushed to the ER where they without delay they pumped his stomach. He was in critical care for about three days where he was under constant observation. He was lucky to survive. Alcohol is the reason I will never know my cousin. It is the reason my brother owes over ten thousand dollars in hospital bills, and almost his life. When you drink alcohol you pay a price; I just wish my cousin hadn't had to pay with his life. Contact Us for information regarding future Contests. ©2007-2011, www.TheCitizensWhoCare.org/brookings/throughmyeyeswinners4.html