The Joop

I can still remember when I bought my Jeep like it was yesterday. It was three years ago in the summer before freshman year. I was 15 years old and my father and I were looking for a vehicle for me that we could fix up so it would be ready when I could drive. I looked at a few trucks and even a Dodge 2500 Cummins, but then I found it. Less than 2 miles from my house, a 1988 Jeep Wrangler. It had my name written all over it. We bought and drove it home to my garage where it would be torn apart and put back together for the next two years.

On the outside my Jeep looked good, but under the hood was a different story. The interior was nice, gray leather seats, gray and stainless steel steering wheel, and the old-fashioned gauges Jeep is known for. With 220,000 miles on it that engine was on its last legs. We decided to replace it, we put a brand new 2.5L, 4 cylinder, 150 cubic inch engine in it to start. Slowly piece by piece it became a brand new vehicle. I spent every waking moment on that Jeep. New gears in the rear, all new joints and bearings, and new carpet. The old white finish on the body was faded and dull, though there wasn't a speck of rust to be found.

We stripped the whole body down, sanded it right down to bare metal. We turned our garage into a spray booth as my father and I prepped and primed the Jeep, and finished it off with a nice charcoal gray finish. We proceeded to paint the hard top a gloss black as well. From there we installed new Bush Whacker fender flares and slow pieced the Jeep back together.

Of course, no Jeep is complete without a lift. We decided to go with a 3 1/2 inch lift from Rough Country Suspension. To accent the lift and the black and gray color scheme we put on Black "D" Window Wheels and a set of 32X11.5 Sport King off-road tires. The Jeep is finally done.

This one of my prized possessions, it represents my ability to work hard and my perseverance. It represents my skills and what I'm capable of doing when I put my mind to it. I learned an enormous amount about trucks when I started on my Jeep, expanding my knowledge as best I could. It represents a bond between my father and I, all the time we spent working together on it, that can never be broken.

Book Review: A Long Way Gone

Ishmael Beah grew up in a world much different than most people. He grew up in Sierra Leone, Africa. There were constant dangers surrounding him and his family. There was civil unrest, predators, rebels and hundreds of other dangers they dealt with on a day to day basis. Africa was right in the middle of a rebellion of epic proportions, the rebels had so much power that African army didn’t dare show its face around them. Ishmael and his family had to live through these rough times. Until they were too overtaken by the rebels as so many other towns had been before them. They were split up and only Junior and Ishmael were together.
Junior was Ishmael’s older brother. He watched and guarded over his younger brother. He kept him safe when they were wondering about by themselves trying not to get captured by the rebels. Junior was cool, and calm, he was the level-headed one who kept them together and kept them on the right path. Ishmael is the younger brother and the author. He follows his older brother’s every move and knows that they must stay together. Although they wind up being split apart Ishmael knows he must continue on.
The story unfolds as Ishmael comes across other boys and continues his journey on with them hoping to find his family once again and not be captured of killed by the rebels. The boys stop at villages looking for family, food and shelter. They are reduced to stealing and scavenging for food. They usually have to either sleep on verandahs or in trees. They must run and hide at any sign of a gunshot or of a rebel approaching them. They are captured by villagers who think they are a part of the rebel cause, each time coming up with ways to prove their innocence. Danger lurks around every single turn and on every path.
Few people can relate to these experiences, this is something that no child should ever have to endure. We get to look through the eyes of Ishmael Beah and see what he saw, what he did, and what he lived through. It sends a powerful message that he truly was, “A Long Way Gone”.

Memoirs: A Long Way Gone

"If fear alters your behavior, you're already defeated." Brenda Hammond. In "A Long Way Gone" the boys face many different situations that bring them within inches of death. These boys have learned to control their fear and how to avoid these situations and still keep their heads on straight. If they let fear conquer them, they wouldn't be alive anymore. If fear kept them from thinking clearly and altered the way they move and escape they would be killed. By overcoming the fear they have within themselves they have survived as long as they have. Fear is something these kids frankly, don't have time for. They needed to grow up real fast and learn how to survive, and they did. They adapted to the horrors around them and have kept themselves alive this long. They have pushed their fears aside and managed to stay alive.