working on. This takes at least twice as long, but it is my way. I have made vast improvements with this method, and because of my reading program. My reading and writing capabilities have improved ten-fold. Compared to when I was younger, my literary sword has been sharpened to a point that is unsurpassed by my old self.

I attended Perry County High School—home of the Perry County Commodores—for two years. Before my first day, my sister told me how to blend into school so I wouldn’t be made fun of, how to be cool, and how not to have awkward conversations. “ The first day at lunch, find a table to sit at even if you did not talk much at your old school. Do not sit alone,”  she said. I did find a table to sit at with one person I knew. I stayed mostly quiet, but I did make friends my first year, and I felt cool. They were a little socially awkward like me. We had one of every single kind of nerd: gamer nerd, YouTube nerd, anime nerd, conspiracy nerd, the geek, a drama nerd, etc. 

We would discuss things like the NASA space program, and how they are sending the first manned mission to Mars in 2032. This led to a discussion of terraforming, which is when you make another planet like Earth. Then I’d talk about Doctor Who and four-dimensional space, because I find it intriguing. The others thought it was interesting, but my anime nerd friend did not want to hear it unless I had proof of research, so I did it and let them look at it. We had good times together. 

Another time, we talked about The Hunger Games. We all read the book and liked the theories and the hidden context clues. Like one time Katniss says, “This place used to be called Appalachia,” so we proposed that District 12 was in Kentucky. Katniss’s dad worked in the coal mines. Her ancestors had already mined them, so they had to dig deeper and deeper. District 12 is the least cared about of all the districts. They don’t have much opportunity there, and people from other districts look down on them. They think the people are poor and not educated. Even in The Hunger Games’ world there are a lot of stereotypes about Kentucky. 

[Section break] 

GARDEN

[Photo of a plowed field]

We do not sell the food we grow in the garden. We eat it. My dad, mom, papa, and me will raise the garden from the ground up. When it comes time to plant, we mark lines, we till the land, then we plant the crops: corn, tomatoes, potatoes, beans, onions and my favorites, peppers: jalapenos, dragon-cayenne, habaneras, cow-horn. Working in the sunlight and sometimes by moonlight, we water them, weed the garden, and fertilize. Beans twist and snake up wooden poles. Tomatoes wrap around a wire tower. Then it will be time to pick. Some are ready before others. We will can and dehydrate some of the food and use it the whole year.