Friday, September 5, 2014

Exploration Two: Chris Ward


Hi! My name is Chris Ward. I graduated from Marysville High School last year and am now a freshman at OSUM. I really like all of the teachers and have finally gotten the hang of getting around campus. My fun fact was that I am a pilot and enjoy traveling (which kind of go hand-in-hand). I also work at the Union County airport as a line serviceman. I am the guy who pulls your rental car around, fuels your plane, and puts planes in the hangar. I absolutely love it. I also work for a consulting company and fly their fleet of four aircraft. It is a very dynamic job and I will find myself waking up in Mississippi and ending the day in St. Louis or Washington DC (but never Columbus Ohio). We travel all over the domestic US, Mexico, Canada, and Europe (we fly on the airlines for that). Being a pilot gives you freedom and a sense of accomplishment. I would not trade it for anything.

I chose to research Tim Seibles because I read some of his work and greatly enjoyed it. He writes as a normal guy challenging common issues that are prominent in society. I like the contrast in his passions. He pursued writing and reading while also pursuing football. It is very easy to take what he writes and accept it as fact because he is so well rounded. Reading his work is not only fun, but also meaningful and down to earth. He speaks from real world experience and has mastered the art of a fun, upbeat, meaningful artistic style of writing.
http://www.smith.edu/poetrycenter/poets/tseibles.html

Sticking to my favorite poet, I read For Brothers Everywhere by Tim Seibles. I love how he writes modern poetry. Most famous poets tend to be out dated or talking about topics that appear to be unrelated and irrelevant to you. Tim took an ordinary pick up basketball game and turned it into art. The way he describes the seemingly simple sport is awesome. His language includes slang terms that you would not expect to hear from a poet, "fall-away j's from the corner". It helps paint a fuller picture of what is happening on the court. I have only read a few of his poems but I am curious to see if this is a common theme across is works. If it is, I think poetry just got a little cooler.

I had a literacy event just last week. My mom plays tennis with a group of friends every Thursday, and, every time, she comes home talking about one lady in particular. This lady is always cynical and judgmental toward my mother in particular. Despite this, my mom always tries to avoid conflict and be nice to her. Last Thursday, we got a letter from her friend. She, uncharacteristically, was very grateful for my mom and their friendship. Confused, we read on. It turns out that she has cancer and has been undergoing treatment for a year, unknown to everyone. This explains her poor moods and overall depression. Now, we can help support her and help her through this very trying time in her life.

5 comments:

  1. Hi Chris! I think it is a huge accomplishment to be a pilot and have the job that you have, especially since you just graduated high school. It is refreshing to see someone that clearly has such a passion for what they do. Being able to travel so much has to keep life interesting. I hope you keep it up and accomplish what you hope to accomplish in life, seeing as you are already successful that should not be a problem for you. Good luck!

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  2. Hi Chris I think it is so cool that you are a pilot! I wanted to be one so bad for a good like five years of my life. I then realized i would not like the traveling as much as i thought i would. I wish the best of luck to you and your future!

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  3. Reading about your piloting reminded me of my friend Calvin. He was just like you with a desire to fly planes. He wanted to go into the Air Force as a fighter pilot. He started his flying lessons early by applying to our local air strip. He worked in exchange for lessons. He ended up getting his license I believe, and he is now heading into the air force.

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  4. Hi Chris I think it is amazing that you have found something that you are very enthusiastic about. Reading about your interest in piloting it reminded me of an old friend of mine Aaron. His father is a pilot and Aaron has been flying planes for years since I have known him in middle school. It's great to see that you are so happy and passionate about what it is that you do!

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  5. Hola. How neat that at such a young age you already to do something as incredible as flying a airplane! Congratulations. I found myself skipping over the basketball poem because one, I don't understand the game that well, and two, I the language threw me off. But how you phrased as turning basketball into an art, that was something cool to think about. I didn't even realize that because I was too wrapped up in my own opinion on the game itself, and I know see what you mean.

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