He is me, and I am him
(a thoughtful retrospective of
a young man and his insanely boring life up to this point)
Where shall we start?
How about the beginning? Growing up in New Lebanon is a pretty simple
thing to do. You just follow three guidelines: 1. Respect your elders
(or at least act like it), 2. Play sports, 3. Make sure your last name
is either Ridge or Hobbs, or at least be connected to the name through
a great-grandparent. Really, it was a great place to grow up.
I spent most of my days playing wiffle ball or basketball or football with
whoever was around. Things were never too complicated during the
summer: see who was in town and see what they wanted to do. Even
though I didn't always want to play, I usually ended up doing it in the
end. Jay Hobbs had a way of talking me into things.
Next came Carlisle (K-8).
I made a lot of friends and had a lot of fun, although I have to admit
I was kinda strange there for a while. My first grade teacher told
my mom in a parent-teacher conference that she thought I was too serious
about school. Luckily, that character trait has kinda faded.
I became real good friends with Josh Ridgway. I used to spend the
night at his house a lot. The only bad thing was that his dad wouldn't
let us rent R-rated movies, unless I could convince him that I had already
seen it, and it wasn't that bad. I also became friends with Jason
and Josh Canup, just the cutest little pair of twins you could ever meet,
and that friendship has carried over into high school. I participated
in basketball at Carlisle, and came up to Sullivan to play in baseball,
golf and football. Carlisle basketball was pretty fun, but I wasn't
that good. I did start, but I saw my role as more of a rebounder
and passer than a scorer (that means I couldn't dribble or shoot).
High School has really been
a time of change for me. I don't know how other people see me, but
I think I've turned from a shy, introverted little kid into an outgoing,
confident young man. I think my friends have had a lot to do with
that. I run around with a little group of guys, namely the Canups,
Jeremy Orwig, Brittain Phillips, and Drew Hanks. We call ourselves
the PLC (Preppy Little Clique), something Orwig came up with, but we aren't
really that exclusive and we run around with a lot of different guys.
I participated in golf and basketball all four years of high school.
From golf I got to know many a guy, including Zach Buckley, the nicest
guy you'll ever meet, and Jay Hobbs, the guy with shortest temper you'll
ever meet. Hobbs also played basketball with me, along with Joey
Davidson (yes, I know the phenom), Brittain, Andy Jones, and a whole cast
of other characters that I would put down if I had enough time. There
have been a lot of great gals that I'm proud to call my friends as well.
Katie Catlin, Katie Hunt, Megan Sacksteder, Angel Lamb, Jess Sater, Laura
Goff, and Melissa Coats have all been great friends, and I thank 'em for
it. I know I left so many people out, and I'm sorry. My e-mail address
is [email protected], so if I forgot you, just send me a message so
I can convince you that you really are important to me (I already know
I'm gonna catch flak from Evan and April).
As far as this year is going,
It's been pretty great. I liked travelling to football and volleyball
games, or taking any road trip for that matter. I've also had a chance
to hang out with Gabe Dunnivan, and the rest of the Brupruff Boys and have
enjoyed their hospitality. We had a great basketball season, advancing
to the Semi-State for the 2nd straight year, and I loved every minute of
it. Golf is just underway and it's gonna be a fun season, even if
we aren't as good as we've been in the past (we advanced to the State Finals
my sophomore year), it's still gonna be fun hanging out with Caleb Johnson,
Mike Bell, Grinder, and all the other small-ball powerhouses. I've
been involved in drama this year and have really enjoyed it. Just
being around Mr. Medsker is an honor (at least that's what he says).
I am also on student council and have really enjoyed working on the dances
and stuff. It's just been an all-around good year so far (and I've
even got my research paper for English done).
I currently plan to attend
Ball State next year and major in pre-medicine, but as my mom can tell
you, that's always subject to change.
Do you wanna go to my
home?
life?
linkstation?