Let em' Play

Last week in the NFL there were fines and possible suspensions for players that were involved in head to head collisions during the game. There were injuries that occurred during these collisions that will cause some players to miss a few games. People are saying that the defenders should not hit the offensive player when they are in a defenseless position, but when you are in the game and the intensity is high you don’t have enough time to think how you are going to tackle the guy you just go and do it. Hits like this are a part of the game and that’s what makes the game so special. It is a very competitive sport there are risks of playing football but that is why all of the players in the NFL are being paid millions of dollars every year to keep playing. When I was a freshman playing football my coach was very intense and loved football when we were practicing one day he told us the reason we are running so much is because we have to stay in shape for the fight; one of my friends ask him what he was talking about and he told us that the sport of football is and organized gang fight and there is always a chance to be hit and knocked out. I like the theory behind what my coach said and I have always lived by it. In the NFL these players are making so much money that they will be set for the rest of their lives. They should realize that there are going to be injuries and that they are a part of the game.  It is a very special sport, it should be played the way it is supposed to be played.

In a Blink of an Eye

There are events in people’s lives that someone will never forget. These types of events also teach life lessons that will stay with you for the rest of your life. These events will help you avoid being in these situations ever again; it will make you think before you act because you now know what the outcome could be, unfortunately I had to go through one of these horrifying events during the spring of my senior year at Arcadia High School.

 It was Thursday, around eleven thirty and it was almost time for lunch. I was sitting in class, talking with a couple of my buddies, trying to figure out what we were going to do for lunch. For lunch at my school we got to have open campus during the fourth quarter of the year. So we were all trying to figure out where we were going to go eat. Nobody was sure where they wanted to go so I decided to go home and eat some of the left over BBQ ribs my dad grilled up the night before. Finally the bell rang, I got up, pushed in my chair and walked out the door.

I reached my car, unlocked my doors, put my seat belt on and I was off. I drove for about five minutes through town and I reached my house. I pulled in the drive way and noticed that neither my mom nor dad were home for lunch. I went in the house and pulled out the ribs from last night, threw them in the microwave to warm them up, and grabbed some chips. Sat down and dug in, I ate so fast that I had an extra fifteen minutes before I had to go back to the school. I didn’t feel like sitting in the empty house so I decided to take a little detour around town on the windy country roads.

I backed out of my drive way and headed toward the country. I pulled up to a stop sign looked left and noticed the silver Cavalier coming my way; it was one of my good friends. He was going the same way that I was, so I pulled out behind him and we were off. We were driving for about five minutes and came to the four way stop and took a left on to River Road. We drove for about two minutes and we were coming up to a slight turn in the road. I reached to change to the next song on my cd and I looked up and saw my friend’s car fishtailing in the middle of the road. He had hit a spot on the road where there was loose gravel and lost control. I could see him trying to get it back under control, he over corrected and sent the car sailing through the air. The car flipped in midair and landed on its side and flipped back on to the tires. I quickly pulled my car over, unbuckled my seat belt, turned on my flashers and got out of my car. I got out so fast I didn’t even close the door behind me. I felt like I was moving fast but yet there were so many things going through my head as I was trying to get to his car. I kept asking myself if this was really happening or if it was just a dream. I also kept asking myself is he was going to be ok or if he was hurt. 

I finally reached the car after I jumped down into the swampy grass, I walked around to his side and I looked in the car. I saw him crawling out of his window that was smashed out. At that moment I knew that he was ok. I walked up to him just to make sure and asked if he was ok. He said he was fine and I wiped the mud off of his face. I asked him what he wanted to do, so he told me to go to the school and tell our principal, Mrs. Butler that he was going to be late. As I was leaving he called his mom and she came out to get him and to call it in to the police. So I took off for the school, I got to school, parked my car and walked in.

I got into the building and went straight to Mrs. Butler’s office. I knocked on the door and walked in. I told her that my friend was going to be late for class because he was having car troubles. She then wrote me a pass and I was off to class. While I was walking down the hall to go to my next class I started seeing the car flipping in midair and coming to an abrupt halt. I walked to the drinking fountain took a drink and asked myself if that just really happened. I got to class and went on with my day.

All of the guys in my class are all very close with each other; we would be together at all times in some way shape or form. It would be devastating to all of us if we were to lose a class mate.  On that nice spring day, we almost lost one of our members of our family. Life is a very fragile thing and it should be cherished. Live your life to the fullest but while you are doing that be careful and look out for each other. From this day on I will always think twice before I act and live my life to the fullest.

Red Wing

This past weekend my family and I took a trip to Red Wing, Minnesota. We went up there because it was my parents’ anniversary. I didn’t want to be up there without anyone around my age so I called my dad a few days before we were going to go and asked him if my friend Tyler could come with and he said it was fine. That Friday I headed home for the football game and to pack my stuff up for the long weekend. That night I went to the football game with some of my buddies and then we went to one of their houses and hung out. Finally Saturday morning came it was about eight o’ clock when I woke up. I got in my car and drove home, packed up my stuff, threw it in my car and I was ready to go. All we had to do now is wait for Tyler. He showed up at my house at about eleven o’ clock, we loaded his stuff up and we were off.  When we got to Red Wing the first thing that we did was go golfing. I haven’t been golfing in a while so it wasn’t a very pretty sight, but all and all it was fun and we saw a bunch of different kinds of animals on the course. After we were done golfing we went to the hotel/casino, checked in, took are bags up stairs, and parked the car. I got back up to the room and I was feeling pretty hungry so we decided to order a pizza, after destroying the pizza we decided to go and relax in the hot tub. We sat in the hot tub for about an hour then we decided to go gamble a little bit. We got to the casino we walked in and started looking for a machine that we wanted to play. Finally we found one and we sat down and started playing. We played for about a half hour and I had already lost twenty dollars, but on the other hand Tyler had made ten dollars. We played for about three hours or so then decided to call it a night. We left the casino and headed for the room. We got to the room got ready for bed, laid down and we were out. The next morning we woke up at ten and we had to be checked out at eleven so we packed our stuff up and went to the casino for a bit. While in the casino Tyler and I only played one game and of course I lost my twenty dollars and Tyler ended up making forty. Tyler cashed out and we took off for home. We got back to my house, slowly started packing up my stuff for school, after I was all packed up we left for La Crosse, when we got their we relaxed and watched football for the rest of the night. I had a good time this weekend with my family and Tyler even though I lost around fifty dollars it was still a good time and it’s always nice to spend some good quality time with your family and the people you love.

Hands on Learning

I think that learning hands on is the best way that I learn because if you put me in a room for an hour or more there is always a chance of getting bored or distracted. When I am working on something and I am using my hands I can tell that I am always more focused then if I was sitting in a class room taking notes.  The things that really got me was that there will kids that are really young and it is amazing that they are building so many complex things. Many people learn in many different ways, I think that it would be nice to be able to do hands on things in the class room for a little bit because that way we expand the different ways that we can learn. I believe we are using the class room style a little too much I think we should somehow incorporate all the different ways to learn into one day.

Labor Day Weekend

Over Labor Day weekend I went back to my home town of Arcadia. While I was there I had to work at Ashley furniture, later that night I went to one of my friends house where he was having a birthday party. I woke up the next morning and I spent most of my day doing home work and relaxing on the couch. Later that night me and two other friends went out shining deer, we didn’t see much but it still was a good time. Sunday morning I woke up, packed my things and headed back to La Crosse. When I got to La Crosse I met up with some more buddies and we hung out for the night. All and all it was a pretty eventful but yet relaxing weekend.

About Me

My name is Dane Bergum, I am from Arcadia. I am six foot two, have blonde hair, blue eyes and I am a very active person, I like to go hunting, fishing, and camping. While I was growing up I really enjoyed playing sports, in high school I played football, basketball, and golf. During my senior year we were the first class in school history to make it to the state football title game, unfortunately we didn’t play our best and we ended up taking home the silver trophy. However in golf it was a different story, we played really well and we brought home the gold. This is my first year at WTC I am majoring in Business Management and I am hope to get my degree and pursue another degree in a more specific field. I chose to go into business because I like working with and being around other people. I am an easy person to get along with and I like meeting new people.