Response to House on Loon Lake

                In the podcast This American Life: House on Loon Lake, the narrator Adam Beckman and a few of his friends find a house that looks like it has been abandoned for a while. They were mischievous kids, so they decided that they wanted to go inside the house. At first it was more of an “I bet you won’t go in there” type of deal but once they were in they saw some interesting things which may or may not have been wrong for them to take.

                They enter the house to find a mess of old stuff. They found a few things that seriously made them interested in the house and curious about who had lived there. They also wanted to know if it was actually abandoned and if it was, they wanted to figure out why the owner’s belongings were left behind. Adam decided to take a few of his findings with him when they left. He took a wallet which has an identification card belonging to someone names Virgil Nason, along with a few letters.

                After leaving the house the kids wanted to know more. They wanted to tell somebody else about the house, so Adam decided to tell his mother. His mother was interested and ended up going to the house with the sister and tried taking an old crib they had found rotting away in the attic. While they were in the middle of trying to take the crib from the house they were caught and told that they had no right to take it.

                Whether the kids or the mother were stealing by taking from this house is controversial. Some would say it was okay to take from the house and others would say it is wrong. One could argue that they had no right taking anything because it did not belong to them, but I’d have to say it was alright for them to take from the house because nobody owned it. The house was going to be burnt down anyways and most of the stuff would have gotten burnt down with it. I believe that he preserved memories of the family and it was a good thing that Sarah was able to get those things. As for the crib, I think it was great that the mother was taking it because I’m a strong believer in recycling and the crib was doing nothing but rotting in that house.

                So, were they actually stealing or were they preserving family memories and putting the belongings to good use? It’s all based on opinion and could be argued both ways, but I believe that it was not stealing and the Beckman’s were actually doing something good by taking those items even though they did not belong to them.

Why Am I here?

When asked to write about why I was here I thought to myself “What exactly is he asking? Why Am I at the Thompson School or why am I in this class?” Here can mean many different things but I realized they all come down to basically the same answer. I’m here to learn and graduate, so that I can start my career.

I am enrolled at the Thompson School of Applied Science in the Culinary Arts and Nutrition: Dietetic Technician program to graduate in 2013 with my associate’s degree. I plan to become a registered Diet Tech as soon as I graduate. My ultimate goal is to then continue to the four year Dietetics program to become a Registered Dietitian. If I achieve this goal I have big plans of starting my own business.

I am in this English class basically because it’s a required course for me to

graduate and pursue my goal. Although I am here because it’s necessary, it’s not the only reason I’m here. I am also here to learn and better my reading and writing skills since they aren’t my strongest nor my favorite subjects. Even if reading and writing were my strong subjects, there is always room for improvement. I could just mess around and not take the course seriously but I wouldn’t be getting anything out of it. If I have to be here I might as well make the most of it.

            Although English is not my favorite subject, knowing how to read and write is critical in almost every field you go into as well as in everyday life. Even though I’m not excited about this class I’m glad I’m here so that I can gain the skills I’ll need as well as hopefully develop a better liking of the subject. I feel that if I’m confident in the subject I’ll be more interested in it, so by the end of this course I’d like to be confident with my reading and writing skills.

            Overall, I’m here at the Thompson School and in this English class because it’s required as well as to acquire better reading and writing skills. I want to take away skills that will make me a better student as well as be able to use them to my advantage when it comes time to start my business. So even though I don’t find the course very interesting I found that it’s a good thing I’m here.