{"id":8673,"date":"2020-05-10T18:02:21","date_gmt":"2020-05-10T23:02:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/liftoffnews.com\/?p=8673"},"modified":"2020-05-10T21:33:47","modified_gmt":"2020-05-11T02:33:47","slug":"caleb-shaw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/liftoffnews.com\/?p=8673","title":{"rendered":"Caleb Shaw- “Anybody Seen My Wallet?”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cIt was the best of times, it was the worst of times.\u201d -Charles Dickens, <\/span>A Tale of Two Cities<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Perhaps one of the most quoted lines for closing speeches, Dickens\u2019 words have become cliche to use, but that doesn\u2019t necessarily mean they don\u2019t have any meaning. I would be lying if I said I didn\u2019t have a rough time during my high school career, in fact, the past four years have been some of the toughest of my life.\u00a0 I\u2019ve spent countless hours of toil behind my desk with a window that gazes onto my street, oftentimes the only source of light besides my lamp was the street lamp. Yes, there have been the occasional girls that have taken and made me feel like I was on top of the world, and a couple of days later made me feel like the muck that stuck to the bottom of my waders as I marched into the duck woods. But through this turmoil and this school, I walked into the doors as a bright-eyed freshman in August of 2016, and in May of 2020, I hope to walk out a man of honor, faith, and integrity. It hasn\u2019t all been bad though.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I came here from North Little Rock Middle School, and most people don\u2019t know that I was planning on continuing my education through the North Little Rock School District and attending the high school, but by what I believe to be true divine intervention, I was blessed to be able to come to Catholic. I struggled a lot in middle school, though not academically, but socially. In fact, I was often bored in my classes in middle school and wanted to do more, and\u00a0 I didn\u2019t have many friends because I was then, and only slightly less now, a dork. I didn\u2019t know but about three or four people that I used to play soccer with, so I was coming into my high school career with a fresh start.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0I shadowed, took the entrance exam, and when Mrs. Finnegan called to inquire whether I was attending the next, my mom said that she couldn\u2019t bring herself to say I wasn\u2019t. We learned about orientation and my parents encouraged me to go, and by then I was set in my mind about going to North Little Rock. I sat in the bleachers and listened to the smooth voice of Mr. Straessle and the boom that erupted from Father Fred\u2019s, and I could hear God telling me, \u201cHere,\u201d and the rest is history.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps the most influential people I have met in my time have been the teachers. I previously wrote an entire essay on two of the most influential teachers, and so I\u2019m going to summarize what they taught me. The teachers at Catholic are different in that they have to deal with the joking nature of boys, but they genuinely<\/span> want to see students succeed and learn. All the teachers that I have had have impacted me in some way, shape, or form.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve had difficult classes. Mrs. Priester\u2019s chemistry class pushed my intellectual abilities beyond what I thought was possible. Coach Jones exposed math to me in a way to see numbers all around me. I still dislike math the most out of all my subjects, though. I\u2019ve had classes that have made me look at the intricacies of life. Dr. Gilley taught biology and showed me how much detail goes into everyday objects. Mr. Dodge and Father Friend teach theology, and they exposed me early on to the academic aspect of God, a realm that I was rather unfamiliar with. Mr. Richard Cochran teaches Themes of Literature. He challenges us to look for these themes in our lives.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, two teachers in particular–Mr. Wayne Knight and Mr. Thomas Handloser– impacted me the most. Coach Knight taught me to strive for excellence while also being proficient. I also learned that history is cyclical. Mr. Handloser had a unique style of teaching that exposed the joys and fun of learning, and he also taught me the value of second chances, and if a student has ever met either of these great men, they know exactly what I\u2019m talking about. On the first day of class, I walked in, and Coach Knight meant business. He handed out a study guide and proceeded to say, \u201cOpen your books and work.\u201d When we weren\u2019t working on our study guides, he lectured. His lectures were awesome. He made them chock-full of information, but he put it into layman’s terms and could relate history to anything. History was already my favorite subject, and he expanded it even greater. When we were going over the French Revolution, he handed out a copy of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and said, \u201cLearn it.\u201d So we did. Coach Knight taught me the joys of hard work and persistence, that there are joys at the end of the suffering.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Handloser, or \u201cMagist,\u201d as he is known around school, is one of the smartest, yet humble, and caring people you will meet. A couple of weeks into freshman year, I was beginning to revert back to my old middle-school ways: I was disruptive in class and just plain annoying. Magist previously bestowed onto the name of \u201cShawshank,\u201d named after arguably the greatest movie of all time <\/span>The Shawshank Redemption<\/span><\/i>. One day, Magist told me to stay after class. Everyone filed out of the room and Magist asked me, \u201cCaleb, what\u2019s going on?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNothing, Magist.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCaleb, you\u2019re a great kid, a bright kid. Give me a Shawshank redemption.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Magist saw through a mask I had unknowingly made for myself. He cared about me so much that he wanted me to tear it off, but wouldn\u2019t do it himself.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t really learn the values of brotherhood until the end of my junior year, and all through this year. I became a bit of an island in those first two years. All I did was study and work out. It wasn\u2019t until I made the National Championship team for Physical Fitness that I had an amazing group of guys that would have my back no matter what. We all genuinely cared about each other and it was one of the first times I had experienced it, and then half of them left because they were seniors, and I didn\u2019t really know what to do.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Perhaps my most impulsive decision had been one of my best. All three years, I watched the football team from the stand and watched the game rather than socialize. I loved football but never played it growing up. I wanted to play but was pretty nervous about being absolute garbage. One day in religion, Preston Pierce and I started talking about it and he told me to come out and join the team. Oh yeah, Coach Reeves all during P.E class sophomore year was trying to get me to do the same. I talked to Coach Hamilton and joined the team. And it was the best year I\u2019ve had. Summer practices were brutal, but it was so much fun. I\u2019ll be the first to admit that I was not the greatest on the team, but it was truly so much fun. I loved the strategy of different plays, absolutely cracking people, and talking trash to Brandon Ward every practice. And to the seniors on the football, thank you for accepting me into the coolest family for a year, and thank you for pushing me beyond what I thought was capable.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"
Above:<\/em> Shaw warms up on senior night against the Little Rock Central Tigers. Shaw said, “One of my favorite things about Catholic has been becoming involved in sports. I love pushing myself physically, and the brotherhood that forms between teammates has become invaluable.”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
<\/h6>\n

And to the readers, do not wait to make relationships. Don\u2019t ever passively do anything. There is a sign in the cafeteria that Mr. Straessle famously quotes that says, \u201cAbove all, thou shalt not be a bystander.\u201d Do not sit and watch your four years go idly by, go at it 110% and don\u2019t look back. Life is too short to be bored.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To the Catholic High faculty and to the Class of 2020: our year may have been cut short, but we will make the most of it. Can\u2019t wait to see y\u2019all in July, and thank you for making me the man I am today. Proudly I speak your name.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cIt was the best of times, it was the worst of times.\u201d -Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities Perhaps one of the most quoted lines for closing speeches, Dickens\u2019 words have become cliche to use, but that doesn\u2019t necessarily mean they don\u2019t have any meaning. I would be lying if I said I didn\u2019t…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8674,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[215],"tags":[143],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/liftoffnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/IMG_2161-e1589151403775.jpeg?fit=804%2C619&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3xfZw-2fT","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/liftoffnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8673"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/liftoffnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/liftoffnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/liftoffnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/liftoffnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8673"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/liftoffnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8673\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8679,"href":"https:\/\/liftoffnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8673\/revisions\/8679"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/liftoffnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/liftoffnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/liftoffnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/liftoffnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}