THREE JACKSON STUDENTS NAMED WINNERS IN ESSAY CONTEST

Members of the Jackson Optimist Club and Noon Optimist Club recently named three Jackson High School students winners in the annual Optimist International Essay Contest.

The essay contest is sponsored by the Optimist International Foundation and asked students to expound upon the topic "Freedom, Our Most Precious Heritage."

Receiving first place in the essay contest was Jackson sophomore Erin Fluegge. Her essay will be entered in the east Missouri district competition.

Named second and third place winners were Jackson High School sophomores Ryan Kasten and Darla Upchurch.

The three were selected from among nine Jackson area contestants. The contest was open to all high school sophomores, juniors and seniors and were to range between 400 and 500 words.

Essay contest committee members were Anita Sievers, Diane Scully and Steve Schneider.

Freedom, Our Most Precious Heritage

By Erin Fluegge

First Place Winner

My hometown, in whose football stadium I sat, was about to be changed forever. In a matter of minutes the town would know if fifty-four anticipating young men would be going to the state playoffs. I sat amid a throng of roaring people and a pep band that exerted fight songs for the team, yet my eyes diverted for a few seconds. Above the scoreboard, a spangled and striped banner rippled in the crisp autumn breeze, giving birth to a fresh joys that swept over my entire being.

Freedom is great, right? I like how George Bernard Shaw puts it in the preface to "Back to Methuselah." "When a prisoner sees the door of his dungeon open, he dashes for it without stopping to think where he shall get his dinner outside." This illustrates to me how important freedom is, that it can capacitate our minds, driving a person to want excellence. Through this gift, freedom, I can receive a myriad of blessings. I am able to go to school, read, express my beliefs, and also go to church, but freedom has to have its limits I suppose. Emerson puts a good light on that fact though by stating, "If you cannot be free, be as free as you can." In this country we are fortunate to be so free.

A couple of years ago, my family vacationed in Washington, D.C. We looked at thousands of names etched upon the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. They all died in a way that people are still trying to figure out. My mind raced. In all of our wars, how many men and women died, fighting to make this country a better place? Dolores Ibarruri made an impressive point in a speech she made in Paris in 1936, "It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees." I just wish I was able to thank each and every person who rose to their feet for me and for my country.

I remember an instance which occurred in third grade. My class always said the Pledge of Allegiance after lunch. That day a repairman was in the room fixing the furnace. As we came to our feet, he did also, doffed his hat and placed it over his heart. I remember the man's cool blue eyes beholding the flag. I'm sure he never realized what his small act of patriotism did for me. It gave me a wonderful feeling that I wanted to scoop out and serve to everyone. "Freedom is a condition of mind, and the best way to secure it is to breed it," wrote Elbert Hubbard in "The Note Book," describing my thoughts greatly. Each time the gentle whisper of the national anthem trickles in to my ears at ball games or elsewhere, armies of chills march up my spine, reminding me of the many blessings freedom gives.

Freedom, Our Most Precious Heritage

By Ryan Kasten

Second Place Winner

"Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road/healthy, free, the world before me? The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose."

- From "Song of the Open Road" by Walt Whitman

Freedom is by far a United States citizen's most precious heritage. Because it is a basic right given to all Americans, it is sometimes taken for granted. We, as Americans, need to realize what a gift freedom actually is. We need to preserve freedom for ourselves and future generations. And ultimately we need to spread the ideas of freedom globally.

Walt Whitman wrote in his poem "Song of the Open Road", "The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose." Freedom provides us with this "open road" because it presents us with unlimited possibilities. From the day we are born, we are granted total freedom as citizens of the United States of America. Since our rights are given to us by the Constitution, we are free to express our own ideas and opinions without fear of persecution.

Without freedom, where would we be? If we had no true freedom, then we would be letting other people run our lives. Our thoughts and actions would be someone else's. Can you imagine being forced to wear certain clothes or being forced not to voice your own opinion? Such is the case in Iran where women are forced to wear certain styles of clothes and must walk several steps behind their husbands. The women of Iran have no freedom.

But, fortunately, Americans are blessed with freedom. Everyone, regardless of race, color, sex, creed, or religion is given equal opportunity to achieve his or her goals with a little hard work and perseverance. Thus lies the beauty of "The American Dream." We as citizens of the United States need to maintain our precious freedom so that future generations can enjoy the same benefits.

America is a melting pot of different cultures, beliefs, and backgrounds, and everyone contributes to its uniqueness and variance. America thrives on this diversity. Millions of people flee to the United States from their own unrestful homelands. They come with dreams of having a healthy family, having money to spend, and, perhaps most of all, having freedom.

An example of this search for freedom is the recent mass exodus of Haitians to America. In Haiti, the refugees had no freedom. Their lives were dictated, and they weren't allowed to make their own decisions. They heard of a place called America, where they could be free to live their own lives. The American government is now trying to spread the ideas of democracy to Haiti, and in turn spreading freedom as well.

Because of freedom, everyone is given a chance to succeed. Everyone is provided with opportunity. The choices we make and the goals we reach are all possible because of freedom, indeed our most precious heritage.

Freedom, Our Most Precious Heritage

By Darla Upchurch

Third Place Winner

"Give me liberty or give me death!" proclaimed Patrick Henry in 1775. He was willing to die rather than live without freedom, the most precious of gifts ever to be given. Great men like him are the reason it was granted to this nation. The freedom to laugh, the freedom to learn, the freedom to be everything under my power and more, the thought grasps my soul and lifts it to a higher level. What would this country be without freedom? What would this life be? No expression, no opinion, just starch obligation seems like a horrible life to lead. Oppression and dictatorship are not where I want to be.

Henry Van Dyke once wrote in his poem "America for Me," "the glory of the Present is to make the Future free..." These words are a great example of the hope brought with freedom, a hope that almost ensures tomorrow will be better than today. It brings forth the idea that rising above inferior drudgery to a higher enjoyment and state of life is possible when given the chance. With the prospect of freedom so grand, no American should be able to overlook cherishing the ideal and feeling gratified to own it.

Over 200 years ago the United States became a free and independent nation, winning the right to own our separate lives. Lincoln stated in his Gettysburg Address, "...this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth." If this government of the people ever ceased to exist, we would only become slaves, servants to whatever rule that chose to act in transgression against us. As Americans we are enabled to make our own decisions. We are allowed to create our destinies and live our own lives as we see fit. The poet William Henley said it best in "Invictus," "I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul." In this wonderful land of democracy each one of us possesses the ability to make our lives extraordinary. In past times people as various as Albert Einstein and Henry David Thoreau created an entirely new realm of curiosities for the world with their talents and the chance to use them. Musicians of today, who start out in garage bands with a dream, make themselves famous entertainers through ambition and the freedom to have it. We can survive and prosper in our luxurious independence.

Freedom is much more than a word and far more than an extreme ideal. Freedom is a way of life. It echoes through our past and keeps hope in today for the future. Liberty is ours to possess and hold in place. If we can only keep freedom alive, then we are ensured that life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness will live on.