Opposites Attract
On November 17, 1998, I walked into the halls of Towers High School for the very first time. Nervous and afraid, I was introduced to the eight grade class president, John Hamilton. John was both charismatic and charming. He was the type of guy everyone wanted to be around because he gave off a feeling of security and warmth. When I first met Him, John made me feel welcomed. He opened his heart to me and from that day on, I looked for friends willing to do the same.
As I grew older, I met two of the most converse individuals in the world. When I was first introduced to Chris and Desmond, I did not know what to think. Everyone said that they were best friends, but for some strange reason I just could not understand why. As time passed we became closer and we grew fonder of each other. We did just about everything together. Then finally, after all the years of questioning their relationship, it finally hit me, opposites attract.
Chris grew up in a stable home with a mother, a father, a sister, and an older brother. He learned how to live life very differently than anyone I’ve every met because he had to learn how to provide and to survive on his own. Even though he had both a mother and a father living with him, they still did not have enough money to provide everything for him immediately after his birth. He learned how to be independent and that has made him the person he is today. When he was fourteen, his family moved from a low income neighborhood to an upper middle class neighborhood. From rages to riches, some people might say, but that was not the case. Chris was still the same cheap guy.
Chris has the type of personality that I absolutely hated when I first met him. He said things that were true, but uncalled for at the time. He just told the truth no matter what or who might got hurt. I honestly could not stand him for that. As we became closer I began to understand that was a very outspoken individual, who never held back. And now I really appreciate that about his character. Chris is my balance in life. Whenever I’m on cloud nine, he always brings me back to reality.
Desmond is also my best friend.
Both of Cheryl and Chris grew up in a similar conditions. Cheryl have had some issues when she was young specifically from her father’s side. Her father was a heavy drinker; and he had been in many arguments with her mother. In some occasions, her mother was being hit and they had to leave the house for sometime before coming
Although living this life is not always easy for Chris, he embarks on this adventure to achieve what truly matters to him in life.
In a certain sense that’s how Chris lived his entire life” (112). Chris was creative in everything he did, separating him from his classmates and most of society in general. He was also intensely spiritual from such a young age and viewed running an almost religious exercise. “Chris would use the spiritual aspect to try and motivate us,” recalls Eric Hathaway, another friend on the team. “He’d tell us to think about all the evil in the world, all the hatred, and imagine ourselves running against the forces of darkness, the evil wall that was keeping us from running our best. He believed doing well was all mental, a simple matter of harnessing whatever energy was available. As impressionable high school kids, we were blown away by that kind of talk” (112). McCandless was wise beyond his years to say the least. Testimony from Eric Hathaway’s experiences with Chris should be more than enough to prove how individual Chris was, even in high
...tic things. He sacrificed so much and put himself in danger to follow what he wanted to do. Chris was a smart cookie, and maybe that was what kept him going was the knowledge flooding through his body and the inspiration that reading gave him.
“Do I have to go? I mean, it’s not required for me to finish high school or anything. It’s just something you want me to do,” I pleaded with my parents. “Yes you have to go and there’s no way you’re going to get out of it either. It’ll be a good experience for you, and you might even make some new friends,” my father replied. Tomorrow I was going to HOBY, which stands for Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership Seminar. It is specifically for sophomores in high school and I was chosen to be one of the candidates to represent my school for the year twenty fifteen. There are many HOBYs around the United States, but I was going to HOBY Ohio West located at the Ohio Northern University in Ada, Ohio. The seminar started on June fourth and concluded on the seventh. This was a four day event and I wouldn’t see my family for two of the days. I had just turned sixteen in April and I had never stayed more than an hour away from my family for a night or two. It was very nerve-wracking for me, but I had to go no matter what. Little did I know that this experience would make me into the more confident young woman I am today.
He was extremely admirable for the sake that he had the courage to live out his dream. He said he would live off of the land for 100 days and he did. Most people always have that dream vacation, the goal or rite of passage that they always say they will do. But when the opportunity arrives for them to achieve their dream, they shy away at the first sign of risk. And Chris followed through and knew he was going to live out his dream or die
Chris’s parents had only good intentions for him as every parent would for their child which is why they entered him into a gifted school. However all this opportunity never seemed...
Chris expresses spirituality and individuality multiple times. He displays spirituality when he writes to his friend Ronald Franz, “I ...
Chris wanted to seek refuge from his home because of what he found out about his father. After Chris’s sophomore year of college at Emory University, during the summer he went on his usual cross-country wanderings. He went to California to visit the El Segundo neighborhood where he'd spent the first six years of his life. He called a lot of old family friends who still liv...
Yes, Chris McCandless exemplified what it is to be unconventional, untraditional, nature-loving. What's more important, Chris showed us a particular degree of freedom, what true liberty is about--the freedom not only of the individual, but the freedom of something much higher than that--the freedom of the mind. Freedom from societal restraints of always having to be someone, playing some role. More than anyone, so far, Chris ...
After analyzing Into The Wild, it is simple to see how Chris displays resiliency. Chris was always able to recover from challenging situations. If he ended up stuck somewhere, there was no way he was about to give up. He would merely hitchhike to the next town. No matter what
...would have not been prepared for his journey to Alaska. Although only for a short time, Ron is able to nurture Chris by feeding him and taking care of him, as well as teaching him a couple of cool traits such as designing belts out of leather. Although Chris is able to change people, the people are able to change Chris even more.
...ation from Leo made the journey for Chris lasting. Leo’s great inspiration for Chris made him go further and further, without his help, would he have gotten happiness, we do not know. All we know is that he had died happily.
Many times in the book Chris was starving or needed a job and because he was charming either at the time or previously he could always find a meal or job. An example of this is when Westerburg first picks up Chris, Chris had not eaten in days, but because Chris was cordial he got a meal at Wayne’s friend’s house. After this he also got housing and a job from Wayne purely because of his friendliness.
Because of such displays of true christian character, Chris has influenced me throughout my freshman year of college more than anyone else. He has made me learn that anyone can turn their life around -- if they would only rely on Jesus Christ and surrender their will to him. Chris believes that with all of his heart. Every once and a while, you meet one of those special people that you will remember throughout your entire life. These type of people are natural born leaders. They are builders, not of just brick and mortar, but of the human heart. They build you up when others tear you down. Just when you feel like giving up on society, someone does something that shows that there are still great people out there. Chris is one of those people.