Here are real life stories from real life Chittenden South students. If you would like to submit a story, please e-mail dscott@cssu.org.

Revelation
By A Former CVU Student (Class of 2005)

I grew up in a small neighborhood and eventually made it to CVU. As a kid, my parents acted as guides. They helped with decisions, before I needed to make them and while I chose. They instructed me to eat my banana at lunch rather than trade it for a pack of Dunkaroos and described what may happen if I throw apples at passing cars. It seems simple and logical, but this is a big help to a kid who can’t imagine all of the consequences. Once in high school I was able to make it farther from my parents’ observation. I started to choose my classes, buy my lunches, and I was the one held accountable for doing my work. I got my license and quickly drove even farther from their helping gaze.

The decisions were all mine and I didn’t want a speck of advice. I had learned what I needed to learn from them: don’t swear, don’t fight, do your work, be nice to others, don’t speed, don’t drink, eat well, and tip fifteen percent. There was one thing I didn’t catch from years of instruction – WHY I should do all of these things. I was expected to have thought about why, as I made choices for myself. I saw Vermont’s beautiful roads as mine and speed limits were only a game against the police. The drinking age was a small hurtle to the world of alcohol. And then drinking itself was a strong act of rebellion. The worst that could happen was losing the game and getting a ticket, or a ‘slap on the wrist’ for drinking, as all of my friends called it.
But I was wrong. I was caught up in the game of adolescence, a game that the low police patrols of Charlotte and Hinesburg make too easy. The game was progressing and took hold of my thoughts; I never gave myself the chance to learn what my parents hoped I would learn. These rules are in place because every action has an effect on the people and place around us. If you speed, you could lose control, you could kill someone, destroy a building, and destroy your own life. It has never been about getting busted and having to pay the ticket. The police department doesn’t function off $145 dollar checks. The police department functions from the cyclical nature of a good community. A community where people care about each other and where people consider the change their actions may invite.
I write to fellow teenagers in the Champlain Valley of my realization. The message has been told many times, but as someone who figured it out through a situation that could have been terrible, I ask for anyone who reads this to consider what effect their next actions may have on the community and places they love. We live in a place where it is easy to forget about the people around, but it is there. Thought through decisions will help to keep this place beautiful and safe.

Frail Body Going Home
By Julia L. Cox

My fingers hover over it as if trying to feel out
If some of his spirit is left.
But it is just a yellowing piece of paper with two
Little wrinkled footprints on it.
My hands tremble as I tentatively touch the edge,
But then draw back as if in fear of it crumbling.
Losing one of the last bits of him.
Little pictures and images,
Of one frail little purple body,
All stand so close to me in my mind.
But the two of us are separated by the years,
Years you can‚t take back
No matter what you wish.
The idea of him is like that one day in spring
When there is every combination of weather,
A flower shyly opening for the first time since fall,
Only to close when the snow comes later.
The day that anything seems possible.
For him I don‚t cry like you do
Because we have not met nor spoken,
Never looked each other in the eye.
I mourn for him with question,
Doubt and imagination.
What would it of been like to not be alone all those weekday nights?
How different my life would be if I he were alive today?
Where would I be? Would I be different?
He had 18 days of life,
And those 18 days were full of
Tubes, x-rays, flashing lights,
People monitoring his every movement.
I guess he wasn‚t meant for this world,
And the only time when he really lived

Real Reasons Campaign

In March, CY participated in the statewide "Real Reasons" tobacco prevention campaign. Sponsored by the Vermont Department of Health, the campaign was designed to tackle the common misperception that most Vermont high school students smoke. They don't, as indicated by results from the 2003 Youth Risk Behavior Survey. (You may have seen the "8 out of 10 kids don't smoke" ads on television recently.)

Teens across the state have countless reasons for not lighting up. We know because we asked some of them. Here are a few "real reasons" why Chittenden South youth don't smoke:

Because it hurts you in sports

Because I want to keep my friends

Because it's bad for your lungs

Because it's a waste of money

Because it makes you look ugly

Because I have too much to lose

Because I care about my health

Because I'm an individual and I don't want to waste my life

Because it turns your teeth yellow

Because it smells bad

Because you can get cancer

Because I have better things to do

Because its against the law

Because it gives you bad breath

Because it kills you.

If you do smoke, CY urges you to consider these reasons and call the VT Quit Line at 1-877-YES-QUIT.