File Book 2

Chapter 10:Expand the mind

After Mr. Jones had finished tracing down this orange cardboard with a black marker and a mold, he softly throws this already drawn out shape perfectly align in a way he was expecting it to be. There are six swirly shape with one circle drawn beside them. Mr. Jones also threw in a scissors, just light slide on the table where it slid in a few inches away from falling off. "So this art is simple to make. When you had seen what I had drawn here, use the pair of scissor to cut them. But try to cut or make it perfectly, because it will led you in a situation where you do not have any clue what to do with them, like not knowing where to put or glue them" Mr. Jones said. "Okay" I replied as I slightly shake my head up and down at the moment that I am giving out a sign to agree on what he had said. Picking up the scissor he had already slid in towards me and lift the orange cardboard that had been already traced down. Moving it up just a little bit and placed the scissor on the bottom edge to prepare cutting it. Had already cut papers with a scissor before and had this one curious event where I want to see if the scissors I have at home sharp enough to cut my fingers. Tries that before and my fingers are still attached on my hand. No scissors scratch mark, no red liquid coming out from one of the two of my hand, which that would be scary, nothing else that can result me to run up to my parents crying about what I did there. Anyway, after looking at the scissor being placed on the bottom edge of the orange cardboard and staring at it for a long time, Mr. Jones startled me by calling my name out and placed his hand on the area of the table I was sitting next to. "Richard, you okay there, buddy?" Mr. Jones asked, nothing like he is angry or something. "Yeah" I responded and slowly lowered my head down as a sign that I am okay. "If you are feel like you are trapped like inside of yourself from cutting that cardboard, try to pry yourself open and keep feeling open as I am helping you to set you free from whatever you like" Mr. Jones said. "What do you mean by that? How did you know that I was trapped on the inside of myself?" I calmly asked. "When I talk about you feeling trapped in a problem where you have no idea what you are doing, or perhaps you maybe one of the people who did not understand the instructions that all three of us had told you, do not be shy to ask me. I won't be mad when you keep constantly being confuse over and over again unless you leg me to this one point where I just need to show you something that I would expect you to do. Put yourself in a position where you are confident and comfortable enough to know what you are doing instead. If you can not figure out of your own, just ask" Mr. Jones explained and shrugged his left shoulder. "What about that one thing when you said something about me being free?" I asked more. "At the moment that I said something like you were trap in a situation where you can not figure out how to solve the problem by your own, you feel as if you are trap in a box and expecting someone out there to come and help you, setting you free from getting held captive from the box" Mr. Jones clarified. "What does the word captive means?" I asked. "If I am saying this right appropriately, captive is basically means that somebody else who traps you in a place where you can not get yourself out. Meaning you can not escape easily unless that person having the ability to set you free as long as they wanted. I do not want to imagine that you were trapped by a much older person and put you into this one horrific event when you were stuck there for a really long time. You have so much room with yourself to explore what is going on in the future and the real world" Mr. Jones explained. "When you were young, like having the same year old as all of us of that time, what did you had in your mind when someone said something about your future holding you when you are getting slowly older?" I asked and trying to say it in a way I was expecting Mr. Jones to answer from what I would want him to understand. "When I was your age, I was really excited to what my future is going to be like. I really want to know what my future looks like. At that moment when I get older, I kept doubting myself that my future is going to be terrifying, scary, sort of dangerous, and nerve wrecking. Not that I am saying yours or anybody else's future is a bad thing to have to remember in your mind forever, it is just that you could come up with a strategy to prevent anything that impacts in a result of yourself feeling upset" Mr. Jones pointed out. "When I get older, how would I be able to know when to start making up strategy in the future?" I asked another question. "Simple. Just find something that is a sign for you to come up with an idea to avoid any upsetting event. That is how I do it, I am not quite sure if you can yet. But that is how I manage to avoid putting myself in a situation where I am upset" Mr. Jones added. "Right" I replied and slowly shake my head up and down, as a gesture that I agree of what he had already explained. "I also would like to add that I had this one mental moment when I just want to blame at somebody else. Yet it took me a really long time to leg me having this realization that accusing somebody else around me does not going to solve the problem. Instead, you must come up with a plan to redeem yourself from the problems you had faced in the past, and hope it will never do it again. Except there is a catcher, how would you be able to find out easier enough to predict if any problems is going to happened from the previous problems?" Mr. Jones pointed out. "I need to learn how to notice a familiar sign that can hint me of thinking it thoroughly" I said and particularly looking down as like I am not being sad. "Once you are in school mostly every weekdays, you will be smart enough to know what to do in your life and your future. You do not want to be  somebody else out in the real world refusing to attend in school. Now that I am thinking about that, I felt like some people who do not attend in school as like an indication of them not caring about their future. Or perhaps they highly believe that the world will rotate the way they wanted it to be" Mr. Jones presumed. "I am guessing the reason why they do not attend in school is because they think it is boring. Having no interest that can improve their minds to focus on any subject they had been told to get taught on. That is how I thought in my head" I replied and look out of distance a little bit, sort or not making eye contact to Mr. Jones due to me trying to think as hard as I can in my head. "Wait, wait , wait. You are telling me that you were trying to think in your head as hard as you can by guessing people with get smarter when they do not come and stay in school? I think you misheard the information there. Try use common logic on yourself partially by remembering what you had said a few seconds ago" Mr. Jones instructed me to reflect back. After thinking as to what I had already said, I had forgotten with mu brain giving me a random static and staring Mr. Jones with a blank facial expression. "Please do not be like this one kid I met a few years ago when he was acting entitled by claiming he did remembered what he had said. When the real truth is that the student I refer to did not remembered at all. Had a somewhat long argument until either MS. Goldsmith or Ms. Farrell had to step right in to separate him away from me. I am going to give that student a good, little amount of credit for net crying" Mr. Jones added. "Did you remembered what his name is?" I asked another question. "It has been so long since I had recognize his name. I am not certain if I can aid his name anymore, due to me already knew for the fact that it is not necessarily for me to keep that name in my mind forever. Anyway, what you said beforehand is that you mistakenly think people will be extra smart when they won't go to school. Would you mind explain to yourself on how they can be smart without bothering going to school?" Mr. Jones quizzes. "Just keep watching the television at home, and always keep posted on the news so that you will know what is going on out there" I answered straight away with full confident. "True, but when it comes for people who enters their elementary, middle, and high school, in addition of entering their college years, it requires you to learn all subject. I am talking math, science, history, English, any specific class that allows you to advance up. Specifically, advancing you up to the next level you highly deserve to be" Mr. Jones explained. Not quite familiar about the type of subjects Mr. Jones had mentioned there and thinking about that is kind of nerve wrecking. "Remember when I said about future being particularly a terrifying experience to have? Well, that future contains the requirement of using your own knowledge. Thinking inside of your head hard enough to reflect back on what you have been taught throughout your education journey" Mr. Jones added and softly tap his finger on the side of his head twice. Indicating where this knowledge of ours come from probably, I always have a doubt in my head that I clearly do not know how to think. Again,  am still a child who needs plenty of more time to gain enough knowledge in order to have the greater ability to think in my own head. But for now, my head is having this blank state where I felt like someone or something is preventing me from thinking in a smart way. That thinking of a smart way is what I want whenever I get older and when Mr. Jones said at the time when he was young wanting to accuse somebody else, he highly advise me to be not that kind of person who gives out too many excuses. It does not do anything or solve any of our personal problems. "My advice to you when you will soon be in the situation where you clearly do not know what you are doing based on the instructions that you were told to look into, always have someone that you are comfortable to be partner with and work together. Some other times, you would eventually met someone who is too lazy to help you or not doing anything to get the job done. Try your hardest best to get something done and do not give up" Mr. Jones said. "Yeah, thanks for noting me that" I replied and slightly shake my head up and down. "You are welcome. I need to think of the response you had made there after I asked you how you think people would get smarter from not going to school, but only staying at home watching the television. About you cutting that orange cardboard thing that I had trace it for you, do you understand the instructions I had given you or do you want me to go over it again?" Mr. Jones politely asked, nothing like he is mad or annoyed over the fact that I potentially forget within a milliseconds. "I want you to go over this again" I chosen the decision with a tone slightly signaling that I am nervous. "Alright, so you start off by using the pair of scissor that I had already gave you there and cut it on the bottom side of the cardboard. Next, make your way to the first shape I made for you, but please try your hardest best not to cut through that shape. Instead, cut around them and continue doing the same thing to the other shapes" Mr. Jones noted and point around the shapes, dictating of how would I be able to cut in a way he wanted me to do without making a mistake. So I softly cut the bottom edge of the orange cardboard and keep cutting to the first shape Mr. Jones had drawn with a marker again. Cut it to the spot where I am very close to the side of the swirly shape and pause for a moment here to process my mind as to what to do next. Snip a little bit more to cautiously move forward, simultaneously following along the black marker trail and it looks like I was halfway there until I finish cutting the first shape completely. Now made it to the opposite side and feeling a lot confident now until I cut it in a most curviest way that I should be able to attempt on. Finally cut the first shape out from the orange cardboard and do the same thing to the second one. Thought I had made a mistake there on the first one, hopefully Mr. Jones is not upset there. For some odd reason, I happened to avoid making a mistake by viewing this cardboard scrap pile located right next to Mr. Jones, almost near his right elbow when he placed both of his arms onto the top surface of this table. I do not know if I had already said this before, but this table that me and Mr. Jones are using has this surface color identified as yellow, similar to the ones I had seen back since I was attending in Red Wood Elementary School. I am pretty sure any preschool or elementary school has every big colorful surface table they could ever afford, mainly because the teachers here wanted all the children like us to realize what this elementary school is mostly about. Obviously, every preschool and elementary school is all about basic education and this is why I am here attending preschool years two times. Imagine in the back of my head right now like I desperately want this kind of table at my home. Just waiting for the school to be over so that I can head home and beg on my parents to buy me the table Red Wood Elementary School had in the building. Whatever color it is, hopefully it is worth wrapping my head around to come up with an idea that is well deserve share out. Maybe any color of interest layered out around the top table surface could led me think of the most imaginative thought I got in my head. With still zero hints or clues as to what my future beholding, I will just wait it out and believe nothing had gone horribly wrong. It is like what Mr. Jones had said, find any signals that will guide you to any hints indicate anything. Regardless, I am moving on cutting the second shape out and always reminding myself to not make any mistake. Try to cut it in a most perfect way I could do following the trail of the black line and one kind of mistake I always stay in my head is like cutting across or through the shape. Keep bringing the mind over and over again until I manage to cut halfway. Like the left side of the second shape had already been cut completely while the right side is not. So I stretch the scissor out wide enough to turn the curviest or smoothest angle I could. And when I did that, I noticed like a chunk amount of cardboard sticking upward next to the angle I created there. Worrying about that later and cous on the part where I need to cut the other side completely. Took a snip on the end of the bottom tip until the rest of the piece just flopped off, except it started dangling in which I thought it was going to fall off like I did to the first one. So I cautiously snip it off with only the ending tip of the scissor instead of using like a center or deeper area of the scissor that could help me snip the tip off. Or I could just comfortably cut the tip off simultaneously with both center and deeper area of the scissor and cut it through. Leaving the cutting marks left behind and hopefully Mr. Jones does not complain about it. And I managed to get the second shape off with the remaining cut area on the rest of the orange cardboard. Specifically, I did not accidentally cut across the seconds shape and another ones, just made a cutting outside and much further away from the fair shapes. Continue cutting by making my way to the third shape and snip the bottom tip. Did not realized at the time to when I am cutting the curvy shapes off, but whenever I keep closing the scissor with only the ending tip area, there is like sawtooth pattern that is visible dangling literally right beside the shape. In my mind, I kind of feel like I am stumbling there by freezing my entire body for a little bit longer and simultaneously figuring out what am I supposed to do in a situation where I am seeing hook teeth mark sticking out from the side of the third shape. Seeing the black line is showing me how thinner it gets when it is like really close to the inner area and I need to come up with a plan to avoid any mistake there. Instead of cutting the shape around with only the end tipping area of the scissor, I decided to use the middle and further area of the scissor to cut the teeth mark off. Mostly using the center area of the scissor to carefully cut of the ones that are sticking out the left side off and still seeing this very thin black line. Showing that I did not purposely cut it across the shape and managed to create a smooth snipper from the left side. Except the part when I was like vigorously dragging the scissor around while turning corners. That would probably not give me the result that I do not want. Now have I done that method before among the two shapes that I just got them out? Nope, not at all and I would not attempt to try that technique out. Therefore I moved the scissor out from this already cut out area that I finished, while feeling like I am backing up the truck from my similar moments in my head for some odd reason, and go for this one route where I move the scissor to the right. Admire the idea I had there where I continue cutting from the bottom to the top tip of the third shape and got it off of this orange cardboard. From the moment when I had a situation of not having any alternative idea that could clear out this saw tooth sticking out from either both sides of the shape, which I had that kind of problem from the left side, it will going to be long enough for Mr. Jones to noticed I was struggling here without me bothering to ask him how to deal with that kind of problem. With a smooth cut out of the saw tooth already been chopped out from the edge of the shape, I am moving onto the fourth shape and wisely cutting around the bottom tip area. Somewhat making a V shape that can allow me to comfortably, freely snip however I want without letting Mr. Jones feeling agitated. Then carefully cut the left side of the curvy shape while avoiding to create a sawtooth, like I had done on the third shape. Managed to make my way on the top and partially fold the left side spot near the one that I had already snip out. That way, it is going to be easy for me to cut the other side without damaging it. I want to make a tip like it is pointy, not smooth and oval enough in a way that does not satisfied my expectation. And so I did that and continue cutting the right side of the curvy shape, manage to get it off of the cardboard and now concentrating on the fifth shape. Always starting from the bottom tip to the top, this time on the right side that is next to the sixth shape. Did the same thing as to what I did on the fourth shape and slightly bent this one big part of the cardboard to give myself access to make a good tip shape. Again cutting the other side and snipping my way around to the end, also over cutting this bottom tip shape to instantly make the fifth shape fallen off onto the table. I was not paying attention enough to know what is going on there after managing to cut off all five shapes here, but I heard Mr. Jones called out Ralph's name as I feel like I had spent a long amount of time focusing on cutting out all six of the shapes he had traced down with a black marker. "Ralph, come on over" Mr. Jones called Ralph's name out loud and showing this gesture signaling him to come over to the craft table. The gesture Mr. Jones had signaled is moving his arm up high enough to show everybody around this classroom that he wants one of us to come here. And so Ralph got up and cheerfully funs up towards the table. Also cheerfully hop onto the chair near the chair and push himself close enough to prepare this crafting work. I am sensing he is looking at me with a smirk and smile on his face for a few seconds there, and then looks at what I am working here. Turned his head to the direction where he is making eye contact towards Mr. Jones and wait for him to give out the instruction he had given me. "So am I going to do the same thing as to what he was doing there?" Ralph asked and partially jot his head towards me. "Yep, and I had already made this for you before I called you to come here" Mr. Jones answered and softly slid in to let Ralph sees what he did there. Is it the same thing he had done when he already drawn six shapes, except different color cardboard version. His given cardboard color is yellow and after I look at the yellow cardboard for a few seconds there, I focus of my own work and cut out the final shape. Also known as the sixth shape, always cutting from the bottom tip and most of the time snipping my way on the left side of that shape. Go back to the bottom tip instead of bending the non cut area downward, creating a secondary technique to allow myself to cut on the other side of the shape without any somewhat crucial mistake. Keep snipping from the bottom tip to the upper tip, simultaneously doing it on the right side until it came off. Now all six shapes had been cut out from the orange cardboard.