high school and college life

Yesterday, I discussed my life story and mentioned that I had more to discuss about being a part of the Essex High School and Lyndon State College communities.  Well, here is that moment.  As discussed, there were many differences between my High School and College life.  At Essex, I was a part of sports teams (during my Junior and Senior years) while at Lyndon, I was a part of the Television station News 7 there.  But when I left both schools, I felt like a different person than I was before I got there.

I'll begin with being at Essex.  As I said in the previous post, I was all about staying with my "clique" from Grand Isle for my first two years.  Then I started to change and get more involved.  I was a part of the extracurricular group Buzz Vibe before I became a part of the Boy's Basketball team my Junior year (thanks to the two people who I mentioned earlier, Jason Weischedel and Jeff Goodrich).  That turned me into a more sociable person at Essex.

I became a part of other sports teams during my senior year and was more involved with each team I was with.  I joined the Boy's Soccer team in the fall of 2006 as their statistician (and unfortunate for me tried my hands at PA announcing).  Then, I continued my role as the Boy's Basketball Videographer and Manager in the winter, which was even more energizing the second time around.  But the most important team I was with that year was the Boys Lacrosse team, not just because we won the D1 State Championship that year, but because it was a group of players and coaches who really enjoyed having me as a part of the team (with the exception of the NY trip.  For those on the team, you'll remember what I mean).  It was a great time with these teams, but i didn't continue with the managing role at Lyndon.

That was because I wanted to worry more about my classes and getting to be more social there (am I glad I did).  What a long, sometimes strange trip it was at Lyndon.  I had a lot of fun in every class I took there and enjoyed every professor I met there and had a class with.  Whether that professor taught History, Political Science, Television Studies or any other class I took there, they always made me do the three things the late Jim Valvano wanted us to do everyday; they made me laugh, they made me think and they made me get emotional, outside or inside, no matter what they said or do.  It was a lot of fun to meet these professors at Lyndon and am glad I can call all of them my friend.

But I guess it was even better meeting the students that I did at Lyndon more than I did with the professor (however, it's like a 55%-45% difference).  The group of people who I knew from taking any class I had really made me feel fortunate to know them.  Whether I knew you for only a day, a semester, a year or longer, you are all really important to my life and I'll never forget that.

But the most important people I knew were the ones I were able to work with at News 7.  None of you people realized that you were working with someone with a learning disability and you might have thought I was weird.  But I didn't care about that because I know I can trust you in the end.  You were the group that made me feel very grateful about myself, even if I did mess up on certain occasions.  You are also the reason why I hid my disorder because I wanted to be more of a group than just being one person and I didn't want my disability to get in the way of what I should do while I was down there.  You are the ones I will always remember and I thank you for believing in me and being your friend and "teammate" over the two and a half years I was there.

So there you have it.  My career at Essex High School and Lyndon State College in a longer post than previous.  There were too many things to write about in that post and I'm glad that I've written this.  In conclusion I say thank you to all at Essex and Lyndon who I've met and learned from all these years.  You will never be forgotten in my life and I'll always remember the times we had together.  Whether you were a classmate or a professor/teacher, as Phil Collins once sang, you'll be in my heart always.

Life Story

I have been blessed to know so many people in my lifetime and I am glad to say that most of them are my friends.  So for those who are just that, what I am going to write about may be known while for others this is the first time you're hearing about it.  Let me start my life story by saying this:  My name is Nicholas Ploof, I will turn 24 years old a month from today and I have Autism.

My condition is a high-functioning form of Autism called Asperger's Syndrome.  For those who are friends with me on Facebook, you might have seen a post from me months ago from Fox Sports.  Their baseball analysts were talking about Autism Awareness and one of them, former pitcher Mitch Williams, discussed how he has 2 kids with this same form of autism I have.  If you haven't watched it, now might be a good time to.  It will give you a chance to realize what I've dealt with for as long as I can remember.  However, I haven't let this disability take over what I've done.

As some of you know, I live in the little town of Grand Isle, VT.  During my middle school career, I was a part of the school's Basketball team and had a lot of great times with them.  I liked every team I was with, but the one that I liked the most was the one I was with in 7th grade.  It was a team that were champions of the Champlain Islands (South Hero and Alburg were also represented) and I met so many people who I still follow to this day (well, most of them I still follow).  I had a tough time in 7th grade as well with 9/11 in September of 2001 and the passing of 3 close people in my life; my friend David DuBrul, my great-grandfather Norman True and my uncle Calvin Ploof, Jr.  But I look back and remember the team I was with during that year and realized that I had a lot of fun with them.

In Grand Isle, I will forever be known as Skippy.  But in Essex, I'll be known as either Ploofer (where the name of the blog came from) or Ploofy.  I had my best times there and it was all thanks to 2 people:  Jason Weischedel and Jeff Goodrich.  During the first two years at Essex, I didn't want to be around those who I didn't know and just with those who I remember more from Grand Isle (because we don't have a high school, we were able to decide where to go for high school).  But then I met Mr. Weischedel and he introduced me to the Boy's Basketball coach (Goodrich) and the rest is history.  I was the videographer for the team the last 2 years of my high school career, but i did more than just tape the game; I was also the team's commentator for the games I worked.  The one's that I didn't work as videographer, I was the manager for the team.  It led to me doing more my senior year with sports teams, helping out the Soccer and Lacrosse teams as well as following the other sports programs during the year.  But it all started with talking with Jason and Jeff in 2005 that got me to be a part of the school's sports programs that I was involved with the last 2 years of my high school career.

I guess the videograper job worked for me because I took that to Lyndon State College.  Things were different there for me:  I was no longer a videographer or cameraman, but a photographer.  The professors I met there had there own interesting ways to teach their classes, and I met even more people there who I am glad to call my friend.  Whether it was in a class, as a residence or as part of the news product there, it was more fun for me to meet everyone who became a part of the community that was Lyndon.  I lasted five years at Lyndon and met so many people there that it would be hard to mention during this post.  In short, I really enjoyed being a part of the Lyndon State College community as long as I was and wouldn't trade it for any other college or university.

So there's the short version of my life.  From what I learned at Grand Isle School and becoming a nickname to going to Essex High School and helping the sports teams there (more on that in another post) to becoming friends with so many at Lyndon State College (also explained in a later post), there is a lot of things I have learned and I'm proud to have lived through it all.  I guess you can say that it's not a bad life for someone who wasn't expected to have this type of history, but in the end, I proved that even with having Asperger's Syndrome, I can get through High school and college and now I am ready to find out where my future will take me.  Thank you everyone and keep in touch.

Election 2012

The 2012 election came to a conclusion last night and people have called it a Status Quo election.  With the Republicans keeping control of the house and Democrats keeping control of the Senate.  I can also say that the 2012 election is my first that I have been a part of as a registered voter.  It was a lot of fun 4 years ago when I was watching Barack Obama become President of the United States and it was more exhilarating watching the election results from last night.  My political views are very moderate, which is likely why you'd probably see me watching CNN more often than the other cable networks (plus they got the anchors with the coolest names.  Can you do any better than Wolf Blitzer?)  Last night was an amazing night for me watching as a voter of this great state and country.

Of course, for Vermont, nothing changed.  Bernie Sanders and Peter Welch are heading back to Washington, DC and Peter Shumlin will be the Governor of our state for two more years.  The best news to happen to Vermont last night was the fact that for at least an hour, we were able to have the only projection for President Obama.  Sanders is an independent and, for his sake, will not be alone in that party come the debut of the 113th senate as Angus King of Maine will join him.

Likely joining forces with the Democrats, this will give the party a 55-45 edge in the Senate, 2 better than they had after 2010.  As for Welch, he will be in the minority at the House of Representative after the Republicans got to the 218 seats needed to get majority rule.  The election became more than just what happened in the Presidential race but also the balance of power in congress.

But there was also what happened in some ballot initiatives around the country.  For me, I felt a sigh of relief when it was determined that in 2 of the 3 states that had it on their ballots, they approved the fact that it is okay to have same-sex marriages in their state (Congratulations Maine and Maryland).  My belief on this is very important because I dislike people who believe that marriage can only be between a man and a woman.  If you are love someone, you should have the right to get married no matter whether you are with a person of the opposite sex or the same sex.

What I was a little concerned of was the idea of legalizing recreational use of marijuana in the states of Washington and Colorado.  Federally, marijuana is illegal.  Now, in the city of Burlington here in VT, they also voted for the legalization of marijuana, but it doesn't matter unless they make it legal in all states or the people in DC decide to put this measure up for debate in congress.  That is unlikely to happen, but we now know how some places believe about it.

In the end, though, this was an election that had its ups and downs (and by downs, I mean those ads that were playing every minute on every network).  Last night, we saw what the votes of America did:  It gave us a congress still divided.  It gave us more states that believe it is okay to have same-sex couples marry.  And it gave us another 4 years for a man who deserves it.  If you enjoy the way the election went, get ready for a major roller coaster ride in Washington DC.  If you don't, start getting those bumper stickers saying "January 20, 2017" (If the Mayans don't get to... : p.  Who believes that).  Otherwise, respect the men and women who are in office and let them know what you want to see change between now and 2016.