<p>for this guy.</p>
<p>I'd do it.</p>
<p>I for one am happy to see him okay. I go to school with Farris, at Pine Crest in Florida. I know the kid pretty well; we're not friends, but I guess we are acquaintances. If you knew him, you'd understand why he did this, although it really did show a lack of judgement. He has the strongest passion for history and world affairs that I have ever seen. On a regular day, you'd see this kid in the library reading books about Egypt, the Renaissance, whatever. My European History teacher liked him so much that he had him give lectures to my class period and others. He is super shy, but when he stood up at the podium, he was a whole different person. This whole ordeal is just crazy; you should have seen our class when we found out. First we were just laughing, then it sunk in, and we were just like, "Holy ****, this kid is going to die." There are a couple of things that the article doesn't explain very well. I have heard that Farris has a very strained relationship with his parents, and even has his own place to live (not sure if this is true). His parents didn't know because I don't think that they get along well. Also, I've never heard of this journalism class at our school, though it would be cool. Finally, his friends that the article references were not "in" on the trip. Farris called them from the Miami International Airport, and said he was on his way to Amsterdam or something like that. The kids called the airport and tried to stop him, but I guess because he was 16 or something he was allowed to buy his own ticket.</p>
<p>^^^^</p>
<p>Wow, seriously?</p>
<p>Yeah, this thing is bigger than I thought. Now it's on the front page of msn.com. A little reminder to all of you aspiring journalists: If you are going to go into a warzone in a foreign country and walk around by yourself, at least don't wear your tennis shoes (number one giveaway that you are an American).</p>
<p>I also wonder if this kid is going to be let back in our school. We have a tradition of giving kids the "option" to leave or get kicked out; I think at the very least he will get zeros on every assignment he missed, which probably now totals 1340982359032.</p>
<p>why would he miss anything? it sounds like he went during break</p>
<p>He actually left a week early. I think he just spent some time in Amsterdam, Kuwait, or wherever the hell he was.</p>
<p>honestly? who the f|_|ck cares about that? why is cnn making a big deal out of it? its just gonna make kids reading it think about doing that themselves.</p>
<p>Wow... unbelievable that he actually did this, and very interesting that you know him schoolisnotforfools.</p>
<p>That would be a great essay--I mean c'mon, who of us has snuck into Iraq? I admire the kid...he has cajones! =)</p>
<p>Do you think top colleges would accept this kid if he boasts about his trip in an essay?
sounds risky...
maybe a risk colleges wouldn't want to take</p>
<p>It shows bravery and dedicated, and foolishness and naivete...depends on who the adcom is.</p>
<p>all i can say is WHAT NERVE..... for better or for worse.... </p>
<p><em>will return to being shell shocked now</em></p>
<p>I for one definitely do not admire the kid just because he had the balls to do this. It just shows his immaturity and selfishness for only thinking of himself here. Did he even think what his parents would have to suffer through if he got killed? They would end up blaiming themselves and probably be miserable for the rest of their lives; it's supposed to be the worst feeling in the world to lose one of your kids. I don't think people realize just how dangerous this was. 400 foreigners have been kidnapped there, and 6 car bombs went on his FIRST DAY in Iraq. All this for an "immersive" report.</p>
<p>i go to pc too... and i think im in your euro class... schoolisnotforfools... PM me... l8ter</p>
<p>not to mention how the US military had to go out of its way to ensure his safety</p>
<p>Wow, there's no anonymity left on the internet. 50 posts in and someone already figured out who I am. How long did it take for you to be unconvered?</p>
<p>A lot of colleges won't take the guy. It doesn't show courage, it shows a lack of judgement. I mean from the way it looked he didn't do any research beforehand on how not to die.</p>
<p>He has a mix of reasons- good and bad. I admire his aspiration for empathy, but needing to go somewhere to realize what you have back home is shallow. He has good intent though.</p>
<p>Depending on the college one would probably see that he would take action.. that would be someone one would want at their school.</p>
<p>This is very funny, really. Not Farris's trip, your subject header and your opinions of it! A couple of thoughts:</p>
<p>Thought 1: Not every teenager does everything with one eye on college admissions! That may surprise to some ccers. I think ColorfulPig was being ironic, but others actually calculated Farris's chances of college acceptance (what a hook, eh?) a propos of his trip. Get out and do something else besides your apps, okay?</p>
<p>Thought 2: There's a whole world out there, and American teenagers co-exist in it with teens of all nations. My kids's school hosts volleyball, softball, other sports, debate, math team, etc. etc. tournaments with schools in Cairo, Paris, Vienna, London, and many other places. Kids travel to other countries for their tourneys. My kids have been to London (2 weeks after the bombings), The Hague, Brussels, N. Italy, and Salzburg just this school year. We recently hosted a team from Beirut, Lebanon (these kids were GREAT, so nice, spoke perfect 'Merican, and all Lebanese). I see kids as young as 14 getting their own passports (and you can) at my job every day. Kids in Europe get on trains and go all over the place alone. So, really, Farris's trip is not all that unusual to me. What is unusual is that he was pretty naive about being in an active combat zone. But, one of these days, Baghdad will open up to dependents, and American kids will live there, too. One of my kids was born in the Middle East. I was evacuated with an 18-month-old and a 4-month-old when Saddam started dropping scuds in the Gulf. But, the babies and I went back 9 months later and lived for another year.</p>
<p>A tragedy in the "war on terror" is the fear it has instilled in some Americans. Many of us overseas are not afraid, though. </p>
<p>My hope for you is that all of you will get out and see something of the world before heading to college. I guarantee it will open your eyes.</p>
<p>'Nudduh</p>