Essay Contest Winner!

by Crazy Ivan


Before we get to the winner, a quick explanation.  My intention had been to release several of the essays that we got throughout the day on Friday and announce the winner at 6 that evening.  But because of the holiday we extended the deadline through the weekend.  I could, of course, just do the same thing today and release a couple of the runner ups first, but since all the entrants have already had to wait an extra 66 hours or so, I've decided to end the suspense mercifully and declare the winner.

Normally it is really hard to pick a winner in these contests because we always get so many good entries and they're usually all prize-worthy.  This time around was no exception and there were quite a few touching stories that certainly could have competed for the grand prize here.  Before I announce the winner, I feel like I should take the time to thank all the participants for their effort and their imaginations.  Reading through these essays was one of the most fun things I've ever done as a Myachi Master.

Normally I fret over picking the winner.  I usually spend a while whittling it down, rereading several entries and getting the opinions of as many Myachi Masters as I can.  I'll take their conflicting opinions and weigh them with my own until we reach a consensus and then I'll usually waffle about that for a while and declare two or three winners instead of one.

But I must say that this contest was one of the easiest to decide of all time.  All the judges agreed completely on which one deserved the prize.  It wasn't that there was a lack of good entries; on the contrary I was amazed by the level of writing talent that our loyal readers displayed.  Many of the stories made me smile and a few of them made me laugh out loud, but only one of them literally brought a tear to my eye.

It was a few words over the 1250 word limit and the writer asked if that would be okay.  He went over by less than 100 words so we forgave him and I think you'll all see why:

Myachi Essay Contest

Grand Prize Winner:

Before I start my story, I want to say that this story is truly an amazing one and has touched my life in so many ways. This story has been a blessing to not only my life and the people who witnessed it, but the very gentle life it involves.

            

I am a member at a Baptist Church in my city. I have been a member of this church for about 8 years. About 2 years ago, we had a family move to our church (which is hard to notice because of the size of our church, but this family was easily noticeable). In this family, we will call them the Jones family (I am keeping their last name safe just in case), there was a kid named Matthew, yes his name is really Matthew. Matthew was adopted by the Jones family and it was obvious he had been sheltered due to his disabilities. You see, Matthew is autistic. He has the academic mental capacity of a 5^th grader, has very little understanding of right and wrong (such as when to talk and when to listen), but has a memory like I have never seen before. For example, it is a thing at our school to say, “Booiii,” like boy, but a lot more country and a lot louder.  I said it one night during youth and now he asks me to say it at least 20 times within the hour that we see each other at church.

I have slowly become Matthew’s best friend, which I am proud of because he is so much fun to be around. I jam just about wherever I go, so I was bound to pull out my myachi around Matthew at some point. When he saw this interesting little sack I had, he was instantly intrigued.  About a month ago, I found out that Matthew is one of the special-education students at our school, which was surprising because I had never seen him before around school, as I always make sure to say hello to “those kinds” of kids. I know how much it means to them to get a hug or a high five, so taking 2 minutes out of my day to make them smile makes me feel better. Turns out, Matthew is really shy at school, so he avoids going to lunch to escape the crowd. My youth pastor, Scott, told me about this and asked me to go visit him one day when I got a chance, so of course I jumped at the chance.

I have Journalism 3^rd block, which is basically a relaxation class, as we usually leave campus for lunch, write one article a week, and just hang out during the day. When I went to his classroom, I sat down with him and talked, and I put the Myachi on the table right in front of me. Usually if I am not jamming, I am holding a sack in my hand and rubbing it in a way to break it in, so when he got the sack he started rubbing it like I did. Suddenly, an idea stuck in my head that would change our lives. I stood up and said, “Matthew, do you want to play?” and he started smiling, “Play what?” I replied and said, “Stand up; I want to show you how to play with this.” So he stood up and I slowly began to teach him the cold fusion. Sadly, he wasn’t quite getting the fact that you can’t just slap the Myachi, but it is a catch and toss kind of thing, so the cold fusion was off, but I wouldn’t dare let this stand in my way. I got the feeling he was getting frustrated, so I decided to let him have some fun. I told him to toss me the sack, so he did. Once the Myachi was within reach, I did a Trampoline, Instep Stall, Outstep Stall, Instep Kick combo. As I finished the trick, Matthew’s face lit up with excitement. He said, “Do it again!” so I repeated the combo, but skipped the trampoline. Suddenly, his face wasn’t as amazed, which then he said, “No Huntur, off your shirt!” I chuckled and did a trampoline. When I stuck it, he laughed so much that he fell on the floor. Just as I was getting into showing him fun tricks like the Trampoline, Flying Fish, Faceplant, etc, the bell rang and class was over, so I told him goodbye and went to my next class.

Several days passed, and I visited him more days than not.  Every day I visited him, I incorporated him more and more into my jams. One day I would do a trampoline off of his shirt and catch it, sometimes he would throw it and I would do a kick and then catch it, and some days he just wanted to watch. One day, I decided it was time for him to learn. Days and days went by of me skipping lunch just to spend that extra 30 minutes teaching him, seeing him laugh, and seeing him truly enjoy himself. Today, he can do a Cold Fusion, the Flow, Trampoline, and the Neo.

The thing that hit the most was the day he completely changed. When I went to his room, he wasn’t there. I asked his teacher where he was and she told me that today he was eating in the lunchroom. When I finally found him in the mix of the hundreds of kids in the lunchroom, I went and sat with him. When I sat next to him, he said, “I wanted to show my friends!” as he held out the sack I had given to him. He stood up and began (clumsily) doing all the tricks he knew. Then something crazy happened. Over the intercom in the lunchroom I heard, “Matthew, please come to the stage.” So I walked Matthew up to the stage to see what the principles wanted. They were amazed that he was standing up in lunch playing with everyone. He was showing off his skills when everyone started looking. Everyone started watching this kid, who was obviously challenged in life, do things that they couldn’t do. Sure, plenty of people in my school have asked to hold the Myachi and have slapped it for about 3 seconds only for it to fall, but he was actually doing it. Everyone in the lunchroom looked in awe at him, and began to clap.

It was at this moment that I realized just what Myachi can do. Myachi isn’t just a game, it isn’t just a hobby, but it is a tool. It is a tool to open doors to where no one imagined they would go. Myachi brings people together. It gives them a sense of excitement and success. This day, Myachi was a tool to overcome a challenge, one that Matthew has had since birth. Autism, shyness, and an enormous amount of doubt were all overcome by the willingness of someone to teach, the desire to learn, and the excitement of the game. This day, everyone gazed upon the truth that nothing is impossible, no matter what stands in their way. This day, people realized the potential of everyone, even the disabled.

I don’t know the best part about this story, whether it is teaching someone about Myachi, or the life lessons learned through the person. Whether you choose to see the some 250 people in the lunch who saw what myachi is, or those who chose to see a kid overcoming his challenges, Matthew had some purpose that day, and I believe his purpose was fulfilled.