Meg Fitzgerald: West Senior Sets Sights on Touring Egypt

     Picture yourself riding camelback across the Sahara Desert towards the Pyramids of Giza or Cheops, exploring the Tomb of King Tutankhamun and cruising down the River Nile.  If Meg Fitzgerald gets her wish, she will undoubtedly do that and more next summer.

     Since as far back as the third grade, the mysteries of ancient civilizations have so captivated the Parkway West senior that the mere mention of Egypt has placed her in a near-hypnotic trance.

     

     Fitzgerald’s graduation request is a trip to that nation.  She then plans on continuing her education by studying Egyptology as a Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations major at the University of Chicago, one of the nation’s foremost learning institutions.

     “I’ve always loved reading about ancient history,” she said. “The people had such different lifestyles.  They didn’t have all the physical conveniences we have, but they still had marvelous wealth.  They made so much of what they had, and people still don’t understand it today.”

     While Fitzgerald strives to “Walk Like an Egyptian” in next year’s travels, walking is one of the things she tries to avoid on the basketball court.  At 6-feet-2, the Orlando, FL native has not always been a smooth performer on the hardcourt.

     “In ninth grade, I was terribly uncoordinated,” she said.  “Whit (Coach Hal Whiteaker) said I couldn’t walk and chew gum at the same time.  Even last year, I played with girls who had a lot more ability.”

      “I almost cut her as a freshman,” Whiteaker recalled.  “When Meg started out, she could barely hit the backboard.  The only reason I kept her was she was 6-foot.  But since then, she’s worked really hard to make the varsity."

     Actually, Fitzgerald, who grew up in San Jose, CA, is a tireless worker in several areas.  Besides doing preparatory lab work for Parkway West science classes, she has a strong musical background.

    Just before Thanksgiving, Fitzgerald was one of 32 Parkway girls who added vocal support for the presentation of DeBussy’s Nocturne for the Youth Symphony Orchestra at Powell Hall. She will also be part of the Bach Society’s Christmas event to be held there Dec. 22-23.

     Besides Fitzgerald, the Longhorns return an abundance of talent in 6-foot, all-metro forward Paige Ewaldsen and fleet-footed 5-3 senior guard Dora Phillips.

     Senior Roanne Daniels; juniors Amy Rossi, Aliy Zirkle and Monique Breeland; and sophomores Liz Pedersen, Laura Ewaldsen and Bettina Schubert, April Warden and Sheri McLanahan will try and help West improve on last year’s 21-7 record.

It’s Time to Take CHARGE of Your Life

     If you haven’t done so in awhile, this is the perfect time to CHARGE!  No, I’m not referring to your shopping habits.  This is a FAR greater lifestyle decision!

    

     I don’t normally recommend reading material, but this month is the 40^th anniversary of the first printing of “Rhinoceros Success.”  The book was written by Scott Alexander with a wonderful variety of illustrations by Laurie Alexander.  

     There’s a great deal of victim mentality throughout today’s society.  But read this book, follow several of the simple, yet often whimsical instructions, and that victimhood will soon be left in the dust like a charging rhino on a dry, southern Africa plain.

     Long ago, the forty-third print version of this little paperback book, back in February 1990, helped provide the stimulus to not only vastly increase my freelance writing markets, but also to push me into a wide variety of creative writing for pay venues.  This was after 10 solid years of writing for good pay while working the last seven years of that decade in a different type of full-time job.

                                                                   

     “Rhinoceros Success” appeared to me at the time my full-time job was ending and I was awaiting my son to be born. While starting a different job on a part-time basis, and still doing many of the same types of writing I had done throughout, the book helped inspire me to achieve a wide variety of other creative monetary successes even though I had FAR from the book’s rhinoceros mentality.

     Yet it is a must read and continual reference type item for all who are seeking extra motivation for any venture, and also for those who are already on the right path.  After all, there are times when every person could use a little extra charge command whether it be a greater need of focus, discipline, persistence or determination.

     The book is divided into 15 small chapters, starting with “The Art of Charging,” followed by “Rhinoceros Training,” and culminates in “Become a Rhinoceros Today.” It’s a very easy and fun read which includes 13 illustrations accompanied by brief commands.

     Some of the ‘charging’ areas include charging down opportunities, and also charging through adversity and temporary setbacks.  After all, as the book states, “Not even rhinoceroses make it to the top of the hill without slipping a few times.”

          

    Another top line from the book is, “The more energy you put into something, the more you are going to get out of it.”  On that note, it’s rather fitting that, even back in 1980, Alexander notes that in order to stay more positive, turn off the television news!

     Ironically, one of my favorite quotes of the book, which I believe sums up “Rhinoceros Success,” actually comes from someone who made a good deal of his living from TV viewers.  Televangelist Dr. Robert Schuller once said, “It is better to attempt something great and fail than to attempt nothing and succeed.”

     You don’t think you have what it takes to be a rhinoceros?  Imposs-ceros!  “Rhinoceros Success” will prove you wrong! It will inspire you, motivate you and guide you through the many, tangled jungles of life’s journey!