Whats my Purpose

If someone were to ask me what my purpose in life was, i would think about what i will do in my future that will help benefit me and the society i live in.  I will like to make a difference that is noticeable and doesn't just get pushed under the rug.  I think my  purpose is to be a good steward of the environment and the animals that live with in it.  I want to be a good influence on the people i'm with and around in hope that they will do the same when they're with other people.  I think college is a main goal in my life that i will need to be successful in life and make a difference.  Becoming a conservation officer or somewhere in that region would be an amazing opportunity that i hope someday i can say i accomplished. Staying around where i grew up and to keep giving to the community that has given so much to me as i have grown up.  This town has invested so much in me that i think its my obligation to give back even more when i have the chance to.  Also i believe that a persons purpose in life changes as time goes on.  A teenagers purpose will be different than a forty year old guy with three kids and a wife.  Right now in my life i am focused on school.  I won't always have the opportunity i have right now with the resources given to me through the school for help with classes and help to get into college.  I have a lot more chances getting help financially for school then i would if i worked for a couple years and then decided to go to college.  That's why i need to keep my focus on school and not be worrying about stuff that a 40 year old parent would be worrying about.  Another purpose that a kid my age should be is to serve god in the way he wants and not wait till their older or to late.  They need to be out in the community helping elders with things that they need help with.  That's just an example of one of the things that can be done to help the community you live in and to serve god at the same time.  The newest thing out there is YOLO.  It stands for you only live once.  Some people take this as they need to party all the time and do stuff that isn't considered right.  There's a picture on facebook that really helps illustrate what yolo really means and what some people think it means.  On the top of the picture there is a scene of a party with people going crazy and on the bottom a group of guys in the army in a fight protecting the our land and freedom.  I think it's easy to realize what really is yolo and that a persons purpose in life is not to drink and use substances that changes their mind state completely. Now when i'm older i still think my purpose is to serve god but to also help my children learn the right ways and send them in the right decision as well.  But on top of that i think i need to get a career that i like and not just a job.  I think its especially important to know the difference i am talking about when i say a career and not a job.  I want to use the degree i was focused on getting younger in life to get a job that i can use my skills and interest to further help the common good.  The last purpose i have on my mind is having good relationships with my family and friends.  I don't want to be that lone wolf or whatever you want to call it.  I want someone to come home to and keep passing on the solid core family values that have been taught to me through out my entire life.  I believe that what your purpose in life is is the hardest question you will answer.  But it's a question that will really make you think and make you realize where you wanna be and do.  It is almost like setting multiple goals but more of long term goals other than something that only takes a couple days or something.  So when your thinking of this just think what means most to you in life and make that as your purpose in life.

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Where Am I?

Has someone ever asked you where your from?  A normal answer would be just the town you live in but some people might say Grand Island if you live in Aurora because most people don't know where Aurora is. But if you really think of where you come from there is so much more that could be said.  Montgomery Gentry sings "Where I Come From" and they really point out the little things that make it so special of the place you come from.  They talk about living in a small town going down main street knowing everyone and waving to just about anyone.  That's very similar to what i would say if someone asked me where i came from.  I'd considered my town is mainly centered around agriculture but with a strong economy throughout the town.  Aurora has a strong reputation for their athletics and academics and they are improving the school and resources to students every day.  I think this helps attract more family's to the area which in turns grows the town and economy.  I can't really relate to kids that grow up in cities or larger towns and honestly don't really want to.  You can't beat living in a small town.  Just walking into the grocery store in town it would be weird to see someone that you didn't know.  While driving around town everyone will be waving or honking at ya but when you go into a city you might get just a little different hand gesture.  Where you come from can be more than just the town.  I came from a family of five.  I have two older sisters with one living in the big city and loving it and the other wanting to be back in a small town.  I have a grandpa and grandma that live on a farm about a hour and a half from Aurora and another grandma that lives a merely 20 minutes.  My family always gets together on holidays and with the closer relatives will meet up just to catch up sometimes. Friends is another thing different in a small town i believe.  In our school you know everyone's name in you class and usually most of the people that are in high school with you.  Sure, there are the certain groups that hang out and do their thing but as long as you didn't rub someone the wrong way everyone's friends with everyone and if someone needs a ride or a favor your more than glad to help them even if you don't usually hang out with them.  I also come from the heart of Nebraska where if your traveling down I-80 all you'll see is corn and beans and a little more corn.  Anyone that has ever lived in nebraska, worked in Nebraska, or grown up in Nebraska knows what i'm talking about when i say the word detassling.  When late summer rolls around middle school kids and some high school kids start dredding whats about to start.  When the corn gets so old it needs detassled and since the machines can't be one hundred percent they hire kids for part time.  It's about the worst job you could find in the summer.  Walking through the corn in the morning soaking wet with your shoes getting stuck in the mud and then in the afternoon going through the field whens its 110 degrees out.  Sweats just dripping off of you head to toe.  I personally love all the work that goes into growing those crops.  I work on a farm and we farm a couple thousand acres but what makes my job different then most farmers in the county is that we have over five hundred head of cattle so even after harvest when most farmers slow down, our work is still going strong by fencing off the cornfields, loading up the feeder wagon, rolling out bales, or hauling water.  Another thing you'll see when going down I-80 is the sometimes beautiful Platte River.  I say sometimes because we've had a pretty rough streak of not much rain and the river has been drying up so all you see is dead grass and sand.  With no water in the river it can become a major problem for the farmers but here in Nebraska we are pretty lucky to have the Ogallala Aquifer below us and many people can drill wells on their fields for pipe or to put a pivot up.  I was also grown up around the outdoors.  I can remember going out to the duck blind real young just to watch and eat breakfast or going up to minnesota for a couple weeks to just sit back, relax, and fish.  Some people don't like the taste of wild game or fish and they would have a hard time living in our house because thats about all we eat. 

Poster, Life Sound Track, and Artifact

"Take A Back Road"

Sit in that six-lane backed up traffic

Horns are honking, I've about had it

I'm looking for an exit sign

Gotta get out of here, get it all off my mind

And like a memory from your grandpa's attic

A song comes slippin' through the radio static

Changing my mood

A little George Strait 1982

And it makes me wanna take a back road

Makes me wanna take the long way home

Put a little gravel in my travel

Unwind, unravel all night long

Makes me wanna grab my honey

Tear down some two-lane country

Who knows

Get lost and get right with my soul

Makes me wanna take

Makes me wanna take a back road.

I've been cooped up, tied down, 'bout forgotten

What a field looks like, full of corn and cotton

If I'm gonna hit a traffic jam,

Well it better be a tractor man

So sick and tired of this interstate system

I need a curve and wind-a-twistin'

Dusty path to nowhere

With the wind blowing through my baby's hair

Yeah, makes me wanna take a back road

Makes me wanna take the long way home

Put a little gravel in my travel

Unwind, unravel all night long

Makes me wanna grab my honey

Tear down some two-lane country

Who knows

Get lost and get right with my soul

Makes me wanna take

Makes me wanna take a back road.

Some old back road 

Maybe it's the feeling or maybe it's the freedom

Maybe it's that shady spot

Where we park the truck when the things get hot

Where we park the truck when the things get hot

And it makes me wanna take a back road

Makes me wanna take the long way home

Put a little gravel in my travel

Unwind, unravel all night long

Makes me wanna grab you honey 

Tear down some two-lane country

Who knows

Get lost and get right with my soul

Makes me wanna take

Makes me wanna take a back road.

Some old back road, get right with my soul

Now all I gotta do is take some old back road

To the shady spot where things get hot

Way down, way down, way down some old back road

Rodney Atkins - Take A Back Road (Official)

Who Am I

        Who am I??? is the million dollar question.  The simple response to that is I am  Brock Thomas Russell Henderson,  son of Kevin and Lora and brother to Ashton and Shea Henderson, but Dr. English is looking for a more  in depth answer.  I'm just a small town kid living in rural Nebraska living the life,  going to bonfires on the weekends and getting in the tractor during the week. I'm a laid back kind of person not really in a hurry with life but just enjoying every minute of it.
I work on a farm and ranch which I love doing and wouldn't want it any other way right now.  Working outside is just something that  like doing instead of being cooped up like chickens.  Being in the outdoors is one of my greatest passions in my life.  At the start of the year I'm just finishing up deer season and raccoon hunting and going straight into turkey season.  A lot of people say that hunting with today's weapons just isn't a challenge, which in some ways I can see that, but I have been hunting with a bow and arrow for 5 years now and trust me, there's nothing easy about it!   After turkey season I get my boat ready and take it out on the water for some nice, relaxing, and well earned fishing in the summer.  I'm not big on all the water sports like a lot of the kids my age.  When I see a log in the water I'm looking for a large mouth bass under it instead of trying to dodge it with a jet ski or tube.  After the fishing season and school starts up you'll find me on a five gallon bucket waiting for turtle doves to come roost at night.  That's just getting me warmed up for the upcoming bird seasons of duck, goose, and upland game.  And then with deer season,  my schedule just starts all over again.
 I love telling hunting stories or things that happened to me in the woods or on the water so it really has helped me communicate with others.  I'm not scared to talk to adults or go introduce myself to new people.  I love meeting new people and after my conversation, I usually  feel  like I have known them for years.  In this small town everybody knows everybody so it would be hard NOT to be sociable out in public as people generally know you or your parents or even your siblings.
I love watching football with my dad and competing in outdoor sports.  Trap shooting is not a school sponsored event around here but there's a good number of kids in high school that take up the sport so we actually have a team.  There's a state meet with over 2,000 kids every year that I have been going to for the last 4 years. I'm also a devout Bears fan as well as my Dad. He and I took a trip to Chicago to watch the Bears play the chiefs last November  and even though I had the stomach flu i still managed to have a good time. That's one of our trips but we have a tradition every year for about the last 14 that we take a trip up to northern Minnesota for the best fishing around.  Spending 2 weeks in a log cabin with no phone reception or internet is something everyone should do to forget about whats going on at work or something and just enjoy themselves relaxing on a beach or throwing some bait into a Lilly patch.
I see myself as a person that is very easy to get along with and a good friend that will stick by someone through anything.  I wouldn't say I am an emotional person but will listen if someone needs to get something off there chest or just needs to talk about it.  I don't get mad very easy and can just let things slide most of the time.  I'm down to earth not thinking that I'm ten foot tall and bullet proof and would say I'm confident but not over confident or vain.
In my future I would like to have a degree in agri-business as well as wildlife and fisheries.  So far I think my plan is that I will be going to the University of Nebraska at Lincoln for my education.  They have a trap shooting club also,  so if everything works out I'll still be in school on a shooting team for the next  4 years.   After college I can't really see myself staying in a big city but rather coming back to a small town and settling down having a family.  Farming is kind of a huge dream for me but with the cost and economy right now it would be extrememly difficult to get into,  but eventually I will find out what the future holds for me.