When people talk about home, most people refer to being with their families.  I think that home is more than that, that home is  sounds, smells and feelings that make you feel welcome, safe and comfortable.
For me home is the smell of my favourite tea. Home is the sound of my boat bumping against the dock or cicada bugs in the peak of summer. Home is the feeling of sun on my skin while sitting on my roof. All of these things represent home to me.
If I applied chasing home to myself, I would be chasing these things. I wouldn't be chasing a certain place, but more the feelings that remind me of home: feeling safe and comfortable.

     We just finished off the first year in our simulated country Zugzwang. This year was a learning experience for all, but it was also really enjoyable.
     Starting off with elections, I somehow got pulled into the mix and found myself running for Prime Minister. Lucky for the citizens of Zugzwang I was not elected. I was however elected into the house of commons!  
     I really enjoyed being in the house of commons for this first year, being able to give my opinion the time that it mattered most.
     Next came the hex auction! This was probably the best part of the year. People were ruthless and crazy competitive, taking prices way higher than they should have been. I'll admit even I went a little crazy, bidding up the Prime Minister in the auction for the power plant. It was so worth it. Even though he kept his face calm, cool and collected but I could see him sweating on the inside.
     We had a town hall meeting just recently. This wasn't so much of a meeting but more of a throw-every-single-one-of-my-friends-under-the-bus rampage. There were accusations and angry comments flying. People used words as weapons in this meeting that's for sure. Almost everyone had something to complain about and it was interesting the our new Prime Minister Bobby wasn't there. 

Most of the angry comments were directed at members of the house of commons, our former Prime Minister Jake and Elijah (he basically screwed over everyone. I was not surprised.). At the end of this meeting, 2 cases were suggested to take place in court the next day.
      In the court room the honorable Kimberly Collins was our judge. I think she was the best choice for the job because she was  tough enough to actually tell people to be quiet. The court was very interesting, but much less orderly and formal than an actual court room. It was amusing to watch students become lawyers, clients and jurors. The way that some people worked the laws, found loop holes and were just full out good at being in court- albeit a fake court but that's beside the point. Our little court room was quite informative, and it also made me see flaws in the laws I voted for in the house of commons. 
That's that, the whole year done. This year was definitely a year for learning. Learning where to put your money. Where to put your trust and where to put your morals. Even though 34 people died and no one was pleased at our town meeting, I don't think the year was horrible; considering it was a year of firsts. 

On Sunday, two teenage boys were convicted in a rape case in Steubenville, Ohio. This case stood out to me for many reasons, one of which is the way social media, pictures and videos were used to publicly humiliate the victim, secondly the media made many undeserved vindications for the convicted and lastly she was raped, and that is appalling.
      First off, these kids and their friends had the audacity to take videos, pictures and put out tweets about this crime. This is disgusting in itself. There were tweets sent out making fun of this crime such as, "song of the night is definitely rape me by nirvana". There were pictures sent out of the sentenced and some other teens holding the victim naked. There were videos of them raping this girl in a car in between parties. This is vile and these are not little boys. They are teenagers. They know what they have done and know that it is wrong. In my opinion, the convicted should have been tried as adults. My reasoning behind this is rape is not a child's crime. Petty theft, breaking and entering- understandable how you would try the convicted as juveniles, but rape? If you rape someone, it doesn't matter that you’re only 16. If you rape someone, it doesn't matter that you cry like a child in court, only after being convicted. If you rape someone, it doesn't matter that you had a promising future. If you rape someone, it doesn't matter that your life is destroyed. If you rape someone, it should haunt you for the rest of your life. You raped someone and you deserve every ounce of justice we can place upon you in court of law. These sick criminals deserve to be put in front of a jury, with the option of being incarcerated for more than two years. 

The media and townspeople were no help in this case, justifying and sympathizing with the criminals' actions saying: "They had such promising futures," and "They were town heroes," when all they were, were football players. These people were actually attempting to get a lesser sentence for the condemned. This is all because this town is so football centered, that they couldn't bear to lose anyone off their team! Sounds to me like these people value football more than justice in this case and how horrific is that?
      Finally, this girl was raped. Yes, she had too much to drink and yes, she was wearing revealing clothes, but no, it was not OK for her to be raped. It is never OK to rape. She was used for the sole purpose of sex. One of the convicted sent a text that said, "Yeah dude, she's like a dead body. I just needed some sexual attention."  That is revolting. The fact that she wasn't even coherent enough to seem alive, that she seemed like a dead body; yet they still thought it was perfectly OK for them to sexually assault her. This girl deserved so much more respect than that, and now her life will forever be affected by this. 
The prosecutor said, "This case is about a 16-year-old girl who was taken advantage of, toyed with and humiliated. And it's time people who did this to her are held responsible." I agree with her wholeheartedly, and am glad that they were punished. But in my opinion, the punishment should have been more severe to compensate for what this girl has been through and for the convicted to pay proper dues for what they've done.