Dylan Lannie

UWRT 1104
Professor Jizi
10/17/2016
My Meaningful Life
What gives people joy or meaning to their lives? Meaning to someones life is different
for everyone because everyone lives a different life. One person may find meaning in something
as simple as walking through a park because it relaxes them while another person might like to
do more complex things that all connect through a series of confusing twist and turns that will
make up what gives them meaning in their life, but all together everyone will have a different
meaning. One thing that gives me meaning in life is bringing happiness to others. I did a
wrestling club in the 6th grade and thought it was a lot of fun so then I joined the middle school
team my 7th grade year. After that I thought I hated wrestling and was not going to do it, but my
homeroom teacher was the wrestling coach and he talked me into doing it again because he said
he saw a lot of potential in me. I did well that year and I ended up being a starter for the high
school team my 8th grade year. I continued my wrestling career throughout high school and I
loved the sport, it was a strong passion of mine. So I loved teaching others how to wrestle on my
team to make them better and It would give me a happiness feeling when I would finally be able
to teach a move to one of them. So I eventually started volunteering to help teach and coach an
elementary/middle school wrestling club alongside with my high school coach. Every day I
would look forward to teaching the children a different move and seeing the light bulb moment
when they finally understand a more complex move that you are teaching them would always

bring excitement to me. Also I would say I have a pretty large knowledge of wrestling between
all the moves, and how to react to an opponent correctly. I really love to share this knowledge
with others so it can make them better. Not only do I like sharing wrestling skills but I do love to
share a lot of things in life. Also another specific example in my life where I have found meaning
towards it is when I interned/peer helped at a 3rd grade class. I would go there during first period
second semester of my senior year and the 3rd graders would always be doing math, and it was
more of an instructive section of math and I would usually have to leave around right before they
would go over a worksheet they would be working on after we taught them. It truly just makes
something happy inside me when I help little kids learn or have fun. Every day I would get to
help them with a problem they did not understand or help teach the math lesson to them and it is
something that I am glad I decided to do my senior year because being able to help little kids
learn is honestly something fun to me. Also another circumstance where I enjoyed helping kids
have a good time or learn is at the summer camp I worked at this summer. I was only able to
work there a month but that month was some of the most fun I have had working with kids.
Camp Rockmont for boys is an overnight summer camp where campers stay for about two weeks
away from their parents and in the care/watch of counselors. I worked with kids who were 8-9
and where about in the 3rd grade each. At this summer camp the mission statement is growth
and we are trying to help these boys grow in any way to become men one day. At the age I
worked with growth with them is so easy to find because they grow everyday more spiritually to
God and they grow as better people. Some of my greatest memories is when we would do
devotion time with the kids at night and we would talk about a scripture and how it would relate
to their lives. Once again I am getting an enjoyment from teaching something new to the kids
and something that I absolutely loved was how interactive the kids were. Seeing the moment,

they finally understand and then they are able to connect scripture to something in their life and
then share it with our cabin would always be something that was exciting for me to see. Also
really being able to connect with the kids over a two-week period of time, they really start to
look up to you has a role model and a mentor. Helping children whether it be with school work, a
sport or growing as a better person has been something that has really stuck out to me in my life
because I always find myself looking back at those times and just having a positive connotation
with them always, even when I would get a little frustrated teaching something looking back it
was all true meaning me. Also overall I loved the role model feeling I would get from helping in
all these situations because when you help teach little kids or do fun things with them they look
up to you as a role model and this feeling made me feel good about myself because I want to be a
good role model for them. The lesson I can take away from working with children so much is
that at the age I have mainly worked with is that they are able to learn so much more than I think
they can and they will look up to anyone so it is key to show them the better way to do things
and not to get frustrated with a 9-year-old easily because they are young so they can only
understand so much at one time. This has really shown me that it is something that I want to do
in my future and it may not be a full career for me but as something I could volunteer and help or
be a coach in a sport part time.
Family Family is a huge part of my life that has always been there for me and it will
always be there for me. Honestly I do not know what I would do without them. My mom and my
dad are the greatest and they did a good job raising me and they still do. They have helped me
with so many things in life and I want to one day do the same. My family brings me meaning to
life because without family I am nothing, literally. If my mom and dad had never gotten together
I would not be here right now. Also my older brother brings me meaning to life. Looking back at

all the times we would have fun playing together or we would fight, all of it now to me were
wonderful times. I looked up to my brother as a role model and he has done so well for me, he
may of not been a good one at times but his faults have shown me the right way to do things in
life. I am truly thankfully for my parents, older brother, younger siblings and all of my other
family that has always been there for me in the rough times and the good times. I will continue to
keep a good relationship with my immediate family after college and especially with my mother
because she has been the biggest motivator to me and she has always been there for me. I one
day want to have a wife and kids of my own so I can spread this feeling of joy to them of
knowing them, so they can know that they will always have someone who is there for them and
have someone that will unconditionally love them always. My high school friends, there are a
few of them. One of my good ones went to wake forest university, another one went to NC state
and several of my friends came here to charlotte along with one of my good friends. Alex is my
good friend from high school and I could see me and him having a relationship still in the future.
Also I hope for one with Brandon who went to Wake and with Ethan who went to State. My
younger siblings probably do not see much of me right now. I have 2 younger sisters and 2
younger brothers. The older of my younger sisters can despise me at times but I think when they
all get older they will understand me a bit better and what I have had to do for them and maybe
they will appreciate it or maybe they will not. At times in life I have practically been a father
towards them, half of them have been through two divorces and the other two have been through
one. When they are older I hope to have a closer sibling relationship with them than I have had
growing up. I have recently started calling my papa about once a week lately. It is good to talk to
him because he cares about me deeply. He has been able to give me many opportunities in life
which I am grateful for. The summer camp that I worked at he actually paid for me to go as a

camper when I was younger. He paid for my tuition to go to a private school in middle school
and he was going to pay for me to go to a boarding school for high school but I ended up turning
that down to attend public school. I personally think he was a little mad that I did not go because
he strongly dislikes my mom and that is who I ended up living with because I did not go. But
now him and I have been building a stronger relationship now, and he has decided to help me out
by giving me a little bit of money to pay for my college. His health is not doing too well lately,
so I want to be able to have a good relationship with him especially since he has done so much
for me and given me countless opportunities to do things.
Something that I have always loved since when I first started playing is video games.
Growing up I did not play them because I was raised Catholic and my mom strongly disliked
them so they were not allowed in our house. I had not touched video games really until I was in
the 4th grade and my home schooled friend had them and we would play some but we were more
into Legos. The first times I was really able to start playing video games was when my parents
divorced when I was entering the 5th grade. That is when I my older brother decided to live with
my dad and he got an Xbox 360 to play on which he let me play sometimes and then he
practically gave me a PS2 to play on myself. Leading up to middle school I eventually got my
brothers Xbox and because he did not play it and then he eventually sold it but I had purchased
one from my dads friend by then. The main things I played then was halo 3 and modern warfare
2, both wonder games I still love to this day. I did not really broaden my range of games until
high school and the main things I love now are still first person shooters, but I love more strategy
and multiplayer/cooperative games over just single player stuff, but a role playing game is nice
every now and then like Skyrim. Most games I play currently are Counter Strike Global
Offensive, Skyrim, Call of Duty, Halo and GTA V. Gaming is something I do now in college,

alone and with friends and it is something I will always do even when I am older. The happiness
games have brought me over the years is something I love. The people I have met the friendships
I have formed, the challenges I have overcome. Playing video games in a sense is like a way of
escape from the real world for me but to me it is really just all fun in games and having a good
time whether it be by myself, with friends or with random people online.
When I get older I want to have a relaxing life and to have been successful in my own
ways. Firstly, I want to graduate college and get a degree, maybe something in the business field
but I am still not sure what I will do as my future career. Secondly, I want to be able to achieve a
job that pays me well enough so I do not have to struggle every month to pay bills and I want to
be able to enjoy what I am doing. Thirdly, I want to get married one day to someone that bring
even more happiness in my life and maybe have a couple of kids with her to start a family. After
that I want to be able to pay for my childrens college and retire by 65 maybe so I can sit back
relax and watch my kids go and achieve their dreams. Those are really the main points of my
goals to give myself a meaningful life when I am older but things like volunteering as a coach or
bringing happiness to others is something I will do in my life because it brings me happiness.
These are just my goals for me and me alone, I will do greatness and bring joy to others.

Writer: Dylan Lannie

Reader: Thomas McCullough
Assignment: Peer Review for My Meaningful Life
Date: 10.5.2016

Three Step Response

Velcro Words and Phrases

"Share," "Joy," "Happiness," "Friendships"

"Helping children whether it be with school work, a sport or growing as
a better person has been something that has really stuck out to me in my life"
"...without family I am nothing, literally."

Feelings

Nostalgic, curious, gloomy, then upbeat, optimistic

Questions
What lessons can you take away from your time working with children that could help
you in the future? What goals do you have that can help you continue to develop a
meaningful life as you grow older?

Writer: Dylan Lannie

Reader: Kaleb Dato
Assignment: Peer Review
Date: 10/5/16

Three Step Response

1

Velcro Words and Phrases: Bringing happiness to others/ really start to look up to you
as a role model and a mentor./Role model/Mentor/Family/gaming

2.

Feelings: Passionate, loving, delighted, lively

3.

Questions: When did you know that you liked wrestling? Will you still maintain good

relationships with you family after you graduate college? What other types of videogames have
you played and which ones are you favorite?