BLOG #3

Patrick Sanderson

Third Blog

January 29, 2012

            I have had a few experiences in my life that have given me reason to believe in spirits. I believe in both good and evil spirits. When I was young I had a couple of things happen that made me skeptical but it wasn’t until my dad moved in the house we live in now that I knew for sure.

            When I was 14, my dad built a house in Covington. We built it on top of where an old plantation use to stand. He and my step mom also filled it with furniture that they got overseas. This house has a lot of really old things it in that have a lot of history. I have every reason to believe that this house is haunted. I have had countless experiences where I have heard or seen something that was not normal. For example, I have had my cell phone thrown at my wall before when I was the only one home. I’ve also ran out of the house before because I heard whispering and things moving around down stairs when I was the only one home.

            I’m not the only one that has had the weird things happen. My sister and brother have both also had their own experiences. My parents are in denial, but I think its so they don’t scare my little brothers. They can’t sleep in their own rooms as it is.

            It hard for me to tell if these spirits are evil or not. At this point, I’ve lived there long enough that I’m at peace with it. I don’t get afraid or run out the house anymore. It could be because we have learned to coexist.

The only “evil” things I’ve ever had happen to me, happened when I would sleep. I would get these dreams where I couldn’t move, like I was paralyzed. But it wasn’t really a dream because I wasn’t seeing anything and it was like right when I would doze off. I would know what was happening but I couldn’t move at all and I would have the sense that there was someone in the room with me. Sometimes it felt like I was being held down. It would go on for minutes at a time and when I would finally break out of it, I would be afraid to go back to sleep because I didn’t want it to happen again. I’ve also been woken up out of a deep sleep by the feeling that I had been slapped in the face. It wouldn’t hurt like a slap but I would get the sensation that something pushed my face forcefully. I haven’t had any of the dreams, or nightmares, in a couple years. I believe it had something to do with the house because I wouldn’t have these dreams anywhere else.

It’s hard to explain what these things can be but I fully believe they are some kind of spirit that was left on the property or came with the old furniture in our house. I’m happy to say that the worst is over and I get along with my ghostly friends now. 

BLOG #2

Patrick Sanderson

Second Blog

January 22, 2012

            The one event in my life that has radically changed me was when my parents got a divorce. I was six years old when my parents split up. I lived with my mom most the time and only saw my dad every other weekend. I’m very close to my dad so this was a really hard thing for me.

            My mom moved into a neighborhood and I had to leave the house that I grew up in and loved so much. I took a lot of my anger out on my mom and I blamed her for splitting up our family, which was very unfair. For a while I was a pretty bad kid. I didn’t listen to my mom at all. I know this was a direct cause from the divorce. I wish I had acted differently but at the time I felt like I was acting out for good reason.

            As I got older I got to choose where I was going to stay and I started staying at my dad’s house a lot more. Both my parents remarried and because of it I have brothers that I never would have had. I have a step mom that I am close with also. I can’t imagine what life would be like if I didn’t have my little brothers or my stepbrother.

            Many good things came out of my parents splitting up, but that was hard for me to see in the beginning. That’s the most important thing that I learned from it. It took me a long time to realize this but once I did I was able to cope a lot better with the divorce. Some times change is for the better, even if you can’t see it in the beginning. 

BLOG #1

Patrick Sanderson
First Blog
January 15, 2012

   To be totally honest, the main reason I am enrolled in this class is because I looked up all the teachers for religious studies classes and Father Ted had the best review. I have learned from my time in college that it is more about the teacher than the subject.
   I also attended a catholic high school, St. Paul's in Covington, so I was interested when I saw that this class would be focusing on one person. We learned a lot of Saint De la Salle at Saint Paul's. I think it is important to know who your school is named after and I'll know more than enough when I'm done with this class.
   The main thing I want out of this class is to be able to have a good idea of why my school is named after this person. Its always a good thing to know, though many students probably couldn't tell you much about Mr. Loyola. I also just took the general religious studies class and I got an over view of pretty much any religion you can think of, so I'm glad to be focusing in one general area.
   I feel like I don't know enough right now to have any specific questions about this class, but I know as the semester goes on I will have plenty. My main goal right now in life is to graduate. This is my third school that I have attended for college and I have done more than my share of screwing around. I came to Loyola to finish school and finish strong. I want to one day be a sports broadcaster for some network. In a perfect world it would be ESPN, but if I can be the sports broadcaster for the local channels in New Orleans that would be a dream come true. I am most passionate about Saints football. There's nothing else in the world that I feel so connected with. I hope that my passion and my knowledge will be enough to get me where I want to go. I'm going to aim as high as possible, so if I fall a little short, I'll still win.