Week 5: Censorship

I don’t believe that censorship is a good thing because that is taking away the author’s right to free speech. However I do believe that some books should not be allowed in school. Some subjects are inappropriate for children to read and many parents would be upset about some of the books that their children may find. I have seen examples of censorship in our school but not from books in the library. The censorship that I have seen is the information that is not always put into our history books. Earlier this year Mr. Brigs taught us interesting facts that we had never heard about important people and places in American history. Those facts have been censored because our government and school systems don’t want to blemish America’s reputation.

Week 4: Last day to live

I’m not ready to die yet, but I guess it’s good to have a plan just in case. If today was my last day then I would go to Menno Haven in Tiskilwa, IL. Menno Haven is a Mennonite camp and it is my favorite place in the world. I would want all of my camp friends to be there, including Mike, Gunnar, Hannah, and Christina even though they can’t go anymore because they are seniors. I wouldn’t have anything special to say to them, I just want to be there and hang out. We would play ultimate Frisbee and Persecution. Then we would go to campfire at the cross. I would also do the high ropes courses because I have always been too scared to do them, but if I’m going to die anyways then who cares?

Week 3: Confused Students

Every Friday our English class goes to a computer lab and looks up our blog topic and then we offer our thoughts about the subject. Today is different however because Brigs forgot to post a topic on the class website. What are we supposed to write about?

Even though we have only had 3 weeks of school, I was already prepared to give the “Best Teacher” award to Brigs. Then he forgot our blog topic. This mistake could cost Brigs dearly and he better pick it up if he hopes to get the coveted award.

Maybe next time he does something cool, like Michael Jordan’s Hall of Fame induction, he could take me with him.

Week 2: My Animal

If I was an animal instead of a human I would be a wolf. Wolves are not the biggest or fastest animals and they cannot take down their prey single-handedly. I relate this to my life because I have never been the biggest or fastest athlete and I am not talented enough to win team sport games by my own talent.

Wolves are able to hunt and kill prey that are larger than them because they hunt in packs and they work together to take the larger animal down. That is what I like about being on a team, it doesn’t matter how good each individual is, it is all about how the players on a team work together to attack the other team.

This may be a Hollywood version of a wolf, but when I think of a wolf I can hear it and picture it lifting its head to the moon and howling. I don’t scream at the moon but I love being outside under the stars and the moon on a clear night.

Week 1: A Special Meeting

If I could choose one person to meet and spend time with, I would choose Zinedine Zidane. I wouldn’t be surprised if I am the only person in this class that knows him, but Zizou -as he is known- is one of my favorite soccer players who have ever played. He is retired now but he used to play his club ball for powerhouse Real Madrid in the La Liga in Spain. Zizou was a native of France and he played for the French national team.

The aspect of Zidane’s game that is the most praised is how much control he has over the ball. Also it seems as if it is impossible to get the ball away from him. He keeps the ball so close to himself and uses his body to keep himself between defenders and the ball. He is a great passer and has one of the best imaginations in the game. He tries dribbling moves and passes that most people would never even think of.

Zidane retired from professional soccer after the 2006 World Cup. France was in the World Cup championship game against Italy, when the red card happened. In the second overtime Marco Materazzi and Zidane were exchanging words and then Zidane lowered his head and drove it right into Materazzi’s chest! Zizou was shown the red card and was ejected from the game. That altercation could have been the difference in the game because Zidane was not able to take a kick in the shootout after the game.

If I could meet Zinedine Zidane, I would be content to stand in the yard and juggle with him for hours. It would be awesome to see the things that he could do and hopefully learn some new tricks. If I could ask him any question I would ask, “What did Marco Materazzi say that made you so angry?”

Blog No. 14: Introvert or Extrovert?

Introvert or Extrovert?

For me, the hardest part of high school is dealing with other people. I am shy around groups of people especially if they are not people that I talk to regularly. I had never heard of these two classifications before today, but I suppose I am an introvert. I hope that there is some cure for this disease!

This year I have had problems with people always thinking that there is something wrong with me because I am quiet. I am quiet most of the time because I feel awkward around groups of people. Usually I only speak when spoken too because I don’t like being the center of attention. Some of you reading this may think “Yea right, I wish you would shut up!” Well if you are thinking that then that means that I am close enough to you to feel comfortable.

The problem with being quiet is that no one knows what I am thinking or how I am feeling. I am a much closed person so I am not going to tell someone how I feel unless someone asks. Even then I still sometimes hold it in. This is probably my worst habit because I hold in too much and it drags me down.

When I am worn out and I need a boost of energy, I do not want to be around a lot of people. Being around people is what usually makes me stressed. I don’t want to be completely alone either because I spend most of my time alone. I live in the country and all my siblings have moved out so I have to be by myself most of the time. When I want to recharge my batteries, the best way is to spend time relaxing with one my best friends.

Blog No. 13: Wow That Was One BIG Turkey

Wow, That Was One BIG Turkey

This year, Thanksgiving was a little bit disappointing. Most families have big family dinners then they spend the weekend relaxing together. Few family members were able to come at all last weekend and I did not get time to relax.

Thanksgiving Day started all right, I was able to sleep in. I woke up at 10 o’clock which doesn’t sound that great, but I was used to getting up early enough to get to school at 6 o’clock on week days! I didn’t do much after waking up; mostly I occasionally watched the parades.

At one o’clock, Mom, Dad, and I drove in town to my grandparents’ house for our Thanksgiving meal. Boy that was exciting! The only family that was there, other than my family, was my grandparents’ and my great aunts Lois and Carolyn. None of my dad’s brothers or sister came so there were no cousins. I would have gone insane if my brother Ben, sister Rosie, and Ben’s brother-in-law Michael didn’t come. They left as soon as they were done eating without even asking me if I wanted to come along! With nothing else to do and no one to talk to I watched college basketball and football on TV for the next couple of hours. Finally I received a text from Rosie that said that I could go over to the community building with the Charneske’s if I wanted to (they are my brother’s wife’s family).

When I got to the community building with the Charneske’s, my day began to get better. We had a lot of fun playing spoons, listening to music, and playing with baby Austin. They had good food there too! When it was dark outside, we played hide and seek around town. Hide and seek may not have been such a good idea because I was already coughing some and it was really cold outside. I think playing hide and seek and basketball is why I am still sick now.
I was feeling very anxious all day Friday because we had our first game of the Thanksgiving Classic basketball tournament at Olympia. The junior varsity team had a walk-through practice at 8 o’clock Friday morning because Coach Hawkins didn’t want us to lie around all day before the game. After practice, I went home and relaxed for the rest of the day trying to keep my mind off the game.

Finally it came time to start thinking about basketball. I was really nervous because this was my first high school basketball game and I didn’t know what it was going to be like. Everything went really well and we beat Heyworth 51-28. I scored seven points and Michael Hallstein got a dunk!

After our game we had to watch the varsity team play Heyworth. Olympia is ranked #4 in the state, so they were supposed to win the tournament. It wasn’t easy for them, but they did pull off the win against Heyworth. The game seemed more exciting than usual, probably because the JV team sat together right behind the team bench and the Blue Crew was standing right behind us. It was intense!

We had two games Saturday, one against Leroy and one against Roanoke-Benson. The nerves were mostly gone, so I just went out and played. We beat Leroy and Roanoke-Benson, for the championship. I think the scores were 48-33 and 57-46. The varsity also won their two games, so both teams won their tournaments and started the season 3-0!

I really started feeling sick sometime Friday or Saturday, so I didn’t do anything on Sunday. My parents didn’t even make me go to church, so I stayed home and slept in. When I did get up, I didn’t really do anything productive at all.

Even though I was sick most of the weekend (and still am) it was a great weekend!