Faith

Faith is a strong word. Everyone has faith in something. To have faith is to believe in something very strongly. Most people associate the word faith to religion. I have faith in my religion, and believe strongly in it. You can have faith in things other than religion though. You can have faith in anything that you think will happen. I have faith that we are going to win state in baseball. I am not positive that this will happen, but I know we have the potential on our team to do so. I have faith that we can win it all. Last year we went to the elite eight and lost in the bottom of the seventh inning. It was a heart breaking loss. Had we won that game, we would have cruised to the state championship. The team that beat us won the next two games by nearly ten runs. They beat us three to two. They were down two to one in the bottom of the seventh to us. I know that this year, we are nearly as good as we were last year. We lost two good hitters and one good hitter but that is about it. So far, this year we are thirteen and four. We have lost some very easy games so far. We have rebounded very well though. It may be hard for us to go on our postseason run to win the state title, but I have faith in our team. In baseball, anyone can beat anyone else on a given day. To win the state title, you have to be good and lucky. I think that we have what it takes. Last year we were very good, but were not very lucky. This year I hope that we can put both of these qualities together in our post season run. I have faith that we can. Faith is a strong word, and I have plenty of faith that we can do what it takes this year to win a state title.

Family

I have many families. I have my real family that I live with, and I have my football, basketball, and baseball family. These are not a real family in the sense that most people would consider. Our football coach preaches that our team is a family. Just like a real family, we should all look after each other. I think we do a good job of this. Even though my other coaches do not preach the philosophy of "family" like the football coach does, I think that we still do this in the other sports. We all look after each other and make sure everyone is doing what they need to do. My real family is obviously the most important to me. I do not really have a very big family. I have 2 aunts and one uncle. My dad has one brother, and my mom has two sisters. I have five cousins total. One on my dad's side, and four on my mother's side of the family. All of my close family lives pretty close to Springfield. My grandparents on my dad's side live in Springfield and my grandparents on my mom's side live in Ashland. My uncle lives near Peoria. He lives the farthest away out of anyone in my close family. My family is very fun and easy to get along with. My uncle is one of the funniest people that I know. It is not a very big family, but I like it this way. I do not think that I would enjoy having a very big family. I think mine is good the way that it is. My family is very important to me. Many people consider family to be one of the most important things in their lives. I guess I would have to agree with this statement. Your family is always there for you in good or bad times. I do not know what I would do without my family. They do a lot for me, and I do not know how I could function without them.

Spring Break

I had a very fun spring break. It was very short though. I thought that it went by very fast. It was very fun. I did a lot. I played a lot of baseball and hung out with a lot of my friends. I managed to stay very busy over spring break. Over the break I also worked at the school. Me and Jeremy worked for the school a couple days over the break. I think they should make spring break longer than what it is. It went by so fast that it seemed like it was over by the time it was just starting. I stayed very busy over the break. Many of the baseball games that we were scheduled to play got rained out. The last weekend of the break we got to go to Tuscola to stay over night and play. We won one and lost one of the games that we played over the weekend. I was ejected from the first game that we played, so I had to sit out the next one. I was brought into the game after a kid on the other team hit a grand slam. I struck out the next batter and then hit a kid in the back. The kid threw his bat into the screen behind home plate. He was imminently ejected from the game, and so was I. Our coach argued the fact that I was thrown out of the game, but it did no good. I had to sit out the game that we played on Saturday since I was thrown out of the game on Friday. It was not fair, but there is nothing that I can do about it. Overall the spring break was very enjoyable and was very fun. I had a blast and it went by very quickly. I can not wait until summer gets here. Spring break gave me a good idea of what my summer is going to be like. It was very fun and I am really looking forward to it.

Job Shadowing

For my day dedicated to Job Shadowing, I decided to job shadow a fire fighter. The name of the fire fighter that I shadowed was Mark Dyment. Mark was a very nice guy and was very easy to get along with. He did not seem to stop talking the entire time that I was with him. I was not the only one to job shadow Mark Dyment. Will Frey, Max Mcelfresh, Dylan Warrens, Taylor Tapio, and Allen Rosenburger were all there too. When we arrived at Mark Dyment's office, he introduced himself and told us all that he highly recommended the job of fire fighting. Mark is no longer an active fire fighter. His job is to go around to businesses and make sure all of their fire precautions and protocols are correct. Mark also visits schools to speak about fire safety. The first thing that we did with Mark was go to a local business and listen in on the meeting that they had about fire safety in the office work place. Mark went over everything that I could think of. I learned a lot about fire safety right then when he was explaining it to adults. It was a very interesting talk. This meeting lasted about 2 hours. It did not seem to take very long though. It was very intriguing to listen to. After this Mark took us to the main firehouse in downtown Springfield. It was a very cool experience. He showed us around the place and told us the ins and outs that came with being a fireman. Mark is 48 years old. He is only two years away from retirement. All firemen retire at age fifty. Mark says that it is a very tough job and it is not for everyone. He also said that he would not trade it for anything in the world. Mark said that he loves his job very much. Mark showed us the fire engine. While we were in the fire house, there was a call, and we got to see the firemen suit up and go out. It only took them about a minute or two to get fully dressed and out the door. I was very impresses with the procedure. Mark has done it all when it comes to firefighting. He used to be one of the first ones in the fire. He was also a driver for the trucks at one point, and now he is a safety speaker and educator for fire safety. I think that fire fighting would be a very rewarding job. This is also one of the reasons that Mark said he joined the fire fighters. He loves helping people. This is one of the reasons that fire fighting interests me. I do not know exactly what I want to do when I grow up, but I do know that I do now want to sit behind a desk all day. I want to do something hands on, that will interest me. I do not want to do the same thing every day. This is why a fire fighter is one of the careers that interests me. When Mark was done showing us the fire house, our day was pretty much over. He took us back to his office and let us go. It was a very educational experience. I think that fire fighting would be a very good career choice for me.

my favorite car

First of all, I would take almost any car over the current car that I am driving. I drive a 1999 Oldsmobile intrigue. It is getting very old and it has quite a few things wrong with it. One of my favorite cars would have to be a mustang cobra. They are very expensive, but I would like to have one. They are a very fast car. This would be perfect for me since I like to drive very fast also. I think that If I had to chose any car to just have, I think that I might choose this car. It would be a very tough choice. I am not positive what I would take. I would definitely have to consider a Lamborghini or a Viper or something like that also. It really would not matter which one i got. I would like all of the previous options. It is probably for the best that I do not have any of these cars. I would have trouble driving the speed limit if I had a nice car such as one of these. I already drive to fast in my 1999 intrigue. I'm sure that I would get in to a lot of trouble in a brand new sports car. I have already received one ticket from the Illinois State Police for speeding. I was going about 65 in a 50 mile per hour speed zone. This is really not very bad though when compared to other speeding tickets received by other students from our school. I do not plan on getting another one, but I think that if I had a car of my choice then it would definitely happen again. I would love to have a 2010 mustang cobra. I think they are a V10 or something like that. They are unnecessarily fast. That it speed that I would enjoy, but do not need. A mustang cobra would definitely be the car of my choice, and is probably my favorite car.

American Literature Sites Project

I think the American Literature Sites Project has been going very well so far. I am somewhat disappointed that I only have one other person to work with, but we are both very good at english, so I do not think that it will turn out to be a very big deal. I think that the project assigned to us is somewhat interesting. We have been given the responsibility to chose what to do for each topic that has been assigned to us. I like this. I think that we should be able to choose what way we present each topic. We are given a lot of freedom in this assignment, and I like that. I also think that there are a lot of topics for two people. Me and savannah both have to do quite a bit of work because there is only two of us. We both have to do 16.5 percent more work than everyone else who is doing this project. I am not complaining about this though. Me and savannah are both very good students with a very good work ethic. I do not think that we will have any trouble compleating this project. Our list of what we are both doing is very good. We both have a lot to do and we plan on finishing everything on time. I have some things to write about, I have to analize five poems, and I have to make a power point and a timeline. It seems like a lot, but I have a lot of time to complete everything. Savannah also has a lot to do. she has to make a collauge, write two essays about Dickinson, and she has to analize five dickinson poems. I am not completely sure how to analize a poem, or if I will be very good at it, but I will give it my best shot. Overall I think that the project is going very good so far. I think that we will do very well on it.

Animal Personification and Imagery

Caged in the back of some ones yard sad a dog. The dog was very sad. He looked very gloomy. I saw a tear run down his face. The dog obviously wasn't happy. The dog was almost begging me to let it out. I considered it. After some debating, I let the dog out of the pen. He was happy once again. The dog was white with some brown spots. His tail began wagging uncontrollably after I let him go. He grabbed a near by stick and brought it to me. He wanted to play fetch. I threw the stick many times for the dog. He could not get bored at this game though. I would fake throw the stick and the dog would not move. He was very smart. After this, the dog brought me his leash. He now wanted to go for a walk. This dog was very energetic and very smart. He was a very peace full dog and was very happy since I had let him out of his pen. I took this dog for a walk around the block. After this, he was very tired. The dogs eyes started drooping and his head was getting lower and lower as if he was saying, "I am tired. I need a nap." So next the dog took a nap. He snored very loudly and was not a peaceful sleeper to say the least. The dog slept for a very long time. The dog even started mumbling in his sleep as if he was trying to say something. I could not understand what the dog was trying to say. It was very interesting. The dog finally woke up from his deep sleep. He looked at me and once again got the stick. I threw it for him a few times and after much more of this the dog had enough. I took the dog back to his pen and chained him up once again. The dog was sad that I did so and started to cry.

2010 Olympics

I did not watch much of the 2010 Olympics, but from what I did see I liked. I thought the US men's hockey team did very well. I watched the final game they played against Canada. I was very disappointed that they lost. I thought that they could have won the game. I watched the first half of the game, and I stopped watching when the score was two to nothing with Canada winning. USA should have won the game. They had already beat Canada earlier in the tournament, but they lost the second time, when it really mattered. I also watched the men's cross country skiing competition. This was also very entertaining. It lasted about two hours. I did not watch the entire thing but I did watch most of it. I was very impressed with the people who were in it. They were very good at what they did. It was very interesting even though the US was not very good at it. I heard about the Georgian man who died on the luge. This is not good. You hate to see something like this happen. I did not see the video, but from what I have head it was a very bad sight. I also saw Shawn White win the half pipe for snow boarding. This was very impressive. he is very good. This was probably my favorite thing to watch in the 2010 Olympics. White won the gold medal and he did so with amazing style. I watched his two jumps, and I was very impresses. This was by far my favorite thing to watch in the 2010 Olympics. I do not like the winter Olympics as much as I like the summer ones. The summer games are much more interesting in my opinion. There is so much more interesting things to watch. Out of all the things that I saw in the Winter 2010 Olympics, Shawn White's performance on the half pipe was by far the best.

preparing for the act (jour 36)

I take preparing for the act very seriously. I have taken a class out at lincoln land and I am taking the class that the school provides for act preparation. I have taken the act one time already. I thought is was kind of hard. It was not impossible though. I felt that the first act prep class I took at at lincoln land helped me a lot. It was very helpful and was very interesting. I did not study all of the subjects at this class I took, but I did take most of them. I have found that that class was very helpful, even more so than the school's class. The one that the school provides was somewhat helpful, but there is only so much that you can learn in two hours for a test. It is still helpful but it is just not quite as good as the other one that I have taken. I hope to do better on the act for the school. I have taken it once already, it was hard, and I got a twenty four. I am hoping to get a twenty seven or a twenty eight. I would be very satisfied with this score. I think that I can do it. I have taken it once already, and now I know what to expect. It will not be as hard this time I think. I hope so at least. I thought the math section of the act was not very hard. My scores on my act were all about even. I thought the science and reading were kind of hard just because there was not very much time to do. I kind of had to rush to get it done. I think that I would do a lot better on the act if there was just a little more time. This is probably true with everyone though. I think it is very important to prepare for the act.

"A Narrow Fellow in the Grass"

I thought the poem "A Narrow Fellow in the Grass" was a very interesting poem. It had a lot of symbolism in it. I did not completely understand the meaning of the poem. The poem had an interesting rhythm to it though. It definitely had a pattern to it when you read it a couple times. I thought it was pretty interesting. I think the poem might have been talking about a snake. The second stanza in the poem could have been referring to a snake. I also think that there might have been a religious reference in the poem. The poem says, "A spotted shaft is seen." This is obviously talking about the bible when a snake turns in to a shaft. After I read the poem a few times, I began to understand it a lot more. It became obvious after I read "A Narrow Fellow in the Grass" more times, that the poem was about a snake. It was a very interesting poem. I am still not sure as to what the ending meant when it said, Without a tighter breathing, And zero at the bone. I think that this could have possibly meant that the snake killed some one or something bad happened. This is the only possibility that I can think of when they say, zero to the bone. It is kind of hard to interpret at some points. I think that it is very true to say that his notice is sudden. When ever you notice a snake, it is a very scary sight. You are not expecting it, and it will almost always catch you off guard. The poem is very true in some points. A snake's notice is always very sudden. Even the title of the poem kind of gives away what it is about. "A Narrow Fellow in the Grass" is a description of a snake. I found the poem, "A Narrow Fellow in the Grass" was a very interesting poem with a lot of symbolism. The poem was very good and it had a distinct rhythm to it.

PPHS Mythology Refrences

I do not remember much at all about mythology. We learned about this topic a lot back in seventh grade. It was a very long time ago and I can not remember many of the specifics. I do remember a few of the gods mentioned in mythology though. I can not say if any teacher specifically relates to an ancient Greek god. If I had to pick one teacher that related to a god of ancient Greek mythology, then I would say Mr. Gilbreth relates to Poseidon. I do not know if their personalities have anything in common, but in all of the pictures Poseidon has a big beard and so does Mr. Gilbreth. Out of all the other teachers I am not sure if any gods really remind me of any of our teachers. If you went by status only then Mr. Ward could be compared to Zeus. Both are in charge. Mr. Ward in charge of the school and teachers, and Zeus in charge of all of the ancient mythological gods and is ruler of everything. These two relate to each other based on solely status of their jobs, and what they do. Other than this, I can not think of any teachers that would relate to a Greek god. Maybe the music teacher would relate to the god of music and the art teacher, the god of art. Other than these, I am not sure of any other gods. It was a very long time ago when we studied mythology and I do not remember a lot of what we learned. I do remember Hades, the god of the underworld. I think we might have a few teachers who could relate to Hades. I will not mention them by name though in this blog. There are definitely some who I could compare to Hades though. This was all of the mythological references that I can find in our school. I do not remember a lot, but from what I do there are a few teacher comparisons to ancient Greek gods.

Making Important Decisions

I use my own process when I make an important decision. I will first look at all of my options and evaluate which choice will turn out the best. Then I will make my decision. I do not always use this method when I do not think the decision is very important. I will often just make my decision off the top of my head, and not think about the consequences before I do something. If the decision that has to be made is extremely important though, then I will think very hard about it before I do something. I will make the decision that I feel is best after evaluating the consequences and what could happen after I make it. I do not think that I have to make extremely important decisions very often. I make small ones all the time though. Important decisions do not come around to often. When they do though, I feel that I make the best decision possible for me to make. I have not made to many big decisions that I regret. Although I have made a few of them. For the most part, I do not regret my decision making ability. Some of the small decisions that I make are not good and I regret some of them. They are not usually a very big deal though. When it comes to major decisions, I find that I will almost always make the right choice. Making important decisions is hard for everybody. I find that it will always work out better if you think about the consequences before you make your decision. There will be pros and cons to every decision, but you will just have to live with the outcome and hope it works out for the best. If you never make important decisions then you will never learn what is the right thing to do and what is the wrong thing to do. Everyone needs to make important decisions and learn from their mistakes. I personally do not regret many of the important decisions that I have made over the years.

Multi-tasking

I think that I am a good multi tasker. I always do homework while listining to music or maybe watching t.v. I think that when I do other things while I am doing homework, it helps me concentrate more, and I focus more on what I am doing. Sometimes I will eat or something while I am doing it. I do not usually just sit down and do it and nothing else. I multitask a lot but I do not always do it. For instance, I do not multi task when I am driving. I do not think this is very safe. I do not text while driving or talk on the phone while driving, or anything else that could distract me. I think that you could really get hurt, and while you are driving, it only can take a second of not looking for something huge to happen.I like to do homework though while I am doing something else. I take this very seriously, and I do not get on my phone while I am in the car. I dont want to take the chances of getting hurt. I also know that whoever is trying to text or call me, can wait till I have made it to the place I am trying to get to. I think that I am pretty good at this. When I do work in school with partners, I like to talk to while I work. I have good grades, I am always doing well on my assignments, so therefore I believe multi-tasking actually benefits me. I do well on all of my assignments so I think that therefore I am a good multi tasker. I also multi task when I work out. I will listen to music and text all the time when I work out by myself. I am very good at this. I get a lot of work done when I work out even though I am doing other things. Sometimes when I do other things while im working out, it helps me work out better. Multitasking can be both good and bad, but I try to use multitasking when it benefits me, instead of hurting me.

My Favorite Meal (imagery)

My favorite meal is by far tacos from Taco Gringo. They are amazing, and I think that I could eat them every day. Tacos are by far my favorite thing to eat. I go there very often to eat them. Before I even get in, I can smell the tacos. My mouth is watering uncontrollably by the time I get my food. You can hear the crunch of the taco shell when you bite in to the taco. It tastes so good. The meat and cheese combine for an amazing taste. The smell is unbelievable. The tacos from Taco Gringo are absolutely amazing. I have tried tacos from many other Mexican places in town, but no others are as good as Taco Gringo. When you compare quality to price Gringo is by far the best. Taco Bell is nothing special. I think that everything at Taco Gringo is good. The nachos are superb, the sancho is also good, but the tacos are by far the best in my opinion. You can smell the place from the parking lot. The taste is unbelievable after the first bite. The combination of shell, meat, cheese, sauce combines for an amazing meal. They look outstanding when you unwrap them, and the sight does not disappoint. The taste is even better than what you think it will be. Gringo is amazing and I think that I could have it almost every day of the week. I like pizza and hamburgers and other traditional foods like that, but I think that Mexican food is my favorite. The smell, taste, sight, sound, feel of the food is like no other. It is great and if I had to live off one food for the rest of my life, there is no doubt it would be Mexican food of some kind. The taco is the best. No other place in town can compare to Taco Gringo. The place does not look like much from the outside, but once you try the food, you will find just how good it is.

Valentines Day

Valentines Day is an annual holiday on February 14 celebrating love and affection between intimate companions. The holiday is named after Christan martyrs named Valentine. The Valentines Day symbols include a heart shape, doves, and cupid. Valentine martyrs are honored on this day. Valentines Day is actually called Saint Valentines Day. The shortened version of the title is the one that everyone uses today. Most people do not know that Valentines Day was named after Saints. One of the Saints that is honored on this day is Valentine of Terni, who lived in 269 AD. He was one of the few Valentines that is honored on this day. Nothing romantic is linked to the Saints that this holiday is honored for, but some how over the years people began associating love and relationships with Valentines Day. It is celebrated across the nation and the world. Every one now associated the holiday with love, hears, cupid, relationships, etc. Everyone who is in a relationship with someone else in the United States seems to celebrate this holiday. It is customary to get flowers or something for the person that you are in a relationship with. The couple will often get each other gifts on this day. Some people like this holiday a lot and others do not like it. I am indifferent on the day. Many people love Valentines Day and think that it will make a couple even closer. Others think that Valentines Day puts unnecessary stress on a couple and think it is not a good holiday. I personally do not care one way or the other. I would rather have the holiday than not have it though. I'm sure that it is very important to some people and many people probably look forward to it. It is a nice holiday if you are with someone, but if not then I'm sure those people do not enjoy the day as much. Valentines day all began with the Valentines Saints. This is the reason that we still celebrate this holiday today.

Chanting the Square Deific Analization

In Chanting the Square Deific, Walt Whitman describes the square deficit and what the term means. Throughout the poem Whitman uses many biblical references and mythological references. He describes the four meanings in his poem. They include, Judgemental God, gentile forgiving God, Satan, and The Holy Spirit/soul. Walt Whitman is not very specific when he talks about something so you kind of have to infer to what he is referring to. Each of the stanza's have different meanings about religion and a different aspect of it. I found that Walt Whitman decided to write a poem about religion and the many different aspects of it. I thought that it told a lot about his personality. Whitman obviously cares about religion some to go in to that much detail about it in his poem. I thought the poem what very interesting and had a lot of meaning in it. I thought it was very interesting how he ended the poem saying, "Here the square finishing, the solid, I the most solid, Breathe my breath also through these songs" I think that this line has a lot of meaning. He finishes the square in the line and claims he the most solid. I do not think that he is referring to himself, Walt Whitman, when he says, "I the most solid." I think that Whitman says I as in Christ/God. The last lines obviously have a lot of meaning. If the I that Whitman refers to is God, then the last line, "Breathe my breath also through these songs" would mean follow me through these songs. It would mean, God wanting people to follow him through things like this. Overall, I thought the poem what very interesting and I thought it had a lot of religious meaning. Whitman made the poem extremely intriguing and even though I did not understand all of his hidden meanings throughout the poem, I found many of them and thought that they did a very good job adding to the overall effect of the poem.

Groundhog Day

My Groundhog Day went like any other school day. It was in no way special or ordinary in any way. I do not know if the "groundhog" saw his shadow today. But I do know that I am ready for winter to be over. I think if the groundhog see's his shadow then there will be six more weeks of winter or something, and if he doesn't then its almost over. I am not sure of this, it could be vice versa. Either way, I hope winter will end soon. I am sick of the cold weather. I want it to be nice weather again. I enjoy doing things outside in my free time. This is very hard to do when the weather is as bad as it has been lately. It needs to warm up fast. Last year it was not even warm by the time baseball season got here. I hope this is not the case this year. I can remember playing baseball last year in frigid conditions and the weather being almost unbearable to play a game in. I hope that it will be much warmer this year for baseball season. I enjoy baseball very much and when the weather is bad, the game is not as enjoyable as I want it to be. Last year when the team went on our annual southern trip, the weather conditions were very bad. It rained all day and the temperature was not over fifty degrees. If this happens again, I will be very unhappy. So, I hope the groundhog did or did not see his shadow depending on the meaning. Which ever one means that winter is almost over. I am sick of the cold, the snow, the wind, etc. I can not wait for baseball and the warm weather that is hopefully going to come with it. I do not think that I can take more of this crap weather we have had recently.

Whitman's Language of the Self

I thought the article about Whitman's Language of the Self was very true. The article mentions Whitman's egotistical writing style. I found a lot of this in Whitman's poems that I read. He seems like he is in love with himself, and he is the main topic of all of his writings. I personally do not like Whitman's writing style. It is very self centered and uninteresting to me. I do not enjoy reading about someone who thinks he is the best thing that ever happened to the world. Mark Bauerlien writes, "But, together with Whitman's glorification of the paramount self, one also finds a series of rhetorical gestures that obscure and even censure the self. Some of Whitman's self-amplifications actually undermine the centrality of his identity." It is clear to me that no matter how you spin it, Whitman writes about himself way to much. Throughout his poem entitled Excelsior, Whitman literally does nothing except compliment himself and proclaim that he has done everything better than everyone else. I did not enjoy reading any of his poems because of this reason. The mans ego is obviously very big if he claims that he is the best at everything that he does. I found it interesting after reading the article that Whitman did not like his parents and left his home at age twelve. After this, Whitman became an apprentice printer. A little later after this, Whitman discovered that he was a gay with much surprise. Overall, I thought the article about Whitman's Language of the Self was very good. I thought that the message of the article was correct and I agreed with all the main points in the writing. Mark Bauerlien obviously did his research before witting this article and it made Whitman's Language of the Self a very interesting read. Even though that I do no enjoy reading Whitman's writings because of his self centered topics, I did enjoy reading this article about Whitman's Language of the Self.

Covering a War

I think that being a journalist in the war would be very exciting in many ways. I also think that being a journalist in the war is a pretty big deal, and something you would never forget. You would get to see many things during this time, such as how the soldiers live, how they fought on the front line, and how they tried to survive and be safe everyday. Even though it would be exciting it would also be very dangerous and scary at the same time. You would never know what is coming next, and you would just have to be along for the crazy ride. You would probably have to get stuck in many different situations, some scary and some exciting. You would always have to be ready for these different situations. There would also be many different obstacles you would have to go through to get to the places you were going to get the information you needed from the people who had the information. You would be able to learn so much, and do things you wouldnt normally get to do on a day to day basis. Being a journalist during the war, would be like being in the war yourself without totally being in it. You would get to feel and see what all the fighters are seeing and feel like you are a part of it. Being a journalist during a war would be something you would never forget. You would always remember being there because it would be a pretty big time in your life. Also, it would probably be the most exciting times in your life, but yet the scariest. You would tell people about it all the time, and telling the stories would never get old. Also, you would be experiencing something that not a lot of people get to experience in their life, so you would be pretty lucky. You would be one of the closest people to the war, besides the ones that are actually in it. Being a journalist in the war would probably be a great experience, and one you wouldnt forget.

Persuading Someone What I Want To Do

This year I really wanted my friend Ryan McLaughlin to play baseball with me. He has not been playing baseball for three years now, so he will need some work. I want him to be on our team because I think we will have a chance to do pretty good this year, so it would be cool if he was with us. We also have a lot of fun in baseball, and he would probably enjoy it. The more people that are on the baseball team the funner it is . All of Ryan's friends are on the team anyways, so he might as well be on it. He would probably have fun if he was in baseball again. Ryan is already in two sports though that take up a lot of time during the year so he isn't for sure if he wants to be in baseball. Convincing him to be on the team is kind of hard. He likes baseball a lot, and is a big Cardinal fan, therefore he would have fun actually playing the sport. I also think the whole team would enjoy him being on the team. Most of the players are friends with him, so I think he would have fun with us. Also, we could use a designated hitter, and he thinks he could do that. The more players we have the better we could be. Also, if someone were to get hurt he could play for them, because he knows what he is doing enough to play the position. I am still convincing him to play baseball, because he still is not sure. Most likely he will play because a lot of his friends are playing. Everyone is convincing him to play too. I think he would enjoy it, especially if we do good this season. He might as well be on the team, I really want him to do this. Even if he did not start, he would be a fun person to have on the team. I finally did persuade Ryan to play baseball. I think it is a good decision on his part. He will not regret being on our team.

Finding Out Who I Really Am

I think that everyone should be who they really are. I do not like it when people try to act like someone they are not and when they fake their personality. I think that people do this all the time when they try to fit in to a different group of people. They will do so much just to fit in. This is very common, especially in high school. When everyone is trying to find their true friends.. Everyone tries to be in a certain group and sometimes people will try to hard. They try so hard that they lose all of their friends instead of gaining one or two. I do not think that I do this. I try to be who I really am all the time. I feel like people like for who I am no matter what I do. I do not like faking my personality to any one, because then I will eventually be the real me. With me, I will always be myself and will always be honest with you about myself. I do not fake any thing and I do not like it when other people do this. I do not change my personal values to fit in with any certain group of people. I do what I do because I want to do it, not because other people want me to. I don't always care what people think of me, they either like me or they don't. I just try to be myself, and being myself so far has actually got me somewhere. I have good friends, and it also helps when it comes to sports. If you be yourself you will be better off, and in the long run everything will work out. People will like you a lot, they will know its the real you, and they will be around you a lot more. You will have more friends, and a better life. Being a fake person once again is something i don't like, and in the end everyone will find out who you really are so just be yourself. You will get farther. So don't be afraid to be who you really are!

Tested by Nature

One experience when I was tested by nature, was the Pleasant Plains Baseball southern trip my freshman year. The weather was the worst possible conditions for a baseball game. The temperature was around 15 degrees and the wind was gusting, making it seem even colder than it actually was. At the time, I was a freshmen on the team and I did not play very much. We had three games in this one day and by the third, I literally thought I was going to die from the extreme cold. There was a small heater in the dugout, but it did no good in warming the team. Coach Greer was in a bad mood because the team was not doing well and the cold made it even worse. I do not remember playing much in these three games, but I wish that I had. Playing might have kept me a little warmer than just sitting in a freezing dugout. The cold was so bad that I was just wishing for the games to be over no matter if we won or not. This is very unlike me. I always want to win no matter what, but the weather had worn me down to just not caring. The only thing on my mind was leaving the game and getting warm. I think at one point in the game snowfall began to precipitate but it was gone in a matter of minutes. My hands were so numb that I could not feel anything. I was in the cold all day long and it was one of the most miserable experiences that nature has put me through. When I read this assignment, this experience was the first one that came to mind. In Illinois we experience all types of weather from extreme hot to extreme cold. I find the cold to be much more unenjoyable. I have been in the extreme cold many times, but I can not think of any time that was as bad as the Pleasant Plains baseball southern trip my freshman year.

Christmas Break

I had a very busy Christmas Break. It was very fun and it went by very fast. I got a lot for Christmas. I got lots of clothes and some video games. It was a very good Christmas. On Christmas eve my family went to my grandparents on my dad's side. It was a very good time. I got a lot of gifts there and I had a good time spending time with family. On Christmas day we did presents at my house and then we went to my other grandparents house. There was a lot of family at my grandparents that I had not seen in a while. We unwrapped gifts there and pretty much just stayed there all day. It was very fun. I got lots of good gifts from everyone. After Christmas, I had a basketball tournament in Macomb. We did not do very well in Macomb as a team. We won one game and lost two games. We did not play to the best of our ability and it was not as fun as it could have been. We stayed one night in Macomb and this was probably the highlight of the trip. I did alright in the games that I played in, but could have done much better. I spent the next few days hanging out with friends. New Years Eve was a very fun night. I spent the night hanging out with all my friends and it turned out to be a very exciting evening. The remaining days of break I spent hanging out with my girlfriend, Maggie. Overall my Christmas break was very fun. I am sad that it is over and I wish that it could have lasted a bit longer. I am now wanting spring break to get here already. I enjoyed the time that I had off from school and I am not looking forward to going back to school. My Christmas break was very fun and I enjoyed it very much.