Soccer has always been a big part of my life, however I had to work before I was any good at it. I started playing soccer in first grade and haven’t stopped playing it since then. I’ve improved greatly over that time, but that has taken much practice. Now I was a pretty, well let’s say chubby kid in middle school, but that would be giving me too much credit. My weight was affecting my ability to play and I knew I had to change that. I knew that I needed to practice more than just during the soccer season, but also during the summer. I carried on with my practice through sunburns and an ever increasing need for water bottles, gatorade, and deodorant.
My grandfather has a trail on his property that I would run on. Kicking up dirt, I ran. Splashing through the mud, I ran. Sweat dripping down my face, I ran. Tiredness setting in, but I would always keep running. When it rained, I would wait for it to stop. On the days when the rain fell to the ground, I would think about my goal. I knew I would have to achieve my goal, I had to finish what I started. Whenever I would miss a day, I would always make sure make up for it the next day. Running helped me think and it became an enjoyable pastime for me. Running wasn’t just an exercise, it was a hobby with many benefits. Some days it felt crazy to practice, but unless the heat was enough to make my sweat turn to steam, I kept practicing. I knew that if I missed a day here, I would just become less motivated and give up. Goal, miss, goal, goal, miss, that's what my days in the summer were like. As the excess heat started to go down, and plant life prepared for its autumn shutdown, the actual season started up again. In the end, while I had a long way to go, and my skills have improved since then, the soccer season was way better for me than it would have been if I hadn’t practiced. Working hard is the only way for the us to succeed in life. If people don’t work for their accomplishments, then the only way to succeed is sheer luck. Meaningless wins are not earned, and hollow, and won’t make people feel good. There are moments when people want to take the easy way out, but if you don’t try than you can never succeed. Humans don’t want to sit back and will always move forward. Working for success has allowed the human race to achieve great goals that includes humans legitimately going to the stars, and with luck, my generation will work to achieve greatness and success beyond what we can dream. While some part of the human mind might wish for their goals to be dropped on their laps, we like a challenge. In fiction we like underdogs who have to work their way up. We can relate to this because we struggle to achieve goals every single day of our lives. In daily life we work hard, and in turn improve our ability to do a skill. Improving through work makes doing the work easier in the future, humans are creatures of habit, but habits only form when goals get accomplished multiple times. I believe you need to work for your goals if you want to succeed.
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On September 6 of this year the doors to the school opened and with a heavy heart and a completely messed up sleep schedule I returned. While I have only been back for a short time, I have noticed a separation of students. For some classes students go in and either do the work or don’t because that class isn’t super important to them. However some kids really get into certain classes and future careers may or may not bleed out from that. I have seen kids like this every year for every class but for simplicity's sake I’ll narrow the list down to four groups. While no one is capable of predicting the future, you can tell that for some of these students these classes are both exhilarating and preparing them for future possible careers.
While my english class this year mostly consists of tired people, over the years I have noticed the presence of a group that I refer to as “grammar nazis”. This sect will never let “ain’t” be spoken without ridicule, or let a sentence end with a preposition even if that logic only implies to latin grammar. They are bookworms and can often be seen the titular dead trees around, not that there's anything wrong with reading. Writing will more than likely come easier to them, and they have a tendency to revise their essays far more than the average english student. It should be stated that some of these traits will be seen again when we get to the “ people watchers” of sociology class. Government is a class that I could never understand getting excited for, but “the imperators” do just that. The pros and cons of communism, or discussion of immigration issues are an entire day's workload in this class. Despite the crazy amount of work, this group does it with ease and without complaint. Discussion of the acid trip that is the current presidential election is pretty commonplace and discussions on that matter can be quite heated. They all have the potential to go into politics and at least some of them probably want to. I hope some of them do join the political atmosphere, since just talking about ways to improve you're country doesn't really help if it’s only done in a safe zone. As we come to our third example, it should become apparent that this next group is very deep. this next group is very deep. Sociology is the study of human interaction and social structure. The “people watchers” of this class might be seen watching people and writing rapidly in note books. Long thought out discussions of topics such as bigotry and why we put some people above others are a past time. They take their sociology blog very seriously and update it regularly. As stated while discussing the grammar nazis, writing and reading comes naturally to them as technically this class is a combination of english and government. The people watchers are natural analyzers and speakers. If contact is made with one be ready to experience both Many people have been driven over the years due to a love of nature, and caring about it’s safety. “The treehuggers” of Wildlife Biology are an adventurous lot who can be seen going outside every friday assuming the weather’s good. As the nature trail’s can be quite wet and muddy, boots, or more dispensable shoes can usually be seen on the feet of this group. This group can explain the difference between a niche and a habitat in a a matter of seconds. They will give the stink eye to anyone who doesn't recycle their paper, and yes it will lead to awkwardness. Also many of this group are pretty good at normal biology as these is an elective class based off of 1-2 units from that class. I find the fact that these four groups exist to be a really good thing. While some might snark and say that they shouldn’t care so much about their classes, who are those people to tell anybody what to like. I find that people should do what they love, and if they want careers in these fields, good for them. The people who waste time in school, and don’t apply themselves to any of their classes, are ones without interest, and inevitably will fade into the shadow of mediocrity for the rest of their lives. While I can’t say I’m really into the four classes mentioned above, I have been really into other classes. If I do ever become a member of any of the above groups I don’t think it would be the worst thing ever. On September 6 the doors to the school opened and several groups entered, and what came thru was students who deeply cared. They couldn’t wait for the next six months of preparation, before moving on in the great big world of possibilities. Rough Draft Note
Matt Hill Ms. Martell English 10 1/3/16 They always try to take the easy way out. People label video games as a catalyst that leads to mass violence. The violence being done throughout our society is terrible, however blaming one form of media is a simplistic way to address a problem. More so, this outdated belief that people have on how media affects people needs to be changed. I hope that as time moves on people will become less attached to this prejudice. Video games are an interesting media, and they don’t cause violence. Video games role in our culture has grown immensely over a short period. Video games first started in its simplest form in 1940 at the World's Fair (Video Game History Timeline, mueseumofplay.org). In 1972 the first home console game came about in the form of the simplistic, but fun, Pong. This device lead to the successes of The Atari, NES, and the rise of arcades. Technological developments made video games more and more realistic; video games continues to improve to be more realistic like with VR technology. Nowadays millions of people play games online, or just on their phones. More and more games are being adapted into successful movies, such as Warcraft, Angry Birds, and Resident Evil. Some people still think of video games as a niche, child's plaything, however they have become a staple of mainstream culture. Whenever an outbreak of despicable human behavior erupts into a newsflash of tragedy, and the culprit has played video games at some point in their disastrous lives. Now at a quick glance this might seem like a reasonable conclusion, however digging deeper shows this is an inaccurate statement. Many of the shooters who played video games suffered from mental illnesses or other problems. Video games have been used by shooters to learn about weapons which they used to commit acts of terror (Fletcher, charismanews.com). If it wasn’t video games being used by the shooters it would be the equally violent T.V. or movies. Despite these untruthful allegations, some people still get behind them in full force, through protest and petitions. There is one group, however, that disagrees with these beliefs, scientist. After years of scrutinous debate, one conclusion seems to be mostly agreed on by scientist, violent video games don’t cause violence. As reported by The Telegraph, if people play video games for long uninterrupted periods of time, side effects such as mild violence, are a possibility (Bingham, telegraph.co.uk). The scientist also concluded that the same goes for other medias like movies and T.V. I hope that these results get rid of some people's prejudice, unfortunately some people will never change, despite the evidence. In their own way, video games actually prevent violence and reduce stress. Recent studies find that playing an hour a day might lower aggression more than people who don’t play games. When popular “violent games” like GTA are released, crime has actually been shown to go down (“Violent Video Games Reduce Crime”, telegraph.co.uk). Kids with ADHD have used video games to get more relaxed by taking out their aggression; kids will have to take for less medication to deal with ADHD. People have turned to escapism for years, and in a way video games are the ultimate escapism. Video games have also in more recent years, found a new home in the classroom. Angry birds is being used to teach children basic coding, which greatly widens their possible career options (Loo, huffingtonpost.com). Challenge games open up people's minds to find creative solutions. Minecraft has been used in schools to teach engineering to people. When I was in speech class, we used video games to help our skills develop. As time goes on video games will have a bigger role in the classroom, so if people have false beliefs about them, then that's a problem. Despite all the blame that get thrown at video games, one factor some people don’t consider when talking about shootings is the amount of guns in our country. Some of the guns used in the Columbine shootings were purchased through the loopholes that are given to gun shows. While not video game related, the weapons used in the Orlando shooting, the deadliest shooting in American history, were purchased legally. Those guns were among the 80% of all legally purchased firearms used in mass shootings (Chuck, nbcnews.com). If you allow a society where suspected terrorist can purchase gun, you shouldn’t be surprised by violent outbreaks. If our country had better gun control laws, maybe some of these shooters wouldn’t have been able to commit atrocities. Video games do not cause violence, if anything it’s the polar opposite. They help prevent the very thing people accuse them of causing. Their ever increasing role in the classroom is helping develop a generation with great skills that will help society. We can’t stay in the past if you want your society to benefit in any way. Video games can help shape the future, you just got to give them a chance. Revision Note The first thing I did was clean up my grammar, and more specifically add commas where they were much needed. I touched up some other grammatical errors to make the story an easier read, and labeling all the grammar requirements. I then added the in-text citations and added the citation list at the bottom of the page. This shows the reader that my information is more accurate and reliable. Finally, I put the essay in MLA format so that it’s up to standard as an essay. Works Cited Bingham, John. “Study Finds no Evidence Violent Video Games Make Children Aggressive.” The Telegraph, 1 Apr. 2015, Science sec. Telegraph.co.uk, www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/03/12/study-finds-no-evidence-violent-video-games-make-children-aggres/. Accessed 12 Nov. 2016. Chuck, Elizabeth. “More than 80 Percent of Guns Used in Mass Shootings Obtained Legally.” NBC News, 5 Dec. 2015, www.nbcnews.com/storyline/san-bernardino-shooting/more-80-percent-guns-used-mass-shootings-obtained-legally-n474441. Accessed 8 Nov. 2016. Fletcher, Lyndee. “14 Mass Murders Linked to Violent Video Games.” Charisma News, Charisma Media, 15 Oct. 2015, www.charismanews.com/culture/52651-14-mass-murders-linked-to-violent-video-games. Accessed 11 Nov. 2016. Loo, Kara. “7 Ways Video Games Will Help Your Kids in School.” The Huffington Post, 4 Nov. 2014, www.huffingtonpost.com/kara-loo/7-ways-video-games-help_b_6084990.html. Accessed 11 Nov. 2016. Video Game History Timeline. Strong, 2016. Museum of Play, www.museumofplay.org/about/icheg/video-game-history/timeline. Accessed 8 Nov. 2016. Chart. “Violent Video Games Reduce Crime.” The Telegraph, 30 Sept. 2011, www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/video-games/8798927/Violent-video-games-reduce-crime.html. Accessed 8 Nov. 2016. The universe is a big place, and I wish we could explore more of it. Understanding the greater cosmos is something that I'm very interested in. I regret that in my lifetime our convoy across the galaxy will only be as far as mars. It doesn't help that unlike the sixties, today people just don't have the enthusiasm for major space travel. Next week I'm looking forward to the gigantic super moon that will be covering the sky. When we went to the moon on the sixties, the country united, however, these days are country is very apart. The people wouldn't want to spend money on a great expedition to the stars. I do understand it though, we have so many issues on are planet that have to be dealt with before unity is an option. Technology wise, we're slowly getting to a place where mainstream space travel is possible. Colonization on Mar's might something people can do by the end of the century. Space travel throughout the cosmos will more then likely be privatized. We have find planet's that are far away from our solar system that may be able to support life. The journey to other worlds would most likely be a permanent one, so in some ways I'm glad I don't have to make that choice. However if this was possible in my lifetime I would support anyone who participated in colonizing the galaxy. It's weird to think that as we stare up at the beautiful tapestry of shimmering balls of fire in the sky, the majority of them are dead and the light just hasn't sunk up yet. By the time we humans do start to spread out among the stars, many of them that we know now will be extinguished. But for now we can still look up at them and dream. CategoriesLake MichigammeDoes your family have a recurring vacation spot? Well mine does, and it's one of my favorite places in the word. For over thirty years, my family has migrated up to a set of cabins overlooking the majestic horizon of sun hitting the water. Whether it's fishing or swimming, the lake is a aqua looking glass that is a bunch of fun. I was seven or eight the first time I visited the cabins, and everytime I've been back since has been even better. Michigamme is a town with a population of 3, but the few businesses are quaint and enjoyable. I didn't get to go up this summer and that really depressed me. We take out my great grandpa's old boat twice and day, and hopefully every time we'll bring in fish. The cabins have gone under some reivations since I was last there, but I hope it's still as beautiful as I remember it.
In regards To This Blog And Why We shouldn't do this.So we have to write a blog about anything? I mean that's too broad of an example for us to do. We're in tenth grade, and we have more important stuff to do. I mean if we're working on a blog how are we supposed to be angsty and stare at our phones?
This blog is supposed to teach us web design, then wouldn't it make more sense if that was are topic. But no, instead were told to come up with a hundred and fifty words about anything. This isn't Seinfeld, it's English class and were supposed to be taught things, not show originality. Mrs. Jessica Martell, we the student body, and by that I mean me, declare that you have gone to far. Asking us to blog is one thing, but asking us to blog and coming up with a subject is too much. I am a teenage, tired, and boring sheep, it's your job to lead us till we're eighteen and I move into my parents basement. Sincerly, some lazy student Reviewing Professional Blogs While falling down the rabbit hole that is the internet I found these three blogs. So here's a review for each of them.
Ben's Bitter Blog This blog is made up of the experiences of a man named Ben who is very bitter about things. The post are sorted by newest to oldest and the farther you scroll down the older you get. It looks decent on the page with an archive for older posts and several different pages at the top. I think what caught my eye the most about the blog was the titles of the blog post, Ben is a funny cynical commentator and it translates to his titles. If your in the need for a laugh I recommend this blog. Simply Recipes This blog is about food. Everybody likes food what more is there to say? Alright fine, the blog is sorted into various categories for types of foods as well as recipes. I really like how this blog is organized more so than the other two blogs I talk to today. The writer is pretty straight forward in her writing and that's fine. I came for a cooking tutorial and that's what you get. Images break up the writing to show you where you should be at which compared to just text is extremely helpful. If your looking for a recipe, check out this site. Crusoe the Celebrity Dachshund- Wiener Dog Extraordinaire This one's weird guys.... but I really liked it. The blog is written in character by a dog owner who presents the world through his wiener dogs eyes. The newest blog post are at the top of the page while older ones are farther down. The posts are a combination of paragraphs and pictures of the titular dog Crusoe. While it does have the cutesy thing going on I think the writing is the best part. It's a mixture of parody and straight comedy and props to the author for managing to stay in character while still connecting with the audience. |
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