Assignment 21- Abby Shadwick

An issue i'm currently facing is living in the present moment. As one of my New Year's resolutions, I strive not to "get through the day". Rather, I strive to take in the day at every moment, good or bad. Even non-ideal scenarios are times I will never get back. Present over perfect. I have spent months at a time self-absorbed critiquing my every move. I am the true definition of "harshest critic". I lived those months in fear, worrying about what others thought of my imperfect self, rather than relishing in who I was made to be. I now enjoy my nuances, and being myself. At the same time, I recognize that my overall human experience is 1000% better.

Assignment 21- Noah Ford

When I was in the seventh grade, I was playing football in the middle school parking lot with a couple of my friends. We tried to keep injury to a minimum by playing one hand touch, but I either tripped or bounced off something and I fell backwards onto my wrist. I felt a faint sensation of wrong with it, it only hurt if it was pressed on one tiny spot and I couldn't turn it further than a 45 degree rotation either way. I went through the rest of that day and the next just being gently with it because I thought it was sprained. When my mom finally noticed what I was doing, she instantly demanded what was going on and when I told her everything, we went to the ER because she thought it was broken. She demanded an x-ray from a reluctant nurse and sure enough, it was a compound fracture. I was originally put into a plaster cast, but a month later into a full arm plaster cast. That's just the background to the two obstacles though.

The first obstacle was mostly mental. Do you know how it feels to be 30 pounds heavier, six inches taller, and hit the ball farther than any other teammate in a baseball league? And if you do, now imagine being benched for the whole season. Now compound that with watching your team lose every. single. game. I got to play two games at the end of the season. My batting was lacking (understandable after 6 weeks of no practice) but I was an excellent outfielder because of how long my legs were. The only two games we won were the games I played in and that was because I caught so many fly-balls. I felt awful watching that season.

The second obstacle is entirely physical. I used to be really good at baseball, but after my arm healed and I started playing again, I noticed something odd. Whenever I swung the bat at full speed, my wrist would hurt. After a round of the batting cage, I would feel really sore in my wrist. I don't know if it was because I didn't do any physical therapy or what, but I played (horribly if I might add) for the year after that and then made the decision that the pain and lack of skill I was experiencing just wasn't worth it. I was forced to give up a sport that I had played since pre-school. I mean, the wrist injury was just one of several factors, like coaches favoring their sons over actual ability, but the fact I was stopping crushed me.

My dad is sixty-five years old, and he loves golf. He had been trying to get me into it for a few years now, and he tried to get me out to a par 3 course every Sunday. I decided that maybe that would be my next sport, and he started to get me lessons out at Man O' War golf. After about six months of lessons, and constant pressure from my dad and coach, I decided that I would try out for the Henry Clay Golf Team my freshman year. I tried out, and I got on (primarily because of a shortage of players not any real personal skill). I was quite nervous about the first practice and showed up in gym clothes. The only one who came up and talked to me was a guy named Will Walters. I had a really good time that year, and have been on the team since. I am currently shooting a 95ish on 9 holes, which isn't the best, but I am not a very consistent player. Anyways, I just wanted to say that I found another sport I enjoy and that didn't hurt me to play.

Assignment 20- Noah Ford Aec

I'd say that I have a pretty good grasp on how to shoot a bow and arrow for official archery team. I only started this semester, but thanks to a lot of concentration and hard work during practices, I have already gotten my score to around a 270 out of 300. Anyways, here is my how-to on how to shoot well in archery.

Archery Lingo-
Set- 5 arrows
Flight- 3 sets at 10m and 3 sets at 15m

1. Start your bow on a low poundage to ensure you can easily draw it back and start off.
2. With your feet shoulder width apart, draw your bow back until your drawing hand is touching the corner of your mouth. Use your shoulder AND back muscles to draw back, not just arms. It should feel like you are pushing your shoulder blades together. Also, stand straight backed because the string will slap your arm like Pop-Eye on Brutus.
3. Press firmly into your face with your fingertips so that you ensure that you maintain as much consistency in your shots as possible.
4. When you release, flick your fingertips straight forward to make sure the string doesn't drag and screw up your shot.
5. After you shoot a few sets with your aim at the exact center of the target, start moving the aim point until you start hitting the middle. For example, on my target, I shoot at around 5:30 between the blue and the black for 10 meters. However, my bow isn't low poundage, its like a 20ish I believe.

This sport literally follows the sports motto perfectly, as PRACTICE IS PERFECTION in every sense, as this sport is all muscle memory.

Side Notes: Expect callouses unless you already have them on your fingertip pads. I got lucky and have them from golf, but I still get an angry red line into them every practice and I can't shoot more than 3 days a week + the weekly match.

Also, archery practice gets your shoulders and drawing side really muscled, especially with a higher pound of bow.

Assignment 19: Plastics

Most of the advice we receive in our lives is unsolicited and quite frankly inane.  However, every once in a while we get a real gem and changes our trajectory.  What is the one piece of advice given to you that has stuck?  Explain its effect on your life.

Minimum of 150 words - due Sunday, February 2 at 11:59 pm

February 9 is the last day to make up blogs 17-19

Assignment 20- Abby Shad

How to: pass a volleyball
Step 1: Stand up straight, and set your feet shoulder width apart
Step 2: Put your hands on your knees in a relaxed posture
Step 3: Move your arms out slightly in front of you with palms up, but freeze your lower body (remain in the squatting position)
Step 4: Put your right fingertips on top of your left fingertips, forming a kind of heart shape
Step 5: Move your thumbs to be side by side, forming a platform with your lower arms
Step 6: When the ball is tossed to you, keep your eye on the ball while moving the platform of your lower arms together toward the ball
Step 7: Move your gaze to your platform just as the ball is contacting your platform, to make sure you get a good contact on the ball. Meaning, the ball is contacting your platform directly and not your wrists or biceps
Step 8: Move your platform in a fluid motion, never swinging your arms above the shoulder line, back toward the target, or the person that threw the ball to you.
Step 9: Stand back up because I know your thighs are burning.
Step 10: Give yourself a pat on the back!!

Evan Winkler | Assignment 19

When I was a toddler, around the ages of two through four, I developed problems with certain social and motor skills, eye contact being one of them, as is common for young children with autism. When someone ever spoke to me or looked at me, or even if I was interacting with them in general, I avoided making direct eye contact; opting instead to look at my hands or the floor or simply into space. The way I remember it, I would always feel a strange tension whenever I chose to focus directly on someone's eyes. The break they created in the relatively homogeneous nature of the rest of the face made them seem very conspicuous to me, meaning that me looking at them always meant me staring and squinting at them, which was of course very uncomfortable due to the applied tension and prolonged exposure to air. I remember telling my dad, when he tried to prompt me about it, that it "hurt to look at people's eyes." I always just decided to look away from other people's faces altogether.

In 1999, HBO produced a tv and video special based on the "Goodnight Moon" children's book. The film featured multiple animated bedtime stories and nursery rhymes interlaced with interviews from young children about topics related to sleeping, dreams, and bedtime. One of these interviews was conducted with a blind kid, who spoke about sleeping and dreaming while blind. He also touched on the topic of social interaction in general, considering how important it is for most people to make eye contact. He described "looking" at other people while being unable to see them and having his own eyes closed. He said that it was as if his eyes emitted "little sparks" that everyone else wanted to receive and return, even though he couldn't see them. Seeing this as an opportunity to teach me about eye contact, my dad told me one day when we were both watching to "give them sparks" whenever I spoke to people. After that, I began to develop a better habit of keeping eye contact, as I could visualize what I was doing in my head and give myself a reason not to stop. My dad's advice probably changed my life more than I can realize even now.

Evan Winkler | Assignment 18

There are a couple of items on my personal "bucket list," but to directly answer the questions of which goals are most important to meet after certain times:
1. By the time I finish high school, I hope to learn how to competently drive, considering that I have had my learner's permit for several months.
2. By the time I finish college, I hope to be proficient at a basic level (enough to have a casual conversation, travel, read signs, etc) in a second language, most likely Spanish considering I have already started learning it.
3. Before I die, I want to be able to travel to other continents at least once. This is becoming less of an imperative to every cultural education-seeking person by the day because of the rise of the internet, but it is still an experience that I would like to have.

Assignment 19- Abby Shad

A piece of advice that has stuck with me for a few years now is from my father. He said, "you will never regret being kind, even when it is difficult." In difficult encounters with others, we often respond with the same bitterness as the other person. It is innately human nature to respond this way. But if you fight that instinct, you will become a more patient and understanding person in the process, as well as continue being a kind human. The same applies to situations where another needs your forgiveness. By being kind and forgiving, you can both move on. Withholding forgiveness, on the other hand, is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. It simply hardens and rots your heart over time.

Evan Winkler | Assignment 10 (makeup)

In the event of a "zombie apocalypse," I have actually thought about a number of things I would like to do to be safe at one point or another. I would hopefully be prepared fro the beginning to a degree with a vehicle, some household tools, and some non-perishable foods. I would try and make a comprehensive list of supplies such as batteries and radios, tools such as crowbars and gas siphons, and then acquire them either by looting stores and then empty houses or by buying them in stores in the event that I had any time left before the plague it my city. To find food, I would have to learn how to hunt, fish, forage, and everything in the category of survivalist activities, but in the meantime I would try and find food by looting the supply complexes beside of state highways, rather than just from grocery and convenience stores. Overall, I would seek refuge in a building in or near a small town, in a colder climate, located in a rural area with natural barriers to human movement but also with relative access to urban areas or freeways for the sake of collecting supplies. In real terms, I would try and find a group and then travel to someplace in Canada or the greater Midwest.

Evan Winkler | Assignment 12 (make-up)

Most of my interests are relatively niche or potentially controversial, and as a result I tend not to introduce myself to others by spontaneously starting conversations related specifically to my interests. Rather, I try to make comments in conversations when it seems appropriate or I try to make casual conversation by talking about something I know that person is interested in or concerned with at the moment, such as homework. I think about whether I can succeed in saying that thing without being perceived as eccentric or awkward. I also try to say it intelligently or amusingly enough for people to garner a perception of being particularly intelligent, or at least insightful and pleasant to talk to, for lack of a better term. At school, I try and present my character outside of conversation by making comments and asking questions during classes that display my interests and characteristics so that people already have some understanding of me by the time I talk to them.

Evan WInkler | Assignment 14 (makeup)

One particular memory I have of a Thanksgiving is one from my early childhood, at the age of either four or five, when I was living in Burbank, California That Thanksgiving weekend, my family and I were on vacation in Pismo Beach, California, and we came back home on the Sunday before school started again. As a kid, I was always very uptight, and always wanted things to happen in a particular way. As such, I remember being upset once I realized that we had missed having a Thanksgiving dinner at home that year. According to my mom, I was very animated about how we "forgot thanksgiving"  and about how we needed to "have Thanksgiving dinner" to make up for it. According to her, she was able to get me to calm down after a while once she drove to a Honey Baked Ham restaurant and brought back a bunch of typical thanksgiving food for dinner. It ended up being, at least for her tastes, very salty, fatty, and unappetizing overall. I can only presume that it was unexceptional to me, too, considering that the story was mostly news to me when I last heard my mom mention it in a casual conversation with someone until I tried to specifically remember it.

Assignment 15: Noah Ford

I don't know about any states of Zen for concepts and ideas, but I do know some topics that get me started rambling. I could talk for hours about the content in certain videogames and strategies and what I've done in them and what others have done. In seventh grade, our Language Arts teacher had us write for 15 minutes every Thursday and for the entire year, I wrote solely about Terraria and what strategies exist for every boss in the game, optimal weapons and armor, cool tips and tricks and other meaningless facts about Terraria. I counted everything I wrote that year, and it totalled to about 70 pages of writing about Terraria. It was pretty stupid, but that just got me going.

Something that makes me zone out in general, is reading. I love to read books, and manga, and once i get going, it is really hard to stop. My favorite genres of books are Fantasy, Adventure, and Dungeons and Dragons. I've been trying to memorize item effects and class features and spells effects for Dungeons and Dragons to try to prevent the need to whip out the book and frantically search. I recently was going to stay up late for about 30 minutes reading a book about assassins and a merchants versus assassin guilds war, and I looked at my clock and it was almost midnight.

Evan Winkler | Assignment 11 (makeup)

Madison is a great friend and a great student. Every day, she always has a “hello” and something nice to say to me and everybody else. She always tries to start conversations and leads during group discussions, but she always realizes when enough is enough and is never a chatterbox. She always has something insightful to say, and above all is always cheerful and open. In the hallway and in both classes I have with her, I’ve only ever seen her be nice to everyone else, and I’ve never heard of someone who didn’t like her.

Madison is very academically active in class and beyond. She’s told me about how she once went to Spain as part of a foreign immersion program, and I can only assume that her incredible communication skills helped her with the trip, and vice versa. She told me about how, on the trip, there was one Chinese girl who knew Spanish, and that she and Madison were able to communicate without speaking either of their native languages. Likewise, Madison always tries to find something in common to talk about with me, whether it be homework, helping each other with vocabulary review, or her inviting me to play an occasional card game. She, being “obsessed with cards,” (they were “all that [she] did in Spain”) always carries a stack with her, and it always makes for a nice ending to the day whenever I or someone else has time.

Evan Winkler | Assignment 3 (makeup)

I have been to 20 of the 50 states, as well as Washington, D.C. Much of that total comes from educationally-themed trips organized by my aunt for me, my brothers, and my cousins in the summers of 2012, 2014, 2015, and 2017. We visited a large number of national historical sites, and these trips overall contributed to the interest I have in civics and history today. In total, I have been to D.C. eight times, including on three of the aforementioned trips.

            In June of this year, I visited Florida for the first time. My uncle, who is originally from the Bahamas, lives in Pembroke Pines with my aunt and two cousins, the youngest of whom had just recently been born, and last summer was the first time I got to see both of them in person. Visiting South Florida was a very interesting cultural experience, considering the area’s predominately Hispanic population. As someone with a racially ambiguous appearance, there were a couple of times when pedestrians and street vendors spoke to me in Spanish after I had spoken to them in English, and Spanish was certainly the language heard the most often throughout the city. It was different from the areas in Southern California where I grew up, where there was also very large Hispanic population but with a greater focus on multilingualism.

Another interesting thing about the Miami area was how uniform and large the buildings were – the urban landscape had far fewer old courthouses, old churches, or gilded-age art-deco skyscrapers than it had postmodern flats and towers. This was because, as I knew before the trip, the area of Miami was very sparsely populated before the end of World War II. Between the architecture and the demographics, travelling to South Florida presented me with visual evidence of the influence that historical events have on the appearance of affected places.

Evan WInkler | Assignment 16 - Script (makeup)

This fictitious poster has been produced by political activists to raise awareness of and garner sympathy for their goals among the general American public and politicians. Currently, the United States does not use a draft, or involuntary military conscription, for populating its military. However, certain individuals might make the case that a draft would be necessary to ensure sufficient available manpower in the event of a war, which may be more likely to spontaneously occur according to them. This advertisement shows a photograph of foreigners burning the American flag at a protest, superimposed on which are the image of Uncle Sam pointing at the reader from the classic “I Want You for US Army” poster as well as the bold words: “Protect our freedom – restore the draft.” This ad primarily relies on pathos and ethos to make an argument.

Desecration of the flag is seen as an offensive transgression by many Americans, and seeing individuals undertake such action can incline many patriotic or nationalistic Americans to support or condone punitive action against those individuals. As stated by John Hartvigsen, president of the North American Vexillological Association, a group of scholars dedicated to the study of flags, “Flags are, by their nature, emotion-charged emblems, and that’s especially the case in the U.S.” In showing these people’s hostility towards the United States, the advertisement’s producer seeks to instill fear, hostility, and anger towards the flag-burners, precisely the feelings necessary to motivate an increase in military endeavors. The ethos in the argument can be found in the use of the Uncle Sam character in the same pose and composition as in the well-known wartime poster. Readers familiar with the image recognize it as a universal symbol of America, one that exudes patriotic duty and allegiance to the United States government and populace. The ad’s producers want to clarify their belief in an association between the patriotism of World War I, when the original poster was produced, and a desire for reintroducing the draft. This strategy helps the reader see the producer’s measures as a safeguard against the fears invoked in them by the ad.: These people want to kill Americans? Well, here is Uncle Sam to tell us what we need to do.

The logos of the argument is present, relying on the simple logic that: “since these people have displayed ill will towards our way of life – that is to say, our freedom – by burning flags at a rally, they pose a threat to our safety since those of them with the resources to do so would likely actively attack our country at an opportune moment. Therefore, it is within the scope of our resources to expand our defensive and preemptive military capabilities for as long as that threat exists.” However, the argument’s logos is absorbed by the viewer without the mechanisms of logical reasoning – they have already been primed to trust the advertisement and the goodwill of its makers as well as to feel some sort of animosity toward the subjects of the advertisement. Many readers will neither think of the long-term consequences of or necessary actions in ‘reinstating the draft,’ nor whether such a proposal helps us, hurts us, or does neither in ‘protecting our freedom.’ Viewers look at the flames of the burning flag, and the directions associated with an imposing, nostalgic figure, and see flames in their mind, not realizing what the flames that may be created in this faraway country may do to the people who live in it. The audience does not see the lives of the flag burners behind the white margins on which Uncle Sam and the slogans rest. The audience is never presented with any particular reason to think: Who are these people? And Do they have children?

Ultimately, this ad is an amalgamation of all of the emotionally manipulative material in advertising, from that which takes advantage of our fears to our compassion to our hate to our fantasies, and how we so often fail to consider ourselves and others as we actually exist in the real world and seek to create a sustainable lifestyle for ourselves.

Assignment 18- Abby Shad- goals

1. The goal I have before I finish high school is to get an A in AP Calculus this semester. This is very achievable for me, I just have to put in the extra effort every night, which I am not used to doing. I often go home and rewatch videos of the content we learned earlier in the day. I need to be more consistent in attending tutoring and homework help, that Ms. Deweese so generously offers to students.
2. A goal I have before finishing college is to go on a road trip with amazing friends. I want to see states I haven't seen before. Interestingly enough, I love long car rides and driving. Driving to music just takes my mind off things of the world. I have been so blessed to meet such genuine friends over the years, and I would want to reunite with some of my best ones for this road trip.\
3. A goal I have for life is to serve others overseas. I have been on a couple mission trips in the state of Kentucky, but my passion is to serve others through hard work for no reason other than to show the love of my Savior, Jesus Christ. A place I would love to go is Eastern or Central Africa, Central America, Haiti or the Dominican Republic.

Assignment 17- Abby Shad- Chris Columbus

My director's pick is the amazing Chris Columbus, and I don't mean the explorer. Columbus specializes in family and sentimental movies. My favorite kind of movies, in fact. Chris Columbus uses music to emphasize sentimental moments and close ups during silly moments to make viewers laugh. The movies I have chosen to compare are the classic "Mrs. Doubtfire" and "Home Alone." For example, a closeup is employed when Kevin in Home Alone attempts to shave and then yells in pain as he puts aftershave on his 8 year old face. Additionally, when Robin Williams is getting his heavy makeup applied, the camera zooms in as he sings his own silly song during a montage of makeup looks. Montages are also featured in Home Alone when Kevin sets his booby traps for the wet bandits. Chris Columbus truly makes his films fun for viewers to watch, but at the same time feel all the feels.

Assignment 18 - Matthew David Klee

An item on my bucket list before I complete high school is to get to a level of tennis that is high enough to play in college, either Division II or III. I've never been a huge sports person but I've played all my life, first it was basketball - 5 years - then baseball - 2 years - and then soccer which I enjoyed pretty thouroughly - around 8 years - however, I didn't find the sport for me until I entered high school and picked up tennis. Now, I had played a little when I was kid because my mom made me but never did anything serious until I entered high school, ever since then I've been hooked and am always looking to improve. A huge barrier though is in fact high school, the school work limits my time to play and practice, along with my otherwise busy schedule and my parents incessant drone of "academics first," "you know what your priorities are," "tennis won't get you anywhere but school will," and so on. So, now that I can drive I have amped up my playing time and am on track to play for at least a small school in college, however, I'd like to amp up my playing time even more by the end of high school so that I can play at a more competitive level.

With my college bucket list, I'm a lot less sure. I'm not sure if I'll be burnt out with tennis or by then will have completely figured out my career and be ready to enter the workforce. However, one thing that I know will definitely continue to be on my bucket list until I achieve it is to get "swole." This is kind of a light-hearted thing I want to achieve but I've always admired people who work out every day and know just what to eat to stay looking great. To achieve this, I would most likely find a couple friends at the college I attend to workout with me and keep me on a routine, I'm not the type of person who dreads working out or even eating healthy, I actually love doing both, but I am the type of person who either forgets or decides that doing something else is more important, if I have friends to motivate me and keep me on a set weekly schedule I'm sure I could achieve this goal.

A life goal I have is to speak 3 or more languages, not including English. I know this goal is a little bit strange but it's just something that I've always admired about people who either move to America and can speak multiple languages or just study multiple languages. I've started with this goal right now in high school, I chose to take Spanish because not only was it offered in the public school system all the way through supposed mastery with AP (the level I take currently) but I know and see many Hispanic people that I could practice the language with. However, I am also interested in other European languages because of my travel to Europe, I'm interested in learning German because I think it sounds pretty cool (a great reason, I know) and also some of the Asian languages like Japanese or Korean. The Asian languages not because I'm a weeb or a nerd but just because I think Japan is super cool and so aesthetic and Korean because I assume once I've learned a language with characters like Japanese another Asian language would become easier to learn.

Assignment 17 - Matthew David Klee

Overall I thought Frozen II was most definitely still a kid-centered movie like the original Frozen. However, it didn't live up to the standards of the original Frozen with its brilliantly catchy songs and a strong storyline of true love and the hardships of dealing with people with bad intents. Quite honestly I was left a little bit confused with Disney trying to incorporate the native Americans into their movie with the foggy forest that is somehow impenetrable yet easily accessed by Elsa with a whisp of her power. Also, there was no hint from the original Frozen leading into Frozen II indicating Elsa would be any sort of powerful being created to make a balance among the elements which was a little disappointing to me because it seemed the movies had no real connections other than the same characters. However, the movie wasn't all bad, it had some good moments, Olaf was as silly as ever and Disney's animations of Elsa's awesome power was spot on. Overall, I wouldn't see it again but I am glad that I did see it.

Here's the link to my review, it should be under the account "Matthew Klee": https://www.rottentomatoes.com/user/id/978509458/

Assignment 18- My New Year’s Resolutions- Hayden Caldwell

The number one thing I want to do before I graduate high school is read the entire Bible. The Bible is central to my faith and it has for a while been a goal of mine to finish the entirety of the holy book. I aim to achieve this goal by completing a Bible in One Year devotional plan on the YouVersion app every day this year. This way, I can divide a long, potentially intimidating reading into manageable chunks I can fit into my day-to-day life. I feel like this would help create progress in an area of my life I have entered every new year hoping to focus on.

The number one thing I want to do before I graduate is travel to Spain or Latin America. I hope to do this through a study abroad program in college. I have always wanted to travel outside the country and Spain or Latin America would be a preferable destination because I have spent the past four school years learning Spanish. I would love to put my Spanish skills to good use and travel outside the country for the first time. I hope to continue studying Spanish until the end of the school year and into college and allow myself an affordable trip into college. 

The number one thing I want to do beyond college is to attend a Super Bowl game. Football has always been one of my favorite sports to watch and playoff season in the NFL is the greatest time of the year to watch football. I have dreamed of watching a playoff game in person and cannot wait to do so as an adult. I hope to save up enough money to buy a Super Bowl ticket and manage it wisely so this expensive ticket will not make a huge dent in my finances.

Assignment 18: Buckets and Buckets

Welcome to your first blog prompt for 2020! Yay!

A bucket list is a list of everything you want to accomplish before you kick the bucket. That doesn't mean you can't have such a list for specific aspects of your life as well.

To begin the year, generate your own bucket lists - one for high school, one for college, and one for life. Then, write about the priority on each list.

1. What is the number one item on your bucket list before you finish high school?
2. What is the number one item on your bucket list before you finish college?
3. What is the number one item on your bucket list before you finish living?

(This blog is inspired by Axel Liimatta - former academy teacher - my friend and former colleague that inspires me to live every day more fully)

Minimum of 150 words - due Sunday, January 19  at 11:59 pm

February 9 is the last day to make up blogs 17-19