Looking Back

Image courtesy of Quotes Valley

This being my second to last post, I'm going to look back on how this blog has changed over time, and how I've changed throughout this school year. First though, a little side note to anyone reading this. I just wanted to say that having this blog has been amazing! What started out justas a graded assignment for an Honors English class has become a place for me to share my feelings with others. I have really loved posting on this blog and watching as people actually read what I had written. Every time I got a new page view, I felt so proud. Just being a tiny part of your guys' day is an honor for me. Thank you for everything, it’s been amazing.

Looking back now to my very first post...this was a welcome post as the enraptured new freshman (me) began to set up her blog. New to high school, she was excited at the prospect of having somewhere to share the "crazy new memories" she was sure to have. Setting up the background, font, and color scheme was super fun. I kept thinking about, the year before. This was when I had been an avid reader of my friend Grace's blog. Since she is a year older than me, I got to watch her blog unfold and was thrilled to be starting my own. Reading what she posted about what she did and where she went was really fun.

Next, developing my blog... when I started this blog I had no idea what I was going to post about. I hadn’t really given a lot of thought to the prospect of a theme, or even if I wanted to have a certain theme. I put up a poll to ask for input on a theme, but after a little while I realized that, if I was going to have a theme, it needed to be my idea. After all, it was going to be my name on the blog’s front page. One day, I thought about and decided on a kind of theme. I made the decision that I would begin to post about my life and the different aspects of it. It seemed like a good idea because I would surely be well informed on the subject (tee hee). I started to post about events, sports, obstacles, and different parts of my life that I felt would be worth sharing.

Looking back on how I’ve changed… we all change over time. I’m very lucky because keeping something like a blog is a great way to look back at my past self. It’s really cool to have the ability to do this. Since we have kept blogs over the entire school year, I’m able to look at how I’ve developed as a writer and a person. Over the year, my posts have not only gotten longer, but have been more in depth and personal. I stopped just talking about things I had done and started talking more about the mental features and obstacles of life.

To my beloved readers, thank you.

Me with our school colors.

Risk

Image courtesy of Ali Davies

Throughout our lives, we will take risks. Some will be bigger than others, but all risks can be scary. This is because taking a risk entails that something could be lost or hurt. Just the risk of jumping over a small gap in a hill can be terrifying. This is only because we know that we could get hurt. But not all risks are physical, a lot are emotional. Emotionally, we can still lose things and get hurt, I think we all know this by now. The other side of emotional risks is that there can be BIG payoffs. Yet, we are still afraid.

If there were never any risks in life, it would be pretty boring. Constantly getting exactly what you want with no worry sounds great, I'll give you that. Still, it would get a little monotonous. Having something hang in the balance can be exhilarating. Not having risks wouldn't only take away what we feel when we fail, but also take away how we feel when we do succeed. And even when we do fail, we can still be proud of ourselves for taking a chance. I have taken risks that haven't ended well, but I'm glad that I took them anyway. It shows that I really wanted something, that it was worth it. It also shows that I was strong enough to take a risk with the chance of getting hurt.

Image courtesy of Back West

Image courtesy of Cambridge University Contemporary Dance Workshop

Image courtesy of Pix Good

There are physical risks. Things like leaping across gaps, doing that barrel roll you couldn't do last dance class, swimming a 200 butterfly for the first time, tackling the biggest guy on the other team, and so many more. We each have our own physical risks that we have, and will, overcome. Different lives lead to different risks because of different activities we do. Any risk can be scary.

There are also emotional risks. Personally, these are scarier for me than physical risks. I think that they have more weight on your life. Scrapes or cuts, even broken bones, heal over time. Emotional wounds might not. They might affect your decisions later in life, days, weeks, maybe months or even years later. Emotions are interesting things. Memories with strong emotional connections are the ones we remember the most. This is because these have the most effect on our minds, they stick there. We remember them in times of need and if we are in a similar situation. The outcomes of those old memories will most likely effect the situation you are in right then.

The risks we take can be based on family, friends, sports, beliefs, or anything else that has effected you and your life. We will take risks in almost everything we do in life. It makes it interesting. Having something to lose can be terrifying, but also exhilarating because you have something to gain. Don't be afraid to take risks, they can be extremely worth it.

High School Sports

Image courtesy of Park City High School

Once you are in high school, things change. You start to have grow up as grades count, responsibilities multiply, and your future seems to constantly loom over you. But high school is also a chance to try out for things like sports teams. There are many sports that our high school has teams for; cross country, soccer, softball, baseball, track and field, football, swimming, tennis, golf, lacrosse, and more. These teams give us many new opportunities to show what we can do and connect with others. There are many good reasons to be attributed to one, or more, of these teams.

The first reason is to show off your work ethic. Being on a sports team, or multiple, for four years straight shows commitment, skill, and the ability to do hard work. Going to practices after school, five days a week, how many weeks depending on season length, for four years is impressive. Your resume will look even nicer with that on there. Plus, colleges LOVE you to have loads of extracurricular activities! (Because we, students, totally have time to belong to multiple clubs and teams after going to school for seven hours, and then doing the hours and hours of homework our classes give us. Well, we do have time, but only after giving up things like friends and sleep!) Seriously though, sports teams can look really good on records, speaking of records...

Like my segue? I know I did! Now, onto what I wanted to talk about. You don't even need to be super talented when you're starting a sport to succeed in it. With a high amount of practices, plus great coaches, you can get really good really fast. If you get good enough to set records, personal or statewide, that also looks good. It chiefly helps if you want to be on a college level team when you get older. Setting records in high school can also just be really cool :).

Last, and I think most important, is the teammanship (yes I made that all one word). Belonging to a team and having to work with that team gives and develops skills. Skills like how to work well with others, how to integrate yourself, and how to make, and keep, friendships. During the swim season, I gained so many incredible friends. Belonging to a team that work well together and care about each other is a great feeling. Mostly I loved the difference between the water and land. If we were at a meet, we competed against each other. In the next lane over your best friend in the world could be swimming, but you would still try and kick their butt. Then, after the race, you'd be congratulating each other. I liked this because it showed that we know how to work hard and that we value our individual goals, but also that we can value each other's goals too.

High school sports teams are pretty great. You gain skills you never would have alone, and you get a great sense of belonging. Just maybe don't try diving anytime soon...

Image courtesy of You Can Be Funny

Thank You

Dear readers,

I have just reached 1,642 pageviews. My goal at the very start of this blog was to get at least 500 pageviews, and, apparently, I've surpassed that. Having to change my goal was a great feeling, because I have achieved way more than I thought I could. But I couldn't have done this alone, well maybe I could have, just reloading and reloading my blog, but that's not the point. The point is that you, my readers, make an effort to check out what I do. Some of the best things you do are:

Image courtesy of The Chinese Quest

Voting on my polls. If I need inspiration, one of my tactics is to make a poll. Having a question and seeing what the majority thinks can inspire me to write. Whether I agree with it or not, I like finding out what my peers either want to see, are seeing, or believe. Polls are also just great to see what's up in the world. An example is my holiday poll. Around Christmas time (for me) I put up a poll to see what holidays others were celebrating. It was really cool to see the diversity in culture and religion we had right here. So, thank you.

Image courtesy of Spiritual Badass

Commenting. Getting feedback on how I'm doing and what I'm doing is really beneficial to me. I always like to know if I'm doing something wrong, just as much as it's nice to know if I'm doing something well. This makes me better for myself, and for you. Constructive criticism is always welcome because I want to be the best possible for you, my readers.

Image courtesy of Clipart Panda

Just reading my blog. Taking time out of your day to check out my blog makes me feel extraordinary. It doesn't matter if you give me two, five, or ten minutes. Just the thought of someone wanting to spend some of their precious time on me is superb. Whenever I check my stats and see that I've had a couple pageviews that day, I'm filled with a feeling of pride. Knowing that I'm even a small part of someone's day makes me feel valued.

Image courtesy of Kerigan

Once again, thank you. Thank you for voting. Thank you for commenting. Thank you for reading. Thank you for everything. I could never have done this without my amazing, incredible, magical, crazy, hilarious, and devoted readers.

Impossibilia

Image courtesy of Wikipedia

We hear crazy stories all the time. Some are clearly real, but there are some that we aren't sure about. It can be hard to believe someone when what they're saying seems utterly ridiculous. Here are a couple stories that can be true or false. Try and guess for yourself, and then highlight the black space under it for the answer. Good luck!
1. Mike Stewart, 31, of Dallas was filming a public service movie in 1983 on "The Dangers of Low-Level Bridges" when the truck he was standing on passed under a low-level bridge -- killing him.
True
2. U.S. custom agents seized 900,000 gummy bears that were loaded with Aye Caramba Beer.
False
3. In a case of "one thing leading to another", seven men, aged 18-27 years, received jail sentences of 3-4 years each in Kingston-On-Thames, England in 1979 after a fight that started when one of the men threw a french fry at another while they stood waiting for a train.
True
4. In 1983, a Mrs. Carson of Lake Kushaqua, N.Y. was laid out in her coffin, presumed dead of heart disease. As mourners watched, she suddenly sat up. Her daughter dropped dead of fright.
True
5. The average cost of rehabilitating a seal after the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska was $80,000. At a special ceremony, two of the most expensively saved animals were released back into the wild amid cheers and applause from onlookers. A minute later, in full view, they were both eaten by a killer whale.
False

Scoring:

4-5 correct: You have a knack for catching lies, good job!

2-3 correct: Ehh, you're alright at this. 

0-1 correct: Haha, you must be gullible (but it's okay).

Credit to: The Spoof

                Less Smith

Here comes my crazy story. You guys can determine if it is true or false!

During the time that my dad lived in Alaska, he and a friend decided to go on a trip and fly around in a small plane they owned. After flying for a while they decided to land and spend the night. They went to sleep and, in the morning, they woke up to find that they had been visited by a grizzly bear. It had eaten the slide of the plane and the horizontal rudder on the plane. Being stuck in such a predicament, they had to use what was available. To replace the side of the plane, they used layers upon layers of duct tape. To replace the horizontal rudder, they used a piece of broom handle, then covered it with more duct tape to secure it. My dad flew it back successfully and got it repaired professionally.

Is it true? Is it false? If you would like to stick with your opinion, then good on you! If not, and I totally understand, you can either email me at nhaerter18@pcstudents.us, and if you know me, just come talk to me and I'll tell you. Good luck!

Holiday Cheer

Allie, a seventeen year old girl with Down syndrome.

They say the holidays are a time for giving, and I definitely agree! This year I did a project called UAID. This was for kids with disabilities and special needs who live in institutions. They, along with their caregivers, fill out a slip with what they need and a couple things that they would like. The person we chose was named Allie and she has Down syndrome, the same thing my little brother has. She is 17 years old, but her intellectual age is 6. The difference between an age and an intellectual age is that your age is how long you have been on the Earth; an intellectual age is how old your mind is. It pertains to how you can function in society and how developed you are.

The crazy thing about this was that when I looked at what she wanted for Christmas, I was blown away. She needed socks, underwear, a shirt, a coat, a hat, gloves, sweatpants, and a hygiene kit. The only things that didn't seem necessary to her life were a One Direction CD and the Frozen DVD. It was incredible that their lists were filled with what we look at as the bare necessities. They needed what we take completely for granted. While I have a closet full of clothes, she just needed something different to wear.

To get her gifts, we drove to Walmart. It was awesome! It was super fun to go through the store to find stuff for her. We made sure that the coat, hat, and gloves would look good together, got clothes that were in bright colors, and even got one extra thing. When we were walking over to find the One Direction CD, we saw Frozen blankets. We couldn't hold back and got her the one with just Elsa. The reason it sounds like we almost didn't get wasn't because we didn't want to spend the money or something, but because, in the institution, they can get jealous. They share things like DVDs and CDs, but if one person gets the child they picked too many special, personal gifts, they others can get jealous. We decided to get it, because if she needed clothes and socks, she probably needs a nicer blanket too.

All in all, this was an amazing experience! There are so many different organizations and projects that people can donate to, and I recommend you do. It is so worth the happy feeling you get when you know that your presents really will be loved and that someone will be thankful for the hour and a half you spent running around a store for them. In conclusion, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, and happy holidays!!!

Locks of Love

Some people still haven't seen my new haircut, so I thought I would tell you about it here. I got it on July 6th and I donated 11 inches of my VERY long hair to an organization called "Locks of Love." It is an organization where people donate their hair to make wigs for kids with cancer who need them. You need to donate at least 10 inches, but I promise it isn't as long as you think it will be. It was my third time doing it, and I think it's a great thing to do. So, if you have the hair, please think about donating!