You

Have you ever heard someone say “be who you want to be, not who others want you to be”? Lately I have realized how many people do not follow this saying. Kids try so hard to fit in with the popular crowd because if they are not “cool” enough to be in that group, then they are judged because people wonder why they are not good enough for some kids. For some kids, it is a big deal to be a part of school activities because they like to be social, but others just like to keep to themselves. Neither of these things are bad, but some think you are weird if you are not in the group that they are in.

In high school, it seems like everything is a popularity contest. Whether it is how loud people cheer for you at games, homecoming king and queen, or how many people say hi to you in the halls. Even if you are the most popular girl or boy in the school you will always have people that do not like you or that do not want to see you succeed. The key to succeeding is not letting any of those people get into your head, and not letting them make you feel like you are not a good person.

Some are shy, loud, joyful, sad, to themselves, or just straight up annoying, but they are all similar to you in a way. Judging them is the wrong thing to do, just think about how much you would like it if someone did that to you. I bet most people would not like it. So next time you feel like saying something bad about others, don’t because they are just being the people that they want to be. (300 words)

Brotha

Recently, my brother, Ian, got drafted to the New York Red Bulls for soccer. The Red Bulls are known for being a very good professional soccer program. After being drafted, I immediately got so many texts and random people that I did not even know came up to me and told me to tell him congrats. At first I was just like yeah it is pretty cool but not too big of a deal. When I got home from school and saw my brother, it finally sunk in. My eyes began to water and I gave him the biggest hug possible, I was so proud to call Ian my brother. Many have asked the question, “Do you feel famous?” or “Aren’t you jealous?” Well the answer to the first one is no, just because he got drafted does not mean that I am famous, it simply means that he has become more popular. Now the second question on the other hand is yes. I am very jealous of him. I have dreamed about myself going professional in soccer and now that Ian has done it, it makes me jealous. He gets to play with some of the most famous people in soccer history.
The Red Bulls play in April and I am most definitely going to cheer him on. I have been asked by multiple people if they can come with me and meet him. I find it very funny how only one of my friends wanted to meet him before he got drafted, and now a bunch of people want to. I will most likely just go with my family because family road trips are the best. Many people do not understand how much work it takes to even make the draft let alone be picked. My brother worked his butt off to get wear he is today. I remember when I was little and I would go and play soccer out in the back yard with all three of my brothers. Obviously I was terrible at it because I was very little, but just the fact that they let me play with them used to make me so happy. I still occasionally go outside with my other two brothers and play, but it will never be quite the same as having all three of them. This is why there are some bad things about him being drafted. I will only get to see him for seven days a year, and I will miss him very much. I know that this is what Ian wanted because he would work out almost every day not just to get better at soccer, but also just to play the thing that he loved most, soccer. My family is obsessed with soccer because four out of the six kids in my family play soccer and the other two still enjoy watching it. I do not think that there is one day that my family does not talk about soccer, and I think that my brother had the motivation to do well in soccer because he had his whole family to love and support what he loves doing. (526 words)

Mistakes

Nobody in the world is perfect, and therefore all people make mistakes. Some men make mistakes and just brush them off and say it is not big deal. Those are the kinds of people who cause trouble in life. These men will make the same mistake over and over again because they do not care that they made it the first time so they continue to make the exact mistake as before, even if they do not recognize it. If men fixed their mistakes and tried to learn from them, then they would not make the same mistake again, and that would help them not cause trouble and they will have a better life. For example, if a guy drinks and gets in fight every single time he drinks, he should notice that and try not to drink as much as he usually does. But, he may not recognize that he is doing that so he continues to get in fights and cause trouble when he drinks.

 

Other men try to learn from their mistakes and fix them so that they will not make it again later on in their life. This will cause the person to be smarter, and make better decisions, which is what all men should do. For example, when a guy drinks and gets in fights and trouble, instead of continuing to drink and cause trouble, he notices that he should not be drinking because it causes him to get in trouble. The man stops drinking as much so that he can control himself. If this man did not stop drinking, he could have ended up in jail. His future could be majorly impacted by that, and some people might not hire you for a job if they see that he was in jail. By making the decision to fix his mistakes, he is better off for the rest of his life because he does not want to make that mistake ever again.

 

                As you can see, good men will fix their mistakes, and try not to make the same mistake twice. If you do not try to fix your mistake, it can have a big impact on your life, and it would be in everyone’s favor if all men fixed their problems and mistakes right away so that they can learn and be smarter in making other decisions as well.

Word Count: 400 words

Support

Love. Trust. Friendship. These are all words to describe the relationship with a family. Although sometimes you may feel like they are not always there for you, they are. Fight break out here and there, you may say a few things that you wish you could take back, but just realize that you have grown up with these people, and they have never given up on you. Just think, did your family ever support you at games? If so, that is a thing that you should be thankful for because they took their time out of their schedule to come and watch you.

From the time you were little, until now, you have probably though to yourself, “wow, my relationship with my family has changed so much.” Whether it is a good change like getting closer and building a strong relationship, or a bad change like getting farther apart as the days go by. Growing apart from your family can be a good thing, or a bad thing. A good thing would be becoming more independent, but a bad thing would be not have a relationship with them anymore, knowing that you used to know what it was like to be close.

Most of your younger years are spent with your family. Holidays, going to sporting events, or just taking a road trip, these are the kind of memories that you want to remember for the rest of your life. Without those memories, you would not be the person you are today because the things that you have done with your family have impacted the person that you are today. Even the littlest of things can change your life and you should charish every moment that you can. Becoming you is the most azaming thing the think about and process because you have changed so much from when you were little. (372 words)

Equality

People are having trouble understanding why there is such a thing like gender role. To be honest, there really should not be such a thing. I believe that some girls are better than guys at thing and some guys are better than girls at certain things. Not ALL males are better at something and not ALL females are better at something. Everybody has something they are good at whether it is the same thing as the opposite gender or not.

First let’s talk about males. Most people think that males are all strong and they are all really good at weight lifting. The truth is, is that some guys may not be born with a lot of muscleto build, and I guarantee that there is a girl out there that could beat a guy at a weight lifting competition. Another thing is sports. For example, they think that hockey and football are both male sports, but I know many girls who play those two sports and are better than a lot of the guys.

The next thing is females. Females are consider the “maids” or “cooks.” Well yes a lot of girls are good at that, but guys are good at cooking too. For example, my mom and my dad both cook dinner for me and my family. Either by themselves or together, they both do an equal amount of cooking. Cleaning, I will admit that women are usually the ones to be maids. I think that the reason for that is because society makes it seem like males should not be maids, so none of them apply for that type of job.

As you can see, society is a big part of the reason why individuals believe that all male and female people are not the same. We may look different because of the long hair, and our naturally different parts, but when it comes to talents or being good at something, you cannot really judge someone for being a girl or a guy. A great example of being judged for being a girl is when the girls play the guys at my soccer practices. The boys come in to the game thinking that it’s and joke and they should take it easy. I come in thinking that it will be a good game. Usually it is a good game, and the guys don’t beat us and if they do, they do not win by very much. These are all reasons why you should not judge people by their gender. (424 words)

Best Friends

I often ask myself, what would I ever do without my best friends? I am constantly talking to them and hanging out with them. Although sometimes we talk back to each other and get frustrated, I always know that I can count on them for almost anything. Best friends are the people that you talk to when you are mad, sad, happy, or frustrated. You can talk to them about anything without them judging you at all. You can be goofy and silly and they still love you no matter how weird you are.

 

The one thing that I hate about having a lot of good friends is that sometimes they do not stay. Friends come and go very often and it is sad. Some might move away, some might not want to stay, some are cruel and some just give up on everyone and everything. It is sad to think that some give up because they start to not care about their future. For example, as they go on to bigger things such as college or getting a career, they might have trouble making it. College is something that takes a lot of hard work and you have to want to do well in school. Even the people who do not want to be there still work hard to get good grades so that they can go off to get a good career for their life after they graduate. When people give up on friends, it is very sad but it is most likely not going to affect your life as much as not going to college would. If you give up on school and do not go to college, then later, when you actually want to have money and find a good paying job, you will not be able to.

 

If you give up on everything, then you will find yourself to be lonely, and not having a job. If you give up on school and your friends, you will not have anyone to spend time with or anything to do in your life because you do not have anything to do. I find it very important to have friends. It does not matter if you have one thousand friends, or ten friends, having them there will help you through to tough times that you face in life, and that is something that is priceless and that should be valued.

 

Word Count: 406 words

Poem

I stand bare feet in the sand,
As the waves dance across the shore.
The dark sun peeks through the clouds,
And I break free by the crack in the door.
I become lost in the sparkle of the water.
The reflection mimics my every move,
As if it were a mime.
The flowers sweep the ground like a broom.
Birds chirp throughout the trees,
And fly across the sea with ease.
Even the fins in the water look at peace.
I collect the shells and make the memory,
Thinking about how tomorrow this will be gone,
Wishing that I could stay forever,
Knowing that I will come back never.


In line 3 the "dark sun" is an oxymoron because the sun is bright, but it appears dark because it is peeking through the clouds.

In line 4 the "crack in the door" is a surprising choice of words because the sun peeking through the clouds is like the crack in the door because you are peeking through the crack to see what is on the other side, just like the sun.

Line 7 is a simile because it compares the reflection in the water to a mime.

In line 8 is a personification because the flowers "sweep" the ground as a real person would do.

In line 9 and 10 the birds chirping in the trees symbolize freedom because they are free to chirp and fly where ever they please.

Line 11 is ironic because the fins in the water are sharks but are referred to as peaceful.

Line 11 is an allusion because the fins allude to sharks, even though it is not stated in the text.

Family

When you are feeling sad, and don’t have anyone to go to, who is always there? Family. Family is the people in your life that will never judge you, never give up on you, and will always love you. Although you may fight with your parents and siblings, they always seem to forgive and forget. Families also support each other. For example, when you have some kind of sports games, they are always there at every game because they are proud to watch you and they want to support you.

After you get in a fight with your friend, or you do something stupid like crash your car, your parents and siblings are the first people you want to talk to about it with. Sometimes there are things that you do not want to talk about with your family, and that is normal. Some things are just meant to be kept to yourself.

All families at some point in life have gotten into a fight with each other. Even if it was big or small, it always seems to fade away after awhile because if you stay mad at each other then who are you going to talk to about things? Who is going to go to your games? Who will drive you places if you need a ride? That is the reason why family is so important.

When you are playing a sport, most people love to have fans there to cheer and support your team. That is why family is an awesome thing to have at a game, especially if it is for a big title like state, regional, or national tournaments. For example, my brothers are in college and I barely get to see them so when they show up at my games, I get so excited and want to play well to show them how much I have improved!

As you can see, without family, you would have a part of yourself that is missing. Family is the reason why you are alive, and the reason why you are the way you are today. Holidays are time to spend with family, and you should enjoy every minutes of it.

Word Count: 375 words

Homework

Most families enjoy holidays, I mean, who doesn’t? There is no school, no work, and you can sleep in as long as you want. Sometimes teachers give out homework that you have to do and that is a killer. It is very hard to push yourself to get the work done on break because you are more focused on family, friends, and just having a little break from stress. Also, holidays re a time to feast, listen to music, watch movies, and sleep. Sleeping is the best part of break for teens because all teens do during the day is school, sports, homework, and all of the other extracurricular activities that they do.

Students absolutely love break especially if they have no homework, because if they do have homework, then it is always in the back of their heads and they just cannot stop thinking about it. On the other hand, others might forget about homework and just not do it and they could make their grades bad. During the school year, it is hard to get enough sleep. Some get up at 5 o’clock, 6 o’clock, and 7 o’clock but do not even finish their homework because they had a practice that night or just had too much of it.

To help you concentrate, try locking yourself in your room for a couple of hours with no television, cell phone, or computer unless you need it for school. The sooner you get done with your school things, the better.

Break is not all about concentrating on homework though. It is about enjoying the time you have off. Family and friends are the main focus for break. Some of the best memories come from spending time with friends and family and you do not want to miss out on that! Memories such as Snuggling up by a fire and watching a movie, opening presents, telling jokes, and laughing at nothing are all memories that could be shared between you and your loved ones. Also, it is the best feeling in the world when you see your older siblings walk threw the door when they come home from college (if you have older siblings).

There are many reasons to not give out any homework and there are only a few that were mentioned. People are busy during holidays, and that is what teachers need to understand. If you did give out something to do over break, half of the students would probably forget to do it anyway. Kids get distracted easily, can you blame them? It is a holiday, and holidays are meant for fun.

Word Count: 436 words

Don't Eat Fast Food

Ever wonder why you are gaining weight? Try looking at what you are eating, is it fast food? Fast food is very unhealthy, and it will continue to get more and more unhealthy. Even though it tastes amazing, you should try eating fruits, vegetables, and protein. If you play a sport, it is very important that you have a good diet because if you do not, then you will not perform as well as you are able to perform.

Some people eat super healthy, and others do not. Most of the people that eat healthier are older because when they grew up, they had better food than we do today. Teens on the other hand, have grown up in a world of fast food and it really is not healthy at all.

The movie Super Size Me is a great example of how unhealthy fast food is because he only ate fast food for a couple of months, nothing else, and he gained a ton of weight because of all of the salt, sugar, and all of the other ingredients that are in the fries, burgers, shakes, and nuggets.

Eating healthy would be a good idea because it would help you in the long run. For example, if you eat healthier, you have a better chance of living longer because your heart and all of your other body parts will work better then if you eat fast food.

Also, drinking alcohol and smoking are very unhealthy. Drinking and smoking affects your lungs, and your heart, as well as your liver and other things throughout your body. If you look at a heart that has been affected by smoking, and compare it to a heart where it has not been affected by smoking, the one that has not been exposed to smoking looks a lot healthier because it is.

Word Count: 362 words

Push

Some strive for greatness and others have to work for it. Although working for it can sometimes be hard, just remember to keep going. When you have a bad day you probably think “my life sucks” but really, it is just a minor set back of your life. You live many days so if one of your days is not working out you can just think of previous days or days that are to come. Maybe you are looking forward to holidays, birthdays, or just a get together with your friends.

Every person has a bad day at some point and that is just something that people have to deal with. Some examples of bad days are when you may have made a mistake and gotten in to trouble, or your parents yelled at you, or you got in a fight with a friend. These are all things that are quite easy to get over although you may not think so.

Apologizing, that word seems to be the most difficult word to say. It is the word that could make your day better. The reason that some do not like to say it is because it means that they are wrong, or that they did something that was not allowed and approved of. Parents are a good example of this because they like you to say sorry for being wrong and that make you feel like they are superior over you. Some also do not like it because sometimes, you are not wrong, they may think you are, but you know you are right.

Sports are another example of hard days. You may have a running day where all you do is run your heart out and you get no cheer for it, the only thing you get is the satisfaction of knowing that you worked hard and that you gave it your all. Maybe you had an easy practice, where you feel like you went for nothing because you did not learn anything new or get better at anything. And lastly, maybe you had a practice where you were just off of your game and you were making a ton of mistakes.

The truth is, is that everyone has these types of days at some point in life. You just have to learn to face it and try harder to make it better the next day because that is how you will succeed in most of the things that you do. (414 words)

AP Classes

At the beginning of the year I was very excited to be taking two AP courses at Kennedy High School. I thought that I would enjoy them because it would challenge me and I had heard from other students that the classes that I signed up for were fun. The two classes that I was going to take were AP Lang and Comp, and AP psychology. I noticed last year that there were many people going around doing random experiments and saying how much fun they were having in AP Psych.

After taking these two classes for just a couple of weeks, I could already tell that this year would not be a good year because I did not really like the two classes. AP Psychology was a lot of note taking and applying terms to a bunch of stories as well as writing FRQs and learning many names that I will most likely forget in the future. I still thought that the class was very interesting, but I did not necessarily like it. I dreaded doing the notes every night, but after a while, I started to get faster and faster at taking them, and I actually found some things about the class that I actually enjoyed. I now enjoy the class a lot, and I love seeing what I get to learn about every day. I am excited to take the AP exam for this class because I know that I will do well. I am shooting for at least a four if not a five on the exam.

AP Lang was the complete opposite of the way I viewed psychology. I thought the class was very interesting and I loved to write about the topics that were given to me. Although it was hard work, I enjoyed it very much. After first term, I started to dread coming to class every day. All that we ever did was write random essays and blog about things that are not important to anyone. Blogs also got harder to write because after so much blogging, you start to run out of ideas and topics to talk about. The writing turned into boring topics that I did not like to write about and the surprise quizzes always killed me. I never knew when they were coming and I really did not like that. I am scared to take the AP exam for this class because I am not exactly sure how I will do, but I hope that Ms. A has prepared me well enough to get a three or higher on the exam.

Word Count: 437 words

Covergirl Ad Analysis

Conformity

When you are growing up, you never realize how much your family influences you. Most people would say that you grew up in a normal household. But did you really? Although you may think that you did, everyone is raised different and everyone has that one thing that they say or do that is different from what other families do. You may talk differently, or dress different, or maybe even look not normal to some people. The truth is, is that each individual is different in their own way.

If you were born into a family that likes the dress and talk southern, then you probably will do the same.  Most people think their family is normal and the way they grew up is normal because they are used to it. You are raised to know your right and wrongs which is a reason that some kids or adults do things that most people would not approve of. To you that is normal, but do you see what I’m saying? If you were growing up thinking that all animals are bad and they bite and hurt you, then you will most likely think that throughout your life living in a house that people believe that in.

Who is really to judge what is normal? Maybe what you grew up knowing is right, but not considered normal in today’s society. Today, what is normal is wearing the trend of the year (which in this case is PINK, Miss Me, and Uggs) because it is the new “hot” style. But being normal is not always about that, it is doing what is right and what you grew up thinking was right. Although it may not be right, as long as it does not hurt anyone, that is okay.

As you can see, the way you nurture your kids in the future will have a big impact. Parents should teach their kids about what is right, because that is the way to get them to be successful. Growing up in a good home with good parents is a thing that some kids dream about, so if you have been raised very well then you should be thankful that they care for you. Even if you tell your kids the right thing, it may not be considered “normal” but that is the right thing to do because that is what parents are supposed to do. (403 words)

The Future?

Thinking about college is a very scary thing, especially when you are only going to be sixteen years old when you go. I am fourteen at the moment and a junior in high school. That thought just gives me chills because it does not feel like I should being leaving for college in a year and a half. Some other people at Kennedy are a grade ahead and I wonder how they feel about it? Some may like it and others may not.

For me, it is a wondrous thing, but at the same time, it is horrible.  It is good because of the fact that it is challenging and you meet a lot of nice people along the way that gasp at the fact that you are so young. It is bad because you truly do not know very many people of the same age. Another bad thing would be that I play a sport, and probably will not be able to play division one soccer no matter how hard I work.

Being two grades ahead really did not take any time to get used to because being ahead at such a young age is often hard to remember. But trying to remember what it was like to be around people of the same age is frustrating because I cannot think of one time that I have had a class with someone younger than I am. Recently moving down to my own age group in soccer has helped me to make friends of my age and they are wonderful people to be around.

College has not hit fully yet but I know it will senior year. Not knowing where I want to go or what I want to do is terrifying, but hopefully it will get figured out soon or it could be too late. Vet school sounds pretty interesting, or being a teacher of some sort, but we will see where God takes things and that is all I have to worry about. (387 words)

Be Thankful

Ever looked at someone and think, I wonder why they are the way that they are? I seem to ask myself this question quite often and I just wish I knew they answer all of the time. One day I saw a lady sitting by herself at a restaurant and I felt so bad for her and I just wondered what had happened to her that caused her to eat alone. Maybe she has no family left, maybe her and her spouse broke up, maybe she never had the chance to make friends, and I mean anything could have happened to her.

When eating lunch at Kennedy High School I always take the time to thank all of the lunch ladies and lunch men because I want them to know how much I appreciate what they do. Getting older causes you to not be able to move around as well and that is why sometimes I feel sorry for them. I know I probably should not do that because some of them might like working there but I can’t help but to feel sorry for them. Seeing them work so hard and to get little appreciation is just so sad for me to see. And when I see them there, I always ask myself that same question, what caused them to work here? One day I would like to ask someone that just to see what their answer is but I don’t want to make anyone feel bad so I probably will not.

All of these examples are reasons why I would just like everyone to take a second to thank them as they walk by and clean the table, or give you the food that you are going to eat. I am thankful that I do not have to work there but hey, you never know what is going to happen in the future! I most likely will not end up like that but I am sure a lot of people will. Everyone should be thankful for what they have, because you could end up like someone that eats alone all of the time if you are not thankful. Also, eating alone is not always a bad thing, so If you like to eat alone, then no one should be able to judge you or think of you as a weird person, and that is why I look at people that work at different places and eat alone the same as I look at everyone else. (419 words).

Why bother?

Dying your hair just seems so pointless to me. I am not sure why people do it. I look at my hair and think, “Wow I am glad that I did not do anything to my hair because it is a part of me and who I am.” Some people think that dying their hair makes them look better, and for some people that is the case. For me, I am too much of a chicken to do anything about the color of my hair. I always think “What if my natural hair never comes back!?” or “What if I do not like the color on me?” The things that I think are the things that keep me from dying my hair.

            Coming into school some days I see people complaining about how they did not get the color that they wanted. If I were that person, I would probably never do that to my hair again because maybe your hair just does not adapt to color very well.

            Another reason why I will not do anything to the color of my hair is because of my mom. If I ever did anything like that to it she would give me the longest lecture ever. That is just something that I would just like to avoid. Although she dies her hair, she still thinks it is a bad thing for me to do.

            To be honest, I am not sure if I will ever change my hair color. It would just take so much time to get used to it. It wouldn’t feel like me anymore, and I would probably think I look weird. That is the biggest reason why I will not do it and I will most likely stick to not changing it. I am not saying that it is a bad thing, but I would not do it to myself.

Word Count: 317 words

Socca

To other athletes, soccer is not considered a hard sport. Well those people do not realize how tough it is to run for anywhere from ninety to one hundred and ten minutes with no breaks. It is a very mental and physical game and I just want all athletes to appreciate how hard soccer players work just to get a tiny bit better at what they do. There are many to things to do, even in off season. Some examples are weight lifting, long distance running, sprints, shooting, and foot skills.

Weight lifting is a key part of soccer because it helps you defend your own body against players that are bigger than you. It also helps you with shooting because if you have strong legs, you can shoot the ball really hard which makes it harder for the keeper to save.

Long distance running is very important. If you are good at running for a long time, then you will be able to make it throughout the whole game without stopping. But if you are bad at it, you will not do well in a game because you will get tired after barely any running. Running also keeps you in shape. Getting in shape is the best thing you can do for yourself. It helps you keeps a solid weight and it makes you love the game of soccer even more when playing.

Sprints help you in many different ways. For example, in soccer you have to change pace a lot, so it makes you unpredictable. It also helps you change direction really quickly and that will make it hard for your opponent to catch up to you or keep up with you.

Foot skills are what make you a tricky or sneaky player. When defending someone with great foot skills, it is very hard to figure out what they are going to do next. That is why dibbling also plays a role in foot skills, because if you cannot dribble very well you become predictable nad defenders will stop you from getting any farther. This also prevents you from scoring, which means your team will most likely not win.

As you can see, soccer has many parts to it, and you can’t be weak in any areas because you will not be a very good soccer player. In order to be good at soccer, you have to practice and work hard so that you can get even the slightest bit better. That is why you need to practice on your own, and not just when coaches can see you. If you only try when people are watching, then you will not get any better and eventually, other players will pass your soccer level, and you will be stuck behind.

Word Count: 465 words

Social Media

When walking down the hallways at Kennedy High School you will always see many students on their phones. What could they possibly be on? The answer is social networks. Social networks have become a huge distraction in school. Instead of learning, students are getting dumber by not paying attention and using their phones too much. It is important to limit your time on social media because too much of it could cause many different bad things. For example, if your phone has become the main part of your day, I would consider that to be an addiction and that should not happen. Before smartphones were invented, all phones were used for is calling or texting each other just to talk or ask important things to find out information.

Another thing that is affected by cell phones is relationships. For parents, they still do not use their phones that much because they are used to the idea that they do not have internet. Therefore, their relationships have lasted. For kids and teenagers, it is a completely different story. Teens are now constantly in a relationship or “talking” to someone but the relationship never lasts that long. Texting has become a main part in relationships and this is why there are many more break ups now a days. Although it is nice to always be able to talk to your special someone, it should become an every minute of everyday thing.

The truth is, is that things have become less intimate. For example, you may say things in a text or on the internet that you would never normally say. This means that there is less of putting yourself out there and taking risks. Also, if you are being sarcastic or you are joking around with someone, they may take you seriously because they cannot hear the tone of your voice nor the look on your face when you say something. Another thing is that you do not end up spending as much time with each other and getting to know each other, you just text most of the time and hang out every once and a while. This is a problem because when two people get married, they usually live with each other. When living together with someone, you see that person every day. If you only text in a relationship, and if you end up getting married, how will you ever know what it feels like to be with that person all the time? These are all reasons why limiting your time on social media would be smart thing to do.

Word Count: 435 words

Popular Music

When you ask a teen if they can live without an ipod in school, the answer will most likely be no. In our generation, music plays a big factor in everyday life. Mp3s Became ipod touch screens and every kid wanted to have one to listen to music on. What kind of music do kids listen to? Well the thing is, is that you cannot really point out a certain kind of music for different types of people. Some like country, some like rock, pop, rap, or maybe even reggae music. Everyone has their own opinion and that is what you have to deal with.

From a personal stand point, I love all types of music, but that does not apply to all people. Pop and rap have become very popular over the years but country made a big gain on popularity. Country music is what people listen to so that they can get things off of their minds, relax and just enjoy the music that they are listening to. Country is also a thing that you listen to when you are feeling down and need to be cheered up, or of you need an inspiration.

To some people, rock music is an old kind of music that your parents and grandparents would have listened to back in their day, but rock is still alive today, just not as popular. Parents, especially dads, are fond of rock music because that is what they grew up listening to just like we grew up listening to pop and rap. Rock is a good kind of music to listen to when you want to dance, or just have a good time.

Pop and rap are very popular today. Sure rap sounds like a big mess of words that are being said, but in my opinion, rap music has the most meaningful lyrics depending on what artist you are listening to. Pop is popular because that is the most common type of music to sing, and people enjoy the way it sounds.

Reggae music has never been very popular, but some people do enjoy it. Reggae music has a certain “chill” factor about it. It just makes you want to sit and relax, and maybe even sing along. It has been sung on shows like American Idol and that was entertaining to watch, but still isn’t sung enough to remotely come close to other types of music. Sometimes I think that because it seems foreign, like it belongs in a different country because it sounds different, but it is still enjoyable.
Word Count: 432 Words

Addiction

Have you ever felt like you are missing something when you do not have your phone? Cell phones have become apart of teen’s everyday life. Between texting, facebook, twitter, and instagram, kids spend more time on their phones rather than homework, sports, and hanging out with friends combined. Cell phones are not bad, but they definitely have something to do with getting bad grades. If you took away a kid’s phone for a week, they would probably get better grades than they usually do.

Without phones, it would be very difficult to communicate because they are the most common way to communicate in today’s world. If teens did not have them, they would not be as social as they are because you would not talk to as many people because it would be difficult. Life without phones would be like a trampoline without anyone to jump on it.

When cell phones were invented, they were used for talking and not texting. Then, texting was invented and people still talked on the phone quite a bit and texted a little. After awhile, texting got more popular as the days went on. It seemed like everyone texted and nobody called. Now, most people text but a phone call here and there is nice because you can get a tiny break from texting.

After texting, came internet. At first only a select few people had internet because of the type of phone they had, but now, almost all phone have internet. It started out as facebook, that was the thing that everyone had and that everyone was on every single day. After facebook came twitter. Twitter was like facebook but it mainly focused on statuses rather then picture and statuses. Instagram was the next big thing. Instagram was also like faceboo, but only the pictures and no statuses. I do not get why twitter and instagram are the most popular now because if you put both of them together, you pretty much get facebook.

Some think that phones are a big part of why some kids get bad grades, and I agree. There is a large amount of time spent on a phone everyday. School does not allow them because of that reason, but kids still use them a lot. For example, they hide their phones under their desks so that the teacher could not see that they were texting. After the teachers caught on to that, kids tried to text when the teacher was not looking, and that still works sometimes today.
Word Count: 427 words 

It's Freezing

Over the past week I have heard so many people talk about how much fun spring break is going to be. For most people, spring break it a time where you go someplace warm, outside of Cedar Rapids so that they can just relax and forget about all of stress that school and work brings. Florida would be a good example of where people might go because it is a popular place that is warm and beautiful.

 For me, spring break is going to be pretty bad. All I get to do is stay in Cedar Rapids and go to soccer try outs and help with the little kid’s soccer camp afterwards. There will be no free time for me which is usually something that I enjoy because I would rather be super busy than supper bored. But this time around, being busy will not be fun. For example, I love to play soccer and it takes up most of my time, but when practicing out in the freezing weather, I definitely do not enjoy it one bit. I guess it is probably good for me because Iowa is a cold place and I should get used to the fact that it barely ever gets warm.

I am very excited for soccer try outs, but I hope that I do not freeze my butt off in the process of playing. Last year, some of the games were so cold and all of the players were bundled up in a bunch of blankets and we were still really cold.

I hope that this crappy weather gets better very soon so that I can get tan. During the summer I get so tan, but then lose it all in the winter and it makes me mad. How can someone get so tan, and then lose it all within a month? It just does not make sense to me at all. Maybe I should lay out more and get so tan that I look black. That could work, right? Anyway, all I am saying is that the weather needs to get better so that I can enjoy myself when I go outside instead of being very uncomfortable.

Word Count: 368 words

Positive

When you play a sport, do you like when people encourage you? I feel like it encourages you to do your best and work as hard as you can, but others think that it makes them play worse and I just do not get it. Although it may seem like they are getting angry at you, they are just trying to make you better at whatever you are doing. That is why sometimes the more successful people are the ones you take criticism and use it to benefit themselves so that you can become the best player you can be.

Things like “play quicker”, “keep your head up”, and “don’t give up” and all things to take in because if you do not, then you will never be the player that you want to be. Letting something like that get into your head is very bad because you end up just playing even worse or you end up not liking the person saying it because you think they are doing it to bring you down, but that is not the case. Even if they are trying to bring you down just ignore it and let yourself shine.

If you take a look at all of the professional sports players out there you will see that they do not let what other people say effect them because if they did, they would not be where they are today. No matter how hard you work and how hard you try to be on everyone’s good side there will always be someone that will try to break you down but just take that gesture of hate and put it in your mind as a thing to work on so that you get better.

If you take criticism and work at it, you will be successful. You will feel good about yourself because not only does it make you successful, but it makes you the best you can be and a good player that a lot of people will respect. So do not worry if people are not supportive of you, just take what they have to say and make your life better as a player. Players of all ages can take this advice, but the sooner you do the better because if you learn at a young age, you will be able to grow as a player faster, and be ahead of all of the other players. (406 words)

Deprived

A weekend without soccer is like a weekend with no food. Without it, you feel hungry and you starve. It is hard not being able to play very much but I know that it is hard to get space to play. There is only one good place to play soccer in Cedar Rapids and that is the SportZone. You can't play outside because of the snow, so you have to fit a bunch of games in on one field in one weekend. As you can see, this is a problem for some people because they want to play almost everyday, but they can't.

I know from experience that it is hard to stay in shape during the indoor season because you do not have practice as much so you have to do it on your own. What if you do not have any space to do it at home and you do not have anywhere to go? Well then I guess you are screwed because there really is not anything else you can do but wait until you have another practice or game.

Day after day I feel like I am getting more and more out of shape because I do not run as much as I do in outdoor. For example indoor fields are about half the size of regular fields so it does not take as much running. Also, when I run in my basement, I get so bored after about a mile and a half that I end up stopping. This is why I wish that there were more games in the winter so that when high school soccer comes, you are well prepared and you do not have to worry about being out of shape or not being as good as you want to be during the season.

For me, I am a little nervous about me being out of shape for high school soccer. If I need to get in better shape, then I will have to work extra hard just to get to the point that I want to be at. I have been trying to work out a lot before season, but I am still a little shaky on the whole being in shape thing. I hope that I will continue to get stronger and get in better shape so that I will be successful.

Word Count: 395

The Journey to Success

On a day of terrible cold weather and a terrible day at school, I was woken from my nightnare by a surprise call from my brother. He had annouced to me that he had been drafted to the New York Red Bulls. Although I keep up with most of the professional soccer teams, I was not too familiar with the Red Bulls. I was aware that they were a good soccer team, but I was not too sure if they were successful in winning games. So far, they have done well in the preseason. My brother got to play in the first game of preseason and ended up scoring the game winning goal. When I found out that he had scored, I was at school. I was so pissed that I did not get to watch it and nobody taped it for me so I could watch it back. All I know, is that he scored a header goal, must have been pretty exciting for him I assume.

Sometimes I wish that I could be half as successful as he has been in his life, but I am just happy that he gets to live his life just the way he wants to. His dream when he was little was to become a professional soccer player, and no he is living his dream. How cool would that be? In my opinion, I think it would be the most overwhelming and helpful thing. You would also learn a lot about different live styles. For example, fir my brother started out play soccer in Cedar Rapids. After a couple of years, he started to travel to different countries and states across the world. Awhile later, he moved to Illinois the play with the Chicago Fire academy team, where he went to high school not too far away from where he practiced. For college, Ian moved to Washington D.C. where he played college soccer and ended up getting second in the national division one soccer tournament. After getting second, he left college a little early in his senior year to go into the MLS draft where he was finally selected to join the New York Red Bulls team. He is still enjoying himself just as much as he did when he first got drafted.

 When talking to Ian, I can tell that he is a little home sick. Occationally I will talk to him on the phone when he has down time, but that is not too often. Although he loves his life, he wishes he could have his family there to enjoy the journey with him, and my whole family supports him 100%.

Word Count: 445 words

The Sick Life

.

Ever get those days where you feel really sick and don't want to go to school? Well yesterday was one of those days. Sleeping in is the best, but after getting up for awhile you start to get really bored. I know that students always rave about how nice it is to miss school but is it really that nice? You have all of the make up work and sometimes you get the work and you have absolutely no idea how you do it because your teacher already taught it and you missed it. This is why I really do not like missing school, but I guess not everyone feels the same way.

When walking into some of my classes I felt so confused. I really needed to go in after school and get help but I cannot get help from everyone so I was just in a sticky situation. So that night I went home and got out my books and studied my butt off just so that I would know what I was doing. It was definitely not fun but I mean I guess it is over now so that is alright.

To me, school is very important and if that means I have to study a lot, then studying is what I will do. I just like doing well in school, it makes me happy. It makes me feel like I have accomplished something for me and my future, and that feeling is great. Trying to do as well as my older brother is going to be very hard, but I hope to do as well as him in school. (275 words)

Future?

Soccer tournaments are what make me smile everyday of the week when I know they are coming up. Soccer tournaments are the reason why I know exactly what I want to do in college. Although I am the young one, it is still my main goal in life. I would love to play division one soccer and take after all of my brothers, but I am not sure if that is what I will end up doing. It makes me sad when I think about college. I will no longer see all of my friends almost everyday of the week, and I will not be as caught up as any of my friends that are involved with soccer at all just because of my age. I am also very challenged in school because I am in smarter classes and it is a ton of work and I barely have any time to just chill out or just go play a nice game of soccer without being stressed.

When I was twelve years old I was debating whether or not to go into high school at such a young age, but my parents said that they would not let me go back to my own grade so I had n choice. To be honest I would have loved going back into my own grade because then I would have friends that are my age, school would not be so hard and time consuming, and I would be way better at soccer compared to what I am to the older girls I play with now. Just thinking back to that day makes me sad because my parents did not even ask me what I wanted to do. I know that were trying to do what is best for me, but if I ever wanted to succeed in soccer, then going back to my own grade would be my best chance. I am currently a junior in high school and I still have absolutely no idea what I am going to college or what I am going to study in college. This worries me because I really need to figure this entire thing out before it is too late. I realize that I still have some time, but if I keep thinking that than before I know it, it will be too late. I just hope that I will figure it all out so that I can be stress free. (409 words)

Red Bulls

Recently, my brother, Ian, got drafted to the New York Red Bulls for soccer. The Red Bulls are known for being a very good professional soccer program. After being drafted, I immediately got so many texts and random people that I did not even know came up to me and told me to tell him congrats. At first I was just like yeah it is pretty cool but not too big of a deal. When I got home from school and saw my brother, it finally sunk in. My eyes began to water and I gave him the biggest hug possible, I was so proud to call Ian my brother. Many have asked the question, “Do you feel famous?” or “Aren’t you jealous?” Well the answer to the first one is no, just because he got drafted does not mean that I am famous, it simply means that he has become more popular. Now the second question on the other hand is yes. I am very jealous of him. I have dreamed about myself going professional in soccer and now that Ian has done it, it makes me jealous. He gets to play with some of the most famous people in soccer history. The Red Bulls play in April and I am most definitely going to cheer him on. I have been asked by multiple people if they can come with me and meet him. I find it very funny how only one of my friends wanted to meet him before he got drafted, and now a bunch of people want to. I will most likely just go with my family because family road trips are the best. Many people do not understand how much work it takes to even make the draft let alone be picked. My brother worked his butt off to get wear he is today. I remember when I was little and I would go and play soccer out in the back yard with all three of my brothers. Obviously I was terrible at it because I was very little, but just the fact that they let me play with them used to make me so happy. I still occasionally go outside with my other two brothers and play, but it will never be quite the same as having all three of them. This is why there are some bad things about him being drafted. I will only get to see him for seven days a year, and I will miss him very much. I know that this is what Ian wanted because he would work out almost every day not just to get better at soccer, but also just to play the thing that he loved most, soccer. My family is obsessed with soccer because four out of the six kids in my family play soccer and the other two still enjoy watching it. I do not think that there is one day that my family does not talk about soccer, and I think that my brother had the motivation to do well in soccer because he had his whole family to love and support what he loves doing. (526 words)

Temp.

Walking into school is a very horrible thing. You have to walk so far that your hands begin to feel like they are going to fall off. Even when you are all bundled up in winter gear you still feel freezing when you come in so there is no use to bring a bunch of winter coats. When arriving into school, you either get hit by a flaming hot building, or you come in feeling like an icicle.

Before school, I walk into many different rooms and for some reason, they are all different temperatures. One room is perfect and you love to just stand in there and feel nice and cozy. Others rooms are burning hot and as cold as Antarctica. This is something that really bothers me because I do not like to sweat during school, but I also do not want to freeze my butt off.

Who ever controls the temperature should put it at a nice comfy amount of heat so that people do not have to take clothes off or bundle up. My third and forth hour rooms are so cold that I have to be wearing a jacket at all times, but my second and sixth hour are so hot that I have to take off my jacket. It just does not make sense to me. Shouldn't the rooms all be the same temperature? I mean, that do not have separate control panels that they use.

I am not the only one that is bothered by this. Walking into a classroom I always here at least five people complaining about how hot or cold it is. I believe that someone should get right on this problem so that all of the students are at least moderately happy because that would make school a lot more comfortable. (304 words)

Miss Representation

When watching the film Miss Representation, I realized that women are often portrayed as very sexual objects. This is why it is acceptable to wear revealing clothes in today's society. Growing up for kids is a lot different today as well because they are exposed to so much sexual media, that they begin to think that it is okay to look and act that way. I do not think that all women in media are used sexually, but the majority is and that is just not right.
On television, there are many girls that look perfect to the viewers that are watching, but is that really real? Well in some cases, it is, but in others, they use computers to make them look skinnier and make them look like an all around perfect girl. This causes people in reality to think that they are bad looking, and they starve themselves. Kids starving themselves is a very hard thing to picture because most of them are fine the way they are, and they should just be happy with who they are, but the media makes them feel like they have to do that.
Miss Representation was a good eye opener, and I really enjoyed watching it. I learn so many new things about the media. For example, in almost every single movie the women are not the protagonist and they are just there for a love story or there to be on a guys shoulder at all times. This is not how women should be portrayed because women are much more than that. some women are smart, good at sports, and all sorts of stuff. Just because females are pretty does not mean that they are only good at being attractive. The media should definitely change the roles of women in everything. (303 words)

Contact Sports

                Walking down the noisy halls today was not the thing that I wanted to be doing this morning. Although it was dreadful, I did hear something come out of a student’s mouth that I really disagreed with. He said, “Football is the only contact sport out there.” I wanted to come up with something to say to him but I just could not say anything without sounding mean or rude, so I kept it to myself. This blog post is where my thoughts come out that I did not want to say out loud to the boy.

            First of all, football is a high contact sport. I agree that it is one of the most contact sport of them all, but other sports have a lot of contact as well. For example, in hockey, you skate around on ice and have people randomly shove you into walls for no particular reason. Also, when a player gets mad, they might just skate over to you and punch you in the face to get a fight started. I am not sure why the refs allow these players to fight because that is very dangerous. From a personal experience, I think that fist fighting in a hockey game should be banned. One day when I was little, my dad took me to a hockey game. A player decided that he was going to start a fight, and it happened less then fifteen feet away from me. I felt really bad for the poor guy who got his front teeth knocked out because his arm got caught in his jersey and he could not fight back. Just looking at that player made my teeth hurt.

            Another high contact sport would be soccer. I know that some people think that it is not a contact sport because all you do is run up and down a field trying to score goals. The truth is, is that yes at times it can be boring, but other times, it gets to be very physical. For example, my three brothers all play soccer, and for some weird reason, they all got really hurt in the same exact month. First, Gabe went up for a header in one of his games, and another player fell down on top of him. He wasn’t sure what happened, but he knew something was wrong. When he got x-rays, they told him that he had shattered his collar bone and could not play for at least two months. Two weeks later, Garet went in for a slide tackle in one of his games, and he had collided legs with a guy. He continued to play for a little while, until he could not stand the pain anymore. He later found out that he had broken his leg. Ian’s injury was not quite that badly, he just got hit and hurt his ankle pretty bad.

            Sports can all be dangerous, and be high contact, you may not realize it, but it is true. So before you go saying that football is the only contact sport out there, go do your research and you will find that other sports have a lot of contact too. (532 words)

Work Hard, Play Hard

To other athletes, soccer is not considered a hard sport. Well those people do not realize how tough it is to run for anywhere from ninety to one hundred and ten minutes with no breaks. It is a very mental and physical game and I just want all athletes to appreciate how hard soccer players work just to get a tiny bit better at what they do. There are many to things to do, even in off season. Some examples are weight lifting, long distance running, sprints, shooting, and foot skills.

Weight lifting is a key part of soccer because it helps you defend your own body against players that are bigger than you. It also helps you with shooting because if you have strong legs, you can shoot the ball really hard which makes it harder for the keeper to save.

Long distance running is very important. If you are good at running for a long time, then you will be able to make it throughout the whole game without stopping. But if you are bad at it, you will not do well in a game because you will get tired after barely any running. Running also keeps you in shape. Getting in shape is the best thing you can do for yourself. It helps you keeps a solid weight and it makes you love the game of soccer even more when playing.

Sprints help you in many different ways. For example, in soccer you have to change pace a lot, so it makes you unpredictable. It also helps you change direction really quickly and that will make it hard for your opponent to catch up to you or keep up with you.

Foot skills are what make you a tricky or sneaky player. When defending someone with great foot skills, it is very hard to figure out what they are going to do next. That is why dibbling also plays a role in foot skills, because if you cannot dribble very well you become predictable nad defenders will stop you from getting any farther. This also prevents you from scoring, which means your team will most likely not win.

As you can see, soccer has many parts to it, and you can’t be weak in any areas because you will not be a very good soccer player. In order to be good at soccer, you have to practice and work hard so that you can get even the slightest bit better. That is why you need to practice on your own, and not just when coaches can see you. If you only try when people are watching, then you will not get any better and eventually, other players will pass your soccer level, and you will be stuck behind. (463 words)

Hair

Dying your hair just seems so pointless to me. I am not sure why people do it. I look at my hair and think, “Wow I am glad that I did not do anything to my hair because it is a part of me and who I am.” Some people think that dying their hair makes them look better, and for some people that is the case. For me, I am too much of a chicken to do anything about the color of my hair. I always think “What if my natural hair never comes back!?” or “What if I do not like the color on me?” The things that I think are the things that keep me from dying my hair.

            Coming into school some days I see people complaining about how they did not get the color that they wanted. If I were that person, I would probably never do that to my hair again because maybe your hair just does not adapt to color very well.

            Another reason why I will not do anything to the color of my hair is because of my mom. If I ever did anything like that to it she would give me the longest lecture ever. That is just something that I would just like to avoid. Although she dies her hair, she still thinks it is a bad thing for me to do.

            To be honest, I am not sure if I will ever change my hair color. It would just take so much time to get used to it. It wouldn’t feel like me anymore, and I would probably think I look weird. That is the biggest reason why I will not do it and I will most likely stick to not changing it. I am not saying that it is a bad thing, but I would not do it to myself. (316 words)

Gender

People are having trouble understanding why there is such a thing like gender role. To be honest, there really should not be such a thing. I believe that some girls are better than guys at thing and some guys are better than girls at certain things. Not ALL males are better at something and not ALL females are better at something. Everybody has something they are good at whether it is the same thing as the opposite gender or not.

            First let’s talk about males. Most people think that males are all strong and they are all really good at weight lifting. The truth is, is that some guys may not be born with a lot of muscle to build, and I guarantee that there is a girl out there that could beat a guy at a weight lifting competition. Another thing is sports. For example, they think that hockey and football are both male sports, but I know many girls who play those two sports and are better than a lot of the guys.

            The next thing is females. Females are consider the “maids” or “cooks.” Well yes a lot of girls are good at that, but guys are good at cooking too. For example, my mom and my dad both cook dinner for me and my family. Either by themselves or together, they both do an equal amount of cooking. Cleaning, I will admit that women are usually the ones to be maids. I think that the reason for that is because society makes it seem like males should not be maids, so none of them apply for that type of job.

            As you can see, society is a big part of the reason why individuals believe that all male and female people are not the same. We may look different because of the long hair, and our naturally different parts, but when it comes to talents or being good at something, you cannot really judge someone for being a girl or a guy. A great example of being judged for being a girl is when the girls play the guys at my soccer practices. The boys come in to the game thinking that it’s and joke and they should take it easy. I come in thinking that it will be a good game. Usually it is a good game, and the guys don’t beat us and if they do, they do not win by very much. These are all reasons why you should not judge people by their gender. (424 words)