Class Debate: Rwandan Genocide

Yesterday in class we debated the topic of the genocide in Rwanda. My group represented Paul Kagame, and even though I think we had a pretty good idea of our part in the genocide, I’m still not exactly sure of everyone else. I feel like we do not know enough about the other groups, and the questions I have to ask and the questions of others are not entirely answered, they seem a bit opened ended. And I’m not exactly sure who to blame. But, for the rivalry of the Hutu and Tutsi, I definitely blame Belgium. First they favored the Tutsis, and then before they pulled out of Rwanda they switched the power over to the Hutu because they said that they had made a mistake favoring one over the other but how does switching the power to the other group make anything better? One would think that in order to restore peace between the groups, they would split the power evenly between the Hutu and Tutsi groups. I do not blame the U.S. or the U.N. because the United States had just come out of a war and placing myself in the shoes of the U.N. I ask myself, “What side do you take?” As for France, they decided to help the official military of Rwanda, which seems like the most logic thing to do.
This debate has become something that I don’t see myself too good at because I am able to see the situation from everyone’s view and you would think this helps, but I often find myself wondering why NOBODY sees their wrongs in this, because they ALL have done something they should not have done and I just want to ask everyone why they can’t forget their differences, realize they’ve made mistakes, stop what they are doing and restart, making sure that neither group has more power than the other to ensure peace for the future. I just don’t understand. They probably know they’ve done wrong, but they have too much pride to admit it was wrong and come up with reasons for their doings. I think that if the opposing groups were to work together to find out what started their dispute, they might come to find out whose fault it really is. From the debate on Thursday, it seemed like all the outrage began when the Belgians came in and favored one over the other because before the Belgians came, they were separated and yes, one had a higher status than the other but they were not favored in the way the Belgium did and I believe that this could be the origin of the chaos.

The American Scholar

Emerson’s argument that a person’s job has begun to define them in “The American Scholar” does not hold true today.
In the United States a person’s job does not have to define them. For example, if someone is a police officer, they can be much more than that as well. They can be a father, a cook, a handy man, a basketball player (probably not pro, or anything like that, but they can still enjoy playing the game); they could even go back to school to become a doctor if they wanted! It is their life and they can choose if whether or not they want their job to rule out all else. We can be “Man Thinking” if we choose to be so. In “The American Scholar” Emerson wrote, “The state of society is one in which the members have suffered amputation from the trunk, and strut about so many walking monsters - a good finger, a neck, a stomach, an elbow, but never a man.” This means we are never whole, never using all our parts, never using all our minds; only portions of them working at a time. Most people today use more than one portion, do more than just one job; in fact, many people have several jobs because they need the extra money.
When a police officer comes home after a busy day at the station and goes to the grocery store in need of food to make dinner, he does not watch for a speeder or for someone to run a red light; he may notice it, as any of us would but he would not memorize the plate number to report to the presently working officers. They keep work life separate from home life. Same goes for the majority of people. A teacher does not come home to her family and begin teaching her children geometry. A builder does not come home to start adding on to his house. If someone has two jobs, they keep them separate from one another, one often being much different from the other; in which case they would need several different skills. My best friend’s father is a college professor as well as a vice-president of a sporting goods store. Although these jobs keep him busy, he always finds time for family. He and many others surely don’t allow their jobs to define who they are.

Energized by Candy

This past weekend was Halloween and even though all I thought of for most of October was Homecoming, I was really excited for Halloween as well. My friends and I didn’t really make plans until the week of and we literally decided on a costume two days before Halloween; we were sailors. And even if we did make plans a little late, it was definitely the best Halloween yet!
For Halloween, I went trick-or-treating with Taylor Cieslak, Gabe Baugher, Brooke Kucha, Kelly Glynn, Sam Spokaeski, Bridget Fitzgerald, Rachel Zuckerman, and Ally Koltunchik. We went to Sam’s house for pizza and stuff before trick-or-treating. I didn’t realize how cold it was until we were out walking around, and I was freezing because I had a thin shirt one, cropped pants and ballet flats. But we all froze together, except for Ally who had the brilliant idea to be and Eskimo for Halloween! We went around in Sam’s neighborhood for a while, stopped at her house where we several of us borrowed sweatshirts from Sam and we went into a couple other neighborhoods as well. When we were done trick-or-treating, we had heard of this haunted house/yard that someone had set up on a street off of Newburgh. We decided to go. When we pulled up there was a man, dressed in a black cape and wearing a scary mask that crept toward our car until he was up against the window. All of a sudden, he banged the widow and made a terrible noise! Even though we were all ready for him to do something like this, we all screamed, and I felt bad for the mom who was driving us. He kept near our car, hitting the windows and looking in them, us screaming the entire time. And at one point, when he had left the car, Taylor, Sam, Rachel and I decided to get out of the car! At first it was only Tay and I who had gotten out of the car, because as soon as we stopped and got out, the man ran towards the car! And when Taylor and I were the only ones who got out, he began to chase us! But being the cross country runners that we are, he couldn’t touch us! Although, I will admit we ran straight for the car and piled in. When we finally returned to Sam’s house, we all stayed over late, sorted our candy and watched a movie.
After that, Tay, Brooke, Gabe and I spent the night at Brooke’s house. Gabe fell asleep as we began to watch Silence of the Lambs and after the movie was over, Tay, Brooke and I stayed up to about four, energized by our newly acquired candy stash.

For as Long as I Can Remember...I've Been Drawing

I have been drawing since I was about two, starting by tracing my hand with the help of my mother. We were always drawing together, my mother and I, with me attempting her star and heart doodles as well as the bubble letters in which she wrote my name. And quite often I would ask her to draw Ariel, my favorite Disney Princess, for me so that I could color her in. Again, I was tried to draw my own princesses as I watched her draw Ariel. When I started pre-school at the age of three, one of my favorite activities, of course, was drawing. I must have drawn a lot of people, mostly princesses, because one day my teacher asked my mom if we drew a lot at home (which we did) and told her that for such a young age, she was amazed at the detail I put into my pictures.
I continued to draw in my free time, for my pure enjoyment of it and when we had free time in kindergarten, I drew there too. I can remember one girl asking me for drawing lessons because I drew so well! These drawings would not seem so amazing now, but back then, they were the best drawings we had ever seen. In second grade I started going to Art 101, located on Farmington, just a couple buildings north of Bates. It was there that my art skills began to flourish. It started with the simple face of a character of my choice. I chose Ariel (Big surprise there, right?). I can remember Scott, the owner, showing me for the first time of many how to get the basic shape of your drawing down first. I can remember watching and noting in my mind the way he sketched, just dark enough for it to be visible on paper and just light enough so when erased, no one would ever know the lines had been there to guide me. After that I went on to drawing in more detail, like where her eyes would be and the way her hair is shaped, afloat in the non-visible water. With some help from Scott, and probably a few others who worked at Art 101 at the time, I had drawn Ariel pretty well and it was time to add color. First I had to trace over every line with a black Sharpie and erase all pencil marks beneath. Scott then had me add marker, red for her hair, a peach color for skin and so on. And these markers were not just mere Crayola markers, I don’t actually know what kind they were, but they were much better than I had ever used at school or home. After that, I learned how to shade. Start dark with your color pencil and get lighter as you go until it fades into the color of the marker (you always use a color pencil slightly darker than the color of your marker). Once I had done that, I was finished and Scott had me sign it.
Since then my drawing skills have blossomed. As I grew older, I began to do much, much more on my own. About a year ago, Scott decided that I was ready to actually draw a person, a real person. Something I have waited for since the day I started. I chose a picture of Audrey Hepburn and started to work on it at art. It took me a while and it was done in pencil, when I finished it…Scott thought it was so good, he wanted to keep it to hang up in Art 101, with all the other amazing pictures done by students who have gone there. Of course I let him keep it, for having a picture hanging up there is another thing I had always worked towards.

A Prize Won for Good Intentions

Since 1901 the Nobel Prize has been awarded to men and women from around the world for achievements in chemistry, physics, physiology or medicine, literature and for peace. The prize was founded by a man named Alfred Nobel, who, in his will left much of his wealth to the establishment of the Nobel Prize. You see, he was the inventor of dynamite, which he used to blast rock in his family’s business of construction work. However, the market for dynamite grew quickly and his business was exporting the dynamite to other countries in Europe, America and Australia; he also founded factories and laboratories in 90 different places in more than 20 centuries. As he grew old he put an advertisement in the newspaper looking for a “lady of mature age…as secretary and supervisor of household.” A woman came, but soon decided to leave in order to marry a man back in Austria (where she came from). But they did keep in touch and she became a prominent figure in peace, which no doubt influenced him to write a peace prize into his will. He died in 1896 and when his will was opened he surprised everyone with the fact that his fortune was to be used as a prize in the few fields above.
Very recently, the Nobel Prizes have once again been awarded to a select few people for the year of 2009. The Peace Prize, which just may be the best know of them all was awarded to the United States own president, Barack Obama for “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples”. When I heard this I was extremely surprised. I wondered to myself, why? Why has he won the Nobel Peace Prize? He hasn’t accomplished any big peace agreement or anything, what has he done to earn this? His extreme efforts are what they all say. Personally, I was under the impression that the prize is presented for an accomplishment, not a set of goals made that haven’t been reached. Even the President himself wondered what he had done to have such an honor thrust upon him. He didn’t have to accept it, of course, but he did accept it, he said “as a call to action.” Although I feel that to have won this extraordinary prize, action should have already taken place. When he actually accepts the award, on December 10th, 2009 he will also receive his cash prize of 1.4 million dollars, which he intends to give to charity. This fact alone makes me feel a little better about his winning the prize.
Again I wonder what he has accomplished to win this prize. He hasn’t. He has been given the reward for his efforts towards nuclear disarmament and American engagement. And the former president of Finland, Martti Ahtisaari “saw the award as an endorsement of Mr. Obama’s goal of achieving Middle East peace." In each of the previous sentences, I think we need to look at a few key words, such as “efforts” and “goals”, especially “goals”. I do not believe the Nobel Peace Prize should be won for setting “goals.” Reaching these goals, yes, but not by setting them. And by setting these goals and achieving this prize, there is now quite a bit of pressure on President Obama to reach them. But the wars are not over yet and there isn’t peace in the Middle East, when someone actually achieves this they have definitely earned a Nobel Peace Prize. But for now, I guess we’ll just continue to fight.
For more information on Alfred Nobel or President Obama accepting the Nobel Peace Prize got to:
nobelprize.org
www.nytime.com

I've Been Thinking Lately...

Recently a friend told me a story of how her friend’s house burned down. It was started by something wrong with the cars in their garage and the fire spread through the house. I can’t possibly imagine what that would be like, they lost everything; their clothes, pictures, things you cannot replace and anything with meaning to it was lost in the fire. As hard as I try, I can’t possibly imagine what must have been like, losing everything.

So, lately I have been thinking what I would do if my house was to burn down. You are always told to get out right away, but I honestly don’t think I could do that without grabbing a few things (ok, maybe a lot of things) that are important to me. I think that if I were in that situation, I would grab my purse first and throw in my ipod and camera (my phone too, if it wasn’t already in there). I would then find the biggest bag in sight and start throwing stuff in there. Right now those items would probably be my Homecoming dress, all my art books, my journals, probably as many clothes as I could, and all my pictures. I would also probably grab a few of my favorite books since they are right on top of my desk. I also think that if I had time to, I would run downstairs to get my drawings off the stairway to the basement, because those things mean a lot to me! I put so much in to those, I can’t ever imagine losing them to fire. Then again, I can’t imagine what it would be like to lose anything in a fire.

I say this now, but I really don’t think I realize the intensity of having a fire in your home. And what if it happened while I was out and nobody was home? I would for sure lose everything then. And what if there was no time to grab all those items (which there probably wouldn’t be)? I would be so devastated. For me, the past week has given me time to realize how lucky I am to be living where I am, and have a roof over my head with a house containing everything I need. First it was the fire and then I went to the Invisible Children Night on the Field, which really woke me up. I couldn’t believe the things I saw during the video that night. I thought of the things I take for granted every day and compared my life to the lives of child soldiers in Uganda, realizing how inhuman some people can be and how thankful I am to be here today. Sometimes I think my life is hard, but it’s nothing compared to the lives of many.

Words Unspoken: First Day of High School Memoir

At five in the morning my alarm clock began to buzz and I awoke in a daze, slightly nervous and extremely excited for the day ahead. With breakfast on the mind I flicked my lamp on and stumbled downstairs in search of food. I found some cereal and figured that would be as good as anything else; the cereal, loud against the walls of a glass bowl, and the milk looked rather smooth, flowing over cereal like a shallow stream over pebbles. When finished with breakfast, I headed back upstairs, brushed my teeth and stressed out because on my first day of high school I didn’t have a clue what to wear.
Not knowing what I’d wear on the first day of school was a first for me. I have always, always known what I was going to wear at least a week before school had even started! But now I wasn’t sure at all. I was going to HIGH SCHOOL and I wanted to make a good first impression. Many times I feel that a person’s clothes can say a lot of unspoken words about someone’s personality and I sometimes think of them as a projection of who they are inside. If someone is wearing smelly, wrinkled clothes, to everyone around this person their outfit is screaming words such as careless, messy and unorganized, and even though this may not be the case for this person (I mean, who doesn’t have a bad hair day once in while?) it is what people will think about them without getting to know them, especially if it’s the first time they see you. Personally, I don’t want people thinking the wrong things about me because of what I was wearing the first time they saw me.
Do I wear jeans? Probably, I hope it’s not too hot in school…it’s supposed to rain, I thought to myself, jeans are definitely a go. Now for a top; tank tops are definitely out of question, (Who owns a tank top with three-inch straps?) so I’d better go for short sleeves. Which actually worked out perfectly because I had just gotten a white, v-neck t-shirt. With coral, orange and light yellow “paint” strokes printed on it. My outfit was beginning to say everything I wanted it to about myself; art has a lot to do with who I am, making this shirt absolutely perfect for my first day. There was just one small problem: jeans and a tee seemed too plain for a first day of anything. So, I threw on a thick, brown, braided belt with a large buckle around my hips to complete the ensemble.
The next step in my morning routine was by far the easiest: hair and make up. I’d pin up some of my hair using bobby pins and let the rest of my spiraling chestnut waves fall freely in front of my shoulders and down my back. Make up was a piece of cake and as soon as l was finished with it, I quickly made my lunch (peanut butter and jelly), grabbed a folder, my purse, cross country bag, slid flip flops on and walked out the door in just enough time to be driven by my mother to the bus stop and not miss the bus (being late can say quite a bit about someone as well).
After only a few moments the darkness was broken by the bright lights of a yellow school bus coming from the left.
“Have a good day! Love you!” my mom called as I hopped out of the car and approached the bus. The doors to the bus opened and a familiar breeze blew hair away from my face. As I walked up the bus’s steep steps, I searched for a familiar face to sit by. Thinking that one of my two best friends would have already been on, I was disappointed to find that she had not yet been picked up. I plopped down in an empty seat behind a couple of boys about a year older than me and waited, staring out the window and watching as the morning light grew brighter with every minute that passed. Turn, stop, pick up a group of kids and keep going was the bus routine, one which I have become much too familiar with throughout the years. I hadn’t been waiting that long, maybe a stop or two when the bus got to my friend’s stop. As she entered the bus we immediately saw each other and smiled. Sitting next to me, we talked of our hectic mornings and the unknown territories of high school we were about to enter.
Arriving at school with at least twenty-five minutes to kill, I made my way to B hall in search of my locker. Now I was walking amongst guys, four years older, who towered above me like giants. And at that point, I wasn’t about to walk anywhere alone and soon found a friend whose locker was in B hall as well. The difference between the halls here and the hallways I’d grown comfortable with at Holmes Middle School is huge; so many more people and the age difference seems so big. This is place is crazy and confusing! I thought to myself, although I knew I was more than ready and extremely excited for the four years ahead.
While searching for my locker, I passed it and turned around to realize it wasn’t as deep down the hall as I had thought. I was a little worried that I had forgotten my combination, but surprised myself in having memorized it after looking at only once or twice during my last week of summer. I struggled for a moment, jamming my cross country bag into the sliver of a locker and was off again in search of friends whom I hadn’t seen over the summer; luckily a few of them were right down the hall. I also passed a bunch of friends (upperclassmen!!) that I had made over summer conditioning for cross country.
Twenty minutes has never gone by so fast! Suddenly I was in first hour seated next to the few people that I knew in the class. Now that the day had officially started, excitement overtook any nervousness I had left and the rest of the day flew by like a breeze, even cross country practice had been easy, although that may have been because our first meet was the following day. I never worried about not knowing people in classes or getting lost and at the end of the day, my thoughts traveled back the strategic outfit I had chosen to wear that morning and what unspoken words it had whispered to the people surrounding me throughout the day.

Me: A-Z

A is for artist.

Art is my passion; drawing, painting, sketching, doodling, lettering, photography...I love it all. Fashion sketches are my favorite, I have three books full (of my own sketches) at home and one day I hope that drawing or just art in general will be my job. Whether its for the next big Disney animation or designing clothes for Chanel.

B is for books.

I absolutely love to read. It is definitely one of my favorite things to do in my free time. I would rather read a realy good book than watch TV. In seventh grade I got hooked on Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. I was positive that there couldn't be a better book out there. But then, the sixth Harry Potter movie came out this summer (Yes, I've read those too) and I decided to reread the sixth book before I saw the movie. As I reread Harry Potter, I realized 1) how much better of a writer J.K. Rowling is compared to Stephenie Meyer and 2) how ridiculous the whole Twilight obsession is, now I was not completely "obsessed" with it, but I really, really liked it. By rereading Harry Potter, I was reminded why it used to be my favorite series.

C is for creative.

Creative. Yes, I am very, very creative. Last year my school planner was filled, every page, with doodles and creative designs. In different color schemes each week. People would look at my planner and I watched their exprssions change from bored to amazed at what I had doodled in my planner.

D is for a dislike of dogs.

I have two German Shepards at home. Their names are Trax and Saber.At my house, we have had a dog since the day I was born, so it’s not that I’m afraid of them or anything like that, I simply cannot stand when they get overly excited because you walked through the door. I also think they smell bad and that their big, slobbery kisses are disgusting. I used to want a little dog because I thought their kisses would tickle, but you still get slobber all over so I decided that dogs and pets in general just weren’t my thing; I don’t want to have to take care of them.
E is excited for life.
Being that I am only fourteen, I have an entire life ahead of me. A life that I am very excited for. I want to make the most of it and one thing I definitely want to do is travel outside of the U.S. My dad has always said that he had no desire to go outside of the United States and I could never understand that. I have always wanted to see what other places are like and what other people do; I just find it interesting to compare other cultures to my own. What can I say? I have some pretty big goals for the future.

F is for friends and family.

I am very fortunate to have such a supportive family and loyal friends. My family is always there to help me, encouraging me to do my best and supporting me in everything I do. My friends are amazing. We are all very close and we trust each other with our lives. I know how lucky I am to have such an extraordinary family and group of friends.

G is for grateful.

This past Wednesday, September 30, 2009, I went to the Invisible Children Night on the Field. This event really gave me a wakeup call. I learned about the child soldiers in Uganda, who have been abducted by a man named Joseph Kony. These kids have been taken from their homes by night, probably drugged and are turned into soldiers for this man. The children are tortured there, and there was one story of a boy, who was forced to watch his brother die and was told that if he cried, he would die too and there is no doubt in my mind that this same situation has been experienced by hundreds of children serving as soldiers. I have always been thankful for all that I have but watching the video shown that night only gave that feeling an extra boost. I may take a lot for granted, but when I look at the big picture I realize just how lucky and how grateful I am for it all.

H is for hard working.

For as long as I can remember, my parents have always told me to do my best. So I did. Whatever I do, I always do it to the best of my ability. It has to be just the way I want it, if I feel I haven’t given something my all, I am disappointed in myself and I cannot stand disappointment…from anyone.

I is for ice cream!

Ice cream is my absolute favorite dessert. It is just so yummy! I don’t think I know anyone who doesn’t like ice cream. One of my favorite places to get ice cream from is Guernsey’s in Northville and my favorite flavor is Peanut Butter Iditarod.

J is for jeans.

Until I was about 5 years old, I refused to wear jeans. I wore skirts and dresses every day. I thought jeans (or just pants in general) were for guys only. I had one pair though, and this was because they had pink jewels on them. Well, this opinion definitely changed as I grew older; I wear jeans almost every day! My favorite ones are a pair I got last Christmas, from Hollister. They fit really well and they’re pretty comfy.

K is for kitchen.

The kitchen is a place I enjoy. Not because of all the food, but because I love to bake. I love the smell of cookies in the oven when you walk in and I’ll be honest, the dough is delicious. Lately, when my friends and I hang out, we find ourselves putting in a scary movie and baking something (usually brownies) to eat while we watch the movie.

L is for laid-back.

I consider myself a pretty calm person. I don’t make a big deal of things and I usually just go with the flow. You can ask me to help and I won’t complain. I find myself perfectly content to be under a blanket, reading a good book.

M is for music.

I love music. All sorts of music, it doesn’t matter if it’s country or rock. Usually I like a certain detail of a song whether it’s the lyrics or the beat that leads me to liking a song.

N is for Nick, my younger brother.

Nick, Nick, Nick. Annoying and weird at times, but I must admit I do love him. I’d say we get along pretty well for the most part; we have days during which we can’t stand each other, but name me siblings who don’t have days like this?

O is for optimistic.

The glass is always half full, never half empty. I always try to look at the bright side of things because if everyone looked at the down sides all the time, life would be pretty gloomy.

P is for pink.

Pink has always been my favorite color since I was little. I used to change it once in a while, I went through a purple stage as well as a lime one, but I always found myself deciding back on pink. I have this one colored pencil, it’s named Magenta but I wouldn’t call it that because it’s not purple enough to be magenta. It is more of a dark, hot pink and it is my absolute favorite shade of pink.

Q is for quiet.

Quiet, especially in class. I really don’t like to raise my hand to answer questions, even though I usually know the answer. I’m not sure why, I just don’t like it. I also don’t really like to ask questions, even though I know when you don’t ask, the answer is always no.

R is for runner.

I first realized that I enjoyed running in seventh grade, when I ran track. After that I ran cross country as well as track again in eighth grade. I am now running cross country for Stevenson and I’m really hoping to get my varsity letter this Saturday, October 3, 2009. I am really close to the time needed in order to earn my letter, so plan to push myself as hard as I can.

S is for shopping.

What girl doesn’t love shopping? I love it! I love going to the mall and the atmosphere of it all. People everywhere are looking for the best deal and a great new outfit to wear, or at least I always am.

T is for Tiffany’s.

Tiffany’s as in little, robin’s egg blue bags and boxes tired with white, satin ribbons. Tiffany’s as in Tiffany & Co., New York, New York. Tiffany’s famous for their silver and diamonds is a place I definitely adore. Walking into their store (at the Somerset Collection in Troy, MI) is mindboggling; I can’t imagine what the original one must be like in New York. You see diamond jewelry twinkling under the showcase light and each one is as brilliant as the last.

U is for up north…

Up north is place perfect for tubing in lakes and dirt biking in fields. It’s a place perfect for reading and writing, a place perfect to be with friends and walk to the nearest ice cream shop. Up north is place to stay up late and to sleep in. It is a place for bonfires and s’mores made with Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Up north is a place to walk to the end of the docks at night and wish on a shooting star. Up north is a place which I enjoy quite a bit.

V is for vacation!

In my lifetime, my favorite vacation has been Disney World. One of these days I would love to go to New York City but for now, Disney is amazing. I love the feel of being a little kid again, it brings back so many memories, especially for me because not only did I love Disney movies as a child, but I have been there several times in the past. I loved the princesses, and the first time I ever went to Disney World, I was three. We went to the Magic Kingdom (Disney World consists of four parks, this is the main one with the castle) for the day and I picked out a hot pink princess hat which I refused to take off.

W is for writer.

I have always really enjoyed writing. At home I keep a journal that I write in as often as I can. It’s just relaxing, and sometimes it helps me to make a decision once I get my feelings out on paper.

X is for XC camp: freshman year!

This year was my first time going to camp since Girl Scouts and I had a TON of fun! The camp was on Lake Michigan so we got to go swimming, at night we had bonfires on the beach and I saw some really pretty sunsets. Being that there was six freshmen on the team this year, the upper classmen decided to pull a “Freshman Prank” on us. They toilet papered our rooms and took the mattresses off all or beds. We weren’t too mad, it was actually kind of funny and all I kept thinking was that the freshmen next year were in for it. Even if we did run about eight miles a day, I had an amazing time with all the cross country girls!

Y is for young.

Young and full of life. Yes, I do have some plans for my future but all I’m worried about now is making the present filled with fun.

Z is for zebra print shoes.

Last year in my art class I drew a pair of zebra print shoes. What made this picture interesting though was the fact that we used a grid to make squares on top of the drawing (we erased the squares at the end) and within each square, where ever there was black in the picture, there was a different design. It looks so cool and I was definitely proud of what I had done.

With a week and a half of school already past, I'm just now getting used to the whole idea of being in high schoool. Just now getting used to the idea of going to all the varsity football games, just now getting used to the idea of Homecoming and all the other fun activites I can't wait to take part in for the next four years. I've been told several times that if i make the most of high school, it will one of the best times of my life.
On the morning of my first day of high school, I thought to myself, This is it. You are finally going to high school! Hope it's all that you think it will be. I have always been excited to go to high school and I couldn't wait to go to the dances! My entire life I had passed by the Homecoming dresses in deparment stores and this was the year that I'd finally be getting one!
Another thing that came to my mind as I started high school was getting my varsity letter. All summer I have been running and conditioning for cross country and I am really determined to get my letter for it. In order to get my letter I have to run a 5k, that’s 3.2 miles, in 22 minutes and thirty seconds or under. Since school started we've already had four meets and my PR (personal record) is 23:05. Our next meet is Tuesday, September 22nd, and I am really hoping to get my letter then. Each meet I have been dropping a good amount of time, so I think I should be able to drop thirty-five more seconds by Tuesday.
One thing that amazes me about high school is the types of clothes people wear. In middle school, everyone has their own style, but we all still dressed pretty similar. Now I see people really dressing with their own style. As I pass guys dressed in baggy, black clothes and chains I wonder if the chains are heavy. And I pass many girls wearing some pretty farfetched clothes as well. It’s crazy seeing people you grew up with change their style so drastically over the course of one summer!