Sucess

How bad do you want it?

Seriously. 

How bad do you want it?

Eric Thomas once said, “When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe

Only then will you be successful”

I’m talking about sacrifice

Not the sacrifice that Jesus made when he was nailed to a cross and died for our sins ever so long ago because

We are just talking about basketball

I mean, how bad do you want to succeed

How bad do you want that starting spot on the team and to come home and find

That letter from the college of your dreams saying they want you

I mean are you willing to lose the luxuries of lazy afternoons

To miss out on Saturday night parties

To go home with twisted ankles and sore shoulders

To give it everything you’ve got

I’m talking about passion

Knowing that there is nothing proving that you will reach all of your goals

And being ok with the unknown and still continuing to work for it

Toni Alfonso said, “It is far better to shoot an air ball than to not shoot at all for fear of missing.”

Are you willing to go through tons of air balls and turnovers just to get that 

one good shot?

To get yelled at by coach just to eventually get the pat on the back

To work everyday to slowly build yourself up

Do you want it kind of bad?

Or really bad?

The Electric Train Set

The Electric Train Set

Passion is like an electric train set

Around and around with what seems like no purpose and nothing to look towards

Getting faster and faster in that infinite circle around the Christmas tree

Its small metal wheels turning one after another

Continuing to keep inching its way along the track with what seems like

No destination

I mean, how can there be one?

If the track is just in a circle what is there to reach?

And don’t you think after countless trips around the railroad

The wheels would ware down?

The black paint will begin to chip away and the once sharp edges will become

Smooth wedges

The passion will begin to fade and start to slip away only to be regained

And one day, that train will eventually run off its tracks

One day it will break free of the entrapment of the circle and get to explore

It will build up just enough speed to make it over the tracks and onto the

 Smooth, wood floor

Get to finally improve and actually make it somewhere

But don’t get me wrong, there will be obstacles

That small electric train will have to dodge

The little hands of toddlers reaching for their makers and crayons

The furry paws of the family dog racing to get the leftovers of dinner

The black leather shoes of  dad who just came home from work and more than anything… just want to sit down

The peep toed heels of mom trying to clean up the house

Before leaving for her late night meeting

All of them really just want the train back on the track

They don’t believe it could make it anywhere

All posing as roadblocks to end the train’s journey

To destroy all that it has worked for

Thinking that it would run into the edge of the cabinet and get stuck

And fail

You see, they’ve never experienced passion like the little electric train

And if the electric trains survives all that

There’s one last thing to avoid

Maybe the worst of all if it does in fact encounter it

The ever so feared…dead batteries

When the passion is lost

When the goal becomes uninteresting and the drive to improve becomes inexistent 

When all the electric train has worked for seems to become a blur and disappear

There was never any guarantee

After all the train was searching for a station that might not even exist

But the little electric train must realize what it truly wants

If it wants to be stuck on that redundant track forever or if it wants to be free

And to reach its goals

If it wants to give up or to pull out every last bit of power left in the batteries

To use its passion as a drive to keep going

For the love of success

And to one day 

Reach the station

"Umbrella"

I decided to choose "Umbrella" by Rihanna for my song analysis because I already like the song and love Rihanna! The first thing I noticed was the point of view and who is speaking. Rihanna writes, "You had my heart, and we'll never be worlds apart." She is writing in first person referring to her own heart. She also uses second person in talking to you. I find that it creates a more relatable and personal song and think it is a good technique in song writing. 
I secondly noticed interesting diction used throughout the song. Some lines would end with a sharper sound, and some would end with a duller sound such as "forever." I think that Rihanna uses sharper sounds when she makes statements of reassurance and commitment such as , "These fancy things will never come in between" and "You're part of my entity, here for infinity." On the other hand, she uses duller sounds on more certain and positive lines, such as, "Know that we'll still have each other." It is obvious that Rihanna puts a lot of work and thought into her writing and is successful because of it.

Reading Response

This week I started a new book called "In These Girls, Hope is a Muscle" by Madeleine Blais. In the first pages of the book, a player describes a game where a team is totally out of sync and lose the championship. She describes the quiet bus ride home and feelings of disgust. The detailed explanation made me revisit these horrible losses throughout the season and remember what it is like to lose hope.
When you're as passionate about a sport as I am about basketball, you know that the worst feeling in the world is losing. It's just absolutely horrible. When your team loses, it feels like everything you've worked so hard for disappears. Eventually you get over it and work even harder, but for that bus ride home and sleepless night, all you can think about is what you could have changed. I'm sure that in the book, the mood will change and move  towards the topic of recovering and keeping hope.

Literacy Narrative

I have chosen to continue working on my literacy narrative, "One Comment." I chose this over my other writing for two main reasons, I enjoyed writing the piece and because I want to continue to develop my voice. I love telling stories, so this writing task was not especially difficult for me. I'm actually kind of excited to revisit this writing.
The two traits of good writing I want to work on are voice and word choice. I've been told that I write with pretty good voice, but there is always room for improvement. I find that voice adds to any piece of writing, especially when telling a story in great detail. Word choice is also crucial to a good paper. Although, that is one thing I struggle with. I don't exactly have a huge vocabulary, so I want to work on developing it and improve my literacy narrative.

Jane Goodall's Plagarism

If I could use one word to describe what has happened in the writing of Jane Goodall's new book it would be "unfortunate." Think about all of the things Goodall has accomplished in her scientific studies of chimps and the worldwide recognition she has gotten. So much respect is lost for her because of her plagiarism. Goodall will be looked at very differently from a professional stand point. She truly messed up badly.

Goodall's plagiarism is very serious. Not only will it lose her respect, but it is also illegal. She stole someone else's work, and that is not ok under any circumstances. “This was a long and well researched book,” Goodall said in an e-mail, “and I am distressed to discover that some of the excellent and valuable sources were not properly cited, and I want to express my sincere apologies. I hope it is obvious that my only objective was to learn as much as I could so that I could provide straightforward factual information distilled from a wide range of reliable sources.” After reading this quote, I can tell Goodall didn't intend any harm, but that still doesn't make it permissible. I think she should first write apologies to all of the authors she stole work from. Next, she should go back it edit the whole book again and fix any errors in not giving credit to others. Only then should she be allowed to put her name on the book and share it with the world.

Yes or No to NC?...

In my quest to figure out whether "Nervous Conditions" should be a part of next year's syllabus, I thought the most logical thing to do would be to take a look at what the main purpose of this course is.  One thing stressed a lot through out the year is this one questions: "How do culture and community influence who we are?" I've decided to look into "Nervous Condtions" and find out how this question is answered throughout the book.

First off, let's look at the surface of it all. Culture: "The arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively." Obviously the environment of NC is very different from the one we live in. Let's think about location and customs. Tambu and her family live in Africa, and as we all know, have many different customs. I'd say that the most prominent of them all is the cast system. The men are given the education, ability to drive, money, and basically everything else over women. Just think about how much that effects the women and how their lives are lived.

What about community? It is defined as "a group of people living together in one place, esp. one practicing common ownership." This is closely related to culture. It all has to do with who you surround yourself. When Tambu is around her family, she participates in the cast system and customs because she wants to fit in with her family and show respect. Nobody wants to be the odd man out, so I think community and who you are with makes a huge impact on how you live your life.

Because this question is answered so clearly throughout NC, I would say that it should be a part of next year's curriculum. Personally, I didn't exactly love this book for it's plot, but I do think that it was a good tool for answering our question and led to a lot of deep class discussions. Most importantly, it gave students a new way of looking at our world in a way of understanding just how fortunate we are. At least, it did for me.

Nyasha's Eating Disorder

I want to talk about Nyasha's unfortunate development of bulimia and how it relates to real life. Like Nyasha, many young women are affected by eating disorders in our world today. It is a tragic problem that many deal with everyday. What many don't know is that it is not just girls wanting to be thin because of our society's distorted vision on beauty, but it evolves around changes in body chemicals and biological differences.
No matter how much reassurance some are given, when many anorexic or bulimic individuals look in the mirror, they see fat even if they only weigh one hundred pounds. Once this takes over, it is extremely difficult to get out of this trapped state of mind. This will continue to be a problem in today's world, but I think the last thing people going through this need is judgement. What they need is understanding, help, and support.

Expectations and Locations

I've never really thought of this, but your location really does affect the expectations put on you. I decided to pick two of the most contrary parts of my life to compare. I'm going to look at myself as a basketball player and a musician/writer. Let's discuss basketball first. As most of you know, the girls basketball coaches at Episcopal are Coach Boo and Coach K. Their coaching style is intense (probably having to do with them both also being football coaches). During practices and games, there is no pouting, no getting upset, and no emotion, unless of course, it's out of enthusiasm for the game. As a basketball player, you are expected to be tough and have a mental block from all other things. Focus is key.
On the other, hand I'm also a musician and write poetry. I know, it' s pretty different from what I just described. In both of these art forms, you are encouraged to let go of your emotions and express how you feel. Anything, I've been holding inside of me gets to come out when I'm writing or performing. It creates a good balance between basketball and my arts.  I'm glad I get to be a part of both sides and to be able to be mentally tough, but also let go of my emotions.  Most importantly, I know the difference and when it's appropriate to show each side of myself.

Free Post

For my free post today, I'm going to write about my favorite tv show: American Idol. I know a lot of people think the show is kind of stupid or not as good anymore since they got new judges, but I've been a fan for years. What some of you might not know is that I play guitar and sing, so to see other artists develop because of the show, it's pretty awesome. This season appears to be one of the best yet as far as talent goes.
Every year, Dru and I make predictions early in the season on who will win, and this year, all my money goes on Angie Miller. She is truly amazing. Not only does she have god given natural vocals, but her artistry so early in her life is insane. She is incredible on the piano and her original songs sound like they should already be recorded and bought by thousands. I haven't seen talent like hers in a long time.  I'm going to put a link to her original song, "You Set Me Free", and if you haven't heard it, I highly suggest it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_NhisWuq9o

Nyasha's Rage

Oh he did not just put his hands on me. No way did I just get beat to the ground by one father. I mean, this is absolutely ridiculous. All for staying out at a party? For real? What's he think I was doing? I think I'm old enough to go have a little fun at a party without getting a lecture when I got home as if I had just gone get completely drunk or something. I really just don't get it. I can't even deal with him anymore. I need a cigarette.
It all started with that stupid book anyway. It's none of their business what I'm reading. I'm not five anymore. Can't I just read what I want and make some of my own decisions? Apparently not because it seems like everything I do is wrong. Of course, Tambu's got to be the perfect child too. "Oh, I'll just read, thanks anyway." Girl, shut up. As if you've never smoked or anything. I'm so done dealing with all this.

Project Evaluation

My first project layer can be described with one word: hectic. Of course, I assumed that I was capable of reading through the week and just doing the projects a couple of nights before they were due. WRONG. For three nights in a row, I was up until midnight trying to read twenty five pages and do a project in one night. After hearing all of this, you can probably guess that there is one thing I have learned to work on, and that's planning.
I will definitely space things out more from now on and not get behind on my reading. I find that the most effective project was the reading response questions. Not only were they a nice, simple way to get points, but they really did help me return to what I had read and think about what the author was truly trying to portray. I'm ready to get this next layer done, and will for sure not leave it until the night before.

Unequal Education

In chapter two, it is expressed to us, the readers, that in Tambu's home, education is not distributed equally among the children. The oldest male of the family is gifted the ability to go to school and study under a teacher. The younger and female siblings get cheated out of this and must stay home and work. I find that it is unfair that these privileges are divided by age and gender and am thankful that we all get to go to school and get such a wonderful education.
Think about what our world would be like today if only the oldest of male of the family got to attend school. In my family, I would be able to go to school, but my younger twin sister would have to stay home. This would not only leave her uneducated, but it would put her at a disadvantage for the rest of her life in getting a job, fulfilling a productive life, and being able to take care of a family. I wish that children everywhere could be as fortunate as us in being able to get a good education.

Research Times

Wednesday 2 hours and 15 minutes: Deciding the key points I want to write about, making notecards (including paraphrasing), and figuring out where each topic would fit best into my paper

Sunday 15 minutes: Using my peer reviews to alter my outline and trying to come up with a better and more specific thesis statement

ACL Injuries

I'm doing my paper on why ACL injuries are more common in women than men. What I want to find out is why statistics show a much higher percentage of ACL tears in women than men. This topic makes me very curious, being an athlete my self and seeing teammates of mine tear their ACLs. ACL tears are common in basketball, soccer, and volleyball. I of course, play basketball and know how hard it is to recover from an injury like this one, so I want to also learn about prevention to keep myself and other teammates from experiencing something as painful and upsetting as this. An ACL tear is a season ender for sure, and I cannot imagine being benched for an entire season because of injury. That would suck! Anyway, what I've found is that what makes this happen is the way women's hips are shaped and their bone structure. Basically, the muscles that run down the leg from the hip to the knee pulls out the knee cap in women. The joints aren't as stable as men's. That's what causes the injuries. 

Why are ACL injuries more common in female athletes than males? This is the question I am posing and challenging upon myself to become educated on the topic. I find this proposition quite intriguing considering my experiences in athletics and witnessing injuries in my fellow teammates. I strive to learn about prevention of such a tragedy. The biological cause for the higher percentages of injuries of the anterior cruciate ligament in women than men revolves around the structure of hips. The wider alignment of the legs and hips causes the surrounding muscles to extend the placement of the knee cap in an outward motion. This divergence engenders is greater occurrence of these knee injuries in females over males.  

8 Mile

This weekend, I watched a movie called "8 Mile". It explains the life of Eminem, the rapper, and how his life growing up has challenged him in his profession. Eminem grew up in Detroit and constantly experienced gangs, fighting, and drugs. His mom was a drunk and dated trashy men. Eminem, called Rabbit by just about everyone, could have easily told his mom to do whatever she wanted and not cared, but there was one problem: he had a younger sister. He basically had to become another parent of her. His adroit handling of boyfriends that came around their trailer park home kept his sister safe and well taken care of, but he still had dreams of his own. He wanted to be a rapper.
In attempts of trying to get a record deal, Rabbit competed in local rap battles in bars around the city. Rap battles are when two guys get up on stage and affront each other through their songs, but it is all freestyle. They have no time to prepare and have to make things up off the top of their head. Not only was this an avocation for Rabbit, but it was also his way of standing up for himself. Of course, most of the insults thrown at him had to do with him being white and living in a beat up trailer. Somehow though, he always came back with something better, after he got over the time that he choked on stage and was taunted with no end. He was militant and would stand by his friends and family no matter what. In the end, Rabbit wins the battle's final round and begins to get some respect around town. I found it interesting that it wasn't shown that he became famous and successful. It simply showed the struggle in his upbringing and his strong will. "8 Mile" was an interesting and great movie.

Research Update

Oh research papers... a time of hectic disorganization for many. I was previously one of the people who left a lot until the last night and had a late night of typing and editing. I've sworn to myself that won't be me this year. I'm glad that we have some due dates along the way to keep everyone on track. Anyway, research is going pretty well so far. My topic isn't too hard to find information on. By the way, my topic is "why ACL injuries are more common in female athletes than in males". What I've found is very interesting.
Being an athlete myself make this topic relatable for me. I've seen teammates of mine tear their ACLs, and it is not an easy injury or recovery. I have always wondered why I never really hear about many guys tearing their ACLs. I've been researching using EBSCO, which is practical and convenient, and have found that the reason has to do with the alignment of women's hips vs. men's. I hope to learn more about this in more dept. I'm surprisingly kind of enjoying this process so far.

Reading Response

            I am STILL reading "In Pursuit of Perfection" by Geno Auriemma. Don't get me wrong, I love this book, but it's difficult to make more blogs about it. Anyway, in the chapter  I just read, Geno explains how long and difficult of a process it is to become a coach of an elite program like UConn. You can hardly ever leave college and go straight to coaching college. Geno sure didn't.
           Just like everything you do, Geno had to start small. He was an assistant coach of a boys high school team. Then, he got offered to be an assistant coach of Virginia University's women's team. He had not previously been a women's coach, but decided to give it a shot. He ended up staying there for four years, but decided he needed to leave and become a head coach somewhere else. Later along the road, he ended up becoming the head coach of the women's UConn team. He turned that team completely around, and to this day it is one of the best programs women's basketball has ever seen.

JV Tournament

          This weekend, our JV basketball team had a tournament in Central. The tournament had three games in it. Whoever won the most games obviously were the champions. To be honest, I didn't expect much of us. We haven't exactly had a perfect record as a JV team. Nobody anticipated what happened on Saturday. In the first game, we won by a fair amount. Everybody worked together to get the win. We've learned our own roles on the team and play accordingly. In the second game, we dominated. I don't remember the score, but we won by around 20 points, which is a fair amount in a JV game. The third game was the hardest of all.
         In the third game, we started off great. We were up eight to nothing. We held a nice lead up to half time. In the second half, we got tired. We had already played two games that day, one being right before this one. We let them come back because of not getting back on defense fast enough and not matching their intensity. We were down to about one minute left. Alex had just mad one of her free throws, making the score 23-22.  The other team fouled, and it was again our ball. Alex took it out on the side of the courted and passed to me. I hit a long jump shot for two points, putting them just about out of reach. At this point, there was around 30 seconds left, they needed a three to tie it. Somehow, they got a bunch of tries at this because of us going for steals and tipping the ball out of bounds and stuff like that. We all played close defense and held them to their 22 points. It was such a relief to hear that final buzzer and know that we had finished it. The final score was 25-22. We shook hands with the other team, and Coach K brought out our trophy. We took our pictures and all went home with big smiles on our faces. I'd say it's been a pretty good weekend.