Love for the game

Playing sports is fun and helps you stay fit. There are so many different types of sports and people have different opinions of either liking one or not. My favorite sport is soccer. I love to play any position, but my favorite is playing forward. Each position is important and has value, and each is needed in order to be successful. Being a forward, I love being able to run across the field, trying get the ball away from the opposing team. The feeling of satisfaction you get, when you are able to successful do a trick, after practicing so long, and then being able to apply that in the game. The best feeling is when you score and the crowd cheers, signaling that you have gotten your team a point. Playing soccer requires you to be fit and have a lot of endurance. There are many ways to build up endurance, but the classic running is the best. It helps you to build endurance, stay fit, and have an overall feeling of happiness. Whenever I watch soccer games, I try to successfully imitate the various tricks players do, to fool their opponents. Soccer players I admire the most are: David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Mia Hamm. Whenever I see them play, I am always in awe at how amazing and talented they are. I have played soccer previously, but due to my asthma I couldn’t play last year. I hoping that I am able to play this year and the years following. All in all, I feel soccer is a fun and competitive sport.

Stressed for Finals?

Finals are approaching and you might be stressed out (I know for a fact I am!). Finals are tests that are there to see how well you remember all the things you studied so far in the year, in the various subject areas. Whenever I think of tests, I start to worry and start thinking of all the possible things that I might do wrong, like if I’m careless and mess up or if I completely blank during it, etc. There are many things that could go wrong, but preparing for it ahead is a smart way to go.
Don’t try cramming the night before the test, because you probably won’t remember much and that is not good because in a short amount of time you are trying to memorize half a year’s worth of stuff. Instead study a little each day. Go back to homework assignments and see what problems you had and go back to that and reread that lesson. Don’t try reading the whole book cause that might just make you more confused. Why bother studying something when you already know it? Better to go back and spend time on parts that you don’t understand. Also when studying make sure your not on Facebook, MySpace, Aim, etc. and also make sure your cell phone and ipod are away from you, because they can be very big distractions. I also find it very helpful when you take breaks along the way. Don’t study nonstop, but maybe study for 20 to 30 min, take a short break and then continue that way you don’t feel so overwhelmed and intimidated when you see all the textbooks and papers.
Finally the night before the test, make sure you sleep early, getting a good night sleep that way you are prepared and ready to take the tests. Also make sure you have a good, healthy breakfast, and not sugary things, because they could make you sleepy and make you not concentrate well. Make sure you eat something though! It would be very bad if while taking you test, if your stomach starts grumbling. Then during the whole time you will be concentrating on that and worrying if people could hear the growling, instead of trying to successfully do the test. All in all, don’t stress! Be smart and plan according and you will do fine on the finals!

JK Rowling's new book!

So recently in the news I saw that JK Rowling, the author of infamous Harry Potter books, has written a new book called “The Tales of Beedle the Bard” which is a spin-off to the original Harry Potter series. Originally there were only 7 copies of the book, which Rowling had handmade. Six of the books were given to the people who had helped make the Harry Potter series so successful and the last book was given to auction off, the profit going to Children’s High Level Group. Amazon had bought the book for $4 million making it the highest achieved at auction for a modern literary manuscript. The book was published for the general public on December 4, 2008, with the proceeds going to the Children's High Level Group.

I am a Harry Potter fanatic. When I read the Harry Potter books, I couldn’t put them down! They were so amazing and full of detail; I couldn’t believe that someone could write a book that breath taking. As the Harry Potter books became more and more famous, my friends and I couldn’t wait as the next books to come out. We were all so excited when they had made movies out of the books as well (although I feel the books were much better than the movies). The books were so good, especially the Half-Blood Prince that when the “terrible thing” happened at the end of the book I was crying hysterically (don’t want to ruin it for people who didn’t read it yet). Finally when the much anticipated, Deathly Hallows came out, we were all so excited. I remember how my friends and I had gone at midnight to Borders, to be able to get our copy of the 7th Harry Potter book. After hearing that JK Rowling had made a new book, I was literally screaming with happiness. Although I had not gotten my hand on the new book, I am eagerly waiting to get my copy. I feel that the Harry Potter series IS and will remain the best series of books to come.

Magic of snow

As the winter season approached us, did you have a minute to stop and think about life and how things are? When you think of winter/ snow, what comes to mind? Some of the things that come to mind when I think of snow are: Christmas, holiday lights, snowmen, snow angels, hot cocoa. Of course when I saw the first snow fall for this time, all these things came to mind.
Having time to spend with family and friends, the singing and laughter…yes sounds all corny…but it’s true. I love the feeling when snow just fell and you can go outside and step on it, hearing the crunching of snow beneath you. You look up at the sky and see snow falling everywhere. Falling on the trees, the snow clinging on the bare branches, looking like the image from a snow globe. Then you notice the Christmas lights surrounding you, colorful small specks on the bushes, trees, and houses, which look like gems glistening in the snow. Finally after you have your fill of being outside, you go inside and sit on the sofa, by the fireplace, drinking hot cocoa in your favorite mug.
Thinking about the simple things like snow and the memories you have of it, are things you should cherish and be thankful for. Every family has specific things they do during the winter season, traditions that you have been doing since you were little. Be thankful of being able to experience those things and next time you step outside in the snow, take a little time and appreciate for the things in life.

Are you addicted to texting?

Do you constantly find yourself quickly typing up a message and pressing the send button? Always waiting for that familiar beep that lets you know that you have received a text? Whether at home or before or after school, we are always texting or calling someone. Today’s society heavily depends on technology and this is one other example that shows how dependent we are.
I find myself always texting, whether wanting to ask a friend how things are going, or to see if they want to catch a movie, texting has become a daily routine. When I first got my phone, I didn’t think I would use that much texts and so my parents signed me up for the 200 texting plan, but soon however I found myself texting more and more. When the bill came, I found out that I went at least 550 over my texting plan. My parents soon realized that unlimited texting was the way to go, despite all this I realized how addicted I was to texting.
Teenagers are so caught up with latest communicating methods. Whether calling someone, texting, aiming someone, going on Facebook or MySpace, our world revolves around being able to talk to someone and showing others our ideas and beliefs. Being dependent on technology has both positive and negative effects. On one hand as technology gets better and better, our lives get easier and better, but at the same time we might lose ourselves when there is too much of a good thing.
All in all, don’t be so immersed with all the latest technology. The next time you feel bored, don’t be so dependent on your cell phone or computer, but enjoy the simple things, like going outside.

Beauty defined?

In the society we live in, the word beauty is already defined for us. Our society perceives beauty as being skinny, fit, toned, etc, thus people would go to extreme measures to achieve this "beauty". All around us, in magazines and movies, we see tall and skinny models and thus we long to look like them. To achieve their "look" we can see people trying to lose weight. There are two ways to lose weight. The first way is losing weight, the healthy way and the second way is skipping meals, the dangerous way. The first one is what we should follow. Yes, we all want to look and feel good about ourselves, thus if shedding a few pounds is what we need to do then by all means go for it, but we should choose the healthy way. Eating sensibly and working out is all we need to do. Follow the food pyramid; eat the right size portions and make sure you drink lots of water. Healthy eating is not about following strict nutrition rules, staying unrealistically thin, or depriving yourself of the foods you love. Rather, it’s about feeling great, having more energy, and keeping yourself as healthy as possible. Choose the types of foods that improve your health and avoid the types of foods that raise your risk for such illnesses as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. Expand your range of healthy choices to include a variety of delicious foods. Learn to use guidelines and tips for creating and maintaining a satisfying, healthy diet. Also keep a journal. Write down all the things you eat and the serving size, thus one would be able to know what and how much they are consuming. Exercising is an essential part, but do not go overboard on this. Work out at least 3 times a week for half an hour. Choose a workout that you feel is fun, that way you will actually want to keep on continuing with this, like riding your bike, dancing, swimming, playing soccer, etc. Despite saying all this, people tend to follow the wrong path. They are so obsessed in loosing weight, that they skip meals and eventually will starve themselves to get their desired "look". This will lead to serious eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia. In short, appearances are important but it is not the most important thing to a person, thus don’t be influenced so much on what society perceives beauty to be.  

Ipod mayhem!

As technology improves each day, things getting better and more advanced, teenagers are always trying to get their hands on the newest trend of software. From computers to phones, everything is on the go. It seems to me that the technology gadget which is always changing is the Ipod. Even if you feel you have finally got the latest ipod, wait a year and Apple will come out with another one even better than the previous one.

This is exactly what happened to me. I got my first ipod in 8^th grade and I was very excited about it, as it was the black ipod classic 30 gig. It was a terrific ipod but a half a year later they came out with the new 6^th generation ipod classic. It was lighter than the previous and its surface was made of material that was smudge resistant. Also when you turned it on, they had a better home screen. Of course I still liked my ipod but I wished it had the new features that came with the 6^th generation ipod. As new ipods came out like the itouch, I felt like I wanted a new ipod. Finally last year I bought the ipod touch. It is an amazing ipod that has a touch screen. Even though I got the new one, I learned my lesson that technology is something that no one can predict and it is always changing.

You might have recently seen the new ipods that apple has come out with. For the ipod classic, Apple has increased its memory to 120 gig. For the new ipod touch, they have included built in speakers. Lastly for the ipod nano they have an accelerometer which is very useful. Whenever you want to shuffle your music, you just give the ipod a shake and the music is shuffled. If you are thinking of buying a new ipod it is a really good time to buy one, but remember don’t be immersed in the idea of having the latest ipod. In short, my point is; don’t spend your entire time waiting for the next best ipod, instead be thankful you have one and remember despite all the new features that come with ipods, they all have their original use of listening to music.

"College News...."

Everyday we hear the phrase "college news" in the morning announcements as various colleges visit GBN. College...what does it mean to you? One might say, getting straight A's, achieving 4.0 or even higher, going to various clubs and doing sports. All in all, each one of us is trying to build up a very impressive resume for college.
Despite being a sophomore, I am thinking about college and what I want to do with my life. Either wanting to go to a prestigious college like Harvard or going to a community college like Oakton, we are always thinking of where we want to go.
My parents always want me to do my best in school and always want me to get really good grades. I try to do this but I wonder how much more can I do? There are billions and billions of kids wanting to get into the different colleges. How can I stand out from all the other intelligent kids?
Each one of us has sometimes thought about this question. The answer is....not to stress and just try to do your best. Yes, it is true that you should apply for colleges, but in the end colleges will seek you out depending on what your strengths are. In short, don't stress about college, just choose one which you believe will help you add on to your strengths.

World of Art

What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word “art”? One might say stick figures, scribbles, scenery, or anything else that one would associate with the art. For me, it is a way of expressing one self through various mediums.

I have been taking art classes since I was four, and it has become part of my life. From all the stress and drama from school and daily life, it is good to know that there is something you can go to, a way to relax and break away from all other chaos. I have been to three art schools, completing the various levels. By far, Monart, school of arts, has been the best and I feel it has so many opportunities for all who wish to do some form of art. Monart provides many mediums to work with, from charcoal, to clay, to oil paints: Monart has helped me develop a firm foundation in art. Even though I don’t think I would pursue a career in art, art has still become a vital role in my life. I enjoy working with all sorts of medium, but my favorite medium to use is pastels. I love to use the various colors to form a picture of some sort (landscapes preferably).

By doing art, one would also learn about various artists and how their society perceived art. After completing a piece, which is displayed for all to see, a feeling of satisfaction of finishing the piece, at the same time a feeling of amazement that you actually created that wonderful piece of art, fills you.

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