Thursday, October 29, 2009

What i enjoy doing

I have enjoyed playing sports my whole life and it has always been my favorite thing to do. But since I cant play sports all day, I need another hobby that I enjoy doing. That hobby is watching sports. As much as I love playing sports, I enjoy watching it as well. I mainly watch football, basketball, and baseball but i enjoy watching other sports too. For example, I sometimes watch hockey, golf, and tennis. Unlike playing sports I have watched sports my whole life and it never gets old. At some points watching sports gets more intense than actually playing. It is also a lot more relaxing and less work because all you need to do is watch your television and enjoy the moment. Watching sports is very enjoyable and I will continue this hobby for a very long time.

Like everyone else who watch sports, I have my favorite team and athletes that I follow. Because my favorite players are usually on my favorite team its not hard for me to keep up with them. I always get extremely excited when my team is in a very close game that might come down to the last play. And when they win, I get a feeling almost like when I win a game for my team. Both of those emotions are the best for anyone to have. But watching sports isn't always that enjoyable, sometimes my team loses. When this happens I get very angry, and sometimes I can't even watch another game for days. I don't understand why I get so mad when my favorite team loses because its not my team and the players probably don't know or care who I am or what I think. I always tell myself not to get so intense when watching a game because I am not on the team and I shouldn't care. But I still continue to angry when my team loses and its still hard for me to continue to watch. Watching sports can be very fun but it can also be very hard and painful emotionally.

Watching sports is very entertaining and fun to do. Its a great hobby I have and will enjoy for a very long time. I will continue to root for my favorite teams and players and follow them where ever they might go. I will also continue to get mad when my team loses or my favorite player does bad. But most of all I will learn to advance my own skills in playing that sport. I learn from the professionals by watching them frequently and looking at what they do to be so good. I will sometimes mimic the player hoping that it will make me better. Sports have always been a huge part of my life and it will continue to be.

Friday, October 23, 2009

Trip to Lake Tahoe

A couple of years ago my family and I were traveling to Lake Tahoe for winter break. I was extremely excited about going skiing and snowboarding. When we arrived on the freeway we saw a sign warning us about a blizzard. So we decided to wait until the afternoon so the storm could pass. This trip was meant to be only three hours but when we saw all the traffic we knew it would take longer. After a long time we got tired and needed a rest. So we stopped at a gas station and went to the bathroom and get snacks. When I got out I was freezing, it was so cold that I had to run into the store. I have never been more cold in my life. After I was done, I ran into the car and we carried on with the trip. Later on that day it started to snow. I think it was the second time I have seen snow and I was very happy. Because this trip had so much traffic, we had to drive into the night. It was crazy, we were driving into a blizzard and could not see anything. I was extremely scared that we were going to crash or drive off the cliff. As the night went on, the blizzard got so bad that we had to stop and wait for it to pass. When I got out of the car this time I was colder than before, but I didn't care because it was snowing! I played with the snow until the blizzard stopped and then we continued our journey. Now the blizzard was gone and all we had to worry about was the slippery roads. But, we had chains on our tires so we didn't worry top much about slipping off the mountain. When we arrived at our destination, I was extremely relieved that we finally made it. We checked in our hotel and slept well that night. What was supposed to be a three our drive turned into a horrible eight hour drive.

We planned to stay in Lake Tahoe for three days so we had plenty of time t decide what we wanted to do. The first day we decided to go skiing. Because I had been skiing for a very long time, it was very enjoyable and fun. After a while of skiing on the intermediate routes it got boring so I tried the advanced ones. At first I was very scared because I had a long way to go and the hill was very steep as well. In the end, I finally got enough courage to try out the route and I did a good job. I was very happy about how good I really was at skiing. The next day we decided to go snowboarding. This was my first time so I took some lessons before I went off on my own. The lessons didn't go as well as I wanted it to and I didn't realize how hard snowboarding really was. After my lessons I went to try it out by myself, that was a bad idea. I couldn't even make it down the hill once without falling onto the snow. It got so annoying that I just stopped and gave up. So we went back to the hotel to rest for the final day.

The last day of my trip was a very good one. On this day we wanted to both ski and snowboard. Since I needed a lot of practice snowboarding, I spent most of my time going down the hill trying to get better. After a long time of practicing I finally was able to go down the hill without falling. When I was happy with my progress I then switched to skiing. I was extremely relieved that I was no longer falling repeatedly and was able to enjoy the last part of my trip. When the day came to an end we went to the hotel got all of our things and headed home. The trip back was not nearly as intense as going there. It was very relaxing and we had a fast trip back. This was one of my best vacations ever that I will never forget. I had a blast and left Lake Tahoe with many memories.

Friday, October 16, 2009

The Game

Football games are always very intense and enjoyable. I love the feeling that I always get before I step onto the field. It is an amazing feeling that I can't describe but I enjoy having. But last week this feelings was like nothing else. It was stronger than ever and I just wanted to step on that field and play my heart out. During the whole game I was extremely nervous and anxious to get in the game. I knew I wasn't going to play that much because of how poorly I played at practice, but I wanted to make the most out of ever minute I played. I understood why my coaches didn't let me play that much and I it was hard to stand on the sideline most of the game. Football is a very entertaining sport to play and I have plenty of fun playing it.

When I finally got into this game, I was ready to play hard. It was during a very important part of the game that decided weather or not we would win. During this series I played well, I didn't rally have an impact on the game but I didn't do anything that caused us to loose. When the series was over, I thought we had won. But quickly after the other team got the ball back. It didn't go very well for me this time. First, I missed a tackle that would have won us the game. Next, I got confused and allowed the opponent to gain a couple of yards. Finally, I made a very bad mistake and let the other team to gain a huge amount of ground. My coaches took me out of the game and I didn't play again. It was hard for me to watch my team struggle and let the opponent score. But it was harder to not be able to do anything about it and redeem myself after my poorly played series. We ended up loosing that game because of a missed played field goal and everyone was upset.

From that game I learned that you should never take anything granted for, always treat every moment like its your last. Never back down from a challenge and always try your best. Because you never know if it is your last. If I knew I was going to be taken out of the game, I would have given it my all and probably would have played much better. It hurts so much when you know that you can't do anything other than watch your team struggle to stay in the game, knowing that it was your mistake that caused them to play that way. Football is a game of many disappointments but has many rewards as well. This experience will stick with me for a long time because of what had happened at the game.

Friday, October 9, 2009

Memories

In my life I have had many good and bad memories. Memories that will stick with me my whole life. Some of them will hurt me when I look back at them but others will give me a sense of nostalgia. It's amazing how much one person can remember from the past and how those memories make them who they are today. They can influence a person in many different ways that may hurt or help you. Memories are a great part of a persons life but they can also be hurtful and hard to deal with. I beleive that the memories that have had a huge impact on their lives will never go away no matter what you do. In my opinion, those thoughts will stick with that person his/her whole life. In my life I have had many good and bad memories that have ifluenced my life in a huge way.
Everytime I look back at all these memories, I get chills throughout my body and it gets hard to stop thinking about them. Some of these memories hurt so much that I just want to forget them, but they are extremely hard to get out of my mind because of what they did to my life. I have tried very hard to forget these thoughts, including, thinking of other issues, being occupied with an activity, and distracting myself from that problem. But some how these painful memories just come back and becasue of that I know they will never go away. But my life isn't filled wiht all the bad hurtful memories, I have had many good ones as well.
During my life I have had many nostalgic memories of my childhood. These memories include my first time at school, playing sport, and having a true friend that I can trust. Those are great memories that I hope I will never forget. But, I think that good memories are easier to forget than bad ones. Good memories will help you become happy about where you are in your life. But bad ones will stay in your life longger because they have casued you pain and you will always remember them. An example of this is, everytime I loose a close hard fought game I will always remember that moment everytime I play that sport. But when I win, I will remember that great moment but I know I will have many moments similar to that one. In conclusion, memories are good for a person but in the end you know that you will remember those bad memories more than the good ones becasue of what they did to your life.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Annotating

Certainly some people are more prejudiced than others, actively embracing and perpetuating negative and hateful images of those who are different from themselves. When we claim to be free of prejudice, perhaps what we are really saying is that we are not hate-mongers.[10] But none of us is completely innocent. Prejudice is an integral part of our socialization,[11] and it is not our fault. Just as the preschoolers my student interviewed are not to blame for the negative messages they internalized, we are not at fault for the stereotypes, distortions, and omissions that shaped our thinking as we grew up.

I started annotating this paragraph by trying to think of life experiences that relate to what the paragraph is talking about. Next, I highlighted the important parts of the paragraph and explained why it was important. For example, I highlighted 10 and I annotated it by saying how I felt about it and if I agree or disagree with the statement. Then I would underline parts that I felt were important and didn't need any commentary because everyone knows what it means. After I would start chunking the paragraph, crossing out all the information I didn't think was important. Finally, i would finish by writing important ideas and feeling about the paragraph of the side of the page. I would also translate some statements to make them easier to understand.

Friday, October 2, 2009

Decisions of my life

During my life I have had many good and bad experiences in sports and my personal life. I have thought of giving up many times in many different things. In fact, I am starting to question my ability of playing basketball and i don't know if I want to continue. Its tough for me to make decisions like this because I don't know if I may regret it in the future. I recently decide to play for the schools football team after I decided not to in the summer. But when school started many players and coaches persuaded me to continue playing this sport because they believed that I could be successful. It was a tough decision but it was all worth it, to represent our school is an amazing feeling. I know many players are jealous or mad at me by joining the team late and not participating in summer workouts. But I took my consequences and I know that they now respect of who I am and what I can do to help the team succeed.

In my life I have had many difficult decisions to make. Not all of them helped me but I know they were for the best. At one point, I questioned if I wanted to continue to go to school. I know that was a stupid thought but I was extremely confused at that time. I ended up making the right decision by staying in school and hoping to be an extremely happy and successful person. Although this part of my life worked out for the best, there are still many that didn't. One time, I made a decision that almost determined whether or not I would have to repeat a course. I once had a finally exam in middle school and I totally forgot about it. I was lost in the excitement of summer coming soon that I just zoned out on everything else. As I was taking this test I saw someones answers right in front of me and I thought to myself that this would either help me out a lot or devastate me tremendously. Unfortunately this hurt me bad. I was caught! My teacher automatically took away my test and gave me a zero. I didn't know what to do, I was extremely scared of what would happen next. I had no idea if I had enough credit to pass this class. Finally after very stressful weeks, I found out I had just enough credits to pass the class. I was happy and I told myself that I would never try to take the easy way out.

Writing this blog has made me think of how lucky I am. I have made a numerous amount of bad decisions and they have hurt me in a huge way. But in the end everything would always work out for the best. But I wasn't happy with just getting away with things because I know things won't always go my way. Every time one of these experiences happened I learned something and know I believe that I learned enough to make the correct decision every time. I am looking forward for the future and the many challenges I may have to face. With those challenges I want to prove myself that I can make the correct decision. I have had a blast writing this blog and sharing my experiences and I hope that I can influence many people to not make the stupid decisions that I did.