My Future

During this past week, I turned sixteen years old and I am very happy. For my birthday I received a stack of money because I did not know what I wanted besides a car. I had a lot of fun on that day getting a bunch of birthday wishes from my friends. Turning sixteen has made me feel more mature. I don't think of myself as a young teenager anymore because being sixteen is where I get my license, start planing out my future, and doing things that I would have never tried at fifteen. Getting to be this age has also gotten me to think about my future education. There is about two more years until I have to leave for college and I am extremely scared. I really do not want to leave all my friends and family and go off to school possibly in another state. I may have to start over my life, make new friends, and start to think about what I want to major in. Only two more years until I am a adult and I know they will go by fast.

I am about to start a new season in my Asian basketball league and I am very excited. This upcoming season will be my third year play in this organization and I finally feel like I am going to be one of the leaders. Many of our previous players have moved on to go play for a different team or to just focus on their school teams which means my brother and I will have the most experience playing in this league. I really want to see how I will do because I haven't played a game in a very long time because I quit my schools team. I think I have improved but I'm not sure, the only way to find out is to play. I am now practicing a lot in my backyard where I have a basketball hoop. I want to prove myself this year and I really want to be one of the best on the team. I have mostly worked on my shooting ability and footwork, which were my two weaknesses last season. I pretty much have my shoot down but I'm not sure about my footwork. I am also afraid if I am physically fit enough to handle all the running. I have not had a serious exercise session in a very long time and I think I am out of shape. But I will find out a way to eliminate these problems before the season starts. This organization is a traveling team that plays other organizations from San Francisco to Los Angeles which is always fun. Every year we have a trip to Los Angeles where we compete in a tournament with the top teams in California. We have not had a excellent season in the three years I have played but I think we can change that streak because we have a new coach, new players, and a whole new mentality. During this weekend, I plan to watch more of the Olympics and work on my driving again because I am very close to finally getting my license.

Crisis Of Faith Final Draft

When I was younger, I had a crisis of faith when I had to make an important decision that involved my religion. In Elementary school my class was having a class survey on our religious affiliation. I had no idea of my family's faith and I forgot to ask my parents the previous day so I had to guess. We were going around the class asking everyone what their religious beliefs were and my teacher was writing down what we told her because she wanted to see how much students were Buddhists, Christian, Catholic, etc. So when it got to me I said I was a Buddhist hoping that I guessed right. She tallied up the number of students in each religion and we found out which religion had the most supporters in the class. I didn’t think it was that big of a deal if I got it wrong because we were probably not going to think about this ever again. But I was wrong she assigned us a huge essay on our religion explaining what we ate, what we did in our churches, and other stuff. Now I was scared and I really hoped I got it right.

I planned to go home and ask my mom if we were Buddhists and when I asked her she said we were Christians. I was surprised because I thought we were Buddhists. She asked me why I thought that and I explained. I was furious about what had happened that day because I didn't want to tell my teacher I had made a mistake, thinking that I was going to get in trouble. I was stuck, I was either going write an essay about a religion I had no knowledge about or tell my teacher the truth not knowing what the consequences would be. Obviously, I now know that it is not that big of a deal to tell your teacher you made a mistake but I thought it was a huge deal like any ten year old. I later found out that it is disrespectful to lie about your religion but I still did not want to tell my teacher. I ended up writing about Buddhism making up information as I was writing. I turned my essay in and hoped that anyone that was Buddhists wrote about the same things I did.

I don't think anyone else was a Buddhist in my class but my teacher still found out because what I wrote about had nothing to do with Buddhism. So my teacher asked me to stay after class. I was scared out of my mind because I knew I was going to get a long lecture. When school ended, I stayed behind as my teacher had ordered me to. It didn't end up too bad, she just told me that it was bad to lie about your religion and told me what I really believed in and I said I was a Christian. She just told me to write another essay and she would accept it for full credit. I was glad that she let me go easy after all the stunts I pulled but I learned a couple of lessons about the importance of respecting your religious beliefs.

After this experience I decided that I would like to learn more about Christianity but I did not want to go to church. So I asked my mom if she could enroll me into a Sunday school. I would go every Sunday just like church and learn about Jesus, heaven, and other stuff that involve Christianity. This program included games, movies, and plays, all relating to Christianity so we would learn about this religion and still have fun. It was also a good way to meet new friends from all over the Bay Area. But when I got older we started to have homework for it and the amount of activities decreased. After a while I got sick of it and decided to drop out. The school was great and taught me a lot about my religion, which was my goal in the first place so it was worth my time. I’m glad I had this experience with school and my life because it taught me about the type of person I am and also helped me understand Christianity.

Driving

I have now had my permit for four months and driving has been very exciting. It seems like I learn something new every time I practice driving. I have basically learned everything I need to know to be able to apply for my driver test for a license. But I still have to wait a couple of months before I can take the test. I think I am a pretty good driver from what I have experienced behind the wheel. I have never made a huge mistake and I always receive complements from my family and my instructor. I have only taken two lesson with my driving instructor and it is mandatory to take at least three lessons before you take the drivers test. You also need fifty hours of driving which includes ten hours during the night and you need to fill out all your hours on a chart to show you have completed it. I havent't been updating my chart but I remember all the times I drove and how long I drove. The only thing I really need to practice is parallel parking backwards. Parallel parking is probably the hardest task you have to accomplish in driving but I think I can master it if I keep on practicing. I am so excited about getting my license because getting a license will make me feel a lot more mature. Getting my license would mean I have the trust of all the people out on the road with me and they expect me to make the right decisions not doing something stupid and put our lives in jeopardy. Having a license is a huge responsibility and I think I am ready to grow up and take that responsibility to operate a vehicle safely.

Last weekend I wanted to try something new because I was bored of driving around the city. So my mom asked me if I wanted to drive on the freeway. I was surprised that she offered me the chance to drive on the highway because she is usually really critical about my driving correcting every mistake I make even if it is pointless. I have been wanting to drive on the freeway for a very long time and I didn't want to let this opportunity to pass so I accepted. So I drove home to get ready and I was on my way, this time with my whole family because we were about to visit my grandma in Stockton. When I first got on the highway, I was really scared of all the cars because they were going very fast. But after a while I got used to their speed and found out how far apart I needed to be from a car. But then I had a problem trying to stay in my lane. I guess it was because I was very nervous and the speed made the car hard to control. After twenty minutes on the freeway, I got used to it and we were off to my grandma's house which was an hour and a half drive. Driving on the freeway isn't as much fun as I thought. I went up to eight five miles per hour which was exciting but sitting down, driving straight for an hour and a half isn't fun at all. It was actually really boring. But I made it all the was safely with no problems. We hung out with my grandma for a couple of hours and my brother drove us back home. This was a good experience and after, I knew I was ready to take the final test for my license. All I need now is to wait a few months and finally get my license.

The Four Day Weekend

During the four day weekend my family and I planed to go to Tahoe for skiing. But we are unable to because my dad was not able to get a day of from work. It sucks, but at least I have some time to catch up on my school work and get a head start. I will also be hanging out with friends, watching the winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada, and the National Basketball Association aka the NBA's all star weekend. I look forward to completing all those tasks and looking at the good things I can accomplish instead of thinking about how much fun I would have had if I went skiing. Even though my plans didn't work out to what I thought, it will still be a lot of fun because their is no school for four days and I can do plenty of things during the break.

The Winter Olympics will be very exciting to watch because it includes snowboarding, skiing, and ice skating which are all very fun to watch. I am looking forward to the snowboarding event because I love watching boarders trow out their best tricks giving it their all trying to get the gold. Of course I will be rooting four the Americans because its our country. The All star game will also be fun to check out because it has the celebrity all star game, three point contest, dunk contest, skills challenge, the rookie vs. Sophomore game, and the all star game which includes the best players in the world gathering together to play one big game. I watch this event every year because I am a huge basketball fan and enjoy watching my favorite players participate. My favorite event will have to be the dunk contest because I love to watch players show us what they can do and how high they can jump. Hanging out with friends is always fun as well. So I am packed this weekend and will probably forget about my possible trip to Tahoe very shortly.

This four day weekend will be very enjoyable because of all the events going on around the world and just the fact that we do not have school for four days is amazing even if there is nothing to do. I will be catching up on my missing homework, trying to get my grades up for the upcoming progress reports. I will try to accomplish all the tasks I have mentioned before and will also try to work on my driving even though I think I am good enough to apply for my license but I still have of wait a couple of months. The four day weekend did not turn out as I planed, but I will still have a lot of fun enjoying everything that is happening with the world.

A Crisis of Faith

When I was younger, I had a crisis of faith when I had to make an important decision that involved my religion. In Elementary school my class was having a class survey on what religion we were. I had no idea what my family believed in and I forgot to ask my parents the previous day so I had to take a guess. We were going around the class asking everyone what their religious beliefs were and my teacher was writing down what we told her because she wanted to see how much students were Buddhists, Christian, Catholic, etc. So when it got to me I said I was a Buddhist hoping that I guessed right. She tallied up the number of students in each religion and we found out which religion had the most supporters in the class. I din,t think it was that big of a deal if I got it wrong because we were probably not going to think about this ever again. But I was wrong she assigned us a huge essay on our religion explaining what we ate, what we did in our churches, and other stuff. Now I was scared and I really hoped I got it right.

I planned to go home, ask my mom if we were Buddhists. So when she got home from work, I asked her and she said we were Christians, surprised I thought we were Buddhists. She asked me why I thought that and I explained. I was furious about what had happened today and because I was shy, I didn't want to tell my teacher I made a mistake thinking that I was going to get in trouble. So I was stuck, I was either going write and essay about a religion I had no knowledge about or tell my teacher the truth not knowing what consequences I may receive but having more information to write my essay. Obviously, I now know that it is not that big of a deal to tell your teacher you made a mistake but I thought it was a huge deal. It is wrong and disrespectful to lie about your religion but I didn't want to tell my teacher. So I decided to write about Buddhism making up information as I was writing. I turned my essay in and hoped that anyone else who was Buddhists wrote about the same things I did.

I don't think anyone else was a Buddhist in my class but my teacher still found out because what I wrote about had nothing to do with that religion. So my teacher asked me to stay after class to talk about what I should do. I was scared out of my mind because I knew I was going to get a long lecture that might be bad. When school ended, I stayed back as my teacher ordered me to hoping she would take it easy. It didn't end up too bad, she just told me that it was bad to lie about your religion and told me what I really believed in and I said I was a Christian. She just told me to write another essay and she would accept it for full credit. I was glad that she let me go easy after all the stunts I pulled but I learned a couple of lessons about the importance of respecting your religious beliefs.

Looking Forward

I am very excited about the upcoming four day weekend we are having next week and if my plans do not change, I expect to have plenty of fun. The four day weekend will be amazing and on top of that, we have back to back four day weeks which is also good because the less school we have the better. I just want next week to be over fast so I can get my mind off of school, rest, and have fun. I'm trying to not get too excited because I still have this weekend to look forward to and I still have school. During this weekend I will be watching the Superbowl rooting for the New Orleans Saint to win over the Indianapolis Colts. Both teams are very good and I respect them a lot but after what the city of New Orleans had to deal with because of Hurricane Katrina, its great to see how far they have come. And if the Saints win the Superbowl, the city will be one step closer to getting back to the way it was before the disastrous situation. This weekend will be fun but I will still be thinking about the four day weekend we will have next week.

During the four day weekend, my family and I have plans to go skiing for the second time this year and this time I might give snowboarding another chance. The last time I tried to snowboard, I had a difficult time, falling down a lot and was very frustrated with my performance. But now that I am older and more coordinated, I think I can do a lot better. But skiing will always be a lot more fun for me because I am good at it and can go on the hardest courses having a lot of fun not be afraid that I might get hurt. And with snowboarding, I will only be able to go on the easier slopes because I know I am not good at all and I need to practice to get better. We are going to stay at a very good hotel that has many activities that we can do including bowling, an arcade, bumper cars, bungee jumping, a movie theater, laser tag, mini golf, and a swimming pool but it will be too cold to swim. So when we are done snowboarding/skiing we will still have a lot of fun at the hotel. My family and I are expecting to stay at Lake Tahoe for three days, two nights which means we will have a lot of time to do everything we had in mind. We will be leaving on Saturday and coming back on Monday so I have to finish my homework on Friday or bring with me. The upcoming four day weekend will be very fun and I can't wait until we get there.