I am so stressed out right now. I leave tonight for Regionals with softball. I have finals starting next week in a couple classes. Little dink assignments are not helping my stress level. I could be doing about 12 other things right now than having to do this. The fact that I wont be at home for the next couple days, I will be away from Internet access, in a crappy little town. Not being able to accomplish the things that i need to do. Why aren't teachers as stressed out as us? Oh yeah, that's right! They don't have to finish 8 classes of final projects! LOL Everything will be so much better when I get out of this school. I know it'll be a relief to not have to do dink projects like this one.
I can not wait to be out of this school. Extra work to keep students busy is not the answer when students are still missing work and still need to get other assignments done. I do not understand that concept. The school year is almost over. Every student already has tons of work that they need to get done, giving an extra assignment on top of work that already needs to get done is a waste of time and more stress for EVERYONE. It makes no sense at all to continue to give work when the majority of the class is still missing work. Teachers act like they are “helping” us out by giving us this work. When in all reality, they arent. Jackie Robinson was and still is a huge inspiration to many people. He was especially an inspiration to lots of African American children with a dream of once being able to play professional ball. One thing a lot people don’t know is that Jackie isn’t his real name. His birth name is Jack Roosevelt Robinson. He was born on January 31, 1919. He was the last of 5 children born to his parents, Jerry and Mallie Robinson. When Jackie was 6 months old, his father left his family in search of a job. He promised to return once he found work, but he never returned. His mother got word that his father had passed away, but they never got certain word for what happened. When Jackie was 16 months old, his mother felt the need to move because their Georgia neighborhood wasn’t safe enough for her family. They moved to a California neighborhood. First living with Mallie’s brother’s family. Then earning enough money from cleaning other families houses, the Robinson’s family was able to buy their own house in a mostly white neighborhood. That is when the family realized that the racial profiling wasn’t just restrained to the South. In middle school, Jack played any and all sports he could. He was so talented that everyone wanted him to play on their teams. Those kids gave him incentives to play on their teams. Sometimes they gave him extra snacks or spare change out of their pockets. Jackie would usually keep the snacks to himself, and give his mom the money. Jack continued to play sports throughout High school and college. Jack attended UCLA. He was the first person to receive Varsity Letters in four sports: baseball, football, basketball, and track. Although Jack was very talented, he had to drop out of college due to financial issues. He then enlisted into the US Army. His Army career was ended quickly. He got arrested on disorderly conduct for refusing to move to the back of the bus. All of his charges were dropped and he was given an honorable discharge. Once he got back, he started his baseball career. He first played for the Kansas City Monarchs, a team in the Negro baseball leagues. He was selected by Brooklyn Dodgers President Branch Rickey, to start the integration of professional baseball. Jackie first went to play with an all white farm team called the Montreal Royals. Not even a year later he started playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Jackie faced many struggles while making this milestone in history. The crowd, other teams and their managers, and his own teammates taunted him and threatened to sit out rather than play with or against him. The Dodgers manager promised to trade his own players before he would trade Jackie. It didnt take long for Jackie to win over most people. He was a huge help to the Brooklyn Dodgers. He hit 12 homeruns his first year. he had such a successful year that he won Rookie of the Year. The number 42 is a symbol of a new era and a new meaning to everyone should be treated equally. My favorite memory happened about 4 years ago. It was at a softball tournament. It started out as really pretty morning; the wind was blowing, and the sun was shining bright. Our first game was tough. Nobody had their head in the actual game. Balls were sliding underneath our legs, and we couldn’t step foot onto a base. It was like we didn’t show up to actually play. We lost that game, bad. Everyone had a bad attitude about that game. The tournament was double elimination. The odds really weren’t in our favor. Our fate was in our hands though. All we really had to do was pull ourselves together. The next game was better. We were a little shaky at the beginning but we got better. Things started to look for the best. We started winning and winning. Everyone was stunned. The crowd, the umpires, our coaches, absolutely everyone was in awe. Nobody could believe that we were making a remarkable comeback. We ending 5 games in a row to make it to the first championship game. Since we had already lost one game and the team that we were playing was the one that beat us in the beginning, we had to beat them twice in a row to actually win. We kept a one point lead throughout the entire game. The team we were playing thought that they had us beat. Remarkably we beat them. We were off to the championship game. It was definitely a nail bitter. The lead kept changing. We would be up, then they would be. It was crazy, but we seemed to pull through. It came down to the very last inning. We were the home team, so we batted last. Their infield kept making mistakes. One by one, our runners got on base. With us being down by two, we needed three points to win, or two points to tie the game. Just my luck, I am up to bat with two outs and the bases loaded. I knew everyone was counting on me. Hands sweating, I placed eat foot into the dirt. My eyes locked with the frustrated pitcher. I tell myself to calm down. She first throws a low strike, not my pitch. The next pitch I get is in the dirt. I’m disciplined enough to not swing. The next pitch is perfect. Exactly where every batter wants it: right down the middle and waist high. I swing and get a hold of that ball. It flies out to the gap between left and center. And the ball dropped and rolled to the fence. Having some of our quickest runners on, Three batters get home safely. Our team succeeded in making a HUGE comeback. I finally decided to fall into peer pressure and download Flappy Bird. I can honestly say; I regret downloading that app. That simple yet frustrating game has made me an irritable person at times. It typically makes me feel like a failure. Most people would just delete the app, but recently the owner took the app off the app store. People were sending him hate mail. They let flappy bird consume their lives. I can not bring myself to delete Flappy Bird because once its gone, its gone forever. The thought of not being able to redownload it bothers me. I am not completely addicted like other people I know. I only play Flappy Bird in my free time though. The noises crack me up. When the bird dies will make me laugh. Its typically a bittersweet moment though. Unraveling the bandage took more time than I had hoped. A quick peek to the ground underneath Julie proved that I had taken too much time. The sight of a red pool on the tile made me queasy. I locked eyes with her and started to sing her favorite toon. Gentilly, I placed the bandage on her knee. Her tiny arms embraced around me as much as she could. Moments like these are the ones I savor. Our hands locked together, we stroll out of the bathroom back down the hall. Julie gets all snuggled in on the couch. Drowsiness sweeps over my body. The thought of sleeping appeals me way too much, especially since my night just started. I force myself to get up and walk back toward the bathroom. The pool of blood waiting for me to clean it up had darkened in the past fifteen minutes. My head starts to spin. There is just so much blood. It takes every ounce of strength in my body to not gag at the sight of so much blood. I had to pull myself back together, for Julie. A distant ringing comes from down the hall, sounds like a cell phone. There it is again. I finally come to my senses and realize my phone is ringing off the walls. I race down the hall and pick it up at the last second. Unknown caller flashed the screen. By habit, I answer it; the caller could always be Julie’s parents calling with an emergency. A raspy, older voice starts to talk before I had the chance to ask who it was. “You might want to check out what is going on in the basement of your employers home, before you go down with them.” Before I had time to ask who he was, two beeping sounds symbolized the end of our conversation. I calmy check on Julie to make sure she is doing okay. That girl is fast asleep. I poke her to see if she moves. Not even a flinch. She looks like a bear hibernating. Do the Waters even have a basement, I ask myself. I have worked for them for 6 months; I have never once heard or seen a basement. I open every door in the house and finally find the right door. My carefully walk down the steps and anxiety floods over me. The sight of everything down her questions the belief of what I am seeing. I have to get Julie out of this house. Even if it is the last thing I do. The sky immuniated a pistachio green tint. My family and I stared up at the sky. Everyone was starting to come out of their suburban homes. I start to walk to the northeast. A deafening boom comes from behind me. Everyone around me starts to run in terror. I am very perplexed by what is going on. Sirens started to blare all around me. These are sirens I have never heard before. I turn and make a complete 360 turn to check all around me. I don’t see any cops, ambulances, or other emergency vehicles. What in the world is going on? My parents still being behind me; they yell at me to join them. The ground starts to shake slightly. The sirens are getting louder. The sky is getting darker by the minute. I sprint back to my parents. We go inside our house. My parents both have a very frantic look on their face. They act like they know what is going on. My brother and sisters are crying. I, being the oldest child, have to step up to take care of them. My parents lead me into our family room. Right before my eyes, the wall starts to split. At first, I thought that something was happening because of the occurrence outside, but I soon realize that my parents had created a secret room in our home. It’s like they had this all planned out. I quickly grab my siblings and help them into the room. My parents had already stocked this room full of food. My siblings start to calm down and feel safe in this room. There are beds, food, water, and a restroom. Once my siblings laid down, I asked my parents what was going on. Both of them acted like they didn’t hear me. I asked them again, more firmly this time. Neither one of them could give me a straight answer. I decided that maybe it was best to not know what was going on. I feel the ground start shake underneath me. My siblings wake up screaming. I grab them and hold on to them. My parents are trying to keep their balance. They grab ahold of each other. The room that I once thought was soundproof proved me wrong. We could very faintly hear a screeching noise. Almost as if the place I once called my sacred home is falling to the ground around us. I could have never prepared myself for what was coming next. To me, a role model is someone who gives off a positive influence for other people. Ever since I was little, the person that I have looked up to the most has been Jennie Finch. On and off the field, she is a remarkable person who strives to be the best she can be. Ever since I was little I loved the game of softball. My life became so invested with it. My summers would be completely packed with tournaments and practices. I would never have free time for myself. But I honestly wouldn’t care. I think that is a huge reason why I look up to Jennie. She is a perfect role model for any girl who loves softball. For those of you that don’t know who Jennie Finch is she is a famous softball player that started playing ball in her local teams just like any other kid. She made the varsity softball team as a freshman. She lettered all four years. Jennie’s skill was bound to get her a scholarship. Many different top notch softball teams offered her a scholarship, but her final choice was the Arizona Wildcats. Jennie continued to play softball; she got asked to be on team USA. There she helped lead the USA team to a gold and silver medal in the Olympics and countless other awards elsewhere. Jennie is now retired from playing, but she continues to work with young girls all around the nation. She is spreading the love of the game and the love of God through all of her work. Jennie Finch puts on countless softball camps throughout the year. She goes to all of them - spreading her wisdom and love for the game. I was very fortunate enough to get to go to one of her camps. Jennie Finch and a couple other famous softball players came to Rogers, AR, April 2 and 3, 2011, at Veterans Park. I was one of the few local girls that got to be apart of that outstanding camp. I got an autographed ball from Jennie and all the other fantastic leaders at the camp. I got pictures done with her. The best part though is that I got to learn the ways of the game from one of the best Softball Players in the world. Jennie doesn’t let things stop her from doing what she believes in. While I was at camp, she was pregnant. That did not stop her from showing everyone her pitching demo and hitting demo. That right there is definitely a sign of dedication and sacrifice for other people. Jennie could be doing so many other things with her life right now than working with young girls who love the game. She could be out Another huge reason why Jennie is a huge role model for me is because of her close relationship with God. On top of everything else Jennie does, she still manages to have a personal relationship with God. She juggles a lot of stuff and still dedicates her life to him. She inspires me to be a better person and to further my relationship. Jennie Finch will always be a huge role model and inspiration to me. She could have positive influence on anyone out there. On an early Saturday morning, my mom and I woke up to do a good deed. The club, at our school, The Community Service Club, took a trip to the Rogers Animal Shelter. All of us, the six of us, wanted to volunteer our time with the animals. When we finally arrived at the animal shelter, everyone was so eager to get started. The workers at the shelter said we could start with walking the dogs and then later go socialize with the cats. The workers demonstrated to us on how to properly put a leash on the dog. We got to choose which animal we wanted to walk. I tried to pick the calmest dog I could. Well the dog I chose was the really calm in its cage. Once I got him outside the cage he went berzerk. I wasn’t walking the dog; the dog was walking me! It was insane. I put him up within for like five minutes. Afterwards, I put him back into his pen. Next, I picked out a smaller dog compared to the one I had before. This dog was so sweet and gentle. He was so happy to be out of his pen. |