The Off Season

As the summer approaches, and the end of the school year, the off season still lingers. Hockey is a year long sport. It really never ends. The season starts in August and ends at the end of March, no other sport has a season this long. Once you fall in love with hockey it's a part of who you are, your identity. You eat, sleep, and dream hockey.

Since its the off season, I'm having major hockey withdraws. The season is so long that once it's over all I can think is, “What the hell am I suppose to do now?” I'm just not used to having this much free time.

Usually hockey players are multi-sport athletes because if you can master hockey than you can master almost any other sport. So in someways we never really have an off season. For me I spend my off season playing tennis which I honestly don't enjoy that much. It's fun for a solid week then after that I just want to skate and shoot some pucks, not a tennis ball. It is nice to be outside and work on my tank-top tan. Other than that, hitting a ball back and fourth for an hour straight doesn't even come close to playing a hockey game.

The off season is also very important for hockey players, and all athletes. It's a time to step away from the ice, courts, or field and just relax. Playing other sports is the best way to refresh for the up coming season. Since the hockey season is so long, by the end you get pretty burnt out. But once the new season starts you feel fresh and ready to play.

The hardest part of the off season is trying to stay in shape. You just have to accept the fact that you won't be in game shape until the season starts again. This is hard for all athletes because we want to be at our best all the time. Like many other hockey players, I spend my off season at the gym with little time on the ice. A great man once said, “Champions are made in the off season”. The off season is the time to put on muscle weight and to work on agility.

Soon the hockey season will come again and I will be rested and excited to play again. Until then I will hit a fury ball back and fourth while dreaming of a puck and some ice.  (417)

Spring Fever

Summer is coming! Well we are getting close. Today it reached close to 75 degrees. Yeah, you read that right. Spring is the best season of the year because its a fresh start. The grass goes from dead and brown to alive and green. The trees start to bud and the birds chirp all through the day. The gray winter is starting to pass and this year spring seems even more exciting. This winter was cold, snowy, and long. Springtime brings the end of an era of short days and long nights. We are almost there! Almost to summer!

Not only does spring feel like a fresh start, it also changes the way school feels. In the winter you wake up and its still dark outside, not to mention FREEZING. Now, the sun is shinning and the birds are singing every morning. This makes getting up at an ungodly hour somewhat manageable. One of the best parts is not having to scrape of ice the windshield while standing in three feet of snow. Now, I can be comfortable in a light jacket and can ride with the windows down. This is what life is about. Life is not being freezing cold all day and not watching the snow fall. Don't get me wrong I love the snow, but for a month or two. Not all winter long.

As spring develops so does the summer fever. We currently have 39 days left of school! Hollar. Spring trimester brings prom (for some), graduation parties, and graduation itself. It's an especially exciting time for seniors because they are on their home stretch of high school. For underclassmen, the excitement of finishing this years classes and the teachers that come with. Spring is the chance to renew the bad habits created by winter.

Summer inches closer and closer which means late nights, parties, lots of sun, and relaxation. Well not for me as I will be spending my summer as a camp counselor, which I couldn't be more excited about. Instead of partying every night and sleeping in till noon, I will be spending my summer days with 200 screaming children as I try to be a friend, babysitter, and leader. Best job ever! Who needs air conditioning when you can have the great outdoors?

So bring on the bonfires, s'mores, and sun tanning. Spring, I love you but it's time to go. Summer I can't wait for another great year together! (408)

More About Exeter

I am going to continue my previous post about Exeter, because there is so much to talk about! This is probably the first time all year that I've had a clear subject to blog about. There is so much to share about Exeter. It's going to be an amazing experience. I've had it bundled up inside me since September and now I can finally talk about it openly!

I'm started my Exeter discussion on the topic of classes and teaching methods. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Exeter is their method of teaching called “The Harkness Method”. At Exeter, students don't sit in rows of desks while the teacher lectures them, they sit around an oval table. Every single classroom, for all subjects, has a Harkness Table. The table seats one teacher and twelve students. The belief behind the Harkness Table is that if you can explain and discuss a subject than you understand it. This is going to be a major change coming from a public school where there are 30 kids in a class. At Exeter I will have the opportunity to be the driver of my education.

Another amazing aspect of Phillips Exeter is their courses. I recently received the Courses of Instruction packet. It's 70 pages long! The classes they offer are unreal. Next year I am planning on taking classes like Human Physiology, Biochemistry and Human Nutrition, Genetics, Modern India, Pre-Colonial Africa, and Anthropology, just to name a few. Kennedy doesn't offer courses even close to Exeter's range. At Exeter you don't take AP classes either. They not believe in teaching to a standardized test. They tell their students that if you want to take the AP test on this subject you have to study and prepare on your own.

At Exeter I will also have the chance to play hockey for my school. Right now I play in St. Louis but at Exeter I can have both school and hockey in the same place. I have never, ever had this before. I will practice six days a week and play two games a week. We play other prep schools in the area. The competition will still be high and I can't wait to wear the big red letters E-X-E-T-E-R across the front of my jersey.

This is the end of my rant about prep school. I am both excited and nervous, mostly excited though! GO BIG RED!!!! EXETER LIONS WOHOOO!!  (407)

From a Cougar to a Big Red

   After close to seven months, plus years of hard work, I have reached the top of this mountain. I'm going to Phillips Exeter Academy! I still can't believe its real. Every time I remember that I actually made it, a rush of excitement, relief, and fear comes over me. I beat the odds. I made a leap and landed on the other side.

   Phillips Exeter Academy is the Ivy League of prep schools. It's considered the 6^th best high school in the nation. They never let you forget that! Anyway, I'm an on cloud nine that I get to attend this wonderful school. After I was accepted I kept thinking “Why me?” “Why do I deserve this?”. More time has passed and I know that I was picked for a reason. The admission committee knows what they are talking about. They look for students that are more than just grades, they look for students that are mature, passionate, and hard-working. I am not the smartest kid at Kennedy but I work hard for every grade I get while being a competitive athlete.

   As I was on my on-campus interview at Exeter I felt that feeling. The feeling of “This is the place for me” and I was meant to go to this school. It's destiny! I am made to move away and go to prep school. I was born to do it. Moving away doesn't scare me. I love meeting to new people and experiencing things I would never get the chance to experience if I stayed in Iowa. Iowa is a great place to grow up but I'm ready to move on. The one thing that has always bugged me about Iowa is that most people just don't ever leave. It is something I will NEVER understand. Only about 30 kids of a graduating class at Kennedy will go to an out-of-state college. This is just sad. I'm sorry but there is so much more of the country, and the world, to see. Challenge yourself and don't do what everyone else does. Don't follow that boring path of going to a state school and than just settling down here.

   The fact that everyone just stays here is why I have to get out. I need to get out fast before I get sucked into the flow of the common Kennedy Grad. Everyday I become more grateful that I get to go to Phillips Exeter and I am truly blessed to have the chance to leave. John Green once said, “It is so hard to leave – until you leave. And then it is the easiest goddamn thing in the world.” I will always be an Iowan and a cougar at heart but it's time to start a new chapter in my life.

   Soon I will be sitting on a plane as I get my last glimpse of the rows of corn. At that moment, I'm not sure how I will be feeling but I know I will be flying away towards a new life, a new chapter.  (512)

Facebook and Relationships

                Social media has taken over the internet and what seems like the whole world.  According to Facebook, they have over 500 million users. That means that 1 in every 13 people have a Facebook. This number is both impressive and astounding. A little bit scary too. This means that 499,999,999 other people can look you up and find information about where you live; go to school, and who you are in a relationship with.  Before Facebook only your friends and family knew your relationship status but now close to 500 million other people can too. Social media, especially Facebook, has made relationships more public.

                “John Bob is now in a relationship with Mary Jane”

                This is what pops up on the news feeds of both Mary and John’s friends. According to Facebook, an average user has at least 200 friends. This means that once a relationship is posted, 400 people instantly know about it. Most of those people don’t interact on a daily basis with John or Mary but yet they still know who they are dating. This is what Facebook as done to our society. We know so much about people’s lives. Before the days of Facebook, relationships were more private and were only known by those who talked about it. It used to be “Hey, did you hear Mary and John were dating” but now it’s “Hey, I saw on Facebook that Mary and John were dating”. This has changed how we look at our own relationships and those of others.

                Now that 7% of the world’s population is on Facebook, many couples have the “Should we make it Facebook official” discussion. This should be changed to: “Want to tell hundreds of other people we are dating?”. This shouldn’t be how love works. Love and relationships should be more confidential than the pictures of your latest vacation. While some people have their settings on private, or don’t put their relationship status up at all, others flaunt their status to their hundreds of friends.

                This raises the question: Has Facebook changed love? It has, and it hasn’t. It has changed the way we look at relationships. They are now more public. Facebook hasn’t changed relationships themselves. People will always like each other, even without Facebook. But information about a couple’s status whether is “married”, “complicated”, or “engaged” is a public advertisement of their life.  So next time you consider changing your relationship status, think twice about how many people you want to know about your love-life.  (416)

Boy Meets World

Boy Meets World is one of the best TV series out there. Its one of those shows thats just straight hilarious and entertaining. Most of us have seen this show because even though the last episode was made in 2000, they still show re-runs. So its been 13 years since it ended and they still play it! Now thats impressive.

Boy Meets World starts when the main character, Cory Matthews, is in the fifth grade. The story follows Cory and his best friend Shawn through the hardships of growing up. Cory's older brother Eric is just a doorknob. And by that I mean he is straight dumb. Eric is one of the funniest characters on the show because of his dumb comments and decisions. Cory also has a little sister, Morgan. Morgan is a cutie. Cory's parents are Allen and Amy, are easy going but also add a lot to the show.

Mr. Feany is the loved teacher and neighbor. He taught all of the kids for many years and always has words fo advice for everyone. Mr. Feany lives next door to Matthews and is always there to make sure the kids, and parents, learn lessons from their actions.

As the series goes on, a girl named Topanga becomes a main character. Cory and Topanga are the ultimate couple. They were dating since they were born, literally. In the last couple seasons the main conflicts of the show were between the relationship of Cory and Topanga. Spolier Alert! They get married in season 7.

The series ends when Cory and Topanga move away to New York. Topanga gets an internship there and they start a new life. Boy Meets World is one of the best shows made, in my opinion. Its humor that everyone can enjoy. (379)

Big Move

My parents probably picked the best house and best neighborhood possible in the whole area of Cedar Crapids. I live on a nice little cul de sac that is surrounded by woods. I live about half way down the street and its great. The reason why I am writing such an odd blog describing how much I love my neighborhood is because we are moving. Yes, moving :( I mean not like moving moving, we are still staying on the NE side, but we are still getting a new house. Its crazy to think that someone else is going to live in my house. I have grown up on my little street since I was five years old. This is the only neighborhood I remember.

The greatest thing about my neighborhood is the people that live in it. I live in the fourth house down the street and in the three houses before me also have girls my age. We have grown up together and they are my very best friends. During the summer I was never alone. We would hang out with each day after day. I probably spent more nights at their houses than I did at mine during the summer. They also had older brothers and sisters who were the same age as my siblings. It just worked out really well because the kids were all friends and so were the adults. We would go on camping trips together and have barbecues.

Now, 12 years later, we still hang out all the time and so do our siblings. Not a lot has changed. This is why moving is going to be so hard. I am not only leaving behind a great home where I grew up, I am also leaving a wonderful neighborhood. Its going to be very hard to say goodbye but I guess that is just a part of life....

The packing has begun and so has the remodeling. Our house is filled cardboard boxes and the the sound of packing tape ripping to enclose the various things in my house. Everyday it seems less and less like home. It think its a good thing because I will slowly ease away from the home I grew up in.  (421)