R3-Think about it

                Mr. Currin is kind of a big deal...true or false...?  I think that Mr. Currin is as big of a deal as Tim Horton’s coming to Alden.  I don’t want to respectfully bash Mr. Currin about his big ego, overly loud voice, or always yearning to be in the spot light. My final say on the is topic is a simple statement dedicated to Mr. Currin- Mr. Currin, you’ll never be as Alden High famous, as the one the only Mrs. Lori Gramza.

                For this topic, I wanted to discuss the latest news in Buffalo, the Corasanti trail. As the verdict went public on June 2^nd the words “not guilty” were the only things said on that night. Corasanti was still a free man and wouldn’t be facing any type of jail time. As news spread most people became enraged with jury’s verdict. “How can a murder and drunk driver be set free” many ask.

Yes, it is true that Corasanti was five times over the legal drinking limit five hours later. The front of his car had a massive impact on the right side. He left the scene of the crime and tampered with evidence by erasing text messages. It seemed like an open and shut case, Corasanti should be in jail for the many crimes he committed. Then why isn’t he? Was it because he an amazing legal team? He is a wealthy doctor? Unfortunately we will never know what was going to each and every juriers minds.

However none of us were in that court room, we don’t know what was said, what the witness stated or how what evidence was brought in. The only source of our information was the reporters sitting in that court room. Unfortunately the news may have blown things out of proportion just a tad.

I am not sticking up for Corasanti or think that he should be walking free, however we don’t know what was said and what everyone in the room was thinking. But what many people aren’t realizing is that Corasanti is being punished, he is now labeled. Every day he wakes up as a free man in a sense, his family has been labeled; everyone close to him is effect. The next time any of them want to have a glass of wine with dinner they are being stared down and judged. Sometimes I think that is worse than being in jail because in jail every has a label for life, while in the real word that label is as big as a billboard.

R1-104 Days of Summer

What is the best part of the end of the school year? It is honestly hard to identify which one is the best. I love every little bit of it, I love the freedom, the reduce in stress levels, and most of all not- setting an alarm. When school is coming to a close it is the universal sign of summer. Hot summer days spent soaking up some vitamin D and doing some much needed R&R. While our summer nights are full of bonfires, s’mores, late night swims, and the ability to not think about getting up the next morning for school. Every day of summer is the freedom to spend the day of whatever you wish. The possibilities are endless. Another great feeling that is centered around the end of the school year is the feeling of accomplishment. After ten long months of long nights of countless nights studying, homework and sports/ clubs, is knowing that you past another year of school. You’re that much closer to graduating, you have learned so much and having the feeling of being ready to take on whatever chapter is next in your life.

However with all of those great things that come with summer and the end of a school year, there are some draw backs. Friendships fade, motivation is at an all-time low, and laziness is at a record high. We stop seeing our friends because school was our socialization, we stop working hard for things that need to be earned and we just turn into the typical teenager who doesn’t wake up before noon, and doesn’t have a problem watching tv for entire day. During this upcoming summer try not too just be that typical teen, get a job, get involved with volunteering, make every day eventful. When summer comes to an end there will still be that one thing on our wish list that doesn’t get a check. Instead of wasting the next 104 of summer, make every day a new adventure.

M1-Irish Dancing

St. Patrick’s Day has always been a big deal to me. Being Irish it is nice to celebrate your heritage. For a few years I took Irish dancing lessons. When I was a little girl my favorite thing to watch was a tape of Riverdance. I would watch it over and over again and try to mimic what I saw. Finally my parents put me in to lessons with Rince Na Tiarna, and it was so amazing to actually learn how to dance instead of watching it on TV.  After two years of dancing my class was asked to walk and dance in the St. Patrick’s Day parade in downtown Buffalo. I never thought that I would be given that opportunity. But it was one of the best days of my life, despite the weather.

The night before I was preparing the routine. While I was thinking, my mom had to curl my whole head in foam curlers that I would have to sleep in. It took about 2 hours just to put the curlers in my hair, and we even ran out a few times and we had to run to the store to get more, but it was worth it. After my hair was done I had to learn how to tie my ghillies. The ghillies are a soft shoe that only has a thin piece of leather covering the bass of your foot.  By the end of the night I master how to tie my shoes (which are actually quite complicated to tie) and my dance routine. The next day, to my surprise it was pouring rain! Great!...Not! When I got to the parade, I was amazed to see so many Irish dancers and I couldn’t believe that I had the opportunity to dance with them. Then I was told that I would have to walk/ skip for the entire thing and that we would do our routine when we passed the judges. After the long walk my hair was ruinded, my feet soaking wet and in so much pain from practically walking bare foot on the street, but I didn’t care. If it was up to me I would have done it all over again and wouldn’t change a thing.

Even though I am no longer an Irish dancer (because I thought cheerleading was cooler) I still remember everything I was taught. Looking back, I’m glad I was giving such a great opportunity and I was able to celebrate my heritage in the best way!  

M1-

Hmm, I have had a great deal of embarrassing moments, but there is one moment that I will never forget.  I ALMOST burnt down my house!

When I was a little kid, probably only about seven years old, I was obsessed with Barbie’s! Every day during the summer most of the neighborhood girls would come over and play Barbie’s. But was just play with the dolls then clean it up, no it was much much more. We made my whole basement in to a Barbie town. Each person had their own house, and jobs, we even printed out money and bills. One day the power had gone out and because my basement didn’t have any windows we were used candles. As me and little Sara Steffan (yes Michael’s older sister) were setting up the candles and flash lights. I thought it would be a great idea to put a candle stick near my hot pink and bright blue Barbie dream house. For some odd reason me and Sarah had to run up stairs for a minute, leaving the candles unattended.  When we returned the whole Barbie house was on fire, and it was right next to the wall! My aunt, who also played with us screamed at me to get water. But what did I do? I went in the next room and sat on the couch freaking out. When my aunt came out of the room looking for me, she realized that I didn’t do what I was told. She pulled off the couch and sprung to action. I ran upstairs to tell my dad that the house was on fire.  Unfortunately he was sleeping and my screaming about the house being on fire didn’t wake him, because his response was “clean it up when you’re done.” Luckily we put out the fire, but the only thing that survived was a Barbie and a plate. After that and still to this day I am not allowed to be left alone with candles.

Q3-Life Lessions

Over the past four years we have all read countless amounts of novels, plays, poems, and short stories in English class. One of my favorite English assignments was in ninth grade what I enjoyed the timeless play Romeo and Juliet by William Sheakerspere. Every young girl knows the story of the two star crossed lovers, and the great ricks they took to be together. Even though it was written over 100 years ago it still impacts us today. We are all fascinated with the mystery behind the story. It is still a major influence in movies, music and books today. I believe the reason I enjoyed Romeo and Juliet so much is because people can still relate to it in today’s world, it is timeless.

Another all-time favorite book we read was Ellen Foster by Kay Gibbions. The short novel impacted my life tremulously. It opened my eyes to how grateful I truly am for the life I have. It also taught me how to stay positive in life. Ellen has had such a horrible patch in her life, and she used it to her advantage by learning how to be strong, and trust is earned not given. For a young 12 year old girl she has more life lessons that most of us will ever have.

Finally, the last novel that impacted me the most was Tuesdays with Morrie. It truly did answer life’s most difficult questions. It was truly amazing that one man had all this knowledge about life, love, religion, society, regret, family, and much more.  Morrie truly is a teacher till the end, because this book his spoken words are helping people all around the world. It applies to every culture, ethnicity, race and religion. I am very grateful that Mrs. Scheafer and Mrs. Gramza pick that book because we all took something from it, and will cherish it forever. Overall over the past few years, and countless book we read, there is always a life lesson hidden somewhere. It is just our job to find.

P5-I Dare You

For this choice blog I have decided to write about the topic of life. We are all at that certain age where we aren’t quite sure who we are yet in life. We don’t know what are main purposes in life is, or what we even want to accomplish. Being an adolescent can be difficult, we are all self-conscious, we all worry about what others think, we all care. I think the media has impacted us more than other except. In this day of age everything is centered about the media, it is so easy to communicate with people, but with things like that we are done really alone. We have our cell phones on us at all times, we are constantly watching TV, or listening to music. When was the last time that any of us were truly alone? I think that because nothing is really ever personal and everyone knows everything about everybody. It has started to affect us in a negative light. I think it is healthy for one day we turn off our cell phones, unplug the TV, silence out radios, and just think. We can never truly be happy with the decisions we make in life if we are never confident in ourselves and forget about what other think.

So if you’re reading this blog, i challenge you. Take one day, 24 hours of being completely alone. No cell phone, no music, no TV, no internet, no talking to anyone (even your parents). Use that day to reflect about your life, find the positives and negatives. If there is something that you don’t like find a way to change it for the better. Concentrate on your positives, look in the mirror and be happy about being the person you are. Try to be confident in the decision you make weather they are in the past, present, and even the ones to come. So take the challenge, I dare you.

Q1-It's Time!

For this choice blog I decided to take a moment and talk about something that is important to each and every one of us, graduation. With only 18 days of school days remaining and the tragic senioritis is starting to set in. It’s crazy to think that in just a few weeks we will all walk the halls of Alden High one last time. The teachers we came to know and love won’t be there for us when we need them the most. Our best friends now could become a distant memory in just a few months. We are all going down our new paths in life. Who knows someone we could have graduated could become the next movie star, musician, writer, or even president.

High school is just one chapter in our life. It is a place that we learned who are friends are, what we are most interested in, and a place where we could grow; but every flower needs room to blossom. The past four years have been filled with so many life lessons that we will always remember. Looking back on 9^th grade we were all scared, not knowing how to open our lockers, who we should talk too, and most importantly trying not getting lost in the halls. We all feared the Seniors, the rumored Freshman Fridays, and even getting booed at, at all of our school assemblies. We all thought that high school was going to be the best adventure of our lives, and when people told us “the next four years go by in a blink of an eye”. We didn’t believe them.

Well here we are, 18 days left. 18 days until we cross that stage will our family, friends, and the teachers who impacted us, watch us take our final steps as a high school student. So with everything changing and the norm, no longer being the norm, it is this time that we must prepare ourselves and make sure that we are truly ready to take that final step. The one that starts as just a high school student, and ends with becoming an adult. At college no one will be there to wake us up in the morning, force us to do our homework, or even show up to class. What our reputation was here in these walls won’t follow us anywhere else. With all that being said, Class of 2012 I hope you’re ready!