Baby, you're a firework!

My favorite holiday isn’t one that many people typically think of when you mention holidays. I consider the Fourth of July, or Independence Day, to be my favorite holiday. I don’t think many people even consider it a holiday, but I don’t see why not! The Fourth of July is my favorite holiday because it’s pretty much the only holiday during my favorite season, which is summer. I’m out of school, which means I’m able to enjoy my July Fourth to the fullest because I have nothing stressing me out in the back of my mind. I love the carefree vibe you get on the Fourth of July. Within my family and group of friends, we have a huge cookout party with a breathtaking fireworks display at the end of the night. A couple years, I’ve even spent my Fourth of July in my favorite place in the world, Crystal Beach! It’s the most amazing feeling in the world to sit on the beach just as the sun is going down with your best friends watching fireworks over the lake. After the fireworks, we usually stay on the beach and either play in the waves or throw around a football. Also, one of my personal favorite things about Independence Day is the sparklers that everyone gets during fireworks! They are so simple, but I think you would probably be lying if you said you didn’t get excited when you had a sparkler in your hand. You can write words in the air with them, and they’re just fun to watch! In addition, the Fourth of July is my favorite holiday because it’s nice to be able to enjoy the nice summer weather while being together with family and friends. One of the things I like to do at July Fourth parties is swim in the pool, or lay by it and work on my tan. From my point of view, if there’s a holiday where you can relax on the beach, catch up with friends and family, and watch fireworks, why wouldn’t it be your favorite?!

My tough decisions about soccer.

While the summer before my senior year was still young, it was time for me to start conditioning and training for soccer season, like I usually do. But as the start of the season got closer and closer, I felt an unusual feeling. In the back of my mind, every time I would think about the upcoming season, I would get a feeling of dread and even anxiety. At first, I planned on doing soccer as usual despite these feelings. It was almost as if I felt like I had no other choice; that it was my only option because it’s what I had done my whole life. But then I realized I did have a choice, and I wasn’t being “forced” to do it like I felt. Now, don’t get me wrong, I LOVE soccer. I’ve played since I was seven years old. It’s just the stress of doing a fall sport and balancing all of my new schoolwork has always been somewhat of a struggle for me, and I didn’t really want to deal with it my senior year. Also, there is always inevitable drama on any sports team, with soccer being no exception. I’m not blaming anyone and I know it’s bound to happen, but I was kind of over that aspect of it. Similarly, it was a very young team this year, and it seems as if the younger players are preferred. Regardless of all the small issues that bothered me about doing soccer, the decision was purely my own. I did what I felt was best for me! It was indeed a very difficult decision, and I may or may not have even shed a tear over it. Also, when my friends found out that I wasn’t playing soccer in the fall, they were shocked. And when the season started, I was a little upset. However, to make up for it, I am playing in an Indoor league at Sahlen’s Sports Center. I’m very excited to get back into the game I love!!

College Bound

Unlike some people my age, I know exactly what I want to do with my life after High school. Ever since eighth grade, I’ve known I wanted to be a paralegal. I originally wanted to be a lawyer, but now I think that the Paralegal Studies field is much more fitting for me. I plan on attending Hilbert College in Hamburg, NY to fulfill these aspirations. I want to go there because they have one of the most established and recognized paralegal programs in Western New York. I also want to attend Hilbert because it is a smaller school, and close enough to home where I can visit my family and friends frequently. I plan on getting a Bachelor’s degree in paralegal studies. Another career option I am looking into is court stenography, which is like record keeping for the court system. Job outlook and placement is great for both fields, so I am hoping to get a job right out of college. They also make good amounts of money, so I will hopefully be financially sound. I want to get an apartment in Buffalo, and share it with my best friend. We've planned on getting an apartment and sharing it since we were in middle school, and I think it would be really fun and fulfilling. It would be a great way to get a taste of freedom while learning to stand on my own without help from my family. Thinking even further into the future after high school and even college, I would like to stay and live in Buffalo. I would also like to be able to buy a cottage in Crystal Beach so I can continue to spend my summers there, and share that with my future family. But for right now, I think I just need to focus on getting into my number one college, and getting a job so I can have beaucoup d’argent!

We're running a newspaper here!

My favorite class so far is a class that I’m taking this year. I would have to say that my favorite class so far is Online Publishing with Mr. Currin. There are loads of reasons why Online Publishing is my preferred class this year. I did not pick this as my favorite class just because I’m writing this blog for Online Publishing, either. I genuinely like this class a lot! Every odd day, I look forward to fourth block because Online Publishing is a great way to end the day. We are like a “newsroom” as Mr. Currin calls it, and it’s a very relaxed and comfortable atmosphere in room 109. I like the fact that we get to express our opinions in the class. And I also LOVE how we get to incorporate our likes and preferences in everything we do, and get to write and blog about things that actually interest me (which ultimately leads to better writing. Win-win situation!). Another plus about Online Publishing is that we sometimes have casual Friday’s! These are great because some people bring in delicious treats for us to eat and it makes writing blogs and articles just a little more enjoyable. One of the very best parts of the class is that the people in the class and the things we do as a class are just so entertaining. Everyone gets along, and contributes to group discussions whether they are serious or amusing. Mr. Currin can turn anything into something funny, and that’s really refreshing when you’re having a bad day. Online Publishing is just a fantastic and superb course to be involved in, and I’m glad I am a part of it! It’s a break from the regular classes that I have to take every day. No lectures, no notes, just improving my writing skills while having a great 80 minutes!

Teach by example.

If I had to choose, I would say that a teacher that has impacted me in a positive way in my high school career is Mr. Cayea. Last year, in my junior year, I had Mr. Cayea for Psychology and Sociology. I was very interested in the material of the classes in general, and having Mr. Cayea as a teacher for them made them just that much more enjoyable. I think that Mr. Cayea has impacted me so much because he doesn’t just teach the required topics for that class, but also teaches valuable lessons and information that everyone can use all throughout their life. Mr. Cayea is big on being a good person to everyone and having good morals. He would try to drill those values and views into our heads during class and give us the foundation to leave Alden High School with a good character and ready to better the “real world”. He essentially taught me life lessons that I will help me succeed while I’m on my own and make me a better person. I admire how well he handles tough situations, and he instills that into his students. Teaching three subjects all at the same time is quite the task, but he rarely complains. He also always puts one hundred percent into everything he does, even if he is having a really crappy day, and he is inspirational to me in that aspect as well. Mr. Cayea is a very down to earth person on top of it all. He relates his lessons to his personal life and things he has been through in life. This makes the material easier to learn and remember, and you get to know him on a personal, approachable, level. Needless to say, Mr. Cayea has inspired me to just go with the flow, take life as it comes, and make the best out of it.

South Coast is where it's at.

My favorite restaurant would definitely have to be South Coast Cookhouse in Crystal Beach, Ontario in Canada. It’s called “south coast” because Crystal Beach is the most southern part of Canada on Lake Erie, and many people refer to it as such. I love it so much because the restaurant is literally two minutes from the beach and about a seven minute bike ride from our cottage. It’s located just beyond the water behind other shops and attractions right off of the beach. Me and my best friend g go there so often during our times in Crystal Beach, that the waitresses recognize us, and give us our favorite window spot. I’ve been there for lunch and dinner, and I absolutely love their menu. They have authentic Canadian dishes like Poutine, and things you can only get in Crystal Beach like Loganberry to drink and Great Lakes Company beer, which is brewed and bottled locally. My favorite dish that I’ve gotten from there would have to be either the Poutine I mentioned before, or the chicken quesadilla. The Poutine comes on a huge plate, too big for one person to finish on their own even if they were starving. The chicken quesadilla is also very big, and it’s the best taste of Mexican cuisine I think I’ve ever had. The restaurant itself has the old Crystal Beach “antique” feel to it, because the town of Crystal Beach was founded in 1899. The service there is excellent, and you can stay as long as you like and just relax and chat after your dinner. It’s a great choice if you want to have a nice lunch after a long day at the beach, or if you want to have a wonderful but reasonably priced dinner before a night out on the town. The atmosphere is lovely and makes you feel so relaxed and comfortable.

Moms pack the best lunches!

One of the best packed lunches that I brought to school was last year during the soccer season. The night before, I had a 7:30 p.m. soccer game at Tonawanda. I usually make my own lunches, but my mom knew that I was going to be getting home very late and I would have to do homework, let alone pack a lunch for the next day. My mom was already in bed when I arrived home at around 10:00, but my dad informed me that I had a lunch packed for me the next day. I was relieved that my mom had packed a lunch for me, but I was also nervous because I hadn’t told her what I wanted and I didn’t know what she would give me without any guidance or advice. So I packed the lunch in my bag the next morning and took it to advisement with me, because I had advisement lunch. I always eat in my advisement room, which is Mr. Larrabee’s, with my friends. So I unwrapped the tin foil of my sandwich, and was ecstatic with what I saw. It was one of my favorite meals! My mom had made me a chicken wrap, with lettuce, ranch sauce, and avocado! She had cooked the chicken the night before just for me. It wasn’t even dry, and the wrap had the perfect ranch to avocado ratio. This lunch was so great because I wasn’t even expecting it. I was thinking that I was going to have to buy the same old stuff that they have in the cafeteria. My friends in advisement even commented on how awesome the lunch was. I know it was a spectacular lunch also because it sticks out in my mind. When I read the blog prompt, I already knew I was going to write about this!

"Bullying must become illegal. It is a hate crime."

With the suicide of local teen Jamey Rodemeyer, the topic of cyber bullying, and more prevalently, the bullying of gay, lesbian, and bisexual students at high school, has become an even bigger issue for many people across the nation. The story of Jamey in particular personally sickens me. What bothers me the most I think is how relentless the bullies were towards Jamey, and how they still are. How would someone be able to live with themselves knowing they told another individual to kill themselves, and they actually did? What is even more vile is the fact that the group of students who were tormenting and bullying Jamey did not stop the rude and hurtful comments after he was dead. They continued to write on his Facebook wall saying that they were glad he was dead. What makes this situation even more horribly shocking and repulsive is that the same students also targeted Jamey’s sister at her homecoming dance chanting Jamey’s name and taunting her when a Lady Gaga song was played. How could those people have the nerve to do that? There is talk of trying to get a legislation passed that would make Cyber bullying a crime punishable by jail time. The proposed law would make anyone found responsible for another person taking their own life guilty of second degree murder and sentenced to up to fifteen years in prison even for a minor. I think that fifteen years may be too harsh if the accused is a minor, but jail time should definitely be the punishment for hate crimes over the internet. It comes down to the fact that the people that bully others, especially over the internet, contributed to the death of another and they deserve to be punished just like any other regular murderer. The death of Jamey is truly heartbreaking and it’s a shame that it takes a tragedy like this to bring an issue to light.