Procrastination is a BIG Problem

Hi, I’m a student at Catlin Gabel, and I have a BIG problem. That problem is procrastination.
Procrastination has been a problem with students for a long, long time. This dilemma goes
back to 700 B.C. I’m serious! It all started with a Greek poet of the name of Hesoid. He had
put off all his writing to do the next day, and that’s what he wrote about. The poem was:

“Do not put your work off till to-morrow and the day after; for a sluggish worker does not fill his barn,
nor one who puts off his work: industry makes work go well, but a man who puts off work is always
at hand-grips with ruin.”

Our friend Hesoid was not the only one who struggles with procrastination,
the Blue Banner website did a study about how many college students procrastinate, about
90% - 95% of ALL college students procrastinate when doing school work.  When you step back
and take a moment to think about it, you realize that it is a very big problem.

Procrastination can also be the cause of other things beside bad grades, it can lead to
anxiety as well. For example, this year in math class, I have procrastinated quite a bit, and
it has lead to my anxiety and loss of sleep for me. I also know of many other students who
suffer from the same problem as me. The reason I like cultures class so much is because
I got to be better at not procrastinating. When I came to Catlin Gabel in 6th grade, I was
introduced to a new academic subject called Humanities. I knew it was basically history but
the new name threw me off. I thought it was a crazy new thing. The first few projects were
small, and pretty easy, but about four months in we were introduced to the main project, and
it was called R.I.C.E., standing for Rome, India, China, and Egypt. We had to research about
the history of the civilization that we chose, and eventually had to present a project in front of
parents. The teacher gave us a list of things that we had to do, and a due date and that was
pretty much it. We had to plan out when we were going to do it and how. Ours teacher gave
us almost every class just as a free period to work. I didn’t take the work periods seriously,
and I procrastinated SO MUCH. It came up to the last week of the project and I had to cram a
month of work into ONE WEEK. I was very stressed and I only worked in Humanities the whole
week, but I pulled it off. That week was one of the most stressful weeks of my life, and I
learned to STOP procrastinating.

Now, in 7th grade, we had two projects just like R.I.C.E., and I got through them just fine.
I am a lot more organized and less stressed, and I have 6th grade Humanities to thank for
that.

Credits:
http://mentalfloss.com/article/63887/procrastination-through-ages-brief-history-wasting-time

https://www.verywellmind.com/the-psychology-of-procrastination-2795944

Photo Credits: http://wittywinks.com/procrastination-a-step-by-step-guide-to-stop-
https://procrastination.com/what-is-procrastination

The fun of the procrastinator

Procrastination, what a interesting thing . it always seems like the right thing to do at the time, until the day before the test. then you realize that hey, maybe i should not have taken so many of those "breaks" or all those "days off". so why do it? well, there are a lot of reasons. The biggest being, its just boring, something else is more fun. when people procrastinate, they always find a reason for why they are doing it so thy can convince themselves, even if subconsciously to not feel guilty. But there are reasons to do the work, like if you wait till the last day before a project is due you learn a lot less about the subject the if you did it in 10 minute chunks over multiple weeks(this has been proven to be the most effective study habits by 100's of study's). So, how do you break the loop? its actually very simple. instead of convincing your self why you should not be doing something  all you need to do is convince your self that you should, which is much harder than it seems but it is one of the only ways to stop procrastination.

African American Women Making a Difference

Madam C.J Walker was born on December 23, 1867, in Louisiana. Her mom Minerva Breedlove died in the year 1874 and her dad Owen died the following year. The causes of her parents' deaths are still unknown. She was 6 years old when her mom died and 7 years old when she became an orphan. She lived with her sister, Louvinia, and brother-in-law. They moved to Mississippi in 1877. Well, there Walker was forced to pick cotton. Walker married Moses McWilliams at age 14. After they got married they had a beautiful daughter she was named A'Lelia. A'Lelia was born on June 6, 1885. Moses died in 1887 when A'Lelia was 3 years old. After Moses died A'Lelia and Madam Walker moved to St. Louis, Missouri. In Missouri Walker found a job as a cleaner. She got paid $1.50 a day. This was barely enough money to send A'Lelia to school. While in St. Louis Madam Walker met her soon to be second husband Charles Walker. In the 1890s, Madam Walker developed a rare scalp condition that made her lose almost all of her hair. After this, she decided she was going to experiment with home remedies and store-bought remedies to try to improve her hair condition. In 1905, Walker was hired as a commission saleswoman by Annie Turnbo Malone. If you don't know who Annie Turnbo Malone is she was also a famous African American inventor. Walker moved to Denver, Colorado in 1907, where she invented a hair treatment for African-Americans. Walker and Charles traveled the country together selling her products and showing how they worked. The next year Walker opened a beauty school and a factory. Just two years later after her major investments, the company was booming. Walker and her husband Charles broke up in 1912. Walker moved to Harlem in 1916. Harlem was an important African-American neighborhood. It was home to musicians, writers, and artists, in New York City. On May 25, 1919, at age 51 Walker died from kidney failure and complications of hypertension. She died in Irvington-on-Hudson, New York on an estate that she had built for herself. After Walker died A'Lelia Walker was left with ⅓ of her mother's estate. During 1998 the United States Postal Service decided to make a stamp of Madame Walker. This was part of their "Black Heritage" series.

Bessie Coleman was born on January 26, 1892, in Atlanta, Texas. When Bessie was little her favorite thing was to listen to stories about the Wright brothers. The Wright brothers were famous for their knowledge of building and flying some of the worlds first airplanes. The annoying truth, in Bessie's time and today, was men thought that women should not be pilots. But even worse than a female pilot was an African American female pilot. After Bessie completed high school, she went to Oklahoma Colored Agricultural and Normal University, now known as the Langston University, for one year. Then in 1915 she went to Chicago, Illinois. Becoming a pilot was really hard for Bessie. Bessie was not allowed to attend American aviation school, because she was an African American woman. Bessie was told to go to the international aviation school in France. Bessie spent her life savings to learn how to speak French. She took a class at the Berlitz school in Chicago. Bessie left for France on November 20, 1920. A famous quote from Bessie "I knew we had no aviators, neither men nor women, and I knew the race needed to be represented along this most important line, so I thought it my duty to risk my life to learn aviation and to encourage flying among men and women of our race, who are so far behind the white race in this modern study," In France it took Bessie seven months to learn how to fly. After she did Bessie was given an international pilot's license. In 1921 the Federation Aeronautique International gave this to Bessie. When Bessie returned to the United States she became known for her impressive stunts and was named "Queen Bess". After this name was given to her she continued to face the restrictions the United States kept showing her African American family. In response to the racism she was shown, she said: "The air is the only place free from prejudices." Bessie Coleman died April 30, 1926, in  Jacksonville, Florida. Bessie was 34 when she passed away. Bessie died because her plane was not working properly. She had three unexpected stops on the way to the show and on the final stretch Bessie was not wearing a seat belt. When the plane took an unexpected drop and spiraled toward the ground Bessie fell out of the plane and died upon impact. Her passenger was not able to take control of the plane and died upon impact as well. The plane exploded and that was the end of Bessie Coleman. This year on Bessie's birthday, Google decided to put a sketch of her  on their banner.

          These African American women made differences in so many lives but they are not as different as it might seem. They were both African American women which as hard enough as it is. But on top of that these girls both had hard childhoods. Madam C.J Walker's parents died and her first husband died and she had a three-year-old child. Bessie Coleman had to face being told over and over that she could not do what she loved it was a white man's job. They also both died at young ages 51 and 34. Despite all of these things these women made a life for themselves and made a difference to others.



Credits:
Madam C.J Walker photo
Newsela Madam C.J Walker
Walker Wikipedia (when Walker's daughter was born and her first husband died and this link too)
Newsela Bessie Coleman
Bessie Coleman's death
Bessie Coleman photo

The Sport Where You Stab People

Fencing has three main parts. Foil, Épée, and Sabre. I fence Foil, so let me start with an easier weapon to explain than Foil.

Sabre: It’s primarily comprised of two people running at each other and trying to be the first to stab the other. (of course, this is not a professional opinion.) The Sabre has an oddly shaped handle, and big bell-guard, (the thing that protects your hand from getting hit.)

Épée: You try to hit the other person anywhere on the body, and make your light go off before the other person. (also not a professional opinion.) The Épée has a bigger bell-guard)

Foil: (Here’s where it gets more difficult for me.) So in foil, you try to accumulate points. Usually to five, or fifteen. The thing is, there’s right of way. This basically means that even if you both hit. Whoever has the right of way gets the point or off-target, (that’s what happens when you hit someone off-target. The target is pretty much the upper body without the arms.) The Foil has a small bell-guard.

So that’s basically a ruff sum up of the different weapons/styles of fencing there are. But there’s more… there is also a problematic string of wires and cords that plug into things, (AKA I can’t explain it.) The cords connect to boxes that light up when one fencer hit’s the other no matter what weapon is used to do it. Those box wires connect through the weapons through different cords that you need to wear to connect to the box. These wires all have a pulley at the end of the fencing strip (the space in which you fence) so that you can move freely with the wire and plug on you. Like I said… difficult to explain and understand. Basically, it all works so that when you hit the person, you are fencing, your light goes off and you get the point unless you hit off target in which you would take a step back and continue fencing.

In foil, you have specific steps to take to get dressed. First, you put on your knickers (fencing pants.) Then you put on your chest plate (plastic with straps,) and plastron (arm pad.) After that, you grab your body cord (AKA wire,) and you put on your jacket. Then you put on your lamé (not lame) and put on your mask/helmet and glove. Then you grab your foil, and you plug in the wire into the slots, and that’s all! Oh, and don’t forget fencing shoes. The metal strip can be very slippery!

For me, I’ve been fencing for about 7 years. Every day for two hours from 6:30 to 8:30 I spend it fencing and sweating. You may not think it, but wearing 15 layers in a room temperature facility can make you sweat. Also the constant movement and activity. Fencing is my definition of hard work. Yes, school puts you through seven hours of lectures, homework piled onto you, and a “small” sense of boredom, but fencing is two hours of basically running up and down the strip to try and hit someone with your blade. Every day I would have to bandage my fingers because they got slashed, or my legs. Every day, I would show up to school with my arms and legs covered in greenish purple bruises. So yeah, fencing’s not a super easy sport.

Fencing is a sport where a lot of things break, really easily. Think about it, you’re hitting someone at who knows how many mph, with a thin low carbon steel blade that’s maybe the same width as your pinky. I’ve broken probably 5 blades. Twice on someone's leg, once on someone's arm, once I just touched it and it fell apart, and once because someone ran at me and it broke (I beat them.) When something breaks you have to buy a new one or fix your old one, both options drain the bank. Then you have things like your body cord which can snap, stop working, or just continually go off-target. (You also have to fix that,) and your lamé can just stop working, or also frequently go off-target as well.

As you can probably see, fencing is a challenging, hard, and weary sport. Fencing, however, does keep you fit, and strains you both physically and mentally.

I’ve fenced for a long time, I went to tournaments, lost, won, and bruised myself, but I still love the sport of fencing no matter how much pain can sometimes be caused.

Diagrams 1, 2, and 3

Catchers and Pitchers Report

Baseball field 

Catchers and Pitchers report for spring training and that means baseball season is just around the corner. Baseball season is a great time of year for me and my family. It is a long 162 games of blood, sweat, and dirt. All leading up to the playoffs. Thirty teams go in, one goes out with the trophy. But it all has to start somewhere and where better than beautiful -- at least in spring --Arizona or Florida.

Spring training field in Arizona

Pitchers and Catchers are prepping for a long season of injuries, wins, and loses. But that all begins during spring training. Arizona and Florida are two great places to kick of a baseball season so when we are here in rainy Portland, Oregon the sun is shining bright in Arizona and Florida. Each spring training area hosts about 238 games. Each team invites more than just the 40 players which make up the normal roster -- only 9 players play at a time but they have 25 on a set team, almost half of which are pitchers. The other 15 are on a major league roster, but even they spend time in the minors once the joy of spring ends.  Spring training is a great time for minor league players to show that they can make the jump from AAA, the minors' highest level, to the Majors. Even if they don't make the major league team, they have hopefully showed what they can do and impressed the coach and might make it next year or get called up to the show in the middle of the season.


For my family the baseball season is a fun and entertaining time of year, and we keep on hoping the Cardinals can get another World Series ring. I have grown up in baseball land with older brothers that would play, and I would sit up in the stands and day dream of when I could play. Every game -- watch, dream, repeat.

The regular season consists of 162 games and injuries are inevitable, even after all the spring training warm-up. A lot of players injuries are day to day but some are season or sometimes career ending. Sometimes the injuries are a bruised shoulder. Some are torn muscles. Some of the worst ones are torn ligaments or severe concussions. Imagine you are so exited for the first game of the season and then in a practice having a season ending injury right before the season started.  Some injuries happen later, like Shohei Ohtani (last year), who made a huge impression only to have his pitching season -- and possibly career -- ended by a ligament injury.  He could still hit for a while, but even that reality disappeared when he chose to have Tommy John surgery.  For Jonny Cueto, this year its possible his whole season may disappear because he is on the 60 day DL after undergoing Tommy John surgery last year in August.

2018 playoff bracket 

Spring training starts with all teams hoping to make the playoffs.  In the March heat, even Kansas City and Baltimore think they have a chance.  The best team from every division makes the playoffs, along with two wild card teams one from each league. The winners of the one game wild card series goes on to play in a best of five quarter final series, and then, whichever teams win play in a seven game series in the semifinals, although baseball people much prefer to refer to that as the league championship.  Then, the winners of those two series go on to play in a seven game final series.  That series is the World Series.

But there is no better place to start than beautiful and sunny Arizona or Florida. This is were spring training is held and the season beings. Whether you are playing in the games or watching the baseball season it is a very fun and entertaining time of the year.  It also means summer is coming.

Soccer - My Story

Soccer Tots

The first time that I played soccer was when I was two, and I was a Soccer Tot. Soccer Tots is a little kids soccer class, and you can see a picture of me participating in the class on the right. When I was in kindergarten, my mom asked me if I wanted to play recreational soccer, and I said yes, so she signed me up. My recreational team was
the Power Kickers, and we were a very good team for the three seasons I played with them. In third grade I stopped playing recreational soccer and I moved on to play club soccer because my parents thought there would be better coaching, more competition, and in general it would give me more opportunity to develop myself as a player. The club team that I went to play for was Willamette United Soccer Club, or WUSC. Since this was club soccer, I had to tryout, but nonetheless, I’m pretty sure everyone was offered a spot since it was just third grade soccer. Even though I made my age group team,

Playing recreational soccer

I was placed on the B team, which was not the team I wanted to be on. I strongly disliked the fact that I wasn’t on the A team, yet I would scrimmage and practice with them all the time, so I asked my mom why I wasn’t on the A team, and she told me that it was probably because the coach didn’t know me very well in the beginning of the season when she made teams. After all, my coach had coached most of the girls in my age group the year before, so it made sense that she didn’t know me as well as the other girls. Because I hated being on the B team so much, I worked harder in practice to improve my game, so I could move up to the A team the next year. However, things didn’t go as well as I wanted them to go because we got a new coach, and after tryouts I was once again placed on the B team. This didn’t make me happy, so I continued working hard and trying my best at practices and games to show the coach that I was good enough to be on the A team. Eventually this work paid off because later that season in the spring when rosters were readjusted, I was put on the A team. Even though I got rostered on the A team, I didn’t stop working hard because in order to keep myself on the team I needed to prove that I was willing to work hard and improve. I continued to play with WUSC the following year, but there were a couple of changes that affected my team and me. One change was that we got a new coach, and another change was that the way

Playing soccer with Willamette United

teams were separated based on age was changed. Previously, teams were divided by grade level, but leagues were changing it so teams now had to be divided by birth year. This change affected my team because some girls that were born in 2005 moved up to play with players that were a grade level ahead of us that were born in the same year, while the rest of us that were born in 2006 were joined by some girls that were born in the year we were, but were a grade level below us. Luckily, the people who left my team weren’t super close to me, and they weren’t necessarily on the A team with me, so my team didn’t experience super dramatic changes. Also, I had been playing midfield for pretty much my whole life, and then my new coach started playing me as a center defender, which has a very different role than a midfielder, and I didn’t like playing so far back. I was used to being able to get further up the field on the attack, and because I was moved to center defender I gained greater defensive responsibilities that I didn’t previously have. Because playing defender wasn’t what I wanted to be playing, I tried to prove to my coach that I could play midfield just as well, and even better than the people who were currently playing there, but my coach kept playing me as a center defender, so I had to learn to like it.

Playing soccer with Willamette United

Even though there were changes that affected me in the beginning of my 5th grade year playing soccer, my team ended up being successful. In the summer, we did very well in the tournaments we played in, and even won a couple, which got us off to a great start. We finished in second place for the fall season, which gave us a good seed for the state tournament (State Cup) which we participated in later that spring. As State Cup drew closer, everyone got much more serious in training and during games because it was the first year we were able to participate in the tournament, and we all wanted the win under our belts. We started off the tournament by fighting our way to a 1-0 victory over PCU (Portland City United), and then solidly defeating CUSC (Clackamas United Soccer Club) 3-0. Then, we rolled over LOSC (Lake Oswego Soccer Club) 9-0, which collected us our third win, and gave us a spot in the semifinal. We played Westside Timbers in our next game, which was very close from the first whistle to the final whistle, and both teams had many opportunities score, but neither did. The end of regulation ended in a draw, so we entered the first fifteen minute period of overtime. I was very nervous going into overtime because if the score was still tied after the two overtime periods, we would have to determine a winner in penalty kicks, and my team had experienced that several times before, and it was not fun. Luckily, the game wasn’t sent into penalty kicks because Bri, my teammate, scored a goal in the second overtime to give us the lead, and we were able to hold that lead up until the final whistle.

When I won State Cup

After the game, my team joyously ran onto the field jumping excitedly because we were headed to the finals! In the finals we rematched PCU, who we had previously played in the first game of the tournament. The game felt very professional because there was someone filming it, and before we played, we all lined up behind the refs and walked out to the middle of the field, and then stood in a line adjacent to them, so all of the people that were watching us could see our teams. The final game ended up being a lot less stressful than the semifinal match we had just played because the game ended in regulation with us winning at a comfortable 3-0. This win meant we were 2017 state champions, and my team as well as myself were overjoyed! Yes, this game wasn’t like winning the World Cup or the Olympics, but it was a big win for us, and a great way to end our season. My team had moderate success the next season, coming in the middle of the rankings in the fall, then coming in a little higher in the rankings in the spring, and then losing the semifinal match of State Cup, but overall it wasn’t a bad season. When tryouts came around for the 2018/2019 season, many of my teammates took a different path, including myself. I decided to try out for a different team the next season because my parents and I thought it was time for a change, and also because our team was losing about six of our players, so the team would be very different if I had stayed. The two clubs that I was looking at to play for next were GPS (Global Premier Soccer), and Westside Timbers. It was a pretty tough decision with many things to consider, but in the end I decided to try out for Westside Timbers. I ended up making the team, and I am playing my first season as a Westside Timber currently. Since the beginning of the season, I have

When we won the Beaverton Cup

been a starting center midfielder, which is where I actually want to play. This season has been pretty successful so far for both me and my team because we tallied wins in the Adidas Beaverton Cup, the Beaverton Cup 4v4 tournament, and the Mt. Hood Challenge, and we also tied for first in the fall league. I have also developed a lot as a player over the past few years in many different areas of the game. I have improved different areas of my game from ball skills to endurance all the way to my mentality. I plan to keep working to improve myself as a player on and off the field, and hopefully that work will pay off in the near future of my soccer career.

Interplanetary Travel

The photo above is where I want to someday go. Yup, that red, lifeless ball of rust, 54.6 million kilometers away. It is not isolation I seek, but the feeling of knowing that I have expanded the horizons of humanity, and the possibilities of Mars colonies. Just to imagine being able to see the earth from afar already boggles my mind, but to me 54 million kilometers away takes it to the extreme. Theoretically, the hardest part of the trip there would be the trip in space, because you are in deep space for 300 days without dying. Once you are on the Mars surface, you wouldn't be there for very long, because you have to bring all of your supplies, which is limited by the size of the ship.

Previously, we have sent many other things to Mars, including rovers, landers, and satellites. Above is the Opportunity Rover (above, left), whose mission was supposed to last 30 days, but when on for 15 years. It lost connection and shut down after a planet-wide dust storm cut off the light to its solar panels, so it couldn't get power, and died. It's last message to Earth was "My batteries are low and it's getting dark", as tweeted by science reporter, Jacob Margolis. Opportunity's companion rover, Spirit, died much earlier. Another rover is on mars with the two dead other ones, called Curiosity (above, right). Loss of solar power will not kill Curiosity though, because instead of solar panels, Curiosity is powered by an MMRTP (Multi-Missions Radioscope Thermoelectric Generator), which relies on the heat generated by the decay of a large chunk of plutonium dioxide, a very radioactive substance. So because of the MMRTP, the Curiosity rover could never die due to loss of sunlight, but it can lose radio connections to Earth.

The Culture Of Soccer Around the World

Soccer is a sport. It is a very important sport to some communities and even saintly. When I went to Brazil, everything was about soccer. I was even told, "if you don't play soccer, you can't be trusted here in Brazil." Brazil has produced some of the most prolific soccer players. Such as Neymar, Pele, Marcelo, and more. It also has the most decorated National Team. The National team has won 5 World Cups and 4 Confederation Cups.



Brazil is not the only country where soccer thrives. Let's go back to the birthplace of soccer, England. England has a great reputation for their national team and the league (the EPL). If you grow up playing soccer, you would know that England is the place to be. Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal, and Chelsea are the top 4 clubs in England's EPL.

There is one more country... Spain. Spain is the host country of the two best teams on the planet at the moment, Real Madrid and Barcelona (by the way, the two teams are also rivals). As of the moment, Messi plays for Barcelona and Ronaldo plays on Real Madrid. Messi and Ronaldo are considered to be the best two soccer players of all time. Many people want to know whose better, Messi or Ronaldo? Well, Jose Mourinho, one of the best coaches of all time, thinks that Ronaldo is better than Messi.

Soccer has changed peoples lives by giving people a way out to have fun and enjoy life.

All in all, soccer is all around the world and many people play it.



Photo Credit:
latimes.com

The Life of A Young San Diegan

The Life of a Young San Diegan

When you think San Diego, you think of a sunny paradise, with beaches and jeeps. Well, you are practically right, This is the story of a young girl growing up in San Diego.

When you live in a town that basically lives summer all year round there is lots of fun. There is always stuff to do, and new things to try. One Of the great things about California is that you can wear shorts year round. I personally believe it is easier to cool down than to warm up so shorts all around! Since San Diego is almost always warm when it rains everyone talks about it and plays in the rain. It’s a big deal, s you should probably treat it like one too. One of the best things about San Diego is the beaches and the bay. Almost every weekend I went to the beach. Make sure you go early or there will not be a spot for you and your family.

At the beach, there are various things to do, and the first thing to do is take a bike ride. Taking a bike ride around the boardwalk and Coronado is a great way to cool off. Coronado is an island connected to San Diego by a bridge, where you can take the ferry to get there.

Warning: When you are taking a bike ride, be sure to watch out for pedestrians!

The second thing to do at the beach is Surfing! Jumping into a wet suit and getting on a board is a great way to have fun with your friends. Surfing is fun, catching waves is awesome, and in San Diego, you will come to find that most San Diegans surf.

Another activity in the water is boogie boarding. This is an easier alternative to surfing, but still equally as fun! Since boogie boarding is more mellow, this is a great passing time activity, even for young children. After a nice swim in the water or a sunbath, it is nice to get some ice cream to cool down.

The boardwalk is full of snack shacks. And you can always find a nice lemonade stand somewhere in the mix. It’s always nice to have dinner on the beach when it gets cooler in the evening. If you choose to have your beach adventures in Coronado, watch out because there is always a wedding or three in process. Coronado is right next to a naval base, so every few minutes there are planes flying above you. Don’t worry, they aren't that loud.
Something to definitely do while in San Diego is going to Balboa Park. Balboa Park is right next to the San Diego zoo and I recommend going to both in one day. Balboa Park is an awesome place with lots of buildings with beautiful architecture that were made for an old festival. It is full of restaurants, museums and even has a greenhouse. Right next door is the amazing San Diego Zoo! This is one of the best zoos in the world. With almost every habitat. One thing I really remember was on the tram you can see the nets around the monkey habitat and everyone would throw their baseball caps so they would land on it and to this day there are a lot of baseball caps lined up on the net. 

Another amazing feature is the San Diego Bay! The bay is awesome because you can watch all the navy ships and planes move around and it is very interesting to watch. At the edge of the bay, they also have lots of old ships and submarines you can tour! Another great way to spend the day is on a boat! Sailing around the bay is very fun and beautiful. You can see the skyline and all the yachts parked on the bay. I used to always try to find my house while we were sailing, which was of course impossible beacuse of the looming skyline.  

San Diego is an amazing city to live in, and I am very fortunate to have grown up in it!

How Taekwondo Affects School

Taekwondo and school are both big parts of my life. Both make me who I am and affect how I act and what I do. If I am having a bad day at school I will go to taekwondo to calm down and focus. If taekwondo is particularly hard one day then school will be a bit of a relief. There are many ways that school and taekwondo affect each other. Homework is the most obvious example. When I have a lot of homework at night, I will have to skip taekwondo. If I have to go to taekwondo to prepare for a competition, I will have to either email my teachers to ask for an extension or stay up late trying to finish. Staying up late makes me more tired at school so I get less done causing more homework for me at night and the endless cycle begins. To break this cycle I would have to skip taekwondo, therefore decreasing my chance of doing well in a competition.

Taekwondo competitions are a whole other story when it comes to school. They are on the weekends which makes them big homework conflicts. Thankfully, they normally only take one day out of the weekend but it’s still a lot of wasted time. The taekwondo is not the boring part. The boring part is all of the waiting. My most recent competition was on February 3rd and it was the Oregon state championship and national qualifier. My group was scheduled to compete at 1:00pm along with three other events. There were only three rings in the whole place so everything took longer because there was limited space. I arrived at 12:00pm, as instructed, and proceeded to warm up. At 1:00pm I went into the staging area but my division hadn’t been called yet. I watched my friends compete, and cheered them on, but I still wasn’t called. At 3:30pm we were finally called to start competing. I went 2nd. In total, I spent 5 1⁄2 hours at the competition. I was competing for only 3 minutes of that time. Of course I had fun watching my teammates, but I also wasted over 5 hours that I could have been doing homework.

Taekwondo affects school as much as vice versa and not only because of the homework. Taekwondo changes how I’m viewed at school. When someone asks me what sports I do, I usually
answer, “Taekwondo and soccer.” Most of the time, the kid who wanted to know proceeds by trying to talk to me about soccer. I think this happens because most kids either play soccer or

watch it and therefore find it a comfortable talking point. If I had just said taekwondo then the kid probably would have said “Cool,” and moved on to another topic. This is because a lot of people don’t know what taekwondo is and find it weird and foreign. If I just said that I played soccer then I would be viewed as “normal.” Since I have decided to respond with both of my hobbies, some kids will inevitably think of me as “the girl who does taekwondo” if they don’t know me very well.

I love taekwondo so I don’t care what it does to my life in school. It will always be a part of who I am even if I don’t do it as much in the future. It will be a fond memory for me and I will look back on how much I enjoyed it.

Example of one of my taekwondo competitions: https://youtu.be/RZGjS-7ppLw 
Photo credit for 1st pic
Photo credit for 2nd pic

Video Games: Behind the Scenes

Ahh, video games. From space invaders to Fortnite, they’re all around us. On your phone, your computer, and maybe even on your console if you have one. The point is, they’re everywhere! And today, I’m gonna take you behind the scenes.

If you don’t already know, (the odds are you probably don’t) I like to make video games. I use the Unity game engine and the C# programming language to make them. Here is a snippet of some of my code:

void Update () {

   time += Time.deltaTime;

   string minutes = Mathf.Floor ((time % 3600) / 60).ToString ("00");

   string seconds = ((time % 60)).ToString ("00");

   string milliseconds = (Mathf.Round ((time % 1) * 100) / 100).ToString();

   milliseconds = milliseconds.Substring (2, milliseconds.Length - 2);

   timerText.text = minutes + ":" + seconds + "." + milliseconds;

}

It looks like a bunch of random words, and I know it did for me at the start. Before I started making games with unity or processing, (another programming application) I was making games with Scratch. I used to think that actual computer programming was just ones and zeroes, as many people do, but I am here to tell you right now that it’s not. You use a programming language, such as Java, Python, or C++, to tell the computer commands, but like it’s through google translate. You take your code in your programming language, and the programming language turns that into binary for the computer to process. Honestly, programming is much easier than it looks. Luckily, a lot of game engines have tools to use so that you don’t have to start from scratch.

For example, Unity provides a physics engine for you, so that you don’t have to implement it yourself. We’ve been talking about Unity for a while, but what exactly is it? Well, unity is a game engine. Oh, you don't know what that is either? Well, a game engine is a program that you use to make a game. It provides all of the rendering (the drawing of the game), and sometimes things like physics. A lot of games are made with game engines. Games made with unity include Cuphead, Monument Valley 2, and Cities Skylines (man I would like to see the source code). I have been developing with unity for about 2 years. In these two years, I have made many prototypes, and only published 2 games, which were for game jams. (game jams are basically: make a game in 72 hrs, sorta like the 48-hour film project). I can tell you from experience that actually working on a game for a long time is very hard. You get demotivated, and it’s always really tempting to start over. Especially if you are working on the project alone. But all through all of my give-ups and start-overs, I have learned a lot about unity. I’ve even used it for a school project. So here is my process for making games:

STEP 1: The Idea

This might seem like the easiest step, but coming up with game ideas is hard. Normally I come up with mine after going on a trip of some sort. Here is a tip: WRITE YOUR IDEAS DOWN! You WILL forget them!

STEP 2: The Framework

Now is the time to pop into unity, and to get some basic ideas working. This would be your basic platformer script, your inventory manager, and all your other basic scripts. Here is a tip: Get as much scripting done as you can in this step, so you don’t have to do it later.

STEP 3: The Looks

This is the step to add your art and all of your sounds. Draw up all your sprites and compose your music.

STEP 4: The Build

Now it’s finally time to start making levels and making items. Design all of your levels and put in your dialogue

STEP 5: The Mental Challenge

Don’t give up! You’re almost there to completion!

STEP 6: The Testing

Give the game to your friends and see what they think of it! Let them give you feedback and implement what you want.

STEP 7: The Finishing Touches

Add the last little things, maybe some of your friend’s suggestions.

STEP 8: POST IT!

Use itch, steam, or some other program to share your game online, and let other people give you feedback as well

STEP 9: Repeat!

Take what you learned from the last project and use it in your new project, and start the process over again.

And there you have it. My game making process. Before I go, here are some of my game making traditions:

The J-Hack

Making dev cheats is a great way to test your game further. My personal favorite tool to use is by pressing the J key to initiate whatever cheat you use. This tradition initiated when I first implemented it on scratch.

Fill in the Dummy Text

If a text doesn’t have anything in it because it will be set by a script, fill it in for something funny!

That is all I have to say for my game making process. Check out some of these links before you go!

Itch.io page (where I post my games): https://doubleblack-studios.itch.io/

Official Unity Website: unity3d.com

Game making youtubers:

∟ Blackthornprod: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9Z1XWw1kmnvOOFsj6Bzy2g

∟ Brackeys: https://www.youtube.com/user/Brackeys

Image Credits:
 ∟ C# logo: https://www.pluralsight.com/paths/csharp
 ∟ Unity Logo: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Unity_Technologies_logo.svg

Comment Prompt: What does the sample script snippet mean?

Colors of Music

Playing the piano isn’t just about how fast your fingers move, or how you can line up the notes to match the marching beat of a metronome. It’s not just about how long you’ve been playing, how many competitions you’ve won, or how much music theory you know. Sure, that’s important too. But what’s really important is the stories you tell as your fingers hit the keys. The emotions that cannot be portrayed in words or ink. The soaring harmonies from the first note to the last, all captured in one breath of song that seems to last an eternity and yet a second.

I’ve been playing piano for 8 years. Not that it counts, of course, but I am very familiar with the instrument. I started when I was just five, and I plan to keep music a part of my life until I grow old. Piano has its ups and its downs. Since it is one of my passions, it requires a substantial amount of my time. Every day, I must practice at least an hour of piano. This can be tight to fit in a schedule of homework, sports, and other extracurricular activities. But it is worth it. Even when it seems like you want to quit, if you really want music as a part of your life, you must persist.

Everybody has their different ideas of being “good” at a musical instrument. It could be judged it on how long someone has played, how many competitions they’ve won, and many other aspects of being a musician. I think a good pianist is able to transport the audience into a story, whether it be one full of joy and bright colors or one of painful loss and sadness.

a splatter painted horse that I did

a splatter painted horse that I did

Art is a lot like piano. Sometimes music is even considered an art. Art has so many different pathways to take, and each has its own techniques and challenges. All kinds of art are enjoyable, but painting with watercolor is one of my favorites. The way the colors mix together and run off the page can be difficult to handle, but can also be used to your advantage. When painting, there are no mistakes. There is no going back. If I feel like I have made a mistake, I form it into something else. We learn from our mistakes, and they give us experience in what we aim for. From my errors, I have learned many different methods of watercolor. One of my favorite techniques is splatter painting. Splatter painting is when you have paint on your brush and you knock the brush against another hard object, such as a pencil. The paint splatters onto the paper and creates many dots. This is great for capturing the speckled foliage of a tree. It is also excellent for any type of abstract art.

Piano and watercolor painting bring challenges and creativity to my life. Sometimes they can be frustrating, but mostly I am left feeling satisfied. Playing a musical instrument or creating art doesn’t just benefit you, but also all of your community that listens and sees your work. Music and art can comfort people in a way no words can. As the saying goes, the Earth without “art” would just be “eh”!

Sources:

Music Image
Earth w/o Art Image

Matters of My Self

I have been a Christian for as long as I can remember. I have also gone to church since I was about 6 weeks old. The Christian religion has had a huge impact on my life and how I see my every day.
The definition of Christianity can be said through a verse in the bible, and that verse is John 3:16: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but shall have everlasting life. That is the true definition of what it means to believe in God. By believing in God, you also believe in his son, Jesus, my holy savior, who was crucified and then died on the cross for us, so that we could all have an everlasting life.
My personal experience from being a christian has probably been the best part of my life so far. The reason that I say this, is because I know that every second of the day, I am loved by God and I love him for that. Some of the best things that have come along from being a Christian are from the way that I treat people, the ways that they treat me, going to my Church, and all around appreciating life for what it is and how God has given me the amazing gift of the world. Now people sometimes ask me "Why are you so nice?" and the answer is simple, it is because of my faith in God. Everything that I read in my bible and that I hear from my pastor has always been how God loves all of us, and that he is always looking out for us. Whenever I am at Church, I always get this feeling of great love and joy in my heart and a sense of purpose and meaning. It always has an impact on my day, no matter what type of day it is. Some of the lessons that my pastor teaches me about are how God wants us to live our lives and how we should live them (and the truth is, if we followed all of God's rules, we would never hear of things like anger, war, lying, fighting, STIs, etc.). I have tried to follow God's rules and to be honest, I am a work in progress at them.

Some of the benefits of being a Christian have really turned out well; mostly on the outcomes of my actions, and seeing life the best way that it can be. Most of the benefits have been from my church and from my friends at church. The benefits of going to church have been that I get to learn about God, I get to learn about him with friends, and that I get to love all people just the way that they are. Some small and not really important benefits from going to church have been that each time I go there, we play games right before we get into the lessons. Another small and fun benefit from going to church has been that they give out free donuts! Beside from those small benefits, the most important ones have been the ones that came before those.

I hope that all of these things about Christianity have inspired you to maybe look into asking deeper questions. In fact being a Christian is so simple, it is a matter of the heart. All you have to do to become a Christian is say I believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sins and that through him, I have eternal life. And just like that you can become a Christian! That isn't so bad is it? Now you can officially call yourself a Christian with that one easy step!

In case of bad times
You can still use your faith to get you through tough times, faith never makes life easy it makes life possible.
As is says in Romans 8:28: And we know that in all things God Works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Family now vs family then

How is being a younger sibling different from being an older sibling? How does our lifestyle as children in the modern world differentiate from children who lived during the industrial revolution? For starters I have an older brother, as well as an younger cousin. In my family, my role has always been the youngest. While my family may treat each other as equals, being the youngest came with favorable assets. Some examples are asking for help with homework, as well as having the freedom to ask for a hand, or engaging in activities almost whenever desired. Although there are many good qualities about being the youngest, there are some bad qualities as well. One example includes being the last to know certain events that occur in which are too somber, therefore that I am “not old enough to handle it.” Despite the possibility of this being a valid concern, it can be infuriating knowing that everybody else knew before you did. You can feel mad as well as shocked at the same time, for the reason being, knowing that everybody else was living in the truth while you were in the dust, clueless.

While it is one experience being younger, it is another to be presented the responsibilities of being an older cousin. Having a two year old cousin has influenced quite an extensive change in my life. I feel as though my title has been passed on. I may be one of the youngest, but no longer the youngest of them all. When I was first informed of my baby cousin, my world turned upside down. The reality of there being someone in my family that I am older than opens my eyes to a new chapter of the book of responsibilities. Even though I may only see my cousin twice a year, before I see him I always go through what to do while around him. My list includes, his favorite games, keeping a smile on my face, as well as not being afraid to use the overly excited tone of voice people always use when entertaining a baby. Clearly from my previous statement you can conclude that I am usually not the best with kids. I simply do not know how to entertain them as well as how to soothe their cries. After a few visits to see my cousin, I feel that I have settled down into the role of older cousin. This includes entertaining whenever possible, having a positive face when in his presence, as well as not being afraid to own the fact that I am more experienced than he his, and when he is old enough, pass on advice. Now that I have filled you in on my perspective of being older versus younger, let’s discuss the lives of children who lived during the industrial revolution.

Children who lived during the industrial revolution worked hard, long hours. The children who worked in the factories worked 12-14 hours with short breaks in between. With much large and dangerous equipment in the factories, children were prone to many accidents including injuries and death. Wages were along the same line of injustice. Children would only receive around 3 pence (0.0415 usd) or less everyday. Some factory owners would even get away with not paying them at all. The adults that oversaw the children's work neglected their safety, as well as punished them in a cruel way. The cause of punishments was often from taking unscheduled breaks and being late to work. Some examples of punishment included tying a heavy weight to the person’s neck and telling them to the walk up and down each section of the factory for other children to see. This would generally cause neck and back damage for the child. Another form of punishment were beatings.

Although there were many people who benefited from child labor, there were many people who were determined to abolish it. The first act was in 1833 when the Factory Act was passed by Parliament, in which lowered working hours for children. Additionally, children were required to go to school for no less than 2 hours a day. A major part of this act was when the Parliament sent government officials to oversee the changes. Overtime when activists continued to work towards ending child labor, the United States government created the Children’s Bureau to monitor child labor.

When these children came home from work they did not have the time to have quality interactions with their family. In fact all members of the family would work and not have time to talk with one another. Comparing this to my life now has such a tremendous difference. Now school is half the day, and the other parts of the day are filled with extracurricular activities. Also I have much time in the evening to interact with my family after school. When I imagine what relationships families had during the industrial revolution, I think of weak bonds that rely on blood connections. Parents wanted their children working for the money, and had not supported their child. I know that parents did not all think this way. I also wonder what type of experiences both younger and older siblings had, and how different their experience was compared to my own.

In the end we as children in the 21st century are so lucky to go to schools that care about our education, as well as live with families that care about us. Although this may not apply to everyone, I know that are lives have definitely changed for the better compared to the times of harsh child labor.

All in all, be grateful for what you have, not what you don’t. Don’t see the glass as half empty, but half full.

What if it was "draw" instead of "write?"

Rather on a glowing computer or an old fashioned sheet of paper, you write a lot in school. And I mean a lot. Essays, poetry, lab reports, paragraphs, random blog posts, slideshows. At the end of a typical school day you will probably have started at least two rough drafts, finished your essay about that one book you can’t even remember the name of, and have a really bad hand cramp. But what if school wasn’t like that? What if it was different? What if instead of this:

The girl sat in the emerald green grass

The wind rustling her hair

As a shooting star flew past

It was this:

Graphite

What if instead of a teacher telling you to “write an essay”, a teacher would tell you to “draw an illustration?”

For starters, the school supplies list would look a little different:

Digital

And it would probably cost more than the usual school list, because art supplies can be fairly expensive. Yet you don’t have to buy a pack of pencils that costs one hundred dollars, you could get the cheaper brands, like Crayola.

Instead of kids holding their pencils like this to write their ABCs:

They would hold them like this, to draw the ABCs:

But most importantly, drawing in school inspires and nurtures creativity. I believe that we don’t incorporate enough art into day’s curriculum. That doesn’t mean that we necessarily need to replace writing with drawing, but I think that we definitely should integrate more art into our everyday school lives. Art can inspire and motivate people, and we need something that will do that in our world right now.