Three Years and Beyond

Lots of people make distant plans in life but i myself am not one of those people. I wouldn't say that I "wing it" but I don't a nice green fidelity line either. I take things one step at a time and focus on the tasks at hand. One thing I do know about my three year future is that I will be applying for colleges. I should probably start talking about where I want to go to college but instead i'll be honest and say that I have zero idea where I want to go. I figure by the time i'm a senior I will have a high enough GPA to go to just about any college I choose, so i'm not to worried. If I had to take a guess as to where i'd end up it would probably be somewhere in the Northeast or West coast.

Group Involvement

Working with a group on projects is great. You can learn many things about people such as their work ethic and how smart they are. I personally enjoy working in most group projects. It helps me grasp the material I need to know without doing as much work as an individual assignment. In some situations I don't enjoy working in groups. When you get stuck with a group of lazy people they tend to leave you with all the work. This unfortunately happens a fair bit and causes me to get a grade that I am not happy with.

Four Day Schools?

I believe that by restructuring the school year schedule that students, parents, teachers, and administrators will benefit. Currently it is the norm for schools to operate on a five-day week with a summer break of approximately twelve weeks. I propose changing the school week to four days and shortening the summer break to four weeks. Here is my case for the change With summer vacations in the neighborhood of three months, students spend the first few weeks of the following school year getting acclimated to learning and studying. If the summer break were shorter students would arrive at school less rusty and would accomplish more in the early school year. In a research study it was determined that when diagnostic tests were taken “summer learning loss equaled at least one month of instruction as measured by grade level equivalents on standardized test scores—on average, children's tests scores were at least one month lower when they returned to school in fall than scores were when students left in spring.” This supports that over a long summer student’s regress in their schoolwork. With a four day school week students will be better able to balance in school and extracurricular demands. With a day free during the normal work week students are able to make appointments that would often take them away from school. This is also true with sports in which most students would be missing portions of their school day to travel to and compete in sporting events. Students could still have access to classrooms, computers, library, and the schools gym. Instead of sleeping in students will be able to use this extra day for completing school projects and other homework tasks that they may have. There are other important outcomes that have been shown in schools with four day school weeks. Results from most schools indicate an improvement in academic achievement. Also the Oakridge, Tennessee school district report teacher attendance rates to increased by over twenty percent, which decreases the need for substitute teachers who are less effective. Both faculty and administrative staff morale has been shown to improve with a shorter week. Lastly, students’ disciplinary incidents and absenteeism have also been shown to decrease. The end result of a change to a shorter school week is a more relaxed and effective school environment. In closing by restructuring the school year both to have a shorter four week summer break along with a four day school week will as I have shown provide tremendous benefit to our schools.

The Pivotal Moment in my running

Prior to my running injury I had a prosperous running and tennis career. I was running races and winning tournaments. Then out of nowhere… a growth plate injury greatly hindered my sports development. I was left in casts for three weeks slowly losing all of my muscles and strength that I had worked so hard to build. For me, it felt as if the world was crashing down before me. This world crashing was exponentially increased by the fact that I was only ten, and as a ten year old this seams affects everything you do, leaving you as functionally paralyzed person (No intention on harming those who are paralyzed.) Currently I am back on the path to greatness in the realm of cross-country. Ever since I came back from my injury I have been working hard to get back to the level that I was previously at. I am quiet happy with how I am progressing right now and I am close to surpassing my prior accomplishments.

My Artifact

My artifact is my medal from my first half marathon. This medal is important to me because it reminds me of how hard I worked to finish that race. It helps me work harder and work through the pain when I’m running. This medal gives me the confidence to do anything I want to do.