Every fall, seniors in high school are subjected to the irritating and time consuming task of filling out college applications. Just before typing this post, I was sitting at the desk in my room and completing part of the University of California online application.
Here I was, with the document that my entire high school career was based on, and I was getting annoyed. There are many parts to the application, and personally, I don't want to fill it out. This simple document is simply a record of all of my grades, accomplishments, life, and career...stuff. Each year thousands of college bound high school kids sit down with applications to various colleges, and they all complete them. They spend hours on them. We spend hours on them. Every new generation of kids has to go through this sluggish haul of college Q and A. And every year, thousands of college bound kids complain and moan, and post facebook statuses about how they are "finally finished with college apps!" or instagram pictures of the green triangles next to the common applications online tool. Each graduating class has to do these applications, and they take forever, but we really can't do anything about that.
Can we? Honestly, I have no idea. But, I am quite annoyed that no one has found a quicker, easier way to apply to a college. Can we suggest something? Can we have a database that all of our grades, volunteer hours, accomplishments, extracurriculars, awards, achievements, GPA, test scores, and pretty much anything else a college could want are kept in? Kids every year slave over their applications and never seem to point out how long it takes. I find that having to fill out the same information for different colleges is unnecessary. If we had a database that recorded information as it happened every year, kids would have a full resumé filled out as soon as they started their applications, and all that would be needed is to send the "resumé" to each college.
But this won't happen. Because each year, I'm guessing some kids think up a better system, but ditch the idea when they realize that they will still have to write their own applications; they will get no benefit. So instead, we just complain about all of this college junk.
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Vidal/Drugs Response
Yeah, I guess you could say I agree with Vidal's statement that "each man has the right to do what he wants with his own life as long as he does not interfere with his neighbor's pursuit of happiness."
I would like to add something to this statement however: I do believe that when a friend of mine may do something terrible to themselves, whether it be drugs or something else, it affects me. These actions can make me lose a friend or a loved one.
In the case of one of my elementary school teachers, his father died prematurely from cancer brought on by a lifetime of smoking. My teacher was furious at his father for this. His mother smoked, but quit immediately after it was proven that there were negative effects. My teacher's father however, kept on smoking. And he died. While this did not create an obstacle technically for my teacher's pursuit of happiness it did prove to be hurtful. I am not saying his father's intent was to create emotional pain in his son, I am merely providing this to propose the idea that choices of others can effect a person in a way that is not the "pursuit of happiness."
Vidal's idea for drugs in a society like ours is incredibly interesting, and I would be very curious to see the effects. Personally, I think the laws we have in place currently prevent a certain amount of people from getting into drug abuse, and that would possibly save lives. Now, if the laws weren't in place, one can argue that those certain people would not have gotten into drugs anyway, and thus would be safe from ill effects. If we assume these people would have gotten into drugs, we can also say that those certain people would only be harming themselves, which brings me to my point. Families have been destroyed based upon drug usage of a single member, and that is why I don't fully agree with Vidal's statement.
I would like to add something to this statement however: I do believe that when a friend of mine may do something terrible to themselves, whether it be drugs or something else, it affects me. These actions can make me lose a friend or a loved one.
In the case of one of my elementary school teachers, his father died prematurely from cancer brought on by a lifetime of smoking. My teacher was furious at his father for this. His mother smoked, but quit immediately after it was proven that there were negative effects. My teacher's father however, kept on smoking. And he died. While this did not create an obstacle technically for my teacher's pursuit of happiness it did prove to be hurtful. I am not saying his father's intent was to create emotional pain in his son, I am merely providing this to propose the idea that choices of others can effect a person in a way that is not the "pursuit of happiness."
Vidal's idea for drugs in a society like ours is incredibly interesting, and I would be very curious to see the effects. Personally, I think the laws we have in place currently prevent a certain amount of people from getting into drug abuse, and that would possibly save lives. Now, if the laws weren't in place, one can argue that those certain people would not have gotten into drugs anyway, and thus would be safe from ill effects. If we assume these people would have gotten into drugs, we can also say that those certain people would only be harming themselves, which brings me to my point. Families have been destroyed based upon drug usage of a single member, and that is why I don't fully agree with Vidal's statement.
Friday, November 9, 2012
Research Paper Progress Report
My research paper topic is Knee Health in Junior cyclists, more specifically, what the common knee problems are (if there are any).
I did the MLA citations, so here is a link to the google doc I saved it in (just so I can use the sites later).
Here.
I did the MLA citations, so here is a link to the google doc I saved it in (just so I can use the sites later).
Here.
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Monday, November 5, 2012
Senior Project Update
Currently, my senior project is still going pretty well. In my attempt to create a cycling club at Vintage High School I have been working very hard with my mentor to create a working and specific club constitution. This constitution outlines pretty much everything the club stands for, what we are supposed to do, be doing, the responsibilities of our club members, riding schedules, commitment, etc.. The constitution essentially covers everything that we have thought of in the past eight months, and the reason I have taken this task so seriously in regards to the club is because I know that without a functioning constitution, it will be impossible to start a club at another school. I know by experience, that the creation of a club will be much smoother at Vintage because they can copy our constitution.
Liability. Liability. Liability. If someone gets hurt, who get's sued? Who pays for it? We are riding the Napa County Office of Education's bikes, and they have an administrator with us, so they have liability. We have two consent forms that must be signed, but that is not good enough now. The grant the NCOE used to pay for the administrator and bikes runs out in December, so they have to do something with the bikes. I want them to donate the bikes to our school, but the NVUSD does not want ANYTHING to do with the club's liability.
So we have a plan. We want to essentially secede from NVUSD. Sort of. We want to become a USA Cycling club, because we can then by health insurance for the club at little cost. But, we still need coaches and liability waivers and bikes (since the bikes we are using will be taken back in December). The Eagle Cycling Club is the main promoter of cycling in Napa Valley, they sponsor events such as the Tour of Napa Valley, road, and mountain bike races. We have been fortunate enough to have been in contact with them, and they have been our main sponsor as far as equipment and jerseys go. We want to become a junior development branch of their club, fully sponsored by them, and completely separated from NVUSD, with the only exception that the club is based out of Napa High School, with a user agreement that the bikes can be kept on campus.
In other words, my cycling club and my senior project as a whole are now based on how well my club can present our situation to the members of the Eagle Cycling Club, and will only really continue if they say yes. A little stressful, yes, but I really believe the Eagle members will be happy to welcome a junior branch to sponsor the next generation of cyclists in Napa Valley.
Liability. Liability. Liability. If someone gets hurt, who get's sued? Who pays for it? We are riding the Napa County Office of Education's bikes, and they have an administrator with us, so they have liability. We have two consent forms that must be signed, but that is not good enough now. The grant the NCOE used to pay for the administrator and bikes runs out in December, so they have to do something with the bikes. I want them to donate the bikes to our school, but the NVUSD does not want ANYTHING to do with the club's liability.
So we have a plan. We want to essentially secede from NVUSD. Sort of. We want to become a USA Cycling club, because we can then by health insurance for the club at little cost. But, we still need coaches and liability waivers and bikes (since the bikes we are using will be taken back in December). The Eagle Cycling Club is the main promoter of cycling in Napa Valley, they sponsor events such as the Tour of Napa Valley, road, and mountain bike races. We have been fortunate enough to have been in contact with them, and they have been our main sponsor as far as equipment and jerseys go. We want to become a junior development branch of their club, fully sponsored by them, and completely separated from NVUSD, with the only exception that the club is based out of Napa High School, with a user agreement that the bikes can be kept on campus.
In other words, my cycling club and my senior project as a whole are now based on how well my club can present our situation to the members of the Eagle Cycling Club, and will only really continue if they say yes. A little stressful, yes, but I really believe the Eagle members will be happy to welcome a junior branch to sponsor the next generation of cyclists in Napa Valley.
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Orwell Response
"Politics and the English Language," was an interesting passage. I enjoyed the points Orwell made in his exposure of phrases and terms that have lost or gained meaning throughout the years. I especially took note of his mention that when a certain phrase is used so much, it actually is mistaken to mean literally what it's implied meaning was. As in, a phrase, when taken literally makes no sense, but everyone understands the meaning.
Orwell's intense vocabulary was present during this passage. In his examples, I found many words I had no understanding of. Furthermore, in his regular writing I was impressed as well to a certain extent because I found new words that I could not infer the meaning of based on god old context clues.
This passage was an interesting read, and I thought it was beneficial to read in a group, because I did not feel terrible about not understanding 100% of the words, because I was able to talk immediately with my peers.
Orwell's intense vocabulary was present during this passage. In his examples, I found many words I had no understanding of. Furthermore, in his regular writing I was impressed as well to a certain extent because I found new words that I could not infer the meaning of based on god old context clues.
This passage was an interesting read, and I thought it was beneficial to read in a group, because I did not feel terrible about not understanding 100% of the words, because I was able to talk immediately with my peers.
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Research Paper Intro Post
1. State your topic briefly: The effects of cycling on knee health in junior riders.
2. Summarize what is controversial about your topic: There are some schools of thought on whether the sport damages or strengthens the knee, and the UCI has rules regarding what gears juniors are allowed to use, which many people debate about (whether the rules help or not).
3. State what kinds of resources you will be using to conduct your research: A lot of internet stuff, because I don't think people write books on this topic, but I'll find something in print. I know a really professional physical therapist in LA that may also be of help.
4. What is your emotional investment in this subject? This paper?: Ever since I left swimming I've needed something else to obsess over, so I'll be quite interested in this topic, and the paper is needed for me to graduate from high school, and I plan on attending college, so this is a relatively important piece for me personally.
5. If this is a popular topic (one that has probably been done in the past), what are you going to do that will make your treatment unique? If you believe you have a fresh idea that no AP student has ever tried, why do you believe this?: I do believe my idea is a new one, mostly because no one else races bikes, with the exception of one student last year, but he didn't cover knee health in his paper.
6. Do you have any questions about narrowing your focus, researching, or anything else that I can answer?: I'm not completely sure my topic is narrow enough, and I'm feeling apprehensive about being able to find half of my sources in print.
2. Summarize what is controversial about your topic: There are some schools of thought on whether the sport damages or strengthens the knee, and the UCI has rules regarding what gears juniors are allowed to use, which many people debate about (whether the rules help or not).
3. State what kinds of resources you will be using to conduct your research: A lot of internet stuff, because I don't think people write books on this topic, but I'll find something in print. I know a really professional physical therapist in LA that may also be of help.
4. What is your emotional investment in this subject? This paper?: Ever since I left swimming I've needed something else to obsess over, so I'll be quite interested in this topic, and the paper is needed for me to graduate from high school, and I plan on attending college, so this is a relatively important piece for me personally.
5. If this is a popular topic (one that has probably been done in the past), what are you going to do that will make your treatment unique? If you believe you have a fresh idea that no AP student has ever tried, why do you believe this?: I do believe my idea is a new one, mostly because no one else races bikes, with the exception of one student last year, but he didn't cover knee health in his paper.
6. Do you have any questions about narrowing your focus, researching, or anything else that I can answer?: I'm not completely sure my topic is narrow enough, and I'm feeling apprehensive about being able to find half of my sources in print.
Friday, October 12, 2012
Personal Choice: Rwanda Cyclists are Coming!
Why am I so interested in this? Well, first of all, BIKES. And, as one might be able to infer from the mysterious image displayed above, Rising From Ashes. Rising From Ashes is a film that documents Team Rwanda and what they do. The film covers the ideas behind the team, what they stand for, and the journeys their athletes must make in order to overcome the obstacles of the past. The film will be shown here in Napa in early November, but what is even more exciting is that two of the Rwandan athletes will be flying over to Napa to promote cycling and their movie, and ride around Napa to get a feel for American cycling.
American cycling has a lot of intense mountains to climb
I am really excited about the two Rwandan guys that will be visiting Napa, they have expressed interest in riding the routes that I ride weekly, which means that I may be able to go for a few training rides with them. They also seem to want to see what the Napa High Cycling Club is, and will most likely want to go for a few rides, and, being world class athletes, they will be valuble mentors for all of the riders on the team, even the coaches.
Overall, after discovering what their story is about, I have enormous respect for the Rwandan cycling team, for they have made me reflect on how amazing cycling is as a sport. I truly believe now that cycling can be a medium of change in the world, because it is a sport in which the athletes can talk, joke around, work incredibly hard, and grow together with. The sport has had a large impact on Rwanda, and I hope that this film will have a similar effect in America. Either way, I know this has made me understand how powerful a force cycling can be.
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Monday, October 1, 2012
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Monday, September 24, 2012
Response to "Behind the Formaldehyde Curtain"
4. From the very beginning of this passage, its title, we find that Mitford pokes fun at the entire funeral and embalming industry. Throughout the passage, Mitford explains the process of embalming a body, and points out how incredibly ridiculous the entire thing is. She further explains how far from reality the rest of the living people are to this process. I agree to a certain extent with almost everything Mitford brings up, partly because I believe her passage makes sense, but also because her descriptions were apt enough to make me squirm in my seat, yet at the same time marvel the level of satiric language included.
Mitford makes her opinions of the embalming process quite clear in this passage. Her idea of the process is that the ones who enjoy the work or benefit from it have no problem with cleaning up a dead body, and that the people who don't understand the embalming procedures have no idea what is going on with the body; people are either having fun with the body, or blissfully unaware of the gruesome work that is put into prepping said body for the time when the "curtain" is drawn and the work of art revealed. Mitford's title gives the reader the understanding that the body is prepped like a production, and kept behind a curtain until the final showing. This curtain prevents anyone from understanding the vile work put into the body before its debut in the casket. The average person will not even expect their deceased to be embalmed, because, as Mitford points out, it is generally assumed that the body will be embalmed. Mitford Recites to us the tale of the embalming because it is ironic that none of the work is appreciated by the ones who it is done for. The family of the deceased do not usually think about the process of embalming, but pay for it anyway, and have no understanding of what type of effort is put into the dead body sitting in the casket at the funeral. The descriptions of the operations done in preparation for the body are horrifyingly soul-scarring. This powerful language is interesting because it forces the reader to take note, and ultimately be completely entranced by the terrible process. At the end of the essay the reader reflects on what he or she has just read, and realizes that the point was to show how much effort goes into something that no one really gives a thought to.
I have to say (write), that I actually do agree with what Mitford says. This is solely because I have not ever heard of this process, with the exception of Evita Peron in South America. I fully understand that I am taking a side on this issue based completely on one argument, without even hearing or thinking of a counter to it. I think that the way Mitford presents her idea of the embalming immediately biases the reader towards her side, mostly because it is written so well. As for my own experience, I have only been to two funerals, both were my grandparent's. In one, we had my grandmother cremated, and in the other, we had a closed casket for my grandfather. Now, I didn't really think about the actual body of my grandfather, nor was embalming mentioned at all during the weeks the led up to that day, so either he was embalmed and I was one of the blissfully ignorant people, or he wasn't and I had no idea. Either way, I completely fell into Mitford's stereotypically ignorant people.
Mitford makes her opinions of the embalming process quite clear in this passage. Her idea of the process is that the ones who enjoy the work or benefit from it have no problem with cleaning up a dead body, and that the people who don't understand the embalming procedures have no idea what is going on with the body; people are either having fun with the body, or blissfully unaware of the gruesome work that is put into prepping said body for the time when the "curtain" is drawn and the work of art revealed. Mitford's title gives the reader the understanding that the body is prepped like a production, and kept behind a curtain until the final showing. This curtain prevents anyone from understanding the vile work put into the body before its debut in the casket. The average person will not even expect their deceased to be embalmed, because, as Mitford points out, it is generally assumed that the body will be embalmed. Mitford Recites to us the tale of the embalming because it is ironic that none of the work is appreciated by the ones who it is done for. The family of the deceased do not usually think about the process of embalming, but pay for it anyway, and have no understanding of what type of effort is put into the dead body sitting in the casket at the funeral. The descriptions of the operations done in preparation for the body are horrifyingly soul-scarring. This powerful language is interesting because it forces the reader to take note, and ultimately be completely entranced by the terrible process. At the end of the essay the reader reflects on what he or she has just read, and realizes that the point was to show how much effort goes into something that no one really gives a thought to.
I have to say (write), that I actually do agree with what Mitford says. This is solely because I have not ever heard of this process, with the exception of Evita Peron in South America. I fully understand that I am taking a side on this issue based completely on one argument, without even hearing or thinking of a counter to it. I think that the way Mitford presents her idea of the embalming immediately biases the reader towards her side, mostly because it is written so well. As for my own experience, I have only been to two funerals, both were my grandparent's. In one, we had my grandmother cremated, and in the other, we had a closed casket for my grandfather. Now, I didn't really think about the actual body of my grandfather, nor was embalming mentioned at all during the weeks the led up to that day, so either he was embalmed and I was one of the blissfully ignorant people, or he wasn't and I had no idea. Either way, I completely fell into Mitford's stereotypically ignorant people.
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Written Like "Shooting an Elephant"
Mrs. G: Sorry for the late post, I was not able to post it for some reason because I had a problem with the particular computer I was on, which ended up deleting my post. I had to re-write a portion of it, and I was too busy on Monday night.
It's here.
It's here.
Monday, September 10, 2012
Structure
"The Human Cost of an Illiterate Society"
One thing that stuck out for me while reading this passage was the sheer amount of examples Kozol developed, and how he presented his ideas to the reader. Not only did he jumpy right into his subject, he "listed" (I use quotations because it wasn't really a list, but rather, a string of well developed paragraphs that, if paraphrased, could become a list) multiple examples from the start. All of these examples were large paragraphs, evenly spaced. The amount of words, the enormity of each of these paragraphs was well-balanced, and I never felt like one example outweighed the other in terms of how much real estate that particular example had in the passage.Something I really liked about this format of equally large paragraphs was that the passage as a whole was short. It wasn't very difficult to read, and even though there were large paragraphs, the examples were laid out well enough that I never felt like the structure was awkward or irrational.
More than once, Kovol uses the structure of a single sentence paragraph. This allows for a sort of break in the flow of the passage, and really caught my attention as a reader. While reading, partly because this passage is pretty powerful, these single sentences would serve as an almost rude wake up call. The paragraphs in this passage get bigger and smaller gradually, creating a nice, even flow between each example that culminates with the largest paragraph, and ebbs down to smaller and smaller groups of sentences until the reader is just left with another single sentence, which causes all of their attention to be drawn to the meaning behind that peculiar sentence, which starts off the next example, and then flows into larger and larger paragraphs and so on.
Kovol's gradual increase and decrease in the size of his paragraphs help with the flow of his work. The structure serves as a metaphor for conversation; one does not start talking about a subject full force, or without some sort of prompt, no, they bring up the topic, start sharing ideas, and then elaborate on their ideas, and keep talking until they are able to sum up the meaning or message of their ideas in a single grouping of words, which at that point helps them share their idea legibly and well-developed.
Other than that, I really didn't notice anything too spectacular about this passage.
Friday, September 7, 2012
Cycling Race!
As I transition from swimming to cycling, I notice some similarities, and some differences. First of all, left me start off by saying that I recently started racing. My first race was on August 25th, 2012. This was a 48.6 mile road race that started in Winters, a town near Davis, and proceeded along a 24.3 mile course. We did two laps in the Category 5 race.
Waking up in the morning instantly reminded me of waking up for swim meets. I’ve traveled to many towns and cities for swim meets, but never for a cycling race. I was about to experience something incredibly different. I woke up at 5:00am, ate breakfast, and got my bag ready, just as I have done hundreds of times for swim meets. I went with my father, but unlike any swim meet, I actually drove to the cycling race. We arrived in Winters with about 45 minutes to spare before I needed to warm up, and we parked in the parking lot. But for a cycling race, the parking lot is also the area where people warm up on stationary trainers, do maintenance, and watch race starts. I was very interested in this “culture” that my new sport has. Unlike swimming, the average age of these athletes was far above mine, and I was one of the people there. Another feeling I got was that I was not special, nor was I the best, nor could I even be considered a challenger to anyone, even in my own category. I was no one, I left no impression, I didn’t even have a registered team. I was just a 17 year old, in a field of people above the age of 20, who had a blue, white, and gold jersey on.
I started the race, and felt fine. I was near the back of the pack of riders, 50 in all, and the pace wasn’t excruciating. Unfortunately, the flow in the back of the pack is quite stop-and-go, so I had trouble holding the pace. Eventually, I got caught behind some slower people, and with a headwind and a slight uphill gradient I had a very tough time making it back into the draft of the main group. When I finally did, we hit a couple of hills and I moved up a few places, only to be slowly brought back to the rear of the field. We hit the feed zone at mile 12, just before a small climb, and the group accelerated. I was caught in a gear too large for me to push up the hill, and I was dropped. I fought hard on that climb, and passed more than a few people on my way up. I descended alone, and pulled hard on the last 10 miles of that lap, averaging speeds of over 30 miles per hour on some sections. I worked hard, both alone and with others at times on the second lap, and felt like I was going to die at times. I just kept turning those pedals over and over, passing others who had been dropped by the front group on the second lap. I never made it back to the leaders, and finished alone, ahead of a guy I had been working together with on and off for about 15 miles. I averaged 19.8 miles an hour for 48.6 miles, faster than I have ever averaged before in my life, and my average heart rate was 178, which is very high. I sustained that intensity for the two hours and 26 minutes it took me to complete the race. I thought I had had a bad day, but I found out that my limit of endurance is much higher than I thought, and that I actually finished 30th out of 50 riders, which is not too bad for my first race.
And I am quite hungry for more.
Waking up in the morning instantly reminded me of waking up for swim meets. I’ve traveled to many towns and cities for swim meets, but never for a cycling race. I was about to experience something incredibly different. I woke up at 5:00am, ate breakfast, and got my bag ready, just as I have done hundreds of times for swim meets. I went with my father, but unlike any swim meet, I actually drove to the cycling race. We arrived in Winters with about 45 minutes to spare before I needed to warm up, and we parked in the parking lot. But for a cycling race, the parking lot is also the area where people warm up on stationary trainers, do maintenance, and watch race starts. I was very interested in this “culture” that my new sport has. Unlike swimming, the average age of these athletes was far above mine, and I was one of the people there. Another feeling I got was that I was not special, nor was I the best, nor could I even be considered a challenger to anyone, even in my own category. I was no one, I left no impression, I didn’t even have a registered team. I was just a 17 year old, in a field of people above the age of 20, who had a blue, white, and gold jersey on.
I started the race, and felt fine. I was near the back of the pack of riders, 50 in all, and the pace wasn’t excruciating. Unfortunately, the flow in the back of the pack is quite stop-and-go, so I had trouble holding the pace. Eventually, I got caught behind some slower people, and with a headwind and a slight uphill gradient I had a very tough time making it back into the draft of the main group. When I finally did, we hit a couple of hills and I moved up a few places, only to be slowly brought back to the rear of the field. We hit the feed zone at mile 12, just before a small climb, and the group accelerated. I was caught in a gear too large for me to push up the hill, and I was dropped. I fought hard on that climb, and passed more than a few people on my way up. I descended alone, and pulled hard on the last 10 miles of that lap, averaging speeds of over 30 miles per hour on some sections. I worked hard, both alone and with others at times on the second lap, and felt like I was going to die at times. I just kept turning those pedals over and over, passing others who had been dropped by the front group on the second lap. I never made it back to the leaders, and finished alone, ahead of a guy I had been working together with on and off for about 15 miles. I averaged 19.8 miles an hour for 48.6 miles, faster than I have ever averaged before in my life, and my average heart rate was 178, which is very high. I sustained that intensity for the two hours and 26 minutes it took me to complete the race. I thought I had had a bad day, but I found out that my limit of endurance is much higher than I thought, and that I actually finished 30th out of 50 riders, which is not too bad for my first race.
And I am quite hungry for more.
Monday, September 3, 2012
Monday, August 27, 2012
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Boxman Debrief
1. One new thing I learned during the discussion:
I totally missed the grandma/grandparent comparison, and really enjoyed Enlly's point on how people visit grandparents less, and they are in solitude more often.
2. Something I wished we had talked about:
I enjoyed the boxcar children comparison, and I wish we had spent more time on that topic.
3. Something I wish I had said:
I wanted to talk about the comparison of the Box Man to Thoreau a little bit more, possibly even looking on his trancendentalist ideals.
I totally missed the grandma/grandparent comparison, and really enjoyed Enlly's point on how people visit grandparents less, and they are in solitude more often.
2. Something I wished we had talked about:
I enjoyed the boxcar children comparison, and I wish we had spent more time on that topic.
3. Something I wish I had said:
I wanted to talk about the comparison of the Box Man to Thoreau a little bit more, possibly even looking on his trancendentalist ideals.
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
"Blurb" About My Senior Project
My senior project come down to the simple fact that I like to ride a bike. I don't like going for long bike rides alone. I noticed that road cycling as a high school sport doesn't really exist, and I am hoping to change that eventually. As for now, I want to focus on creating a parallel cycling club at Vintage High School, which will promote cycling as a lifetime sport that should be a possible option for all high school students.
Unfortunately, I don't have the resources to supply road bikes to this cause, but the Napa County Office of Education has been an enormous help in this regard at the club at Napa High. I am hoping I can persuade the NCOE to extend their generosity to Vintage High School, because Vintage is the other large high school in Napa. This will give the opportunity to ride to the most high school kids in Napa (as opposed to supporting a smaller high school).
This is essentially an extension of my goal to make cycling an attainable sport for high school students.
Unfortunately, I don't have the resources to supply road bikes to this cause, but the Napa County Office of Education has been an enormous help in this regard at the club at Napa High. I am hoping I can persuade the NCOE to extend their generosity to Vintage High School, because Vintage is the other large high school in Napa. This will give the opportunity to ride to the most high school kids in Napa (as opposed to supporting a smaller high school).
This is essentially an extension of my goal to make cycling an attainable sport for high school students.
Monday, August 13, 2012
The First Blog
First Blog:
All right. Here we go, first blog. Hi. My name is Eric. Usually when introducing myself I talk about how I am pretty academically focused and that I love sports. I can assume that signing up for this class somewhat proves the first point of my last sentence, so I will focus on the latter in hopes that it will shed some light on who I am.
I have always enjoyed sports, and when I was about nine years old, I decided I would swim. So I swam for seven years on the Napa Valley Swim team, and competed with the Napa High School swim team for the last three years. I was decently dedicated to this team, and during my time there after the winter of my eighth grade year, when I moved into the prestigious and demanding "Senior I Group," I rarely missed a practice.(I do not understand the concept of "embedding a link," I could not access your blog for an example) http://www.napavalleyswim.com/TabGeneric.jsp?_tabid_=7285&team=psnvst, my practices during summer were under Senior I. I was good enough to be in the strongest group of Varsity swimmers as a freshman. Unfortunately I developed rotator cuff issues in both of my shoulders due to over-training during the winter of my sophomore year. I was very dedicated to this sport, and was incredibly frustrated in the two years of physical therapy required to get my shoulder back to normal. By this time, I had decided to leave the team, painfully, for another sport: Road Cycling.
During the free time I had while not swimming, I started riding my bike, and now this is a large part of my life, that has replaced swimming. I longed for a team, and, when the opportunity presented itself, Dave Seyms of the Napa County Office of Education helped me start a supported cycling club here at Napa High School. The NCOE cycling site is here: http://napasaferoutes.org/napahigh/
As for my senior year, I have signed up for a few AP classes and my favorite elective, Drama. I enjoy acting on a stage very much, and am usually very comfortable in front of groups of people. I excel in smaller groups, such as the class I am typing this for, and do well (at least I believe I do) onstage. I am currently a member of the International Thespian Society (http://schooltheatre.org/society), and have the highest rank as an Honor Thespian. Although I have a passion for performing, I am wary of pursuing theater as a career because it is not a steady line of work, and I come from a family that has deep roots in the Justice System; my father is a Judge and I have various lawyers and Judges as Aunts/Uncles. Working as a civil servant is very steady in comparison, and I don't believe the stage has a future for me, but I will enjoy my high school career.
All right. Here we go, first blog. Hi. My name is Eric. Usually when introducing myself I talk about how I am pretty academically focused and that I love sports. I can assume that signing up for this class somewhat proves the first point of my last sentence, so I will focus on the latter in hopes that it will shed some light on who I am.
I have always enjoyed sports, and when I was about nine years old, I decided I would swim. So I swam for seven years on the Napa Valley Swim team, and competed with the Napa High School swim team for the last three years. I was decently dedicated to this team, and during my time there after the winter of my eighth grade year, when I moved into the prestigious and demanding "Senior I Group," I rarely missed a practice.(I do not understand the concept of "embedding a link," I could not access your blog for an example) http://www.napavalleyswim.com/TabGeneric.jsp?_tabid_=7285&team=psnvst, my practices during summer were under Senior I. I was good enough to be in the strongest group of Varsity swimmers as a freshman. Unfortunately I developed rotator cuff issues in both of my shoulders due to over-training during the winter of my sophomore year. I was very dedicated to this sport, and was incredibly frustrated in the two years of physical therapy required to get my shoulder back to normal. By this time, I had decided to leave the team, painfully, for another sport: Road Cycling.
During the free time I had while not swimming, I started riding my bike, and now this is a large part of my life, that has replaced swimming. I longed for a team, and, when the opportunity presented itself, Dave Seyms of the Napa County Office of Education helped me start a supported cycling club here at Napa High School. The NCOE cycling site is here: http://napasaferoutes.org/napahigh/
As for my senior year, I have signed up for a few AP classes and my favorite elective, Drama. I enjoy acting on a stage very much, and am usually very comfortable in front of groups of people. I excel in smaller groups, such as the class I am typing this for, and do well (at least I believe I do) onstage. I am currently a member of the International Thespian Society (http://schooltheatre.org/society), and have the highest rank as an Honor Thespian. Although I have a passion for performing, I am wary of pursuing theater as a career because it is not a steady line of work, and I come from a family that has deep roots in the Justice System; my father is a Judge and I have various lawyers and Judges as Aunts/Uncles. Working as a civil servant is very steady in comparison, and I don't believe the stage has a future for me, but I will enjoy my high school career.
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