Swimming Update-January 25, 2010

Today was the first day back to swimming, as I had midterms last week, and thought it might be best to study.

I can definitely tell that I need to work on my speed. There weren't that many kids tonight, four besides me, but I was definitely the slowest. However, I'm trying not to let this get me down, as I can use it as incentive to make sure I work as hard as I can, and go as fast as I can.

Tonight was all about distance.

Our warm up was 4 50s (50 yards, which is only really 34 yards in our pool), of the IM (indivdiual medley) kick, the 4 50s of the IM swim (butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle).

Then we had to swim 4 200s, in IM order. This involved:

-50 Butterfly kick, 50 Butterfly drill (RABLABA-right arm, both arms, left arm, both arms), 100 butterfly swim.

-50 Backstroke kick, 50 Backstroke drill (Teacup, pretend you're holding a cup of tea, and try not to spill), 100 backstroke swim

-50 Breaststroke kick, 50 Breastroke drill (Tombstone, hold the kickboard like a tombstone to build up power in your kick), 100 breaststroke swim

-50 Freestyle kick, 50 freestyle drill (Elbow drag, to extend your reach), 100 freestyle swim

Then we swam a ladder of freestyle:

200 Kick

150 kick, 50 swim

100 kick, 100 swim

50 kick, 150 swim

200 swim

and then a cool down.

This work out was very long, but very rewarding. Even after this one practice, I feel a bit strong, in both my calves and my biceps, as those were the two areas that got the most work today. I am also really happy, thanks to all the endorphins the exercise released.

Wednesday is the one hour swim. This is more for charity then for a work out, but it will also be nice, because I will be able to just swim and swim, not stop and start, and hopefully I will be able to raise some money for the the charity we're giving to, trying to find a cure for cancer, and help those who have lost someone to cancer, and those being treated.

STAGE Updates

I auditioned for a role in the play that STAGE is putting on, Fools. I read two sides (short scenes from the play), both with a ukrainian/russian accent. I told Ms. Botsford, that if I didn't have large part, I would prefer to be the sound technician.

I wasn't cast, and I will be the sound technician, for my last ever school play. I am a bit sad and disappointed, but I know that Ms. Botsford chose the right people for the roles, and I am still excited to be involved in the production. I'm not sure where the production will be, but if it is at the Cotuit Center for the Arts, than I will already know how to use the sound system.

I believe that this play will be very funny and well done. I believe rehearsals start next week, after midterms are over.

STAGE Updates

The production of Dino actually went really well. We were all nervous that not everyone would know their lines, but the saying "bad rehearsal, good show" seems to hold true. On both production nights, the cast was on target, very high energy. Many of the scenes were intense, full of character development, and not only watching the cast rehearse, but also perform, was really interesting to see. The next play is after Christmas break, and Ms. Botsford says that it will be a comdey, but she won't tell us what it is yet.

I will try out, but as I want to be very involved, I do not think I will take a minor role, and I will just ask to do sound again.

Soccer Update

We cam very close to going to States. Our second to last game, against CCA, we needed to tie or win. I didn't get to play at all, because it was such a challenging team, and I know that I'm still not skilled enough.

We were doing really well, all the way up until the very end. We were tied 0-0, and in the last three minutes, we slipped, leaving an opening, and they scored. We weren't able to return the goal in time. I was devastated. Most of the team was.

However, we played our best, and it wasn't our last game. Our last game was against New Testament, a team we knew we could beat. And we did. As it was our last game, Coach started all the seniors. I got to play for the majority of the game, as a midfielder. It felt really good to play for most of the game, but I felt a bit odd, as I had never played for that long in a game before, and some of the players I was defending were very fast, and I am not. However, I feel as though I played a very good game, especially for not getting to play as often as I would have liked.

I also did not lose as much weight, as I wanted to, but I still lost some, and I know my skills, especially my dribbling and passing skills have improved this season.

I do not know if I will pursue soccer in college, as I am probably not skilled enough to compete at varisty level, but I might join a club team, because I do have fun when I am playing soccer.

Dress A Live Doll

December 4, 2009

Well, Dress A Live Doll is finally done. All but one advisory got all their gifts in, and the advisor for that advisory assured me that he will drop his gifts off before the deadline tomorrow. I had the same warm feeling when I dropped all the gifts today. I'm glad that we are making a difference for these kids.

I am also happy because one advisory saw how stressed out I was, and took the initiative to bring their gifts down to the Salvation Army during lunch, so that I wouldn't have to worry about their gifts.

While I am glad that Dress A Live Doll is over for this year, I'm also a little sad, because over the past two years, organizing this activity has meant a lot to me, and despite all the drama of late gifts and non-wrapping, it has been fun. Also, as I've said before, this activity means a lot to me, because I've seen firsthand, how even one gift for an underprivileged kid, can make them light up and have a really enjoyable Christmas. I hope that in the coming years, another student will have the same appreciation and enjoy providing for others, as much as I have during the past two years. I also hope that I have the opportunity to participate in this sort of program in the coming years, even though it won't be a widespread activity, because I really take pride in making a difference, no matter how small.

Dress A Live Doll

December 3, 2009

I am very frustrated. No one in my advisory brought in wrapping paper, so I had to bring them over to Allie's, my friend who is also in my advisory, house, so that we could wrap them. I'm very upset, because when I mentioned it during advisory, and no one had brought in wrapping paper, someone suggested that we use newspaper, or brown paper we drew on for wrapping paper. This made me very angry. Not only do very few people in my advisory seem to care about the doll, but the gall of suggesting that we use newspaper to wrap someone's presents, just infuriates me. We're supposed to be trying to give these kids an awesome Christmas, and wrapping their presents sloppily, messily, or just with material that suggests that we don't really care, just seems so rude, and uncaring to me.

Also, I am upset because very few of the advisories who had volunteered to buy for dolls have finished shopping and wrapping, and their deadline was supposed to be today! This means that I have to make even more trips to the Salvation Army, and it makes my job more difficult because I need to keep checking in on the advisors who don't have their gifts in. Hopefully, everyone will have their gifts in by tomorrow, because I can't drive all the way up to Hyannis on Saturday, to drop off any remaining gifts, before the deadline.

On the bright side, dropping the gifts that were in today, was really gratifying. My van was stuffed to the brim, and the boy who helped me bring the gifts in and I, had to make about six trips, with arms full of gifts, to get all the gifts in. When I saw the room the had filled with the gifts from all of those who had volunteered to buy gifts for dolls, I was just in awe. What I'm trying to do, what the school is trying to do, really means something. Because of our actions, we are changing the world, making it a bit better, just by making sure that one child gets gifts at Christmas.

Dress A Live Doll

November 24, 2009

We decided in advisory that Evan, Zach and I would go shopping, and everyone else would wrap. Allie would make cookies so that we would have enough money, because the five dollars everyone brought in won't be enough to buy our doll clothes and toys.

Zach went shopping separately from Evan and I, but he picked out a couple of nice sweaters for our doll, for a reasonably cheap price, so I'm happy because that means we'll have more money Evan and I went shopping for a few hours at the mall, and were able to buy our doll: a winter coat, two hats, gloves, a scarf, sneakers, three t-shirts, three long-sleeved shirts, two sweaters, a toy car, a sweatshirt, a spiderman action figure, two sets of pajamas, sweat pants, and two pairs of jeans. We got everything that we could that was on the tag the Salvation Army gave us for our doll. I think that our doll will have a really enjoyable Christmas, and seeing all the things we bought for him, made me feel really good, like I was making a difference in the world, however small.

The rest of our advisory will bring in wrapping paper and we will wrap during the advisory after we get back from Thanksgiving.

Dress A Live Doll

Tuesday, November 17th.

I'm nervous because my advisory does not seem to want to be involved at all. When we talked about our "doll" today, only myself and two others volunteered to go shopping, and I suspect that the others are just doing it for CAS credit, and that they, while caring about providing gifts for this child, aren't as emotionally invested as I am. This is really important to me.

When I was younger, my mom taught English as a Second Language (ESL) to adults, and my sister and I would often play with some of the kids, who often ha better English than their parents. But we could see how poor they were, by their clothes and their toys. We often went over to one student's house, who had a daughter, Nancy, who was my sister's age. They were very poor, their house was dirty, cluttered, and full of obsolete technology, and they often smelled funny, as if they didn't bathe often.

One year, when, I was about nine, we went over Nancy's house, a few days before Christmas. We brought presents for her and her little sister. They were so excited, and happy, and all we had given them was a a Vtech laptop for learning that Addie and I had shared, some barbies, and MadLibs.

Giving them presents, and seeing how happy they were really had an impact on me. I helped to give someone a nicer holiday season. This is why Dress a Live Doll is so important to me. Even if my advisory doesn't care that much, I'm going to do my best to make sure our doll gets an awesome Christmas.