Day: May 31, 2012

The end of OVS Sports

venturatrekerLeave a comment


Today marked the end of my OVS sports career.  I have been an OVS spud for 11 years since I was in kindergarten.  Although the actual Lacrosse season ended two weeks ago, today we played the alumni to see who was truly better, the fossils or the young blood.

It turns out, neither are, we tied.  But like any true OVS sports event a tie is the best you can ask for.

Some of the alumni were old and out of shape, others were CAL and ASU lacrosse players which made the game a challenge.

Over all it was a great game and I am glad we ended our season on a positive note and I look forward to coming back next year and beating the OVS team.

My Nan.

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Medel

I love to make my Nan proud. Whatever I do, whatever my achievements however big or small, she is happy. Whenever her family is happy, doing well and meeting their dreams she is the one that will always be the most pleased.

Today I rang my Nan to talk about a summer internship I had earned and we discussed my grades in school, graduation etc. She was ecstatic that I had called her which shone through her shyness as she told me all about the family and her garden and life. When I told her about my achievements she was so pleased and told me how she was so glad my work had paid off and I was doing well.

Although I disappointed her when I told her I would not be returning to England she said she looked forward to seeing me in California this Christmas time and still never ceased to show her happiness.

Whatever we do as grandchildren and wherever we place she will always be proud to call us her grandchildren, and that is why I am ever so proud to call her my Nan.

The Joys of Journalism

therightliberalLeave a comment

I joined the journalism class my junior year of high school, doing it more because I liked the teacher rather than the subject. I was good at writing, or so I believed, so I thought I might as well.

But what I have gained from the class has been immense.

Although I thought I was a good writer, I definitely had room for improvement. I have learned how to be more concise as well as deep in my writing.

I have learned to be less superficial in my writing, using fewer words and finding more meaning.

One of the most important things that I have gained is the ability to get people’s story in a quick and effective way. It is not just interviewing techniques but learning to talk to people in a way in which their story is told most effectively.

I have learned the importance of stories, not just as a form of entertainment or news, but the importance to those who tell them and who are involved with them. I have learned that people like to tell their stories to those who are willing to listen.

Journalism is an art and a science. It is a way to show the world the way you see the world, the way you interpret the things around you, but it can also require a formula of sorts, a strategy.

Journalism is not only a great class to take in high school, it is a great subject to be involved with at any point in life, whether it be reading, writing or participating in some other manner.

Journalism is a key way that we communicate and express ourselves, and I thank everyone that has taught me about it.

Journalism Competition!

rangerthecatLeave a comment

Last Friday, 8 out of 10 students from our journalism class went to Cal Lutheran University (where I’m going to college!!!) to attend the TCJEA event which is a very competitive and large journalism competition. There were 15 schools at the event in total and we were the smallest school there hands down. Many other schools had around 20 or even 30 writers with them to compete in all different categories. It was intimidating, yes, but the experience was so awesome that it hardly mattered how small our group was.

We had writers enter almost every category available, including photography, sports writing, feature writing, news writing, and editorial writing. I was in the feature category, and we had such an interesting speaker named Cyrus Nowrasteh wrote and produced a many films including a mini-series titled “The Path to 9/11”. We listened to his story about the controversy over his series and the attempted sabotage of his career by people trying to cover up their mistakes. Then, we had about an hour to write an article on him and submit to be scored against all other works in that category.

Now, Mr. Alvarez is the best journalism teacher I could ever ask for. He has taught me so much – I was a terrible writer when I first stepped into his classroom. Regardless of his immense encouragement and preparation, I was still not confident that I could compete with others in programs much bigger and more well-known than our little “On The Hill” paper. But I was sure that we were a small but mighty force and had a great change of winning awards.

There were so many awards handed out. Each category had 1st through 3rd places and 2 honorable mentions. There were also awards for online newspapers, print newspapers, and overall best team called “sweepstakes”.

In the feature category, there were over 30 students that wrote an article for submission. My fellow feature writer Emmy Addison took a 2nd place in the feature category, and I received an honorable mention! I couldn’t believe it. I was recognized as a top 5 writer in my category. I was ecstatic. Another writer Jack Marcus also received 2nd place in the news writing category. Our online publication of the newspaper took 4th place overall, with is astounding considering it had only been officially up and running for less than a month. Overall in the competition, we placed 4th, receiving an honorable mention in the sweepstakes category.

It is just amazing to me how such a small group of students was able to go to that competition and practically dominate. We really proved to the other schools that even though we may not seem like much, we have an amazing, dedicated, and hardworking group of writers. I am so proud to be a part of this team, and the event was more amazing than I could have imagined. Congrats, journalism class!

Athletes Vs. Technicalities

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Sports were not always so complicated. Sports use to be simple, the best man/woman would win. Now-a-days virtually every sport is bogged down with rules and technicalities.

Just several weeks ago a technicality “controversy” made headlines. a female golfer by the name of  Caroline Inglis lost a title. The reason for losing her title, failing to fill out her scorecard correctly. She wrote a 68 on her card instead of the correct score of 69. Although she would have won without altering her score she was disqualified and forfeited the championship.

I find this extremely unfair to the athletes. An athlete should win if they are the best not lose because of arbitrary rules.
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Festival of Talent

rangerthecatLeave a comment

This Friday was my 3rd and last time performing in the annual Festival of Talent for school. My sophomore and junior years I sang a song with my friend Maddie and this year I sang a song with my friend Serry.

This year, we had a hard time choosing which song to sing, because there were so many good ones that we had in mind. We finally came to the decision of singing a song called “Meant to Be” by Melissa Polinar.

Since I first discovered it, it has been one of my favorite songs and thankfully it fit both of our voices well. We only had a few practices, but it came together really quickly. Music teacher Mr. Boyd was amazing at figuring out the guitar on such short notice and with no tabs (THANK YOU!!).

I usually get extremely nervous about singing in front of a crowd, and I was nervous when I went on stage, but for some reason when I started singing this time my nerves died down. I think it’s just the fact that it was such a bittersweet moment, my last talent show and probably the last time I will be singing in front of people.

There were SO MANY other awesome acts in this show. To start us off we had an amazing robot-like dance by Jack Liu that was just phenomenal. It was so entertaining and it was obvious he spent a lot of time perfecting every move and that he has such a natural talent for dancing. There were a lot of other singing acts and a really awesome piano battle with 2 extremely talented pianists. The acting group the Spud Factory had 2 very cute short films, one that was dedicated to the senior class that was very sweet and thoughtful of them. It was so entertaining and I think that everyone there had an awesome time.

I will definitely miss performing in front of people and seeing all the other talent that the school has to offer. Thankfully, I get to perform one last time at the concert before graduation, my very last hurrah at OVS. I can’t wait to sing with chorus and the most amazing voice coach Mrs. Boyd one last time.

Somebody That I Used to Know

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“But you didn’t have to cut me off

Make it like it never happened and that we were nothing

I don’t even need your love, but you treat me like a stranger

And that feels so rough

No, you didn’t have to stoop so low

Have your friends collect your records

And then change your numberGuess that

I don’t need that though

Now you’re just somebody that I used to know.”

-“Somebody That I Used to Know“, Gotye

This song stuck in anyone else’s head?

Yeah.  I thought so.  For the longest time I could NOT figure out what this song was or who it was by.  But finally I did and I love it.

The music video is surprisingly good.  Very artistic and mellow, but not enough to be considered hipster.

And I suppose Wally de Backer is alright cute.

Gotta admit though… the reason I wrote this post was to show you this picture:

That shared, I’m done.

Dead Toenails and My Lovely Roommate!

yrreskrap1 Comment

Today, two of my toenails fell off after my final season of track here at Ojai Valley School.

My roommate and I were talking about this to our coach (thebrownguy) and we were discussing how it is almost a badge of honor to have toenails that fall off. It shows our character and dedication in running, that despite the pain that comes with running, we give it our all.

My roommate’s toenail fell off a few days ago.

Now, let me tell you, this girl can run.

She was a new student this year and came to take advantage of the track team at our school. Her previous school did not have track as a sport. Now, for a girl who had no prior official track team training, she did fantastic.

My roommate broke several personal records, brought home multiple first place medals, broke a meet record, and even took the title of Condor League MVP this season. But this is not the crowning point in her high school track career. She ran at the CIF preliminary meet, placed second in her heat, and qualified for finals.

She is one of the most dedicated people I know. And dedication is not something you can fake. When I look at her run, its inspiring. The way she pushes herself to the hardest during practice and the way she takes such tender care of her feet afterwards is just fantastic. There is nobody I know that is as dedicated as her. And all of that dedication stems from her pure love for the sport. She loves running. And that is what makes her good.

Now, my roommate can be hard on herself sometimes but I hope when she reads this, she realizes how great she actually is.

She will only get better as she gets older. College is going to be fantastic for you. I just can’t wait to see how well you do, even in your first year in college. I know you will go on to do such great things!

And so back to the topic of toenails. Now that we have established them to be badges of honor, you deserve to have all of your toenails fall off.

I love you thehungryrunnergirl!

Let’s Talk Horse-Racing and the Triple Crown

backinphillyLeave a comment

I usually don’t particularly care about horses or horse-racing. However, now that I got a girlfriend whose big thing is horses, I guess I gotta deal with it. However, horse-racing has always been an interest of mine and my father’s. Specifically, we are annual viewers of the Triple Crown races.

This year, once again, there is a shot at the elusive Triple Crown. “I’ll Have Another” is chasing the title at the Belmont Stakes in a few weeks. Widely considered one of the most difficult race tracks in all of horse-racing, Belmont Park is the longest and final leg of the Triple Crown.

It’s been 34 years since the last Triple Crown horse, Affirmed. For those that remember Affirmed, he was a brutal race horse mainly remembered for his constant duels with rival horse “Alydar”. “Affirmed” won the Belmont by a nose, literally.

This race is absolutely relentless. “I’ll Have Another” recently acquired his own rival horse, “Bodemeister”, but this horse has declined the invitation to the Belmont, which lightens the field greatly.

I will be watching this race with great interest and anticipation.

Concerts.

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Emeli Sande
Booking concert tickets is always exciting. Selecting a seat to view the person or band you hear every day on your iPod, and having the opportunity to look them in the face. I love pressing the find tickets icon on ticketmaster knowing that you have the potential to watch a favorite artist perform on stage.

Today I am booking Emeli Sande tickets and I am very excited to go in a couple of weeks. A Scottish singer/ songwriter she has a strong, powerful, and beautiful voice. She began writing for singers such as Susan Boyle, Tinie Tempah and Leona Lewis and then went on to collaborate with U.K rapper Chipmunk with their song Diamond Rings coming in the top ten in the U.K charts.

This year she released her first album Our Version of Events, showing off all the dynamics of her voice. Although she is not on my top 10 artists she is a superb talent. I’m excited for the concert and it’s always nice to see a fellow Brit in America