Author: rufusdespacito

The Ultimate Escape Room

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Yesterday, I went to an escape room with my friends in the Ventura Harbor. Out of pure stupidity, we decided to sign up for the hardest room, The Wizards Lair, with a 25% success rate.

The amount of hidden clues in the room was incredible.

We headed into the room, which we first thought was the only one. There was a desk in the middle of the room with an array of things on it, but the main thing was a box with a fairy in it, which was the object of our escape.

We were to free the fairy in the box because the fairy gave our town good luck and fortune; but, when the fairy was stolen it cursed our town forever.

Our group started off by unlocking the first box which granted us light to our dark, murky room; and gave us wands which helped us unlock another box.

There were many more clues in the room. The last major clue was the bookshelves, which corresponded with the symbols and number on the potions and scrolls. After we figured out the code that corresponded with the books on the bookshelves, the bookshelves moved revealing another hidden room.

We were so excited because we thought we had beat the room, only to discover we had only made it through 50% of it.

Sadly, we did not make it fully through the room in time, but that is only going to make us want to go back again, to try and beat it next time.

 

From: venturabreeze.com
The Ultimate Escape Room Ventura, CA From: venturabreeze.com

 

 

 

Sports vs. Education

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With sports comes a tedious amount of dedication, which does not always correspond with school; because, despite the amount of dedication sports require, school requires a thousand times that amount.

Many kids who wish to pursue their sports throughout high school, college, and even the rest of their lives have to make a choice; they either have to give up part of school or part of their sport. Most parents would never let kids give up school, because normally parents’ motto is “school comes first.” But to some kids, their parents let them follow their dreams and chose sports over school. Some of my very close friends, who I developed through horseback riding, have parents that permit them to chose their sport first by allowing them to home-school and dedicate their life to the show circuit.

Even though I still continue on the show circuit with my friends, it sets me back in school with the amount of days I have to miss to attend some of the shows. For example, coming up in November, I have nationals in Las Vegas and if I am to attend, it will make me miss a week of school at least, meaning mounds and mounds of homework, tests, and in class assignments to make up. After missing just three days of school last week, it still was a major setback.

As the years continue the amount of homework I will have to make up after missing just three days of school will only increase. Thinking about this only makes me more stressed out and worried about my future with my sport. I would like to think I would never allow myself to quit because I have devoted over ten years of my life to this sport; but many kids, have to give up their sports in high school in order to maintain their grades and prep for college. I hope I don’t have to become one of those kids, but sometimes I just wonder if it would make it all easier.

From: amazonaws.com
Sports vs. Education: From amazonaws.com

 

Money Can Buy You Happiness

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In every sport except one, in order to be phenomenal you must practice non-stop and dedicate every hour of your day to challenging yourself in the sport; every sport except for horseback riding. Many people say that money can’t buy you happiness, but in this sport, all riders believe it to be true. Money can buy your way into fame and top ribbons in competitions.

In jumpers, in order to be a good rider that is not as wealthy as your competition, it still requires the same amount of dedication that other sports do; but, if you are rich and can afford to buy $500,000 horses then no matter what type of rider you are you can race your way around the course, be the most ratchet rider in existence, and win every class.

In hunters, the people with the most money always win, even though everyone argues it to be unfair, it has been this way for a century or two. Everything about the owners riding can be inferior to someone with less money than them, but because their horse is nicer, and therefore more careful with it’s legs, it will be able to clear anything you set them up to. Especially in hunters, how you place depends entirely on the fanciness of your horse; including the way it moves, carries itself, jumps, and its flexibility. Hunters is a sport for those of the upper class and all you see at shows in that aspect are people flaunting their money everywhere and paying any price for their daughters to place well.

This aspect of horseback riding frustrates many people in the sport, but yet those who truly love to ride continue to compete no matter the outcome.

Photo Credit: horseshowsbythebay.com

Camping Conundrums

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At Ojai Valley School, the whole school is like one big family, similar to having around 120 brothers and sisters. One thing that makes the OVS community like this is the annual fall camping trip. This trip is used to introduce the new students to the OVS lifestyle, and involve them in our big family. The trip I went on was to the Eastern Sierras, by Rock Creek Lodge. This trip was anything but a walk in the park with numerous ongoing lightning and thunder storms, the flooding of our tents, and hours of sitting in cars and waiting out the storms.

The first day we got to the campsite our tent was a bit of a wreck, with broken poles and stuck zippers. The whole process of trying to set up the tent took around an hour, trying to hurry with the constant pressure of the storm sneaking up on us. That night, the lightning was less than a mile awhile away and when it would strike, the entire world to us would go white and then back to utter darkness.

On the third day, as we drove into the canyon back to our campsite, it was like a scene straight out of a horror movie; leaving the clear blue skies behind and entering the gray fog covered world ahead. As soon and we drove beneath the ominous sky, the waters came down.

When we arrived back at the campsite, Mr. Risser jumped out of the car and ran to a safe spot from the lightning to meet with the teachers. We were told to stay in the car, safe from the storm. We stayed in the crammed back of the truck for around an hour or two singing songs and eating quesadillas brought to us by the selected brave souls who were fearless enough to go out during the eye of the storm. We finally left the truck when darkness hit and sprang to our tents, straight into our sleeping bags.

Two days before we headed back to school, a select few of us hiked to the most stunning valley we had ever seen. Luscious, green grass spread as far as the eye could see, while crystal clear, blue waters intersected them at the white shores. Picturesque mountains surrounded the valley sheltering us from the world outside. We hiked along a waterfall at the end of our journey, and jumped into the mind-numbingly water. Even though we couldn’t feel our legs from the chilling water, it had no effect on us because we couldn’t bare to look away from our exquisite surroundings.

Although we endured many set backs during our trip, we were all heartbroken to leave, but excited to unfreeze our fingers and toes and take a shower.

Image Credit: gardenbetty.com