Seventh Sponsor Meeting (Final One)

On Tuesday, I went to go visit my sponsor, Mr. Barna, for the very last time. When I arrived, I had my camera in hand, ready to take pictures of my sponsor for my little "slide show" for my presentation. But when I got there he wasn't around! Mr. Barna had disappeared and no one in the office knew where he went! He was like a ninja or something because no one knew when he left of where he went. I was kind of upset but I didn't let that faze me to much, I had work to do. Ms. Rearick helped me out, setting me up in my usual spot so I could type up my article. The only problem I came across was that I didn't know whether Mr. Barna wanted me to write my article in my own personal experience with preparing for prom or from my experiences through school and prom committee. I mean, I interviewed teachers like Maggi and Ms. Schmid about prom related things and I didn't even put it in my article. I still did it though, it's just about my own personal experience though, so there are no interviews present in it. But when I started, I had no clue how to start my article. I asked Ms. Rearick, and she seemed just as confused as I was, so she pulled up previous articles so I could get an idea. It really helped me a lot, and when I did it, it seemed like I was writing an opening paragraph for a paper. I typed it up and I had Ms. Rearick look over it, and she told me that I didn't have to send it in right away, but that I could look over it and then send it in. Then after I finished and printed it out, I took pictures of Ms. Rearick and Mr. Jim Six, and of my little "work space". I had really hoped while I was there, Mr. Barna would mysteriously show up but he didn't, so Mr. Jim, who is a really cool guy, sent me a picture of Mr. Barna. Then I left, waving my final goodbyes to Ms. Rearick and Mr. Jim, regretting the fact that I couldn't have met them sooner, and I left the Gloucester County Times for the last time. I wish I could've found them earlier than April but it can't be helped. I'm glad that Sam found them, if she hadn't I wouldn't have met such nice people. They made my experience with Senior Project and Journalism worthwhile.

A Thinking Quote (Part 1)

"Friendship is like a popsicle on two sticks, when the friendship breaks, so does the popsicle, making everything a mess"------Anonymous

Today I witnessed something kind of heartbreaking. It was two friends, who was friends for so long, get into a major argument that probably ended everything between them. I may not be correct because I am an outsider looking in, but from my point of view it seems as though it won't be the final argument, but it is the last thread that tied them together. It was probably over something as trivial as a rumor but it struck deep into both of their hearts and pitted them against one another. Now I'm not saying but I'm right, and I don't know exactly what is going one, and I possibly will never know, but I'm just saying that it's always upsetting to see two close friends end a friendship. To see them be in the same room and not acknowledge each other, or to see them arguing whether it's face-to-face or one the phone. Ever since I've known them, I always thought that they were the best of friends, doing everything together, always having fun with each other, never needing anyone else outside the four of them. But now, two of them are breaking it off and the other two are stuck in the middle. And this quote is perfect for the situation I'm describing because the conflict going on, their whole friendship is turning into a mess. It's just so sad because whenever I saw them before now, they were always laughing, joking and hanging out, doing what normal best friends do, but now I see them ignoring each other's entire being. And I can see the struggle of it, trying to ignore the person you've been friends with so long and you're both angry with one another. It breaks my heart because I know what they're going through because I've been through it before, probably everyone has, but my problem was solved and now we're still going strong with our friendship, even though she moved away. I just hope that the situation turns out okay, and that they can continue to be the best of friends and if it doesn't, I just hope they don't go off hating each other. So I'll end off with this quote:

"The friendship that can cease has never been real." - Saint Jerome

Getting Cleared for Softball

Early this morning, I went to my doctor's appointment to get a check up for my shoulder. It was scheduled for 9:10 am so I decided to go to school after my appointment. When I got there, I had to pay my $15 co-pay, which I didn't have anyway so my grandma paid, and then like 2 minutes later, I got called in. I sat on those cot-bed things and waited until Dr. Daniels got done with his other patient. When he finally came over to me, he asked me various questions pertaining to my shoulder, like if it still hurts, or have I done anything softball-related with it, so on and so forth. Then after I answered the questions, he made me do exercises to check out my shoulder and see if it is strong enough to continue playing. Then he asked me about my medication, the Advil I'm supposed to be taking twice-a-day, and told me to cut it down to once-a-day. Then he said that me shoulder was good, but the only bad news he said was that I'd have to wait until next week to play! It was because I hadn't been doing anything for two weeks because my coaches and the trainer wouldn't let me! He said that athletes that get hurt usually have to wait a few days before they get back into the mix. I wanted to cry! And I kind of did because my eyes started to tear up and he saw that and asked if I was about to cry. I nodded and he felt bad and said that if my shoulder didn't hurt then I'd be able to play tomorrow for the game against West Deptford. I was soo happy! Happy enough to want to give him a hug but I decided against it. I was just excited because now I can play the rest of the season, even though we only have a few games left, which sucks because I really wanted to play hard for my last year. But it can't be helped now, I'm just glad that I can finally play. But now I don't think that I'll be playing because of the weather. It's raining cats and dogs out there, but hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to play.

Sixth Sponsor Meeting

Yesterday I went to meet up with my sponsor again, but this time I had to get dropped off because I couldn't get the car. My grandma came and picked me up yesterday around 12:30 because I had wanted to eat so I asked her to get me at 12:30 instead of 12 o'clock. When she dropped me off, she stayed in the area because I told her I'd only be there for about an hour and a half. I got there and Ms. Rearick didn't have anything for me to do, so she asked me to look up topics that are talked about amongst teenagers. While I was looking up topics, which were very repetitive by-the-way because it was all the same thing, my eyes started getting blurry and my eyelids were drooping. I tried to stay awake, seeing as though I didn't want my sponsor to see me asleep, but eventually I drifted off. But during the whole hour and a half, I kept drifting in and out, not really focusing on the computer screen anymore seeing as though I was trying to stay awake. One time, I think I actually did fall asleep and I jumped, I was wide awake and alert. I didn't know how long I fell asleep but I felt a small burst of energy, so I refocused on my assignment. But when I told Ms. Rearick that I couldn't find anything, she told me that I could leave since there was nothing to do. So I decided to call my grandma and tell her that I was done. The first two times, my grandma didn't pick up, and I hung up and waited for a bit. While I was calling her, Ms. Rearick left, saying that she'd see me next week, but I didn't tell her that I wouldn't be there because of the trip. But I tried to call my grandma three mores times, and as they say "third times the charm" and on the last try, she answered and said that she was right out front. So, I left waving goodbye to Mr. Barna and left.

Slumdog Millionaire

Over the weekend I finally saw Slumdog Millionaire, the story about a young boy who answers every question right on India's version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire and becomes famous for it. 18-year-old Jamal Malik, the main character, goes on Who Wants to be a Millionaire because he wants his longtime friend and love interest, Latika, to watch him. Every question that had been asked on the show, Jamal got right because during his life, he experienced a lot of things that helped him answer the questions. Every significant event in his life, whether it was a happy one or a tragic one, most of those questions pertained to his life somehow. Throughout the movie, he retold his story to the police, he had gotten locked up because they thought he cheated, going back to the times in which he gains the knowledge of the questions asked of him on the show. For example, one question asked him who was one the American $100 bill, and it flashed back to a time when he was younger, and he had seen an old friend of his, who had became blind due to a gangster's selfishness. He had given the bill to the boy, and the boy, Arvind, asked him to describe the man on the front. When Jamal described him, Arvind told him that is was Benjamin Franklin, giving Jamal the answer which he used later in life. Slumdog Millionaire is a sad story, Jamal loves all that he loves to corrupt India, but he overcomes his obstacles, he finds the girl he loves after losing her twice, and he wins a million dollars. Slumdog Millionaire is those one-in-a-kind movies that are a must-see and I'm glad that all the actors were people no one knew because it made the story more real and it set this movie apart from the rest of them. I really liked it and I thought it was so good that I could watch it more than a few times and still be hooked.

Senior Trip!!!

Senior Trip is finally upon us! I'm getting really excited about the trip, especially after I've stressed about it since the beginning of the school year. Yesterday I went shopping for the trip, getting shorts and shirts so I won't be sweating the whole time I'm there. The shorts I got are really cute, and even though the shirts are plain, they still look cute with my shorts. With the trip coming up, I'm not really going to be focused on anything school related but I'm going to "try", not really. I'm getting money as well before the trip, which makes my spending money expand. I'm getting $18 from Maggi because I never got my Senior class shirt, which still makes me mad because I wasted money on something I never got. But I'm getting my money back because the senior trip shirts are free already, so I'm getting money and a shirt. Only Craig and I are getting money back though, so don't get all jealous because I didn't receive a shirt. Anyways, I'm going to start packing over the weekend, so that way I'll know what I have and don't have and I'll be more prepared. Next week, we leave on the 12th, around 1:30 pm, so we won't be in our last two classes of the day. That whole week I'm going to have as much fun as I can because this will be the first time I'm going to Disney World, so I'm super excited. I totally cannot wait!

Fifth Sponsor Meeting

Yesterday I went to go see Mr. Barna and Ms. Rearick for my fifth official meeting. Last week I couldn't go because Mr. Levitan came down from New York to tell us about our presentations. When I got there I told Ms. Rearick about my answers from one of the advisors, that I had gotten right before I left the school. My handwriting looked like chicken scratch because I was interviewing Maggi instead of Hoopes because I knew Maggi had more experience with prom organizing (and because I didn't have time to look for Hoopes). Maggi had given me really good answers that could help give my article more 'umph', so I was really glad that I had decided to interview Maggi instead. Ms. Rearick said that my hasty handwriting was fine because she knows from experience how it is to get down every single word that a person is saying. I remember her saying something about shorthand but I couldn't really make out what she said. She also asked me when my prom was and when I told her, she said that it could be a problem because it's so late (it's May 29). She told me that I could write my article in my p.o.v. but it would have to wait until after my prom and it would be in a column (which is soo cool!). When she found my notes on the computer, which is conveniently named "Prom Notes", I had gotten right to work with typing up my answers. While I was doing that, Mr. Barna had to leave because of some emergency, which I believe it was a family one but I'm not too sure on that. After I got finished, there wasn't anything left for me to do since Mr. Barna had left and didn't give me anymore instructions to continue on with my progress, so Ms. Rearick said I could leave, so I did. I still need to interview a student about prom, but I'm trying to think of a student that I don't talk to much that had gone to prom before, instead of asking the juniors. It's going to be a little tough but I can manage.