The most recent moment in my life that has really defined me was becoming an injured runner. The summer before my Junior year, I logged about 150 miles of running. Averaging about four miles per day. I would wake up at 5 am almost everyday to run, hoping I'd become a better runner. Mrs. Ashcraft's dad always said, "Summer miles make Autumn smiles." Meaning, If you put in the work over the summer, you'd see the results in the season. In late July, early August while running I noticed it became extremely hard for me to run. Over the course of the season, it only got worse. I remember only competing in four meets. One, that I finished dead last in, another I had to stop at 2 miles. I still have this extreme pain in my legs today. Inclines are a struggle. Walking up stairs shouldn't be difficult, but it is. Running up hills used to be my favorite thing to do, now I can't imagine making it up one without help. Though, it's a battle, it's taught me things that other athlete's won't ever understand. I saw my dedication to my sport go from 10 to 0. Putting countless hours into running that summer, and it was all for nothing. It didn't matter anymore what I did, I was injured. People on the team who put no effort into practice were getting better than I was, but I did all those miles, and they didn't even matter. I've always known when I set my mind to something I give it 110%. This injury has defined me in so many negative ways. My dedication and confidence are lost, my love for running is gone, and the thought of quitting is terrifying. I know one thing for sure, I'm going to keep trying till I can't stand the pain any longer.
Another experience that I could also write about would be my grandpa passing away. It also was conveniently during the summer before my Junior year. My grandpa was an alcoholic. He was also a smoker. Once being able to understand what was going on, he was too far down the path many people like him take. My grandparents have always expressed to my mom how sorry they are for not being grandparents to me. My mom recently put my grandparents in a nursing home. My grandpa for as long as I can remember has always been miserable. He had no quality of life, he was demented. But, my mom's sister's were determined to keep him around for as long as possible. They went to extent of giving him shots costing in the thousands of dollars, per shot. At the beginning of the summer, my mom decided enough was enough. She discontinued his shots, and the nursing home would only give him comfort care. Two days after his birthday, he passed away. He was certainly a fighter. That day, he passed, I will never forget. No one realized how bad he got. Once walking into his room at the nursing home, I almost immediately walked out at the sight of how awful and miserable he was. I couldn't look at him that way. I didn't look at him the rest of the time I was in that room. Luckily, my dad came to the nursing home fairly quick. He was also in shock too. I clung to my dad the rest of that day. That, wasn't even the worst part of it. Planning the funeral was the most stressful thing for my mom. No one agreed on anything, no one wanted to do anything, and I got to the point that my mom wasn't going to attend her father's funeral. I think I learned how strong of a person I really became in the end. I never knew my grandpa and I never got the chance to. One of the biggest things I learned the day of his funeral was, your true friends will always be there.
Sunday, August 25, 2013
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Blog #2 - Personal Writing - Summer Experience
In the early morning hours of a not so warm June day, our group to Europe loaded up our suitcases and carry-ons in the vans. We took a group photo before we left then headed down Route 6 for our journey to Europe to begin. This trip was an experience of a lifetime and our group was able to learn so many things about the culture of each country that we visited.
Once landing in London, we met our tour director, Gwen. To much of our surprise, London was nothing like the movies. We landed on a rainy, gloomy grey day with high expectations of our wildest dreams. We headed to our hotel that was a few minutes away from the heart of London. At first, this was the most exciting thing, till we actually got there. The hotel was in a part of London that we named as the 'ghetto'. It just happened to be the furthest away we could possibly be from the city. Once all of our groups arrived at our hotel we headed off into the city, taking the underground for the first time. Taking the Underground was the oddest thing to most of us. Our tour director warned us about the dangers lurking around the stations, but none of us actually thought it would happen. Once hopping of the train, we made our way towards the infamous London Eye. It had to be the most incredible thing you could ever see. The pictures of the Eye do not do it justice. We were lucky enough that we didn't have to wait in all those long lines. Being with the tour company, EF, we got to go to the front of the line. The London Eye was the best point in London to overlook all of the great attractions London has to offer. A few hours later, we went on a tour called, "Jack the Ripper". We had our own guide take us around London showing us the places where some of the women were murdered.
Our next stop was Paris, France. In Paris we visited a few churches, some subtle attractions, and took an amazing night boat tour. The most exciting moment of Paris, for me, was seeing the Eiffel Tower. We learned an interesting story about the Tower from one of the local guides. When the tower was first built, the people of Paris hated it. How could the people hate such a now monumental attraction? To the citizens, the tower was too modern. They were afraid that the tower would ruin their reputation. Despite their concerns, the Eiffel Tower remains one of the most famous monuments in Europe. We got to experience one of the rarest things to happen to the Eiffel Tower. It was lit up with so many vibrant colors. Even our tour director, who had lived in Paris most of his life, has never seen the tower lit up like it was. It was the most magical experience you could get while being in Paris.
Our final destination was Italy. We visited 3 different cities; Florence, Assisi, and Rome. Italy was mainly focused on the masses of churches it offered. But, even more incredible than the churches were the ancient ruins in Rome. Our whole group was awe-struck at the architecture of these ancient grounds. The coliseum was full of of wonders and questions. It was huge! The coliseum is so ancient, and how people back then could have built something so architecturally sound that most of it was still standing is amazing. Below the coliseum is ancient Rome. Ancient Rome was at least 10 feet below modern day Rome. Everything in ancient Rome was brown stone and dirt. This was probably the most fascinating monument of our whole trip.
As a group, we learned things about their cultures and the attractions that we went to. No one in the group would have traded this experience for the world. Though we were in a different country and missing our families at home, no one wanted to leave.
Once landing in London, we met our tour director, Gwen. To much of our surprise, London was nothing like the movies. We landed on a rainy, gloomy grey day with high expectations of our wildest dreams. We headed to our hotel that was a few minutes away from the heart of London. At first, this was the most exciting thing, till we actually got there. The hotel was in a part of London that we named as the 'ghetto'. It just happened to be the furthest away we could possibly be from the city. Once all of our groups arrived at our hotel we headed off into the city, taking the underground for the first time. Taking the Underground was the oddest thing to most of us. Our tour director warned us about the dangers lurking around the stations, but none of us actually thought it would happen. Once hopping of the train, we made our way towards the infamous London Eye. It had to be the most incredible thing you could ever see. The pictures of the Eye do not do it justice. We were lucky enough that we didn't have to wait in all those long lines. Being with the tour company, EF, we got to go to the front of the line. The London Eye was the best point in London to overlook all of the great attractions London has to offer. A few hours later, we went on a tour called, "Jack the Ripper". We had our own guide take us around London showing us the places where some of the women were murdered.
Our next stop was Paris, France. In Paris we visited a few churches, some subtle attractions, and took an amazing night boat tour. The most exciting moment of Paris, for me, was seeing the Eiffel Tower. We learned an interesting story about the Tower from one of the local guides. When the tower was first built, the people of Paris hated it. How could the people hate such a now monumental attraction? To the citizens, the tower was too modern. They were afraid that the tower would ruin their reputation. Despite their concerns, the Eiffel Tower remains one of the most famous monuments in Europe. We got to experience one of the rarest things to happen to the Eiffel Tower. It was lit up with so many vibrant colors. Even our tour director, who had lived in Paris most of his life, has never seen the tower lit up like it was. It was the most magical experience you could get while being in Paris.
Our final destination was Italy. We visited 3 different cities; Florence, Assisi, and Rome. Italy was mainly focused on the masses of churches it offered. But, even more incredible than the churches were the ancient ruins in Rome. Our whole group was awe-struck at the architecture of these ancient grounds. The coliseum was full of of wonders and questions. It was huge! The coliseum is so ancient, and how people back then could have built something so architecturally sound that most of it was still standing is amazing. Below the coliseum is ancient Rome. Ancient Rome was at least 10 feet below modern day Rome. Everything in ancient Rome was brown stone and dirt. This was probably the most fascinating monument of our whole trip.
As a group, we learned things about their cultures and the attractions that we went to. No one in the group would have traded this experience for the world. Though we were in a different country and missing our families at home, no one wanted to leave.
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Blog #1
Some of the ways that I handle major writing assignments would be planning them out. Making a list of everything that needs to be included into the essay. Usually I write out all of my ideas for the paper and then use that for ideas while I'm writing. While I'm writing an essay, I'm not very confident in what I'm writing about and my abilities. One of my strengths is being able to plan out my writing. A weakness of my writing would be that I have to make sure everything is perfect on the first draft, but it's not necessary then. I would just like to improve all of my writing abilities overall. I'm not a big fan of the normal writing process. I like to write my whole paper as one without an mistakes instead of having multiple drafts.
Some of the things I'm hoping to learn in this class would be how to write better thesis statements. Also, learning more about where to put punctuation. At this time, I feel like most of my questions that I had have been answered by you or on the syllabus
Some of the things I'm hoping to learn in this class would be how to write better thesis statements. Also, learning more about where to put punctuation. At this time, I feel like most of my questions that I had have been answered by you or on the syllabus
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