Remembering the Super Bowl

“This year belongs to the Wildcats.” That was the headline that was published in the regional newspaper. From the very first practice in early July, we knew it was going to be true. This truly was going to be our year. I’d say this headline was backed up by not only me, but also the other twenty four seniors. We were predicted to be the best football team our high school has ever seen or would ever see.
We were coming off a season with a Vocational Superbowl victory over Worcester Tech, an 11-1 record, being ranked the 27th best high school football team in the state, and having the 12th highest scoring team in the entire state of Massachusetts averaging thirty six points a game. On top of all of these stats, we also had nine out of eleven starters coming back from the previous year, and five out of eleven returning for the offense.
Dominating each and every game and team we played on both sides of the ball; we finished off the regular season undefeated at 11-0 and ranked 7th in the state in scoring. We had made it into the Division 3 playoffs for the first time in school history, and were ranked as the number two seed.
In the semi-final game we were set to play the 3rd seeded team Arlington Catholic. Out of all the semi-final games played in all of the divisions, the Boston Globe said that our game was supposed to be the best matched game. This was because both teams were in the top ten for scoring, so we knew we were in for a shoot out. Just as predicted, it indeed was a shootout with the final score of 48-46 in our favor.
So there we were only five days later, in the biggest game of our lives; playing for the Division 3 Super Bowl. Players, coaches, students, faculty, parents, and even all the fifteen communities that go to the school seemed to be ready for this moment ever since the very first play of the very first game. There we stood; me and my fellow captains staring into the faces of the opposing Medfield High captains just waiting to see our destiny by the simple flip of a coin.
The game started out just like any other. We stopped them with the slightest of ease, and got the ball on a three and out. We knew they had scouted us well because on their first defensive play they rushed all eleven guys on a blitz. So the very next play we faked a run and threw a lob pass that went all the way 70 yards for a touchdown.
At halftime we were up 16-12. Feeling good, but at the same time, knew not to expect the game to get any easier. The whole third quarter of the game seemed to slow down and be more fundamental. There was only one score the entire 3rd quarter. This was Medfield’s first lead of the game coming from a touchdown to go ahead 18-16.
The fourth quarter started, and we had the ball first. After the first play, we knew what to do as it went for twenty yards. Our game plan was to waste as much time as humanly possible, and then score with very little time left. This plan didn’t work as flawlessly as we thought. We scored with five minutes left and made the game 22-18; leaving them way too much time on the game clock for them to score. And that’s exactly what happened.
2:24. That’s how much time we had left to work with on the game clock. We had just let up the go ahead score to make the game 26-22.
This was when I was blind-sided. Coach looked us all in the eye and said, “Ok guys, this is your game now, you are the leaders of this team, you have proven it day in and day out ever since the very first day of practice. What do you think we should do to win this game?”
I will never forget what happened next. I remember it so clearly how as soon as his words floated from his mouth into our ears how everything became silent. It was as if there wasn’t a crowd of 10,000 screaming fans only twenty feet from us. Everything just went silent. It wasn’t as if the five of us captains didn’t know what to do; it was more like we were just so extremely shocked as to what we had just heard come out of his mouth. None of us knew what to say to this; we were all dumbfounded.
This is when I stepped up and looked coach in the eyes and said, “Coach, I know that I’m not alone when I say this, but I will do ANYTHING in my power to win this game. I know for a fact that before this game is over that I won’t be the same as going in. I will give my body for my teammates. That is what we are going to do to win this game.” Saying this came as a surprise even to me, but I knew that my words struck a cord with him and the rest of the players just as his did to us. I knew this because everyone’s attitudes quickly changed from fearful to fearless.
We were like men possessed. After the kick return e had started on our own 15, and from there we marched down the field as if there were no opposing team in front of us. That was until we hit their thirty yard line. To stop us from proceeding any farther, the Medfield coach called a time out to cool us off, and when we got back on the field they lined up in the strangest formation I have ever seen.
Their defensive linemen were lined up where the linebackers would have normally, and the linebackers we a yard deeper then the D-Linemen. It was if they were trying to make a human wall five yards from us. Seeing this I knew nothing good was going to come from this play. The ball was snapped, and I was on my way charging at them with a full head of steam, and as soon as I and the rest of the offensive line got to their human wall they all dropped down and tried to take us out by our knees.
Noticing too late, I fell for the trap, and was immediately taken to the ground. I was in the worst pain of my life, but I didn’t care. I hobbled my way back to the huddle and listen for the next play. I found out after the game that I had hyper-extended my knee, and torn a ligament.
Coach then tried sending in a sophomore to replace me; because he saw that I was hurt, but I just laughed as he came running towards the huddle to replace me. I yelled to him, “Don’t you dare come to this huddle. Turn right around, and get the hell off the field. I’m not coming out!” He froze where he stood, shocked at what I had just said. He froze for a second, as if struck with rigimortous, and just stared at me. Noticing how serious I really was he slowly proceeded his way off the field.
The very next we another first down, and we were now on their sixteen yard line with 26 seconds left in the game, and with only one time out left to use. The first play was a dropped pass on the 5 yard line. The next two were also dropped, but were tipped up into the air first by their defense. It all came down to this one last play. Both teams lined up; the ball was snapped; us linemen held steady; the defense thought we were running the ball so they blitzed. A perfect pass was thrown to the end zone…… and the ball was dropped!!!!
The biggest game of our lives was lost with only 13 seconds left.

Then and Now

Ian Kampersol

Professor Meek

English Composition I

February 21, 2008

Then and Now,

When I was in elementary school, I was a very shy kid; I would sit in the corner of the lunch room by myself and eat my sandwiches and crackers in silence. I was always getting picked on by all the other kids because I was so much bigger then my classmates. I was about 5’7 and I weighed two hundred pounds in 6^th grade. Due to my size I was always being picked on by a specific group of kids. These kids would taunt me daily and put me in a bad mood for the day. Occasionally I would get physical and start fights. Like a wrestler in a caged fight, I would pick kids up and throw them down because of my anger towards them. Due to my actions, I would always be the only one who got into trouble when a teacher interrupted and I would constantly be sent to the principal’s office Overall, I was helpless as a bird without feathers and I wanted to change.

Back then, I never talked to the other kids except a select few who I did like. It was tough for me because every single day at recess I would go out and play soccer or basketball and it would be someone who I was playing with would grab the ball and hold onto it, or when I had the ball, they would purposely try to take me on and start hitting me instead of trying to get the ball. This angered me and throughout elementary school, I wish I could have done something to change all of this abuse. I had gone to the teachers but they were useless and never did anything helpful other then talk to them. The principal and I were worst enemies already. I needed help, I needed support I even needed my dad to come into school some days and question the administration why I was getting treated so badly. I was desperate for help. I was praying for something; anything at all would happen so that I could fight through all of this mess. I felt like I was the only one most of the time. I believed my peers when they said I was fat and worthless. I really started to get down on myself. There was no way out; or so I thought. It didn’t take long but that event I was always praying for would be sooner then later.

My personality shifted within a single night. I have a cousin who I always looked up to because he was older, bigger, and stronger then me. I wanted to be just like him one day. This particular night he was over visiting my family and we had our usual wrestling match. I lost as expected but in the meantime, though all my sweating and panting, I realized something. If I was so much bigger and stronger then all of the other kids in my class, why don’t I use my size to my advantage? I mean, I am stronger and bulkier then everyone else, I shouldn’t cower away from them when they gang up on me, I should stand my ground and show them that being bigger is better. I know I’m the best at basketball in my school after all, so why don’t I just show them who I am. Im not weaker, Im bigger, stronger, and Im better then them.

After that night, I went to bed with a new sense of who I was. That night I learned a lot about myself. I learned who I was and who I should be. I was a lot stronger then I was giving myself credit for. I was a changed kid. The next day at recess while playing soccer, someone kicked the soccer ball at my head. Normally, I would have gotten angry at that point but I was thinking well let’s play on. Shortly after, the same kid fired the ball at my head again and I walked up to him, looked him straight into his eyes and said in my threatening tone “you better stop that or else.” He replied “or else what?” with a snicker. I told him “hit me again and find out.” After that incident we continued play for awhile longer. Nevertheless, it was not long before he tested my patience for the last time and as soon as he got the ball, he shot it right at my face and hit me square in the nose. I was done. I couldn’t take it any longer. All this time of planning to get back at him and his group would end now. Like a star that was about to burst and a steam engine that was overheating, I ran over to him up to him and clobbered him in the side of his head forcing him to fall on the cold bitter ground. I stood over him and said “that’s what’s going to happen. If you were smart, I wouldn’t do that again.” From that day on I was a new person. Like a fight scene in a jail movie, I was instantly respected by all of my peers. My enemies tried to make good with me so they wouldn’t suffer the same fate. Even the teachers tried to not be so rude to me. Even though I was quiet, I packed quite a powerful punch.

I believe that the reason I changed was because I was tired of everyone picking on

me. I wanted just to be respected and not being made fun of. I wanted to go through a full day without having to worry about someone breathing down my neck every two minutes. I don’t know exactly what helped me change but I think it was when I thought about my cousin, I felt his strength and power and I wanted to be just like him when I grew up.

I see now that because of my actions I gained the respect of my peers and I was much happier. I still picture those days when id be sitting away from everyone else talking to myself and eating my ice cream. I would rather now sit with many people in a group rather then have to confine myself away from society.

Hyper Extended final

John Britt
Hyper Extended

Disappointments are outcomes that don’t live up to our expectations. They are often caused by events that are out of our control. The reality is that we don’t always get what we hope for. These experiences help us grow and make us stronger. Twisting my ankle turned into that experience for me. I completely set my mind on wrestling prior to the start of the season. I began to lift at the gym, go for runs, and change my diet for the first time in my life. I removed the several snack foods from my kitchen, and what I ate became something that I thought about on a day to day basis. When ordering food I thought about what might be best nutrition for me instead of just the best tasting. As time passed I could see small changes in myself. All of this only got me even more excited for the upcoming season even if it was just a couple of pounds I lost on the scale. So when I hyper extended my ankle it hurt more than just my foot.
The day that I twisted my ankle was pretty ordinary, and I was not expecting a lot to happen. It was fairly normal day, I had a little bit of breakfast and rushed to get to school. I was tired with a slight headache, and went through a normal day of classes. When it was time for practice I had my usual troubles with some of the drills since I was relatively new to the sport. My head felt as light as a balloon as went through the warm-up. I knew the rest of practice was going to be rough. I pushed through the excises and drills as best I could and didn’t complain. I was glad that I had the opportunity to wrestle. As the practice dragged on I grew more and more tired. My body was burning like the red hot embers on the bottom of a fire . When I had to pick an opponent to wrestle I ended up with Nate who had about 25 pounds on me and a couple of inches. Its not like I hadn’t wrestled bigger guys but trying to do so tired and dehydrated isn’t fun. He must have been feeling tired to since it wasn’t a very skilled or quick match. I don’t remember exactly how it happened except that he was on top and somehow sat on my ankle with my toes still planted in the ground. I immediately regretted not pulling my foot out sooner. The pain shot through my foot, and a nauseous feeling grew in my stomach. I then hopped to the sideline and worried that it was over. I remember sitting and waiting for practice to finish and hoping that it wasn’t to serious.
When I went to the Doctors office on that dark and muggy day I sat and waited anxiously to find out if I would be able to wrestle again, though knowing I probably wouldn’t be able to. He came and confirmed that I wouldn’t be able to wrestle. My hopes for the season were over. No one could change that I wouldn’t be able to contribute competition wise. It was disappointing that I wasn’t wrestling but I learned that I had to move on, and trust that it would heal in time for volleyball.

"If you can dream, beleive,concive you can acheive!"

Yadira Ivette Garcia February 8, 2008

English Composition 101+

Essay

"If you can dream, believe,conceive you can achieve!"

Without the Urban Education Program I would not be the person that I am today. The Urban Education Program helped me develop better social skills, understand what time management is, meet new people, and gave me a better understanding of who I am and where I want to be in the future. Before I even participated in the Urban Education Program I did not know what I wanted to do with my life, but I did know several things that I wanted to pursue. I wanted to, and still want to, major in Fine Arts, learn a couple of languages, become a linguist to translate for people, and travel the world with my best friend. Basically I want to become a renaissance women. Today I know that I still want to pursue the same dream that I had then, plus of helping relate my achievements to younger cousins so that they have better attitudes about school.

While I was participating in the Urban Education Program I was struggling a lot. I was behind in a lot of my work, I couldn't’t comprehend a good deal of the materials and assignments that I was receiving in my class, I had trouble with my time management skills and I really wasn’t great at studying. This occurred because I did not always seek the assistance that I needed at the time that I needed it. In the end, I learned to understand my strengths, my weaknesses and later on worked on strengthening those so called weaknesses. At the time, I did not realize the significance of my . It was not until the end of the program that I truly appreciated my time spent there. The significance of the Urban Education Program was to help us get a feel for college life . Although the program was dreadfully difficult for me, if I had a second chance to do it over I would try as hard as I could to get the grade that I so deeply desired. Related, if I could turn back time I would do everything differently. I would study my head off and attempt to get all A’s. Although I was informed of how difficult and what to expect of the program I still ended up underestimating it, which caused all of my struggle.

The event of attending the Urban Education program was important to me because it was a chance to broaden my horizons with new experiences which I do not do very often. It was a chance to escape the authority of my parents, to learn during the summer, to meet new people and to earn college credits. It helped me understand myself as a woman, because not many people, let alone women in my family, have graduated from college and the program seemed to be a gateway for my breaking that chain of ignorance and lack education.

The Urban Education Program helped me grow intellectually, especially the Critical Thinking class that I had to take as a requirement of the program. The class helped me think critically about any topic by analyzing and evaluating it. Critical thinking is a form of judging anything, and/or anyone, using purposeful and reflective subjects. I believe that the ability to think critically is a tool that we all should have in our lives.

In completing the Urban Education Program, it helped others and myself see myself in a way I never thought possible. I have much more confidence in myself and I believe that I will make a difference in this life. My family even has a better respect for me, because they can see that I am trying to make something of myself. That gives me the sort of encouragement that I need to continue, but at the same time it also feels like I have a heavy load of pressure on my shoulders. I love the fact that my family believes that I am going to make a difference in my life. What I want even more though is for them to see that they could do the same for themselves, because it is never to late to make a change in your life. The Urban Education Program is definitely a experience that I would recommend to anyone who has the will to continue no matter what their situation.

Gregory Lopes- Final Draft

A Rainy Day

“Uggh! It’s still raining outside”, I say as I look out the window. I never liked having to sit through an entire day of school when there was bad weather. The muggy weather seemed to make the school day go by so slow. “Come on Elissa, hurry up, I don’t want to be late for school.” My little sister always seems to take forever to get ready in the mornings, and it’s a good thing that I woke up before her; otherwise I would have no chance of taking a shower before school. Without wasting any more time I decided to go turn on my car to let it warm up. I really didn’t want to be late for school! I went through the usual process of harassing my sister to hurry up, and trying to salvage some chance of getting to school on time. With my patience wearing thin, my sister finally came down stairs, ready to leave for school.

After walking out my front door, my sister and I walked rapidly to my car, as we tried to minimize the time that we spent in the rain. I went through the usual process as I sat in my car; I buckled my seat belt, checked my mirrors, turned on the radio, and since it was raining I turned on the windshield wipers. I looked around as I backed out of my drive way; the rain had made it a very foggy and muggy day, difficult to see anything more than I few hundred yards away.

I began my journey to school as I pulled my car out onto the main road in front of my house. Most students attend public school in their town, so they only have to drive a few minutes to school. But I went to a regional high school that was one town away, so on most days it would take me about fifteen minutes to get to school. I knew that the rain would turn my usual fifteen minute commute into a boring twenty or even twenty five minutes. The rainy winter day had left the roads wet and slippery, so I drove slower and more carefully than normal.

After driving for about ten minutes I started to get bored, and the rainy weather was only changing my mood for the worse. So I put in my favorite CD, attempting to make my boring drive at least partially enjoyable. After a few more minutes of driving I came to an area of road that was usually very busy and congested, and I expected the situation to be worse than normal with the bad weather. The road glistened with rain as it began to dip down towards a train bridge underpass. As the road continued to slope down, I could see traffic moving slowly through the underpass, and I began to slow the car down as the underpass got closer. Before I could think I saw a car racing around the corner of a side street that wasn’t any more than fifteen or twenty feet in front of my car. I heard my little sister scream as I slammed on the brakes and honked the horn of my car. The tires of my car screeched as my car slid over the wet road, and the car that was racing around the corner of the side street also slammed on its brakes. It was too late.

Bam! My car was hit directly on the front passenger wheel well, and on the corner of the front bumper. The car was immediately brought to a screeching halt. The sudden stop threw my sister and I forward, but our seatbelts kept us from moving. The dust settled as broken metal, plastic, and glass were distributed on the rain soaked road. Maybe if I had been going a little bit slower I could have stopped in time. Maybe if the other driver had seen the stop sign he would have stopped. Maybe if I had left my house even ten seconds earlier I would avoided a car accident. But none of that mattered now.

I sat in my car with my eyes wide with shock and disbelief of what had just happened. I checked with my sister to make sure that she was alright, luckily both her and I were completely injury free. I sat in a daze for what seemed like an hour, though it was actually only a few moments, trying to gain some understanding of how and why the car accident happened. After a few more moments of shock I pulled myself together. I got out of my car and began to assess the damage that less than a minute prior did not exist.

The driver of the other car came over to make sure that my sister and I were ok. He didn’t even try to blame me; instead he immediately starts to apologize for what happened. We exchanged registration and insurance information, and filled out the accident report when the police arrived; all while I was still in a haze of disbelief. My sister, myself, and the other driver involved were all free of injury. Unfortunately the same could not be said for my car which ended up being totaled. My sister and I did make it to school that day, albeit significantly late. When you’re in high school word travels fast, so I spent most of my school day answering questions about my accident, and reassuring friends that I didn’t have any injuries.

While my life was never in any real danger, my car accident is still one of the most significant scary events that I have experienced in my life. Being a young driver and still only in high school, I was very shaken by the events of that day, and I probably let it affect me too much. If I were to get in that same car accident now, I would be able to handle myself in a more mature way, and it definitely wouldn’t have such a profound effect on me. While I was never a wreck less driver, my car accident has definitely made me a far safer driver. It helped me to understand how important it is to act responsibly and maturely; especially when doing something as potentially dangerous as driving a car. Today, I have a much greater appreciation for my own safety and the safety of everyone else on the road than I did before my car accident.

What it was Like to Win and Lose

As I go through my scrapbook I notice many things. I notice my defeats, my accomplishments, my memories. This scrapbook was an assignment my AP psych teacher gave to us for our final grade my senior year of high school. My teacher gave us some guidelines, gave us some topics for essays that had to be written, and told us to be creative with our assignment. Off we were, on our own to make these scrapbooks, to reflect on our lives, to foresee our futures. I covered many topics; they varied from my childhood, to my future goals, to pictures of any and everything, to probably the most influential and important part of my life: cross country running.

As I sat in my eighth grade health class Mr. Penna-Ward (who would later become more than a teacher to me) began to show us a short movie, consisting of video clips and pictures of this so called sport called cross country running. As I watched this movie I thought to myself “running? A sport? Wow I learn something new everyday”. After the movie Mr. Penna-Ward handed out a sign up sheet for people who were interested in the sport and would like to get a call during the summer for when they enter high school. I thought “what the heck, it kind of looked like fun, everybody was just hanging out, and I’ll just sign up it can’t hurt, plus I’m already playing travel soccer and I don’t really want to play soccer in high school too”. So I signed up and my freshman year captain, Lauren, called me over the summer to attend captain practices. I attended captain practices along with regular practices. My coach, Coach Barber, would have me run with the other freshmen and the slower group. I trained and trained and ran and ran preparing for our first race. Race day finally came and I didn’t know what to expect or what to do I just planned on running. Our first race was held at Mount Greylock. These girls were known in our county as being undefeatable although I didn’t know it at the time. The time came for the race to start and I didn’t know how fast to start, who to run with, anything I was pretty clueless. The race ended and I didn’t bother looking at results like everyone else I just basically figured I am a freshman it’s not going to matter. I could see all the other girls running over to the results, some crying and others with smiles on their faces. I found out later I came in 15th out of close to a hundred girls. I got my name in the paper and got my Taconic Cross Country Top Five 2003 shirt, for placing in the top five of my team. My whole freshman year I kept on being naïve not really knowing that I wasn’t actually that bad at running. I kept hearing talk of a letter even though I had no idea what that was. I was actually planning on playing soccer for my school my sophomore year. So I kept racing and I kept coming in the top twenty of every race. I managed to keep Becky (my other captain, Lauren was completely out of sight) in sight and switched on and off with my place with Colette (a girl two grades ahead of me). Finally the Berkshire County Individuals race came around and I was part of the varsity team. It was a fast race and I was competing with some of the best in the county. The top fifteen got medals and got called up by their names in front of everyone. Although I did not get in the top fifteen I got nineteenth place and that was good enough for me. I also made the varsity team that would be competing at Western Mass. My freshman season of cross country exceeded my expectations of the sport. In the end I found out what lettering meant.

My sophomore season of cross country I ran. I did not end up playing soccer. I never really regretted this decision because cross country taught me a lot and I also got a lot of attention and recognition that I would not have received from playing soccer. My sophomore year I came back more competitive. I only fell in the top twenty once or twice. Most of my races were in the top ten. I remember this one race. It was held at Hoosuc Valley. Throughout the whole race I was pretty much neck and neck with this one girl. We kept switching on and off with a lead through the whole race. As we were coming to the end she was still in front of me. Out of nowhere I came from behind her passed her and blew her away as I heard her say “nooooo!” as I had just beat her. Once again I earned my letter this season. My school and Greylock were pretty much even towards the end of the season. We beat them once and they beat us at individuals. We were the first team to be co county champs with Mount Greylock. The only difference with this individuals was that the top twenty got medals and called up. This season I got seventeenth place and earned my medal along with qualifying for Western Mass.

It was my junior season when things started to take a turn. Over the summer I ran a lot I trained with guys so I would be faster. The season started out better than my freshman year and better than my sophomore year. I was even more competitive and I was ready to rock the girls in Berkshire County. No problem. So I thought. All I had to do was place at least in the top five of every race. I was doing a pretty good job at it too. My most memorable race was held at a campground almost an hour away from my school. It was against the dreaded Greylock. I was more prepared for this race than my very first one or any other. I ate right all day, I hydrated, I got a good night sleep, I warmed up, I had spikes, and I was mentally prepared. I was ready to go. I started this race out with maybe a girl or two ahead of me. The problem came when I entered the woods loop and twisted my ankle on a rock going down. I started limping but kept running as I watched some girls run past me. Finally after one I decided I wasn’t going to take it and blocked out the pain. I picked myself up and found myself head to head at it with about 4 greylock girls on my butt in the very end of my race. One passed, I couldn’t run any faster. The next one I saw out of the corner of my eye and like a switch I was out, beat every one of them and came in sixth place. I wish I could say that race was the only negative part of the season but it wasn’t. I slowly started getting worse and I couldn’t understand why. I had this pain in my leg but chose to throw some tiger balm on it and call it a day. I could feel it tingle on my leg as I prepared to run. After I blew my race at individuals I decided to see a doctor before Western Mass. I started to cry as he told me I had a stress fracture in my left femur and I could not compete. I still got my varsity letter that season and did not run for the next 3 months after that.

My senior season had to probably be the hardest for me. I was captain and you bet I lived up to it. I did not miss a practice once. I held all of the captains practices. All summer I ran about at least an hour a day. I trained, I raced, I timed myself, and I conquered my weakness, hills. With all this running I thought I would go back into the season and pick up where I left off only better. I was dead wrong. I picked up from where I blew my race away at individuals. I could not recover from that stress fracture. I could not bounce back. The only race I really ran was my last race at Taconic. It was painful and humiliating. I can’t think of a worse feeling than knowing what you could be and were. It’s an awful feeling having nobody know your name anymore and seeing others that you beat before doing what you could once do. I did not letter this season. I did not compete at Western Mass. I was a nobody.

As I look at this scrapbook I can reflect on many things. I see not only my many accomplishments but my failures as well. I am the person I am today because of cross country. It introduced me to many new people and experiences. I learned who I was through this sport. I am not only a student, a friend, a daughter, an employee. I am now a runner, an athlete.

Final Draft

Chelsea Howard2/13/08English CompReflect

Set Your Mind, Achieve All
Walking through the halls nervously during the spring of my freshman year in high school I had one thing on my mind—Varsity Softball. Every girl in the ninth grade wanted to be on Green Mountain Union High School’s Lady Chieftains. This was not the best team in the state, however, being a part of the team came with close friendships with the upper classmen. There was a meeting being held for all girls that were interested in playing softball. People were rushing through the auditorium doors to find a chair like a herd of animals, and people were talking anxiously to one another. As the coach and assistant coach entered the room the chattering stopped, and everyone swarmed around the coaches like bees searching for honey. The coaches explained to us how the tryout process was going to work, much like an American Idol show. The meeting came to an end and my mind raced with the thought of running around the bases in front of the bleachers that are crowded like a Rolling Stones concert. It was as if my head lit up like a light bulb, I was going to make this team. After that meeting I was going to push myself beyond every personal limit to become a part of the Varsity softball team.
The first day of tryouts was being held the next day after the long tiring day of pointless classes and drama filled talks with my friends, near our green pea colored lockers. I went home that night and went to bed early so I would not be tired for my first day of tryouts. I woke up early the next morning, packed my sports bag that smelled like old feet and must. My mother cooked french toast and sausage the next morning so I did not have to force down the fake eggs and hash browns the school pretended was food. I was feeling great, the classes went by relatively quickly and it was time to run quickly down to the gym for tryouts.
As I entered the gymnasium I was blinded by the bright yellow color of the gym and the florescent lights that shined vibrantly off the floor. Everyone was partnered up to throw the softball around, I had butterflies in my stomach whether I would have a partner or not. I walked slowly up to a girl and just before I opened my mouth to speak I heard my name being called in a high pitched voice, it was the captain of the team and she wanted to be my partner. The coach came in a few minutes past 2:30 and that is when hell froze over in Chester, Vermont.
Every practice became more difficult, the amount of running, pushups and sit ups doubled with each day of practice. With each day came the frequent thought that I would not make it to the next practice, the amount of dedication and exercise was bringing doubt about whether or not I really wanted to be on this team. Then I remembered the friendships I have made and the laughs that were shared after every practice, even the car rides to the softball field with the upper classmen made me want to continue.
The last practice of the tryout period came and I was more than nervous, throughout the day I was shaking with anticipation. The final day came with much more work and the key factor to get through this last hump was the ability to push myself further than I have before. The next two hours was going to be very difficult but I knew I could do it; I wanted to be on this team more than anything. The team ran a mile and a half together, my legs felt as if they were on fire and I could feel the blisters forming on the back of my heals. My sweat left small marks on my shirt and my sneakers were constantly coming untied. As we were running I felt like I was never going to be finished, it was the Boston Marathon in little Vermont. The pushups were causing my arms to weaken and I felt them turn into rubber, but was relieved when I was finally done. When the exercising was over the room was overcome by a sigh of relief and everyone was feeling exhausted and miserable. The pain did not end there, my partner dropped the ball while passing back to one another and we were both sent away to run more laps. I reached the point where I did not think my legs were going to move anymore and were being held down by cinder block, but I was hit with the thought of the team I was soon going to be on.
The moment came at the end of practice, the moment of truth, the moment that would determine the rest of my freshman year, if I was going to get one of the team jackets and be part of an actual team. My hands were sweating profusely and I could hear my heart beating like a drum jumping out of my chest. We all gathered around the coach, he congratulated all of us that have completed the tryouts and he told us he was proud of each one of us. Then the moment came, he began to read off all the girls that made the team. He started with the 12th graders moving down to the 11th graders and so on. The hesitation built gradually as he continued calling each name. Then the coach stopped at the freshman, his blank stare lowered down to gaze at a paper that contained all of the Varsity players and he looked back up with an awkwardly sideways smirk on his face and said, “There are only two freshmen that I can bring on to this team and feel comfortable about playing.” That was it, my eyes began to water up as if a dam had just been let down, I was not making the team. My head fell and my name was called. I did not know what was going on, he called my name, my name. I was so excited that I was one of the two freshmen picked. I quickly wiped my tears away and jumped up, screaming words that would only make sense to a caveman. I ran over to sit with the team that I would now be committing my life to, the girls that were chosen to play Varsity softball, and I was one of those girls. The girls envied by all the girls walking away, upset and questioning what they could have done differently to make this team.

then and now

Ian Kampersol

Professor Meek

English Composition I

February 18th 2008

When I was in elementary school, I was a very shy kid; I was shy because I was always getting picked on by all the other kids because I was so much bigger then my classmates as well as the older kids. Due to my size I was always ganged up on and made fun of. Occasionally I would get physical and I would be the only one who got into trouble and I would constantly be sent to the principal’s office.

Back then I never talked to the other kids except a select few who I did like. It was tough for me because every single day at recess I would go out and play soccer or basketball and it would be someone who I was playing with would grab the ball and hold onto it, or when I had the ball, they would purposely try to take me on and start hitting me instead of trying to get the ball. This angered me

All of my childhood aspects changed within a single night. I have a cousin who I always looked up to because he was older, bigger, and stronger then me and I wanted to be just like him one day. This particular night he was over and we had our usual wrestling match. I lost as expected but in the meantime, I realized something shortly after he left. If I was so much bigger and stronger then all of the other kids in my class, why don’t I use my size to my advantage? I mean, I am stronger and bulkier then everyone else, I shouldn’t cower away from them when they gang up on me, I should stand my ground and show them that being bigger is better. I know I’m the best at basketball in my school after all, so why don’t I just show them who I am. Im not weaker, Im bigger, stronger, and Im better then them.

After that night, I went to bed with a new sense of who I was. I was a changed kid. The next day at recess while playing soccer, someone kicked the soccer ball at my head. Normally, I would have gotten angry at that point but I was thinking “ok let’s play on.” Shortly after the same kid fired the ball at me again and I walked up to him and said “you better stop that or else. He replied with “or else what?” I replied with” hit me again and find out.” As soon as he got the ball again he shot right at me. I walked up to him and clobbered him in the side of his head. I stood over him and said “that’s what. If your gonna be a smartass I wouldn’t try doing that again.” From that day on I was a new person. Like a fight scene in a jail movie, I was instantly respected by all of my peers. My enemies tried to make good with me so they wouldn’t suffer the same fate.

I believe that the reason I changed was because I was tired of everyone picking on

me. I wanted just to be respected and not being made fun of. I wanted to go through a full day without having to worry about someone breathing down my neck every two minutes. I don’t know exactly what helped me change but I think it was when I thought about my cousin, I felt his strength and power and I wanted to be just like him when I grew up.

I see now that because of my actions I gained the respect of my peers and I was much happier. I still picture those days when id be sitting away from everyone else talking to myself and eating my ice cream. I would rather now sit with many people in a group rather then have to confine myself away from society.

Greg Lopes- Narrative Essay

A Rainy Day

“Uggh! It’s still raining outside”, I say as I look out the window. I never liked having to sit through an entire day of school when there was bad weather. The muggy weather seemed to make the school day go by so slow. “Come on Elissa, hurry up, I don’t want to be late for school.” My little sister always seems to take forever to get ready in the mornings. It’s a good thing that I woke up before her; otherwise I would have no chance of taking a shower before school. Without wasting any more time I decided to go turn on my car to let it warm up; I really didn’t want to be late for school. I went through the usual process of harassing my sister to hurry up, trying to salvage some chance of getting to school on time. With my patience wearing thin, my sister finally came down stairs, ready to leave for school.

After walking out my front door, my sister and I walked rapidly to my car, trying to minimize the time that we spent in the rain. I went through the usual process as I sat in my car; I buckled my seat belt, checked my mirrors, turned on the radio, and since it was raining I turned on the windshield wipers. I looked around as I backed out of my drive way; the rain had made it a very foggy and muggy day, difficult to see anything more than I few hundred yards away.

I began my journey to school as I pulled my car out onto the main road in front of my house. Most students only have to drive a few minutes to school (in their town), but I went to a regional school that was one town away so on most days it would take me about fifteen minutes to get to school. I knew that the rain would turn my usual fifteen minute commute into twenty or even twenty five minutes. The rainy winter day had left the roads wet and slippery, so I drove slower and more carefully than normal.

After driving for about ten minutes I started to get bored, and the rainy weather was only changing my mood for the worse. So I put in my favorite CD, attempting to make my boring drive at least partially enjoyable. After a few more minutes of driving I came to an area of road that was usually very busy and congested, and I expected the situation to be worse than normal with the bad weather. The road glistened with rain as it began to dip down towards a train bridge underpass. As the road continued to slope down, I could see traffic moving slowly through the underpass, and I began to slow the car down as the underpass got closer. Before I could think I saw a car racing around the corner of a side street that wasn’t any more than fifteen or twenty feet in front of my car. I heard my little sister scream as I slammed on the brakes and honked the horn of my car. The tires of my car screeched as my car slid over the wet road, and the car that was racing around the corner of the sidestreet also slammed on its brakes. It was too late.

Bam! My car was hit directly on the front passenger wheel well, and on the corner of the front bumper. The car was immediately brought to a screeching halt. The sudden stop threw my sister and I forward, but our seatbelts kept us from moving. The dust settled as broken metal, plastic, and glass were distributed on the rain soaked road. I sat in my car my eyes were wide with shock and disbelief, trying to find some understanding for what had just happened. I checked with my sister to make sure that she was alright, and luckily she didn’t even have a scratch. After a few more moments of shock I pulled myself together. I got out of my car and began to assess the damage that less than a minute prior did not exist.

The driver of the other car came over to make sure that my sister and I were ok. He didn’t even try to blame me; instead he immediately starts to apologize for what happened. We exchanged registration and insurance information, and filled out the accident report when the police arrived. All while I was still in a haze of disbelief. My sister and I did make it to school that day, albeit significantly late. My sister, myself, and the other driver involved were all free of injury. Unfortunately the same could not be said for my car which ended up being totaled.

While my life was never in any real danger, my car accident is still one of the most significantly scary events that I have experienced in my life. Being a young driver and still only in high school, I was very shaken by the events of that day. If I were to get in that same car accident now, I would be able to handle myself in a more mature way, and it definitely wouldn’t have such a profound effect on me. While I was never a wreck less driver, my car accident has definitely made me a far safer driver. It helped me to understand how important it is to act responsibly and maturely; especially when doing something as potentially dangerous as driving a car. Today, I have a much greater appreciation for my own safety and the safety of everyone else on the road than I did before my car accident.

Hyper Extended

Disappointments are outcomes that don’t live up to our expectations. They are often caused by events that are out of our control. The reality is that we don’t always get what we hope for. These experiences help us grow and make us stronger. Twisting my ankle turned into that experience for me. I completely set my mind on wrestling prior to the start of the season. I began to lift at the gym and go for runs for the first time. I decided to change my diet and removed the several snack foods from my kitchen. It became something that I thought about on a day to day basis. When ordering food I thought about what might be best nutrition for me instead of just the best tasting. As time passed I could see small changes in myself. All of this only got me even more excited for the upcoming season even if it was just a couple of pounds I lost on the scale. So when I hyper extended my ankle it hurt more than just my foot.
The day that I twisted my ankle was pretty ordinary and I was not expecting a lot to happen. It was fairly normal day, I had a little bit of breakfast and rushed to get to school. I was tired with a slight headache and went through a normal day of classes. When it was time for practice I had my usual troubles with some of the drills since I was relatively new to the sport. My head felt as light as a balloon as went through the warm-up. I knew the rest of practice was going to be rough. I pushed through the excises and drills as best I could and didn’t complain. I was glad that I had the opportunity to wrestle. As the practice dragged on I grow more and more tired. My body was burning and winded. When I had to pick an opponent to wrestle I ended up with Nate who had about 25 pounds on me and a couple of inches. Its not like I hadn’t wrestled bigger guys but trying to do so tired and dehydrated isn’t fun. He must have been feeling tired to since it wasn’t a very skilled or quick match. I don’t remember exactly how it happened except that he was on top and somehow sat on my ankle with my toes still planted in the ground. I immediately regretted not pulling my foot out sooner. The pain shot through my foot and I knew it wasn’t good. I then hopped to the sideline and worried that it was over. I remember sitting and waiting for practice to finish and hoping that it wasn’t to serious.
When I went to the Doctors office on that dark and muggy day I sat and waited anxiously to find out if I would be able to wrestle again, though knowing I probably wouldn’t be able to. He came and confirmed that I wouldn’t be able to wrestle. My hopes for the season were over. No one could change that I wouldn’t be able to contribute competition wise. It was disappointing that I wasn’t wrestling but I learned that I had to move on and I started resting my foot for volleyball.

Chelsea Howard2/13/08English CompReflect

Set Your Mind, Achieve All
Walking through the halls nervously, during the spring of my freshman year in high school, I had one thing on my mind—Varsity Softball. Every girl in the ninth grade wanted to be on Green Mountain Union High School’s Lady Chieftains. This was not the best team in the state however being a part of the team came with close friendships with the upper classmen. There was a meeting being held for all girls that were interested in playing softball. People were rushing through the auditorium doors to find a chair like a herd of animals, and people were talking anxiously to one another. As the coach and assistant coach entered the room, the chattering stopped, and everyone swarmed around the coaches like bees searching for honey. The coaches explained to us how the tryout process was going to work, much like an American Idol show. The meeting came to an end and my mind raced with the thought of running around the bases in front of the bleachers that are crowded like a Rolling Stones concert. It was as if my head lit up like a light bulb, I was going to make this team. After that meeting I was going to push myself beyond every personal limit to become a part of the Varsity softball team.
The first day of tryouts was being held the next day after the long tiring day of pointless classes and drama filled talks with my friends, near our green pea colored lockers. I went home that night and went to bed early so I would not be tired for my first day of tryouts. I woke up early the next morning, packed my sports bag that smelled like old feet and must. My mother cooked french toast and sausage the next morning so I did not have to force down the fake eggs and hash browns the school pretends is food. I was feeling great, the classes went by relatively quickly and it was time to run quickly down to the gym for tryouts.
As I entered the gymnasium, I was blinded by the bright yellow color of the gym and the florescent lights that shined vibrantly off the floor. Everyone was partnered up to throw the softball around, I had butterflies in my stomach whether I would have a partner or not. I walked slowly up to a girl and just before I opened my mouth to speak, I heard my name being called in a high pitched voice, it was the captain of the team and she wanted to be my partner. The coach came in a few minutes past 2:30 and that is when hell froze over in Chester, Vermont.
Every practice became more difficult, the amount of running, pushups and sit ups, doubled with each day of practice. With each day came the frequent thought that I would not make it to the next practice, the amount of dedication and exercise was bringing doubt about whether or not I really wanted to be on this team. Then I remembered the friendships I have made and the laughs that were shared after every practice, even the car rides to the softball field with the upper classmen made me want to continue.
The last practice of the tryout period came and I was more than nervous, throughout the day I was shaking with anticipation. The final day came with much more work and the key factor to get through this last hump was the ability to push myself further than I have before. The next two hours was going to be very difficult but I knew I could do it; I wanted to be on this team more than anything. The team ran a mile and a half together, my legs felt as if they were on fire and I could feel the blisters forming on the back of my heals. My sweat left small marks on my shirt and my sneakers were constantly coming untied. As we were running I felt like I was never going to be finished, it was the Boston Marathon in little Vermont. The pushups were causing my arms to weaken and felt them turn into rubber, but was relieved when I was finally done.. When the exercising was over, the room was overcome by a sign of relief and everyone was feeling exhausted and miserable. The pain did not end there, my partner dropped the ball while tossing it and we were both sent away to run more laps. I reached the point where I did not think my legs were being held down by cinder block but I was hit with the thought of the team I was soon going to be on.
The moment came at the end of practice, the moment of truth, whether I was going to make the Varsity team, if I was going to get one of the team jackets and be part of a bigger picture. My hands were sweating profusely and I could hear my heart beating like a drum jumping out of my chest. We all gathered around the coach, he congratulated all of us that have completed the tryouts and he was proud of each one of us. Then the moment came, he began to read off all the girls that made the team. He started with the 12th graders, moving down to the 11th graders and so on. The hesitation built gradually as he continued calling each name. Then stopped at the freshman, his blank stare lowered down to gaze at a paper that contained all of the Varsity players and he looked back up with an awkwardly sideways smirk on his face and said, “There are only two freshmen that I can bring on to this team and feel comfortable about playing.” That was it, my eyes began to water up as if a dam had just been let down, I was not making the team, my head fell and he called my name. I did not know what was going on, he called my name, my name. I was so excited that I was one of the two freshman picked. I quickly wiped my tears away and jumped up, screaming words that would only make sense to a caveman and I ran up to sit with the team that I would now be committing my life to, the girls that were chosen to play Varsity softball, and I was one of those girls that were envied by the girls that were walking away, upset and questioning what they could of done differently to make the team.

My first job

Evan Wynn
2/17/08
My first Job
English
Professor Meek

Over the summer of my 8th grade year, going into the 9th grade my parents thought that I needed to get a job to be prepared for the world. I remember hearing that and thinking me, a job, have my parents really lost their minds, there is no way that I am ready for any type of job. I was also not trying to have my summer taken away from me because of a job. Summer is the time that I am supposed to be free and chill with my friends. I felt like the allure of summer was going away all because of a job that I didn’t even want to have.
After a while of me whining and complaining about how I am not ready for a job; which was just an excuse that I made up. I finally realized that I was going to be having a job this summer. When I first thought about what job my parents were talking about it was market basket or something. I quickly found out that my whole thought process of the situation was wrong. The job that my parents had in store for me was a hell of a lot more work than that.
My grandfather worked in the catering business, at a temple that was right outside of Boston. Sometimes he would have these huge events, and a lot of my family would go to the temple and help my grandfather with the catering services. That summer would be the first time that I would be helping my grandfather with the whole process.
I had only seen from a far what went on in the temple when a event was going on. I had no idea what was going to be expected from me. The only thing that I did know was that the job would be hard, because that is what my parents would talk about. Laziness would not be allowed at all on this type of job.
When I first should up on the job, which was in the early morning, things seemed to somewhat calm and there was not a lot of commotion going on. Everyone seemed to be in a good mood, just getting ready for the work ahead of them. I had come to the temple prepared for a hustle environment so my whole focus was thrown off. I was almost scared of what was going to happen next.
As soon as nine o clock came around things changed. My grandfather came in the room and everyone knew that it was time for work. My first job was to set up all the tables and the chairs. I was like wow that will be easy to do, and then I saw how many tables and chairs there were, an also how big the room was. I thought that I would be spending the whole day trying to set up these tables. After what seemed forever I was finally done with setting up the chairs. I thought I might be getting a break, but I quickly realized that at this job there was no such thing as a break. I was right back into work as soon as I was done with the chairs.
The next part of my job was to set the tables that I just put up. Since we had over a hundred tables we had so much silverware that it was ridiculous. It wasn’t just the silverware either. It was the glasses, the napkins, and the centerpieces. Everything had to be in the right place to or I could get prepared to be yelled at. It took me a good minute to get used to where everything had to go, but once I got it down I moved at a pretty good pace. Once I was done with that it was almost time for the guest to start arriving.
Once the guest go there I thought I might get a break, but once again I was wrong. I had to make sure that everything was moving smoothly. If there was something little that needed to be done I was most likely the one who was going to be called. Even though this job was tough I was a real good experience for me. I would have never been able to see what a real tough job is. Plus the pay for the job is real good so that was a huge plus to it all.

Ouch

John Britt

When I hyper extended my ankle I felt pretty sad and disappointed. It was something I wanted to heal so badly though I knew it would not heal fast to wrestle again and I would have to learn patience. It was only my second year wrestling and I wasn’t nearly as skilled as the average wrestler. It was still something that I was very enthusiastic about and I was happy that I would get to hang out with my friends on the team. It seemed like something that would be a fun and challenging experience for me. I couldn’t wait to get started even though I knew it would be difficult.
Then it the whole thing came to a halt when I hurt my ankle. The night before I had stayed up all night watching the BCS championship game on television then came was late for the bus the next day and even missed breakfast. This caused me to be very tired when it came time to practice because I lacked the energy to properly perform the moves. My head felt as light as a balloon as went through the warm-up. I knew the rest of practice was going to stink. I pushed through the excises and drills as best I could and didn’t complain. I was glad that I had the opportunity to wrestle. As the practice dragged on I grow more and more tired. My body was burning and winded. When I had to pick an opponent to wrestle I ended up with Nate who had about 25 pounds on me and a couple of inches. Its not like I hadn’t wrestled bigger guys but trying to do so tired and dehydrated isn’t fun. He must have been feeling a lot like me since it wasn’t a very skilled or quick match. I don’t remember exactly how it happened except that he was on top and somehow sat on my ankle with my toes still planted in the ground. I immediately regretted not pulling my foot out sooner. The pain shot through my foot and I knew it wasn’t good. I then hobbled to the sideline and worried that it was over. Just coming back from a broken thumb then hurting my ankle soon after ruined something that I was excited about doing.
When I went to the Doctors office on that dark and muggy day I sat and waited anxiously to find out if I would be able to wrestle again though knowing I probably wouldn’t be able to. He came and confirmed that I wouldn’t be able to wrestle. I asked if there was anything I could do to make a faster recovery but something’s you can’t rush they happen and they take time and patience to heal. There was nothing I could do except learn to be better prepared the next time.

two superbowls, two outcomes

As I look back on the two biggest sports games during high school I realized many things similar and different between the two. I had been playing football ever since I could, fourth grade. All those years of youth football were to get me ready for the big high school games I would be able to play in once I got to that level. My junior year was that first chance. I had played center for my team, South Hadley Tigers. This year we could tell was special, and we developed a team with a deep core of talent, probably the most our town had ever seen, and one of the better teams in Western Mass. After a long season my team ended with a 8-2 season and winning our league. We earned a spot on that years D1-A super bowl against Central Mass. Team Milford. This was what we had been getting ready for since we were little. This years seniors and my class in particular were expected to be a great team for a while. But according to the critics we had gotten to the big game prematurely, and we were the underdogs. This was the biggest game any of us had ever played in. On the trip to Worcester State college, where the game was, the whole bus was quiet and in the zone. I remember watching Any Given Sunday on the tv’s on the bus to pump us up. It was pretty intense before the game. Before games both teams normally do their own drills and practice plays on their sides of the field. This part is funny, after our stretches and all our team went over to the other side and went over to the Milford players and shook all their hands and wished them luck. This was such a huge psych out. The best part was my buddy, Adam, bless his soul, was such a dork about it. He was jumping around screaming good luck and slapping the other teams butts. It was hilarious. So that managed to ease our mood. We never went into games too serious all season, we were pretty chill. That was a unique characteristic of ourselves. But now it was game time. There was so much adrenaline running in mine and everyone’s veins. You could see it our eyes. Even the kids who didn’t play were pumped. My junior year I shared time at center with a senior. And I had never been so pumped in my life. The first drive the stopped us real bad. Their first drive was looking bad for us. You could tell they were moving the ball rather easily. And our defense was very good. Probably the biggest play to happen in a game I played in happened in this drive. It was definitely the momentum turner. Milford had run a short pass up the middle, and the receiver broke free from our secondary and was speeding up the field, but not fast enough. Our senior cornerback, Kenny Minor sprinted up behind him and as he was going into the end zone, he stripped the ball loose, it was literally a yard before the end zone. And my classmate Doug Pawlishen, who actually goes to Westfield state too, recovered the ball. This was such a huge momentum turner. The game was all in our favor after this happened late in the first quarter. All game our defense played very well causing some huge turnovers, and Milford honestly crossed the 50 yard line like twice. I didn’t play that much in the game, since the other center was a senior, and no lie better than me in the game because of the defense they ran. It didn’t bug me at all though, whatever was better for the team. I recall the last 2 minutes of the game the longest ever in my life. We were winning 18-0 and had the game in the bag, it was just time in our way until we finally won. Once time stopped it was awesome. We had won the first Super bowl ever in our schools history, and in an underdog story. None of us had played so hard in our lives, I’m sure of it. We all felt we deserved the outcome.
The next year we went into the season with very high expectations of course. I no longer shared time at center, and was the starter and only senior on our offensive line. Much was expected of our backs, especially Doug. My quarterback, Matt Minor was also a senior. Despite losing many key players on our defense, we still had very strong defense with Andre leading the linebackers, Dan and Ryan leading the secondary, and our big man Anakin on the defensive line, all seniors. This season we didn’t let give anyone chances. And despite, I feel like, playing beneath our capabilities we finished the season 10-1. Our only loss to the D-1 champs Longmeadow, we only lost 15-14 and I’d rather not talk about that game. We had won our league and earned a spot in the D-1A super bowl again, as expected. What wasn’t expected was we were to play Milford again. This year they were even better. Many people could have argued they deserved to be in the D-1 super bowl. We were going into the game in a similar way as the year before. We were again big underdogs. And we were up for the challenge again. We were playing with a 12th man though this year. Over the past spring our close friend Adam Benoit passed away in a car accident on his way to CCD. He would been my senior right guard, next to me. This game was going to be for him, as was every other game we played during the season. I remember seeing his little brother Joe’s eyes before the game, he was one of our junior speedy four backs and d-backs. It was deep seeing him, all of us. Getting ready for the game this year was even more intense. The game was also much closer to home, at Holyoke high school. The morning before the game we all went to the Friendly’s in town for breakfast, and then visited Adam’s grave. There was much emotion going into this game. In the locker room we were all very serious, unlike last year as we were very chill about it. It was game time though, once we put on our eye black. I had put mine on like a seven under both eyes as I did all season, signifying 77, Adam’s number when he played with us, I was 76. We went through our drills and plays, I hurt my D coach practicing plays because of my adrenaline, I thought that was funny. I straight up knocked him on his ass. We were rockin our black on black jerseys. Again, as last year, we went over and shook eveyones hands wishing luck. But now, it was time, our time four my senior class, we had tasted victory last year, now we wanted it for ourselves. I had never hit so hard ever as I did in that first play of ours on offense. We managed to drive up the field to the redzone, but we just couldn’t commit when we got close. Unfortunately, that was the story all game. Our athleticism was no match for their size and power at this point after having driven down the field on them by this point. It was only 10-0 at half time, a manageable game. Half time was not fun for our offensive line, we were getting drilled at for not committing our assignments correctly and thoroughly in the red zone, when it matters. It was like it was our fault. It wasn’t a good feeling, I mean we all were trying as hard as we could. In the second half, it was more of the same. Getting close and not finishing. They would bring to much pressure on our left side, and obvious week spot on our o- line. They cluttered the middle too, which was our strong point, with me and our guards, making it harder to establish a running game, since most of out runs were up the middle with Doug. More of the same left the game out of our reach though. And despite trying as hard as we could, we lost. 21-0. It was probably the worst feeling ever. We had put so much into the season to win again, and for Adam. I learned about the feelings of victory and loss in the big games. There really is nothing like winning it all. But to lose, damn, its like the whole season was put to waste. Even though we lost though, we had many achievements that year. My back, Doug, had rushed for 2,000 plus yards that year running behind me and my guards which is a great feeling leading your back that way. People in town would let me and others know how fun we were to watch all season. But I can now only imagine what it would have been like to win it all, again, for Adam.

Set your mine, Achieve all

The spring of my freshman year I only had one thing on my mind, Varsity softball. Every girl in the ninth grade wanted to be on Green Mountain Union High School’s Lady Chieftains. They were not the best team in the state but the amount of friendships and bonding with the upper classmen was on the mind of every girl. There was a meeting held for everyone that was interested in playing softball, people were entering the auditorium like a herd of animals and people were talking nervously to one another. As the coach and assistant coach entered the room the talked stopped the moment they were visible. They explained to the group how the tryout process was going to work, much like an American Idol show. As the meeting ended all I could think about was getting on the team and being one of the athletes that all the freshman girls envied.
After that meeting I was going to do anything and everything to get on to the Varsity softball team. I went home that night and went to bed early so I would not be tired for my first day of softball tryouts. I woke up early that morning, packed up my sports bag and ate a home cooked meal to I did not have to eat the school breakfast that always made you feeling gross after. I was feeling great, the classes went by relatively quickly and it was time to go to tryouts. As I entered the gymnasium everyone was getting partnered up to throw the ball around, I was nervous if I would have a partner. As I was about to ask someone to be my partner the captain of the team asked if I would be her partner, and I was ecstatic. The coach came in a few minutes past 2:30 and that is when hell came to Chester, Vermont.
Every practice became harder and harder. The amount of running, the pushups and sit ups, all of these doubled each day. With each day came the frequent thought that I would not make it to the next practice, the amount of dedication and exercise was bringing doubt about whether or not I really wanted to be on this team. Then I looked at the friendships I have made and the laughs that we shared after every practice, even the car rides to the softball field with the upper classmen made me want to stay.
The last practice of the tryout period came and I was more than nervous, the final day came with much more work and the key factor to get through this last hump was the ability to push myself further than I have before. The next two hours was going to be very difficult but I knew I could do it; I wanted to be on this team more than anything. It started off by running a mile and a half something I have probably never done before in my life and would probably never do again. As we were running I felt like I was never going to be finished, it was the Boston Marathon in little old Vermont. The pushups were turning my arms into spaghetti but I was more than excited when I completed them. The sit ups came easy and that completed the daily exercise part of the practice.
The moment came at the end of practice, the moment of truth, whether I was going to make the Varsity team, if I was going to get one of the team jackets and be part of a bigger picture. We all gathered around the coach, he congratulated all of us that have completed the tryouts and he was proud of each one of us. Then the moment came, he began to read off all the girls that made the team. He started with the 12th graders, moving down to the 11th graders and so on. The hesitation built gradually as he went down to the next game. Then stopped at the freshman, he looked down at his little piece of paper that contained all of the Varsity players and he looked back up and said, “There are only two freshmen that I can bring on to this team and feel comfortable about playing.” That was it, I was not making the team, my head fell and he called my name. I did not know what was going on, he called my name, my name. I was so excited that I was one of the two freshman picked. That was when I knew that if I wanted something all I had to do was dedicate myself to it and I will achieve my goal.

paperrr

As I go through my scrapbook I notice many things. This scrapbook was an assignment my AP psych teacher gave to us for our final grade my senior year. She gave us some guidelines, gave us some topics for essays that had to be written, and told us to be creative with it. Off we were, on our own to make these scrapbooks, to reflect on our lives, to foresee our futures. I covered many topics; they varied from my childhood to my future goals to pictures of any and everything to probably the most influential and important part of my life: cross country running.

As I sat in my eighth grade health class Mr. Penna-Ward (who would later become more than a teacher to me) began to show us a short movie, consisting of video clips and pictures of this so called sport called cross country running. As I watched this movie I thought to myself “running? A sport? Wow I learn something new everyday”. After the movie Mr. Penna-Ward handed out a sign up sheet for people who were interested in the sport and would like to get a call during the summer for when they enter high school. I thought “what the heck, it kind of looked like fun, everybody was just hanging out, and I’ll just sign up it can’t hurt, plus I’m already playing travel soccer and I don’t really want to play soccer in high school too”. So I signed up and my freshman year captain, Lauren, called me over the summer to attend captain practices. I attended captain practices along with regular practices. My coach, Coach Barber, would have me run with the other freshmen and the slower group. I trained and trained and ran and ran preparing for our first race. Race day finally came and I didn’t know what to expect or what to do I just planned on running. Our first race was held at Mount Greylock. These girls were known in our county as being undefeatable although I didn’t know it at the time. The time came for the race to start and I didn’t know how fast to start, who to run with, anything I was pretty clueless. The race ended and I didn’t bother looking at results like everyone else I just basically figured I am a freshman it’s not going to matter. I found out later I came in 15th out of close to a hundred girls. I got my name in the paper and got my Taconic Cross Country Top Five 2003 shirt, for placing in the top five of my team. My whole freshman year I kept on being naïve not really knowing that I wasn’t actually that bad at running. I kept hearing talk of a letter even though I had no idea what that was. I was actually planning on playing soccer for my school my sophomore year. So I kept racing and I kept coming in the top twenty of every race. I managed to keep Becky (my other captain, Lauren was completely out of sight) in sight and switched on and off with my place with Colette (a girl two grades ahead of me). Finally the Berkshire County Individuals race came around and I was part of the varsity team. It was a fast race and I was competing with some of the best in the county. The top fifteen got medals and got called up by their names in front of everyone. Although I did not get in the top fifteen I got nineteenth place and that was good enough for me. I also made the varsity team that would be competing at Western Mass. My freshman season of cross country exceeded my expectations of the sport. In the end I found out what lettering meant.

My sophomore season of cross country I ran. I did not end up playing soccer. I never really regretted this decision because cross country taught me a lot and I also got a lot of attention and recognition that I would not have received from playing soccer. My sophomore year I came back more competitive. I only fell in the top twenty once or twice. Most of my races were in the top ten. I remember this one race. It was held at Hoosuc Valley. Throughout the whole race I was pretty much neck and neck with this one girl. We kept switching on and off with a lead through the whole race. As we were coming to the end she was still in front of me. Out of nowhere I came from behind her passed her and blew her away as I heard her say “nooooo!” as I had just beat her. Once again I earned my letter this season. My school and Greylock were pretty much even towards the end of the season. We beat them once and they beat us at individuals. We were the first team to be co county champs with Mount Greylock. The only difference with this individuals was that the top twenty got medals and called up. This season I got seventeenth place and earned my medal along with qualifying for Western Mass.

It was my junior season when things started to take a turn. Over the summer I ran a lot I trained with guys so I would be faster. The season started out better than my freshman year and better than my sophomore year. I was even more competitive and I was ready to rock the girls in Berkshire County. No problem. So I thought. All I had to do was place at least in the top five of every race. I was doing a pretty good job at it too. My most memorable race was held at a campground almost an hour away from my school. It was against the dreaded Greylock. I was more prepared for this race than my very first one or any other. I ate right all day, I hydrated, I got a good night sleep, I warmed up, I had spikes, and I was mentally prepared. I was ready to go. I started this race out with maybe a girl or two ahead of me. The problem came when I entered the woods loop and twisted my ankle on a rock going down. I started limping but kept running as I watched some girls run past me. Finally after one I decided I wasn’t going to take it and blocked out the pain. I picked myself up and found myself head to head at it with about 4 greylock girls on my butt in the very end of my race. One passed, I couldn’t run any faster. The next one I saw out of the corner of my eye and like a switch I was out, beat every one of them and came in sixth place. I wish I could say that race was the only negative part of the season but it wasn’t. I slowly started getting worse and I couldn’t understand why. I had this pain in my leg but chose to throw some tiger balm on it and call it a day. After I blew my race at individuals I decided to see a doctor before Western Mass. I started to cry as he told me I had a stress fracture in my left femur and I could not compete. I still got my varsity letter that season and did not run for the next 3 months after that.

My senior season had to probably be the hardest for me. I was captain and you bet I lived up to it. I did not miss a practice once. I held all of the captains practices. All summer I ran about at least an hour a day. I trained, I raced, I timed myself, and I conquered my weakness, hills. With all this running I thought I would go back into the season and pick up where I left off only better. I was dead wrong. I picked up from where I blew my race away at individuals. I could not recover from that stress fracture. I could not bounce back. The only race I really ran was my last race at Taconic. It was painful and humiliating. I can’t think of a worse feeling than knowing what you could be and were. It’s an awful feeling having nobody know your name anymore and seeing others that you beat before doing what you could once do. I did not letter this season. I did not compete at Western Mass. I was a nobody.

As I look at this scrapbook I can reflect on many things. I see not only my many accomplishments but my failures as well. I am the person I am today because of cross country. It introduced me to many new people and experiences. I learned who I was through this sport. I am not only a student, a friend, a daughter, an employee. I am now a runner, an athlete.

Float like a butterfly, Sting like a bee

Float Like A Butterfly, Sting Like A Bee

There comes a time in every person’s life when they are put in a situation in which someone or something pushes them to their limits. In many ways, it can be the defining moment in one’s life. The way they react, how they control themselves, the actions that they perform as a result of this problem, and how they can persevere through the hardship are all characteristics of a person’s individuality. Everyone has someone that has brushed them the wrong way or went against the grain of their personal lifestyle. The way a person reacts to these kinds of people determines how they are perceived by the rest of society. This was never more apparent to me then after a physical altercation with a school bully in my senior year of high school.

Brian Geising: this name still makes my skin tingle and my hair stand up on the back of my neck. When the thought of him crosses my mind I feel my blood start to boil and I feel the veins in my arms begin to rise from my skin like mole tracks in a yard. This kind of hatred is a flaw that I am not proud of, but in many ways it would be almost not enough for the things he has done to the people I care deeply about. I was never a very violent person throughout my entire life. I always had that peaceful easy feeling that many people like to say they have. This all changed in a quick five minute class change in a crowded high school hallway.

With an early morning groggy feeling that one has after staying up all night, followed by a breakfast of a pop tart and a High C, I arrived at my locker. I felt like this morning was no different than any other; I was tired, hungry, homework was not done, the usual. I was half asleep with my head on the shelf of my locker when my girlfriend Jill came up to me with news that sent a shot of adrenaline through my body that 50 Red bulls couldn’t replicate. Like a punch to my face, what she said shocked me: “This kid has been following me around the hallways calling me a stupid Jew.” My body felt weightless for a few seconds as I let what she said sink in. At his point I was ready to find this kid and hit him so hard that when he woke back up I would have already graduated high school. My girlfriend, sensing that I was minutes away from a nice three days out of school due to suspension, persuaded me to keep my cool. She reassured me that the guidance office would take care of it and I wouldn’t have to worry about a thing. With this, I decided she was right, so I let it go and just tried to forget about it. I assumed that guidance would take care of the situation, but I assumed wrong.

A week or so went by before the next incident. Another long night, another half-asleep encounter with my girlfriend at my locker, and another report of some kid following her around and whispering “Jew, Jew, Jew” behind her back. There was nothing she could do to calm me down this time. I was on a warpath and looking for some kid who better be able to run his legs faster than his mouth if he wanted to smile normally again. The hallways were crowded so I bobbed and weaved through the students looking for my target. When I finally saw him I locked on like a missile. Every step I took closer to him my adrenaline increased. The final step allowed full eye contact; we were face to face. The look of arrogance on his face infuriated me more than ever and the only thought crossing my mind was to rock this kid’s world with a flurry of punches to his cranium. I could feel my body begin to tense as if I had been electrocuted. He mumbled “What do you want?” There were a million answers I could have replied with… “To stomp your face into the tile floor” or “I am here to make sure the EMT’s have business today” but all that came out of my mouth was “Please stop harassing my girlfriend”. He looked directly into my face and laughed. The whole time he was laughing all I could do was think of how badly I could hurt him. “I asked you once nicely, next time I have to ask it won’t be so generous” came out of my mouth like a scene from a mobster movie. I turned around without saying another word and walked away.

A few days passed and I figured that Brian learned his lesson and stopped making comments about my girlfriend. I felt triumphant knowing that the warning I gave him worked. In a small way, I felt like I had protected my girlfriend from something that she was too afraid to stop herself. This feeling had never fully hit me until this moment; the feeling of being able to protect someone else besides yourself is a rush of power. However, this amazing feeling of superiority was cut drastically short.

I was in the middle of an intense dodge ball game in which a lucky boy named Mike Chamberline was the primary target. The harder you could throw the ball at him the more “chamber points” you received. I was leading this challenge against the rest of the “gym class heroes” when a good friend of mine entered the gym. I knew something was wrong as soon as I saw him. My stomach sunk and I felt sick. I knew what he was here for and I did not want this to be the way it had to happen. “Brian just walked by me and said “Tell your Jew loving friend I am going to kick his ass.” I felt my anger snap like a board under way too much pressure. Two very important things crossed my mind at this moment. The first was “I hope my girlfriend doesn’t get mad I am about break my promise about hitting this kid.” The second was “Should I break his nose, or knock out his front teeth, or both?”

Before I realized what was going on I was already in one of the long hallway corridors moving at almost a run looking for Brian Geising, the soon to be vegetable who had his brain knocked loose from his spine. The rage was building now, with the added frustration of not being able to find him. I was popping my head in an out of rooms like a whack-a-mole game. I turned the corner of the last hallway and my eyes found the target I had been so desperately searching for. My emotions were mixed now. I had a strong feeling of rage, and an almost equal feeling of joy. Brian was picking on a kid and pushing him against a locker, so when I collapsed his nasal cavity this bullied kid would look at me like a hero. I began to pick up my pace and I started to get much closer. I began to realize that every step I took towards him was one less he had to get away. All of a sudden I felt like I got hit with a cheap shot. The kid that was being bullied was my younger brother. I went into a sprint that was so fast that I would have taken home a Gold at the Olympics. When I got to my brother I peeled Brian off him and tossed him across the hallway headfirst into a locker. Time felt as if it stopped and my body felt completely weightless.

The moment he stood up my nose was already in his face. “Now’s the time to do something you waste of life” slid off my tongue like the perfect climatic line of an action movie. He looked me dead in the eyes and I could feel the anger rising. I began to feel my skin stretch tight over my fists as they clenched up. He turned around and pretended as if he was going to walk away so I grabbed his shoulder to spin him back around to face me. When he spun around he tilted his head back and spit all over my face. I felt the warm wet spit splatter onto my face. In most cases, water will put out a fire, but instead, when this spit hit my face it started one in my body. Before he had enough time to do anything else my arm pulled back behind my body and propelled towards his face like a cannonball. My fist connected right above his right eye, on his forehead. I felt the knuckles crunch in my hand, knowing instantly that I had just broken my hand. Although I felt my knuckles break, I heard his skull crack. The shot heard ‘round the school is what it was called from the moment on. The hit put Brian into the air and across the hallway. He hit the floor like a ragdoll and was completely unconscious. Students and teachers came running out of their classes to see what had just happened. I could have kept hitting him but I just walked away casually towards the office knowing that a 3 day vacation was about to be rewarded to me for this act of great valor and bravery, though it was often not viewed that way.

I explained to the principal what had happened and he understood why I hit Brian. He was very understanding and told me he wished he didn’t have to suspend me but it was school policy. I told him I understood and accepted the penalty. Over the next few days I did a lot of thinking. I came to realize that what I did was not right, but it was not wrong either. I realized that when someone is pushed to their limits, they can only keep calm for so long. I don’t believe violence is ever the right thing to use to solve a problem, but in this case it was the only thing that would work. Many people commended me for hitting him, including teachers and parents of students. They told me that he has been bullying their kids and now that someone bullied him that maybe he will stop. The moral of my story is that when you are pushed to your limits, how you handle yourself is the most defining characteristic of your personality. I believe that sticking up for all the people that were to afraid to themselves, including my brother and girlfriend, was the right thing to do. When the time comes in your life that you are forced into a decision that affects more people than just yourself, sometimes the choice you make can influence how you are remembered.