N2.) The Ups and Downs of Spring!

Generally, I view the season of Spring in a positive light.  I love the change in weather from cold and dreary to nice and sunny, the blue skies as opposed to grey, and the blossoming flowers sprouting up from the ground.  Everything always seems a bit more cheery and laid back than in Fall and Winter, and it's almost Summer, which means that school for the year is almost over!  I like how the days begin to get longer, we can start to use the grill again, and our pool gets opened.  It’s the perfect running weather, and I love the fresh air.  Summertime treats are starting to appear and I always want to ride my bike to go get some ice cream with friends.  I also usually go on vacation in Spring which is always a wonderful break from school.  Overall, I really like Spring.  However, there are some things that I don't enjoy about the season.  For starters, I really dislike all of the worms and the worm smell that comes with them.  They seem to have a prominent presence during this time of the year.  Mosquitos also seem to buzz about often this time of year.  I always end up getting bit by them a lot, which is never a pleasant experience.  I also am assigned the task of mowing at least part of our lawn this time of year, which is a difficult task seeing as though my father insists on buying a push lawn mower every year to mow a fairly large piece of our land.  My brother hates this task even more than I do, and consistently gives me the land right next to the field to mow, which is very bumpy and rocky, making it difficult to complete the task.  It's never a pleasant experience.  To me, however, spring is still something that I look forward to year after year. 

N3.) Work, Work, and More Work.

For the past year and a half, I have been working at the High School Pool for various organizations and groups lifeguarding during lap or open swims and teaching swim lessons.  In the summer, I also work at the Kiddie Pool in the park.  Overall, I love my job.  I think that it is one of the best jobs that a high school student can have.  I get to be outside on nice, summer days and inside when the weather isn't so great.  I have hours all year round, and for the most part, I get paid really well.  It's also really fun to work with the little kids and teach them new skills.  Usually, I teach Level One and Level Two classes along with Parent-Child swim classes for kids that are of pre-school age or less.  I always enjoy my job and for the most part look forward to going.  Hopefully I can get a great job like this during my time at college even though that may not be possible.  In the future, however, I am definitely excited to do something different.  I think that it would be really interesting to go into some form of corporate or international law.  I find these areas of study really interesting and would love to get a job involving that in some way.  I think that working for an international company or organization as a legal consultant or contract negotiator would be really interesting.  I also think that a job in international communications would be interesting.  I know the general field that I would like to get into, but am not sure the exact area of it that I would go into.  I have plenty of time to narrow it down and really get a feel for what I like before I need to make a final decision, though. 

N1.) Five Questions With Kyle Klug

This week I had the pleasure of sitting down and asking five questions to Kyle Klug, a senior student here at Alden High School.  I found out many new and interesting things about him, including his May 6th birthday coming up in just a little over a month.  When asked about his favorite activities, Kyle first answered quickly with "sports."  He is very into sports, finding Basketball, Hockey, and Football the most enjoyable.  He likes them because they are fun and they give him something to do.  Other activities that he enjoys are playing games on his Xbox and hanging out with his friends.  If he could go anywhere on vacation in the future, Kyle said that he would most enjoy going to Hawaii.  "I'd like to go there because of the warm weather and I like the general idea of it," he says.  Hawaii does sound nice in contrast to the harsh Buffalo weather we are used to.  During our interview, I also asked Kyle what his favorite animal is and why.  At first he answered with cats, but he quickly retracted that answer because they aren't fierce enough.  He settled on the lion because of the power and dominance that they have in the animal kingdom.  I also asked him about his favorite movie, Never Back Down, which I have never heard of before.  When I looked into it, I found out that it was about a "rebellious teen" who joined a fight club and met a great friend.  Kyle likes it because of all of the great action.  To wrap up the interview, I asked Kyle that if he could get in the car and drive anywhere at that moment, where he would go and why.  "I would go to my house so I could get something to eat and then go to sleep," he said, ending the interview on a good note. 

M4.) Caffeine.

Recently in town, a Tim Horton's has opened up.  This has been great because now there is actually someplace to go in this small town where you can get a decent cup of coffee.  However, it has also been a terrible thing.  For one, it has just made me more dependent on coffee or caffeinated drinks.  I have spent a lot of my hard-earned money on coffee the past few weeks, and am starting to realize that it is becoming an issue.  Instead of grabbing a cup of coffee once in a while because I like it, it is now grabbing a cup of coffee because I need it.  Every morning I have coffee and Black Tea from home, but now that I can get it during my lunch, I've begun to need it mid-day as well.  If I don't have it, I feel extremely tired and lethargic.  I definitely need to stop this habit.  In fact, I already have.  As of this morning, I switched to green tea instead of black tea.  In all honesty, it was just because I ran out of Black Tea and thought I could trick myself into using the other as a substitute.  By the end of the cup of tea, I was actually starting to enjoy the change.  It has been difficult to stay away from the mid-day coffee break that I usually have today, and I felt a bit out of it around that time, but I had some more tea, and I've already started to feel better.  I don't want to give coffee up all together, but I must admit that it was getting to be an expensive habit that couldn't have been very good for me.  I think that even though it may be a bit unrealistic for some people's lifestyles, everyone who drinks coffee on a regular basis should really examine what they are doing and how much money they are spending on their habit. 

M2.) Say no to Distracted Driving

Driving while you are distracted is one of the most dangerous things that you can do.  In 2010 alone, over 3,000 people were killed in the United States due to driving while distracted.  This doesn't even take into account the countless number of life-altering injuries sustained in accidents caused by distracted driving.  Even though driving while distracted is very dangerous, it is very preventable.  Don't put yourself in a position where you could be distracted behind the wheel.  You could be putting yourself in danger, not to mention the people around you.  The first way to stay alert and focused while driving is by putting your cell phone away.  You can go the length of a car ride without sending a text message out to your friend or placing a call.  Studies have shown that one in four teenagers admit to texting while driving, and about forty percent of teenagers have reported to being in a car while the driver has been using their cell phones.  Texting while driving is never excusable.  In order to send a text message, you have to take your eyes off of the road.  To text, you use at least one of your hands, which in turn, makes it more difficult to control the car.  If you get into a situation while driving and only have one of your hands free, it will be much more difficult to avoid a collision or keep control of the car.  In 2007, the University of Clemson did a study about texting while driving.  Their results showed that text messaging while driving increased a person's likelihood to swerve into another lane of traffic by ten percent.  Studies show that teens are more likely to participate in these risky driving habits as well.  Teenagers must start realizing the dangers that they put themselves in while driving and must take the necessary precautions to protect themselves as well as others on the road. 

M3.) The Most Embarrassing Moment of my Life...

The most embarrassing moment of my life occurred my freshman year in high school while I was on the French trip to Italy and France.  We had just gotten to our hotel in Nice, France after a long day of travel all the way from Florence.  It was around five o'clock, and we were supposed to bring our stuff up to the hotel room and get ready for dinner.  There were a lot of people checking into the hotel at this time, and it was a little bit chaotic.  The elevator was really small so there was a huge line to use it.  Our tour group was in the line, and I was the last one.  There was another group of people behind us, and I thought that they were speaking a different language, presumably French seeing as though we were in France.  I had been looking forward to speaking French the whole trip and having a conversation with someone.  I thought that this was finally the chance to prove to myself that I was capable of this.  When I turned back around, the rest of the group was gone, and there was only one guy left.  Thinking that maybe I could have a nice, friendly conversation with him and possibly make a friend, I said "Bonjour, Ca Va?" meaning "Hello, How are you?"  Instead of him engaging in polite conversation with me, he said "What?  No, no, no, I'm American," with a rude tone.  All I could manage to say was "Oh, okay."  I turned back around and waited in line for what seemed like forever.  Finally, i was able to get on the elevator, but as it turned out, the embarrassment was not over.  He and I had to share the smallest elevator on the planet four floors up to our room.  We just stood there in complete silence while listening to some sort of French elevator music.  Then, we got out and ended up walking down the same corridor of the hotel.  We didn't say a word to each other, and I finally got to my room.  Luckily, I never saw him again.  It was definitely an awkward, embarrassing experience for me, but when looking back on it, I can see some humor in the situation. 

L4.) The Anticipation

As of now, many seniors are starting to get acceptance letters into the Colleges that they will be attending next year.  They're so excited to have a plan and to be all set with what they are doing.  They have an answer when somebody asks about their future.  However, when I am asked about what my plans are for college next year, I look like I have no idea what I'm talking about.  I have not had the wonderful privilege of finding out whether or not I got accepted into my top schools yet.  The anticipation is making me go crazy.  The worst part about the whole thing is that even if I get accepted into both of my top schools, I have no idea which one I would rather go to.  My top two schools are Boston University and George Washington University. When I went to both, I got that wonderful “this is where I want to attend college” feeling that you hear about teenagers having when they find a school that suits them.  It will definitely be a hard decision if I end up getting into both of them.   The problem is that they are very similar to me.  They both have wonderful programs for what I want to do, wonderful dorm rooms, urban campuses, great meal plans, and a very active student body.  George Washington University is in Washington D.C., and Boston University is in Boston, which are two of my favorite cities.  The campuses are both beautiful and easy to navigate.  I feel that I would be able to succeed if I went to either college.  I love how people are truly interested in what they are doing and would love to be a part of that at either college.  What one school may not have the other ends up having, which is why it's so difficult to choose.  Hopefully, I'll be able to decide soon.  I won't have much time to decide after I get notice of their decision, so I should definitely start thinking about it more in the time being.  I just want to know for sure that I’m making the right choice.