Science Olympiad

I sat expectantly on the gym floor of BCS. All of my Science Olympiad events finished… it was time for the awards ceremony. Our team was sitting in the front row. And best of all: it was a BCS invitational that we were hosting! A cloud of suspense hung over the room of more than 300 students, all competing for first place. Finally Mr. Hill started picked up the microphone. I had butterflies in my tummy!  The events that I was in were Entomology (the study of insects), Air Trajectory (you build a device to launch balls at a target), and Crave the Wave (physics and waves, not water waves). Mr Hill cleared his throat, "Here are the winners for Air Trajectory. Please hold your applause for after first place. In sixth place are…" I had hope, just please not sixth place! Good, it wasn't us! "Fifth place… fourth place…" He was moving into the final three this was me and my partner's only chance. "In third place is Birmingham Covington Black!" YAYYY! Yes! Maddie and I stood up and walked in front of those 300 kids. Pride bubbled inside of me, so our device did work! My whole team congratulated us. So, the vice principal announced the next three events, and Entomology was next. Vivian and I exchanged glances. I crossed my fingers and closed my eyes. "Sixth place… Fifth Place… fourth place… third place… second place…" My heart sank. But, me and Vivian worked so hard. All of the BCS team looked at us reassuringly. "And first place is… Birmingham Covington Black!" Yesss! We won BCS the first good medal! We walked up to the awards, I was about to burst with happiness, glee, pride,  boastfulness, and more! My final event: Crave the Wave! "Sixth place… Fifth place is Birmingham Covington Black!" Yayyy! I placed in all of my events. I was extremely proud since some  people left without any awards. And for team place meant BCS Black got 2nd! I had a great time!

Raccoons at Midnight

 It was just past midnight, not a sound arose in my cabin. It was my 8th day at my summer camp, YMCA Hayo-Went-Ha, I was having a restless sleep. And no I wasn't home sick and I already read my book… So; what now? I crept out of my bed careful so I don't wake the girl on the top bunk. I decided that I should just use the bathroom. The one problem was that the nights were chillier and the closest bathroom was about 70 feet away in the lodge. Anyway, I was now fully awake and the soft sleeping noises of my cabin told me that they were asleep. I grabbed my handy-dandy flashlight and tip-toed to the door. SWISH! I kicked someone's bag. I gingerly opened our familiar creaky door and shone my flashlight outside. The left was all clear-
   "AHHHHHH!" I looked at the toppled over trash can to see four beady, glowing eyes staring at me they didn't move or flicker. At first I was in total shock! I rushed inside and slammed the door shut, hard! Now my hibernating cabin was pumped with my adrenaline.
   "What happened!"
   "Are you crazy!"
   "It't the middle of the night!"
I stammered, "The-the-there are four things outside- living things!"
My cabin rushed to the door, and my flashlight shone just in time to see four black, gray and white raccoon bodies rushing into the bushes. What a night!

Revised Wonder Literary Essay

Auggie is constantly being judged and discriminated my his physical difference. An important idea is the support he gets from his friends and overcoming obstacles in life. In "Wonder" by RJ Palacio, Auggie keeps asking himself the question, "How will I get through school?" I can't imagine what it is like to be Auggie! So, Auggie was always homeschooled, and now he has to go to school. People will judge him and worse, in the end he makes a lot of friends. This story tells us the challenge Auggie has to face. But mostly, "Wonder" is about overcoming obstacles in life to grow.

Throughout the story, Auggie faces many obstacles in school. He is like a captive zebra, in a herd of wild horses. Like the zebra, he was babied, and different, but still heading in the same direction and with the same roots. At first Auggie struggled to accommodate to his new life. I guess he just didn't know what to expect! For example, on page 37 in the second paragraph the Palacio writes, "I still kept my head way down… no one sat down next to me." This excerpt shows that Auggie didn't know how to handle getting through his normal school day, yet. And what made it even worse was that no one would sit next to him! Can you even comprehend how that mast have been for Auggie?

Also in the story, Auggie gets constant support from his few friends and family, they help him grow while he overcomes obstacles. He is like a newborn eagle stranded in his nest. Like the eagle, Auggie doesn't know how to metaphorically "fly", he is stuck in his own world, and overcomes his own difficulties. For example, on page 267 the first and second paragraph the author writes, "Yo, dude… and we started walking over to Amos." This shows that people do really care about Auggie, because in this excerpt the most unlikely people- Henry, Miles and Amos- come and help out Auggie when the other kids were bullying him. But Henry, Miles and Amos also bullied him at one point. Why did they help him? Because they cared. They used their strong "wings" to help him fly. That proves that Auggie gets support from his friends. So he grew to become stronger.

By the end of the story Auggie has gotten through school and all of the challenges it had for him. Not only has he overcome obstacles but he has met them head on. These challenges are other kids and classmates, and he has grown to become great friends with them. For example: on page 307-308, Palacio writes, "And the next thing I knew… everyone wanted to get close to me." This shows that all of the people in his class and school have disregarded his differences and now became great friends. Because it is not enough to be friendly, you have to be a friend. Even the"popular" kids came over to him, they wanted Auggie to be in their memories of picture. Like Augie says in the excerpt, "… Everyone wanted to get close to me."

This essay has proven, that overcoming challenges and obstacles makes you grow. And indeed Auggie has grown to a more confident. No more will he fret a school of kids discriminating him. He made it through school! If Auggie decided to continue being homeschooled do you think he would have grown so much? This connects to the real world because we all have to overcome challenges, but sometimes we will need some support doing so. In my life, when I go out on on my own in the "real" world (past college) myself and others will run into problems and obstacles with running our lives. Most of the time those challenges will prepare us for the next one, failure leads to success. But sometimes friends and family will have to help us. Now, as I think of the power of overcoming challenges, I realize that much of what we accomplish in life comes from that and the growth.

Living in Venus

"Dodidilee! Dodidilee! Doo di lee do! Oh, I've got another problem for you!" sang a cheery, young mechanic. It was mid day on the planet of Venus. And a little girl was slaving away at a machine she was trying to fix. That song that she was singing was a traditional Venian folk song. So, this little mechanic named Ketra lived in a lively, old city called Venia, which was the capitol of Venus. Ketra had good business because the Venians always seemed to break their robots. "Oh, my room is so drafty today!" Ketra exclaimed. So she briskly walked to the techno-window and opened it. What she beholder was horrible! It was yet another giant meteor storm! The gray dust clouds were already gathering up. "Oh my goodness! Looks like we will all have to move to Uranus now!"

Locked (Chapter 4)

By the way, if you are confused with the plot in the story… just read chapters 1 and 2. They are in my previous posts. (AKA posts from 2014)

Chapter 4 - Meet Eliza

We stare at the pretty brunette and her… dog I guess. Ever since 5 minutes ago, no one in our group of four dared to move. 

Eliza- the brunette- spoke, "Uh, I'm not gonna kill you guys. Unless you want me to, just kidding." Eliza bent down and patted the wolf-dog on the head, then she glanced up at our confused eyes. "Umm… Oh yeah! You guys probably want to know my story, then you tell me yours. No fibs. No- whatever, or else. Come one"

We got up, I never lifted my gaze off of the pretty brunette. And neither did Tristan, I think he was looking a bit too much. Get it? Eliza led us in the direction we were heading, the "new forest" and then broke the silence.

"So anyway," She began. "So you guys now that my name is Eliza, I am 17 years old. Almost forgot- this is Snowball." She patted her on the head.

"Stupid name." I muttered.

Eliza spun around. And next thing I knew she had me pinned against the tree in a choke hold. "Don't you dare say that! My dead brother chose that name. The crazy loonies- the chilled peeps killed him! Understand." She released me.

In the meantime I was coughing up blood. "Are you okay?" Tristan and Gabbi rushed to my side. "Better watch your mouth around her, she has a gun. Genius!" Gabbi whisper to me. I nod an okay.

The brunette cleared her throat, "Anyway, I am from New York. So it was a typical Friday afternoon. My brother, parents, and me were walking through Brooklyn when all of a sudden those cursed virus bombs dropped. Do you guys remember them?"

"Yes."

"So then two days later the Chilled just started roaming the streets and terrorizing everyone. My parents were taken hostage, by a group of crazies on the river. So when my brother and I were just casually, well actually sprinting through the woods here. And they started fighting us…" Then Eliza cried. She is crying like a raincloud. Even for what she did to me, I pitied her. Tristan knelt down and whispered something inaudible into her ear, she nodded. I pat her back, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry. You are lucky you still have your brother," she said between sobs. "So then I joined up with a group in the forest and you are going to meet them."

Gabbi looked up at the slowly setting sun. It was a giant sea of orange. It made her feel, happy I guess. 

"My name is Tess. I am 16 and so is my twin brother: Tristan."

Eliza studied him for a moment. Maybe it had to do with why he whispered to her? "Oh, interesting. Tristan you should stick around with us." Tristan blushed incredibly.

"My name is Gabbi, 19."

"Oh uh, I am Nico. I am 15 years old. Yeah, and I am a really fast runner!"

"Are you sure?" Gabbi laughed.

We continued trekking along the slightly wen path. Tristan stayed towards the front of the group with Eliza. I walked with Gabbi in the rear. And little Nice trudged along in the middle of the path. The scenery of this  coming "new forest" was very different, it was untouched by human feet. Even though we were still a day away, it is truly beautiful here. I look at the brook that rubles over stones by our feet. All of the little squirrels by the trees! They are free from the Chill, they will never have to worry about death and betrayal. I actually envy the squirrels! Those cuddly, red creatures have not a care in the world, besides collecting enough nuts for the Winter!

Literary Essay - The Kill Order (IR Book)

If the world was pretty close to ending, then I think the will to survive would be one of my number one priorities. Living- let alone surviving, in a world of devastation can be hard. In the book "The Kill Order" written by James Dashner, it seems that Mark and Trina are on the verge of sanity- literally, and are trying to keep them and their friends alive. Imagine taking sacrifices just to save your friends. One of the important ideas from this book is to be grateful for what you have. Since Mark and Trina might be catching a deadly virus at any moment or getting killed by insane people who have already caught the virus, they are still grateful for each other and the blessing of food they get every once in a while.

In the story
This excerpt

Also in the story
Like when

By the end of the story
For example

Coral Reef

If you travel beneath the deep blue abyss known as the ocean then, then you might find many things. Pods of whales, underwater volcanos, or jellyfish. But the one place that is unique to the rest of the water world is a coral reef! Imagine you a a fish. A basic yellow angelfish. And you are weaving between the intricate shapes and sizes of colorful coral. Your school of fish' swim is like a dance to any scuba divers nearby. There are sea sponges with their cool holes. Seaweeds which are an excellent food source to many. Anemone where the clownfish hide. It must be so cool living in they underwater jungle.