One more game to state...

One more game to state...

Everyone knows that if the volleyball team gets to state, the whole student body is let out early to attend the game. I hear in my classrooms all the time, “Madi you have to go to state this year so that we can have early outs.” This is something that makes me very irritated. Obviously if the school is letting out students early because of the volleyball match you would think that they would actually attend the game…but no. That is not what happens.

               Anyone who tells you to win so that they can get an early out and then not even attend the game is just rude. The reason why you are getting an early out is because of us and you don’t even come to support? Yeah that does not make much sense. I hope that this doesn’t happen this year. People who tell us to win so that they can get an early out better go to our games at state.

              Since we have just beat Waterloo West, we now have to play Dubuque Hempstead to make it to state. Hempstead is a very good team and is ranked third in the state right now. We have played them early this season and lost in three. In that game we didn’t play our hardest. I know for sure that we can beat them this time. Our heads need to be in the game at all times though.

             They have a lot of good players on their team but so do we. This game is going to be a very good match up within the two teams. I am excited to get out on the court and show Hempstead that we are better than what they saw last time we played them. When we played Waterloo West the other night, we came out with a lot of excitement. That is what we need to do on Tuesday night against Dubuque Hempstead. If we come out with the same excitement we will have a high chance in beating the Mustangs.

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Beat the Wahawks!

Beat the Wahawks!

It is coming down to the end of the volleyball season. Am I ready for it to be over? Well not yet, we still have work to accomplish. Last night was our first regional match. Usually we receive a bye first round because we do so well at the beginning of the year. This year we decided to wait till half way of the season to start playing good. That then kicked us in the butt because we had to play a first round regional game.

Our team defeated Marshalltown last night 3-0. It was a good win for us to move on to our next match against Waterloo West on Thursday night in Waterloo. We didn’t play as good as we wanted last night but “a win is a win as long as we keep winning” is what our coach says to us. Thursday night will be a tough match for us. We have played Waterloo West in a tournament a couple weeks ago and defeated them 2-0. They stuck with us though not allowing us to blow them out.

Since it is the end of the season and it is a, lose and your done situation, everything matters. Every practice needs to be sharp, being productive and accomplishing goals that we have wanted to all season. We could use all the help we can get on Thursday night in Waterloo. I know there is a pep bus so sign up for it. The more fans that are there cheering us on the more likely it will be to win. If you guys want early outs this year, than us volleyball girls need to make it to state. To make it to state though we will need as many fans as possible. So come help us on Thursday in Waterloo to beat the Wahawks.

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Moving Out

Moving Out       
            
             Have you ever had a close relationship with someone who lives in your own home that moves away? I have had close relationships with two people who have moved out of my house in the past year and a half. The two people consist of my older sister, Olivia and my cousin, Cody. My sister Olivia is 19 and went to college about a year and a half ago and my cousin Cody just moved out this past July. Cody is a girl; yes many people find that very odd that a girl would have the name Cody.

             Olivia and I have had a close relationship for a couple years now after passing the “immature” stage. We used to fight all the time and didn’t even want to be together but ever since I was in 6^th grade I started to become very close to her. Olivia having to leave me a year and a half ago was extremely different. Not being able to see her every day when I came home from school and running errands with her was just not right. I never really knew how it was going to be when it was her time to move out until the day came and didn’t see her when I arrived home.

            My cousin Cody had lived with us for about 3 years. After she attended Kirkwood she enrolled in Mount Mercy. When she went to Kirkwood she lived in an apartment with friends from high school because her parents lived in DeWitt, Iowa which is about an hour and a half away. But when she left Kirkwood to attend Mount Mercy she moved in with us. By moving in our home, she was given the option to “live” for “free”.

           Cody was like another older sister to me. She was another member of our family. This girl was always there for me when I needed help. We treated each other like sisters and probably always will. It was kind of nice to have Cody still living at my house after Olivia left. It made it not as hard living without Olivia at home when Cody was still there. This is the first year Cody hasn’t lived with us in quite some time now and it is kind of hard. Cody’s room in our house was down stairs with me. Now that Cody doesn’t live there, I am all alone in the basement every night when I am up late doing homework.

I always enjoyed coming home late from a basketball or volleyball game going into Cody’s room and talking with her while everyone else was asleep. Having her leave our family has been difficult. My parents adored her in every way possible. We would sometimes come home from a tournament and the house would be completely spotless. The floors would be vacuumed and the furniture dusted. This made my mom a very pleased lady.

            I know that both of these people have made a huge impact on my life and still do. It was harder to say see yeah to Cody than Olivia because my sister will always come back to our house to visit but Cody is moving on in her life and starting a real job. I know it is going to be harder for Cody to come back to visit than my sister but both people I love so much and wish I could move back 3 years so we could all live together again.

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Visiting Colleges

Visiting Colleges

                I am only a junior and I am starting to look at colleges. I have been told by many people that looking at colleges before your senior year is a brilliant thing to do. If you wait till you are a senior to just start researching colleges then you will very rushed to pick a college that is best for you.

                Touring/visiting colleges is probably the best thing that you can do. As a junior I have visited two colleges this past summer. Both schools are around Kansas City. William Jewel University and Rockhurst University are the two colleges I have toured. I am so glad that I decided to go on these two visits because then my process of choosing a college has officially started.

                Out of the two colleges that I visited I liked Rockhurst better. The campus was a little bigger than William Jewel and it felt a lot more of my type of college. I will most likely play basketball or volleyball in college so right now I am just waiting to see what opportunities I will be given. I was looking at the William Jewel basketball program and the Rockhurst Volleyball program. While touring Rockhurst, they had a volleyball camp going on so it was exciting to see their team in action.

                I have only visited two colleges and I already am worrying. It is going to be crazy once I visit over ten and having to pick one college to attend. The only bad thing about going on those two visits this past summer was the fact that I still have another year ahead of me which I will be visiting a lot more. When it comes down to actually making a decision to which college I will attend, the two that I have already visited will not be as clear in my head as the others. That is why I think I should have maybe waited a little bit longer. But this way I have experienced two different colleges already and can add more to the list.

                If you are a junior and haven’t visited any schools, I would start because in the end it will all be worth it. You will have a lot more of a variety of schools to choose from then waiting till the last minute and only being able to choose from two. If you are a senior and haven’t started then I hope that this blog gave you a lot of motivation to start looking at schools. And if it didn’t then good luck!

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Cocky Much?

Cocky Much?

                I absolutely hate when people are cocky. I cannot stand when someone says “Yeah, I am just so good at football.” Like who are they trying to impress? It is just very annoying when I hear these kinds of phrases because you can still be good without being cocky. I know people say that you have to be confident to be good at something which yes I agree with that but that doesn’t mean you need to show it.

                If you were asked how you played after a game to someone who wasn’t there you could tell them if you had a good game or not. After a basketball game you don’t need to tell everyone that you had 23 points and 5 blocks. You could just say that you had a good game. Telling your close friends and family is a different thing but if you post that on Twitter or Facebook that is a little ridiculous. I believe if you become too cocky you will not be good anymore. You will lose the talent you once had.

                There are ways you can be cocky without showing it. After a good game of yours you can act normal. Just take the compliments people give you and move on. If you are an athlete you will have more than just one good game. Move on and see if you can make the next game good also. Not being cocky will get you far in life. Being cocky, I don’t think will.

                I know people say that Michael Jordan was cocky and LeBron but really I bet they weren’t cocky until they got to the stage they are now in life. Once you get to that stage, you should have the right to become cocky. I know that might sound weird but when you are young and cocky, you give up on things faster. If you think you are really good at something then you will not try to get better at it because you think you already are good enough. This is just not right. That is why I think once you get to the highest stage, be cocky all you want because you deserve to be.

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Volunteer!

Volunteer!

Have you ever tried to do something in your life that has made you proud of yourself? Volunteering is a great thing to do and will always be something that you will remember. Being a volunteer, allows you to experience a lot of different things in the world. There are many places and things to volunteer for.

A place you can volunteer for can be something that you want to do when you become older. If you want to become an elementary teacher, you can volunteer at an elementary school and see what it is like. Volunteering in a category that you are interested in doing later on in life can help you decide if it is really what you want to do. If you volunteer at an elementary school and realize that it is a too young of age to teach at then you know you need to move on to higher grades such as middle school or high school. By volunteering at an elementary school during high school you already know what you liked and didn’t like about elementary students and can change what you want for college. Instead of being an elementary teacher you can be a middle school teacher.

Volunteering in a category that you want to be when you grow up is something very intelligent to do. This will help you decide on a lot of things when figuring out college courses. I know that I am always told by my parents to volunteer. You can volunteer just for fun also. If you are not involved in a lot of activities out of school then you should definitely try to volunteer somewhere.

College applications are also something that you should start to be thinking about. If you don’t have many things to put on your college application, then you should try very hard to volunteer someplace. Colleges always want to see students who have volunteered somewhere. I know one popular place to volunteer is the hospital. The hospital gives a ton of opportunities for young adults to volunteer. There is lot of different units you are allowed to volunteer in which is very helpful having a variety to choose from.

If I were to volunteer in a hospital I would choose to volunteer with the new born babies. I love to hold babies and I think it would be a blast to see what it is like when a baby is just born. You get to see how the family reacts with a new born and get to be involved in helping the parents with their newest child.

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The Color Purple

The Color Purple

If you were asked the question, “What is your favorite color?” what would you respond with? I know that my response would be purple. I would have to say that purple has been my favorite color since I was in middle school. If you were to ask any of my friends what my favorite color is they would have to know it. Actually, someone who doesn’t even know me that well could most likely figure out that purple is my favorite color.

I say that because I own a lot of stuff purple. One big thing in my life that is purple is my room. My room is a dark purple with a lime green stripe across the top of my walls. I don’t think that I will ever have to change the color of my room considering purple will probably be my favorite color forever. One of my main pairs of shoes are white with purple outlining. My basketball bag is purple also and to every game I wear my purple shoes with my purple bag on, if that doesn’t show it than I don’t know what does.

Also for every sport that I play I wear either black or purple pre wrap. Most of the time I wear purple pre wrap. I have been made fun of for wearing purple pre wrap when the colors of my uniform have not one thing of purple on them. I find it annoying that they even care but it makes me laugh because all I say is, “Well purple is my favorite color.”

People ask why me why it has been my favorite color for so long. I never know how to answer this question because I have just always liked it. Most people must change from which color they like best. I know that the color of purple will always be my favorite. You never know, I might have a purple house someday in the future.            (326 words)

Double Header Basketball Games

Double Header Basketball Games

                As I stated in a previous blog, there is a major problem regarding fans at the boys and girls basketball games. The girls will never have more fans show up to one of their games than the boys do. It is very irritating towards the girls because they most of the time do not have any students from the school at the game cheering them on.

                I mentioned that there is a solution to this problem but I didn’t quite explain it. The solution that that has been brought up is to have all boys and girls basketball games become double headers. This will allow there to be fans at both the boys and girls games. I am not just saying to have double headers at the inner city games; I am talking about every single game. Some Des Moines schools have been doing this for a while now, and they love it. I have a friend that attends Grimes High School and she absolutely loves having double headers.

                This idea has been brought to the administration and they say that it will cause schools to lose money. Which I do not understand that because if you have both the boys and girls game at one school, they will earn more money by having twice as many people that attend. There might be less home games which they probably believe would cause them to lose money but really it doesn’t matter. If you have only eight home games compared to twelve, you are still probably making more money considering there will be two sets of fans coming in on one night, the boys’ and the girls’ fans.

                If our school decided that it would be a good idea to have every game a double header then they would most likely have to make sure the other schools in the conference wouldn’t mind it. Having double headers for each game would be beneficial in a lot of different ways. For one, the girls would be very pleased to see that they have more than just one row of students in the bleachers. I am not exactly sure, but I believe the school would actually make more money from admissions than what they do now. Also, the atmosphere of the games would be so exciting all the time instead of just the four times we have double headers now.

             I do not know if the administration is ever going to pull this splendid idea off, but I know they should definitely try considering it. It would make not just the girls happy but the student body. Everyone is excited for double header basketball games. Hopefully one day they will see the benefits it could possibly make.
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It's Christmas Time!

It's Christmas Time!

            It is never too early for Christmas. This past weekend my family and I celebrated Christmas together at my house. Yes I agree, that is very different and odd. Every person who I have told that I had Christmas this past weekend ask why. Their expression on their face is priceless because it looks like they are totally jealous, which I bet they are! The reason why we have Christmas so early is because my grandparents leave for Arizona in a couple weeks so we have to have Christmas before they leave. They are usually in Arizona for a couple months including the whole winter because they don’t like the cold much.

            A couple weeks ago as I walk in the front door, I see my mother setting up a little white Christmas tree. As it begins to be completely set up, she then starts to add the decorations to the tree. I ask her what she is doing because we have never had Christmas at my house, we usually go to my Uncle’s in DeWitt. She replied saying everyone is coming to our house for Christmas this year. That really surprised me but I was excited for a change. With lights going up and down the tree and ornaments wrapping the tree, it really started to feel like Christmas.

The best part is having Halloween and Christmas decorations up at the same time. Especially when Halloween hasn’t even occurred yet. It is funny seeing friends walk into the house and their expression on their face from the Christmas tree and snowman sitting in the dinning room. They laugh and say what is that doing here. It’s always a good conversation starter.

            All of this is the beauty of fall. I love the feeling of having Christmas before Halloween, being able to meet up with my family again. Sharing memories and pigging out on all of the food has to be the best. I do have to admit it is weird receiving presents this early especially when they are wrapped in Christmas paper.

            I think it would be weird though if the Meier side of my family actually celebrated Christmas around Christmas time. We have been celebrating Christmas this early for at least six years. When the actual Christmas day comes around, we celebrate with my other side of the family traveling to where my relatives live. I know either way, before Christmas or Christmas day I love to celebrate with my family. I don’t know what I would do without them and I love them for everything they do for me.

           

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Afternoon vs Morning Practice

Afternoon vs Morning Practice

            Are you in sports? Well if you aren’t in sports this blog will most likely not interest you, but feel free to read it! If you are in sports, what would you rather do, have morning practice or after noon practice?

            If I were to answer that question I would say it would depend. If we had to have morning practice every single morning, I would absolutely hate that. Morning practices for volleyball start at 5:30am and are done around 7 or 7:30. Having to wake up at 5 every single morning would become very hard for me to be able to do.

            Our afternoon volleyball practices start at about 3 and end at about 6. So morning practices can be an hour and a half to two hours long and afternoon practices can be up to 3 hours long. This might help you decide what you would rather prefer, morning or afternoon practice.

            It is nice when you have morning practice to be able to go home right after school, complete my homework and then have the rest of the night to do whatever. Also having to wake up at 5 in the morning is not very fun. After my afternoon practices, I usually do not get home till about 6:15 or 6:30 and by the time I start my homework its 7. By the time I am done with my homework I am too exhausted to do anything else and I just go to sleep. That is what really stinks about afternoon practices.

            If it were up to me to make a practice schedule I would make Wednesdays and Fridays morning practice and Tuesdays and Thursdays afternoon practice. All of us volleyball players prefer to have Fridays be morning practice that way we are able to start our weekend earlier. Having Friday morning practice allows us players to actually be a high school teenager and get ready with our friends for football games. When we have afternoon practices we don’t have any time to get ready for games and end up showing up late. When we show up late, we don’t get a good spot in the student section, which is not fun at all.

            So if you were given the decision to have morning or afternoon practice, what would you do? Would you give up sleeping in an extra hour or two so that you don’t have afternoon practice? I know that I would and I bet you would too.

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