Adopt - A - School

Last year and this year I was lucky enough to be a part of the Adopt-A-School journey with OHS' DECA club. Words cannot describe the feelings you get from going on these trips. It is absolute chaos making sure each and every child has a present before we leave to go to the school, but once we get there everything is completely worth it. When I went the first time, while the kids were having their nap time, a teacher allowed us to go sit in a room while we waited. A woman was in that room and was very excited to have us there. She was telling us all about what that one room did for the community. She was telling us just how blessed they were to have the principle let them have that room. Weekly there were reading groups which all the parents were invited to. They would read aloud books and give out books to each parent, this allowed those parents to be able to go home and read to their child and form a bond that way. Also in that room was a jar for change. Many of the parents at this school did not have jobs and did not have the money to go look for jobs in the city. This jar was open for those parents out looking for jobs, they could come in and take the change they needed for the bus so that they could go to their interview to get a job. It was amazing how well this school was involved in helping their community. As the kids heard Santa coming through the door their faces just lit up. Every kid was so very excited to get even the smallest things, a basketball, a blanket, a pair of socks. It was the most heartwarming experience.

This year when I went I was a room leader working with Cory Smid. We were in charge of making sure every present was complete and rapped ready for each of the 30 kids in our classroom. We were able to successfully get each child a present and just as the year before they were more excited than ever to be getting these presents. There was one boy in particular who was the most expressive. I had my camera with me and each time he found a new present in his box he came up with it for me to take a picture of him with the present. One of the presents he brought up was a bag of socks, even though he had already found tons of other little boy toys, he had the biggest smile on his face when he saw that he got socks. It was amazing to realize just how thankful this kids are, and realize just how much I have to be thankful for.  I really hope I get to go again next year, I wouldn’t miss that trip for the world.

The Help

This last summer I read the book The Help. It is one of the best books I've read. The reason why I enjoyed it so much was that it was an unique book, I hadn't ever read anything like it before. The book was based in Mississippi and was about the help, the maids and nannies, that cleaned the houses and raised the children of all the white women in town. This book was all about getting the nasty actions of the white women out to the world. It is amazing how well all the women worked together in this book. And the idea that Ms. Skeeter had in this book is very inspiring to me. She was a white women risking her status and her life as a writer and just in general to write about everything that goes on behind the scenes. This was a book I could not stop reading, I would recommend it to anyone and everyone.

My Future

So many people my age are saying "I'm going to blank college for a degree in blank and I'm going to be doing blank for blank dollars a year living in blank…" and so on. My future is completely up in the air. I am planning on going to a four-year-college for a degree that I enjoy. I don’t have the faintest clue what that degree might be, where I will be attending college, which college I will be attending or anything of that sort. I really wish I had a clue because it would help me a lot with my college searches, but I don’t. After I graduate from college I plan on getting married and starting a family of my own, hopefully somewhere close to my parents. I would love to have my kids have the same relationship with my parents as I do with my grandparents. My final dream for my family would be to live on a lake, all of my life I've lived on a lake, and because of that I am very spoiled. But, I would love to have my kids get the same great experience I got as a child. Hopefully my future pans out beautifully, I know anyway it turns out I will live a happy life.

Family Summer Trips

As a family, we have been very lucky. We have been able to take many summer trips out west to experience things that not very many people are able to come across in life. Some of the trips we have taken as a family were out to South Dakota, Montana, and Yellowstone. The most recent trip was out to Yellowstone. We went in June, but there was still snow on the ground there. We had so many unique experiences. Seeing a buffalo chase a crowd of people through a field and then having it come right up next to our car. We also got to see Old Faithful and many hot springs. Also, one night we took the mountain side road home and saw tons of wild animals, it was such a cool night. South Dakota was the first trip we took out west, I was really young so I do not remember much, but I know it was a great trip which is why we continued to come back. Our trip to Montana was by far my favorite. We took the Amtrak for about 24 hours and then it dropped us off in the middle of nowhere. We ended up having a fantastic trip. All of the trips we have taken have been very memorable and I can't wait for the next one we take.

My Family

I love my family very much. I am lucky enough to have both of my parents still happily married. My sisters’ names are Kalli, a freshman, and Angie, a sixth grader. My puppy is the cutest thing ever, his name is Tucker and he is a cockapoo. He is so patient with us, and is very sweet to everyone; he just tends to bark a lot. I love spending time with my family and we all end up having a great time with each other. We have gone on countless family vacations, each one equally special and memorable. And whenever you get us all together we always end up doing something stupid or funny that we will laugh about for hours. My mom is the best mom ever. She takes such good care of us, and is just kind to everyone. My dad is equally as wonderful. He is typically the entertainer, picking little play fights with each of us. I usually get along with both of my sisters, even though they do not get along with each other. I am very lucky to have such a great family, I’m not sure what I would do without them.

The Best Job

                Last summer I had a great job. I got to nanny my next door neighbors three days a week. I was practically getting paid for what I would be doing anyways, going out on the lake, swimming, taking naps, making breakfast and lunch, and just entertaining the kids. They have three kids, Mara, Caroline, and Ben. We have been neighbors since I was about two years old, so we are all just one big family. The little ones that I babysat think they are very funny and call me their big sister and then they feel the need to explain themselves, saying that we are just like sisters because we are always together, and so on. Last summer, every Monday and Tuesday I would watch them from 8am to 4pm. Then on Wednesday mornings I would go golfing at 8 o’clock, so my mom would watch them until noon, when we would all go home to have lunch. Just about every day we would go swimming and go lay out on our raft in the lake. A few days we tried to take their paddle boat out, but that always ended with crabby children who were complaining about having to go to the bathroom or about being hungry. It was a good job for me, and it was usually very fun. This summer I will be babysitting them again, yay! :)

Summer

This nice weather is constantly reminding me how excited I am for it to be summer again! I live on a little lake called Ashippun Lake. Every year, the day the ice goes out, me and my sisters and neighbors all go swimming! That day is coming very soon. I spend just about every second I can during the summer on the lake, whether I am swimming, skiing, tubing, barefooting, or just laying out in the sun. I am hoping to master barefooting behind the boat this summer. I finally learned how to do a deep water start last summer and it is going to make mastering it that much easier this year. Last year I went out on the boat with my neighbors just about every day to go tubing or just swimming in the middle. It was fantastic, and I hope we do the same again this summer. I’m so ready for summer, I can’t even wait.

I Want to go Back

   

                The summer after I finished eighth grade I was lucky enough to go to Europe with a group organized by People to People. Before hand, we had to go through interviews and attend many different meetings to learn about our three weeks traveling around Europe. When the fourth of July finally came around I had to get up super early and get on the plane. We flew from Milwaukee to Cincinnati, where we then had an eight hour layover. When we finally flew into Paris we had to sit and wait yet again for the other kids to meet up with us. There were around twenty kids from Wisconsin and twenty kids from the Idaho and Oregon area. There were two from Iowa and one from Texas. It was quite the project to get us all together. But, while I was in Europe I got to visit five different countries, France, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, and Italy! It was a great trip with tons of kids my age, all of whom became great friends. I visited the Eiffel Tower, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, a nude beach, a local school, and the list goes on. It was a very memorable trip that was totally surreal. I am very grateful for the chance I got to experience so many other cultures, but it didn’t hit me until I got back that I was halfway across the world! It was crazy, and I can’t wait to go back someday.

Unbearable

AP psych is supposedly the hardest class offered at this school. It consists of reading every page in the text book, 721 pages, most likely more than once. Also, reading a book about studies that have changed psychology and then taking a quiz on those readings every week. Taking only three tests before the final exam, therefore if you do poorly on even one, good luck doing well in the class. Each test consists of 35 minutes to answer 50 multiple choice questions and 25 minutes to write anywhere from 6 to 12 paragraphs. During those 25 minutes, your goal is to finish those paragraphs, but at the same time you need to get your hand to not cramp up, almost every time you are guaranteed a writer’s cramp! I can’t even count how many mental breakdowns I have had from this class. I am so ready for May 2, the day I will take the AP exam, and the constant grind will finally be depleting.