The Aurora Three

I was just on cnn.com and I read an article on three men who died in the Aurora, Colorado shootings on Friday, July 20. This article was written especially about these three men, Jon Blunk, Alex Teves and Matt McQuinn, because they threw themselves on top of their girlfriends when the shooter came into the theater; all three women survived- one was wounded. The fact that these men put their girlfriends' lives above their own shows the selflessness and honorable characters that each one of them had. As the article goes on to (basically) say that a lot of men today put themselves first, above everything else, and need real role models that they can relate to, like these three men. And this is absolutely true. I can only think of a few men/ guys in my life who might give up their lives to protect me, if that many. But I hope that one day I will meet someone who I know, for a fact, would risk their life for me. I will always remember these three men because of the huge sacrifice that they made; this is something that all men should take notice of and, hopefully, the story of these men will make them better people. 

9th Grade

I am going to use my final blog to reflect back on the past year, with 3 major parts of this year that made it great:

1. Honors World Cultures Sheilas vs. Blokes showdowns

   The Sheilas vs. Blokes (Girls vs. Boys) games in World Cultures were some of the most fun times I have had this whole year. During the game, Mr. Miller asks a history question and the first person to raise their hand and get it right gets a point for their team. In our class, the games have been so intense it's not even funny. Several times, we have stayed after the bell rang for the tiebreaker. The boys have only won two games while the girls have won six. I think this really shows how much more awesome girls are than guys. Mr. Miller said that this is the first year the girls have overall been winning the entire year. That is something to be proud of, don't you think, Kirky?

2. Spanish III Period D

Our Spanish class was awesome. It consisted of Anna Dail, Hamilton, Sam Palmer, Ali DeRidder, McNair Coleman, Ellis Reese, Awa, Chuck, India, Dodge Dixon, Suber, Ken Krupa (Ken for president!), and me. This class was so much fun. Sam Palmer is hilarious, always cracking jokes or calling people amateurs. McNair is just hilarious with his country accent and his constant cussing when Mr. Vitali hands out our quizzes. It was so much fun to mess with Suber this year. And Ellis's constant singing of Adele made the class even more unique because no other Spanish class gets to hear Adele everyday like we do. This class was really fun and I'm going to miss all of the seniors in that class next year when they go off to college. 

3. My B period Free Period Buddies

For most of the year, Maddy, Emma, Awa, Quinn, Sara, and I have all been in the library during B period, where the librarians had to constantly tell us to be quiet. Needless to say, we had a lot of fun. I think the best part was reading the hilarious Seventeen Magazine tips on boys. Some of the stuff they said in there was just flat out stupid. But it was really funny to read. Also, while I'm doing homework, I like to listen to music. My Free Period Buddies had a great time laughing at me jamming out to my music. But I doubt any of them listen to oldies like I do. If they did, they'd be rocking out too.

9th grade has been both fun and stressful. While the workload has been a lot for the most part, it has been a blast, mainly for the 3 reasons above. If I didn't have these outlets this year to relieve stress and have fun, I probably would have gone insane. But thankfully I had these outlets and I didn't go insane. Some parts of 9th grade I will not miss (World Cultures tests), but other parts I will definitely miss next year. But I'll get by somehow. Even if I slack off somewhat, I'm just too good not to be good. Haha. I think that this has been the best ninth grade experience I could have had and I wouldn't change 97% of it. Haha. 

Carowinds

This weekend the Hammond (Fun School) Band went to the Carowinds Music Festival. We played three songs: "Excelcia", "A Shaker Hymn", and "Avenger" and three judges judged us. Mrs. Graham said that we HAD to get a one this year (a one is a superior and the best score you can get). The writer of "Excelcia" was one of the judges, and he came to talk to us afterwards. He mostly told us what we should have done better and then told us, "But y'all did great!" Thanks, Larry. Thanks. As we were walking off stage, I told Sara Stuart that I didn't think we got a one, maybe a one and a half. But guess what? WE GOT A ONE!!!!! Mrs. Graham was so excited. So then, Isabelle and I changed out of our band clothes, went to the car and went into Carowinds, where we had the best time ever!
The first ride we rode was the Intimidator, which is a monument to my dad's favorite racecar driver, Dale Earnhardt. There, we ran into Frances and Sara Stuart, who we hung out with the rest of the day. The Intimidator was crazy!! Roller coasters are fun, but I hate big drops, and this rollercoaster had the biggest drop EVER. It lasted a good five seconds. But the rest of it was fun. Isabelle accidentally kept her sunglasses on during this ride, so she had to hold them on her face the whole time so they wouldn't fall off. Thankfully they didn't. Then we went on Afterburn, formerly Top Gun. It was my favorite one; it didn't have any big drops. I really enjoyed it. Then, we ate lunch and went through the Boo Blasters ride, where you had to shoot the ghosts. We were in line for about an hour which is crazy, but it was totally worth it. The ghosts were so scary!!! Just kidding. But at one point, something jumped out, and Frances screamed. It was really funny (sorry, Frances). Next, we went on Thunder Road. It is a wooden roller coaster, had many drops and was really bumpy. I didn't really like it, but at least I get to say that I went on it. Then, we went on the Carolina Cobra, which pulls you backwards at first, up a long, steep drop, and lets you go. Isabelle and I were in the back row, so the drop was the worst for us, but it was really fun. The last ride we rode was the Vortex. That line lasted forever. Literally. But it was really fun. it went upside down a lot, and had many twists and turns, which both scare me. But that's the point of roller coasters, the thrill, right, Kirky? After that, Mrs. Mikell drove us home. During the ride, I was really tired ,and I fell asleep on Isaac's friend, Thomas Love. It was funny. Carowinds was a lot of fun; I had a great time! This year I actually kept my eyes open on most of the rides! Maybe next year I won't be as scared and I'll actually put my hands up. haha. It's going to be awesome! I'm already looking forward to it!

This is the Carolina Cobra. The people are being pulled backwards and are about to ride back down the really steep hill.

This is a picture of the Intimidator. The people are going up the hill, about to go down the drop that just about killed me.

Good Will Hunting

This past weekend, I watched a movie. Not just any movie: an awesome movie. Not just any awesome movie. I watched Good Will Hunting. For all of you people who have never seen this movie, you need to drive to your local Blockbuster or Redbox right now. Yeah now. Get up off your butt and go. This movie was so great. It was about this guy, Will Hunting (Matt Damon), who is a mathematical genius and has a photographic memory, but is troubled and has some run-ins with the law. He works as a janitor and answers a professor's (Lambeau's) really hard math question and the professor finds him. The professor makes a deal with the judge who is the head of Will's trial for hitting a cop that Will has to do math with him and see a therapist. After seeing therapists and none of them wanting to see him because of his obnoxiousness, he goes to see Sean (Robin Williams), a friend of  Lambeau, who takes him on. Sean tries to help him figure out where he belongs in the world and point him in the right direction. The movie is about the relationships he has with Lambeau, Sean, Skylar (his girlfriend, played by Minnie Driver), and Chuckie (his best friend, played by Ben Affleck). What makes this movie is the characterization. The writers, actors, and director did a great job showing the complexities of each character. No wonder it was up for nine oscars. It only one two though because that was the year Titanic came out. Enough said. But it deserved those two it got: best supporting actor for Robin Williams and best original screenplay for Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. The movie's tagline says it all: " Some people can never believe in themselves, until someone believes in them." See the movie and you'll get it. The fact that the movie is funny too makes it even more likable. One of the funniest parts is when Will totally shows a guy up in the bar while he is trying to impress some girls by making a fool out of Chuckie. Will gets one of the girls' numbers. As he is walking out of the bar, he passes by a restaurant where Mr. Smartypants is sitting and talking to a group of people. Will bangs on the window and asks him, "Do you like apples?" The guy says, "yeah." Will then says, "Well, I got her number. How ya like them apples?" When he said that, I burst into laughter. I am just waiting for an opportunity to use that. When the time comes, it is going to be hilarious. Another funny part was when he was the therapy scene when he called one therapist gay and started singing "Afternoon Delight" while he was supposed to be hypnotized by another therapist. So anyway, this was a great, very inspirational movie. What I got out of it was that even the smartest people need a little help sometimes. This is a really important and true message. No one can go through life alone- they need someone to lean on and understand what they have gone through. This is what Sean was for Will and why I love this movie so much. It is tied as my favorite movie with The Shawshank Redemption. The ending makes it. It's like a cherry on top. And the song playing at the end ("Afternoon Delight") has the perfect melody for the ending's mood. And it was sung earlier in the movie, making the ending sentimental and a little comical for those who remember that part. If you ever see me chuckling in class, Kirky, it just might be because I'm thinking about a part from this movie. This is just one of those movies I will never forget. 

"Good Will Hunting" 's poster, just in case you couldn't tell.

Memoir of a Tapper

On Friday, April 27, I did what no other Megan had done before: I tapped in the Broadway Concert. Yes, you heard me right. I tapped. When Savannah Harwood first asked me to tap with her, I was reluctant, but then I gave in. I thought that it would be a good experience, and maybe a little fun, if I didn't kill myself in the process. We had many practices the weeks before and I was getting there, but I felt really lost standing next to pro-tappers like Savannah, Mrs. Warth, and Katie.  But it made me feel better that I wasn't the only new tapper tapping. Mrs. Caruk hadn't tapped in a while and neither had Mrs. Schuch.
I got really nervous during the week before the concert. I was even tapping in the outfield during one of our softball games that week. Elizabeth and Bailey Beasley then proceeded to laugh at me, of course. But the night of the concert, I was going crazy. I just remembered what Mrs. Caruk said: "After 5 minutes and 33 seconds it will all be over." When it was time, I went out there and tried my best and that's what counts. The only time I noticed myself mess up was when I almost whacked Mrs. Schuch in the face at the end. But that's okay; the audience probably got a good laugh. Although most people in my grade don't think of my dance moves as fly and awesome like I do, they actually liked my tapping and told me I did well. I was really proud of myself, for doing something outside of my comfort zone: getting out on stage and performing instead of watching from the audience. It was a ton of fun and I am 75% sure I would do it again.

Tap shoes for those of you who don't know what they look like

A Good Day and a Stupid Thing I Did

I had a good day today, a GOOD day. So I decided to blog about it. :) There was nothing special that happened today- it was just an overall good day. It started off when I got to school. I went to study hall in the library and started my bibliography for the World Cultures paper. I then got my outline for the research paper re-approved, which I wasn't sure was going to happen. But it did. And it made me happy. :). Then, I went back to the library, B period ended, and I went to Geometry, where we were doing the Vector Project. Our group finished today, adding to my happiness. :) Then, I had to run back home (secretly. Don't tell anybody Kirky! Shhh...) and get my medicine for my mouth (I got my wisdom teeth out last week) during break. Then I went to World Cultures where I made really good time typing my paper (and I think it is pretty good so far if I do say so myself), adding to my happiness. :) Then I went to Spanish where we went over commands, and I got most of them right, adding to my happiness. :) (Sometimes I get frustrated if I don't get a lot of the practice problems right in Spanish, and that frustration stays with me throughout the day, irritating me. But not today. :) ).
Then we went to the special assembly where a black civil war reenactor talked to us about how the white soldiers originally looked down upon the former slaves fighting with the union during the Civil War, but then the blacks proved themselves. I think that this is really important and interesting. I tried to listen while he talked, but sometimes I glazed over and went into LaLa land like I do sometimes. I thought it was funny, as Isabelle pointed out to me, when he was on his phone even though he was dressed up like a union soldier from the 1860s. Irony. :) This made me laugh and added to my happiness. Then, we went biology and talked about evolution. It was interesting. During lunch, I had to go to Mr. Cecere's room and fix the tape measure that I messed up the other day. Matthew originally got blamed (my bad. Sorry Matthew.) but then I fessed up. So that's how I spent my lunch. I wasn't so bad though. It was kinda like a puzzle. I just had to unscrew it, ravel the tape measure back up, and then screw the screws back in. So I didn't eat lunch during "Lunch," so I ate during Band and listened to everybody play. (I can't play for another week since I got my wisdom teeth out.) Our songs are starting to really good! I'm excited! After that, I went to English and we talked about the Gospel of Mark and Kirky explained the Gospel of Thomas to us, although she already had. :)
Then, we went and had softball pictures made. I hope they turn out well. I think they will. Softball is really exciting this season! We have a pretty good team, and we won our first game, creaming the other team 6 to 14! It was awesome! At softball, I figured out what I had been doing wrong with my batting, adding to my happiness. This may just sound like a normal day, but I was just a GREAT day. Nothing bad when wrong; nobody irritated me or made me mad. It was just great. :)
Oh yeah- the stupid thing I did. During Band I had my phone out and on the back I had a sticker that had my name and phone number, in case I lost my phone and someone found it. Emma saw this and asked if the number was my home phone number, and I said, "No, it's this (meaning my cell phone) number." Then she started laughing and I understood. If someone had found my phone, they wouldn't be able to contact me because I had been stupid and put the number of my cell phone on the back of my CELL phone. So if someone tried to call that number with my phone, they would be calling the phone in their hand. I am laughing writing about it. That was so stupid. I wasn't thinking. I'm keeping that sticker on there too. So I can have a laugh if I need it. We told Mrs. Graham, and she laughed too. :) I just thought that y'all would get a kick out of that. Thanks for reading my (super long) blog! :)

Model UN

So today the Hammond Model UN delegation got back from the Duke Model UN Conference. I am so tired. I had a pretty good time. We were debating issues and junk until like eleven every night. We had movie night during which Emma dragged me into the room showing the Mary-Kate and Ashley movie "Winning London."  It was cheesy of course but kind of exciting because the cute British guy from "House" was in it. He is very attractive. There was also a delegate dance. Yeah... people got crazy (not me), but it was fun, I guess. Emma and I talked some in our committee, the EU, but most of the time we didn't. I probably have five pages filled with awesome doodles. There was this one guy in our committee that Emma and I were in that was representing Lithuania that kept taking his shirt off... That was perfectly fine with me. I thought he was cute, but Emma did not. There was also another guy who represented Ireland in the EU who was very attractive (but not as attractive as the dude from "House"). In our committee, we had this thing called a "snap cup" where people would write funny things and then they would be read aloud. This was one of the best parts of the whole trip. On the last day in committee,  our committee had a runway show (during which both Lithuania and Ireland tried to take their shirts off), we abducted another committee's chair and we invaded and took over two other committees. I had a pretty good time. The only award that Hammond got was that Jonathan Friedman got recognized verbally for doing a good job at the awards ceremony. I have no idea why Hammond didn't win the "best school" award... It's crazy. Overall, I had a good time.  I will probably be doing Model UN next year, but then I will have done most of my homework before we leave rather than after, seeing as how I have a lot of homework to do now. Bye! :)