To Kill a Mockingbird

Yesterday, we went on a trip to see "To Kill a Mockingbird." The play was excellent! It was very engrossing and I loved every second of it. The only thing I didn't care for was the boy that portrayed Jim. No offense but, he was a horrible actor. Maybe it was just his voice, but I thought he was very annoying and said every line the same way. All of the other actors and actresses were outstanding though. Especially the little girl who played Scout. She didn't do the best job of pronouncing her words very well, but for a little girl to remember all of those lines blew my mind! Overall, I thought the play was very very good.

Snowy Week

So, as you all know, this Christmas was NOT snowy; at all. If I remember correctly, I actually drove around with the windows down. But, last week, Mother Nature decided to snow a ton. With a good couple layers of ice underneath. We went to school Monday, and then were out the rest of the week, due to icy roads and bad weather conditions. I spent most of my time stuck in the house because all of our vehicles were snowed in. Jordan came over a couple times, and I shovelled a lot of snow. Overall, it was kind of boring.

The Play

So, this weekend was the play! Our high school did the play "Flowers for Algernon." The story is about a mentally challenged man who undergoes and operation which boosts his intelligence to a genius level. Along the way though, he finds out that his new found intelligence will not be permanent, and he may go back to a more primitive way of functioning. The play was very sad, and yet amazing!
I had the privilege of portraying Burt, a young lab assistant working on his Ph.D. In the play, I give Charlie different types of tests, and also accompany him places. It was a fun role to portray because I had parts that were funny, but I also had some of the saddest.
Overall, I think the play went very good. I haven't heard one bad comment yet.

Research Paper

Our research papers are done!!!!!! Now, we're partying! =D =D

Half-Marathon

This may be a little late but, on October 25 I accomplished my goal of running a Half Marathon. for those of you who don't know, a Half Marathon is a 13.1 mile race. I know, crazy right? Anyways, the one that I had signed up for was called the Knobstone Trail Mini Marathon. It was located in the Morgan-Monroe State Forest, 4 miles south of Martinsville. The race started at 9:00am.

My friend Tyler had volunteered to go with me, and we ventured out of my house at 6:00am. Man, was it cold outside! We had to make a quick stop at Wal-Mart so I could buy a watch, then we could be on our way. At Wal-Mart, I bought a watch and an energy bar. I slowly ate the energy bar and drank strictly water the whole way to the race.

When we got there, there were tons of people! Of course, everyone was wearing their cold gear (layers of clothing to keep you warm before an athletic event), and there were people running everywhere. It was my kind of atmosphere. Personally, I was very nervous for the race. I've never ran that far before, and I wasn't sure if I could do it. Plus, the trails were in the middle of the woods. But, I warmed up just like before every race. I jogged for 10 minutes, and ate my Gu. (Gu is a type of gel you squeeze into your mouth for an extra burst of energy). When they called Half-Marathoners to the line, I began removing my layers of clothing. I took off a sweatshirt, sweatpants and shorts. That left me with my long socks, really short shorts and a long sleeve thermal shirt. I also was wearing gloves and a headband that covers my ears.

When the race started, I felt good. I clicked my watch at the start, and I was off. I immediately went to the front pack of people because they were moving my speed. After awhile of running with them, I realized I could go much faster, but I wasn't sure of the trail. So, I decided to take the lead. I couldn't believe it! I was winning a Half-Marathon! Later down the race, the trail started to disappear, and I couldn't tell where to go. There was a very helpful kid from college behind me though, who told me where to go.

About 5 miles into the race, I fell down. My foot hit a root, and I fell down a slight hill. The pack behind me passed me, but a man stopped to help me back up the hill. I tried to run the race as best as I could but, I started to die off. When I reached mile 10, my body felt finished. But, I pushed on, and finally I completed my goal with a time of 1 hour 46 minutes; and I placed 7th! Overall, I was very proud of myself, and I couldn't walk for the next 3 days. =)

Regionals

Saturday morning was Cross Country Regionals. Top five teams get out to Semi-State, which is an amazing honor to reach in Cross Country. Our school personally has never had a boys team go. An this year, we could do it. This was my last chance, even though I am a Junior, because next year we won't have a full team. So, this race was the most important of my life. When the race started, everything seemed good. The intensity was very high, and my blood was pumping. My legs felt good and strong, and everyone had a great start. I just tried to remember to keep my eyes on Princeton and we'd get out. I kept my eyes on a kid from Princeton, and went through in my head on what to do. Stride, head up, arms pumping, under 3:30 for your first K, so on and so forth. At the one mile mark, my time was at a 5:32 and I was flying! I tried to keep my pace, and at the end of the race, I passed another Princeton kid. When I finished, I collapsed in the chute, and Coach Hewig helped me up. The results were: 1st-Castle;2nd-Barr-Reeve;3rd-Mater Dei;4th-Signature; and 5th-North Central. I was devastated. And although we didn't make history, I plan on going individually next year. My next goal is to run a Half-Marathon, which I will be doing this Saturday. For those of you who don't know, a Half-Marathon is a 13.1 Mile race. Wish me luck!

The Play: Macbeth.

Last Friday a whole bunch of people from our English classes all went to see Macbeth at the IRT building. The play was amazing! I am also in plays and things at our school, and it was interesting to see how professional actors work. The stage was very small, and I didn't think that the play would be very good without any props and a small stage. But, I have to hand it to them, they were excellent! The play was very intense and all the actors and actresses did a great job. Hats off to them!