Have you ever thought that you got over someone, but then seen them at school with their beautiful eyes, sweet smile, lovable laugh, adorable swagger, and just, things you think are totally perfect about them and fall in love all over?
(Source: p-r-e-t-e-n-d-e-r-s, via hello-gorgeouss)
Six months of accomplishments through running.
Our List.
1. Watch the Sun come up after staying up all night.
2. Take a picture together.
3. Make Cupcakes.
4. Spend the night together.
5. Make it to level 10 (at least) In Nazi Zombies.
6. Dance for each other.
7. Play Tennis.
8. Go on SkyCoaster at Six Flags.
9. Star Wars Marathon
10. Eat ribs together (hahaha)
11. Midnight Swimming.
12. Kiss in the Rain.
13. Walk on the Moon.
14. Leave the Country.
15. Go Skydiving.
16. Play Just Dance 2.
17. Learn how to say “hello” in ten different languages.
Hello, Ahoj, Annyeonghaseyo, Ciao, Hallo, Aloha, Hola, Kon’Nichiwa, Merhaba, Geia Sou.
18. Watch all 3 Lord of the Rings movies.
19. Actually go to a movie theatre and make it throughout the whole movie without getting kicked out for talking too much.
20. Have a swimming race.
21. Find my Baby pictures.
22. Try Popcorn with Queso….(gross.)
23. Buy a crapload of candy and eat it all in one sitting.
24. Tie Dye Shirts.
25. Begin a Hobo Fund.
To be continued…
My Healthy Obsession - Pt. 4
So, I decided to skip parts 2 and 3 of “My Healthy Obsession” because I wanted to write about my transition from distance to middle distance. This is probably one of the greatest decision I have made and has influenced my life the most out of all my running ventures.
At the kickoff of my junior season of track I was running the 3200m Run and the 3200m relay. The 3200 was an event I had participated in since the beginning of my running career. Every year, I got better and better at the event and soon it seemed I was reaching a peak and I would not be going much further in the event but regardless I pushed myself, because my goal was to become the best 2-miler in the state. So, I got into it. I spent most of my winter break looking up training programs and lifting regimes and everything I could find to get me better at the 2 mile. It became an obsession and for all intents and purposes, I was addicted to improvement. I began my training in early December and it followed through up until late February when we would begin full in-season track workouts. My coaches would not allow me to run my own workout schedule. Yes, this did agitate me some but it did not stunt me completely. I continued my lifting outside of school and continued to practice on my own outside of team practices.
Soon enough, the first meet came and I felt I was definitely prepared for a successful berth into my season. Now the first event we would run would be the 3200 relay. I came into the race as second leg (the same spot I had run the previous year) and I performed quite well. I ran a 2:05 leg of the 4x8, which was the fastest leg on the team at our first meet. As I finished and walked up to my coach she says “you should think about running the open” and I looked at her and laughed and responded “Hah, I don’t know about that” and it ended at that for the day. The day went on and finally my “time to shine” approached, it was 30 minutes or so before the 2 mile and I started warming up. I went through my normal routine: Plyometrics and some Static Stretching to get my muscles warm and finally the time had arrived for us to run. We stepped up to the line and I looked around seeing nobody that I was largely worried about other than my fellow teammate, Tain Dupoint, who had placed second in the state cross country meet as well as placed 5th the previous year in the 2 mile at the state track competition. The race began and it started out quite well, I paced myself with Tain and stayed right on his heel allowing myself to stay calm and run easily. The first two laps went by relatively quickly and it came time for Tain and I to make our move. We were currently sitting in 5th and 6th place and he began to speed up so I followed suit. We moved up quickly passing the three runners ahead of us and made our way to the 2nd and 3rd place spots. But, something unexpected happened Tain slowly began to fall out of step and slowed down being passed by several people. So I took it upon myself to approach the runner in first and initiate a race. Therefore, it began, the race continued for the next 5 laps at a quick pace with me and the original leader battling it out for first. We raced on every point of the track paying no mind to screaming coaches and friends. He would feebly attempt to surge ahead on the straightaways, as I would open my stride and remain right next to him. Soon, the beginning of the last lap came and I moved ahead leaving a small gap between the two of us. We came around the first curve and I remained in the lead opening the gap a bit wider with each new stride. Approaching the final 100m mark I knew I would have to start my sprint so I immediately kicked in at a quicker pace and moved down the straightaway soon and finally finished in first place for the first 2 mile race of the season with a 10:50 (not my best but not bad for the opening meet). This put me in the perfect mind set for what I thought would be the rest of a great 2-mile season for me. So, our first meet was definitely a success
The second meet came around, this week we were at Bethany. The weather was terrible and everyone was freezing to death but it did not keep us from running. Our 3200 relay approached and we were more ready than ever to see what we could do. As a result, from the times the previous week I was moved to first leg (which is considered the same as running an open 800). The race began and I took off at a quick pace leading the pack for the first lap with a substantial gap in between second place and me. We continued into the second lap also at a good pace and as we came around to the final 100, the first leg of the Bethany team, Grayson Haws, surged ahead of me and instantly the thought “this is NOT about to happen” so I returned with a surge of my own and passed him to put my team in first place. As I finished the race and stepped off the track my coach approaches me and says “2:02” those 3 little numbers were the start of the best decision I have ever made in track.
As our third meet approached, I spent a lot of time deciding whether I should run the 800m or not. I eventually decided I would go for it; it couldn’t hurt to try it out right? I remember messaging two people on Facebook about this. The first was my teammate, Andrew, who currently ran the 800 and I figured it was only right to ask him if he would be fine with me running the 800 as well. Second, I messaged my coach, Coach Lorah, the one who had originally suggested the 800 to me. And I said, “I think I want to run the 800.”
The weekend following the Bethany Invitational, we went to the Altus Invitational in Altus, OK. I arrived at the meet with high hopes of performing well in all of my events. As usual, the 4x800 relay came around and I started of the race for my team. I imagined this race to be no different from the others (except for the fact that we would be going against the current fastest team in 4A); however, I was completely wrong. The race began at a much quick pace than I was used to, but I managed to pull into the front and lead for the second half of the first lap. As we finished the first lap I remained ahead leaving a small gap between second place and I. Eventually, the straightaway came and I began my final sprint up to my second leg, Tyler Mahoney, for the handoff. The approach was smooth and the handoff smoother. As I finished I began to experience a tremendous pain in my hamstrings, something I had never felt before which led me to believe either I had done something wrong or I had done something painfully right. I walked slowly over to my coach, who had a smile across her face, and heard the time “1:59” my heart leaped from excitement. I had done something that many people had never witnessed, I had broken two minutes. Now this was not exactly the greatest way for me to break two minutes because it was in the relay and most people would not be timing. This put the idea in my head that if I could break 2 minutes in the relay I could easily do the same in the open 800. So I went to my coach and asked her if I could drop the 2 mile run and focus everything on the open 8. Luckily, she allowed it. This would provide me with the energy to run the 800 on semi-fresh legs.
Soon, enough the 800m run approached and I was completely on edge. I stepped up to the white line stagger in my lane and prepared myself for the first 800 race I would ever experience. I would be racing the current leader of the 5A division, Clarence West, as well as some other notable runners. The gun fired and we were off, immediately Clarence and I took off to the front of the pack, running like maniacs around the first curve and even faster down the first straight. We battled it out throughout the whole race neither leading for more than one hundred meters. Soon, enough we came around the final straight of what seemed like the fastest 800 race ever. Clarence was in the lead and I knew I would have to make a move, so I did the only thing I could think of, take off in a dead sprint at a suicidal pace down the straightaway. Now, as I finished the race I didn’t know what my time was but I experienced the same pain I had in the 4x800 so I automatically thought I had broken 2 minutes on the open or run faster. Once again I made the long walk to my coach waiting to hear the same sweet words I had heard several hours ago. However, the words never came. I had run a 2:00.42 not quite breaking two but this did place me as number one 800 runner in the 4A division of Oklahoma, which I was completely happy with. The time came for me to tell my dad about the race and where that put me in the rankings. He told me he was proud and I remember soon after that an old man sitting in front of us turn around and began to discuss with us my future in the 800, how I should practice and lift and such. The last thing he said to me was that “[I] could run a 1:54 buy the end of next year.” Remember that cause it will pop up later in the story.
The next few weeks passed with similar results. Following Altus we ran a Hobart where I placed first in the 800 once again (this time with a 2:03….gah.), after Hobart we went to our home meet at Elgin (2:00.64 first place), then John Jacobs Invitational at Oklahoma University (2:00.77 first place) and Oklahoma Western Conference at Weatherford (2:00 first place). Throughout these next few weeks one thing happened that would influence me to break 2 minutes more than anything. Grayson Haws, Bethany’s first leg on their 4x800, had finally beaten my time in the 800… and the worst part about it, was that he beat it by .1 seconds. To say the least I used it as fuel to propel me towards my ultimate goal at the time: Breaking 2 minutes.
Our 7th meet came around, most of my season had been building up to this meet. The Weatherford Invitational was by far one of the biggest meets we would attend all season. This was the meet where I finally decided, this would be the meet that I NEEDED to break 2 minutes. My first event came around, the 4x800 of course, and I prepared myself mentally all the while still focusing all my attention on the open 8. I would be running last leg at this meet as I had been for the past 3 meets before this one. The race raged on, and by the time third leg was finishing his race and I was about to run we were in 3rd place. I got the baton and took off like a bat out of hell. Catching the second place team before the end of the first lap. I set my eye on Ben Hill, the last leg of Weatherford (who were still the 4A leaders for the 4x800) and I focused everything on catching him. Sadly I did not manage to catch him; however, I did close down the gap between us quite well. The race ended and I had run a 1:58 (which came to be the norm for my leg of the 3200 relay). I went back to camp to try to rest my legs for the next 4hrs before my race. I sat at camp completely stressed asking myself if I could finally do it, if I could finally break 2 minutes. The last hour approached and I began to warm up, alongside Andrew, which had become routine as the season went on. As I warmed up, I moved towards the coaches to ask them what I needed to do to break 2:00. Coach Lorah’s response was “what are your weak points in the race” so I told her I knew that my first lap was too slow, “So, speed it up” she said. As simple as it was, I had never thought about doing it, because it seemed I was already moving at an extremely fast pace in my first lap.
Soon enough, the race arrived and it was time for me to approach the line. I stepped up to the line, recognizing people that I had raced before or that I had seen race the open 800 in the past. Among them were Clarence West, Gary Ford, and Andrew Poindexter (my teammate). As the gun fired, I took off at a pace that nobody would have expected, immediately coming out of the curve in front by 10 meters or so. I finished my first 200 meters at a 24 and my first lap at a 54 (faster than a large portion of people can run their 400 sprint). The race continued and I had opened up the gap to about 100 meters by now. Reaching the 600 mark I remembered I would have needed to be there at a 1:27 if I wanted to have a chance at breaking 2:00. I reached the point at a 1:23, when something like this happens most people would shut down because they realized they are going too fast and will likely die before they finish the race. But, I whole-heartedly accepted the fact that I was there and said to myself “I’m doing better than I should be, this is good” I came around to the final straightaway at a 1:39 meaning I would have a full 20 seconds to run my last 100 in. I took advantage of this and ran my final 100 meters in 17 seconds finishing up at a 1:56. I had finally achieved my season goal of breaking 2 minutes and It felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulders. I received pats on the back and hugs and there was yelling and screaming. It had been the greatest moment of my school year up to that point. But, I knew it wasn’t over yet.
A week after I first broke 2 minutes, we attended 4A Regionals at Madill. For those of you that don’t know, regionals is where you qualify for state by placing top 3 in your events or having one of the next 4 fastest times out of the 4 regionals. I was completely set on running faster than I did the week before. As usual, we came to the 4x800 start and my nerves were calm. However, I had no idea this would be one of the greatest 3200 relay races I had participated in yet. The gun fired and Andrew started, he began at a somewhat fast pace, putting us in the lead close to the end of his second lap but was passed closer to the end. He handed off to Michael who kept us in second for the majority of his two laps and then moved us to the front for a brief period before losing his speed and making a gap between us and first place that appeared to be much too large to recover from. As he moved the baton to Tyler it appeared as if we would not be able to catch Madill, who was currently in first place, however, Tyler still gave his all and finished both laps at a good pace. As Tyler came down the straight away I thought to myself, “we are not about to lose this race to someone who hasn’t even been ranked!” And as the thought was ending I took the baton and blasted off the starting line quickly closing the gap between Madill’s last leg and I which started out at 100 meters and soon closed down to about 30 by the end of the first 200 and 5 meters by the end of the first lap. “HE’S 5 METERS BEHIND YOU,” yelled a Madill coach from the sideline. But, the call was useless the 5 meters was slowly being closed down from 5 to 4 to 3 to 2 to 1 at the start of the first curve of the second lap. I remember hearing the cheers from my teammates as I passed him and continued to open the gap up to an even 50 meters and finishing at solid 1:58 as usual. The events of that race put me in a great mindset for my 800 later on in the day and within the next 3hrs, it would be time to run it.
The time for my State Qualifying 800 race had finally come. I waited alongside the track for my heat to start the race and finally it came down to the last few minutes. We stepped on the line and I looked around at my fellow racers: Alex Demas and Damon Cravens were the most notable of the runners there. The race began and I took off as usual faster than everyone else, but something that was not the norm happened. Alex Demas (who was the current number 4) in 4A was neck and neck with me. I remember hearing him alongside me and thinking “this shouldn’t be happening maybe I’m running to slow” so I sped up slightly and eventually he began to drop back slowly. I came across the first lap with a 52 (which would be considered an average 400m pace, but I was running it in my first lap of the 800) with Alex behind me at a 54. We continued our race and a very fast pace but soon, Demas would drop off completely with about 250 meters to go. I arrived at the 600 mark at a 1:24. I had 200 meters to go and I was determined to do better than last week. I kicked in on the last 200 and finished at a 1:55.8 (however the clock timed me at 1:56.19 which was BULL!). This was satisfying to me, after all it meant I had furthered the gap between 2nd in the state and I as well as qualified as the number one 800 going to the 4A State Championships in Tulsa, OK.
The week building up to state was by far the longest I have ever gone through. Nobody tells you how nerve wracking it is to go into the biggest race of your life so far as the expected winner, most people would expect it to be reassuring….IT’S NOT! Most of the week was spent just keeping us at the level we needed to be at to compete at State.
The weekend of the 2-day state completion finally arrived. After a 3 hour bus ride we arrived in Tulsa at the Tulsa East Central High School track and people with first day events went out to warm up. The day went on and finally the State 4x800 arrived and I was prepared as ever to run. The race started a little bit different from normal. Andrew was closer to the back of the back but came across at a 2:02. Michael started quickly and finished at a 2:10 and Tyler did the same. Finally it was time for me to run Tyler came down the straight and handed me the baton, we were currently in 5th place and I knew that something would have to be done. Coming out of the first curve I approached and passed the last leg from Madill and soon I was directly behind the last leg from Sallisaw. I stuck at this spot for the rest of the race up until the final 100 where we raced to the finish with me beating him and putting the team in 3rd by 10 meters or so. We had not won the 3200 relay state championship, but we placed top 3 and we were all proud of that. After this race I knew for sure it was time for me to focus on the 800 for tomorrow.
The second day of racing had finally arrived and I was nervous as ever. I spent most of the morning warming up and listening to whatever I could to get my pumped up on my iPod. Soon the time came for us to heat up for the event and I walked down to the heating tent. Everyone there was on edge and you could feel the tension circulating around the area. The man conducting the heating called my name and I unconsciously got up and received my number. Soon it was time to jog down to the line and prepare for the beginning of the race. We arrived at the line and screams could be heard from the teammates, parents, and coaches of every runner standing on that line. “Runners SET!” called the start and my heart began to pound faster than it ever had. The gun fired and we were off. I immediately took the lead and placed myself a good 10 meters in front of second place. Reaching the first 200 at 24 and the first lap at 52. Still leading, I hugged the curve tightly and stayed out in front still only leading my 10 meters. As I approached the 600 mark I sensed someone behind me and I did one thing no runner should ever do, but I knew if I was going to win I had to do it. I looked back and saw Grayson Haws slowly closing the gap and I bolted past the 600 point quickly reaching the last hundred. Stride after stride I cut down the last 100 meters and finished at a time of 1:54.91. I had just become the first 800 State Champion from Elgin in 10 years. And within the next week I would find out I had achieved the spot of number one 800 runner in the state of Oklahoma for all Divisions. My whole season had been building up to this moment, I had achieved it, and it was the greatest moment of my life.
At the start of this post, I explained that I was bent on becoming the greatest 2-miler in Oklahoma. This tells you how quickly things can change and how quickly you can adapt to the changes and still be the best one out there. After State I went on to represent Team Oklahoma at the Great Southwest Classic where I placed 6th with a time of 1:58.31.
Deciding to run the 800 has by far been one of my best choices ever it has led me to being discovered by six colleges. Next year, I plan to break the state record of 1:51.7 (Held by Justin Nobles the last 800 champion runner from Elgin, Oklahoma) as well as break 1:50 in the open 800.
Wish me luck!
Ah…… :)
So, I haven’t written anything about relationships (except for my first post but, I don’t really count that one) mainly because there hasn’t been one to write about; however, for the past 3 and a half weeks I’ve been talking to this girl and there’s just something about her that makes me want to write.
Originally, we barely knew each other we would comment on one another’s Facebook posts every so often or like a status but never any real conversation. But, three (almost 4) weeks ago we had a small conversation on a mutual friends status and it led to some playful name-calling etc. The conversation went on for a short while. She would call me a whimp and I would throw the same comment back at her. The next day, I posted on her wall calling her a whimp, which soon led to another exchange between the two of us. Then a couple days later out of the blue I receive an IM that reads “I hate you..” or something similar to that (forgive me for not remembering) originally I had missed this message and I didn’t respond until the next day. I wrote back “Why do you hate me? Haha” this eventually led to a conversation about why we never say anything nice to each other and I just quickly said “because, if we weren’t being mean we’d have nothing else to talk about.” Oh how wrong I was.
So, we continued the conversation making every attempt we could at being nice. Soon, she came to realize that she had to get off the computer and I received a message asking me to text her. So, I did. I sent her a message saying “Hey, its Clay.”, we started talking, once again, about how we never say anything nice, and that we should try it. We decided that we should get to know each other if we were ever going to be nice, so we started asking questions and giving answers (simple enough) this went on for several days (so much for not having anything to talk about right?) and we eventually learned that we had a lot in common. We started flirting and what not and soon enough, I found the courage to tell her that I “kinda, sorta might like [her] a little bit”. Now, the next part was a shock to me, because I didn’t think that anyone as pretty, funny, and nice as her would ever take any interest in me. Needless to say, I was wrong again. She responded, “I like you too! But I didn’t know if I should tell you or not cause, I didn’t know what you’d say.”
Now, I thought the whole thing was crazy just because of the two people involved. Me: Average height, small frame, student-athlete, bi-racial kid and then Her: Tall, blonde, on the dance team, and extremely pretty. You may get where I’m going with this, but for those who don’t…. to be blunt: I didn’t think I had a chance. However, back to the story! So, we continued talking and flirting and eventually we began talking about hanging out and “officially” meeting each other. This led to several plans to hang out which were all dashed, because I had so much going on with an upcoming track meet that I couldn’t find time to do anything. So we resorted to continuing to text up until I returned from my track meet (which was in New Mexico and took up a whole four days). So, once I returned we made plans to hang out on Wednesday, June 7th.
Finally, June 7th arrived and we both expressed to each other than we were nervous beyond comprehension, which in most cases wouldn’t be good however in ours it was perfect. I picked her up from her mother’s house at around 3 o’clock, the first thing she did was bury her face in her hands, and she said to me “I’m SO nervous right now!” This made me feel better because I was just as nervous as she was about it, but within 2 minutes of her saying that we had already started a conversation that lasted the whole 20 minutes of highway time between my house and hers. We arrived at my house and went into the living room to watch a movie (a scary movie because she constantly stated that they were her favorite). Now, in most cases when you first spend time with someone you try to be as proper and polite as possible. This was not how we went about doing things to say the least. We talked throughout the whole movie about things not even slightly related to the movie itself. This is one thing that made me like this girl even more, she was DIFFERENT she didn’t just want to sit and watch, she wanted to talk, make jokes and laugh all throughout the movie (probably why we haven’t gone to a movie theatre together yet, because we would no doubt be kicked out). Eventually the movie was over and it was time to take her home.
We arrived at her house so that I could drop her off as well as meet her mom. This next moment I’m going to write about was by far one of the most awkward I have ever been subject to in my life! We enter the house after her little sister answers the door and walk towards the backyard where her mom is waiting. I approach and shake her hand and as the shake is finishing she says “What movie did you two see?” at this moment, my mind went blank… I had no idea that we were supposed to have seen a movie my exact response was “Um… we saw….uh.” and out of nowhere as if a light came on saying “HELP ME I’m about to fuck up” this girl swooped in to save the day “Kung Fu Panda 2!” she said and amazingly it worked! Soon the situation was decreasing in awkwardness and I left the house feeling successful. We continued to text and talk and soon decided to hang out a second time.
The second time we hung out I would pick her up from her father’s house, where I would meet him and talk to him about our newly planned trip to Six Flags (which I didn’t mention earlier. Sorry!) I got to her house at about 730 or 8 to pick her up. As we walked up to the front door she tells me “Don’t be nervous my dad is really cool” and she was right we went in, I shook his hand and had a conversation about the Six Flags trip and we left (surprisingly easy). Once again, we made the trek back to my house and this time we decided to watch a funny movie once again talking through the whole thing. Now before this second date (I guess is what you could call it) we discussed a kiss that was planned to happen (yeah I know. Who plans kisses? We do damnit!) and we sat both thinking the same thing “who’s going to make the first move” in my opinion it was a mutual move she brought up the fact that it hadn’t happened and I followed through. Thus, our first kiss (and second…. And third). Eventually the time came for me to bring her home so we got up and left around 11 o’clock. We arrived back and her house and kissed goodbye and she left both of us with a smile.
Soon enough, the day came for our trip to Six Flags…yesterday actually. Yesterday was one of the best days I’ve had in a long time and the amusement park was not even the best part. The part I enjoyed the most was the ride back. We sat in the backseat. I held her hand and she slept on me almost as if we had been together for months.
So in a nutshell, this whole post has been leading up to me saying that I am probably one of the happiest guys in the world right now. This girl has brought a lot of happiness to me and it just keeps pouring in like a fountain (CHEESY). And It all started with me saying we would have nothing to talk about. Weird huh?
My Healthy Obsession - Pt. 1
So, I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. Is there such thing as a healthy obsession? I say this because, most of the time when you hear someone say something about being obsessed the usually get the response “that’s unhealthy” or “you should stop”. But, in my case my obsession is completely healthy. I am completely and utterly obsessed with running, Track and Field to be more specific.
My obsession began right around 6th grade. I remember my father would take my brother and me on long, accident-filled bike rides throughout the neighborhood and eventually through a large surrounding area of Copperas Cove, Texas. We would ride out from the house in the early morning and go for 7-15 miles in one day. Well, we were out on one of these Saturday bike rides and we came to a very steep, but surmountable hill. I looked at my father and said, “I bet I can run up this hill!” So, I after a long trek down to the base of the hill I turned around looked up the hill and began to contemplate what I had just gotten myself into. I began running, step-by-step I attacked the hill on my 12 year old legs quickly getting closer and closer the to top of the hill. Finally, I had reached the top, a look of happiness crept across my father’s face, little did I know what was in store for me.
School ID Badges - What’s the deal?
In my opinion, ID badges are one of the worst rules made at Elgin since I started going to school here in 2008. We have all heard the story of why we have to wear them, and what they are supposed to be for, etc. However, what’s the point in “enforcing” the rule when kids easily walk around every day without wearing them. Finally, there is a HUGE lack of punishment for not wearing badges.
At the beginning of this year, every student was issued an ID badge at Elgin High School. There was an immediate negative reaction to this. Our administration and staff pointed out that they were so that teachers could easily learn students names, as well as making it easier for teachers to put a name to a face when exacting punishment for wrongdoing. Nevertheless, when you think about that the large majority of teachers could easily hear a student’s name and pick him/her out of a lineup. In addition, since we’ve had the badges, I have yet to see a teacher grab a student’s name tag to find out who he/she is.
The second point I’d like to make about the ID badges is that; Students easily walk around school and rarely have to worry about teachers asking them about their badges. Only a handful of students each day can say they are pulled to the side and asked about their badge. Sure, there are students that always wear their badges and think nothing of it, but then we have students that wear their friends’ badges, as well as students that don’t wear a badge at all. It makes you think, “if I see people every day without their badge, why do we have them at all?” And, ( I think a lot of people would agree) that is a huge question that needs to be asked.
Finally, the lack of punishment for students that don’t wear there IDs is astounding (not to say that I’d appreciate seeing more punishment, because I definitely wouldn’t.) When badges were first issued a set of rules and regulations was also spread around the school, which were listed as follows:
First Offense: Warning
Second Offense: Saturday School
Third Offense: 3 days AISP
Fourth Offense: 5 days AISP
I’m simply saying that if you want us to wear IDs then why not actually enforce the rules. Teachers will pull a student to the side repeatedly for not having their badge but the student is just told to “go to the office and get a new one.” Students are rarely (if not rarely, then never) given a Saturday School, or placed in AISP for not wearing their badge or wearing someone else’s badge. Now, I’m sure us students don’t have a problem with not receiving punishment but, COME ON, why is of this done if there are no repercussions when we break the rule.
Basically, I’m saying that this rule may need to be done away with or cracked down upon because the way it is now isn’t making much of a difference.
Social Networking - Then and Now.
People always seem to have the need to be the center of attention. Whether it is in school, work, public life, or even on the Internet. In my opinion, the internet is probably where people try to express themselves the most because they have access to people all over the world, and they can easily say whatever they want. Since I began my social networking career, I’ve been on the following three sites: MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter. MySpace was the first site I joined when I was 13 or 14 years old. Everything about it seemed great. You could make your page however, you wanted it; add music, post pictures, chat with friends, add other friends as well as, post statuses and moods. These features were huge breakthrough for other sites because it was the first of its kind. I used MySpace for all kinds of things; I was able to keep in touch with friends that I had moved away from and make new friends from my new school. I think MySpace also had a large effect on people “coming out of their shell” so to speak. But, as the years went on…. MySpace died out (at least in this area) by late 2009. This was due to the abrupt switch from MySpace to its uprising successor, Facebook. Facebook was established in 2004 and didn’t become popular around here until late 2009 and early 2010. Facebook quickly outranked MySpace and became the new top dog in the area. I much prefer Facebook to MySpace, sure, you can’t add music to your profile or give it an awesome background, but I think the simplicity of it really pushed it forward. It was easy to figure out and nobody seemed to have a huge problem with the major differences from MySpace. As of right now Facebook is still seems to be the powerhouse in the Elgin/Lawton/Ft. Sill area and it’s not getting old at all. To be honest…..Twitter was never too popular in my eyes. I created an account, but never really got too interested in it, and I think this is the same with most people out here. It did not quite have the same POP as MySpace and Facebook boasted. I think Twitter may have taken the simplicity of Facebook a bit to the extreme, lacking profiles, music, and a lot of the creativity that you can show on the other two sites. I believe twitter was meant to be more of a quit information center to find out, where “it” was going on, why “it” was going on, and what was going, rather than a site where people could share their thoughts, their pictures, and there stories. Finally, I think that the rankings in the current time would have to be Facebook, MySpace, and then Twitter. And, I believe many people would agree with me there.
Platonic Friends (AKA The Friend Zone)
So, the first ever topic is: Platonic Friendships. This is actually a large problem for some people in high school. For those of you who don’t know this is when a guy and a girl are just friends (aka the “Friend Zone”). In so many stories you hear about the guy that is in love with his girl best friend or vice-versa. Everyone knows that this isn’t a problem at a young age because opposite sex don’t mingle then everyone has “cooties.” But as we progress throughout our lives these things change and we develop feelings for each other, etc. But enough with the lesson.
My take on platonic friendships is that there are three cases with platonic friends. 1: Both people are cool with just being friends. 2: One friend likes the other but, either knows that the other doesn’t like them or is too shy to find out. 3: Both friends like each other but neither knows and both are too scared to find out.
The first case is probably the most common in life. You see a girl and a guy that hang out all the time and they’re always with each other. They constantly get the same question “are you guys dating?” This happens A LOT probably so much that it gets frustrating when people ask, and even worse is you have to give the same answer every time. It is tiring. I have plenty girlfriends and guy friends, I never get tired of hanging out with them and it’s always something different each time. But we all know that girls will have their mood swings (not attacking you ladies), and we all know that at our current age a lot of us guys say stupid stuff and are immature (including me), and when you hit that point you don’t want to hang out at all. This is probably one of the major downfalls to platonic friends, because in these situations a guy may be hanging out with his platonic girl friend as well as his guy friends and say something to his guy friends that the girl doesn’t like and she gets upset; However, this also happens in the opposite situation. So in the situations where a guy and a girl are friends and expect nothing out of each other it works out fine as long as either person doesn’t say something stupid and screws everything up.
The second case is probably the most dramatic of the three and causes a lot of stress on either person. When either friend is attracted to the other this causes major problems because nobody really knows what to do in the situation. The friends still want to hang out but they have to risk awkward moments where maybe the guy kisses the girl and she doesn’t want it or isn’t expecting it or the reverse. These situations end up stressful for both parties and it puts a MASSIVE strain on the relationship. I actually have been on either side of the situation so it is easy to talk about. When this dilemma occurs several things can happen: The two people can just end their friendship there (a little drastic but possible), or they can try to act like it didn’t happen (everyone knows it doesn’t work out).
Ending a friendship is probably one of the most ridiculous and inefficient things I’ve seen come from this. One person tells the other…. “after what happened… I just don’t think that we can be friends anymore.“ This is probably the most drastic approach you can take to something like this, especially when the two have been friends for a long time you don’t want to just break off the friendship because one of them didn’t quite understand the boundaries.
Acting as if it never happened can actually work, but not when one side of the friendship is, for lack of a better word, infatuated with the other. Everyone knows that if you have strong feelings for a person you can’t just drop it overnight, it takes time and effort to get any memory of the occurrence out of your head. And generally… the love-struck person doesn’t want to get it out of their head. They tell themselves “it will happen eventually I just have to wait” but, a lot of the time….. It doesn’t. But, on the other hand, the side that is affected less by it forces the other person to go ABOVE and BEYOND their breaking points to “fix” their “mistake”. It obviously wasn’t a mistake it was meant to happen, but you have to realize that although it was meant that doesn’t mean that it’s good.
Probably the rarest, most unrealistic, but most in common in media is that both friends have feelings for each other but are afraid to show it. I say this is rare because since I’ve been in high school ( this is about high school students after all) I have NEVER seen this happen. TV and Movie producers make it look good but in truth its fraud. Generally in a situation like this both people are aware that the other has feelings and they are dating. Now, I’m not saying this isn’t possible just unlikely, usually people will meet and they automatically assess “could this person be significant other material?” and eventually they will come to realize that the answer to the question is a simple yes and no. If yes, the probably end up together for however long that period is. If no, then both people go their separate ways and nobody gets hurt.
All-in-all my take on platonic friendship is that it is possible only when the balance is enough to where neither person will overstep their boundaries and both are completely fine with being good friends.
