T is for The End

I jump out of my car, super excited for the day ahead of me. It's the first day of school. I look over to the door, and see everyone is pushing and shoving their way through to see their class list. I sprint towards the wave of people, hoping I'll get through in one piece. As I squeeze through every little space I see, I hear a familiar voice calling my name behind me. I turn my head back to see one of my friends. Before I can get a sound out of my mouth, I'm suddenly pushed out of crowded doorway. I run as fast as I can until I reach the Grade 7 classroom. I scan through the class list, and spot many of my friend's names. I have a pretty decent class this year. I look behind me, and find lots of my other classmates desperate to see the names on the flimsy piece of paper, hanging helplessly by a thin strip of tape. I smile, thinking of the exciting year ahead of me. I step into the class, drop my new textbooks on my desk, and explore the room I will spend the next year in. As the bell rings, I take my seat. I look around and see familiar faces, along with new ones. I can already tell it's going to be a great school year.

The beginning of something is always wonderful, whether it’s the beginning of a new friendship or the beginning of a new school year. The beginning gives a little introduction to what the core thing really is. It's just the small spark that will eventually start the big fire.

But what is the end exactly? To me, I don’t think anything has an end. The end is just a new beginning. The end is the fire starting to die down to just some warm pieces of coal. But right as the little spark gets it started, the fire will grow back, and start all over again. We're nearing the end of Grade 7 right now. It has been a great year filled with fun activities like the camp out for Haiti, the math t-shirts, and many more still to come. The fire has grown bigger and bigger the closer we come to the end of the year. Everyone is super excited for the Pond Study and the trip to Sudbury. The fire will be at its biggest when we’re all together at Sudbury. But after that, a giant wind will suddenly come by and blow the fire right out when we separate for summer vacation. The school year has gone by so fast. It seems like just yesterday we were thrilled to bits to start our first class. And now, the last day of school is approaching us. We've learned so much throughout the year, and we've made so many new friends. It's so hard to forget the wonderful memories we all have of Grade 7.

This year, we've learned so many new things. I think all of us have improved so much since last year, academically and socially. We’ve made new friends, learned new things, and it’s going to be hard for all of us to leave each other behind when summer comes around.

Grade 7 has been a fun year. All of us feel so much more different now that we’ve become teenagers. More responsible, more mature, and we feel grown up. Grade 7 is like the middle of the middle. We’re in Middle School, and we’re the middle of Middle School. But all of that will change next year. Our school program is changing and there won’t be a Middle School anymore. We’ll feel even more grown up because we’re being combined with Upper School now. It’s kind of exciting going into Upper School. We’ll have some new teachers and a different Student Council system. It’s going to be very different being thought of as Upper Schoolers.

One of the things I definitely want to remember from this year is the Camp out for Haiti. Recently, Haiti had a terrible earthquake. SJK Middle School wanted to raise money for Haiti, so we decided to do a camp out at the school. It was very successful. We raised over $9000! It was a lot of fun, and everyone enjoyed it.

In math class, we made a design, a tessellation I should say, on the computer. Then, we printed it on iron-on paper and ironed it onto a t-shirt. It was a great way to express our creativity and math skills. I think a lot of my classmates will agree with me that the tessellations were the most fun math project we have done this year.

We have come so far in Language Arts. We started blogging this year, which has been a lot of fun. It was a really creative idea to have everyone blogging about something about themselves, but applying writing skills they have learned. In blogging this year, we did the first few blogs on the same thing, like on the Breadwinner, or guest speakers, or field trips. But then Ms. Weldon made it more interesting and had everyone do an alpha biography on a topic about his or her life. Every once in a while, Ms. Weldon taught us something new to make our writing even better, and then gave us some people who applied that lesson in their writing so we had an idea of what she was looking for. First, we started off with using the recipe we learned from last year. Then, we learned about diction, using big words. After that, we were encouraged to use imagery, being descriptive. None of us were very good at re-tell, we just listed things, but Ms. Weldon showed us an excellent example of re-tell, and I think we all needed some help on better re-tell. Finally, we learned about insight, and all of us improved in our writing. Insight is writing to make your reader wonder and imagine. A method a lot of people do to create insight was to ask questions. Right now in Language Arts, we are working on an Identity project. It’s going to explain who we think we are. I think that’s a great way or us to understand who we are as people better. All of us have been working so hard in Language Arts this year. The improvement from last year is truly unbelievable. I can’t wait until we get back into Language Arts next year and learn so much more.

The fire is gradually growing to its largest, but when the summer arrives, the fire will be nothing but a warm pile of coal. But then on the first day of school, the fire will come back alive again. It will have a new beginning.

LIFE LESSON: Nothing has an end. There is no such thing as the end. The end is just a new beginning.

I commented on Lyndsey's post: Lori.

G is for Goals

The gentle breeze flows through your hair, which is drenched in sweat. It cools you down as you slowly jog your way along the track. You’re in your own world, focused on nothing else but to win. The crowd chants your name, but all you can hear are your short breaths. You start to feel a strong pain in your side, and feel like giving up, but you keep a steady pace. You glance behind your back, and see the other competitors determined to pass you by. Suddenly, a burst of energy encourages you to keep going. Your mouth is incredibly dry, but you think about how much you want this. You close your eyes, and focus on what you want most. As your eyes open, your mind thinks about nothing else, but to just keep going. You’re zoned out of the world, and can hardly hear anything. Your heart pounds hard against your chest, trying to escape the agony. The finish line is in your sight. Your coach is screaming at you to keep running. The crowd roars as you step over the finish line. You can’t help, but to keep smiling. Your coach helps you up, and you two embrace as the stadium celebrates your win, a gold medal. You are a gold medallist. You have waited your whole life for this moment. You step onto the platform, and they gently place the gold medal onto your neck. You’ve never felt so proud. You take the shining piece of gold in your hands and raise it up to the crowd. They cheer, and you think of what you have just accomplished. You’ve never felt happier in your life.

Goals are something that make life interesting. They give someone a thought. A thought that will last forever. But what exactly is a goal? I think a goal is whatever the person wants it to be. To me, goals are like thoughts that don't have an end. They just keep going on and on. If you think about your goal, you imagine so many different things that would be different if you accomplished that goal. Goals can be as little as acing a test, or they can be as big as winning a gold medal at the Olympics. But whatever the goal is, big or small, they are goals.

I told you goals are like never-ending thoughts. That's true if you really think about it. For instance, if your goal was to ace a test, your life would change. Your parents would be proud of you, your teachers would be impressed with you, even your siblings may congratulate you. See how these things keep going on and on? This is what I mean by never-ending. Any goal can change your life in so many different ways.

Accomplishing a goal always feels so good. You feel happy all over, and you can't stop smiling. It's hard to explain, but I'm sure you know what I mean. One of my goals in life is to be accepted into Harvard University one day. Harvard is a very good university, and pretty hard to get into. My goal probably may not come true, but I still keep hoping it will happen one day. Many goals may not come true, but the fun part about it is that you can still dream about it happening. You can still think about what it would be like if it did happen. Like I said before, goals last forever. Even if they don't come true, they can still be a goal.

LIFE LESSON: In life, some of your goals may not come true. But you can still hope that some day it will happen. If your goal has not happened, keep imagining what it would be like if it happened. Then it shows you how much you want it, and how hard you'll work to get it. If you work hard enough, you never know, maybe it will happen.

I commented on Wilks' blog, K is for Ketchup.

R is for Reading Friends

You pick a random book off the shelf, and decide to start reading it. You skim the first few pages, but you don't really understand what the book is about. When you get to the good part, you don't understand what is happening because you weren't paying attention to what was leading up to it. You decide it is too confusing, and place it back on the shelf. The next day, your friend approaches you and starts a conversation. You're distracted by something more exciting that's going on. You pretend to listen, but you're really paying no attention to them. They tell you that they are moving away from the country! This time, you were listening. You start freaking out, and asking them all these questions that they already answered before. They start telling you that they had already answered the questions you were asking before, and then realize, you weren't listening, and that's why yo didn't understand what was going on. You two seperate and never talk to each other for the rest of the day.

If you really think about it, friends are much like books. One reason is that if you skim the beginning of the book, but pay attention to the good part, you won't understand what's going on, and it wasn't worth reading the book because you didn't understand why or how the event was happening. Sort of like friends. If you don't pay attention to the boring part when thay are talking about, then when you do start paying attention, you don't understand what they are talking about. With books or friends, pay attention to the boring parts so you'll understand what's going on later.

Another reason why books are like friends is because they are all different in some way. They could be really smart, like encyclopedias, or they could be good at spelling, like dictionaries, or they could be adventurous, like fantasy or adventure novels. Those are just some of the options, there are so many different books out there that you could relate to your friends. They could also be a mixture of books, like mystery and a dictionary. A lot of the times, people like reading, or even writing, books that are a lot like them. Even if they are the same type of book, they could be a whole different story.

In summary, books are like friends. You have to read the whole book, even the boring parts, to know exactly what they are about. And every friend is different. They may be similar, but no one is exactly the same.

LIFE LESSON: When reading books, or friends, you have to read the whole thing, or pay attention to everything, to know who they really are.

I commented on Kate's blog: Going Green

F is for Family

It's your birthday. When you wake up, your whole family is waiting outside the door to surprise you. You sleepily open the door, and as it creaks open, SURPRISE! Your family jumps out of their hiding place. Now, you're really awake. Your face brightens, and a big smile appears on your face. They start to sing happy birthday to you, and you all give them big hugs. Somewhere else in the world, a child is celebrating her birthday as well. Except, no one will sing her happy birthday, no one will give her presents, and no one will bake her a delicious birthday cake. She sits there all alone, with no one there to hug her, or care for her. She has no one to love and no one to love her. She quietly sings to herself, waiting for her family to come. As you laugh with your family, the girl waits for her family who will never come back.

Not many people realize how lucky they are to have a family to care for them. Many people around the world have no family. How would you feel without your family? To me, my family is my happiness in life. They always make me laugh. I'm always smiling around them because they're always happy. I love being around my family, and without my family, I don't know how I could be happy. Think about it, When you wake up in the morning and your mom cooks your favourite breakfast, doesn't that little thing just make your day? It certainly makes mine. Your family basically keeps you alive. They feed you, and give you somewhere to live. They take care of you if you're sick or hurt. And they help you get through problems you don't know how to solve. How would you get through all those things by yourself? I don't know what I would do without my family.

My family takes care of me, feeds me, gives me a roof over my head, and gives me education. The little things they do every day, means so much to me. Like tucking me in at night. It does seem like a little thing that would mean nothing. But it's the little things like that, that keep me smiling. How would you feel if your family were taken away from you? If that happened to me, I would be helpless. My family helps me through the day. Like, if there were a big test I wasn't ready for the next day, they would help me prepare for it and calm me down. They would try to make me feel better so it would be easier to get through. My family means the world to me, and I could never afford to lose them. Even though sometimes I fight with them, I still love them.

LIFE LESSON: Be grateful for your family. Be grateful for all the things they do for you, even the small meaningless ones.

I commented on Brenna's post, R is for Roller coasters.

The comments are in the same colour as the background, so you have to highlight it to see it.

S is for Skiing

I jump off the chair lift, excited for my first run of the year. My skis are brand new, so I easily slide across the snow. I effortlessly push my way to the top of the run. Vail Ridge, a black diamond. I stare down into the gully, filled with moguls. I'm fightened at first, but then I gain my confidence. My skis are at the very edge now, and I slowly tip over onto the hill. I fearlessly make my first turns down the hill. This isn't so bad! The moguls make me hop around like a bunny, and it makes the run extra fun. I'm gaining speed as I race through. The wind whooshes past me, and I can hear the it rush past me. My eyes are stinging from going so fast, but I can't slow down. I like the speed, anyway. Just a few more moguls until I come to the end. The suddenly, out of nowhere a giant jump appears in front of me. I'm not ready to jump, I'm going too fast! As the jump approaches me, I try to slow down. My skis drop down, and then I fly up a few feet into the air. When I land, I'm surprised I don't crash. I turn the corner and stop in the line at the chair lift. That was an amazing run, I think. As the chair lift carries me up, I get excited to go onto Vail Ridge again.

S is for skiing. I love to ski. I have been skiing ever since I learned, when I was 3 years old. If you were wondering, Vail Ridge is my favourite ski run at Alta. My favourite place to ski is Alta, a ski mountain in Salt Lake City, Utah. I just recently went there for March Break and it was great. We go there every year to ski because we all like it so much. Although I love to ski at Alta, I've skied in other places, too. Like in Banff, Alberta.

Last winter, my family travelled to Banff, Alberta to ski. We stayed at this really nice hotel, The Fairmont. On the outside, it looked like a castle, but on the inside, I felt like royalty. The lobby was really big, and a beautiful chandelier was hanging from the ceiling. The glass twinkled in the light, and it was just so wonderful to look at. And the staircase was like the staircase in the Titanic. It started on the outside and gradually moved into the centre. A red carpet was draped so beautifully over every step. The room we stayed in was really nice, it had a beautiful view of the mountains, and right below us was the skating rink so every day, we would see people ice skating along the smooth ice. In Banff, there were two mountains, Lake Louise, and Sunnyside. We tried both, but we seemed to like Sunnyside better. It was really cold, and I was freezing most of the time, but I still had fun.

Although we had gone to Banff to ski, I'd have to say my favourite part about the whole trip was all the activities we did. There were so many options. We practically did one once a day. First, we went swimming in the pool at the Fairmont. I really liked it because it was an outdoor pool, but it was really warm, so on the top you would be super cold, but on the bottom you would be warm in the water. And if you stayed out of water long enough, your hair would start to freeze because it was so cold! Another thing we did was we went ice skating. It was really fun because we did it at night, so the ice was glowing in the moonlight. On the ice skating rink, there was an ice sculpture of the Fairmont carved into a big chunk of ice, and then another ice sculpture of a deer. Also, we went sledding on this public hill. It was so much fun because once in a while a bump would come up, and it would be a lot of fun to jump off. Finally, the best part of the trip is that we went dog sledding. It was an amazing experience. The dogs pulled me along as I rode on the back of the sled. I even got to steer the bogs for a little bit! On the sledding ride, We also saw Lake Louise, frozen. Overall the trip to Banff was an amazing experience, and I can't wait for another trip like that.

I have been skiing all my life and it's a great thing to do if you want to start racing, or just have fun. Skiing is a great sport, and you can do it in a lot of amazing places. I hope one day you'll try skiing and like it as much as I do.

LIFE LESSON: Skiing is a great sport and everyone should have the chance to try it at least once in their lifetime.

P.S. I'm sorry about having two of the same pictures, I don't know how to remove one of them.

I commented on Laurel's blog

A is for Angie

The first time I see her, I know she is right for me. I pick her up and stare into her big black eyes, they're like little marbles. Her small pink tongue pops out of her tiny mouth and licks the air. Her nose digs into my shirt and takes a sniff. It's just about as big as my fingernail! She's so cute I knew that small little dog would be perfect as my first dog.

Angie is my first and current dog. She is a Maltese so she is quite small. She weighs almost 4 pounds. Most Maltese weigh about 3-7 pounds, so she is smaller than most Maltese dogs. Her eyes are very big and black. I love to hold her paws because they're so small, but they are very sensitive, so she likes to pull them away. But I have to say my favourite part about her is her nose. It's so small, it's like a little chocolate chip. And her tongue is so cute! When a bigger dog licks me, I'm amazed at how big it is! Angie is a very cute little dog that I love very much.

Angie's birthday is August 6, so she's about 2 and a half years old right now. I have to say Angie is not the smartest dog you would come across. The only thing she really knows how to do is to lie down, but she only does it when we have a treat for her. We treat her like a little puppy because she acts just like one. The cutest part about her is that during the day, basically the only place in the house you would find her is in her bed, sleeping. But at night, she's very playful, and runs all around the house. It's sort of funny to see her running, and she goes really fast, no one can catch her. Angie is a very confusing dog, you never know how she will be next, calm and sleepy, or wild and energetic.

Dogs are a great improvement to your life. I can really tell that my family is much more happy with her around. Also, studies have shown that holding and petting a dog can actually lower your blood pressure. Who would have guessed that petting an ordinary dog can make you healthier!

LIFE LESSON: Dogs make you happier, which leads to a healthier lifestyle. If everyone had a dog, it would make the world a better place.

I commented on Emelie F's blog.

H is for Home

I stare up at my new home. The house is beautiful. It took nine months to build, but it was worth it. I've waited so long for this moment, and now it has finally come. My own room, my own bathroom, a beautiful view, a friendly community, all you could ever want for your home. I explore the house a bit until I get a feel for it. I'll be living here for a long time, and I'm glad. I like this big spacious, house. This is now my new home, and I'm definately happy with it.

H is for Home. I've had many homes in my life, most of them in America. But now, I have a home in Canada. I still have an American citizenship, but I don't have Canadian citizenship. We moved to Canada because of my dad's work. Now, he works for RIM, where they create the Blackberry phones. It's cool that he works there because then we get free Blackberries.

Let's start from the very beginning when I was born. I was born in Boca Raton, Florida. We lived there a few months until we moved to Pennsylvania. Then after about 3 years, we moved to Ohio. We lived there for 4 years, until my dad switched companies to work for RIM. The first couple of years we lived here, we lived in an apartment. It was basically a small room we lived in. The worst thing was that I had to share a room with my brother, and there was only one bed in the room. So every other week, one of us would sleep in the bed, and then one of us would sleep on a small mattress on the ground. Finally, we finished building our house and we moved in. It was great to have my own room again.

I've travelled to many places in my life including Japan, Italy, Hawaii, England, France, Venice, and many more. So really, the whole world is my home. It should be considered everyone's home. Wherever I am in the world is my home, so no one ever really leaves their home.

I sit in my room, thinking about all the places I've been in the world. I really like this new house, but I miss my old home, and all my homes before that. But then I realize that even if I'm thousands of miles away from my house, I'm still home. Wherever I am in the world, I'm still home. I was home all along.

LIFE LESSON: Your house is different than your home.