Competition
Competition will always be fun if you take it seriously

By Rory Kennealy
Competition is a good thing it forces us to do our best

-Nancy Pearcey

    Competition is always fun. I always love to compete whatever it is competition always makes me have fun. The competition I'm talking about is the thirds classic. The thirds classic when all three of the thirds basketball teams play against each other in a tournament. My team went in not winning a game all season. We still expected to win though.

It was Fenn blue vs Fenn white vs Fenn gold, on a cold sunny Thursday afternoon in the Fenn new gym. Three teams facing off to see who is the best.

Before the tournament, everyone said we were going to lose. The only people who believed in us was our own team. Our first game was a hard-fought battle against the gold team. It was back and forth until the end. It was won in the paint as the gold team out hustled and outrebounded us. This led to the gold team winning 23-18.

Our next was against the heavily favored white team. We knew it was going to be tough we were facing off against the tallest kid in our school Eli Zahavi a kid who could get a rebound over a whole team. We fought really hard and we were still outrebounded, but this time we locked down on defense only letting up nine points. We ended up winning 14-9.

This is where it gets interesting.

This tournament was solely based on total points. My team had played all of their games and scored a total of 32 points. In the last game it was gold vs white. Gold had scored 23 points so they needed nine points to tie us and ten points to beat us. White needed 22 to tie and 23 to win. It was a hardfought low scoring game and it came down to the last second. White was up with five seconds to go. They were inbounding the ball. Gold needed two more points to tie my team. White inbounded the ball it bounced right to gold. Gold ran down the court hoping the layup. One shot went up off the rim and out another gold player got the rebound and goes up for the shot, and once again off the rim. That was it the my team had won the thirds classic.

It didn't matter that it was just was for fun, It didn't matter that we didn't win a game all season, and it didn't matter that nobody believed in us. All that mattered is that we had fun playing and winning a game we loved.

Competing is always fun, but it is always fun when you take it seriously.

Face Your Fears

No Matter how scary it might be face your fears 

“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear”

~Nelson Mandela

    There is always something scary that you might face. I always think the best thing to do is face these fears. This fear for me was skiing off of the highest chairlift in North America. This lift ends at 12,840 feet up in the air, and it is in Breckinridge, Colorado.

It was me my sister Gabriella, my dad, and my friend. we were about to ski a trail called imperial bowl the only way you get up is the tallest lift in North America. It was three years ago In Breckinridge, Colorado. I did it because my friend and my sister somehow convinced me to do it. I was scared. I got off the lift at 12,840 feet and that’s when it started. 

Although this video wasn’t taken by me it still represents my experience really well. It didn’t matter how hard it was, it didn’t matter that it was scary, and it didn’t matter that it was cold and windy. All that matters is that I faced my fears. In the end, I am glad that I faced. I knew at the moment that if I didn’t do I wouldn’t be able to do it for a couple of years. Always face your fears because you never know when you’ll get the chance to do it again.

Bruno Mars

This song is one of my favorites and its called ‘Talking To The Moon”

    There is always that musician who is important to you. This musician for me is Bruno Mars. Ever since I was little I loved listening to his music. Some of his songs might have inappropriate, but I was a little kid, and I didn't know what any of it meant. All I knew was that his music was good. When I was seven my family went to one of his concerts. It was kind of overwhelming. I was sitting in the front row with my family. When the concert started I knew I liked it. I could just see the way he moves on the stage. He takes up the whole stage. He is an amazing dancer, he also looks he is having a ton of fun on stage. Him having fun translates to the audience, as everyone in the audience is having the time of their lives dancing and singing the lyrics to his songs. I might have been the youngest person at the concert, I did not see another kid my age at the concert. I liked the concert so much that I went to his next concert in Boston last year. Again I saw how much he lights up the stage with his singing, his dancing, and his musical ability. I would say Bruno Mars is one of my favorite artists. He is probably one of the best performers also. He is important to me because his songs make me feel happy. Just the way he sings them makes me feel as happy as can be. His songs just make me want to sing as well. I have always loved his music and I hopes he releases some more music soon

    When I first got the assignment to find a poem or literary speech I was kind of angry. I always thought I wanted to do this great big powerful political speech. When I found out I could not do that I was kind of angry. I was looking and looking for a speech in a book, but then I found this poem that my mom sent me. I thought it was perfect. It was relevant and it was powerful. I knew it was going to be hard to memorize and master, but I was up for the challenge. It really only took me two hours to memorize the whole speech. In the end, I worked pretty hard not this speech. Even though I didn’t work for a long time, I found the time I used was the only time I needed. I might have been a little shaky for a couple of lines of my speech, maybe a couple more minutes practicing would have gotten me to not stumble in my speech. Stumbling in all I was proud of my speech. If I were to do this again. I would probably practice for a little bit more, but not that much more. I also would try to be not as nervous, because I knew the class was supportive and they wouldn’t make fun of me If I messed up. In the end, I’m proud of myself for choosing a challenging poem and mastering it. I am also kind of disappointed. I wish that I could have made the semifinals in Ward Hall. I thought that recited my speech well enough to make it. Not to complain, but If we voted on Monday right after we recited the speeches I would have made it to Ward Hall because people would have remembered the speeches better. The people that did make it also deserved it a lot, and they recited their speeches well. I also have the first line of Max Troiano’s speech stuck in my head. I find myself reciting it at random times during the day. The lines are still stuck in my head “this is my son mine own Telemachus. In the end, I was disappointed I didn’t make it to Ward Hall. I am also proud of myself for memorizing and mastering a hard poem to remember. I look forward to watching my classmates and other kids in Ward Hall, and I also look forward to seeing who wins.