_{My learnings through athletics} 

_{“Colleagues are a wonderful thing-but mentors, that’s where the real work gets done”-Junot Diaz}

    
      All good learning is not done in the classroom. I often look to coaches for support and guidance in life. If I’m having a terrible time, or failing to make plays, or whatever the issue, I can almost always look to a coach for help. If I’m having a awful day, my coaches are always there to talk to; moreover, they will always have my back if I make a mistake and am getting chewed out by whoever when I should be. At no other time in my life was this more apparent than this football season at Fenn. We had amazing coaches, and I knew I could always turn to them for support or help. Actually, I felt I asked my coaches for more help with things going on in my personal life more than for help on technique or to learn a play. Sad, down, and having a complete off day, I knew I could always go to my coaches for help, but one coach in particular, Chris Ryan. Coach Ryan was always the best to do drills with, as we always mixed in the seriousness of football with a little fun here and there. Not only would he boost the quality of all our practices, but also be there if I ever needed someone to talk to. He is the person I feel most comfortable talking about certain issues with outside of family members. It didn’t matter the issue, or the circumstance. I could ask him for help any time of the day and he would always be there for me. I couldn’t have asked for a better coach, especially one that I can relate to so well and one always there to help. I will most likely keep in touch with Coach Ryan for a long time, as he has been a great mentor and role model for me throughout the year.

What I have learned in my time at Fenn

“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”-Søren Kierkegaard

       I will admit I went into the school year with an awful attitude. I thought I just wanted to cruise through the year, and that I thought I hated Fenn and just couldn’t wait to get out of here; moreover, when I first walked into Fitz’s room in September, I thought “who the hell is this wacko.” But I have matured, not only as an athlete and a person, but also as a student, especially as a reader and writer thanks to my wise and all-knowing English teacher, or at least so he claims. Looking back on it, I will admit there are a multitude of things I could have done exponentially better, but there are a few things I wouldn’t change at all. I made some awful decisions throughout the course of my roller coaster of a year, but I’ve also made great ones. I had some terrible things go even worse, and made some of the biggest achievements of my life, I think you see where this is going. 

          The fall was amazing for me, I had fairly good grades, I was doing very well in football, and things were pretty good. Looking back on it, just like everything else, there are also some things I most certainly regret about the fall. I had a lot of fun with my friends however, going to Florida for football, reconnecting with friends from last year as school started up again, and just having a good time. But I felt that in the fall, I was more or less going through the motions and not getting enough out of my days. Yes I was getting good grades in school, and yes I was doing very well in football, but I wasn’t really trying to learn anything new or get better, bland success. I really wish I could’ve gone back to try and get just a little more out of this fall. 

        The winter really gave me a kick in the behind. School became much harder, I had SSATs to do well with, and the pressure was on in general. I feel that I really got much more out of this part of the year than any other, and it was a lot harder, I will admit, but in the end I came out on the other side and was extremely satisfied with the results. If I were to go do it all again, I would say that I could have been a better person during this time. I made some mistakes in my personal life really regret and that really brought me down for a long time. Stupid things I completely could have gone without, more than avoidable. But in the end, it all worked out and I’m still here.

         The spring has been the best for me this. While I will admit I did start the spring just as I started the year, bad attitude, not the best person. I just wanted to cruise, not care about anyone but myself and get ready to just leave Fenn in the dust. Looking back on the spring term in this past week, I realized it went a little to fast. With only one week left in school, believe it or not, I actually would like just a little more time at Fenn. I definitely should have reached out to people that I haven’t in the past, and to reconnect with old friends I hadn’t talked to in quite a bit that I really should have. There are a couple kids in our grade that I won’t be going to the same school as next year for the first time in nine or ten years. I wish I could just have a week or two more at Fenn to really end with great memories, but it is not possible unfortunately. 

       I have loved my time at Fenn, I have grown so much in my 5 years here, both mentally and physically, and will come back for a long time. I will definitely leave Fenn feeling accomplished and ready to take on whatever awaits in the world beyond.

A Story of Maturity

“Confidence comes with maturity, be more accepting of yourself”-Nicole Scherzinger

Maturity can come in many different ways, in the story, Through the Tunnel, by Doris Lessing, Jerry goes through a very big change both mentally and physically. Through his endeavors, Jerry changes his whole mindset about life. He no longer feels compelled to receive the satisfaction of the “older boys”, and feels that to have satisfaction, he must prove himself to himself and not to others that he may be jealous of, a tremendous sign of maturity. “She was ready for a battle of wills, but he gave in at once. It was no longer of the least importance to go to the bay.” Jerry feels he needs to prove himself to the other boys in order to belong. He spends many hours training his lungs to be able to make the dangerous journey through the tunnel, often going home with terrible bloody noses and feeling exhausted. “That night, his nose bled badly. For hours he had been under water, learning to hold his breath, and now he felt weak and dizzy.” Jerry is craving acceptance so much that he is willing to die for the boys just to give credence to him. He comes to terms with the fact that he is putting his life at great risk all to just fit in with a group of kids he most likely won’t see again in his life. “If he did not do it now, he never would. He was trembling with fear that he would not go; and he was trembling with horror at that long, long tunnel under the rock, under the sea.”

He felt he would sink now and drown; he could not swim the few feet back to the rock. Then he was clutching it and pulling himself up on to it. He lay face down, gasping. He could see nothing but a red­veined, clotted dark. His eyes must have burst, he thought; they were full of blood. He tore off his goggles and gout of blood went into the sea. His nose was bleeding, and the blood had filled the goggles. He scooped up handfuls of water from the cool, salty sea, to splash on his face, and did not know whether it was blood or salt water he tasted. After a time, his heart quieted, his eyes cleared, and he sat up. He could see the local boys diving and playing half a mile away. He did not want them. He wanted nothing but to get back home and lie down. [Through the Tunnel, Page XXII]

Jerry realizes that his life will go on, part of the group or not; moreover, he passes the group on his way home after almost dying trying to impress them, and he doesn’t even care that they won’t acknowledge the fact he wants absolutely nothing to do with them. In this story, we saw how Jerry matured so that he no longer craved the attention so much from the boys that he was willing to risk his life for it. He finds it silly that he would try to do something like this and you can tell he is ashamed as he hides it from his mother. “He rushed to the bathroom, thinking she must not see his face with bloodstains, or tearstains, on it.” For Jerry, this maturity is very good for him, as you saw what great lengths he would take just to receive attention, which now no longer matters to him.

Spring is a time for laughing
                                                 playing
                                                            running
                                                                        jumping
Spring is a season of happiness
Spring marks the end of a long, dark, and bleak winter
Spring is warm
                 awesome
                 fun
Spring is my favorite season