A great combination

Three whole years she deceived us blind, seduced us with this scheme

~ Homer

When we have guests over, we often go out to our screened in porch, so we can breathe the fresh air, and it is our newest addition to our house, so it’s one of the nicest places to be. While we are out there, we throw away our food in the trash can in the corner. As a result of this, for a while after that night, squirrels sneak into our screened in porch and eat snacks from our trash can. These squirrels are both cunning and courageous.

The worst chore

Success means doing things you don’t want to do
~Rory Vaden

I slowly got up from the dinner table after stuffing myself with two hamburgers, some fries, and broccoli. I stumbled into the living room to sit down on the couch and watch some TV. Right as I started to sit down, my mom said, “Luke, Grace, and Eli, you have to do the dishes before you can watch TV or play video games.”

    “Nooooo. Why Mom? I hate doing the dishes,” I responded. 

    She replied, “I don’t care. You have to do it.”

    I rolled my eyes, sighed, and sadly walked into the kitchen.

Silver linings

Get into the bait of looking for the silver lining of the could, and, when you have found it, continue to look at it, rather than at the leaden gray in the middle. It will help you over many hard places. 

~Salt Lake Bees

I slowly stumbled down the stairs at around 8 in the morning and sleepily walked into the kitchen of our house in Maine to get some breakfast. It was the end of March, 2020 and everything had been shut down for a few weeks due to Covid. While I mindlessly shoved cereal into my mouth, I stared out the window and watched the waves crash against the beach. My dad was already on a zoom in the center of the house and was laughing and talking quite loudly. I tried to talk to my brother at the table, but it was hard to have a conversation over my dad. A few minutes later, I put my bowl in the sink and grabbed a seltzer to go back upstairs to get on my first zoom of the day. It was my first official day of online school and just like the first day of school in the fall, I felt a little queasy and nervous. Whether it was going to be good or bad was uncertain, but it was going to be different.

Why college athletes should be paid

Equity is the only acceptable goal.

~Paul Farmer

Imagine the starting point guard on the North Carolina basketball team. He is a lock to be a lottery pick in the upcoming NBA draft. He has his entire future for the next ten years lined up for him, until all of a sudden, he blows out his knee. His scholarship at UNC is in jeopardy, his basketball career is over, and his future is no longer bright. Now, he has to figure out what he can do with his life and he doesn’t have the same academic experience as most people. If he had been paid, he would have some money to start with and help him out. However, he wasn’t paid and that is simply inequitable. College athletes should absolutely be paid salaries: they are the ones making the colleges millions of dollars each year, they are the ones that aren’t getting a complete education, and without paying college athletes salaries, they will go to minor leagues and earn money before becoming a professional.

In the AFC Divisional round, the Kansas City Chiefs took on the Buffalo Bills, a rematch of last year's AFC Championship. This was a clash of, in my opinion, the two best teams in the AFC and the game lived up to those standards.

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

By William Wordsworth

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

The Power of Preparation

Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.

~Alexander Graham Bell

I found this exam to not be too bad. Although there was a good amount of work, we were able to do most of the work before the actual exam. I enjoyed this style of exam because it allowed me to work on my own time. I was able to finish the comma rule packet, literary analysis, and literary reflection before the exam period, which was nice for me.

Literary reflection

A simple, yet complex story

Reading is nothing; comprehension is everything

~Sarah Richard’s

Reading is easy, understanding is hard. The Old Man and The Sea was an easy book to read, but it was challenging to comprehend the themes and message of the story. While the plot wasn’t challenging to follow, and the writing wasn’t difficult, all of the clues to the themes were subtle and hard to find.

Literary Analysis

 Youth And Age

In youth we learn; in age we understand

~Marie Von Ebren Eschenbach

The best friendships come from two opposites. In The Old Man and The Sea by Ernest Hemingway, Santiago and Manolin are opposite in age, but they are still great friends. Santiago is “the old man” and teaches Manolin lessons about life. Manolin is “the boy” and helps Santiago with necessities that are difficult for him. They aren’t always together, but they think of and look out for one another.