Tennis - 4/30/10

Today I had my second JV tennis match, against our same opponents from last time, Barnstable High School JV. I knew what to expect this time, having become acquainted with the team and their high level of skill. I just wanted to be able to hit well this match and perform to the best of my abilities. I kind of knew that I wouldn't win, but I was happy to get the practice.

I played second doubles this time with Luke. As I predicted, we didn't win. The score was 6-0, 6-2. I was very pleased with two things: our perseverance and teamwork. Quite obviously, we lost most of our games. However, at the end of the second set, we rallied and were able to win two of them in a row. It was too little too late, but the effort was satisfactory. Throughout the whole match we worked very well together as well. There was a lot of communication between us, and if we messed up we treated it lightly and didn't get worried about our poor result.

Personally, I know that I need to improve my court presence. I feel like I can be timid at times and just feel awkward on the pitch. I don't know where to stand and I am terrible at predicting where the ball will be hit. I recognized this mid-match and tried to be more confident in whatever my position was, and I think it did help a little bit.

My final note would be about my serving. My serve has improved so much now, and I even got a couple of aces in this match! I feel like my serve actually has power behind it, and relative accuracy. I can be precise too if I really focus. During the games in which I served, we reached at least a first deuce in all of them. This made me feel good about my amelioration of technique.

Honduras Mission Update - 4/28/10

There haven't been any massive developments in my planning for the service trip to Honduras, but a few small details have been refined. Tonight I spoke with Mafer Betanco, my friend who I am staying with in Tegucigalpa. We videochatted through Skype so that she could talk with my parents, who are of course worried about the plans for the trip. She assured them of the itinerary and what I should expect, so they finally feel relieved as I pursue this endeavor.

Otherwise, I have been searching for ways to obtain money and donations to bring down to Honduras. I'm not sure if I just want to raise money and buy items, or do a school wide drive for things like clothes and toys. As of now, I'm focusing on working at my new job so that I can earn money to pay for my airfare. I plan to book the tickets by the end of this week, and my parents have agreed to front me the money as long as I work as many hours as possible while still managing schoolwork. This requires great focus from me, and it really is a balancing act! I think my determination and hard work proves how committed I am to this trip and its purpose.

For the future, perhaps I will set up boxes in the school and ask for small donations for the orphanage. Perhaps I'll contact friends and family for donations as well. Maybe even my church. The burrito day for the Spanish Club should raise some money too. I just hope to have an ample contribution to Orfanato Pedro Atala, and that I can do something fun with the kids, like paint a mural.

Spanish Club Update - 4/28/10

The Spanish Club has decided to expand beyond excursions to Boston and bring the culture we love inside of Sturgis itself. With the help of two new members, Carrie and Sarah, we have been planning an activity for Cinco de Mayo that will celebrate the Mexican victory over the French successfully in a school that doesn't really recognize the holiday. Cinco de Mayo is really only celebrated in America and in Puebla, Mexico, but our school doesn't really know the significance of the holiday. Maybe our plans for Cinco de Mayo will inspire curiosity in Sturgis students.

Therefore, we decided to have Make Your Own Burrito Day! There is no better way to help people appreciate something than by reaching them through food. As of now, we know where it will be hosted and when it will be hosted. We just have to buy the materials and food needed. We already have ground beef donated by Sarah's father. So for now, we put in the following announcement:

"Make Your Own Burrito: Next Wednesday, May 5th, the Spanish Club will be hosting a burrito extravaganza at lunch to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. Burritos will cost $2.00 each. There will be food, dancing, and music. All proceeds will go to Orfanato Pedro Atala in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. So come to room 102 during lunch on May 5th."

Tennis - 4/27/10

Today in tennis I had my first match against varsity team members. Up to this point, I've been practicing with my junior varsity teammates. However, after our first JV match, the coach told me that he would be interested in having me practice with the more skilled players. This was a terrifying challenge for me to undertake. Even though they are my classmates and I know that they won't mock my inexperience, I still am a novice at tennis.

I was paired with Chris Fink for this first match, and we were playing against Aidan and Murylo. I had seen all of them play before, and I felt that I was nowhere near their level of tennis skills. No matter, I decided to try my hardest in the match and just hit the ball back when it came to me. That was my only strategy.

For my first "real" match, I did pretty well. It was certainly very intense, but I think I held my own. I certainly wasn't a star on the court, but I did get a fair amount of points and I even did as well as Chris in a few of the games. We lost 3-1, but the one game we did win, I felt that I contributed a lot. We didn't win the game that I served, but we played deuce to advantage at least ten times before the result was finally decided. I only erred a few times, and to be honest I think I did better against these players than the weaker ones. I think it had to do with the pace of the game; when the match is fast like this one, I don't have time to over think my hit and subsequently mess it up. Instead, I just return the ball with strength and relative precision. Not bad.

One unfortunate thing is that even though the coach has considered me for varsity, I will be unable to participate at this level. I recently took on a job, which occupies a lot of my time after school. I feel like I am letting the coach down, but I need money at the moment, and so I hope that I don't regret this decision and that I might have a chance to play varsity if I do tennis next year.

Relay for Life Update - 4/25/10

Today hosted the much anticipated Mega Sale. I found out about this activity a couple of weeks ago, so I didn't have enough time to gather the members of my Relay team to donate items for sale. Therefore, all of the responsibility rested on the shoulders of me and my co-captain, Denis. I knew I had to persevere with the planning of this event because the fundraiser relied almost entirely on my participation.

And in the end, the responsibility was ENTIRELY mine. Last night, Denis was in a car accident that was pretty severe. He's doing well, but obviously was unable to make the Mega Sale. I didn't find this out until afterwards, so I was a bit frustrated thinking that he wasn't following through with his responsibilities. This also meant that there would be a deficit of items to sell. No matter. I spent yesterday and this morning gathering everything in the house that was marketable. I called my grandparents as well and received a few donations from them. I was prepared with my small contribution and my father and I went to the Mega Sale armed with our bounty, ready to sell goods and make money to donate to cancer research.

After three plus hours of dedication, we made $25.10. It's not an outstanding amount, but it's respectable. We sold a desk and a computer, which I expected would make more money, but I wasn't thinking realistically that in essence this was a yard sale filled with people only willing to strike a bargain. I wish that they had thought more of the cause instead of buying something on the cheap. Either way I am glad that I persevered through this event and actually made a bit of money to donate. It really helped me to understand how difficult it is to get money to research combatants of this tragic disease. Seeing the people around me, some of them cancer survivors, so dedicated to a cause really made me feel proud of humanity.

CAS Software Testing - 4/24/10

As I continue to develop more skills in the ManageBAC system, I only find myself complaining more. It really isn't a bad system, but it simply is not for me. I love my CAS blog and treat it almost as my child. It has required so much effort and I feel that I have personalized it and given it character. ManageBAC seems too austere and I don't really have fun doing it, as opposed to the enjoyment I receive from publishing a post on my CAS blog.

I really don't like the activity proposal form on ManageBAC. I just added two new activities and I made sure to fill out the old form on jhyer.com because I feel like the ManageBAC one is insufficient. It requires no description of the activity and no reflective questions. I like being able to submit goals and benefits so I can have a plan delineated for the entire activity. This way as well I can review my proposal when it comes time for my reflection and see what my expectations and goals were at the beginning of the activity.

And why do we need a contact number? It irks me that we can't submit the proposal on ManageBAC without a contact number. I'm sorry, but I don't have Dr. Stewart in my cell phone contact list.

Tennis - 4/23/10

Having an entire week off from school is great, but it prohibits me from practicing tennis with the team. This fact, along with the advent of the promulgation that I may be bumped up to varsity, made me decide to seek some practice with my father. I know that I need loads of practice if I want any chance to be successful at second doubles.

We decided only to play one set. I began playing very well, and I was confident in my technique and ability. However, after the first game, I became hyper-focused in a negative way. I was over-thinking my shots and I began doing poorly. I had a three game lead and quickly lost it, mostly due to my poor forehand. I kept hitting it exactly horizontal, instead of a more upward swing that would ensure that the ball crossed the net. Therefore, I began hitting this way, but it was too little too late.

I hope to keep developing my new technique, because my old methods were not working. My backhand seems to be improving immensely, and I am very proud of my serve, but for now I need to focus on simply hitting the ball well forehand. I don't want to over-complicate this. I hope that I can just hit the ball powerfully over the net with my functional upward swing.

Relay for Life Update - 4/16/10

As captain for the Relay for Life team, it is my duty to round up all potential members and give them information about registering so that they can become involved in the activity if they wish. I would like to plan a meeting soon with them to go over registration and fees, and to fix a number of participants. This would also be an ideal time to plan for fundraisers. Being a captain is already very challenging as I feel almost like a shepherd gathering the stray sheep. I barely even have a flock. People are very erratic and difficult to contact at times, and it's no fun to pester incessantly so that they achieve their responsibilities. To gather the members, I sent this email to all of them over Facebook:

"So Denis and I are the captains for the Relay for Life team this year, and the first thing we need to know is who is planning on participating in this event. If you do plan on participating, register as soon as possible. The link is here:

http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR?sid=33294&type=fr_informational&pg=informational&fr_id=23345

That website should provide all info about the DY Relay. If you have registered, send me a message back here letting me know. The team name is 'Soaring Spirits.'

If you have any questions, ask. Once you register you can ask either Denis or me for the donation forms and such.

Please forward this message to anyone else who might be interested in participating.

Thanks,

Matt"

I hope that I get responses soon enough because I am not sure how to just check the website and figure out who has registered. I think that I will contact Mrs. Kelly, the Youth Group Coordinator, to set up a mandatory meeting for all tentative participants. Besides this, my current goal is to round up items for the Mega Sale on Sunday the 25th. This will be our first opportunity to make money to donate to the American Cancer Society.

Honduras Mission Update - 4/16/10

So, after the initial planning, I have dedicated my time to persuading my parents that this trip would be a fantastic experience for me. They have many reservations, mainly due to the instability of Honduras and the fact that I would be traveling alone or with only one companion. However, I finally managed to convince them by presenting the topic coolly and giving thorough explanations to all of their questions. They are assured that I will have the money as well, because I finally got a job at Panera. So now that I had my parent's approval, I sought the approbation from Mr. Hieser and the school. Ms. Kirk already agreed to be my advisor, so I wrote up the following proposal to Mr. Hieser:

"Honduras Service Trip 2010

Matthew French

I propose a six-day individual CAS project to collect donations for Orfanáto Pedro Atalá in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. It is possible that Chandler Mitchell will be accompanying me.

Residence will be provided with the Betanco family of Tegucigalpa. Mafer Betanco and her two siblings are students at the American School of Tegucigalpa. I stayed with her family during the school exchange trip to Honduras in 2009.

The planned dates are May 27, 2010 to June 1, 2010. The planned flight currently costs $410 and is run by TACA Airlines. It is possible that the return flight would not arrive until the morning of June 2.

To fund the trip, I plan on working to pay for the flight and my personal expenses. I would need Sturgis’ help in fundraising for the orphanage. The first facet of the fundraising endeavor would be the collection of donation items from willing students and teachers. Suggestions for items are as follows:

§ New clothing

§ Blankets

§ Basic medicine and first-aid materials

§ Baby formula (powdered)

§ School supplies

§ Diapers

§ Games and toys

Ideally I would collect about two* suitcases full of donations like these. The second facet of the fundraising endeavor would be monetary collection. This would be executed by means of bake sales in the school or simple donations from students and teachers. Money raised in this way would be used ONLY to either buy supplies for the orphanage in Honduras, give directly to the orphanage, or pay for shipping of donations collected in the US that exceed the capacity of the two* suitcases.

Besides the distribution of collected items, activities at the orphanage may include an English lesson, the painting of a mural, or simple playtime with the kids.

* Four suitcases if Chandler accompanies me.

Honduras Service Trip 2010

Tentative Itinerary

May 27th – en route to Honduras

May 28th – American School of Tegucigalpa graduation

May 29th – collection and purchase of donation items, further organization, American School of Tegucigalpa prom

May 30th – Orfanáto Pedro Atalá, distribution of donations, playtime with the kids

May 31st – Orfanáto Pedro Atalá, mural painting

June 1st – return home"

He reviewed this proposal and happily accepted it under the condition that I was doing it as CAS, which I obviously am. So now my plan of action is to work as much as possible and begin to plan fundraisers, clothing drives, or other sorts of activities to accumulate donations for the orphanage. I'm so happy that I persevered with this idea, challenged myself with intense planning and propositions, and now the trip is becoming a reality.

Academic Team Reflection

This is something that I have been dreading: writing the final reflection for Academic Team. This activity has really been a unique experience. I have never done anything remotely like it before, unless you count class Jeopardy games back in middle school. Not only was I a novice in the activity, but the others students on the team with me were a group of kids I was almost entirely unfamiliar with. For whatever reason, I hadn't had the chance to connect with any of them in my two years at Sturgis, so I was a bit nervous as to whether or not I would be welcome on the team. This along with the fact that I arrived late in the year to the group really had me worried.

My goals were to simply exercise my unique prowess for geography and to feel welcome in an unfamiliar environment. After nearly six months of training with the team and bonding over the impossible questions thrown at us in the Knowledge Master Open, I believe that I have achieved these goals. Needless to say there were some rough spots along the way where I didn't feel very confident or I was having disagreements with other members of the team, but as a whole the experience was immensely rewarding.

This activity met six of the eight learning outcomes laid out by the CAS gods. The first two met, of course, were learning outcomes two and eight. By joining the Academic Team, I was undertaking a new challenge because I had begun participating in something entirely out of my comfort zone. I knew that I would be fantastic in answering questions about geography, but the experience was a challenge in the sense that I was arriving at a foreign social environment with no prior knowledge of how an academic team might work. This was obviously a bit intimidating at first, but I quickly developed new skills in branching out to the others on my team by connecting over some of the ridiculous questions we were asked in a jovial manner. I seemed to have overcome my social barrier and inexperience and felt welcome in the team.

Once these two learning outcomes were developed, learning outcomes one, four, and seven became very prominent. As I learned the infrastructure of the Academic Team and its basic system of functioning, I became more confident in my geographic trivia ability but more worried about my relative dearth of other knowledge. I was forced to recognize this weakness and work to develop skills in science, math, and literature. I did do some extra reading and studying, but I became more comfortable with these area by creating a symbiotic learning relationship with the rest of my teammates with different expertises. This collaboration was fantastic, and with all of our minds working together to understand a question and solve a problem, we did better point-wise and actually seemed to understand the material. Often times there were disagreements, which is not uncommon in the team atmosphere. I clashed with Marliee, who seemed to think that I was an arrogant know-it-all. Therefore, I consulted myself with past actions and I made sure in the future to do nothing more than silently work with the team and answer the question. I knew it would be best to eliminate politics from something as lighthearted as Academic Team.

Finally, Academic Team met learning outcome five. I was entirely committed to this activity. I attended nearly all of the meetings and was dedicated to the amelioration of the team. I persevered through times of turbulence in group unity. I only missed one competition due to conflicting academic priorities. So I am proud that not only did I stay so committed to an activity that at first seemed random and intimidating, but I was also very successful as a member.

Academic Team Update - 4/15/10

Today was our final competition for Academic Team. I must say, I was very sad about this because I loved this activity from the beginning. It gave me a chance to put to use my abnormal love for geography and not be ridiculed for my extensive knowledge. I'm glad that I have persevered with this commitment and been moderately successful.

The competition today, the second Knowledge Master Open, was a great success. I wasn't able to attend our first one because I had a conflict with my Spanish class, so coming into the competition today I had no idea what to expect. Of course, we have been practicing extensively and doing approximately 50 questions each Tuesday at lunch, but sitting in a room for two hours and answering question after question is an entirely different experience. Either way, I was as prepared as possible, and I think that I did really well. During the competition we all worked together very well and seemed to finally be the cohesive unit we had sought for so long. We were cautious in being sure of the answer before we declared, and collaborated extensively on math questions and the like. Our team scored around 1225 points, a very respectable result.

I was very proud of my personal performance. The questions were of great variation and I was able to correctly answer many of them, demonstrating my fairly comprehensive knowledge. Of course, I still need some work on literature (no time to read books!) and the sciences. However, the compendium below shows the extent of my contribution:

• The location of the Malacca straits
• The location of the region Thrace
• The location of the Negev desert
• That Mogadishu is located on the Indian Ocean
• That Algeria doesn't speak Portuguese
• What Timbuktu is
• Who Dante Aligheri was
• Some inventions of the French (not the telegraph or fireworks)
• What Gondwanaland is
• That the region Amazonia is not in Argentina
• That in Latin, ripa = river banks
• And even some math problems, like that x=12 in the proportion -3/x x/-48

I am really proud of all of our hard work and contribution and I hope that I will be able to resume this activity next year!

Honduras Mission - 4/14/10

The other day I had an epiphany. I felt the sudden urge to return to Tegucigalpa, Honduras with items and money gained in the USA from charitable donations and fundraising. Ever since my trip to Honduras last year, I have had a passionate love for the country and the people. I enjoyed the school trip last year, but I realized that I want to plan my own individual service trip to Orfanato Pedro Atala in Tegucigalpa. I will have to plan the ENTIRE trip: the flight, the details, the donations, the fundraising, etc. It is a huge challenge because of the massive responsibility I'll have and the relative lack of support. This will trip will permanently establish a desire for service to others in my life, and help me become more mature and comfortable as an individual.

I hope to collect four suitcases of donations for the orphanage and perhaps monetary donations as well. I want to be successful in this trip and I want it to run without a flaw. I just hope my efforts will be realised and that I will feel content with my contribution to an impoverished nation. I can't wait to see the smiles on the kids faces when they receive all of our gifts. It is one of the best feelings in the world.

I am beginning to establish some vague plans for the trip. I'd probably go for Memorial Day weekend, plus or minus a few days. I would stay with my friend Mafer Betanco and her family in Tegucigalpa. At the orphanage, Orfanato Pedro Atala, we would bring toys and other donations, and perhaps teach an English lesson or paint a mural. To collect items for the trip, I'll put announcements in at school for desired donations and then to raise money I'll do bake sales. All money raised would go to purchase items for the orphanage or to pay for shipping if necessary. To pay my flight and other costs, I am in desperate search of a job. As long as I get the job, my parents' approval, and the OK from Mr. Hieser, the trip is set. Off to do more planning!

Relay for Life - 4/14/10

I have done Relay for Life for a few years now, but this is the first time that I am stepping up and actively participating instead of simply paying a registration fee. I am the team captain, so I will be organizing fundraisers and basically planning the whole event for my church youth group along with my co-captain and friend Denis. This will be a great challenge simply because I have so much going on currently, not because of the rigor of the task. Nevertheless, I am very excited to begin preparing for the event.

Coming into this responsibility, I do have some goals. I hope that I can greater realize the impact of cancer on Cape Cod by fundraising for this event and attending the emotional relay. I want to be able to meet the goal of $1000 to be fundraised, and to be proud of my contribution to research for a cancer cure. I also want to develop leadership skills and become more responsible. I'll know that I have reached these goals simply when I am satisfied with my efforts and truly understand the difference that my relatively small efforts can make on a multitude of suffering people.

Today there was the first captain's meeting for the planning of the event. I went with Denis and our first task was to register the team. We completed the registration of our team under the traditional name for our group, the Soaring Spirits. Together Denis and I then devised a strategy for rounding up all the team members, getting them to register, and encouraging them to fundraise. It should work well because Denis and I are in separate schools, but comprehensively we are able to contact each of the tentative team members. Therefore we delineated the task of contacting each person and exhorting membership.

The rest of the meeting was spent listening to speakers discuss the best ways to prepare for the upcoming relay. We learned creative ways to fundraise, and even received pointers on how to physically train for the walking marathon. A compendium of facts about cancer and its devastating effects was also read to the room, instilling a sense of sadness in the crowd along with the inverse recognition of hope. Perhaps the culmination of our efforts could do something to raise funds and awareness as a means of combating the crippling disease.

Our final course of action was signing up for the Mega Sale, a massive collaborative yard sale in which each of the teams could raise money towards their fundraising goal. Denis and I decided to collect items and bring them to the sale on April 25th as a small but integral beginning to our fundraising endeavor.

Tennis - 4/13/10

I had my first official JV tennis match today against Barnstable. I was very nervous and had no idea what to expect at all. I'm just proud of myself for not backing out, because I really felt unprepared and inexperienced. Of course I was willing to give it my all though, and so I arrived early to the courts in order to warm up. After practicing, I was paired with Luke as first doubles and we began our match.

The match started off very poorly for us, and we were quickly at a deficit of 5-0. My nerves were really affecting my game and I became aware that I desperately need to work on controlling them so that I might be able to focus and improve. I was having difficulty receiving the balls and predicting at all what the other team would do. However, I slowly began to realize that this game is just for fun and it doesn't matter how well I appear to be playing, as long as I am giving it the most effort imaginable. The next game I served, and with my newfound confidence we were able to win. Luke and I worked smoothly together and began to focus on simply returning the ball with accuracy instead of thinking of fancy shots and our nerves. The set score improved to 5-2, but we lost the next game, making the set final 6-2.

Our next set was very similar to the first one. We started off a bit shaken and intimidated, but we improved and sparked a come-from-behind rally, which was impressive but overall ineffective in clinching the win. We lost 6-2 again, terminating the match. I was proud of our teamwork and determination though, and we didn't give up even though the other team had far superior skills. It was a great first match and my skills were clearly put to the test. I need work in forehand power and backhand technique, but I was pleased with my serves as we won three of the four games I served.

Coach mentioned to me at the end of the match that he was thinking of putting me in varsity as second doubles. This would be a huge new challenge for me to undertake, being such an amateur, but it will be fun to practice and see if it's a possibility. I am honored by his nomination but I feel that I am not ready for a commitment as great as varsity; I haven't harnessed my skills fully and I am incredibly busy with school, work, and EC's to be able to attend all of the varsity matches.

Academic Team Update - 4/13/10

The Academic Team meeting at lunch today was truly dreadful, so this entry will be brief. While we were working on the Knowledge Master questions as a last day of preparation before our competition on Thursday, I felt absolutely useless. I answered very few questions correctly, even messing up geography trivia. This was embarrassing to me, but to be honest I felt terrible. Personal issues have been affecting me recently and they have been difficult to simply forget. I see this meeting as an anomaly when compared to my performances in other days at Academic Team. I certainly hope that my poor efforts today were something ephemeral. It has caused me to consider the implications of my lethargy; if I am exhausted and miserable, how will that help my team succeed in the competition on Thursday? I realized that even though I might be experiencing some unfavorable things, I really need to focus when my strength is needed. I hope that my team forgives me for my disastrous exhibition today, and I hope that I can regain my energy and confidence for the impending Knowledge Master Open.

CAS Software Testing - 4/13/10

Lately I have been a bit happier with the ManageBAC system, but I still have a great affinity for the regular blog system. The ManageBAC posting works well, but I like the greater organization that Blogger allows if you know how to manipulate the site. It seems that the ManageBAC offers exactly what Blogger does, but includes other projects like the Extended Essay that will be explored in the future.

The one thing I love about the ManageBAC system is that it allows me to plan a calendar of events for CAS. This can be helpful because it is difficult juggling so many activities, as I sometimes lose track of what is happening, and when and where it is taking place. The one thing I hate about the ManageBAC system is that it has terrible proposition and reflection sections. The proposition for an activity is too short, too specific in superfluous details, and doesn't allow you to delineate goals. The reflection section is basically non-existent in the format we were taught to follow.

I will of course keep using ManageBAC, but I will not make a full transition to it until I feel more confident in the proposal and reflection system! Also, I genuinely love my CAS blog and I don't think I could fully part from it. This decision does cause me to consider the ethical implications of my actions as well, because Mr. Hyer might be mad at my refusal to use solely the ManageBAC system. I do understand that it is what we are meant to test, but for the purpose of my CAS education, I need to keep up the Blogger blog. So it is worth his potential anger.

But really, just one question: why change a good thing?

Spanish Club Update - 4/11/10

Hoy pasamos el día super bien! The Spanish Club had its second official excursion, and it was an incredible experience. A while ago, I found the website TuBoston.com, which lists fantastic events all across Boston. By means of this website, I encountered the Villa Victoria Center for the Arts, a Latin American culture center in the heart of Boston. They host Hispanic shows, concerts, dances, and galleries. This is where the Spanish Club went for the day, to see the Latin American Classical Composer's series and a gallery of Agustín Patiño's work. I was so happy that not only did I persevere in the planning of this trip, but all of the members of the Spanish Club were very committed and the excursion was successfully realized.

Miranda, Ms. Kirk and I arrived early to the Villa Victoria and decided to get food and then look at the Agustín Patiño gallery. It was a fantastic manifestation of Latin culture through art. His paintings expressed the Latin people, depicting cities and families and the inner turmoil of his mind. They were incredible insights specifically of Ecuadorian culture, seeing as that is the heritage of Agustín Patiño. The paintings really seemed to debate reality vs. the surreal in the life of a Latin American man. They were of incredible detail and precision, and showed to me the importance of art as a means of understanding between two different cultures.

After seeing the art, we went on to listen to the concert. There were around 12 pieces performed on the guitar. These pieces were all composed by Latin Americans, and just like the art, the music was a great manifestation of Latin culture. The pieces varied, as the composers were of different nationalities. The tempo and the key changed constantly, creating pieces that were somber, curious, or made you want to dance. There was even a piece that sounded like a Wendy Sulca song, and I almost expected to see her come out in her traditional dress and hear her sing in her banshee voice.

It was a really great experience and it made me realize the value of culture for everyone around the world. To see this center in Boston, proudly displaying the Latin American heritage of the neighborhood, it made me sad that I really had no culture to embrace. It gave me hope as well, because I love the Spanish language and the Latin American culture so passionately, and so if a community could embody it so powerfully as demonstrated in Villa Victoria, then so can I.

I was sad to leave this great venue, but the ride home did give the Spanish Club time to talk about future plans. We would love to begin meeting once every two weeks or so, but perhaps that will have to wait for next year. We also considered other events, like attending the Ecuadorian Night at Villa Victoria on May 14th. It would be great if we could host our own show or cultural day at Sturgis - perhaps a Cinco de Mayo celebration?

School Culture Committee Reflection

I am very unhappy that this activity has ended. I emailed Mr. Hieser the other day to see when the next meeting for the School Culture Committee would be and he informed that unfortunately there would be no more. This hasn't been a very extensive CAS activity, but I presumed that we would be doing more work over the course of the next two years, and so although there was great effort in the Committee during my sophomore year, we didn't do too much while I have been a junior.

I came into this activity last year with no idea what to expect, but I quickly became accustomed to my duties. It was a great organization with the intent of discerning the culture of Sturgis, a difficult task to say the least. I was honored to have been chosen as one of only two students represented in the Committee, and I knew that I would have great responsibilities. As I mentioned, most of the work done by the School Culture Committee was completed by last spring. This included planning for and administering a survey.

For this year, my goals were simple: to collaborate with the group to comprehend the culture of our school and to annotate the key points for why the school is successful. I loved doing this activity and learning about our school society. It was an awesome chance to do service for my school in a unique, creative, and positive way.

The duties of this year were basically to decipher and present the results of the survey. The School Culture Committee met a few times in winter to go over the results of the HSSSE survey from last year. We had to work together to figure out which results were the most important for understanding our school culture. It required hours of reviewing and discussion, and I had to focus intently on the task at hand. I developed new skills in sociology as I reviewed the HSSSE and worked with others to figure out what made Sturgis unique.

The final event of the School Culture Committee was a presentation to the faculty. I was able to present my knowledge of the survey and offer the very important student perspective. I was proud of myself for working so hard over the course of two years and to see my efforts culminate in this meeting. I really had endurance, persevering for months and months in the tedious but important task, and was committed to solving the identity of our school. I think I met my goals to the best of my ability. Of course, there can be no precise definition of something so broad as the culture of a school, but I worked well with others to try and understand why Sturgis is so successful. I am satisfied with my efforts.

Biology Peer Tutoring Reflection

My last post for this activity was a while ago, and I apologize profusely for the delay in the reflection, but I was under the assumption that this activity would resume in May or June after I had finished spring sports. However, I spoke with Ms. Kallio today and she informed me that this would not be the case. So here is the long-awaited reflection:

Biology Peer Tutoring was a great new activity for me. I had never tutored before, but because I was successful in biology, I felt that it was right to participate in this CAS opportunity. My main goal for this activity was to be able to effectively teach biology to struggling students. I didn't just want to tell them the answers to something, but explain it as well. I also wanted to improve my skills as an instructor as well as my skills in listening and responding to the problems people have.

I was a bit timid at first in the undertaking of Biology Peer Tutoring, due to my inexperience, but I soon found that it would be a great activity for me. I had an incredible experience learning how to be an effective instructor, while at the same time learning material that was essential for my performance in class. My timidity disappeared and I became confident in my ability to explain the subject to others, even though I wasn't necessarily a master in the specific area of study.

This activity also met five of the eight outcomes, so not only was it good for my confidence as a tutor and as a biology student, but it was a fantastic CAS activity. Without any guidance, I developed new skills in instruction, which were essential to be able to connect with my student and fulfill my duties as a tutor. This was a great challenge for me to undertake because I really had no idea what I was doing or what to expect. No matter, I was able to be successful in my responsibilities, and these new skills can also serve me in the future if I decide to pursue the teaching profession. As I expanded these skills, I became more and more confident in my abilities and recognized my strength as a tutor as something that could be applied to others beyond the biology students. I even helped out tutoring math students and anyone else who came to Ms. Kallio's room for help. I got the opportunity as well to work with other biology peer tutors to figure out difficult problems, and could also develop a symbiotic relationship with my student that would allow for collaboration to solve a difficult enigma.

While doing this activity, I became aware of some of my weaknesses as well. Sometimes I act a bit haughty and arrogant, which can be threatening to the students. I recognized that I couldn't come across as a frustrated know-it-all, because students would be intimidated and not learn well. There were other areas in which I was forced to consider the ethical implications of actions like these. I am talkative as well, and I was once accused of being too focused on social life in the tutoring room instead of instructing the student. Needless to say, I evaluated my garrulous self and decided that my babblings could wait until after the tutoring session, so that the student might learn most productively.

Ultimately, I met the goals I delineated. I became an effective tutor with efficient methods, and developed a symbiotic relationship with my students. It was great to do service for kids in my school, and I felt satisfied knowing that my aptitude for biology could translate to better test scores not only for myself, but for fellow Sturgians.

Tennis - 4/8/10

Today at tennis practice we were able to utilize all six courts, so I was finally able to exercise my newly developed skills from practice in an actual game. We had challenges matches, so it was a great opportunity for me to show my improvement.

First I played a singles challenge match against Miklos. I haven't played an official singles match yet, so it was difficult at first changing from the expanded doubles court and the reliability of a partner to be entirely on my own without the allies. At first I would hit the ball out because I forgot the allies were out of bounds, but I became aware of my problem soon enough. It was still a big new challenge for me to undertake. I still played well, and I could see that my serve was strong and even my backhand was improving. My only trouble is my technique. I think I'm swinging the racket incorrectly, as the ball doesn't always go over the net, which is embarrassing and I hope that it is easy to fix. But I managed to beat Miklos 6-3, as I still had good serves and some rare but excellent shots.

I then played a doubles match with Miklos as my partner. We worked well together and communicated nicely. For the first time I had the confidence to stand close to the net to quickly reject any return volley from the other team. It worked well and I hope that I can hone this ability. Because of our collaboration and encouragement, Miklos and I won the match 5-4. I'm glad that my tennis skills are improving, but I really need to work on my technique so that I can ALWAYS hit the ball over the net. And once I can master this, I can focus on precision and becoming a great tennis player.

Spanish Club Update - 4/7/10

This Sunday is the Latin American Classical Composers Series, a concert in Boston that I have planned on attending with the Spanish Club. I ran the idea by Ms. Kirk a while ago and she approved the trip. This final week before the event, because I am the founder of Spanish Club, it has now fallen on my shoulders to plan the excursion.

First the issue of a ride had to be resolved. Ms. Kirk was worried that she might have prior conflicts, but she agreed that it would be best that she comes with us, and decided that she should drive as well. Then I tried to figure out exactly who was going on the trip. We have had some recruits that have expressed interest in Spanish Club, but ultimately no one was able to make the concert on this short notice, so Miranda, Ms. Kirk and I are the only three that will go.

I know the address for the venue and have printed out directions for the trip. I have planned that we will leave around 12:30 from Sagamore so that we can hopefully grab a bite of Hispanic food in Boston before the performance. Everything seems to be all set and ready to happen.

Obviously this requires preparation, but another thing that I need to begin to plan is regular meetings of the Spanish Club. I want to have a meeting every two weeks where the members can cook Spanish food, watch Spanish programs, and speak the Spanish language. Perhaps we could have a trip to a Mexican food place. or plan something extravagant for Cinco de Mayo. On Sunday on the way to Boston, I'll discuss this with Miranda and Ms. Kirk.

Tennis - 4/7/10

There was a varsity tennis game after school today, and knowing that it was an away game and that I wouldn't get a chance to play, I decided to go home and practice tennis with my father. My skills need a lot of work and my confidence needs a boost as well, so I felt that playing tennis against my dad would achieve both of these necessities.

We played a game to 8 matches, and as it went on I could notice my skills improving. My serve has become stronger and stronger, and I was actually able to hit some aces. I think I only double-faulted once in the whole game. I'm happy that my serve has improved, but I still need help on the backhand. I got a higher percentage of balls back over the net, but the hits were far from pretty.

I was also able to develop a new technique for forehands. Instead of flatly hitting the balls at the altitude they arrive to me at, I have been able to hit them back with an upwards sweeping motion. This has prevented so many of the balls from hitting the top of the net and falling back onto my side of the court. If I can increase power in this hit after I master the technique, I could have a very powerful forehand.

Oh, and I won my first singles match. I beat my father 8-5.

Tennis - 4/6/10

Today's tennis practice was a disappointment for me. I felt awkward as I played, as if all of my work and extra practice had only made me uncomfortable to try out my new techniques. The courts were also very crowded today, with 20 kids on three courts, so I didn't really have room to perform to capacity.

We played king of the court matches, which I disliked because they didn't provide for ample playing time unless you were able to get two points in a row and maintain your spot as "king." I didn't feel like this gave fair practice time to everyone, and it was a bit impractical considering we only really got a chance to play two points at once. It was too erratic to be good practice for a match. It did help me to exercise caution in my serves and hits because I did not want to lose a point, but it was still difficult because it offered so little practice time. It helped promote teamwork as well, as it was necessary to be in the same mindset as your partner, but there were so many partner changes and it was too chaotic to be settled into a good pattern with your teammate.

Beyond this, I realize that I still need a lot of practice. My serves have been improving a lot, as I am able to hit them with much greater accuracy and precision, and even increase the power behind my hit. However, my backhand is still seriously lacking. I rarely can hit the ball over the net with a backhand, and when I do it is a weak, lofty serve. I need to fine-tune my technique to ensure I will always be able to properly receive the balls with a backhand.

Academic Team Update - 4/6/10

At Academic Team today, everyone seemed to be a bit unfocused. I did not feel like I was on top of my game. I just felt too lethargic, perhaps induced by the beautiful weather and my desire to go outside. I still attended our meeting, but I think that it was obvious that my mind was wandering.

I did continue to feel confident in my geography abilities. Some weeks I just feel entirely useless when there are little geography questions asked, but this week there were plenty. I knew that Algiers and Mogadishu are two coastal African capital cities, and I also knew that the Caucasus mountains run through Azerbaijan and Georgia. I am glad that I am able to contribute to the team in this way, but I really hope that I can improve in other areas of trivia. I have seen that I have some strengths in biology questions and the rare math question, but I need work in history and literature.

As I mentioned, the team did seem a bit soporific today, but we managed to do fairly well, as measured by the accumulation of our points. We did work well together when necessary, such as on complex math questions, but we really lacked the vigor and zeal that was present last week when we got 300 points. I just hope that we can resume our enthusiasm and be fully prepared for our final competition next week.