One summer day between eighth and ninth grade, I went to the mall with my sisters and their friends. Both of my sisters wear the hijab, a traditional Muslim headscarf. One of my sister’s friends asked me if I was going to start wearing it, and I said yes, when the summer was over and high school was starting. She agreed that it would be a good idea and rejoined my sister ahead of me.
Behind me, I heard my sister say, “Yeah, she’s not going to wear it.”
I wanted nothing more than to prove her wrong and show her that I was just as strong as she was. Her comment fueled my determination to wear the scarf. In my head, it was a win-win situation: I made my parents happy and defied my sister. I never took into account what I actually felt about wearing hijab.
Rebelling against something that is being forced upon me has always been easy. All I have to do is create a scene with my parents. I tell them that I am my own person and I can make decisions for myself. If they don’t agree, I find a way to do what I want, which usually involves lying and sneaking out.
But there are always those moments when I have a choice—those moments where my parents tell me I am my own person. They tell me that they raised me to know right from wrong and they will support whatever decision I make, even though they have preferences. But most of the time, the decisions aren’t about what’s right and what’s wrong. They are about who I want to be, and those are the hardest choices to make.
I had my first encounter with one of those choices when I was fourteen years old. It was the weekend of my sister’s engagement party, and I became a woman. This was an especially big deal for me because I’m Muslim, and when a girl starts her menstrual cycle for the first time, the hijab (a headscarf) is mandatory. In my community, you are not looked down upon for not wearing the hijab, but you are praised for wearing it.
All of my siblings attended private Islamic Schools for a portion of our elementary school education, so we were educated on at least the basic knowledge of what is religiously acceptable. I knew that hijab was mandatory and that my family wanted me to wear it, but I wasn’t ready to wear one just yet. I announced to the family that I would wear one when I started high school.
The end of the wedding festivities brought the beginning of high school, and the start of my wearing hijab. I was the only person at my high school to wear hijab, but it didn’t seem to matter. Instead of being victim to racism, as I expected, I encountered ignorance. Nobody seemed to know what Islam was and instead thought I was making a fashion statement, which was not uncommon at my high school.
Soon enough, news of my decision reached my community. Every time I went to MCA, my mosque, new people would congratulate me on my courageous choice. They would all say, “Mashallah. Your parents raised you right.” Each time someone complimented me, I found myself feeling uncomfortable instead of proud.
My freshman year came and went, and sophomore year brought about significant changes. All of my friends seemed to be having the time of their lives—getting their first boyfriends, dancing in the Homecoming and Battle of the Classes skits, and starting to get creative with clothing choices. I couldn’t do any of that. I was a hijabi, and I was therefore held up to a higher standard of modesty than they were.
I started to withdraw from everyone around me. My relationship with my parents went down the drain because I started looking at everything my parents said as a trap. I felt that they weren’t giving me any options, and were boxing me in and molding me into what they wanted me to be. Most of all, I felt my faith slipping. I had never been as religious as my family, but my faith decreased even more when I started wearing hijab. Even though people that wear hijab are supposed to represent modesty and devotion to God, I started to stray away from my religious duties. I stopped praying, reading in the holy book the Qur’an, and I started to question everything I learned in Islamic school. The hijab was bringing me further from God instead of closer to Him.
I felt an overflow of emotion and I finally decided to write it all down. The words came out like word vomit. I started writing about feeling hypocritical because I put on the façade of being religious by wearing the hijab, but on the inside I was a worse Muslim than many that didn’t wear it. I decided to talk to my mom about it because she was the one who would understand the most, being the only woman in our family to not wear a hijab.
I initially decided to wait until the end of the year to talk to my mom, but with mother’s intuition, she knew something was wrong and questioned me about it. Tears and words came pouring out. Instead of yelling at me, she took me into her arms and told me that it was okay. She said that she always knew I had doubts and all she wanted was for me to be happy. She added that the entire family shared her views and would accept my choice to stop wearing hijab.
She was right. With her help, I told each family member. Even though they had questions, they were ultimately accepting. I decided that the first day I would leave the house without a hijab would be the last day of school—also the last day of high school. I would be joining the ACCEL Middle College program at the local junior college that fall: a fresh start in a new place where nobody knew about my past.
The morning of that last day of school, my best friends came to pick me up. They held my hand as I walked on to campus, shaking with both excitement and nerves. When I was saying good-bye to all of my friends, they had to do a double take to recognize me. I felt like a celebrity with cameras flashing all around me. Most people were just shocked that I was showing my hair and said that I looked beautiful. But a few of my close friends came up to me, gave me a hug, and told me that they were proud of me.
Life after taking the hijab off has been completely different. There are negative aspects—like I gradually became more comfortable with showing a little bit more skin in public. I am more comfortable using profanity. I am also more comfortable getting a little bit closer to boys. I’m not happy with the changes, but I trust myself to know where the line is.
The positives outweigh the negatives for me. I no longer feel that people look at me and see a lie. I am more able to practice the religion in the way I want to practice it, and not the way I am expected to practice it. I’m generally comfortable with who I am, even though there are always improvements to be made. My relationship with my family has also vastly improved because I now realize how willing they are to listen.
The biggest lesson I learned through this experience is to make decisions for myself, not for my family. Even though I love them, sometimes what they want is not what I want, and it’s important to recognize that fact instead of mold my own thoughts into theirs. Being yourself takes more courage than being what other people want you to be because it involves actually thinking for yourself, which is especially scary for a teenager. But however scary that is, it’s necessary to be an individual and an adult.
-Samah Pirzada
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Phil Jackson's Coaching Legacy
Following the Lakers 2010 NBA championship, many focused on head coach Phil Jackson’s decision to return or retire.
Now that Jackson has decided to return a new question presents itself: is Phil Jackson the best coach in NBA history?
After shattering Red Auerbach’s seemingly untouchable record of nine NBA championships last year, Jackson did not waste any time padding his record in 2010.
Jackson has now coached 11 NBA championship teams.
Jackson began his NBA head-coaching career with the Chicago Bulls in 1989, after many years as a player in the NBA. The Bulls relied heavily on the “triangle offense”, which Jackson had learned from former NBA coach Tex Winter.
With iconic players such as Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, Jackson helped create a dynasty.
In his nine years as Chicago’s head coach, Jackson’s Bulls won six championships. The Bulls made the playoffs each year and “three-peated” twice.
Jackson retired in 1998, after the final championship in the “Jordan Era” and vowed never to return to coaching. However, when the Lakers offered Jackson a head-coaching job in 1999, Jackson decided to return.
Jackson’s Lakers immediately delivered in his first year, earning the best record in the NBA at 67-15. The Lakers reached the NBA finals after defeating the Portland Trailblazers in the decisive seventh game of the Western Conference Finals.
The Lakers went on to defeat the Indiana Pacers in the finals. The Lakers won the title the following two years, marking Jackson’s third “three-peat” as an NBA head coach.
After the 2001-2002 championship season, tension mounted between superstars Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal. What began as minor remarks about each other’s leadership, self-centeredness, and work ethic, turned into a full-blown public feud.
The conflict led to a divided team and uncertainty in the Lakers front office. Bryant, who was scheduled to become a free agent at season’s end, continued to add to the heated dispute.
“I ain’t going nowhere,” O’Neal said during a post-game press conference.
O’Neal insisted that the Lakers were his team and said that if Bryant objected to what he said, that Bryant should opt for free agency.
After a demoralizing loss to the Detroit Pistons in the 2004 NBA Finals, the feud came to an end. O’Neal was traded to the Miami Heat for three players, including Lamar Odom.
Consequently, the Lakers did not pick up the option of Jackson’s expiring contract. The Lakers went 34-38 the following season, missing the playoffs for the first time in 11 years.
The Lakers’ dismal coaching and lackluster performance in the 2004-2005 season lead to immediate speculation of Jackson’s return. In June of 2005, the Lakers rehired Jackson.
The Lakers managed to bounce back in the 2005-2006 season, making the playoffs, but ultimately losing in seven games to the Phoenix Suns. The following season the Lakers made the playoffs, but again fell short against the Suns in the first round.
The 2007-2008 season marked a significant improvement for Jackson’s Lakers. With the help of a hot start and a mid-season trade for Pau Gasol, the Lakers once again finished atop the Western Conference.
The Lakers advanced through the Western Conference playoffs to face the Boston Celtics. The Lakers played well, but lost in a crushing sixth game by 39 points.
The Lakers bounced back in the 2008-2009 season, reclaiming the best record in the Western Conference and again advancing to the NBA Finals. The Lakers defeated the Orlando Magic by a convincing four games to one margin. With the championship, Jackson was in the NBA record books, tying Red Auerbach’s 10 NBA championships as a head coach.
In 2009, the Lakers yet again claimed the best record in the Western Conference and advanced to the NBA Finals for a third straight year. This time the Lakers had a chance for redemption: a chance to defeat the team that blew them out of the 2008 NBA finals.
The series was an instant classic, going back and forth between two of the greatest teams in NBA history. Two teams with Hall of Fame caliber coaches and players battled to a deciding seventh game. The Lakers, down at one time by 13 points, came back and won the game.
With 11 coaching titles under his belt, Jackson has a shot at a fourth “three-peat”.
Many credit much of Jackson’s success as a coach to his superstar players, including Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Kobe Bryant, and Shaquille O’Neal. Many don’t realize that any coach that wins a championship needs good players.
“Love is the force that ignites the spirit and binds teams together,” Jackson once said.
Great players don’t win championships on their own; there needs to be discipline and companionship on a team. How effectively a team combines the two can often determine their success.
What makes coaches great is their ability to get their players to translate their skills, knowledge, and emotions onto the court to the best of their abilities.
In over 50 years of experience, Jackson has acquired great knowledge and understanding for the game. Jackson has learned many strategies and techniques from great coaches that he still uses today.
He is well known for using Tex Winter’s triangle offense: an offensive strategy that relies on good spacing between players, allowing for more passing lanes.
Jackson is known as the “Zen Master” because of the way he incorporates Eastern philosophy into his coaching. His unorthodox coaching style distinguishes Jackson from the traditional NBA coach.
Jackson’s interpretation of Eastern Philosophy stresses a team-first attitude. This creates a family atmosphere in his team’s locker room. Many argue that this philosophy led to his constant success and numerous titles as a head coach.
Many coaches are known for their courtside blow-ups when a player makes a mistake. When a coach screams at a player for messing up, it can often frustrate a player more. However, Jackson maintains a calm and cool approach on the court.
For example, in this year’s Western Conference Finals the Lakers were playing in a pivotal Game 5 against the Phoenix Suns. With the Lakers up three points in the fourth quarter, Ron Artest took a questionable 3-point shot with 1:00 remaining. Artest missed, leaving many people scratching their heads in disbelief. Instead of yelling at Artest, Jackson brought him aside and quietly talked with him. Artest who after the shot was 1-8 shooting, was clearly frustrated with himself. Jackson was able to keep Artest calm and was confident enough to have him on the court with 3.5 seconds remaining with the game tied.
Kobe Bryant cleared the inbound pass and shot immediately, but missed. Artest surged under the basket and hoisted a fall-away lay-up with 1 second remaining.
The Lakers won the game thanks to Artest’s amazing bucket, and eventually went on to take the series and advance to the finals. Jackson gave Artest a shot at redemption and he relished it.
"He has an uncanny knack of doing things, and sometimes it just works out," Jackson said. "He just has a knack for being around crucial plays."
Jackson is not just successful as a coach; he also had a successful NBA career. In 1967, Jackson was drafted by the New York Knicks. Jackson established himself as a key reserve on the Knicks squad. The Knicks won championships in 1970 and 1973, when Jackson was in the prime of his career. Jackson spent the final three years of his career with the New Jersey Nets, retiring in 1980.
Jackson is the ultimate winner, as a coach and a player. The combination of a calm approach to the game and incredible basketball strategies make Phil Jackson the greatest coach in NBA history.
-Nicolas O'Connor
Now that Jackson has decided to return a new question presents itself: is Phil Jackson the best coach in NBA history?
After shattering Red Auerbach’s seemingly untouchable record of nine NBA championships last year, Jackson did not waste any time padding his record in 2010.
Jackson has now coached 11 NBA championship teams.
Jackson began his NBA head-coaching career with the Chicago Bulls in 1989, after many years as a player in the NBA. The Bulls relied heavily on the “triangle offense”, which Jackson had learned from former NBA coach Tex Winter.
With iconic players such as Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, Jackson helped create a dynasty.
In his nine years as Chicago’s head coach, Jackson’s Bulls won six championships. The Bulls made the playoffs each year and “three-peated” twice.
Jackson retired in 1998, after the final championship in the “Jordan Era” and vowed never to return to coaching. However, when the Lakers offered Jackson a head-coaching job in 1999, Jackson decided to return.
Jackson’s Lakers immediately delivered in his first year, earning the best record in the NBA at 67-15. The Lakers reached the NBA finals after defeating the Portland Trailblazers in the decisive seventh game of the Western Conference Finals.
The Lakers went on to defeat the Indiana Pacers in the finals. The Lakers won the title the following two years, marking Jackson’s third “three-peat” as an NBA head coach.
After the 2001-2002 championship season, tension mounted between superstars Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal. What began as minor remarks about each other’s leadership, self-centeredness, and work ethic, turned into a full-blown public feud.
The conflict led to a divided team and uncertainty in the Lakers front office. Bryant, who was scheduled to become a free agent at season’s end, continued to add to the heated dispute.
“I ain’t going nowhere,” O’Neal said during a post-game press conference.
O’Neal insisted that the Lakers were his team and said that if Bryant objected to what he said, that Bryant should opt for free agency.
After a demoralizing loss to the Detroit Pistons in the 2004 NBA Finals, the feud came to an end. O’Neal was traded to the Miami Heat for three players, including Lamar Odom.
Consequently, the Lakers did not pick up the option of Jackson’s expiring contract. The Lakers went 34-38 the following season, missing the playoffs for the first time in 11 years.
The Lakers’ dismal coaching and lackluster performance in the 2004-2005 season lead to immediate speculation of Jackson’s return. In June of 2005, the Lakers rehired Jackson.
The Lakers managed to bounce back in the 2005-2006 season, making the playoffs, but ultimately losing in seven games to the Phoenix Suns. The following season the Lakers made the playoffs, but again fell short against the Suns in the first round.
The 2007-2008 season marked a significant improvement for Jackson’s Lakers. With the help of a hot start and a mid-season trade for Pau Gasol, the Lakers once again finished atop the Western Conference.
The Lakers advanced through the Western Conference playoffs to face the Boston Celtics. The Lakers played well, but lost in a crushing sixth game by 39 points.
The Lakers bounced back in the 2008-2009 season, reclaiming the best record in the Western Conference and again advancing to the NBA Finals. The Lakers defeated the Orlando Magic by a convincing four games to one margin. With the championship, Jackson was in the NBA record books, tying Red Auerbach’s 10 NBA championships as a head coach.
In 2009, the Lakers yet again claimed the best record in the Western Conference and advanced to the NBA Finals for a third straight year. This time the Lakers had a chance for redemption: a chance to defeat the team that blew them out of the 2008 NBA finals.
The series was an instant classic, going back and forth between two of the greatest teams in NBA history. Two teams with Hall of Fame caliber coaches and players battled to a deciding seventh game. The Lakers, down at one time by 13 points, came back and won the game.
With 11 coaching titles under his belt, Jackson has a shot at a fourth “three-peat”.
Many credit much of Jackson’s success as a coach to his superstar players, including Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Kobe Bryant, and Shaquille O’Neal. Many don’t realize that any coach that wins a championship needs good players.
“Love is the force that ignites the spirit and binds teams together,” Jackson once said.
Great players don’t win championships on their own; there needs to be discipline and companionship on a team. How effectively a team combines the two can often determine their success.
What makes coaches great is their ability to get their players to translate their skills, knowledge, and emotions onto the court to the best of their abilities.
In over 50 years of experience, Jackson has acquired great knowledge and understanding for the game. Jackson has learned many strategies and techniques from great coaches that he still uses today.
He is well known for using Tex Winter’s triangle offense: an offensive strategy that relies on good spacing between players, allowing for more passing lanes.
Jackson is known as the “Zen Master” because of the way he incorporates Eastern philosophy into his coaching. His unorthodox coaching style distinguishes Jackson from the traditional NBA coach.
Jackson’s interpretation of Eastern Philosophy stresses a team-first attitude. This creates a family atmosphere in his team’s locker room. Many argue that this philosophy led to his constant success and numerous titles as a head coach.
Many coaches are known for their courtside blow-ups when a player makes a mistake. When a coach screams at a player for messing up, it can often frustrate a player more. However, Jackson maintains a calm and cool approach on the court.
For example, in this year’s Western Conference Finals the Lakers were playing in a pivotal Game 5 against the Phoenix Suns. With the Lakers up three points in the fourth quarter, Ron Artest took a questionable 3-point shot with 1:00 remaining. Artest missed, leaving many people scratching their heads in disbelief. Instead of yelling at Artest, Jackson brought him aside and quietly talked with him. Artest who after the shot was 1-8 shooting, was clearly frustrated with himself. Jackson was able to keep Artest calm and was confident enough to have him on the court with 3.5 seconds remaining with the game tied.
Kobe Bryant cleared the inbound pass and shot immediately, but missed. Artest surged under the basket and hoisted a fall-away lay-up with 1 second remaining.
The Lakers won the game thanks to Artest’s amazing bucket, and eventually went on to take the series and advance to the finals. Jackson gave Artest a shot at redemption and he relished it.
"He has an uncanny knack of doing things, and sometimes it just works out," Jackson said. "He just has a knack for being around crucial plays."
Jackson is not just successful as a coach; he also had a successful NBA career. In 1967, Jackson was drafted by the New York Knicks. Jackson established himself as a key reserve on the Knicks squad. The Knicks won championships in 1970 and 1973, when Jackson was in the prime of his career. Jackson spent the final three years of his career with the New Jersey Nets, retiring in 1980.
Jackson is the ultimate winner, as a coach and a player. The combination of a calm approach to the game and incredible basketball strategies make Phil Jackson the greatest coach in NBA history.
-Nicolas O'Connor
Academic Connections
It was a Saturday morning when my informative family told me to check my Yahoo e-mail. As I clicked, I read summer opportunity program in bold words, sent from Travis Kemntiz, an Instructor from Ocean Discover Institute.
Never would I imagine receiving this e-mail.
I read more and as I scrolled down, the charge for the program at UCSD Academic Connections was 3,500. My eyes opened wide. Immediately I felt like exiting the page. My first thought was my parents not being able to pay.
That same moment, I called Travis and he said, “Everything is paid, I just need you to fill out the application and send it A.S.A.P to Academic Connections. You’ve earned it.”
When I told my parents about this scholarship, they were the happiest parents on earth. Not only they were proud but also knowing that their youngest daughter was attending one of the top ten universities of California for free was what kept them with a smile on their face.
Personally, I was totally shocked. Later, Travis informed me that every year, ODI selects one student and sends them to UCSD to take a course and everything is paid.
ODI is a science program that deals with youth and helps them through school. It has helped me as a high school student to keep my grades up and find opportunities that will help me succeed in life.
I have been working hard ever since I began freshman year at Herbert Hoover High School. This school has meant a lot to me because teachers and councilors help students find opportunities. My grades have always been between a 3.5 to a 4.0 GPA. It feels sweet to get a reward like the one I received for my high achievement.
Back in Mexico, my dad would wake up early in the morning to work in the field instead of going school. He couldn’t afford to have an education. He didn’t have the money to pay for books and materials needed. Now, I’m taking good advantage of the education he never had. And this is why he is so proud of me.
“You got it all here Isabel,” he said. “You are a very lucky girl that gets this education for free. Take advantage and get the highest grades as you can. If I were in your place, I would be just like you because good grades are what will help you now and in the future. Be somebody in life. Do something good that I couldn’t when I was your age.”
Being at UCSD learning new different things has made me a smarter person. I selected the class “Writing and Reporting the News.” This class has been one of the most helpful courses I’ve taken, including my teachers Sam and Erin. My teachers would always find a way to make writing and reporting interesting. At first, when I would hear about news I would say, “boring.”
But live news and reporting kept me taking good notes to prepare for the news writing and I found out it was fascinating. Some of the most fun things I did were the press conferences. A bunch of crazy characters came to our class and pretended a lot of crimes had happened to them. As we asked them questions we became reporters.
Always work hard and have faith that good things will come. Be prepared for good opportunities and be amazed when they come to you just like they came to me.
-Isabel Herrera (:
Never would I imagine receiving this e-mail.
I read more and as I scrolled down, the charge for the program at UCSD Academic Connections was 3,500. My eyes opened wide. Immediately I felt like exiting the page. My first thought was my parents not being able to pay.
That same moment, I called Travis and he said, “Everything is paid, I just need you to fill out the application and send it A.S.A.P to Academic Connections. You’ve earned it.”
When I told my parents about this scholarship, they were the happiest parents on earth. Not only they were proud but also knowing that their youngest daughter was attending one of the top ten universities of California for free was what kept them with a smile on their face.
Personally, I was totally shocked. Later, Travis informed me that every year, ODI selects one student and sends them to UCSD to take a course and everything is paid.
ODI is a science program that deals with youth and helps them through school. It has helped me as a high school student to keep my grades up and find opportunities that will help me succeed in life.
I have been working hard ever since I began freshman year at Herbert Hoover High School. This school has meant a lot to me because teachers and councilors help students find opportunities. My grades have always been between a 3.5 to a 4.0 GPA. It feels sweet to get a reward like the one I received for my high achievement.
Back in Mexico, my dad would wake up early in the morning to work in the field instead of going school. He couldn’t afford to have an education. He didn’t have the money to pay for books and materials needed. Now, I’m taking good advantage of the education he never had. And this is why he is so proud of me.
“You got it all here Isabel,” he said. “You are a very lucky girl that gets this education for free. Take advantage and get the highest grades as you can. If I were in your place, I would be just like you because good grades are what will help you now and in the future. Be somebody in life. Do something good that I couldn’t when I was your age.”
Being at UCSD learning new different things has made me a smarter person. I selected the class “Writing and Reporting the News.” This class has been one of the most helpful courses I’ve taken, including my teachers Sam and Erin. My teachers would always find a way to make writing and reporting interesting. At first, when I would hear about news I would say, “boring.”
But live news and reporting kept me taking good notes to prepare for the news writing and I found out it was fascinating. Some of the most fun things I did were the press conferences. A bunch of crazy characters came to our class and pretended a lot of crimes had happened to them. As we asked them questions we became reporters.
Always work hard and have faith that good things will come. Be prepared for good opportunities and be amazed when they come to you just like they came to me.
-Isabel Herrera (:
Learning the Value of Friendship
Before every soccer game, my teammates and I huddle to talk about beating the other team. Then we show our dedication working our hardest on the field. Most games we win but when we don’t, we come together and analyze the game. Off the field, we are a family. We joke around always finding ways to hang out. They are my closest friends and the ones I can completely be myself around. I never really understood the value of friendships until I started playing sports.
My parents first signed me up for basketball when I was nine. They wanted me to break free from my shyness and brought me to my first basketball practice. I was so upset when I realized I was the only girl on my team and the shortest one. Practice was hard because I had no idea what I was doing. I didn’t talk to anyone during breaks and anxiously waited for practice to end. When practice did end, I headed straight for the car until I heard someone call my name. A boy on my team, Zane, was having a birthday party and wanted to invite me.
At that birthday party, all my teammates were there and I started talking to them. I became friends with them that day. Practice changed as I unexpectedly started to enjoy the company of others.
That season quickly ended. I missed playing on a team, so my parents signed me up for softball. Softball was just as fun as basketball and I became a little friendlier. When softball season ended, I begged my parents to sign me up for soccer.
I felt different playing this sport. I was eager to learn how to become a better player. After weeks of practice, my coach told us about the first game of the season. We were going to play the hardest team.
Before the game, my coach was telling the team who would play and in what position. Butterflies filled my stomach when my name was called as left defender. The game started and I tried my best to defend every ball that came my way. My best wasn’t enough, though, when a player on the other team dribbled the ball past me and scored in the last minute of the game.
My heart sank as the girl who scored ran back to her team with the biggest smile on her face. I just stood by the goal holding back my tears replaying that moment in my head over and over again. I was about to break down when the referee blew his whistle a moment later. All my teammates one by one walked over to me and gave me the biggest hugs. I was constantly reminded how great I played and that it was just a game. My tears were gone as soon as my coach came over with the happiest expression on his face. He told us how proud he was and how we played greater than he ever expected.
As a team, we went out for ice cream. My teammates and I ordered our favorite flavors and sat at a table. We talked about the most random things and the laughter did not stop. That day, I learned so much about friendship and being myself. I realized why I was so shy before. I never wanted to be the person people didn’t like so I was the person no one really knew.
I continue to play soccer today. If my parents had not signed me up for basketball years ago, I would not have started playing soccer or learned so much about friendship.
-Courtney Thornton
My parents first signed me up for basketball when I was nine. They wanted me to break free from my shyness and brought me to my first basketball practice. I was so upset when I realized I was the only girl on my team and the shortest one. Practice was hard because I had no idea what I was doing. I didn’t talk to anyone during breaks and anxiously waited for practice to end. When practice did end, I headed straight for the car until I heard someone call my name. A boy on my team, Zane, was having a birthday party and wanted to invite me.
At that birthday party, all my teammates were there and I started talking to them. I became friends with them that day. Practice changed as I unexpectedly started to enjoy the company of others.
That season quickly ended. I missed playing on a team, so my parents signed me up for softball. Softball was just as fun as basketball and I became a little friendlier. When softball season ended, I begged my parents to sign me up for soccer.
I felt different playing this sport. I was eager to learn how to become a better player. After weeks of practice, my coach told us about the first game of the season. We were going to play the hardest team.
Before the game, my coach was telling the team who would play and in what position. Butterflies filled my stomach when my name was called as left defender. The game started and I tried my best to defend every ball that came my way. My best wasn’t enough, though, when a player on the other team dribbled the ball past me and scored in the last minute of the game.
My heart sank as the girl who scored ran back to her team with the biggest smile on her face. I just stood by the goal holding back my tears replaying that moment in my head over and over again. I was about to break down when the referee blew his whistle a moment later. All my teammates one by one walked over to me and gave me the biggest hugs. I was constantly reminded how great I played and that it was just a game. My tears were gone as soon as my coach came over with the happiest expression on his face. He told us how proud he was and how we played greater than he ever expected.
As a team, we went out for ice cream. My teammates and I ordered our favorite flavors and sat at a table. We talked about the most random things and the laughter did not stop. That day, I learned so much about friendship and being myself. I realized why I was so shy before. I never wanted to be the person people didn’t like so I was the person no one really knew.
I continue to play soccer today. If my parents had not signed me up for basketball years ago, I would not have started playing soccer or learned so much about friendship.
-Courtney Thornton
The three weeks in Academic Connections was one of the best parts in my life. It was my first time to live in the dorm, to study in a university; to make friends with people from many different places, to play beach volleyball. I tried so many new stuffs in these three weeks, but the most memorable thing was my writing class.
Sam, the coolest teacher I have never seen in my life. The first day I saw her, I thought she must be a harsh teacher; she has a really short golden hair, very skinny; wearing a T-shirt, blue jeans. Erin, the other teacher, seems a lot nicer than her. But after the first class, I knew I was totally wrong.
In the first class, Sam led us to the grassland and sit down in a circle. She told us to say our name and one thing about ourselves. We have to memorize what the people said before us and to repeat what they said. She told us that to be a reporter, must focusing on everything that your subject told you.”
“I am wearing a striped underpants,” that’s the first thing Sam told us, and it blown me away. How would a teacher told this thing to her student? After this game, I changed my mind; Sam was the craziest teacher in the world.
Sam was very nice and kind. The first time I wrote in this class, I wrote about Samah, one of my classmates. But when Sam told us to read our best sentence in our paragraph, I couldn’t find one. She walked to me, sat on the seat beside me, looked my paragraph, and said, “Keep working.” I knew I screw it up, but she didn’t say any thing bad to me, any thing, only “Keep working”.
While we were in the lab, we working on our essay, a watching video, see Sam dancing and singing. When there was music, most of the time she would start dancing, even dancing on a chair! But sometime she distracted me so I could hardly hand in my work on time.
Sometimes Sam would go crazy, and it seems like Erin was the only one who could stop her. Unlike Sam, my first impression to Erin have not changed after this three weeks, she was always nice, and always smiling.
Erin has a short hair too, but not as short as Sam. She has a rose tattoo on her left arm, always wearing jeans, and sometimes with a red boots. She always has a smile on her face; it made her looked very kind.
Erin helped me a lot when I was writing my essays. She walked beside be and looked at my essay, and correct my mistakes in the paragraphs, made the sentence became better. I really thank her for helping me to improve my writing; even my writing was so immature.
Sam and Erin were very good friends. They would make jokes of each other, but they never got mad. At the beginning of each class, they told us about some interesting things happened to them, or some news happened this morning.
There were eight people in the class, and only have two guys. That guy has became my good friHis name was Nicolas. The first time we met, he was quiet, but after few minutes he started to chat with the girls. When he was talking to me, he kept telling me how he liked Chinese food and something about his family.
Samah, Keana, Kirsten and Stephanie were just like a group. They eat together, walk together; work together, hang out together. They were really talkative, always chatting during the class. But because of them, I had so much fun in the class.
Isabel and Courtney were another group. They were both very quiet in the class, and sometimes they seemed had been separated from the class. We had two rows of computers in the lab, six of us sat in a row, Isabel and Courtney always sat in another row. Although there were three groups in our class, we still have a good relationship with each other.
In these three weeks, although the only subject I was studying was writing, I haven’t got bored, because I was studying with the coolest teacher Sam, the nicest teacher Erin and the best classmates Keana, Samah, Isabel, Kirsten, Courtney, Stephanie and Nicolas.
I would miss them a lot after I got back to China, because I was not able to see them again. Although they have Face book in America, Chinese government has banned it. I had so many first times in this program; I would have nostalgia for this campus life.
Charles Yang
Sam, the coolest teacher I have never seen in my life. The first day I saw her, I thought she must be a harsh teacher; she has a really short golden hair, very skinny; wearing a T-shirt, blue jeans. Erin, the other teacher, seems a lot nicer than her. But after the first class, I knew I was totally wrong.
In the first class, Sam led us to the grassland and sit down in a circle. She told us to say our name and one thing about ourselves. We have to memorize what the people said before us and to repeat what they said. She told us that to be a reporter, must focusing on everything that your subject told you.”
“I am wearing a striped underpants,” that’s the first thing Sam told us, and it blown me away. How would a teacher told this thing to her student? After this game, I changed my mind; Sam was the craziest teacher in the world.
Sam was very nice and kind. The first time I wrote in this class, I wrote about Samah, one of my classmates. But when Sam told us to read our best sentence in our paragraph, I couldn’t find one. She walked to me, sat on the seat beside me, looked my paragraph, and said, “Keep working.” I knew I screw it up, but she didn’t say any thing bad to me, any thing, only “Keep working”.
While we were in the lab, we working on our essay, a watching video, see Sam dancing and singing. When there was music, most of the time she would start dancing, even dancing on a chair! But sometime she distracted me so I could hardly hand in my work on time.
Sometimes Sam would go crazy, and it seems like Erin was the only one who could stop her. Unlike Sam, my first impression to Erin have not changed after this three weeks, she was always nice, and always smiling.
Erin has a short hair too, but not as short as Sam. She has a rose tattoo on her left arm, always wearing jeans, and sometimes with a red boots. She always has a smile on her face; it made her looked very kind.
Erin helped me a lot when I was writing my essays. She walked beside be and looked at my essay, and correct my mistakes in the paragraphs, made the sentence became better. I really thank her for helping me to improve my writing; even my writing was so immature.
Sam and Erin were very good friends. They would make jokes of each other, but they never got mad. At the beginning of each class, they told us about some interesting things happened to them, or some news happened this morning.
There were eight people in the class, and only have two guys. That guy has became my good friHis name was Nicolas. The first time we met, he was quiet, but after few minutes he started to chat with the girls. When he was talking to me, he kept telling me how he liked Chinese food and something about his family.
Samah, Keana, Kirsten and Stephanie were just like a group. They eat together, walk together; work together, hang out together. They were really talkative, always chatting during the class. But because of them, I had so much fun in the class.
Isabel and Courtney were another group. They were both very quiet in the class, and sometimes they seemed had been separated from the class. We had two rows of computers in the lab, six of us sat in a row, Isabel and Courtney always sat in another row. Although there were three groups in our class, we still have a good relationship with each other.
In these three weeks, although the only subject I was studying was writing, I haven’t got bored, because I was studying with the coolest teacher Sam, the nicest teacher Erin and the best classmates Keana, Samah, Isabel, Kirsten, Courtney, Stephanie and Nicolas.
I would miss them a lot after I got back to China, because I was not able to see them again. Although they have Face book in America, Chinese government has banned it. I had so many first times in this program; I would have nostalgia for this campus life.
Charles Yang
Life From The Sideline
I felt my knee pop when I hit the ground. It wouldn’t bend or straighten. The crowd was screaming excitedly about the goal I just sacrificed my knee for. But I couldn’t move.
The trainers carried me off the field and put me down on the sideline. As I cried they went to get some ice. All I could think about was the pain shooting up my leg from my knee. I knew this injury was going to be more than just a sprain.
While I sat on the sideline, my team began losing. I knew we needed to win this game to make the play-offs. Painfully, I got up and tried to stand, then began to walk, then to run. We won, but at the cost of further hurting my knee. At the end of the game I had to use crutches to get off the field.
Two days later my mom called me when I was at school. She had the doctor’s results for my knee. I had torn my ACL, MCL and Meniscus. I was going to need surgery.
The surgery was scheduled for three weeks later. It took an hour for the nurses to hook me up to an I.V. and get me ready to go into surgery. The doctor put a mask over my face and told me to count to ten. So I counted: one, two… blackness.
The first couple of weeks after the surgery were a pain-filled nightmare. The pain never stopped and the medications only made me feel nauseous. I couldn’t walk, bend or straighten my leg. I felt like I was in prison, and the cell was my living room couch.
After two weeks I was able to leave the house. I began going to lacrosse practices to watch and cheer on my team. The hardest part of having the hurt knee wasn’t dealing with the pain; it was not being able to play lacrosse.
Three months post-surgery I had to start rehabilitation. Working on straightening and bending my knee was the most painful experience of my life. Just four months earlier I could run three miles, now I couldn’t even bend my knee enough to walk properly.
I wanted to quit, and just give up on sports. The pain made me feel like doing something else with my life.
It seemed like my knee would never get better. The trainer would add more weight every time the exercise stopped hurting. I spent all my time either at the rehab center or on the couch icing my knee. It felt boring and pointless.
My thinking changed when I met an elderly lady in the rehab center who was having hip problems. She too had been through a serious injury in high school. The difference was she did quit. She decided the rehab wasn’t worth the sports. She said it was the worst decision of her life.
As she talked to me, she was strung up in a contraption to help her hips. Her lower torso was in a swing device, and her upper back was on the table. The woman’s rehab machine looked as painful as what I was going through. She told me about her high school injury. She said that she had loved sports, but the pain of that injury was too much for her. She gave up on rehab and never played another sport again. She also said if she could go back, she would have pushed through the pain.
I felt as though she knew what I was going through. It seemed that if she helped me to push through, she would feel as if she had pushed through as well.
After hearing her story, I decided I would not make the same mistake. I began to work harder. I asked the doctors to add more weight to my leg. At the end of six months, I was ready to play sports again. My doctor said he had never seen someone bounce back from surgery so fast.
This injury showed me that if you really love something you have to fight for it, no matter how painful. It will be worth in the end.
My first game back in lacrosse was the one of the best games of my life. I played terribly, but it was the most fun game I had ever played. That game was for me, not for my coach or my team or for the win. For the first time I played purely for the love of the game. It was then that I knew if I had given up, I would have lost something I really loved in my life.
-Kirsten Yocke
The trainers carried me off the field and put me down on the sideline. As I cried they went to get some ice. All I could think about was the pain shooting up my leg from my knee. I knew this injury was going to be more than just a sprain.
While I sat on the sideline, my team began losing. I knew we needed to win this game to make the play-offs. Painfully, I got up and tried to stand, then began to walk, then to run. We won, but at the cost of further hurting my knee. At the end of the game I had to use crutches to get off the field.
Two days later my mom called me when I was at school. She had the doctor’s results for my knee. I had torn my ACL, MCL and Meniscus. I was going to need surgery.
The surgery was scheduled for three weeks later. It took an hour for the nurses to hook me up to an I.V. and get me ready to go into surgery. The doctor put a mask over my face and told me to count to ten. So I counted: one, two… blackness.
The first couple of weeks after the surgery were a pain-filled nightmare. The pain never stopped and the medications only made me feel nauseous. I couldn’t walk, bend or straighten my leg. I felt like I was in prison, and the cell was my living room couch.
After two weeks I was able to leave the house. I began going to lacrosse practices to watch and cheer on my team. The hardest part of having the hurt knee wasn’t dealing with the pain; it was not being able to play lacrosse.
Three months post-surgery I had to start rehabilitation. Working on straightening and bending my knee was the most painful experience of my life. Just four months earlier I could run three miles, now I couldn’t even bend my knee enough to walk properly.
I wanted to quit, and just give up on sports. The pain made me feel like doing something else with my life.
It seemed like my knee would never get better. The trainer would add more weight every time the exercise stopped hurting. I spent all my time either at the rehab center or on the couch icing my knee. It felt boring and pointless.
My thinking changed when I met an elderly lady in the rehab center who was having hip problems. She too had been through a serious injury in high school. The difference was she did quit. She decided the rehab wasn’t worth the sports. She said it was the worst decision of her life.
As she talked to me, she was strung up in a contraption to help her hips. Her lower torso was in a swing device, and her upper back was on the table. The woman’s rehab machine looked as painful as what I was going through. She told me about her high school injury. She said that she had loved sports, but the pain of that injury was too much for her. She gave up on rehab and never played another sport again. She also said if she could go back, she would have pushed through the pain.
I felt as though she knew what I was going through. It seemed that if she helped me to push through, she would feel as if she had pushed through as well.
After hearing her story, I decided I would not make the same mistake. I began to work harder. I asked the doctors to add more weight to my leg. At the end of six months, I was ready to play sports again. My doctor said he had never seen someone bounce back from surgery so fast.
This injury showed me that if you really love something you have to fight for it, no matter how painful. It will be worth in the end.
My first game back in lacrosse was the one of the best games of my life. I played terribly, but it was the most fun game I had ever played. That game was for me, not for my coach or my team or for the win. For the first time I played purely for the love of the game. It was then that I knew if I had given up, I would have lost something I really loved in my life.
-Kirsten Yocke
An Introverted Dilemma
There are few things I find more intimidating than making new friends. As I stood in a crowd of about three hundred other high school students, I realized I was going to have to confront my fear head on for three weeks straight.
“Now, we’re all going to get into groups by our birthdays!” an overly enthusiastic college student yelled into the megaphone. My forehead wrinkled into the I’m-confused-and-going-to-look-rude-about-it look I’ve tried to get rid of lately. Games like this are not my specialty. This one was an orientation icebreaker for Academic Connections, a summer program for high school students in San Diego. I started to take a step towards a girl standing by my left in an attempt to introduce myself, but quickly changed my mind and stopped before she or anyone else could realize what I had just tried to do.
These types of situations have always stumped me. Are you supposed to adopt that annoying, enthusiastic persona in hopes of meeting people? In a high school where everyone’s place seems set in stone, enthusiastic, extroverted tendencies are generally looked down upon. But at something like this, they seem to be embraced a little more. As I looked around for the other June birthdays, it dawned on me that all of these people were probably really similar to me; we were all the same age and here we were signed up for the same program, yet they were the people I wanted to talk to the least.
Stick me in a room with a dozen adults and I’ll find someway to strike up a conversation. Stick me in a room with a dozen toddlers and I’ll manage to have fun while playing and talking to them. Stick me in a room with a dozen teenagers though, and more often than not I’ll find a bathroom to hide in or back door to sneak out of before any one even has the chance to ask my name. It seems strange as the people I spend the most time with are teenagers and so I should be the best at relating to them. Not the case.
I’m not sure at what point it changed. On the playground in elementary school I remember talking just as much as the next kid and socializing with just as much of the class. Now I seem to be behind. Maybe everyone struggles as much as I and is just able to hide it, but it seems everyone else has mastered small talk at parties with classmates they don’t know too well, while I have not. It would make things easier if I had, but at a certain point the supposed benefits of stepping out of your comfort zone don’t seem to come close to being worth the discomfort that comes along with trying to be someone you are not.
Events like this summer program, where socializing with people other than my immediate circle of friends is pretty much required, seem to be appearing in my life more frequently lately. And honestly, I’m not really sure how to get better at it. Some say I just need more practice at it, others have said it’s fine to live an introverted existence, but I don’t want to do either one. I know I’ll never be the girl who offers to sing the song in front of the whole group representing June birthdays, but maybe, one day, I could stop being the one who hides in the grocery store at the sight of any one her own age.
-Stephanie Thornton
“Now, we’re all going to get into groups by our birthdays!” an overly enthusiastic college student yelled into the megaphone. My forehead wrinkled into the I’m-confused-and-going-to-look-rude-about-it look I’ve tried to get rid of lately. Games like this are not my specialty. This one was an orientation icebreaker for Academic Connections, a summer program for high school students in San Diego. I started to take a step towards a girl standing by my left in an attempt to introduce myself, but quickly changed my mind and stopped before she or anyone else could realize what I had just tried to do.
These types of situations have always stumped me. Are you supposed to adopt that annoying, enthusiastic persona in hopes of meeting people? In a high school where everyone’s place seems set in stone, enthusiastic, extroverted tendencies are generally looked down upon. But at something like this, they seem to be embraced a little more. As I looked around for the other June birthdays, it dawned on me that all of these people were probably really similar to me; we were all the same age and here we were signed up for the same program, yet they were the people I wanted to talk to the least.
Stick me in a room with a dozen adults and I’ll find someway to strike up a conversation. Stick me in a room with a dozen toddlers and I’ll manage to have fun while playing and talking to them. Stick me in a room with a dozen teenagers though, and more often than not I’ll find a bathroom to hide in or back door to sneak out of before any one even has the chance to ask my name. It seems strange as the people I spend the most time with are teenagers and so I should be the best at relating to them. Not the case.
I’m not sure at what point it changed. On the playground in elementary school I remember talking just as much as the next kid and socializing with just as much of the class. Now I seem to be behind. Maybe everyone struggles as much as I and is just able to hide it, but it seems everyone else has mastered small talk at parties with classmates they don’t know too well, while I have not. It would make things easier if I had, but at a certain point the supposed benefits of stepping out of your comfort zone don’t seem to come close to being worth the discomfort that comes along with trying to be someone you are not.
Events like this summer program, where socializing with people other than my immediate circle of friends is pretty much required, seem to be appearing in my life more frequently lately. And honestly, I’m not really sure how to get better at it. Some say I just need more practice at it, others have said it’s fine to live an introverted existence, but I don’t want to do either one. I know I’ll never be the girl who offers to sing the song in front of the whole group representing June birthdays, but maybe, one day, I could stop being the one who hides in the grocery store at the sight of any one her own age.
-Stephanie Thornton
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)