Oliver Sadler

                                                            Blog                                                                           

 

 

 

I surprised myself when I was practicing bow drilling and I managed to make the pine block start to smoke. I didn’t know I could get that far to make it start smoking. Maybe if I had kept on going I would have “busted a coal”. I am happy I know enough on how to bow drill because I could teach a friend or a family member how to do it.

 I know I have gotten stronger because every morning on campus we ether run or do weight lifting. When we run we go up to an overlook and for weight lifting we go to the garage of achievers. In the garage there’s a few different machines like a bench press, chin up bar and a treadmill. Every few weeks we do a 100-yard dash for our fitness test and we also run around the track for four laps and try to beat our best time. Then after all that we do stretches and sit-ups or push-ups for 1 minute.

 I am hoping to learn new skills like knots and flint knapping. At our campsite at the Grand Canyon I tried to make an axe head and it came out okay but not perfect. I am still trying to master basic knots like trucker’s hitch and the bolin knot. I’ve surprise myself by gaining better leadership skills. I am wondering what field skills I’ll learn in the future.

Harrison Kight November 12, 2013

Harrison Kight

November 12, 2013

 

Expedition Errors: The Events That Weren’t Supposed to Happen

 

                During the course of our cross-country road trip, we ran across many mishaps that hindered our progress. Throughout the two weeks of driving, camping, and exploring, almost all of the intended activities were changed or cancelled as a result of some unexpected roadblock. Although the expedition was amazing overall, I thought I should be the one to describe this series of unfortunate events.

 

                The original starting date for the expedition was October 28. At the time, one of our group members, Zach, had some sort of serious illness, and the rest of the group was required to leave the next day. After departing with our new student, Mike Wolfe, we drove for ten hours to a campsite in Missouri. We arrived at 11:00pm, a very late time to eat and set up tents, only to take them down the next day. The following trip to Kansas wasn’t that bad; we arrived at 9:00pm (still after ten hours) and set up quickly, but the brief rainstorm on Thursday morning soaked our tents. This may not seem like much of a problem so far, but many more issues occurred after this.

 

                That same day, after a rather fun afternoon, the group reached Colorado at 10:00pm. Although this campsite had an amazing view, the area was very cold, possibly reaching temperatures of about 25 degrees in the morning. Tired and hungry, we headed out to the Great Sand Dunes National Park. We planned on riding a sand sled down the dunes, but the rentals were cancelled the day we attempted to use one (November 1)! After retrieving Zach on Saturday, a long drive to Utah was among us. We finished setting up camp at about 10:30pm, and left for Arches National Park that Sunday. When we returned to camp, a crazy scene awaited us.

 

                We knew that the weather that day consisted of strong winds, but we didn’t think that the gusts would destroy our tents! Two of the tents, including mine, had several broken poles, and my tent had to be hung by a rope in order to stay up! This situation took over an hour to rectify, and it was a pain to do! Not only did we have to drive to Arizona the next day, but now we had to deal with these tents!

 

                The day after our ten-hour drive to the Grand Canyon National Park, we had a major surprise to encounter upon our hike! It turned out that Zach had hip surgery a while back, and his weighted pack was causing a lot of pain in the affected area. As a result of this and several other facts, the hike into the Grand Canyon had to be cancelled. Although we had plenty of activities afterward to keep us entertained, this was a major upset for the group. But the madness didn’t stop after this last destination!

 

                Although the flight back to base went smoothly, the drive after our arrival in Charlotte (my hometown) took three hours. But the main factor here was that the drive started at midnight! So we arrived back at base at 3:00am! Despite all of these mishaps, the expedition in general was amazing, and a great learning experience for the future. Somebody had to mention these factors, though!

Jake Midgett's Strengths

Jake Midgett            English            November 11, 2013

                        What I Bring to the Table

Hard working, leadership, and ingenuity are all very important qualities and characteristics that will help you in life and those qualities and characteristics are what I possess. I have brought all of these characteristics and qualities to SOAR this year. It is hard to maintain these qualities with your peers that you are around twenty-four-seven, but it is manageable.

Starting my first year at SOAR I was excited and nervous, but I now realize that there was nothing to be nervous about. Doing your role, school work, or job is easy, but putting hard work into it is the harder part. I always put effort and hard work into whatever job, role, or my school work. I do this because when someone sees how good of a job I did I will say to myself “yeah that was me!” A way being a hard worker has helped me through tough times on expedition is when I get ahead on school work in the van because not only do I get ahead in that school subject, but I also will have more free time later.

Next, I came to SOAR being able to lead people. I was really excited to test my leadership skills with my peers because I am trying to be more assertive than bossy. Every time I practice leadership skills is a learning experience because I try out different ideas. One way being a leader has helped me through tough times is when we were setting up tents in the dark and it was pretty cold out; I asked my team to set up tents with me instead of having them set up tents themselves.

            Lastly, I brought ingenuity to SOAR. I have a lot of ingenuity because I love to problem solve so it is like a game of chess to me and I love to analyze situations. Ingenuity comes in handy for just about everything! I have used my ingenuity to fix and set up tents.

            In conclusion, I have a lot of qualities that I have, can, and will share while I am at SOAR. I am proud to have obtained all of these qualities in the past. I look forward to continue to use them to the best of my abilities in school, work, and while I am at home. I am glad that my parents have taught me to be a leader, a hard worker, and to use my ingenuity.

Aaron Cabaniss - Grand Canyon Adventure

Aaron Cabaniss

November 12, 2013

English Blog assignment

Driving to the Grand Canyon was an adventure in itself. As we stopped along the way to get has and snacks, we saw things we would not normally see. One of which was seeing the states of Missouri and Kansas, and as we drove across the highway toward Colorado to spend the next two nights in a campsite, we saw tumble weeds rolling across the road over the vast, flat terrain. After finally reaching our destination in Colorado at midnight, we set up camp in the bitterly cold night.

The next morning I awoke early to find one of our instructors, Dan, already up, gazing at the mountains on one side of our campsite to the other side where the plains set as the sun rose. We then started the morning with making breakfast and finishing our roles. Afterward, we continued our adventure to the great sand dunes where we hiked a valley filled with sand. It was like a ski slope area filled with sand instead of snow. Mounds and mounds of sand we climbed to slide down with trash bags used as sleds. We emptied our pockets full of the dry, fine granulated sand and pilled back into the van to continue our trip back toward the campsite for another night.

The following morning, we packed up all of our gear and headed toward the arches in Utah, another long adventurous trip. We finally reached our destination seven long hours later. The arches were amazing! Huge boulders with holes carved out like caves were more interesting to look at than I had thought. The next day we continued our journey once again to the place we had all been waiting for; the Grand Canyon.

We arrived at Mather campground around eleven at night to set up camp and cook dinner. Everyone was a little frustrated with each other since we had been cooped up in the van for almost eight hours straight. Needless to say, when our heads hit the pillow in our sleeping bags, we were out.

The next morning we tried hiking down in the canyon to spend three nights in the valley, however, one of our team members was not feeling as well as we had hoped. He was still getting over a bad case of the flu. We decided against hiking down in the canyon and instead stayed another night up top to hike around the rim the next day.

Watching a video and touring the visitor center were only a few things we did to occupy ourselves for such an awesome place to be this time of year. We then flew home the next day and are now here, back at SOAR, to tell the wonderful story of the Grand Canyon expedition three experience!

Michael Wolfe, Primitive Experience

Mike Wolfe

Blog

 

 

We are learning all the time, but don’t have the brain capacity to remember everything we are learning during all of that time. Half of our learning takes place in school, the other half in the outside world, yes on the contrary it could be more in one than the other. Today I am writing on something that I learned on the Grand Canyon expedition, and how it has affected me, which is quite coincidental. I love the woods and love the west for the desert even with all the trees, rocks, and animals. I loved primitive skills the most out of the things that I loved. I especially loved it when I started a fire with a bow drill, which is a VERY primitive way of making a fire with all wooden utensils, a rock, and last but definitely not least, the “P-Cord” or Para cord to attach to a bow, and to wrap around the spindle. The rock goes on top to keep pressure on the rest of the set. It is very fun to use and not as much fun to learn because it is very annoying when you get “Spindle-whipped” or get hit with the spindle. It really hurts, but besides that it’s a really versatile tool to have at your disposal, and I loved it even more because it was my first actual bow drill fire rather than just having the fire made with a lighter. Ergo, it took me almost a year to fully learn this, but as it is the same with learning new things, it was worth it. When I say it was worth it, I don’t just mean that making the fire was worth it, but also the experience of it all was worth it. In all truthfulness I really wish that I could have had even more bow drill fires rather than just only being able to make only one single bow drill fire. It kind of irks me that I wasn’t able to make more than that one single fire.

Zach's one of a kind Expedition

          For the start of this expedition I did not start by sitting in a white panel van on its way to Missouri, jamming to my iPod and checking out who was next to us on the highway.  I started off in bed. Earlier that week I caught a case of walking pneumonia just after getting a nasty sinus infection. So I was in bed for the first three or four days of the drive wishing I was with my team. But, on the Friday of that week, I packed the things I needed for the field and headed out with our crazy Uncle Andrew to Atlanta on my way to meet up with my team. The next 2 travel days consisted of airport food, dissecting every single bit of information from our Sky mall magazines, underground trains, and very annoying crying and screaming babies.

   After all air travel was completed it was just a matter of renting a car (the car hoped to be rented was a fiat or smart car for traveling through the Rockies), get to our hotel, wake up, and then drive to meet the team in Great Sand Dunes National Park. On the drive to the meeting point I was realizing how important and good it feels to be part of a group. When I was in bed I honestly missed my group and for once, felt lonely here at SOAR.  Every mile closer we got the more excited I got about seeing my group once again. Finally, after many mile of driving we ran into sight of that old van which contained the members of Espada Ardiente. After getting re acquainted with the team and newly acquainted with our new member at the time Mr. Mike Wolff, we headed for Utah where many things were in store for us.

    When entering Utah which I was somewhat familiar with in certain parts, I gazed at the towering  cliffs lining the outside of the highway and then automatically changing into rural deserted land with nothing to be seen, then right back to the mountain scene. We pitched camp right outside the town of Moab which we hoped to explore later. The next day we knocked out our second food buy for this expedition, which was followed by a trip into arches national park which help many great surprises. To us, even the drive through valleys and mountains wasn’t enough. WE NEEDED MORE!!! So we parked at a rest area for lunch and took some time to climb around on some of the great rocks we were surrounded by. It reminded me of my time in Joshua Tree National Park in California.  During lunch hour we had another great surprise of some German chocolate cake to celebrate the birthday of one great group member Mr. Aaron Cabiness. After lunch our tummies may have been full with food, but they were still only almost half full with the beauty and some once of a life time experiences of the National Park.  So we all loaded back up in the van and drove through more amazingness and majestic vistas until we came to a parking lot where there was a trail head to a quarter mile long walking trail through the great rocks we had been seeing from a distance. Many pictures and much indulgent in the pure beauty of the sites later we made were hit with the great chance to eat out at paradox pizza for our teammates birthday which was a blast beyond belief.  The next day we had to make a few stops to try to replace some personal gear that got damaged then, we were on the road again.

      We did some van school, jammed out to some music and slept. After a while we stopped for gas and restrooms. When we came out there was a very nice dog waiting to be pet but, since we did not know the owner we could not pet him.  After a few minutes we found out that he was a stray and bought him a can of dog food to chow down on which he devoured in seconds. Feeling good to have helped the dog we loaded up into the van and headed down the road. At this point in time we had crossed into Arizona and headed for Grand Canyon National Park. We stopped a few more times one of which was really cool in my opinion with it being an awesome Indian reservation.

   Sometime later that day we finally arrived at the National Park and set up camp at a place called Mathers camp ground inside the park limits. With the knowledge of having to pack into the canyon the next day we tried to make it a quick evening and get to bed early.

    The next day we woke up, packed our personal/ group gear and food and then headed out for the canyon. It was about a 45 minute drive to the trail head and by then we were stoked to get going. So we double checked that our gear was ready to go and headed off. After about 20 minutes of hiking I started to feel kind of crappy but I didn't take it into account. A little later my hip (which was operated on 2 years ago from breaking it in 5^th grade) started to give me big problems for this being the most strenuous thing I have done on it since surgery. Along with my hip hurting I started get kicked in the butt by my pneumonia. So after about an hour and a half, maybe a little more, my hip gave out and I didn't feel I could continue. So the team considered the situation and decided to head back. I still feel a bit frustrated by having to do it. After we got back it had started to get dark and we hurried to get camp packed up and eat dinner in a timely fashion.

    The next day we still needed to explore the Grand Canyon in any way we could think of so we decided to hit up the visitors center in the park. When we got to the visitor’s center there was a I max movie about to play which we slipped into and got a lot of good information. After the movie we took a walk on a paved path to view a little bit of the canyon from its rim. Again, as in Utah, many pictures and indulging moments later we, of course, had to visit the gift shop where some of us picked up some souvenirs and where we all bought post cards.

 From not being able to do the hike into the canyon we still had to do some sort of hike. So we looked around and found a nice day hike around the rim of the canyon with magnificent views and vistas. We enjoyed the views, listening to music, and convincing people that we were actually from Australia by using their accent.  We took a bus back where I continued my previously set goal of trying to find Oregon license plates. As many times before we got back to cam and tried to have as quick an evening as possible, more needed that night than any other since we were going to need to wake up at 3:00 am to make it to Vegas to be able to make our flights on time.

  Over all I believe this to be a very successful expedition even if I had to start it off in bed. I learned many good lessons and so much knowledge about a place I believed to be not as grand as it turned out to be.

Halo Playing! By Jake Midgett

Language Arts                     Jake Midgett                 9/20/13

                                                            Funnel

    I started playing Halo since it was first released. I currently play two of their games Halo Reach and Halo 4 their newest game. The campaign for Halo Reach has about 12 levels.

    I started and completed the campaign on legendary, the hardest difficulty. The first level was pretty easy other than trying not to get your armor melted by the phantom’s and ghost’s plasma cannons or by the wraith’s cannon.

    I remember in one level I got an achievement that you had to earn by killing an elite messenger before he escapes. I got this achievement on accident because all I saw was an enemy and decided to try to stick him with a plasma grenade. My plasma grenade throw was off target but the elite ran into it when he tried to escape and he blew up. I remember only one easter egg in the game which is in a mission called Halsey’s Lab. The easter egg can only be done with two people. Both players need the armor ability called “jet pack” to be able to get to see the easter egg. Both players will die but when one player activates one of the two buttons and dies the other player that is still alive needs to wait for the second player to be respawn before activating the second button. Once both buttons are activated they are able to go through a secret passage that will lead them to a circular room that is filled with a bunch of monitors that you can activate to learn more about Bungie (the creators of Halo) and Red vs. Blue a webiseries based on Halo.

     You can also play online against other people over the United States or with your friends. In online mode you have different classes that you can choose from. The main difference about the classes is that they have a different primary weapon or different armor abilities. The armor abilities that you have in online play are Armor Lock (my favorite) Sprint, Hologram, Jet Pack, Evade, Active Camo, and Drop Shield. I mostly use Armor Lock because I love the animation and it makes you invincible for about four seconds. Also in online play you can perform assassinations on people.

    I have also played Halo 4 (now owned by 343 Industries and not Bungie). I have only completed two levels in campaign mode and have started my third level in campaign. I am attempting to complete Halo 4 on legendary. I have stopped playing campaign and have been playing online most of the time. In online play you can assassinate people just like in Halo Reach. The only difference in the assassinations with Halo 4 and Halo Reach is that Halo 4 has different assassination animation moves. There have been multiple times in online play where I am running away from another player and I jump behind him and assassinate him. I have also killed three people in a row with a sniper rifle too. Another online game type is called Spartan Ops. I don’t play it but I know that there is an easter egg is in it. The easter egg is in episode one chapter three. There is a walkway on the right side of the map where there is a lone piece of scrap metal or rock and if you shoot it you will hear the theme to the Red vs. Blue webiseries.

(Harrison Kight) Sonic Origins: The Story of a Blue Hedgehog

My name is Sonic the Hedgehog. I’m the blue hedgehog with an attitude that can run at supersonic speeds. I’ve had several adventures over the past twenty-three years and have met a lot of allies, enemies, and strange creatures. I’ve also learned some cool tactics, collecting gold rings along the way. I remember these journeys very well, and the way that I began my adventures.

It all began in the now-famous Green Hill Zone. I was running as I normally do, when I saw someone flying in the sky. This person, Dr. Eggman, revealed his first plan to create his ultimate empire. As I chased him to his base, I discovered the six mystical Chaos Emeralds: the powerful gems that, once gathered, grant the user unlimited power. After collecting these jewels, I arrived at the doctor’s mechanical base, destroyed his final trap, and brought peace back to Green Hill Zone.

Soon after this, I met an orange fox named Tails. He was a fan of mine, and he decided to join me on my adventures. One afternoon, we discovered that the area was hiding a seventh Chaos Emerald, which Eggman was chasing. He planned to use the emeralds to create a new weapon: the Death Egg. Tails and I ran through the island, eventually regaining the six Chaos Emeralds, along with the mysterious seventh emerald. After arriving on the Death Egg, I confronted the doctor into the core of the station, defeating his final trap, and destroying the Death Egg using my new Super Sonic form.

After briefly departing from my new ally, I found a new adventure on Little Planet, the small moon that orbits the planet. I discovered that Eggman was searching for the Time Stones in an attempt to control time. Upon racing up to the moon, I met Amy Rose, who is obsessed with me. Racing away to the other zones, I saw a blue robot speed past me and kidnap Amy. Much to my surprise, this “Metal Sonic” was a drone that even matched my supersonic speed. I chased the robot throughout the planet, rescuing the Time Stones, and thwarting the mad scientist’s plans again.

While I was away, Tails discovered that the Death Egg had not actually been destroyed, but instead crashed into the Floating Island. Eggman had detected a giant Chaos Emerald inside the island, and planned to use it to rebuild the fortress. Tails and I flew to the island on my biplane, the Tornado, and I zoomed into the scene as Super Sonic. Suddenly, a red echidna caught me off guard and stole the Emeralds. This inhabitant, known as Knuckles, was the guardian of the Floating Island; he thought that Tails and I were thieves. I knew this was a trap set up by Eggman, so when the echidna ran away, Tails and I worked to recollect the Emeralds, avoid Knuckles’ tricks, and reach Eggman’s construction site. Although the doctor briefly re-launched the station, Tails and I defeated his creation, causing the Death Egg to fall yet again. I knew, however, that this was not the end of this adventure.

Upon landing in Mushroom Hill, I discovered a Giant Ring that took me to the “Master Emerald.” This was the giant Chaos Emerald that Eggman was searching for upon my arrival. After encountering Knuckles again, the echidna realized that Eggman was tricking him the entire time. He attempted to stop the doctor from stealing the emerald, but was injured while trying. Knuckles teleported me to Sky Sanctuary, where I rushed to the now-reconstructed Death Egg. I infiltrated the station, and defeated Eggman’s escape robot, returning the Master Emerald to Knuckles. The Floating Island was restored to its home in the sky.

These glory days of adventure were only the beginning of times to come. I met several new allies while saving a city from a strange entity formed by the emeralds. I thwarted a plot to destroy the planet after Eggman discovered the Ultimate Life Form, Shadow the Hedgehog, who soon assisted me with this task. I joined Tails and Knuckles to defeat a reawakened Metal Sonic. After twenty years of these journeys, combined with several others, I’m still going strong to save the world as the fastest thing alive.

Oliver's RV trip

Oliver Sadler

September 26, 2013

                                                            Grand Canyon

                        My family and I flew into Albuquerque New Mexico. We got a cab from the airport to a K.O.A RV rental site. When we acquired our RV, that was the beginning of our travels to the Grand Canyon. We drove to Arizona, and on the way we stopped at a few gift shops. My dad told us “to save our money to buy other things”. I bought a sweet Concho hat at one of them. We visited the Petrified Forest and the painted dessert and a few other historical sights. We finally made it to the Grand Canyon National Park. My family and I set up camp and did some shopping at a General store. I purchased my CAMELBAK there, the blue one I have now.  We set camp and the next morning we went to a viewpoint on the Grand Canyon.  Later in the trip my brother and sister hiked with me on the south rim trail. One day on our campsite an Elk came through the campground, I got some good quality pictures of it.

               

                         Once we were done with the Grand Canyon we traveled to Colorado Durango.  I got my birthday present in Durango, which was a brand new pair of cowboy boots. My aunt Wendy and my uncle Pete joined us on our vacation with their two kids and dog. We camped in the mountains and there was a lake; it was on of the prettiest views I’d ever seen. On the lake my uncle taught, more like tried to teach me how to fly fish, it was fun though. Our family took a trip to an old western town in a valley called Silverton. We ate lunch a cool rustic restaurant, but I can’t remember its name.

Griffin O'Connor Narrative

Griffin O’Connor

Narrative Story

The Camera Card

“C'mon Bradley, I think it's this way!” I said to my friend as we walked through the Wal-mart. We had just been at a convention, and my camera’s photo capacity had already reached it’s limit, so I had to get a new memory card. I found the aisle with the camera equipment, and located the correct card. We grabbed a couple of other things and left, eager to get back in time for that night’s concert. The two of us returned to our hotel and began preparing for the event. I switched out the two memory cards, and put the old one in a pocket on my camera case. Once we were both ready, we met up with Bradley's girlfriend, Lindsay, and went inside the convention center.

The room they had set up for the concert was packed. Dubstep music pounded so loudly that you needed to scream to be heard, strobe lights and lasers flashed, and people screamed and crowded around the stage. I was loving every second of it. About forty-five minutes in, Bradley told me he was leaving. Apparently Lindsay was having a migraine and he wanted to take her back to the hotel. He asked me if I was comfortable with staying by myself, and I told him that I would be fine.

Fifteen minutes after Bradley left, a few people started crowd-surfing. Two tall guys were tossing people onto the crowd. I had always wanted to crowd-surf, so I ran up to them and told them to lift me. They hoisted me up by the waist, and all of a sudden I was on top of the crowd. I glided across their hands for fifteen blissful seconds, while the music blared and the people cheered. Out of nowhere, a large empty hole opened up in front of me. The crowd continued to propel me forward; unaware that there would be no one to catch me. I dropped to the floor. A second after my back landed on the ground; my head snapped back and hit the floor hard.

 Everyone around me gasped, and instantly people were helping me up and asking if I was all right. I told them I would be fine and went to get a bag of ice. I got some from the concession stand, and I located my backpack and left for the hotel, pressing the cold Ziploc against my head.

Out in the parking lot, I took out my camera to take a picture of the convention center. I noticed my camera's old memory card was no longer there. I had taken pictures during the concert, so I figured it must have fallen out then. The thought of losing all of my photos really bothered me. My night ruined, I walked to my hotel feeling anxious and depressed.

The next day, I walked into the convention center and went directly to the lost and found. I told the man there I was looking for a camera memory card. I showed him the one I had bought the day before, so that he knew what it looked like. He walked to the back table and came back a moment later, shaking his head no; they didn't have it. I thanked him anyway and tried to forget about it. Throughout the day, I had a pit in my stomach and the thought of the card being gone forever kept bothering me.

Right before we were going to leave, I went back to the booth and asked again, this time to another person. I showed him the other card too. He went back to the table and looked around for awhile. He turned around and walked back, and I knew he was going to tell me the same thing as the first man: that they didn't have it and that I could come back and check later. But then he held up a small, black, square of plastic, and asked me if that was it. I popped it into my camera, and the pictures that I thought I had lost appeared on the screen. I thanked him and ran back to my friend, the pit in my stomach replaced with relief.

Zackie Chans narrative

Zach Jones                                             

9/27/13

                              Wrestling

  

 My wrestling years started in 5^th grade. I went to the middle school practices even though I wasn’t old enough to join but they had a “little kids group” for those who were looking into wrestling when old enough. I liked it all except for the coach at that time. He was the true definition of a moron. He clearly didn’t care about the success of anyone’s wrestling year besides his sons. He had a jerkish way of saying stuff, didn’t know how to appropriately interact with younger kids or even older kids. So obviously he wasn’t a very good coach. So I took those practices until 7^th grade when I could actually be part of the middle school wrestling team. Fortunately, though the old coach had moved and was replaced with a very good and awesome coach, whose motive was not to make you pissed or be a jerk to you but to make everyone better and succeed at the sport.

    I WAS one of those kids who thought that they were tough, so I believed that I would just go and kick butt, and tear up the mats right off the bat. Man was I wrong. The only thing that I remember from my first match is getting my butt kicked and almost spewing from exhaustion. That’s when I realized that I had a long way to go to get to that kicking butt stage. So I practiced.

   I knew that I was one of the bigger kids on the team so of course I wanted and preferred to wrestle with the younger and smaller kids not realizing that I need to practice with the bigger and older kids to get any better. Finally lying on my back completely flattened after getting taken down by a 210 pound kid that year, I realized that I had been wasting my time with the younger kids.

 So the next year I really took this into consideration. I made an effort to try to wrestling with the bigger kids to try to get as good as I could. And guess what? It paid off with a 4^th place medal at districts and a chance to go to state. But I did as much as I wanted and got as far as I thought necessary in my opinion. 

  I learned many things during my seasons of wrestling. Most are lessons and virtues that are required to get through life and other sports and tasks. You can’t just go into the sport all goofy and inconsiderate. If you approach it this way then you will, like a lot of things have a bad experience and not get very good at what you are trying to perfect.  Second, I went in being all cocky and arrogant. Also like a lot of other situations in life if you go into the activity cocky and arrogant then you will never know what to do and what you need to work on. You can’t assume you know everything about anything. It’s guaranteed that there are multiple things that when asked to perform, related to a task or activity that you believe you know everything about, you will not know the first step in performing the task asked of you.

   So I learned a lot more than just how to wrestle in my years of wrestling. I learned important life virtues. 

Too Close At 70... By Aaron Cabaniss

Aaron Cabaniss

September 27, 2013

Final writing essay copy

Too close at 70…

It was the spring break of 2011. My fellow chorus classmates and I were eager to go enjoy the fun rides and everything that goes along with Disney World. All of us arrived at the school pretty early in order to drive the whole day down toward Orlando, FL. It was a very long ride indeed.

The first day in Disney we decided to venture trough MGM Studios, now renamed Hollywood Studios. There we rode rides like the tower of terror and the rockin’ roller coaster based off of the band Aerosmith. We all enjoyed singing in the Festival Disney competition as well.

There were several things that were out of place though. Such things included our bus driver running over a stop sign and saying: “I thought I ran over a cone.” Other events included him almost side swiping a car on the parkway on the way to Magic Kingdom. These foreshadowing events led to an unfortunate event.

After our trip in Disney we started back to our school parking lot to meet our parents. However, before arriving a horrible event happened.

We were on I-75 north going toward Atlanta when a minivan swerved and spun out of control, crashed into the median, and flipped in the air; everyone was killed. This was all a slow-motion movie-like traumatic scene. The car then came into our lane and caused us to swerve off the road, on to the grass, and crash into the side of an overpass of a bridge going across the interstate. I probably blacked out for a minute or two, I don’t remember. When I came to I could hear everyone screaming, crying, and yelling “Becca! Becca!” Apparently our classmate Becca had left her feet up on the railing of the bus while lying down before the crash and had gone straight through the windshield. She was then airlifted to a hospital near by.

I immediately called my parents to alert them of what had happened. I assured them I was okay. They then called the newscast to ask about any news of a crash outside of Atlanta, but the newscasts had not heard of any such thing. Fox 5 then came out to visit my parents at home and interview them about what they had heard.

All of us who hadn’t had too many injuries were taken out of the damaged bus and onto the bridge where we were checked out by local volunteer firemen. Those who had no sorts of injuries minus a couple of scrapes and bruises were taken to the Dooly county sheriff’s detention center where the community took care of us all.

            After arriving home with each of our parents, we took a cooling down period. This was a great thing to do since everyone on that bus had had a near death experience. I thanked my family for saying a prayer for me as they learned about my experience via my phone call. I have never been so scared in my life. We later learned that the family in the minivan following too closely caused the wreck. That’s why you do not follow close behind anyone when driving, especially at 70 miles per hour.