Ballet is Actually Factually Harder than Basketball

Some people may say that basketball is harder than ballet, um, they're wrong. In ballet you have to understand French. In ballet you also have to be strong and flexible. Also, boys and girls who play basketball do not believe that ballet could be competitive. Ballet is in fact harder than basketball. 

In ballet, you have to understand French because in some ballet schools the teacher ONLY speaks

French. All of the steps in ballet are in French, so you have to understand it to know what to do. Also, if the teacher tells you to do something, you have to understand the language to demonstrate it. So, to be a successful ballerina you have to understand French.

You have to be flexible and strong if you want to be a good ballet dancer. In some ballet exercises, the teacher makes you hold a step on rise for a very long time, so you have to have leg strength, core strength, and arm strength. If you want to have good turns, perfect plies, and beautiful grande jetes, you have to have fairly good turnout. Turnout is how far you can rotate your hip sideways. If you want to get a good part in a famous performance, directors will be focusing on how well you turnout and how long you can balance, how high you can jump, or how fast you can turn, which is all based on strength and ability. So to be a good ballerina, you have to be strong and flexible. 
  "1. Dance is hard. – No dancer ever became successful riding on their natural born talents only. Dancers are artists and athletes. The world of dance today is akin to an extreme sport. Natural ability and talent will only get us so far. Dancers must work hard and persevere. Dancers give years of their lives plus their sweat, tears and sometimes blood to have the honor and pleasure of performing on stage." - Doskocil

Most basketball players don't think that ballet is competitive, well, it is. For example, there's a TV show about a competitive dance team, the ALDC (Abby Lee Dance Company). A ballerina from that team holds the world record for most pirouettes in a row, which is about 51 or 52. Also, if you want to get a certain part in a show, you have to compete against the other dancers to get that part. You actually compete against yourself everyday to be better than you were before. Ballet is actually very competitive. 

Ballet is harder than basketball both mentally and physically. Ballerinas have to understand French. They have to be flexible and strong. Lastly, ballet is actually factually very competitive. I really hope basketball players think twice about how easy basketball really is compared to ballet. 

My picture is of Sophia Lucia, the ballerina that holds the world record for most turns in a row - 


Citation: "15 Truths About Being a Professional Dancer." The Portland Ballet Oregon 15 Truths About Being a Professional Dancer Comments. N.p., 22 Jan. 2013. Web. 07 May 2015 

Island House

I was sitting at home watching Netflix when my mom yelled at me to put on warm clothes. I asked why and she said that it was because we were going to go check out this house for a friend. This house is on an island. I was really not happy about it because I was really comfortable. So I got up and put on my wool socks, my jacket, and my hat and slowly walked down the stairs.

"Mom do I have to go?" I whined.

"Yes. Now go get in the truck," my mom was tired with my attitude.

"Ugh. Fine," I walked over and hopped in the truck.

We rode eight minutes in the boat to this little island and tied up to the dock. My dad's friend that was with us is a real estate guy. He told me that we were going to help him clean the house up for his clients. My brother and I were annoyed and grumpy. We walked up the ramp and waited for our friend to unlock the door. It was really cold inside. 

"Ugh. It's freezing in here," I whined. 

"Go explore," my mom said. She was too busy looking around to listen to me. 

I ran down the stairs and went outside. My brother was already outside looking for a squirrel to kill. I got my Uggs all dirty, so I was even more annoyed. 

"Ugh, this is so boring," I was not happy to be here. 

"This is so fun!" my brother yelled. He was loving this place. 

"Hey look. There's another house up there," I pointed to a big red lodge. 

"Oh yeah. Let's not go up there," my brother said. He was always worrying about everything. 

"You don't have to but-" my mom called for us to come back inside.

I rolled my eyes and walked back down the hill to the house. My dad asked us to come look at the rest of the rooms. I walked in one of the rooms and then looked in the other. When I came out of the third room, my mom had this weird smile on her face. 

"Hey guys, which room do you want?" my dad asked us. 

It took me a little while before I finally understood what was going on. I screamed really loud and pointed to the room I wanted. I was so excited, oh my gosh. 

"OMG! Is this really ours?!" I screamed. 

I hugged my parents and ran up the stairs. My uncle and our friend were listening and heard my scream. They knew about the house the whole time. I was so not excited to go on this trip, but this was amazing. 

"Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!" I just ran around thanking my parents and our friends.

"You're welcome!" My mom was as excited as I was. 

I turned to my brother,"Clay, isn't this like so awesome?" 

"Yeah! I can't wait to bring my friends here and shoot squirrels," he said. 

I rolled my eyes and walked over to my room. I sat down in the rocking chair and imagined my finished room. We definitely couldn't leave this room looking like this.  

My dad walked into my room with Clay, "So, what do you think, guys?" 

"This is so cool, dad! Thank you so much!" I said. 

Clay said, "Yeah, this is the best surprise ever!" 

"Good, I'm so glad you like it." my dad said. 

We locked up the house and jumped in the boat. We were headed back to our regular house. Since we got the house, we've taken out all of the old furniture, put new stairs in, and refurnished the whole house. We might even open it up to fishermen and island vacationers. That day was really cool for me. 

I got my picture from: http://images.macworld.com/images/legacy/2007/06/images/content/0530sitkabay3.jpg   

Book Review: lll

If I Stay, by Gayle Forman, is about a girl and her family who get in a terrible car accident. Mia's family dies and she has to choose between life and death. Over the course of one day, Mia gets to look at what she'll be leaving if she chooses to die. She also gets to see what she'll have if she stays. She's reminded of the past, she is aware of the present, and realizes her future of being an orphan or an angel. Throughout the whole book Mia remembers past experiences with her family and her friends. She remembers the first time she played her cello, or the first time she met Adam, her boyfriend, or memories of family experiences. She remembers family experiences, like bonfires and concerts. She remembers when Adam brought her to her first Yoyo Ma concert. She also gets to see what's going on at the hospital, what her family talks about, and what happened to her mom, brother, and father. She's in a sort of ghostly state, she can't feel pain, but she can hear and touch things. No one can see her, feel her, or hear her. In the end, she makes the hardest decision of her life; she chooses to live.  

A theme in If I Stay, is that life is full of tough decisions. When Mia's family gets in a car crash, Mia has to make the hardest decision of her life. "It's the hardest thing I will ever have to do" (234). If she chooses to live, she will be an orphan. If she dies, she will be with her family. "I'm not sure I want to wake up" (164). Mia doesn't want to leave her family by choosing to live, but she doesn't want to leave the people that care about her on Earth. "How am I supposed to decide this?" (1). Making tough decisions is a very important theme in this book. 

I highly recommend this book to other middle school and high school students. Gayle Forman wrote other books too like Where She Went, Just One Day, Just One Year, and Just One Night. I'm reading Where She Went, which is the sequel to If I Stay, and it's a really good book.    

    

http://ifistay.com/im/IF-I-Stay-Movie-Tie-In_3D.png 

DYP Should be Every Year

Last week we had DYP, or Discover Your Potential, at Blatchley Middle School. We got to choose four classes that we wanted to participate in for four days. We participated in those classes everyday, and on the last day we got to showcase what we learned. DYP is an amazing thing to have at school, but the only problem is that it happens every other year.

We got unlucky because, as 7th graders, the grade above and below us get DYP twice. We only get it once. So I think that we should have it every year. DYP is a great way to help kids get an idea about their future, and make it fun. We could raise some more money with fundraisers and that money would go to DYP classes.

DYP is very inspiring to students and some students would have more classes to discover, while others only have one chance. So I think that if we had more fundraisers, more dances to raise money, and just the cooperation of volunteers, we could have DYP every year. If we had DYP every year, there would be an equal amount of chances for students to discover their potential, no one would be upset over how unfair it may be. It would be great for everyone to enjoy DYP every year.

DYP is a great thing to have in schools and an awesome opportunity to learn new things. That's why we should have DYP again next year.

http://flsweb.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/DSC_4561.jpg

Starbucks Is My Heaven

   I was in California and we stopped to get a drink at a place called Starbucks. It was seriously my favorite place to get a snack after that, and it still is. At Starbucks, there's something for everyone. If there was a Starbucks everywhere in America, Starbucks would make a lot more money. Also, a lot more kids would get their daily energy or caffeine and that would make them much more energized or motivated to tackle everything they had to do that day. Those are my three main reasons why there should be a Starbucks everywhere in America.
   There's something for everyone at Starbucks. Some kids like caffeine. Some kids like healthier choices like bagels. Others like A LOT OF SUGAR. That's my evidence of why there's something for everyone.

   It would earn a lot more money for Starbucks. Starbucks would be thriving! Starbucks would have enough money to start their business in other countries like Africa. Lastly, Starbucks would have enough money to maintain or keep all of its shops running and doing well. That's my evidence for why this would help earn money for Starbucks.
   A lot more kids would have their energy for the day. Kids could have coffee in the morning to be motivated for school. It could be a delicious day-starter for adults at work. If you're feeling down or tired, go to Starbucks to lighten your mood. That's my evidence for why this would help people to be more energized/motivated. 
   There should be a Starbucks everywhere in America. There's something for everyone. It would earn a lot more money for Starbucks. More kids would have more energy drinks/snacks. To conclude my essay, the most important thing here, is that there should be a Starbucks everywhere in America.  
http://www.starbucks.com/  http://data1.whicdn.com/images/111038029/thumb.jpg

Book Review 1: The Giver

   The Giver, by Lois Lowry, is about a boy named Jonas who was chosen to become the next receiver in his community. Jonas was chosen to be the next receiver at the Ceremony of 12. He works with the Giver, a man who was the previous receiver, who teaches Jonas the memories of the past. Jonas learns about love, war, and color and discovers all of these new things that used to be,  After Jonas learns about what really happens when you're sent to Elsewhere, he tries to save Gabriel, his little brother. Jonas' dad will have to send him to Elsewhere, which to the rest of the community is just like taking a permanent vacation because they don't know what death is. Jonas tries to explain these new feelings to his friends but they don't understand. The only way to share these "feelings" is to die, so that's what Jonas wanted to do. So, one night Jonas took Gabriel and they ran away to Elsewhere. After days of traveling, they found the sled on the top of the snow covered hill. They rode down the hill to hear music and laughter.
   One main theme in this book is to feel emotion. An example of how this theme is shown is when Jonas learns about love. "I love you, Jonas" (202). Jonas has a little brother named Gabriel that he loves very much and wants to save from going to Elsewhere. He gave him memories. "He was not aware of giving the memory; but suddenly he realized it was becoming dimmer" (147).                

   Another main theme in this book is discovering new things. An example of that is when Jonas notices little differences in his friend's hair. "As he looked up toward her going through the door, it happened; she changed" (114). Jonas learned about war, love, and color. Jonas wanted to share these new feelings with his community because they only knew happy, sad, angry; the basic emotions. The community couldn't understand without the memories. Since Jonas gave Gabriel some of the memories, now the Giver, Gabe, and Jonas are the only ones who could feel real emotion.
   I highly recommend this book to other 7th graders because it's a nice and caring book with a plot that you can imagine in your mind while you're reading. I know that there are a couple books that come after the The Giver, the titles are: Gathering Blue, The Messenger, and Son. I would also recommend these books as well. This book shows how boring it would be without emotion and I think that's an important lesson. Again, I would recommend this book to other 7th graders because it's a nice and caring book.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Giver_(film)#mediaviewer/File:The_Giver_poster.jpg