Have you experienced a death in your family? Well if you have it is very possible that you blame yourself. You might blame yourself because you have no answers, which can make you feel discouraged.

During his life he spent a lot of time in his walker or sleeping. Most of the time I was at school, but I tried to spend the most time with him as I  could.  On one of the days I was home on the weekend he slept on my arm until the point where I could not feel it anymore.   Another time was when we set off to a hotel in Lake George and went swimming. He was wearing his blue semi-inflated floaty, and I was swimming normally; as a joke I had him dunk me under the water. PLOOP.  My head went under like a bowling ball in the water, and his face lit up in excitement like he invented the wheel or electricity.     

On November 10, 2014 it was a cold but beautiful day. I went to school and did some math.  When I finally went home, my mom picked me up, not so enthusiastically.  Her face was as pink as a chery and blushed, but I did not think anything of it. I nudged in, and all my saddened family was there. I parked my stuff down and plopped down on the couch. 

“Hey Bud, come here, please." So I walked in the kitchen packed with people, and my mom said in a confused voice, “Alex, I have some bad news, your brother just passed away." I felt the pain of the news, and I felt it was my fault because it was so hard to bear the loss, so I tried to blame it on myself. Then the tears were coming to life and running down my face like Usain Bolt running the hundred meter. I ran into my room and balled my eyes out, trying to escape what I just heard. One reason that I blamed myself is the sadness of losing him.

There are a couple ways that helped me overcome blaming myself.  When I started socializing I did not think about anything. I found this out by going and playing with my friends or playing video games; this helped me cope with my emotions. One example is I went to the store to get some food as one would and I saw one of my friends there. We got talking about this new game that came out recently. It was Uncharted 4 that we both had; I had the first canon mission done, and we rambled on until our moms said, "let’s go, we have to shop.”  That was the best memory that I had from getting over blaming myself.    From this day forward  we go to the cemetery on Sundays, holidays, and birthdays, another instance that helped me with getting over the feeling of blaming myself because it got me a chance to "see him” again; until this day we do it consistently. 

I felt in the beginning of the news that I was alone and I had no answers, so I blamed myself, and that should not be the case if you're going through anything like what I went through.    There are lots of ways to get away from blaming yourself. I learned that you should not blame yourself about something you can not control.

 

 

-Alex

 

Have you ever stressed yourself out about something you can’t control? Sometimes you need to stress, but sometimes it only makes things worse.  Some people get stressed about everything; others stress about barely anything. Is it better to stress or not to stress? Well, in this situation, I did stress…

It was a stormy and grey Wednesday evening. I was calmly sitting at my desk doing schoolwork and listening to the heavy rain drops relinquish on my windows and roof, and I could hear the wind dancing with the swaying trees. The lightning exploding behind the clouds made the whole sky light up. Roaring thunder blew up the sky. The glowing screen of my chromebook switched from my homework to a small dinosaur and the words, no connection. Suddenly, a blaring and heartstopping boom pummeled my ears. The house viciously trembled, and so did I. It was like an earthquake. The lights flickered off, and a blanket of darkness circled around me. Was that thunder? No, this noise was way too loud to be thun- I didn’t have time to finish my thought before I heard my dad yelling.  “GET IN THE BASEMENT, NOW!” he shouted continually.

Legs shaking, heart pounding, I sprinted to the stairs. My heart was beating like a drum, but it was not making an enjoyable tune. It felt like my heart was trying to free itself from my chest. My legs felt numb as I swiftly flew down the two flights of stairs. I skipped over most of the steps. My mom, my brother and I were in the dark, freezing basement. My dad was looking to see what had happened, the frigid floor biting at my bare feet. I heard a clicking noise, and the lightbulb from a sage green electric lantern dully radiated light, making the basement glow with soft, creamy white light and creating hard shadows. Within a few minutes the power flickered back on, and my mom meticulously went upstairs.

I sat on the unwelcoming basement floor. The smooth, cement floor was as cold as ice, but I barely noticed. I was trying to calm myself down, but my legs were still vigorously shaking. What was that noise? I couldn’t grasp what was happening. The lights flickered out but turned back on a few seconds later.

“Kids, you can come back up now!” my mom shouted; she was wearing the yellow rain coat that previously belonged to my grandma. I cautiously walked up the stairs. I could still hear the thump thump of the massive rain and the wind thrusting the trees. I was almost to the top of the stairs when I heard another blaring BANG. This wasn’t as loud as the noise I heard earlier but was still earsplitting. I ran back to the basement, millions of scenarios rushing through my head on what had happened and what would happen next.

After about ten long, tedious minutes, my parents said we could come back up, and this time it was truly, finally over. As I walked up to the top of the stairs I saw a humongous tree pressed against the top of my house, branches going every which way in my yard and another tree that had crashed into my shed roof. My deck railing was done for. My mom went out the front door and ran into the backyard. I stopped at the door, slipping my crocs onto my numb feet. Then I followed my mom. What would the house look like from the outside? I thought.

As we anxiously turned the corner into my backyard I looked at the tree in awe. Sap covered the grass and made sounds when you walked. The air was heavy and damp. The smell of wet lumber wafted through the air. It was surreal. My whole backyard was covered either by the astounding tree or the gigantic branches. I could see the tree pressed against my house, and I could feel the stress pressed on my chest as apprehensive thoughts churned in my head; What if we have to move? How long will it take to fix this? Where's my dad? I meticulously walked through my yard to get to where my mom was standing, and as I calmed my nerves, I realized that everything was going to be okay.

When I think about it now, I realize that I acquired something from that experience. I learned that you can’t stress about the things you can’t control. Sometimes when you are thrown in a bad situation and you are stressed out, you need to slow down and think, Is stressing out going to help or hurt this situation? In my case it was just going to make me even more on edge than I already was. Sometimes stress is good, but in my case it didn’t help at all.

 

 

-Ella

 

 

Are you a person who knows a lot about tanks? Are you a person who is a tank nerd like every war historian in the whole entire world ? If so, do I have the game for you!

World of Tanks is a free online tank game where you play with random people online on your team, fighting against random online people on a different team. This game is only available on PC, console, and mobile. You first play as an early low tier of WWII light tanks and then go through a high tier of very powerful modern Cold War tanks when you keep playing the game.

The game has ten countries that a lot of people like, which are America, Russia, China, Germany, Japan, Italy, Czechlosvodkia, Sweden, Poland, Great Britain, and France. Whatever country you choose will always be a good one because when you keep playing the game you get to buy better high-tier tanks.

The only way you could buy better high tier tanks is from silver coins and research stars. They both can help you upgrade your tanks and buy other high tier tanks. The only way you could actually get research stars and silver coins are from playing matches.

There is also another different type of coin, which is gold coins. Gold coins are coins that you could use to buy premium tanks in different countries. You can only get these from legit buying them with your debit or credit card if you want to get gold coins.

There are different types of tanks when you keep playing the game. These tanks are light tanks, medium tanks, heavy tanks, tank destroyers, and artillery tanks. All of these tanks have many problems, but they are still very good tanks when you get good at it. The only thing you need to worry about is your space, and you will always need to hide, or else you will easily get destroyed by other tanks fast if you don’t hide fast.

The secret way of surviving every match you play will always be corners and buildings. Corners and buildings will always be your friends, so you need to get used to them because they will always help you hide somewhere so that the enemy doesn’t see you.

In conclusion, you could get good at playing the game even when you are new at it. The reason why this is an important hobby for me is that I have always wanted to have really learned how to drive and play as tanks with other people instead of myself online because it’s always more fun when I am playing it with other people. Now get yourself on your tanks and start playing, Soldier, because this is going to be the most fun game you have ever seen in your whole entire life.

 

 

-Michael

 

At some point, we have all recorded something. I really like to record videos. So when I realized that youtubers also like to record videos, I decided to try being a youtuber. My first video on youtube was unusual. It was me trying out some candy.

“Here you go,” my brother said as he handed me the small, delicious, and sugary purple cube. It was a sour head but not really sour. As it went into my mouth, I knew this was really good. The flavor mixed in with the sourness, and they worked perfectly together. I savored it as long as I could until it got smaller and smaller, then gone.

Next was another sour head, it was a sticky, blue ball full of sourness. When I tried it, the sourness got to me. It felt like time was slowing down, and my tongue was stinging a lot. I really wanted to spit it out, but I didn't. I kept on pushing, and then I finally swallowed it. It was one big journey in one tiny, sour ball.

The final candy we tried was a sour gummy worm. It was blue at the front and slowly faded to red at the end. It felt rubbery, and as soon as I opened the bag, I knew this was going to be delicious. The smell of it was sweet, and as soon as I tasted it, it was absolutely marvelous. The blue raspberry was perfectly mixed with the cherry. The texture was like a gummy, and it wasn't sour at all!

Now looking back at it, I could tell that this was definitely an awesome experience. I had a lot of fun trying out all of the sour candies. I was nervous trying out the new candies for the first time, but I don't regret trying it at all! If you're nervous about something, try it out, and you really won't regret it!

 

 

-Ian

 

Imagine you are in a race, at the final 50 yards, toe to toe with your competitor. Everything comes down to this. Your fierce training, your practices, your workouts. All you need is that final 50 yards. Your heart starts rapidly pounding faster than ever. The fresh scent of grass is no longer there, as the only thing you can smell now is your overworked body boiling with heat. Your legs start aching monstrously, but your brain keeps yelling, keep going! That’s the same repetitive feeling I get every time I am in a race. It’s just the excitement and the competition of it that brings it alive. Some say running is a hobby or an activity, but I see it as a test, or as a way to express my full energy and focus.

When I was little, I loved to run. Like most ordinary kids, I was energetic and full of laughter. Right when I ran my first mile at the beginning of third grade, I knew it was going to be my passion. Every time I ran, even sometimes when it was for fun, I always tried my hardest. I wanted to prove that hard work and dedication can put me in the right mindset to achieve.

I ran my first official 5k in the early fifth grade. It was one of the most memorable days.  At that time, I didn’t really understand how to be put into the right mindset, or how to keep a good pace. All I knew to do was to run. Once the whistle blew, I took off, zooming past everyone in a flash. At only the first minute of it, I was already dead tired. One by one, everyone started to pass me. I thought to myself, what was I doing wrong? Why am I getting so tired when we haven’t even passed the first mile? One minute after another, I got slower and slower, until I was stuck at the back. When the shiny white finish line was finally in sight, I used all of my remaining strength and flew past the finish line with a time of 27 minutes.

After that point, all I wanted to do was get better. I had one thing in my mind, and that was to beat my time in the 5k. I practiced and practiced both on a treadmill and outside. Days went by. Then weeks. And then months. As time flew, my focused mind was set and ready for my next task: to beat my personal record.

The time had finally come. It was the next year, and I had signed up for another 5k. I trotted up to the starting line, feeling more ready than ever. The whistle blew, and without any hesitation, I was off. Prepared and ready, I zoomed through the first mile. I was extremely eager to get this personal record. The sun beamed at me, blinding my eyes with inevitable force. I could hear the calm rustles of the colorful leaves scattered around the side of the race course. Side issues started filing into my body. Cramps, aches, and overall pain. I slowed down a bit, but I knew that a little weakness was not going to stop me, so I zoomed past the second mile and was now on the final one. I ignored my surroundings and used all of my remaining force to charge through the finish line, like I always did, and got a time of 22 minutes. I had beaten my record by five whole minutes. After that day, I continued to do the same thing. My passion for this sport has gotten stronger and more important. Mile after mile, race after race, I got better and better. Sometimes I would gain some seconds, sometimes I would lose some seconds. All I knew was that I was trying my hardest, and that was all that mattered to me.

Despite the overall dread and tiredness running can give you, it will always come out on a positive note. The power of competitiveness and perseverance brought me to where I am today as a runner. I have learned so much from every race, and from every practice. No matter how hard it is, or how hard it can be, at the end of the day, I will always come out being glad I did it. That is the true version of running that really motivates me to keep pushing myself to my limits.

 

 

-Young

 

 

 

Have you ever had a certain ability, talent, or hobby that’s either rare or completely unique to you? A rock collection, maybe one rock from each state you’ve been to? What about being able to name all the countries of the world? Have you ever been able to draw so well that you can make an exact replica of The Mona Lisa? For me, it’s none of those. It’s not a kind of hobby or even something that I’m really good at. For me, it’s simply being left-handed.

I liked baseball, and I liked practices. After one particular practice, my coach asked me how I held my glove and bat. I told him that I held my glove in my left hand and the bat on my right side. I asked why he had asked, and he answered that usually, when the bat was on one's right side, they were usually right handed, and held the glove in their right hand, and the same vice versa. I thought about this on the way home, and as I drank water from my bottle, I noticed that I held it with my right hand, even though my dominant hand is left. I started to notice that maybe I was not solely a left-handed person.

I was always more passionate about tennis than I was baseball. Tennis was also something that helped me become more aware of both my hands. As lessons progressed, I was taught to serve and hit the ball, but every lesson I couldn’t help but remember baseball and how I held the bat one way and the glove another. And after that day, the first thing I thought of when I held things was, What hand is it in? Are other people holding it in the same hand? It also helped me to get a small advantage when it came to playing opponents. Now that I always thought to myself what hand they used, I was able to hit the ball in a way where they would have to use their non-dominant hand, which gave me a slight advantage.

I started to think about all of the things that I hold. Swords, rackets, bats, utensils, and soon I came to realize that maybe I’m not somebody who can just use my left hand. And now that I’m aware of this, I’m more aware of myself. What hand do you use? Your left hand? Your right hand? Maybe a mix of both? Start to notice this, and you’ll find there’s a lot more to you than you’ve ever known before.

 

-Paarth

 

Have you ever discovered a hobby that you couldn’t live without? I lived my life for 11 years not realizing there was a missing puzzle piece. Not realizing that I could be doing something different, but I wasn’t. That little puzzle piece was considered kayaking.

I started kayaking last summer. But it’s not that simple. As all of us finished shoving and cramming our last suitcases into the trunk of the car,  we hit the road. After about an hour of impatient waiting, we had finally arrived. We made our way down the steep, windy driveway until we arrived at a small little wood hut, deep in the woods of Paradox Lake. This cabin was owned by one of my mother’s former work friends. It is one of the cutest little lakes you will ever lock eyes with. It was a very long lake, yet it was skinny. The Sun reflected off the crystal clear water like a mirror. The Sun was beaming down on me, and I started to feel sweat riding down my forehead.

Before I even had the thought of putting my swimming trunks on, I saw my brother already off and riding on his kayak. He looked like a child lost at sea. I was able to see the entire lake from where I was located. It felt like staring into a painting. I felt like a king atop my palace. The pleasant aroma of wood shot up my nostrils after I walked inside. After I located the bathroom, I threw on my swimming trunks and rushed out the door. I took in the beauty of the forest during my stroll to their own personal dock. The wood creaked like a bird as I made to the end of the dock, and I jumped right in. My body scrunched up right as I made contact with the water; it was very chilly water. As I lay afloat in the water, I noticed my brother was still off and kayaking. I did not have the guts to go out that far where the mysterious water would lay below me. After my brother was done, he walked up to me and said that I should try to kayak. I firmly said no. There was no chance that I would confront my extreme fear of deep waters and even make an attempt to kayak. Well, I had the wrong mindset at the time.

After about an hour of my brother bugging me about being afraid to kayak, I finally gave in and told him that I would try it. And boy did I! Once I started paddling, the missing puzzle piece fell right into place. It felt like something that should’ve been done a while ago. It was remarkable! Not many words could describe how it felt. I was off and gliding through water. I layed in my kayak for a minute, gazing upon the beauty that I had discovered. I went up through a very tiny bay and paddled around an island full of green. I didn’t want to stop. The pain in my arms from all the paddling was blocked out from the immaculate feeling in my mind. I might never experience something that felt so great. Once the cabin dissapeared, I was not worried at all. That is the magic about kayaking. You can just retrace your footsteps. It was an almost indescribable moment. Kayaking is the complete package. I finally made my way back until I saw the wood cabin atop the steep, green hill. Kayaking is a crucial arm exercise. It is fun. But it is also very relaxing.

Fast forward to today, and kayaking is very involved in my life. But it couldn’t be done without this experience. That is why life isn’t a journey if you don’t try new things.   

 

 

-Dylan