Bob and Archery, What a Delightful Combination!

            Every summer, I spend between two and nine weeks at my summer camp, and let me just say, the experiences that I have had there are just delightful.

            This past summer, I worked at camp, on “summer staff” as the archery instructor. One of my most delightful experiences over the nine weeks that I was there was when I had the opportunity to teach adults with special challenges how to shoot archery. In particular, I had one camper, let’s call him Bob, who was somewhat limited in the activities that he could do without help. Outside of the archery range, I had found it a bit difficult to communicate with Bob in a way he could understand, so when he came to the range, I questioned whether or not it was safe to give him a bow and arrow.

As I began to explain to Bob how to shoot, I noticed that his eyes widened with each word I said, which I took as being a sign that he was truly interested in shooting. When he first picked up the bow, I showed him how to hold it and what needed to be done to shoot the arrow. Cautiously watching Bob, I let him shoot on his own without my guidance. With perfect form and perfect stance, Bob’s first shot, was a bullseye, and so were the majority of the shots that he took that day. As soon as he saw my reaction as to how proud of him I was, he became extremely excited and opened up more than I had even seen It was this experience that I found most delightful at camp. Not only was Bob’s talent in archery surprising to me, it also made me so incredibly proud of him, especially since he never had done archery before.

It’s delightful moments such as this particular instance that make me so happy to be around adults with special challenges. Even though they might have difficulty with certain activities or tasks, they can also be quite talented with others. So, it’s necessary to give chances to adults with special challenges, they deserve the same opportunity to participate in an activity, just the same as everyone else. Sure, not every activity can be done alone, but it’s important to give them a shot at it. Not only are you able to be proud of them, but also they can be proud of themselves for accomplishing so much. There’s just something about these moments of pride that I find so delightful.  

Life as a Junior at UNE

As a junior at the University of New England, I find the following statement to be very true; college life is an exciting and challenging experience for most students.

            After attending UNE for the past three years, my opinion of college life has definitely changed. My first two years at UNE were definitely more exciting than the past year has been. It’s most likely because there are so many new experiences to have when first coming to college, such as the first college party or first 3am road trip with friends. However, after the first year or two, there seems to be a lack of firsts. Don’t get me wrong, college life is still fun as a junior, it’s just not nearly as exciting.

            As far as the challenging part of college life goes, I definitely find that my junior year has by far the toughest. As a freshman, I made a ton of new friends at UNE, which was pretty exciting. However, over the years many of my guy friends have ended up transferring out of UNE. It’s tough having them leave, but it’s a pain dealing with mostly girls on campus. As a junior, I miss having my guy friends around and being able to do things with them that my friends who are girls don't really have any interest in. In addition to this, I started off my college career being really involved with clubs and organizations, which was pretty easy since all I had to do was show up to meetings, but, it’s expected that once an upper classman,  it's time to head those clubs and organizations. Well, that’s exactly what happened, I gained leadership roles in numerous clubs, resulting with A LOT of work! In addition to club work, schoolwork has also become more challenging. I can remember being able to finish homework as a freshman in only an hour or two. As a junior, an hour or two of homework is pretty much unheard of. Not to mention the fact that the work has become more and more difficult as the years have passed. What also makes junior year so challenging is that graduation is getting closer and closer. So, it’s necessary to start thinking of “real world life,” after college and what needs to be done to prepare for that. Finding internships, making sure every class required has been taken, and getting goods grades, definitely adds to the challenge of junior year. So, it’s definitely reasonable to say that college life is definitely more challenging as a junior.

            

Just Run

For as long as I can remember, running has always played an incredibly significant role in my life.

When I first started playing sports, running was typically used as a punishment for something. Whether that be losing a basketball game that my team should have won or fooling around during soccer practice, my coaches always used running, or more laps, sprints, etc., as a punishment for my teams’ mistakes. I can remember how everyone would moan when coaches would announce we had to do extra running. However, at some point during high school, my outlook on running changed completely.

Running was becoming something that I no longer had a negative aspect of. Throughout high school, in addition to running during practice and the extra running coaches would have the team do as punishment, I began running in the morning before school. It was during this time that my love for running began.

Today, I run basically every day, it’s something that has become as regular as eating breakfast. It’s such a regular thing to do in my routine, that if I don’t get a chance to go running in the morning, the rest of my day just gets thrown off course. I find that I love running for a couple of reasons, first of all, it’s something that is a huge stress reliever for me. When I go on a run, it’s basically like nothing else exists and I just get lost in the rhythm of my footsteps, which is just a great way to get away from the stress. Then, going for a run, no matter how fast, is great exercise. Exercise is one of the more popular reasons for going running, just because it truly is a great workout. The last reason why I enjoy running so much is because of the feeling I have afterwards. “Runner’s high,” as it’s come to be known is a feeling that runners feel after going for a really solid run. After a really solid run and a runner’s high, runners usually feel like they can do anything if they really wanted.

It’s because of these reasons, why I love running so much. I know most think of running as a punishment, but it’s really something to get involved in, the runner's high is definitely a feeling to experience! 

American Cancer Society Fights Back

           The American Cancer Society, ACS, is a health organization whose mission states they intend to “eliminate cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives, and diminishing suffering from cancer, through research, education, advocacy, and service.”

           One way that the American Cancer Society is able to accomplish their mission is by helping people stay well. According to the organization, it is estimated that over seven million people, worldwide die from cancer every year. It is the organizations belief that if they can help people stay well, this number will decrease significantly. The way that ACS is able to do so is by first encouraging people to live healthier lifestyles. A healthy lifestyle can include trying to eat a diet that is limited in saturated fats, live an active lifestyle, and avoiding any tobacco products. The organization believes that if these things are done, then chances of getting caner decrease. Secondly, ACS encourages everyone to get cancer screenings. It is hard to disagree with the fact that the sooner cancer cells are found, the easier it is to treat.

           In addition to helping people stay well, the American Cancer Society also supports those who have been diagnosed, are currently going through treatment, or even those who are caretakers for someone who has cancer. The organization is there for them through every step of their journey, with hopes of making the experience go as well as it can. ACS accomplishes this aspect of their mission by offering programs, services, and resources that can help along this journey to recovery.

           Another way the American Cancer Society accomplishes their mission is by working to find a way to cure cancer. Each year, the organization spends more than $130 million dollars working towards a cure. This amount of money is more than any other non-governmental organization in the United States. The money they use is spent on not only their own research, but also given through grants and scholarships for other researchers to conduct research. Since the organization’s foundation in 1913, 46 of these researchers have later on won the Nobel Prize, based on their achievement in their research. One day, the organization has hopes that this research will allow for an elimination of cancer.

           Lastly, the American Cancer Society fights back as a way to eliminate cancer. The organization has an event, Relay for Life a nightlong event that raises money for cancer research, which is very successful in their way of fighting back. Relay for Life is an event that is not only used to raise money, but also inspire and uplift communities throughout the country. If more people are aware and feel strongly about cancer and cancer research, then the ACS believes that that brings them much close to their overall goal, eliminating cancer.

College: To Do List

Nowadays, many high school graduates often find themselves wondering what college life will be like and how they will be able to manage everything that is expected of them.

            Students have to figure out a way to balance things like classes, sports, clubs, work, and on top of all of this, still maintain a social life. Now, this might sound pretty challenging to do, and some students might feel that it’s not possible to do everything. The truth is, if a student really wants to do everything, they’re going to find a way to. Or, if a student just wants to take classes and have a huge social life, if they really want to, they’re going to find a way to make that happen. The particular experience really depends on the student.

            Personally, I found a way to live a college experience with all of these things: classes, sports, clubs, work, and a social life. It’s a busy life, but I came to college with the mind set that I was going to get as much as I could out of the college experience. That’s exactly what I’ve done, I’ve done well in classes, run for the cross-country team, had leadership roles in multiple clubs, had a job, and found a way to still hang out with my friends.

            In order to manage all of my activities and responsibilities, I’ve found that making to do lists, having calendars, and staying organized, allows me to get everything accomplished. I would have to suggest doing this for any new college student. No matter what type of experience a college student is looking for, they can most like benefit from staying organized. It just makes life a lot easier and allows students to get exactly what they want out of their college experience.

Greatest Movie of the Year, The Descendants

The Descendants, starring George Clooney, tells the story of a father who tries to help his two daughters cope with their dying mother. The movie has a very gloomy theme, yet throughout the entire story, there are constant moments of humor.

The actors do a fantastic job playing the role of each of their characters. Whether it's George Clooney, playing Matt King, the incredibly busy business man, now acting as a single parent or Amara Miller, Scotty, Matt King's eight year old daughter, each portrays their characters terrifically.

In addition to the acting, what makes this movie so great is the script. The dialogue was so perfectly written, that not once is there a line that seems awkward or out of place. Each conversation seems natural, allowing the audience to get lost in the film, almost as if it were real life. The fact that the script was so artistically written is the main reason why The Descendants is as good as it is.

The only downside to this movie is that the father, Matt King is too nice at points. At one point in the film, he meets the man who has been having an affair with his wife. Instead of arguing with the man or punching him in the face, an expected response, King is very relaxed about the situation. He even acts like nothing is wrong when the man’s wife is around. So, King’s reaction in this instance is probably the only downside to the movie, just because it is slightly unrealistic.

Keyboard Interrupts Professor's Lecture

"B as in bad boy," a malfunctioning keyboard causes disruption in Marketing class 

Thursday afternoon, in Tom Leach’s Marketing class, the computer keyboard malfunctioned, causing a significant disturbance to the class.

The class began just like every Marketing class had for the past couple of weeks, with students giving presentations on a certain brand or company. The students were able to finish their presentations without any difficulty whatsoever, using the computer. However, when Leach attempted to use the computer, he immediately encountered trouble. Each time he tried to log into his email to download the class slides, the letter “b” would be inserted into the log in box. This was problematic because Leach could not download the file without logging in and knew that without the slides, it’s likely that his class would not have gone as smoothly.

Once Leach realized that he wasn’t getting anywhere with trying to solve the problem himself, he decided he should call IT department. Leach called several times before he was finally able to reach someone from the department. To make things worse, the person on the other end of the phone was having trouble understanding Leach’s problem. From what students say, it seems to be that IT could not understand the letter that was being inserted. So, in order to get the message across, Leach had to say “’B’ as in bad boy” in order for IT to understand. At this point, Leach had the entire class laughing, the student’s must not have been prepared for this combination of words to be used. Once the call ended, Leach began lecturing the class without any slides, just his notes.

Shortly afterwards, a work study student stopped by and switched the faulty keyboard with a new one. With this new keyboard, Leach was able to go on with his lecture as planned, unfortunately with this time loss, it’s likely he did not get as far into it as he had hoped.