iWrite: Jack Humphries

Technology has been and always will be a double-edged sword. Its' ability to immerse us in a constant stream of information is both a gift and a curse. Its' impact is nothing less than the death of boredom. And its' creation has abated the annoying toils and troubles in our daily lives, but at what cost. What if the nuisances eliminated by technology were more trails and tribulations that toils and troubles.  Thus are some of the questions that Technology creates.

In answering these questions you must ask yourself what role technology plays for you. To me technology acts as a diversion, a tool, and a crutch. Even while I'm writing this blog post I'm listening to music, watching YouTube videos, and tapping into the infinite source of information and ideas found online. This exposure to technology allows me to escape from the real world.

Even though technology allows me to escape from reality, it also keeps me anchored into my life. I use it to plan my day by recording homework assignments in my phone, texting my friends to see when and where we are meeting up, and using the Internet for pretty much everything I do. This versatility of technology has allowed it to seep into every part of my life and like a sponge I have absorbed it, using it in any and every way possible. It's likened to the ultimate Swiss army knife. Adapting to what every we need it to be and expediting our problems wherever it goes. 

Technology, although great, is also addicting. The same usefulness described above has allowed it to dominate our lives and cultures. Like addicts we crave it and would go into withdrawal without it. I know I'm addicted at least. I get irritable out of boredom without its entertainment, and go out of my way to make sure I have access to my phone at all times. 

This dependency isn't necessarily a bad thing though. It's having a one-sided dependency with Technology that is harmful. In my opinion you can never have too much moderation. In technology this moderation comes to having a balance between using it as a diversion and a tool. Even more important though is having a balance between the trials and tribulations of the real world and the toil free/ trouble free world of technology.

iWrite: Zac Byrd

Technology allows me to achieve tasks at a faster rate.  I can unlock my phone and have immediate access to the internet, social media, texting, and sports.  I can stream live concerts, broadcasts, church sermons, and sporting events from anywhere I want.  Alarms can be set to tell me who texted me and at what time they texted me.  I can prioritize sports updates, television shows, and new emails by allowing them to pop up on my screen when they are a day, a hour, or a minute away. 

Instead of waiting to find out about all this information it is right at my fingertips.  I come home and know what is going halfway across the world and what I need to do that night.  This has made all my activities quicker and easier to manage.  A project that could have taken me hours to research in a library can take 30 minutes researching from home on a laptop.

Because of that I have had more free time to practice my art form.  A few minutes of extra free time isn’t a lot, but after awhile it adds up.  This added leisure time makes my schedule more organized.  I have more time to work on assignments and practice my trumpet.  I get information and tasks done much faster with the technology of today.

 

Blog 2 IWrite: Erin Holbrook

Technology simplifies things. That is the main reason why everyone loves it.Years ago, I might have worried about dropping my grocery list, and then having to make another trip because i forgot the eggs. Now I can keep it on my phone. I don't have to worry about making it to my yoga class on time, because I have an app on my cell phone that functions as a yoga instructor whenever I want it. Traffic is bad and I might miss my show? That's okay, I set it to record. I can't understand a concept? No time to find a tutor, I'll just watch some videos online. I forgot the name of the movie I wanted to see? I'll just Google it. Thanks to technology, lots of problems that people would have had in the past seem to disappear.

And sure, all those problems were small. But still, in another time It would have taken too much time to find a tutor, and I probably wouldn't have bothered. I would have had to waste time reading a TV guide to try to find the next time the show I missed would repeat. Current technology makes it possible to do many things in an instant that would take hours manually. 

All of this makes for streamlined chores, and a more flexible schedule. It gives me more time to enjoy my yoga class or my TV shows. I have more time to learn a concept and more easily accessed information at my fingertips. With my schedule easily organized and managed, I have much more free time and much more control over what I do. 

IWrite: Jasa Harris

Technology has greatly affected my life by allowing me to stay in touch with my family, to manage my schedule and to complete tasks more efficiently. Technology has allowed me to stay in touch with all of my cousins, I meet a new one every year at family reunions. We can message each other, send pictures and just talk and get to know one another from the convenience of our living rooms. We become closer and I get to develop a relationship with all of my family. And even though I only see some of them once a year I feel like I really know all of them. Also, technology has allowed me to better manage my schedule mostly because I can re-watch shows on the internet. Without this option I would have to schedule everything I do around a select few shows that I refuse to miss, but now I know I can miss this one episode and go watch it the very next day during a time that I’m less busy. Finally, technology has allowed me to complete certain tasks more efficiently, like looking up information. Through the internet I can look up phone numbers, addresses, store hours with one search, but without the internet I would have to look up the business in the phone book and then call them and then get the needed information, a much more time consuming way. And with the internet I can look up things to help with homework and projects, you have pretty much every resource on the internet, but from a book you can only get so much about your topic, and you only get one point of view, which means you’ll have to go through several books to fully develop your project. Without technology I would probably struggle with time and schedule management and I would hardly know any of my family. 

Blog 2 iWrite- Haley Longworth

Overall, technology has had a positive affect on my life. For one, it has made it much easier to contact people. Instead of having to write a letter and wait for it to be delivered, you can send a speedy text and have a reply within a minute. Also, social media networks allow you to see what your friends are doing while you're not physically with them, whether it be through pictures, tweets, or statuses. One of my most used and loved possessions is my phone; I can contacts friends and family, get on my favorite apps like Instagram and Pinterest, listen to music, use the GPS, see the weather, watch movies, surf the Internet, and many more seemingly endless things. I am on my phone constantly checking social media or looking something up on Google, probably more than I should be. Another great possession of mine is my laptop. I check emails, shop online, do homework, and get on the Internet with it. It makes my life so much easier! Instead of having to walk to the basement to get on the computer, I can do the same things on my laptop wherever I want, but usually in the comfort of my room. Technology has made my life easier and has definitely had a positive affect on my life. Without it, I wouldn't know what to do.

Blog 2: IWrite

Technology is the sunlight to my photosynthesis. I don't know where I would be without it, but I can tell you this: it wouldn't be pretty. Why would I be so screwed without it? Well, I can barely find my socks in the morning, let alone buildings and places around Lexington. If I didn't have my phone's GPS, I would be driving aimlessly around Frankfort right now trying to find our school. The 21st century GPS has helped me get to Taco Bell and back countless times. I cannot express how positive an impact it has had on my life. Along with the GPS, my life hinges on my computer. Lacking a computer, I would have to spend a lot of my free time doing something like crying or wishing someone would invent/give me a computer. I Skype friends, play fantasy football, play FREE games (free is one of my favorite words in the whole wide world), geek on Wikipedia, geek on ESPN, and look at funny pictures and videos. There are those who will tell me blah blah go read a book, but what they don't understand is that I'm a speed reader. I finish the book in an hour or two. If I was to spend all my free time reading blah blah, I would spend thousands of dollars on books. Without technology I would literally be lost, and also be out a fortune. Thank you to all those who contributed to this wonderful field.

Assignment 2: iwrite

In 1976, Steve Jobs became a co-founder of Apple. 35 years later he retired, putting his enormous company into different hands, and shortly thereafter succumbed to cancer. His retirement and death did not just mean a promotion for Tim Cook, the new CEO, but a major shift in a company that has been a key player in technology innovation in the 21st century.  Love 'em or hate 'em, Steve Jobs changed our lives.

So, this brings us to your writing for the week:

How has technology affected your life?

Choose one of the following prompts and in 150 words or more, provide your answer.

• Has technology affected you in a majorly positive way? What happened?
• Has technology ever inconvenienced you or hurt you? Maybe technology got in your way, slowed you down or even literally hurt you? Have you seen technology have a negative impact on society?
• How would your life have been different if you'd grown up 20 years earlier? How would you interact with others? Do you think your relationships then would differ from your present relationships? Which time period would you prefer and why?
• Become a futurist and theorize on how might technology evolve over the next decade and what changes might those changes bring.  

The deadline for this blog is Sunday, September 1st at 11:59 p.m.

Zach Wolfe

My name is Zach Wolfe, and surprisingly most people spell it wrong. That's honestly one of my pet peeves. Most of the teachers I've had throughout the years spell it Zack or Zac. And you would not believe how many spell my surname Wolf. My own grandmother once gave me a Christmas ornament with Zack Wolff monogrammed on it. I can't stand the misspelling of my name. Anyway, some things I like to do are play soccer, play video games, spend time with my friends, etc etc. Normal teenage stuff. I enjoy making people laugh and I usually do this by being very sarcastic. Unlike a lot of American teenagers, I don't follow American football too much but I do follow European football, also known as soccer. My favorite European team is Arsenal FC. My good friend Kyle (also in second hour) is a big fan of Arsenal as well. My favorite video game series is definitely the Halo series. I really like the story line in the games. Being in the future and out in space while fighting multiple foreign races from other galaxies fascinates me. On a more serious note, my academic goals this year are to please my parents. I know the only way to do that is to get all A's but I already know that's not going to happen. I haven't done it since I started high school. My calculus class gives loads of work every night and I know I'm going to get lazy once we get to the middle of the semester, and last year I got B's in English because I'm not good at writing. The only AP test I'm worried about this year is English because the writing is actually being graded as writing whereas my psychology test last year was graded for content. I could've written a bullet point list if I wanted. My summer wasn't very well spent this year. I didn't really do much except play Xbox and see my friends every once in awhile. Then once July came I had to wake up at 5:30 every morning for soccer practice. I didn't go anywhere and I didn't read half the books I was supposed to for other classes. All in all my summer was boring and unproductive. If I had any superpower I would pick being able to turn into a dog. I would do this because dogs have easy lives, and that's what I want, an easy life. I could just lay around all day, be fed by others, dogs are usually loved very much, and I could go outside every now and then. The only thing I'd have to do is protect the house if someone broke in, which doesn't happen very often in my neighborhood. I also wouldn't have any responsibility like paying taxes or all the other payments you have to make when you're an adult like mortgages, car payments, insurance, etc. I would be set for life.


This is a picture of John 117 or Master Chief from the Halo games. He is the main character in the series and also the only Spartan soldier alive during the span of the games. Spartans are genetically engineered humans that are about 7 feet tall; can run faster and jump higher than any normal soldier; are much stronger than normal soldiers; and when wearing their full-body armor, weigh approximately 1000 pounds.

Hannah Pauley

Hello!

A little about myself: I like tea, hiking/nature/outdoorsy activities, I love animals, and I am a complete art nerd (I almost couldn't handle all the sweet stuff at the Woodland Art Fair this year—it was embarrassing, I got teary-eyed). I could not possibly pick something that represents or defines my summer; there were too many ups and downs, lefts and rights, etc. Overall it was fantastic though, and probably the best summer I’ve ever had. I guess if I had to, I’d pick a magnolia blossom, just because the upbeat Grateful Dead song that I like, Sugar Magnolia—and because, well: nature and all that.

My goal for this school year is to get all A's and to pass (hopefully with 4s and 5s) on my AP exams (blah, blah, high school juniors, blah). I’m looking forward to learning some new things and hopefully discovering some things that excite me. As much as I hate getting up at 6AM, I hate not having anything to do or learn more.

Here’s something that makes me laugh:

Jania Stevenson

Hi, my name is Jania Stevenson. Probably like everyone else, my academic goal is to pass all my AP tests and get A's in all my classes. I'm going to really try this year to do that because I've only gotten all A's once in my entire life and that was in middle school, which doesn't really count. My summer vacation was super lame, so the most meaningful parts of it were the times I actually left my house. I'm an only child so staying at home all day by myself for days at a time was absolute torture. If I had a super power I would love to be able to shape shift. You could be anything or anybody you wanted. I would be something different everyday! I'm not really sure what geeks me out but two of the things i really like are TV and music. I have so many favorite TV shows but a few are Scandal, Dance Moms, New Girl, and Adventure Time. I love Hip-Hop and Pop music but if I hear a song and I like it, I'll listen to it no matter what genre it is. So that's pretty much who I am and I'm looking forward to an amazing junior year

My favorite website:http://www.youtube.com/

Piglets are just adorable!

Will Atkins

Hello good readers of this blog I am Will Atkins. The first thing I will tell you about myself is that I love money. This is why I got a job this summer. This is why I worked about 55 hours a week during the summer. This is why I refuse to buy anything from McDonald's that isn't off of their dollar menu. The second thing I can tell you is that both my brother and sister went through the academy. This causes numerous problems as some of my teachers think I'm as smart as my sister and some teachers think I'm dumber than a monkey hit in the back of the head with a baseball bat. This leads me into my next talking point: my academic and personal goals for the year. My brother and sister and I have always been competitive, therefore my first academic goal of the year is to get a 5 on the AP Psychology exam, (beating my brother's score) along with getting 5's on the AP English and AP Calculus exams so that my name will be on my teacher's walls just like theirs are now. My next goal involves athletics. My main conquest will be obtaining the Henry Clay Track & Field 2-Mile record so that my name will be next to my sister's. My secondary goal is to once again be the number one runner on the cross-country team and hopefully be team captain and MVP. To accomplish these goals I often ran during this blistering heat we called a summer. The other and most meaningful thing I did this summer was what I mentioned earlier. I made money. Whether it was working in the movie theater for minimum-wage for 8 hours a day or getting home and then working out in the yard for my parents, I was making bank as the kids say. What superpower would I have? That's easy for a runner to answer, super speed. It'd make my sports a lot easier. What geeks me out? Video games. People always tell me that I don't seem like the stay-up-all-night-gaming-type, but I am. My future purchases? Madden 25 this Tuesday. GTA 5 Sept. 17th. NBA 2k14 on October 1st. Yes, I know the dates. No, I did not even have to look them up.

Video: Throwback Karl Werner
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Favorite Website: http://kentuckysportsradio.com/

Aaron Dupont
My academic goals for this school year is to get no more than 2 Bs over the course of the 2 semesters this year. Another goal of mine is to pass all 5 of the AP tests I will take this year. The most meaningful moment of my summer vacation was travelling to the Netherlands to catch up with all my family and celebrate my grandparents 50th anniversary. It was very meaningful to see that my grandparents have stayed together and loved each other for so long. If I could have any superpower........ That is a no brainer, Definitely Invisibility. If I had invisibility I could go wherever I wanted whenever I wanted without anyone knowing I was there. Something interesting about me is that my whole family besides my brother and I was born in the Netherlands, and most of my family still lives there. I speak Dutch fluently and speak it at home with my parents and my brother. Also I have played soccer for 12-13 years and play highschool and club soccer. And finally i hope that I can do something interesting with the rest of my life but I don't know what yet.

picture:

Favorite website:http://www.youtube.com/

Alexander Reese

Hello my name is Alex Reese. This year I'm hoping to not fail all my classes and maybe get a B in one or two! I've played lacrosse for Henry Clay for two years and somehow got to play for the playoff team even though I'm the worst. The shortest way I can describe myself is that I am a very strange person. My favorite kind of music is EDM (electronic dance music) like dubstep, trap, house, club, etc. Outside of school I don't do much besides watching Netflix, keeping a couple of hives of bees and playing video games. I have no idea what I want to be if I grow up because in all honesty I just want money. I do hope to live in Sweden or New Zealand or somewhere like that someday because they seem like nice places.

My favorite website is http://www.di.fm/

This picture basically sums up my life.

Cassie Adams

Hello my name is Cassie, which is not short for Cassandra as most people like to assume. I won't bore you with details about my academic goals because they are the same as everyone else's: to do well. So I guess I'll get into the more interesting stuff.

First of all, I am a dancer as a lot of you probably already know. I've been dancing for around 10 years now. But if you ask me to bust a move at a party I will most definitely tell you no. Unless you really want to see me do some leaps and pirouettes, that is. There are many, many styles of dance but my favorite is contemporary. It's a difficult style to explain so I guess I'll just show you. Here are two contemporary routines performed on the TV show So You Think You Can Dance that were both done by one of my favorite choreographers, Travis Wall.

 

Being a dancer, it makes sense that I also really enjoy music. If you ever see me with headphones in and making random movements, don't be worried. I'm probably just choreographing a dance in my head. I have a pretty diverse taste in music. There really isn't a genre that I don’t like. Some of my favorite artists are Ed Sheeran, Hoodie Allen, Rizzle Kicks, 5 Seconds of Summer, The Cab, The 1975, Lorde, and tons more. If you like any of the same music as I do then I will gladly have an hour long conversation with you about it, just so you know. I actually play a few instruments myself. I play the piano but I haven't taken lessons in a few years so I'm a little rusty. I also play the clarinet and I would like to learn to play the guitar. I sing a little too even though I'm not all that great.

The next thing I like to do is another typical teenage activity: watching TV. My DVR is crowded with so many recordings that it's hard to keep up. Some of m favorite shows are Criminal Minds, Perception, Sherlock, Supernatural, and other geeky sci fi stuff. I love to watch movies too and I'll hate to if you if try to get me to pick a favorite. There's a long list of them. And while you're talking to me about your favorite music artists you can throw in a few TV show references and we can keep the conversation going.

I feel like this is getting pretty long so I should probably stop talking now. There's a lot that I didn't mention but these are the basics I guess.

Jasa Harris

Hi, my name is Jasa and my academic goals for this year are to get all A's and get a good score on the ACT. The most meaningful thing I did this summer was helping this kid named Jaylin with his Spanish. I worked at this summer camp-type program, and the kids took math, reading, science, art and Spanish classes and I was in charge of helping out with the Spanish classes and Jaylin was falling behind all the other kids, so I would always spend extra time with him to catch him up and by the end of the program he was all caught up and could speak Spanish and use it pretty well. He was really grateful and would tell his dad everyday how I helped him and stuff, so it was nice. Outside of school I don't do too much, I love spending time with my sisters, we go shopping a ton or we go to the movies, but both of my older sisters will be off to college this week so I guess I’ll just do stuff with my little sister. Other than that I take taekwondo and I absolutely hate it, mostly because I’m just terrible at it and all the instructors are rude. I’ve been taking it for 6 years now and I’m still not a black belt and apparently it only takes 2 to 2 ½ years to get your black belt. I’m only one belt away now but I don’t know if I’ll ever get it.

I don’t really know what geeks me out, I like to do well in school so I try really hard on my homework and projects and quizzes. Maybe what geeks me out are the things  I’m obsessed with like Honey Boo Boo, the Kardashians, Big Brother, Tyler Perry movies, Tia and Tamera, David Tutera, Prison Break and Syfy game shows (Total Blackout, Exit). I get on yahoo a lot and if any article has even a little bit about any of these I’ll read it. 

Here is a picture of some pretty seashell earrings. I love earrings and I would love to own these! 

My favorite website: http://www.yahoo.com/

Rachel Hart

Hello, my name is Rachel. My academic goal for this school year is to pass all four of the AP tests I will be taking this year. My personal goal for this school year is to stay organized. I've said that I would stay organized in the past and by the middle of the year it has all gone out of the window, but this year that is going to change.

The most meaningful moment of my summer vacation was at 4-H camp. I had a girl in my cabin who was nervous to come to camp on the first morning and wanted to go home. The same girl was in the class I was teaching. At the end of the week she came to me and told me that she couldn't wait to come back next year because of all the fun she had in my class that week. I love being able to make a difference in someone's life.

What geeks me out? I have no idea what geeks me out but I would say that I am passionate about training and showing my dog, 4-H, volunteer work and spending time with my family. I started training with my dog in April of 2012 and since then we have won many awards for obedience and showing. I have learned many things from our training  including how to teach others and how to be confident in my abilities. I volunteer whenever I have spare time because I enjoy helping others and seeing the gratitude on their faces. My family is my rock and I wouldn't have accomplished anything without them.

This is Dixie, my friend's foster dog from the Lexington Humane Society:

 

My favorite website: www.youtube.com 

Jack Humphries

Hello to my fellow friends, classmates, and Mr. Logsdon. I would like to start off by saying that life is too short not to have fun. This mantra of mine guides my choice, and my actions so that I minimize the amount of time I waste. This isn't to say that I'm lazy though. Fun to me isn't always playing video games, hanging out with friends, or reading; Fun can be improving yourself, accomplishing goals, or just reflecting on who you are as a person. To me anything worth while is fun.

With this in mind I would like to tell you about how fun my summer was, and how fun I this upcoming school year will be.

I had a blast this summer for many reasons. One of them was golden retriever puppy we got right after finals week ended. Another reason was that I received my full license and with it freedom. The freedom to freely hang out with friends, and get as many chicken minis from chick-fil-a after a 6:30 in the morning practice as I wanted. With this new found freedom came various new expectations to be more mature, responsible, and studious. The last of these skills I hope to use effectively in the upcoming school year.

Junior year will be my hardest year but I'm not worried. My classes are entertaining, and the material that I'm learning is nothing new. I've had Spanish, English, History, Calculus, and Chemistry before which leaves Physics as the only "new" class I'm taking. I say "new" because physics is the real world application of calculus. Even though I am taking classes with subjects similar, or identical to the ones I took last year, I know I will find them fun and exciting since each teacher has a different style of teaching and every class has more information it can teach you.

<--- My golden retriever puppy Honey.
       (She's is usually not this peaceful)

My favorite website http://www.google.com/doodles/30th- anniversary-of-pac-man

Zac Byrd

My name is Zachary Byrd, although I prefer to be called Zac.  My academic goals are to receive all A’s again and to pass all my AP tests with 4’s and 5’s.  I swim.  I don’t play a sport because saying I play swimming just isn’t right, however I train more throughout the year than most other sports.  During the school year I wake up at 4:40 a few days a week to go to a 2 hour morning swim practice.   Aside from waking up so early I love to swim.  I also love to play jazz trumpet.  This past summer I went to GSA for trumpet which was life-changing.   I got to experience all the arts (musical theatre, creative writing, dance, etc.) and had gained a much larger appreciation for them by the end of the camp.  My dream is to go to Julliard for jazz trumpet and tour the world playing in a jazz combo or jazz band.  I have started my own Jazz Combo, we still need a name, but its going well.  My favorite holiday is Halloween.  I still collect toy cars. I wish I were the Hulk.  And the puccinnis campfire pizza is the best pizza I’ve had.  Once in a while everybody should go to the rock and roll hall of fame in Cleveland, Ohio.   I am also a die-hard UK fan and cannot understand why people wanted a Kentucky team to win the National Championship last year if it is our rival?

Also whenever it’s your birthday tell me so I can grab my trumpet and play for you during the day!

People say I looked like this guy last year and at GSA this past summer.  I don’t know if that’s good or bad?

 

 

Webstie:  www.youtube.com

Chelsea Southworth

My name is Chelsea Southworth. My academic goals are what they've always been: do my best, and if that's not good enough, do more. I'm a vegan, and I feel strongly about all things animal rights. My favorite book series ever is A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin; the TV show (Game of Thrones) is perfection as well. Writing is another one of my passions, and I am proud to say that I've won NaNoWriMo four out of four times. I get geeked out by many things, including but not limited to: Doctor Who, BBC's Sherlock, Supernatural, Harry Potter, and John Green/Vlogbrothers anything. My dream college is Duke, where I plan to major in Evolutionary Anthropology and become a primatologist, hopefully studying the amazing bonobos in their native country. I can't live without peanut butter and pineapple. My musical tastes vary from week to week, but right now my favorites are Lana Del Rey, Florence + the Machine, and the orchestral scores from the Hobbit and the Avengers. The cello is my favorite instrument, even though I play the viola.

Because I couldn't decide, here are two pictures.

 

 This describes my life

 

 This describes the upcoming school year (Slytherin for life)

 

My favorite website is, of course, http://tumbler.com

 

Blog #1: Sydney Smith (Howdy)

I'm in the interesting position that I know most of you, but not all. Some of you I have been in school with since 3rd grade, but some of you I have just met this year. So my dilemma: what does a person say to such a group of people? I suppose I'll just try my best with the following:

What are my passions?

1.) Hands down, serving others is my #1 choice. There are very few better things I could do with my time than serving someone else. It brings me so much joy- it's just how I'm wired. Galatians 5:13 says, "You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve each other in love." I love that verse.

2.) Learning. Awkward, right? But I can't help it. I suspect that it's a mixture of having a teacher mom, encouragement from both parents, an awesome older brother to look up to, and an extremely competitive nature. I love to push myself to my intellectual limits, and I love a good challenge.

3.) The Bible. I truly cannot go a whole day without reading the Bible. I read it when I wake up, when I'm on the bus, when I'm at school, before I go to bed- you name it. God's word  satisfies me so much. I couldn't possibly say what my FAVORITE Bible verse is, but one of them is Romans 8:38-39: "For I am persuaded that not even death or life, angels or rulers, things present or things to come, hostile powers, height or depth, or any created thing will have the power to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord!"

4.) Music. I love country, Christian, and classical. Like a stereotypical Kentucky girl, I enjoy some Taylor Swift music from time to time. Recently, I've also been enjoying some songs from musicals- Les Miserables is my favorite. 

5.) I'm a kid at heart, which is one of the reasons why I love working with kids so much. I could do coloring books and play with Play- Dough all day!

What are my personal and academic goals for this year?

1.) Academic goals: I know what I'm capable of, so my goal is to try my hardest and achieve what I'm confident I have the ability to do. I have been blessed academically, and I plan on taking advantage of that gift to the best of my ability. It seems weird to post the exact grades and scores I hope to get, but if you know me well enough, you should have an idea.

2.) Personal goals: Do as much community service as humanly possible, cause I love that stuff. In my first 2 years of high school, I have gotten over 1,000 hours of community service, so my goal is to finally pass 1,500. Maybe even get to 2,000 (unlikely). We'll see. Also, I want to get into GSP more than I can possibly describe. I've got lots of other goals,too, but these are my top 2.

Random other stuff about me: My awesome big brother Cullen is starting college at UK this year; I love watching the news, "Downton Abbey", and football (high school, college, and NFL); I think I want to be a lawyer when I grow up (but I haven't decided yet); I'm obsessed with random acts of kindness; I read the newspaper every morning before school; I attended the MSTC (Math, Science, Technology Center) at Dunbar during my freshman year; I run Cross Country; and math is my favorite subject ever.

Me and my awesome brother

  

My Panama mission team to Panama City. Summer 2013. Our shirts say, "Busca La Una Perdida".

Right before observing my 1st heart surgery, Central Baptist Hospital Fellowship, Summer 2013. Rocking those monogrammed scrubs.

I love creating scenes like this from the tech booth at my church, Immanuel Baptist. Pictured is my fantastic youth group last Sunday night.

Here is my favorite video ever! It's a  skit to the song "Everything" by Lifehouse. I went on a mission trip to Panama City, Panama this summer, and we performed many skits to about 8,000 children in schools there. This was one of those skits. I highly encourage watching it; it will probably bring tears to your eyes. Admittedly, it still brings tears to my eyes to this day.

My favorite websites:       http://www.sermonaudio.com/main.asp 
                                             http://blogs.wsj.com/law/  
                                  

Rhoman James

My name is Rhoman James, I play football at Henry Clay and I've played for about 9 years! I started the gifted and talented program in 4th grade and honestly have not had all A's any of those 6 years, but this year I really think I can reach my goal! I also would like to do good on my English portion of my ACT because I feel as if that is my least developed subject.

My summer mostly consisted of playing football so preparing for this season was probably the most meaningful moment of my summer!

If I could have a superpower it would definitely be to control time because you can do almost anything you want! You could pause time, fast forward, rewind, slow it down or even skip things you didn't like.

Football really brings out the geek in me! I've always been totally interested in anything football no matter what it is! Reading football related books got me into reading so that was a savior for me!

disney.disneychannel.com

Erin Holbrook

Hi, I'm Erin. This year my goals are to get straight A's in my classes and 5's on my AP exams. When I'm not studying or working, I spend a lot of my time reading books and relaxing. My favorite book at the moment is If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino. Besides reading, Netflix and sleep are probably my two favorite things. What geeks me out? There is a long list. Doctor Who, Sherlock, and Supernatural are at the top. I also love to watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer re-runs. I am also a big nerd academically. I honestly didn't know that not doing homework was an option until I was at least Twelve. I also really enjoy horror movies. The only sport I've ever enjoyed watching watching is hockey, go Bruins! I also really get into celebrating holidays. No one can ever find their Easter baskets when I hide them; our house is often avoided on Halloween. I have one dog, Stripe, who has a Harry Potter-like birthmark. I also have a younger brother, who starts most words with the 'f ' sound. He has a thing for trucks.

That's pretty much all about me. I'm looking forward to a good year.

Favorite website: http://pinterest.com/
And here is a fun picture of a cat dressed as Honey Boo Boo

Lucy Wan

Hello,
My name is Lucy Wan and I am newly 16 as of August 6th. I am Chinese by race, Canadian by citizenship, and American by culture (despite my somewhat pathetic knowledge of pop culture). I am a binge reader; I read massive amounts at one time and then don't touch a book for ages. I am one of those girls that secretly loves cheesy rom-coms. I only wish I could drive. I went to China in the summer and now that I'm back in the U.S. I feel much shorter. I am a self-proclaimed internet addict. To be honest, the internet is probably the greatest distraction ever invented. After all, it's taken me a few hours to write this blog post simply because, well, I got distracted.  I am a total geek when it comes to a few things: League of Legends, Sherlock, the ongoing manga that I can't keep track of, books(!), my current tv/anime obsession of the moment, and slam poetry.

Favorite website: http://www.tumblr.com/

So I couldn't decide whether to go serious or funny so I decided to have one of both. Here's "An Open Letter to Snapple" by Omar Holmon.

And this is "OCD" by Neil Hilborn.

Okay, that's pretty much it. Bye!

Haley Longworth

My name is Haley Longworth. I love dogs and have four of my own, three of which are named after the Powerpuff Girls and the other named after a food. I enjoy relaxing, watching Netflix, relaxing while watching Netflix, spending time with friends and family, attending Crossroads Christian Church, and playing volleyball among many others. My favorite shows are Gossip Girl and the Vampire Diaries, both of which can be viewed on Netflix. I love to eat healthy and appreciate nature. I don't really know what "geeks you out" means, but I'm guessing it means what is something that makes you geeky. I'm going to say that health and nutrition facts do since I always want to know more. My favorite season is fall because I love the crisp air. wearing leggings and sweatshirts, pumpkins, Halloween, going to Evan's Orchard, and overall I just feel happy during this time. Although I love Halloween during the fall, my favorite holiday would have to be Christmas because it's the best time of the year and I love giving and receiving presents. On another note, during the school year my goals are to get all A's (maybe a couple B's) and to pass all the AP exams I am taking. I hope to have a great, exciting, and memorable junior year.


My favorite website: http://pinterest.com/
Picture: A very beautiful picture of nature that is also my laptop background.

Hans Stromberg

Guten Tag. My name is Hans Stromberg and contrary to what you may think, I speak very mediocre German, but I am trying my hardest to improve on that. My goal this year is to eek out 5's on my AP test and still receive all A's. My life is playing golf and I guess going to school now. I guess you could say golf geeks me. My highlight of the summer was shooting 72 (even par) at a tournament in Richmond at the prestigious Gibson Bay golf course. I played in many golf tournaments this summer and we are about half way through Henry Clay's golf season. The ultimate goal is to finish first in region as a team to go to state in October. Another goal I strive towards is winning at least one golf tournament outright. When I'm not golfing I'm usually playing Basketball or Ping-Pong with friends and family. My dream superhero power is definitely to be able to freeze anything. I love being cold (as you will find out when I wear shorts in December) and the ability to freeze anyone annoying me sounds very refreshing. I also bleed blue, so GO CATS! (yes, I even support our woeful football team.)

A funny video from the golf world:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiiOqybRvsM  "Golf Boys 2.Oh" (and also anything posted by Ben Crane)

A nice link: http://www.pgatour.com/ or maybe: http://www.ukathletics.com/

My name is Karl Werner. My academic goals for this year are to get all 4s and 5s on the AP exams and to get all A's. Personally, I would like to win my fantasy football league, resist the temptation of the new Xbox and PS3, and dunk on a 9 and 1/2 foot basketball goal. My Tyrannosaurus-esque five seven wingspan currently holds me back from that among countless other things. I am the proud driver of a 2001 Toyota Sienna Minivan. I enjoy pretty much anything a teenager can enjoy. I love watching and playing basketball and football. I am a speed reader and am currently rereading the Game of Thrones series. I, like pretty much everyone else alive right now, am a Netflix addict. I geek over science-fiction and fantasy series, written or otherwise. Every time I discover a new series, I Wikipedia until my eyes bleed and I know the universe by heart. From Firefly to The Wheel of Time, if its got magic or spaceships, I'll enjoy it. I work at the Fazoli's down in Hamburg on weekends. I save half of my earnings. The other is used to buy food. My favorite music artists range from Blink-182 to Mac Miller. If there's rhyming and instruments, I'll listen to it. And that's my life.

Favorite website: http://espn.go.com/ and http://memebase.cheezburger.com/
Picture:
Mass Effect, Tied for my all-time favorite video game with Dragon Age: Origins

 

Assignment 1: Howdy

For your first post, introduce yourself!

Share your name, but also a little bit about who you are. Some ideas to consider are:
What are your personal and academic goals for this school year?
What was the most meaningful moment of your summer vacation?
What superpower would you have if you could pick anything?
And so on and so forth.

I want to know what Geeks you out.
To receive full credit, you must insert a picture or video (of something)  AND a hyperlink to your favorite (appropriate) website.

This must be completed by midnight on Sunday, August 25th.
150 word minimum and posted on time.