Blog #6: I Love KC

Throughout the Prologue and Part I, we get to see how Will feels about Charleston, North Carolina. He spends quite a bit of time detailing his likes and dislikes about the city and her occupants. Soon, many of you will be leaving home and heading out on your own for the first time. What are some things you’ll miss about our community? Any specific places that hold a special meaning for you? Why?

Your entry should be thoughtful and thoroughly developed and no fewer than 250 words. As always, draft your prompt (and save a backup) on Word. Be sure to add at least one relevant image of our community or an image that represents our community to support your post. 

There are many things that I will miss about this wonderful community. I will miss the wonderful people who make this community so amazing. Everyday, I wake up in the morning and get to come to the best high school in the country filled with many of my close friends and awesome faculty. I will miss being right outside of downtown Kansas City. There are so many fun things to do in the Kansas City area: Royals and Chiefs games, concerts, water parks, amusement parks, great food, the Plaza, Town Center, The Legends, Sporting KC games, and more. Additionally, I live close to the country too where there are parks, gravel roads, and ponds to fish at. This community has everything that I find entertaining. My neighborhood holds a special meaning to me since I have lived there for 17 years of my life (I lived in Kansas City, Kansas when I was 1) and it is all I have ever known. I will miss all of the neighborhood parties we have every year, exploring the woods in my backyard, walking to Loch Lloyd, going to the pool everyday over the summer, hanging out with all of my friends in the neighborhood, going on runs in it, playing basketball a few times a week with my friends, and mostly the tight-knit community it has become. It is not too big, so almost everybody knows everybody. Going off to college is going to be fun and exciting, but I will definitely miss my community and look forward to coming back to visit it when I can. 

Blog #4: TV Rescue

You’ve been kidnaped. You can call on the characters from one television show to make a rescue attempt. Which show do you pick? Explain, in detail, your selection and anticipated outcome. How will the rescue go down?

Your entry should be thoughtful and thoroughly developed and no fewer than 250 words. As always, draft your prompt (and save a backup) on Word. Be sure to add at least one picture of your chosen show’s cast.

Waking up, I find myself trapped in an unfamiliar room. Observing my surroundings, I infer that I have been kidnapped and have no hope of finding my way out alone. Discovering that I have the power to call the characters from one television show to rescue me, I pick none other than the cast of Scooby-Doo. In this dream scenario, they would discover that I was missing and hatch a plan to save me. Looking for clues, they would discover my whereabouts. Next, they would formulate a scheme to apprehend my captor. They would split up like they always do and eventually find my kidnapper. Fred would heroically capture the guy while Scooby and Shaggy raid the refrigerator. I figured since they had plenty of experience in solving mysteries, they would be the right group of people to go to for help. In reality, what would probably happen is that nobody would notice that I was gone for so long and pay no mind. They would eventually find out that I was missing and begin a search for me. Panicking, I would start to believe that I would never make it out of there. They would bust through the front door and immediately fall through a trap door. Finding themselves in the same room as me, they would help me escape the basement and help look for the kidnapper. Devising a trap, I would serve a role as a decoy to lure him out. Inevitably, the trap would fail and a giant scramble would ensue. Running away, I would outrun the kidnapper and he would eventually get caught and put into jail,

Blog #3: Most Influential Person

In the last week alone, the music and acting communities lost 3 incredible talents: David Bowie, Alan Rickman, and Glenn Frey. The sports broadcasting world also lost an announcing legend last week in Jim Simpson. Consider people of today or the past who have made their mark on the world in some way. What individual has made the greatest impact on the field of ____? Defend your position. Be sure to explain the accomplishments this person made and why these matter so much.

Your entry should be thoughtful and thoroughly developed and no fewer than 250 words. As always, draft your prompt (and save a backup) on Word. You must cite any sources that you use to help gather information about this person at the conclusion of the blog entry (accurate citation is expected—URLs will not be accepted). Be sure to add at least one picture that depicts this entry.

John Madden, former head coach of the Oakland Raiders and football commentator, had the greatest impact on the field of sports management. Madden commentated for many different networks for many years; he worked for CBS from 1979-1993, FOX Sports from 1994-2001, ABC from 2002-2005, and NBC from 2006-2008. Through his nearly 30 years of commentating, Madden became one of the most iconic sports announcers of all time. He ranked #2 on Yahoo Sports list of Top 50 All Time Network Television Sports Announcers. He also won the Emmy award 14 times. Madden's distinct announcing style contributed to the rise of the NFL during the 1980s and 1990s to help entrench football as the top sport in America. Madden was so popular and iconic, that a video game series titled "Madden NFL Football" took off and has now become the top selling sports video game in the United States. Madden's style of commentating has also influenced modern day announcers such as Jon Gruden, Cris Collingsworth, and Phil Simms. Madden began commentating around the time where most people began to watch football on their television as opposed to listening on the radio, and Madden helped ease that transition and made people want to become a sports broadcaster.

"John Madden." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2016.

Blog #2: Current Event

I have a loose idea as to what has been dominating headlines recently. The case in Oregon with the protesters taking over government land, the presidential election heating up, and President Obama's recent address on guns have been plastered all over news sites. I do not have a great idea of what is happening in international news, although I do know that there has been a recent case where OPEC decided to lower their oil prices. I do not take much time to read about what is going on, but I am in government class and international relations this semester so I am starting to become more updated on what is currently going on in the country. There has been a lot of controversy over President Obama's plan to force background checks for all gun sales. Some believe that it is a great idea because it does a better job of keeping guns away from the wrong people, but others are weary that it will not have a major effect since most firearms dealers are already required to give background checks before they make a sale. President Obama's plan to counter this is to track the internet for any illegal deals without background checks and federally prosecute anyone who makes such a deal. I personally believe that President Obama has the right line of thinking here. Although I think that bad people will always find a way to get their hands on guns, this could help alleviate some of that. 

"Sorting Out Obama’s Gun Proposal." FactCheck.org. FactCheck, 9 Jan. 2016. Web. 11 Jan. 2016.

Blog #1: New Year’s Resolution

You all have a busy year ahead of you that will include many big changes in your life. Reflect on 2015 as a whole, and then look ahead to 2016. Think about the way(s) your life will be different by the end of 2016.

2015 was pretty cool because I made a lot of new friends, rekindled some old friendships, decided where I wanted to go to college, got to watch my favorite sports team win a World Series, celebrated in the streets of Kansas City with 100,000 strangers, got to go to Florida, and survived the first semester of senior year. Hopefully 2016 will be even better, although I'll have to say goodbye to all the friends I've made over the past few years. However, I also get to go on a cruise with some of my best friends over spring break, complete my high school career, become the first one on either side of my family to go to college out of Kansas, go to school in a new place, surrounded by new faces, in a whole new structure. As nervous and anxious as I am for the upcoming year, I am equally excited for the new opportunities that I will be faced with.

My most important goal for the new-year is to maintain my current friendships and branch out and make new ones. The reason that I wish to accomplish this goal is because it is easy to lose contact with people as you go your separate ways in college, and not always easy to make new friends in college right off the bat. A major obstacle standing in the way of this goal is that I do not know anyone else that is going to the same college as I am since all of my friends are going to K-State, Kansas, or Arkansas on top of I not knowing anyone else who is going to Oklahoma State. This will make it harder to maintain my current friendships since I would not be seeing these people nearly as often as I see them now without not knowing anybody else. To overcome these obstacles, I plan to join a fraternity to meet people early on and make early friendships. I plan to visit my other friends at their respective colleges if I get the chance and to text them every so often. I will measure my success by seeing who I am still friends with by the end of the year and how many new friendships I make in college. The benefits I expect to reach are making/maintaining friendships that will last the course of my life.