Everything I need to know.

Everything I needed to learn and still learn about is from my parents and my friends. Being around my parents I learn the basic things like; don’t steal, don’t drink, don’t smoke, don’t be mean. BASIC things. Yet very meaningful. Now obviously they talk to me more in-depth about these kinds of issues but I think you get the point of the kinds of things they have taught me and continue to teach me and the level that is at. Granted, they have taught me SO much more but for right now I want you to think about how I’m calling them “basic” things. Now maybe they’re not that basic to most people if you start to look at them more closely, but to me I feel I learn more about life and the “real world”- if you will, from my friends and peers. From school, parties, sporting events, and other activities, I am constantly bombarded by pressures and situations I learn from. I feel I confront these activities with an open mind because of the great teachers my mom and dad have been for me. Yet being out surrounded by others with no parents, I am forced to make my own decisions. It could be making fun at a kid at school, cheating on a quiz, stealing an iPod out of somebody’s backpack, and all the pressures around a school to when I’m out with friends I could be asked to drink alcohol, smoke, and end up being rowdy and careless and eventually end life how I may know it here in Edina. This meaning if I were to get caught or have somebody tell my parents about what I do, I know my basketball season, football season, church leadership, and any other activities I am involved in would be taken away in a blink of an eye. Because I have learned so much from my parents and then taking it into the “real world” of Edina, I feel very confident in my decisions and am happy I have 100% of people’s trust wherever I go.

Hero Worship

To me, a hero is someone that constantly, without being influenced by friends or family, does the right thing for him or herself and also for other human beings. I don’t think we as an influential and smart society can EVER say that we believe in the values and are willing to follow some “SUPER heroes” that we either see on T.V. shows or movies. We can’t look at comic books or war heroes and say they are true HEROES too because they really aren’t a hero. To me, a hero is someone who you personally have met and have had to take a step back and say, “Wow that person really has done something great.” It could be something that helps them or others but ultimately that something is some task or goal that has been met that note any one person could accomplish. A hero is somebody out of the ordinary that goes up and beyond. The only person I can think of that has been an “everyday hero” is Jesus, and I know I said a hero has to be somebody you physically have seen but of course that’s not an option for Jesus and me. Pretty much my definition of a hero is someone that does something right whether the consequences are great or minor, but it helps themselves or the people around them in a great great way.

Freshman on the Sophomore team

Basketball is one of my favorite sports because when I play I feel like I’m involved in something important. It feels good to train all year and give it all I’ve got during the season. I had an amazing opportunity last year when I was the starting point guard for the Sophomore Team. There were two other freshman who were asked to tryout for this older team as well. During the first week of tryouts it was really fun being the new and younger guy. Everybody wanted to know about me and wanted to see me play. But as tryouts came to a close, many of the older players felt pressure as to whether or not they were going to lose their spot on the team to a younger player. The whole tryout process was very overwhelming and honestly a little bit frightening. I still felt like a little boy competing with these huge tenth graders. The Tuesday of the next week the coaches made the first cuts of tryouts. They almost cut half of the guys trying out that day… Only 12 would make the final team. On the following Wednesday and Thursday tryouts, the coaches gave that “talk” to a couple players outside the gym. You never wanted to have “the talk” because it was going to be one of the two coaches telling you they didn’t think you were going to fit with the team that year and tried to give you advice on what you could do before varsity tryouts the following year to make the team. I played my heart out that week. I heard the “starting 5” players from the previous year in the gym and as we were leaving every day, talking about who they thought were going to make the team and what the starting lineups would be. “Who were these new freshman?” many of them wondered. I felt a little odd especially when the guys asked me why we were trying out with them or how much they thought we would play. I didn’t know what to say. I did know I had to keep playing my game and if I was going to play up every year for now on, I was going to have to get used to criticism and figure out how to deal with these sorts of questions. Friday was the last day of tryouts. One ninth-grader was already cut. I felt a level of stress leave my body thinking if they didn’t want Nate and I, (the remaining freshman trying out) the coaches would’ve cut us along with the other player. I told myself to keep playing because nothing was set in stone yet. When the coaches told us to shoot free throws with a partner, we knew they were going to quietly go around and grab one or two guys like they did all week and escort them out of the gym. Finally twelve boys were in the gym. The coaches then came in a few minutes later and congratulated us for making the 2007-2008 Edina Sophomore Basketball Team. We then made our way to the locker room and all congratulated each other. I felt a real bond with the team and knew that year would be so much more rewarding then previous traveling seasons. It was truly a wonderful feeling being a big part of that team. It was hard sometimes throughout the year when “the freshman” as we were now known as, were playing over some of the sophomores who have been the key players in previous years. But it was now high school sports and we learned very quickly that the best players play. Our team went 19-6 that year. Losing 4 of our games by less than two points. We knew this team would not stop and we got very excited for following years to come.

 

Paper Trail..

One of my favorite music artists is T.I.  I have been a fan of his music for a few years now and really like his new CD Paper Trail, which he recorded while under house arrest for being charged with possession of weapons and faces a year-long prison sentence that will begin in 2009. He’s from Atlanta and this is his sixth total album. I don’t look at him as a role model, because quite frankly that would be stupid. But I do like his music and listen to it when I’m getting ready for a football game or as I’m training for basketball. His songs have a constant bass and beat that gets me pumped up. I am a drummer so every rhythm and beat I hear instantly cranks up my adrenaline and gets me thinking of alternate beats that may sound really good along with each song. From this CD I really like the songs; My Life Your Entertainment, Swing Ya Rag, On Top Of The World, and Whatever You Like. When you listen to this new album, you can feel the songs have more passion and depth in them than his similar songs found in all his other albums, especially his previous one, T.I. vs T.I.P.  Many of my friends like Paper Trail, and I think it will be one of the best albums made by a Hip Hop artist to come out in a few years.

Where do YOU see yourself in twenty years?

My life story is being written everyday. "How do I want to be remembered?" I ask myself. College is an important thing in my family. My mother was the first one in her family to ever go to college, and she has her Masters Degree and a wonderful job doing on-camera work for a company that is very flexible and supportive of her. My father also went to college, as well as his 2 brothers, and has been working in television pretty much his whole life. My step mom went to college too, and has had the privilege to work and do many different things throughout her life. College means a lot to me, and I haven't even had the experience yet.

 

When I graduate high school and make my journey to college, I want to make sure it's surrounded by a place I could see myself living for many years. Knowing I could very well be there for 4 or more years, I try to think of myself and how I could operate in those surroundings. "Do I want to be in a city? By nature? Close to the ocean or the mountains?" Many questions like these come into my head as I start to juggle my options. I want to get my undergraduate degree in business and see where that puts me. If I go to a college that can quickly get me in the job market and put me in work strait after I graduate, I could save a lot of money and start making a life for myself. This excites me but then I also wonder what it would be like going for a Graduate Degree or even to get my P.H.D. "Is it too much work?" I ask myself. "Should I be less worried about social status and trying to make it to the top and be content with a job, and maybe trying to start a family, or should I challenge myself and see if I can do it". I wonder these things because the answer to my simple questions will effect how my life story is written. We all have one thing in common; As long as we're living on this earth, we have complete control of our actions and decisions. I truly believe if you want something great in life, you're really going to have to work your butt off and achieve it. Success is a good goal, but to achieve it, thats a whole other story.