Wesley’s English blog

 Whenever I'm feeling angry or sad, my go-to thing to do is to play a relaxing video game like minceraft. My favorite relaxing game is called astroneer. It's a sandbox exploration game where basically you land on a planet and run around and dig to find resources and generate power its a very fun game and its very relaxing to play with my cousin. I'll post some pictures from the internet.  Today we read chapter 8 of Wild I learned how to analyze quotes in the book that are most important

 Man, this prompt is hard for me because if you ask any of my family members, they'll tell you I don't really outgrow stuff I find fun. For example, I still like to play Wii Sports, which is something I have done since I was in kindergarten. I'm sitting here racking my brains trying to find something I've outgrown. I'd say the biggest thing I've outgrown and miss the most is the feeling of Christmas as a little kid. It never feels like Christmas anymore and I think it's because I've grown. Today I did a writable assignment on chapter 7 I learned more in depth the metaphors in the book about Cheryl's growth.

 One time that I was choosing between fitting in and staying true to my identity was when I was playing football. I could have tried to fit in with the rest of the team and act all tough all the time on the field and goofy in the locker room but I decided I was just gonna be my goofy self even on the field because I enjoy playing football and I realized it wasn't life or death. I think that made my career more successful. The athletic trainer said I was the most wholesome person on the entire team which is exactly what I was going for so it worked out well.  Today I worked with Alex and Rosario on our project I learned more about my group members identities and about their personalities. I wasn't a fan of leaving my group with Everest and Jillian and Vincent, but there are other nice people in our class.

 One time that I was pushed to my physical limits was during one particular day in football conditioning in the summer. It was really hot and really humid and the field was wet from recent rainfall. Unfortunately, some of the other senior football players were late to morning practice. This is a big no-no. Coach proceeded to detail the entire team punishment: We were to start at the back line of the end zone and run 110  yards across the field. The catch was that whenever he blows his whistle, we all have to drop to the ground as if we're doing up downs. So we were running as fast as we can to gain more ground before we had to drop to our stomachs and get back up and keep running. We went back and forth across the field 10 times. I was feeling very sick the entire time. Turns out, it's because I had a 104 degree fever while I was doing the conditioning. Yikes. I guess you could say that experience made me realize I'm mentally stronger than I thought. Today we read pages 1-1...

 One time that I didn't feel like myself is when I was at my very first AYWS rehearsal. I'm an alternate for the group because of my connections so every once in awhile I get to go play and it's really fun. My first time doing it, It was frustrating because everyone else knew the music but it was my first time so I didn't and I didn't feel like myself because I wasn't playing very well.  Today we read part of wild chapter 5 I learned how the themes of the book Wild tie into the story of MLK and what he did for America.

 One place that I feel most at home at is definitely the football field because I experienced a lot of personal growth on the football field in my kicking journey. I can always home when I'm kicking either by myself or with people there. It's a very calming experience for me. Today we read chapter 3 of wild by Cheryl Strayed I learned a lot about the symbolic things in chapter three in Cheryl preparing for her journey.

 One time I had to rely on someone else was during brass quintet at our school. I'm the leader/ organizer of the LHS brass quintet (a small ensemble made of 2 trumpets, a horn, trombone, and tuba). For the Christmas concert, we wanted to do a 30 minute prelude in the lobby before the concert started. Some of the pieces we did included Do you hear what I hear, Sussex Carol, I saw three ships, Once in Royal David's city, and a few others. I had to rely on other people to learn their parts so that we could sound good. I had known my parts for this gig WEEKS in advance, so it was frustrating relying on everyone to catch up when some of them don't want to as much as I do. I was sitting there thinking "remember that time ya said you were gonna practice the music over the weekened?? Why does it still not sound good??? did you practice at all?" but see I can't say that out loud because that's too mean so it just is a cycle of frustration. Right now, I'm trying...

 One thing like that for me was definitely kicking, but you probably know the entire story about that by now because that's one of my favorite things to write about. But another casual decision that later required preparation was my job. I've known since I started driving that I wanted my first job to be a delivery job since I love to drive and it relaxes me (most of the time), so I decided after getting rejected from the Marcos Pizza and not hearing back from the Domino's or Pizza Hut or Mo's pizza (on Briarcliff), that I should look into gig apps. I checked the requirements for Door Dash. I meet all of them except the little one at the bottom that says I have to be 19. Crap. Why would I have to be 19 to work a dad gum delivery job?? Makes no sense. No matter. I look at UberEats' website next. I meet the requirements like legal US citizen... I'm eligible to work in the US... I have a car that is insured... I am 19 years old... wait... No I'm not 19 years ol...

 One time I had to step out of my comfort zone was when I had to kick my first and only field goal this year. It was the only one we attempted and it was supposed to be a fake, which in retrospect is absolutely ridiculous but it's whatever I guess. Like there ain't no way the entire football program kicks one field goal all year. Today we read the prologue in wild. I learned about the struggles of living in the woods while you walk 3,000 miles. It's kinda tough. 

 One time in the summer before I started the 6th grade, my dad and I went hiking and camping at stone mountain. I remember everyone else in our campsite had big ol' tents and all the stuff in the world but my dad and I only had his old Eureka tent from when he was in scouts and it was really hot. The tent sleeps 2 people and has a vestibule on one side and a window on the other. We arrived that night and camped and the next day we hiked every single trail the place had to offer in one day. It was really fun. I don't even remember talking that much, we just walked and enjoyed the scenery. We started with the trail up the mountain, then the really long trail around the mountain, then we tackled some of the other random spinoff trails that go by the lake. I remember the hardest part about the hiking was when I got tired or we were going up a hill, I would naturally take steps that were less high off the ground. Consequently, I was constantly stubbing my toe/ tripping over giant tr...

 Over Christmas break, I visited my family in Arkansas. I had a ton of fun playing there with my cousins and catching up with grandparents I haven't seen in awhile. I also did a lot of kicking over the break because I am passionate about it. I even got my first job working as a delivery driver. I also enjoyed not having to go to school every day because school can suck sometimes especially when you can only go to the bathroom twice a week in all your classes and it emails your parents every time you do. I think that might be a little insane, but I only have one semester left to deal with it. Dude, school has conditioned me to hide my phone whenever I'm in public whenever someone approaches me. I went to Chilis last week and my sever approached to ask for my order and I hid my phone out of habit and I was like what is school doing to me.  My first goal for this year is to stretch my legs for at least 10 minutes every day.  This goal is important to me because I want to inc...