park center w. nancy

Today my friend Nancy and I were just hanging out and we were sort of bored, so we decided to go down to park center and play tennis. When we got to park center we asked the lady for two tennis rackets and gave her our two dollars. As we were walking away we realized we needed at least one ball. So we went back and asked her and she said they were all out. I don’t understand how they can be all out of tennis balls when there were only like two courts being used outside. Nancy and I decided to play racquet ball instead even though I have never played before. We searched around for the courts until finally we found these short little doors that you have to go in. We went in and at first we were just lightly hitting the ball against the wall until we got into it and then we started hitting it really hard. We didn’t know how to keep score or anything so we just kept hitting the ball and making each other have to run for it. It was actually a pretty good work out. That was my first time playing racquet ball and it was a lot of fun, especially because I was able to play with my best friend. We laughed the whole time. The funniest part was when one of us would randomly get hit with a ball. Neither of us got hurt but it was really funny. I never realized how fun of a sport it was until today. We definitely plan on going back down there and playing some more games before we leave for summer vacation. Speaking of summer vacation, it is so close. It’s going to be sad to leave everyone but I can’t wait to see my friends and family at home. Hope everyone has a good summer!

"The Bully in the Mirror"

I recently finished a book called, “The Bully in the Mirror.” The book was based on a 16 yr. old boy who was once an overweight boy and decided to do something about it to get noticed. The story traces the life of Alexander Bregstein in order to show that young teenage boys also have self esteem issues when it comes to being noticed by the outside world. Many young people as well as older people are only seen as being overweight when really there is a whole other side to them that people do not see. In the story, Alexander plays the part of many teenage boys who are overweight and feel they need to change their physical appearance to get noticed for who they are and not just for what they look like. The story also shows that many boys may be taking how they look to a completely different level when it comes to getting noticed from their physical appearance. I think the story was somewhat truthful, in that, girls are not the only ones who care about their appearance. Many girls take the way they look to extreme levels. Whether it is by hurting themselves mentally and physically or just by spending money to get to where they want to be, girls are not the only ones who have this mindset. Many teenage boys feel they need to look good in order to get the attention they want from others. I think that people should be accepted for who they are and not by their looks. However, you have to keep in mind how important it is for one to exercise and stay fit to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Looking good is one thing but you have to be able to see when it is being taken too far.

I Live New York Summit

I wasn’t really sure what to write my blog on so I’m writing it about a speech that I attended a while ago called the “I Live New York” Summit. The event was held in the auditorium of Old Main. We were able to hear Silda Wall Spitzer, New York’s first lady, speak about political issues in our state. Many of the issues Silda spoke about I was able to relate back to class. The purpose of the summit was to show the importance of engaging young people, such as our generation, in government and politics of New York. As Mrs. Spitzer said, the issue we should be concerned about is, “Keeping the next generation in New York.” What is causing the lack of engagement? According to Spitzer, many people are leaving New York to pursue more rewarding and successful jobs due to the lack of available jobs in our state. Spitzer believes that, “Brain drain,” is one of the primary causes of the lack of engagement in New York. In other words, our generation is not being informed with enough information to create an impact on their knowledge of government and politics. In my opinion, if we do not become involved now, then we will not have the knowledge or the experience for when it is our turn to be in charge. After listening to the first lady speak, I realized how important it is for my generation to become involved in or at least have knowledge of the political and governmental issues that are taking place in our state. I think a good start to this issue would be to educate children with minor issues and as they get older inform them with major issues that their generation will possibly be held responsible for taking care of. Overall, the “I Live New York” Summit was pretty interesting.

gas prices

I don’t know if anyone has realized it but gas prices are increasing so much, it’s crazy. I can remember when I first started driving it was only two or three dollars. Now it is almost up to four dollars. The news stated that last week gas prices hit a record average of $3.60 as the big oil companies like Exxon Mobil logged billions of dollars. There are many reasons why gas prices are so high though. For one, the price of crude oil which accounts for over half of the cost of gasoline at pumps hit records close to $120 a barrel. $120 is at least five times greater than the prices in 2002. In accordance with the raise in gas prices, United States drivers are expected to decrease their use of gasoline for the first time since the year 1991. Recently, there were hundreds of trucks protesting the diesel fuel prices because they have reached an average record of $4.38 per gallon. There are Democratic lawmakers who want to add on a new tax on oil company profits to help with the gas prices. Also, Senator John McCain and Senator Hillary Clinton both want to temporarily suspend an 18.4 cent per gallon gasoline tax over the summer. By doing this, the average family would save about $30 over the summer. According to oil companies, the high energy prices are not their fault. They are blaming the prices on crude oil markets. I think that gas prices have become such a problem for everyone who drives including families who do not have a high income, people who are retired, tractor trailer drivers, and even us teenagers who do not have a steady income. My parents have been looking for a new car for me but the options have been narrowed down so much because these days with all the driving I do I definitely need a car that is good on gas. Somehow I think officials are going to have to find away to decrease gas prices or else there will definitely be consequences in our economy.

drinking and driving

Recently, there was a major issue that happened with some kids from Binghamton University. I’m sure many people have heard about it but I think it is something that other students should learn from. Last Friday, May 2nd, Cornell University held an event called Slope Day. Slope day use to be when the students would buy alcohol for the last day of school and have a party on a slope at the college. If there was snow they would sled down the hill. Apparently the go sliding down the hill in the mud as well. Now the college started supporting the event and buying the alcohol for the students. Friday, a few kids from Binghamton came up for the party and ended up getting drunk. Later on the four students ended up driving back, which was not the smartest decision. As they were driving through the town of Caroline in Tompkins County the 20 year old driver hit a tree. One of the students suffered from a severe head injury and was transported to Cayuga Medical Center. He was then taken to Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse where he was then pronounced dead. The driver was charged with driving while intoxicated and also Vehicular Assault in the second degree. Now he is facing years in prison due to his bad decisions. I think this is important for other students to hear this story because it’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt. Drinking is one thing, but drinking and driving is something so serious. People always think they’re ok to drive but in reality it only takes one bad decision to create a disaster. We all know people who drink and drive or who have done it before and always claim to be ok to drive; in fact no one is ok to drive if they’ve been drinking. I think it is important for people to realize the possible consequences before they make decisions.

the weekend

This weekend was a lot of fun. It was alumni weekend for our sorority and there was so much going on. Friday night we had a get together for the alumni. Everyone had a lot of fun and enjoyed everyone’s company. Saturday we had a barbeque for the alumni. We barbecued chicken, hamburgers, and hotdogs and everyone thought the food was really good. Saturday was also Monroe fest. I felt like just about the whole college was there. I only made it for a little while because our barbeque lasted so long but it was pretty fun. Saturday night my big was in the tan off at lucky’s so a few of my friends and I went there to cheer her on. She has dark skin to begin with but since she has been tanning she was extremely dark. While I was at lucky’s I was standing there talking to one of my guy friends. Even though he wasn’t 21 he was still drinking. The cops came in and as soon as he saw them he put his arm around me and put his drink down. It was too late though. The cops came up to him and asked him to see his ID. My friend said he didn’t have one and that he used someone else’s. The cops obviously knew something was up so they took him outside and asked him a lot of questions. My friend tried his best to get out of it but it didn’t work. He ended up getting brought down to the police station where they gave him two tickets. I felt bad for him because there are so many people who drink underage at bars and he just happened to get caught. I don’t think it’s fair that the cops have to ruin people’s nights like that. Even though it is a law, everyone does it! I guess everyone should just be smart when they’re out at the bars.

Matilda

Tonight my roommate and I decided to have a movie night. We were flipping through the channels because we really don’t have any good movies in our room and guess what movie was on. Matilda was on. We were so excited because we have not watched that movie in forever. Matilda was one of my favorite movies when I was younger as well as my roommate’s. I remember watching it and thinking that if I got yelled at I would have powers too. So I was telling one of my guy friends that I was watching Matilda and he laughed and said, “I use to try and have powers; I use to try really hard.” I just laughed because now I know my friends from home and I were not the only ones who use to try and have powers when we were younger. If we really did have powers though, it would be so cool. I think Matilda was a really good movie for kids to watch because it made kids want to be like her and she was such a sweet girl. Even though she lived a hard family life, she never gave up on her own life. A lot of people in life take after their parents. If their parents live successful lives then a majority of the time their children live up to their parent’s standards and become successful. In Matilda though, Matilda comes from not such a successful family. However, since she is basically the smartest girl ever she decides not to move down south with her family and to stay with her teacher ms.honey. She loved ms.Honey and also wanted to be able to go to school because she eventually loved her school and loved all of her friends. I think Matilda is such a great movie and everyone should watch it if you never have!