Proud of My Students!

Well, I just have to post a blog about the wonderous students at ECHS. I am so proud of all of them. Brandon is a great example of the kind of big-hearted students I was priviledged to teach. I will forever be proud to say that I taught this remarkably talented bunch of kids! Bravo, Brandon!

Dreams

My report on the book about william powell called,"Clearview: America's Golf Course"

Brandon Slater
Mod 1
5/29/07
Bleak Dreams of a Black
Dreams can be as big as you make them. William Powell lived his dream and this inspires me to do the same. We don’t just get inspiration on demand. It comes to us when we witness something immaculate. Something that is so breath-taking that you never forget. It’s something that that sticks with you for the rest of your natural born life.
When you hear of someone being inspired, what do you think they are talking about? Being inspired by athletes, parents, or even teachers. Inspiration comes from seeing something you find amazing; a big NBA basketball player scoring forty points a game, a teacher retiring after forty years, or a cancer patient living through a brain tumor and still have full use of everything in his body. You can’t tell yourself to be inspired. You have to witness the amazing, observe the awesome, and peep impossible. To be truly inspired you must dream. Dreamers envision themselves doing what they truly want in those dreams. Dreams don’t just happen. Many dreams are crazy but all of your dreams can tell you something.
I am inspired by many things: God, music, athletes. This man’s inspiration came from a game he loved: the game that he was denied playing so many times because of his color, but did this stop him. You better believe it didn’t. Being tossed out of golf clubs did not burden William Powell. He did not let anything stand in his way from playing his game. He loved golf so much that he hiked twenty-one miles to play in a tournament that he didn’t even win. He came close to winning but he still did not win. I cannot even ponder how he felt on the twenty-one mile hike home. I could never hike twenty-one miles to play my favorite game. The sacrifice this man made for the game made him what he is today.
This book inspires me to keep on keepin’ on. The man this book is based on went through too many struggles to be where he is now. I will never struggle as much as he has. It makes me think of the petty struggles I go through. William went through war, racism, and designing and maintaining a golf course. I go through two-a-days. If I even attempted to do what he has, it would be like a llama eating a giraffe. His accomplishments out weigh mine a million to one. His life has been abundant with awards, achievement, and accomplishments.
Being a black man in William Powell’s day meant being stronger than any white man. What the white kids did, William had to do twice as better. This was told to him by his school principal. He did just that. He accomplished a feat that no black man had done before, he beat white guys at “their” game, and he has ran a golf course for, almost, the last sixty years.
William Powell was an outcast but he was never counted out and you can believe that. This man of color could and would do anything for his family, friends, and the game he still holds so dear. He rose through the ashes to give him the name he has today. In a word this man is…Amazing.

Coaches

Something that has been a problem to me of late has been the coaches that I have for the sports I play. Our basketball coach is being a really jerk as of late. It seems that since he has obtained the job for head basketball coach, his head has swelled into a big fat balloon. I don't like him very much anyway. It seems as if my hair prevents me from playing good basketball. His rule for hair is that it has to be above the eyebrows and above the collar. This angers me. Last year, the rule was that the hair had to be above the collar. I had gotten away with putting it in a ponytail. Now, Spurgeon has to be a Nazi and put the “above the eyebrow” rule in. His excuse for this is because it makes the team look bad. My argument with that is how about when Kellan Arick blows up on a referee when he doesn't get his way with a call. Or how about when Donny Crawford elbows someone in the face on purpose. What does that show? I guess my hard work and effort is cancelled out because of my preference for long hair. It seems as if that I can't play as well as the stars of the team because of my hair length. That’s awkward because it seems to me that I was one of the leading scorers and I probably had the best free throw percentage. I had to be a good player for the fact that I started just about every game. So, my question to coach Spurgeon is why he would incorporate this rule. If I can play just as hard as the “stars” then what is the problem. Well, I’m done for now.

Okay, onto happier posts...

So, I had a graduation party on Sunday. Brandon was one of the illustrious attendees, and I was thrilled to celebrate with everyone. It had me thinking about God and his celebration of the accomplishments of his children.

We celebrate our victories, but he celebrates the victories we do not. He celebrates when we make a good choice. He celebrates when we tell others of his blessings. He celebrates when we conquer, through His strength, a sin that has plagued us.

God, our Heavenly Father, celebrates his children and their lives. We are not perfect, but we are his, and he celebrates us!

When Did Free Speech Become An Annoying Thing

I seem to have a critic to my blog. This angers me a tiny bit. I have zero tolerance for people critisizing my work. Especially when it's someone who doesn't have the guts to tell me who they are. This person who I only know as "Semisweet" has had something smart to say on everything i have written in this blog so far. If you don't like it then leave. If you don't leave then have the cahoneys to tell me who you are. Don't beat around the bush and then not tell me. I realize you are a girl but step up and be man and not a little pansy for once in your sheltered little life. If you have a problem with every little mistake I make on an ONLINE journal then you must have no life at all or your life is so boring you have to poke at everyone else's to make you feel better. You said you cry alot so my guess is that you're part emo and thats really stupid. If you can't handle the heat I bring or if you just don't like it then go away never talk to me again and we will have no problems. But, If you do have a problem...SUCK IT