Apruzzi Week 7 - Falling Behind in School

 This blog post is quite ironic due to the fact that I am in the midst of "falling behind in school". That phrase is not something a student wants to hear, nor do their parents, and I feel as though that shouldn't be the case. I'm not saying that it is perfectly okay to fall behind in school, but if it was for the right reason, I see nothing wrong with that. 

    As I struggle to complete this post word by word, finger movement by finger movement, with the overwhelming late assignments that need to be completed by midnight, my mind begins to wonder: Why can't anyone understand? I just can not keep up. At this moment, as my computer screen shines dangerously into my eyes, my lips drooped, and my shoulders shrugged, I feel alone, unmotivated, stressed, and simply tired. The stages of falling behind in school are truly interesting if you take a step back and look into them. 

    Personally, this phenomenon always begins with a long day or weekend. Let's take a trip back 2 weeks. I know, 2 weeks sounds like a decade of school work to make up, and well, it is. I recently was hired at a restaurant and was in training for the weekend, there was a lot to learn, and I was entirely overwhelmed. Arrived home from the 4 hours of hell, opened my Chromebook, sighed, sent the "might be late" message to my teachers, and crawled into my bed as if it was the only safe place. As I burrowed under the covers, where I can forget about all my problems, I slowly fell asleep. Monday night (a day later), woke up around 3pm, suffered through volleyball practice half asleep, arrived home at 6:30, ate my first meal of the day, opened my computer, and saw I was assigned 7 new homework assignments due the same night. With the stress of last night's assignments, I was only able to complete 3-4 and slowly fell asleep around 5am. Barely getting through the week with volleyball every single day 4-6:30, the weekend arrives. I forced myself on a night out with friends for a mental health break, arrived home around 11pm. Noticed I was given 4 new (time-consuming) assignments to complete, in that moment, all of my previous happiness from the fun I was able to consume was out the window. With the pessimistic attitude I had grown to have the previous week, I accepted my fate and completed just 2 assignments. So, here we are. The marking period is coming to a close, I have multiple assignments to complete, multiple essays to painfully write and read, multiple videos to painfully watch, etc. The purpose of that entire rant was to show how quickly you can bury yourself deep into the dark ground when it comes to falling behind in school. As I come to a close, I would like to personally congratulate someone, and that is myself. I am so proud of you for catching up on your blogs. I understand the struggle that you still need to go through with the rest of the assignments, you can do it. 

Uelses week 9 - Bananas

In my opinion, Bananas are one of the most useful fruits to exist. They serve a purpose to many different types of foods and recipes. For example, they can be used in banana muffins, banana bread, oatmeal, cakes, pancakes, eaten alone, or even used frozen in fruit smoothies. Those are just some of the few uses of bananas, and I'm sure there are a lot more. Personally, my favorite fruits are strawberries and pineapple. I don't enjoy eating bananas alone, but I enjoy using them in recipes.

Bananas originated in Southeast Asia and the South Pacific. They were brought west by Arab conquerors and made it to America through explorers and missionaries. In other countries, bananas can be called "plantains." However, plantains were used for cooking rather than for desserts. 

Bananas are a very healthy and nutritious choice. They have a lot of fiber, potassium, and vitamin C. Studies show that bananas can help with blood pressure, asthma, cancer, heart health, diabetes, digestive health, and mood and memory. Overall, adding bananas into your lifestyle is a great thing. 

   

Apruzzi Week 6 - Volleyball

Now that the season of Spring is beginning, spring sports have also begun. Ever since I was a small child, my brother and sister played Volleyball for school and club teams, I would always nag them about it because I never realized how hard the sport truly is. They would always ask me to play with them, in the backyard just for fun, I would always refuse, it was a cycle. Fortunately, one day in the summer after a long day of swimming, I decided to give in and play with my family. I was surprisingly good at it, and ever since, I always had my hands on a volleyball. 

    Weirdly enough, I waited till freshman year to actually start playing for a real volleyball team. I had little to no experience, and was so nervous for tryouts (Nazareth Volleyball). As I mentioned, my brother had been playing for his whole life, and he was the main setter for varsity at the time since he was a senior. Due to this, everyone expected the most out of me, which was a lot of pressure since I had never truly played on the court. Luckily, the sport came natural to me and I just rode the wave. I was surprisingly talented, and did ver well at tryouts. I ended up being double rostered on Varsity and Junior Varsity. 

During the season, I was appointed as the captain of Junior Varsity and I was the lebaro for varsity. I received my varsity letter that same year with the hard work I did on the court. Up till this day, Volleyball hs been one of the joys in my life, and I can always be taken away from reality while I'm playing. Currently, I am the le baro for varsity and have a game tomorrow. 

Ecuador 2021

This will be my first time making a personal post.  I tend to keep write about subjects that interest me, but are popular nonetheless.  However, I find myself pondering the subject matter of this article more than anything.  Originally, my parents are from Ecuador.  A small south american country which lies on the equator.  Fun fact: there exists a pedestal in the capital city, Quito, in which you can place an egg on its bottom, and it will stand by itself!  Tickets to Ecuador are often very expensive, thus making it difficult for annual visits.  In fact, its been three years since I visited.  I honestly adore visiting and seeing my family, regardless of how brief the stay is.  I have limited amount of family close to me, and in Ecuador, I finally feel as if I am among people that truly understand me.  So its no secret that I've been aching to go back.  However, there are a couple factors which trouble me still.  

To start, the language barrier.  Unfortunately, I have not learned Spanish to the degree that I'd hoped to by now.  Although I can easily converse with my family and friends in Spanish, crack a couple jokes, and understand idioms and wordplay particular to the language, I know there is a clear difference between me and an expert or native speaker.  Accent, pronunciation, comprehension, and even writing can be utilized by a person hundreds of times a day while on vacation.  I often become frustrated when I stumble and use poor grammar when speaking Spanish, as I've experienced some ridicule on the behalf of some family members.  I have spent the past couple of years trying to add to my vocabulary, clean up my accent, and learn grammatical rules to try to improve.  It has been a long, but ultimately rewarding experience.  Language takes a lifetime to master, and constant practice s the biggest difference between an speaker and an aspiring speaker.  I have a dream scenario, where I can converse freely.  I am as funny as my dad, as heartfelt as my mom, and as smooth as my brother.  One of my biggest goals in life is to be able to converse like that.  

To end, the pandemic. This topic is a fan favorite.  I often wonder how different everything about this year would be different if this pandemic was also occurring.  Its out of our control, so it shall receive attention no longer.  Ecuador is a third world country, so there are several factors limiting its recovery.  Mostly due to the limited resources and aid to citizens, Ecuador is still in the thick of the pandemic.  It should start seeing lasting results in recovery in ten months to even a new year.  Obviously, due to the conditions of the country, travel is extremely strict.  Vaccines on our side are necessary, and we have no idea if all of us will receive in time.  

I hope to one day make my family in both countries as proud as I am of them.  Its just a shared mentality that most Hispanics have.  So all of this time and all of these rules that constrict the chance of seeing them again has me very concerned.  

(Cuenca, Ecuador.  The home city of my entire family.)

Kane Week -9

 I’ve decided to write this blog post on a topic that I am very passionate about. As many of you know I grew up as a little country girl. Playing in the dirt, splashing in the creek, and exploring the fields around us. I've learned so many things from living in a big yard in the woods. But I've learned one unfortunate message. Life is never fair. I'm not talking about my life, I'm talking about the wildlife in the creek in our backyard. Almost twice a year, the creek dries up to almost nothing. This is caused by malfunctions in the dam that's controlled by Hercules cement upstream. The Bushkill Creek is home to many species of bottom feeders, invertebrates, insects, algae, and prized trout. Each year, over 10,000 native fish species are killed just in that stretch of the creek. Most of this large number is baby trout. Trout only breed in a perfect environment that takes years to establish. So this mass killing affects the creek and the ecosystem for years. The stretch of the Bushkill creek behind my house is a class A fishing stream. Meaning they are considered to contain the highest-quality naturally reproducing trout populations in Pennsylvania. Class A Wild Trout Waters receive certain legal protections. For example, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection classifies them as High-Quality Coldwater Fisheries. The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission enforces uniform statewide angling laws in most Class A Wild Trout Waters. But this stretch is not as protected as others. How this is fair, I have no idea. But it needs to stop. Hercules needs to find a backup method to prevent the issues associated with the water flow. I've spent hours calling fish and game, trout unlimited, and Lehigh valley live. I've got a story written upon Lehigh valley live because of this issue, and I am bringing it up now before it happens again. 

https://www.lehighvalleylive.com/news/2020/06/large-fish-kill-after-bushkill-creek-dries-up-as-cement-companys-pumps-fail-following-lightning-strike-officials-say.html

elarousy week 9: music

 We live in a world that is so beautifully diverse and contains many different wonderful aspects. Yet, I sometimes believe that the most beautiful things that are the ones that aren’t seen or touched and I think that saying can be applied to music. It has been one of the few things that the world shares., dating many centuries back. It has been in every culture, no matter how far away from each other, Have somehow developed a means of expression by sound alone. And I think that is truly astounding. 

Music has been an essential part of my life ever since I can remember. Its been there at the lowest points in my life and at the highest ones as well. To me, it’s like hearing actual emotions on display. it actually helps me feel better when I can relate to a song. Because it helps me realize that I am not alone and not the only one going through whatever I am down about at the time. Music always had a way of making me feel better. Because It makes me feel seen and understood. It also has a way of bringing people together no matter their differences, background, or disagreements. since Everyone can appreciate a good piece of art.

I honestly cannot fathom a life without music. Just imagine, driving a car without music, going into a store with no music, working out with no music, or even a party with no music! Life would be so dull.

Tayi Week 9 - Roller Coasters

    Ever since I was little my family loved going to amusement parks. Every family gathering ends up with at least one trip to an amusement park. The problem with that is I hate roller coasters yet I get dragged out of the house to join them every time. I hate the feeling you get in your stomach when going down on a roller coaster. When we used to go to amusement parks, I always had someone stay behind when going on a roller coaster because I was too young to stay alone. It made me feel really guilty about holding them back but at the time I was too afraid.

    Right before the pandemic, my friends wanted to go to Dorney together. This would be my first time going to an amusement park in a while. To their surprise, I agreed to go. I was hyping myself up to the point where I convinced myself I would not opt-out of any ride. The moment the rides were in vision from our car, all of my confidence left me. 

    As we walked up to the first ride, Hydra, I asked them if I could opt out of just this first ride and In return would go on the rest. They didn't listen to a word I said. They literally shoved me onto the ride while I was whining. When the ride started I thought I was about to faint and then we slowly went up the first drop. They were all good with rides, so their entertainment was watching me freak out. When we dropped I got that terrible feeling in my stomach and screamed at the top of my lungs. My friends laughed at watching me lose it. We did this for every ride and I learned that….. I still hate roller coasters. It is not worth the wait, the money, the pain, for that one 10 second part of the ride where you are going fast and do not have that feeling in your stomach.

    

    The one thing I was happy about though was that I did not hold anyone back and I was the main reason everyone had fun. Even though my torture was their entertainment.