Have I Learned A Lot In Spanish Class? And Other Ideas That I Can't Write A Full Post About Due To Writer's Block

Ok first of all.....

The last time I published a blog post was on January 18th, which was my interview with new Duluth, MN Mayor Emily Larson.  If you want to read it or take another look at it, use this link. I'm so sorry that I left you guys hanging for all this time without any new blog posts.  For those of you who regularly keep tabs on this blog I usually try to post about two to ten times a month, with one or two posts each week.  As I write this I realize it's my third post blog post this year, and we're already about a third of the way through the year.  Needless to say.... 

Anyways, today's blog post consists of a bunch of smaller ideas that I've often considered writing about, but have never been able to create a full post with.  So without further ado, let's get started!

Spanish Class

Spanish class has been one of the more interesting classes during my time in high school.  Before starting it, I could say the simple Spanish words like "Hola!", which means hello, or "Buenos dias!" which means Good Morning.  I learned most of these words through PBS programs such as Dragon Tales and Arthur when I was really young.  I had also started watching some of the Spanish dubs of other TV shows as well.

One of the things Spanish class has helped me to gain a general understanding of is the pronunciation of several of their words and phrases, like "Come" which means "to eat" or "Bebe" which means "to drink".  I've also had the opportunity to read out loud in Spanish sometimes, and it's not as hard as other people make it sound.  Then again, we all learn in different ways.

The Spanish language will be a nice skill for me to take down the road as I head for college.

The College Search Continues

I am really starting to like the idea of attending North Dakota State University in Fargo.  It has a really friendly and thriving atmosphere that seems to be quite welcoming to a lot of students.  Their admissions staff have always been happy to answer my questions too.  

While NDSU is a great college, it's also in the running with several other great schools, one of them being St. Cloud State University.  No I'm not going to party hard, but they do have a full-blown radio and television station that they utilize on a regular basis, so that could be a lot of fun.  While I don't really want to be a part of their hockey broadcasting program, I would love to have the opportunity to be on their television or radio stations.

Another school that comes in competition is UWS.  UWS is a nice smaller college closer to my home near Eveleth.  While I would still have to live on campus it is much closer to home should I decide to keep running Free Range Sports.  The atmosphere seems rather friendly too.

No matter which college I decide to go to, I'm sure next year will be a fun one!

My Student Council Journey Is Coming To A Close

Last week was the Spring Division Meeting for the Northeast Division, and my last meeting with other councils in attendance as a whole.  It was an interesting meeting, and as you can see, we even brought our Tiger mascot Stripe along to join in the fun.  We discussed school spirit in the schools with other people and had a chance to bond with some 3-on-3 basketball.  Judging by the executive board we elected, I can see next year being quite productive in terms of leadership.

I also want to take the time to thank all of you throughout NED and the State of Minnesota who are involved in Student Council that have helped make the time that I've been involved with this group very special.  It's been a wild ride, and I really enjoyed leading you guys last year.  I've also enjoyed working with everyone on Cherry's Council.  Perhaps I'll join Student Senate next year.....?

Band Contest

On Monday I went out to one of my favorite Northland schools (Mesabi East) to participate in the MN State Band and Choir Contest.  I had the opportunity to watch a lot of awesome bands preform as well as the Mc Gregor Men's Choir.  All the performances were awesome and just plain amazing to listen to.  Cherry's band also got to preform and we got an excellent, which is one step away from the top rating, and I have to say with our band's size (<20 people), we did pretty swell.

My sister also got to preform a duet with her classmate, and they got a Superior, which is the highest rating possible that can be awarded at a band contest.  Congrats Lydia and Alyssa!

The Speech Season Speeds By Like A Rocket

This snapshot is from the Ely meet on March 5th, where I placed pretty decently in rooms (2nd-4th), which was my goal for the meet, not to get a high place (I placed 12th and 14th in my respective categories).  The Ely meet is my favorite from the entire season because of it's size.  It helps to see where you're at because you're not competing against a bunch of kids from bigger schools, rather just the competition from the area, which will come into bigger play during subsections, which start next week.

I was double-entered through the Ely meet in the categories of Humor and Creative Expression.  My Creative Expression piece is titled Why I'm Never Going Canoeing With Small Children Again , which you can read the original version of by going here.  My humor piece, which is the one I chose to drop was titled The Wonderful World Of Worry, which didn't exactly work out for me but was fun to try regardless.

The rest of the Speech Season should be a lot of fun regardless of what happens.  Tomorrow I go to Grand Rapids and that meet's a lot of fun, and then Tuesday is Subsections.  Wish me luck!

The Weather's Been Back & Forth

So about a week ago, things looked something like this outside.....

Fast forward to yesterday and things were looking like this instead

Most people don't seem to be enjoying this weather, but to me it's really beautiful.  The LORD has created so many awesome things, and scenes like this one here are great examples.  I wish things looked like this outside all Winter!

All in all, things are going pretty swell currently for me, and I'm looking forward to graduation on June 3rd!  The countdown keeps ticking!