Tag: High School

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Change Doesn’t Happen Over Night

Just background information for those who don’t know me that I went to a relatively small high school (graduating class of about 35 kids) and I met some of the people I graduated with back in 2005 today over lunch. Some I had kept in touch with more over others, then there have been some who I saw maybe once since graduation.

It was quite a small community, our principal would even love to call it “a family” all the time but it was quite something. I used to have informative, often heated debates with some people on questions varying from social to fiscal issues. There were just some that I thought I would never see eye to eye with, or some that would never switch their party lines to vote for another candidate – even on a more local ballot, never mind on a national scale.

One of the friends I met today was one of those people who I always argued against but continuously ending up respecting because they stood for their beliefs and stood firm on it. As an opponent in those arguments, you always felt they gave you a fair shake in listening to your points and rebutting things they disagreed with in a rather calm and respectful way – at least most of the times. To be quite frank, on the political scale we were as polar opposites as one could be without falling off the scale.

That same friend, who was always an avid learner certainly pulled a fast one by me today when they said they had voted for Barack Obama in this past year’s national election. In all my years of personally knowing someone who fundamentally stood on issues that were slightly more conservative than they were liberal, I did not see this one coming. They had been reading up on several social issues for some part of their studies and that in turn led them to vote the way they did. (By the way, the person did end up voting conservative down the ballot for every other candidate. haha)

I’m not saying voting conservative is a bad thing, actually a couple of my better friends would probably lean more right than left but I am certainly glad to see more and more people shedding the party label and voting for what they believe in and what they think is right. I certainly would think that even my friends who are liberal hippies would be able to vote for a Republican if it was clear that, that candidate would certainly put the country in a better situation than their opponent.

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I See Racist People

It is sad to see people who have grown up here and gone through the public school system (although that is much to say at times) are still be capable of such statements like which truly shows their ignorance and blatant racist ways. A lot of people I went to high school with know the person a whole lot better than me but just from that statement there, I think I know plenty to decide for myself.

A couple of my better friends are probably the staunchest conservatives I know but you know what, I can respect them because we differ solely on issues that matter and don’t discredit a candidate simply because of his or her name. I have told some of my closest friends that although there is a very high probability that Barack Obama is going to be elected President, the likelihood of him bringing the country together really lies in the hands of those who refuse to see beyond a skin color, beyond a guy with a funny name and refusing to accept that he may be just as much of an American as you are is what is holding this country back.

Let’s not be naive and think just because an African American can reach the highest position in our country that all of a sudden and overnight, racism will disappear. As the economic conditions of our country continue to deteriorate as they most likely will, regardless of who is President, expect to see race rise once again and those looking to prey on the weak blame this solely on a “black” man being not qualified to run a country. There is probably a chance that this will flame the fire even more in those minds of the hateful but this is where an opportunity arises. This country has a far too dark of a history to continue to ignore this issue and deem it to insensitive to brought into the spotlight.

Maybe I was too naive to think this would occur in a community where I went to school but maybe that was asking too much? Maybe this will be an educational experience that those with a different name than your Joe Smith are just as human as you, can realize this “American Dream” that everyone speaks about. To some however, this so called American Dream* comes with a fine print:

*Some restrictions apply. Not available in all states and certainly not to all races especially those with a dangerous sounding name that will threaten the freedom of America.

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Gatorade: Ball Girl

Gotta hand it to Gatorade for pulling off another great commercial.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syDQu_MzX_I

On a totally unrelated note, I had been looking for this video for over two years now and I finally found it through “related videos” from the one above.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJoxGpEswOI

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High School Team Conspires To Hit Umpire

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tsFSALrA1o

Got this straight from Rick Reilly’s article from <ESPN the Magazine> about a pitcher and catcher from Stephens County who were upset with the umpire’s calling of balls and strikes that they plunk him with a fastball in the face… The catcher ends up losing his position at the college he was going to next year and the school is fined $1,000 while the umpire has found a lawyer and hopefully sues the heck out of the school and those two kids.

As a side note, the brother of the pitcher (who was playing shortstop) was had just been drafted #15 overall by the Los Angeles Dodgers – Ethan Martin.

By the way, Stephens County lost the game to Cartersville 13-1 in the Georgia high school Class AAA championship game.

ump

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One Armed Basketball Player

A truly inspiring segment aired on CNN earlier talking about Porter Ellett, a one-armed high school student who is a starter for his basketball team. I included a video below and this kid can really do it all… knock down 3 pointers, grab rebounds and steal the ball from the opposition.

To see Porter Ellett warming up for a high school basketball game, he looks out of place and you would expect to see him sitting on the bench, instead of the starting for Wayne High School.

“It’s kind of fun to see people’s reactions when they doubt you and they see you walk out on the court and wonder why you are even playing; then you get to go out and prove what you are worth,” Ellett said.

Porter lost his right arm in an accident when he was a young boy. While having only one arm to compete with is a disadvantage, Porter likes the challenge, scoring 16 of his team’s 50 points, with steals, rebounds and a blocked shot. His coach, Kade Morrell, calls him a natural leader for the team.

“He’s got a winning attitude and he’s a prime example of how far attitude can take you. It’s not what happens to you, but how you react and how you deal with it that matters in life,” Morrell said.

While the spotlight is on Porter much more than his team, he is the first to credit his teammates for helping him win, both on and off the court. “My teammates, my friends, I wouldn’t be anything, they are my support. When other people knock me down, they are always there. They’ve always been positive, always told me I could do anything.”

Here is the video: