Mr. Darcy Essay

Sarcasm

it wont let me upload it b/c it says it doesnt meet security guidelines or something so i have to go back to copy and paste again…

Describe a time when you felt you had a “guardian angel”

I hoped for the best as her eyes watched my every move. Arm back, elbow up, small toss, fast step, and hit…follow through. As my hand contacted the ball, I shut my eyes as tight as they could go, praying at this point. If I wanted to make the varsity team, I had to have a perfect serve. It had to be TOUGH in the area she wanted. I opened my eyes, wiping my sweaty palms on my lucky blue shirt. Then, I watched the red, white, and blue volleyball land exactly in the corner of area one. PERFECT SERVE! The coach kept watching me, which didn’t make it any easier. The gym was loud with screaming but I could not hear anything. Pure silence…I don’t think I have ever really had that sensation before. I hope the second serve is exactly like the first attempt. I wouldn’t want her to think that first serve was just an accident. But it definitely wasn’t. I felt like I had a guardian angel hovering over me, and placing the ball in the exact point I had hoped for each time!!! After we finished the serving section of the tryout, I had a sense of relief. I was most worried for the serving and it had gone the BEST out of everything! For the last couple of minutes of the tryout, we played queen of the court, and every time I served the gym would echo, “TOUGH SERVER…get ready guys.” I had the best feeling inside of me. The tryout seemed to fly by and I had accomplished everything I had hoped for. I could not wait for august when I could find out the results of my tryout.

Walk In and Know No One

it says this document does not meet security guidelines or something…i’ve been trying to upload it for the last 10 minutes…so i have resulted to the old COPY and PASTE!!!

My Personal Odyssey: Volleyball

Volleyball is quite important to me which is why I am so committed and I always put in 150% effort all 6 practices of the week. I want to make the most of what I am capable of. If I try hard enough, then I believe I can reach my goal. This year was a bit crazy! I am playing for Sunshine Volleyball Club, which is basically Marlborough School’s rival. I am young for my grade and just turned fourteen on September 20th. So the head of Sunshine, Cari Klein, is coaching the 14-1’s team which received second in the nation for their bracket last year. This year the team is playing in the 15’s bracket for more competition, and is supposed to win first in the nation!!! I am now an important part of this incredible team, where I am making good friends, and receiving great coaching. After three weeks of practice I am already serving jump flo and running slides.

But, a bunch of my friends, Marlborough teammates, and especially my Marlborough coaches, are giving me a very hard time about my decision. I am being pressured into reconsidering my decision almost everyday. I was kicked by a Marlborough coach at one of my practices and asked in front of my Sunshine teammates why I was playing on this “stupid little team”? I was also embarrassed in front of all my Marlborough teammates by another Marlborough coach when she said I was definitely going to improve…. if I played 15’s. I do not know what the correct decision is but what I do know is that I am going to have to take a risk and hope for the best. Volleyball is a big part of my life and I want to go down the right path but now I have hit a major obstacle in the way. What do I do… be pressured into playing 15’s or stay with my team and my great coaching on 14’s???

Trixie

What Makes Me Unique?

A Once in a Lifetime Experience

In book three of The Odyssey, Athena is greeted warmly while the golden cup is poured and shared with the guests first. This is an important custom, much like my family’s customs. My family often has dinner with friends or family, both at our home or their home. If we are the guests in another person’s home, we always bring a little gift as a thank you to the host or hostess. Usually it is a small housewarming gift or a lot of the times a nice bottle of wine. But, if we are the hosts, my house is usually quite busy the morning before. The sound of the vacuum is always running (my golden retriever sheds… a lot) and the delicious cooking aroma spreads until it fills the entire house. It is important to my family, when cooking, to make a dish we know our guests will enjoy. When the guests arrive they are greeted immediately and are entertained (often while having cocktails and starting off with appetizers). When all of the food is ready, the guests will dish their plates and sit down at the dining room table. A major custom is that we always make to serve our guests before serving ourselves. Most of the time there are little party favors/goodies placed in front of each person’s plate. After a delicious meal at the table, there is more than likely some type of scrumptious dessert to finish off the evening. After much socializing with the guests, at some point they say goodbye, thank you, and then leave. These traditional hospitality customs of my family are much like the customs in The Odyssey.

As I have learned from Doc’s many ancient civilization honors lectures, during the place and time period of the Odyssey, the custom was that if you went to a major city to eat your meal with the nobles (or highly respected/ royalty) you must tell a story. The better the story, the better you are treated and the more likely you are to be invited back. In book one of the Odyssey, Athena leaves Olympus and travels to Ithaca where the first person to greet her is Prince Telemachus. He greeted her with the words, “Greetings, stranger! Here in our house you’ll find a royal welcome. Have supper first, then tell us what you need.” She is treated with great respect and she eats her supper with the Prince and his suitors, before telling him her reason for coming. Then she starts her story off by saying he is Mentes, lord of the Taphian men, and her father is Anchialus. Athena informs Prince Telemachus about the news of the great Odysseus. She says, “And now I’ve come – and why? I heard that he was back…your father, that is. But no, the gods thwart his passage. Yet I tell you great Odysseus is not dead. He’s still alive, somewhere in this wide world, held captive out at sea on a wave-washed island, and hard men, savages, somehow hold him back against his will.” At first Prince Telemachus replies with the fact that he is not so sure Odysseus is even his father, but in the end, Athena convinces him to take her word and become a man. This requires him to travel out over seas on a mission, in search for his father, Odysseus!