Assignment 2: iwrite

In 1976, Steve Jobs became a co-founder of Apple. 35 years later he retired, putting his enormous company into different hands, and shortly thereafter succumbed to cancer. His retirement and death did not just mean a promotion for Tim Cook, the new CEO, but a major shift in a company that has been a key player in technology innovation in the 21st century.  Love 'em or hate 'em, Steve Jobs changed our lives.

So, this brings us to your writing for the week:

How has technology affected your life?

Choose one of the following prompts and in 150 words or more, provide your answer.

• Has technology affected you in a majorly positive way? What happened?
• Has technology ever inconvenienced you or hurt you? Maybe technology got in your way, slowed you down or even literally hurt you? Have you seen technology have a negative impact on society?
• How would your life have been different if you'd grown up 20 years earlier? How would you interact with others? Do you think your relationships then would differ from your present relationships? Which time period would you prefer and why?
• Become a futurist and theorize on how might technology evolve over the next decade and what changes might those changes bring.  

The deadline for this blog is Sunday, September 6th at 11:59 p.m.

Andrew Thompson

     My name is Andrew Thompson but people call me Andy or Andy T even though I don't want them to. This year I am striving to pass my AP tests as well as survive this year with all A's. The whole all A's thing has eluded me thus far thoughout high school, and with an even more difficult schedule this year it seems I may have to try again next year. But there is nothing wrong with giving it a decent try.

     I am really geeked out by games, keyboards, and really good film. I probably play video games more than what us considered "healthy," but I don't see anything truly wrong with that, as long as it is something I am passionate about. Video games have an uncanny ability to unite people, no matter their race or beliefs or hardships, and they allow people to escape from the everyday and just have fun for a bit, which I think is cool. In fact, I met my two best friends from playing games. They are a combination of every artform, then made interactive, I mean, what is not to love? Keyboards are also really fun for me. If I were to have a massive collection of anything it would definately be keyboards. I don't quite know why I like them, but I can waste hours just looking at people's custom keyboards. And of course, there isn't much better than sitting down and watching a great movie. Really good cinematography gets me just about as excited as anything. Every night I have made it my goal to sit down and watch a movie. It doesn't matter what the genre is, I just like exposing myself to something new.

     And my favorite website will probably always be the ultimate time waster: reddit.com.
     And also here is a picture of a really tiny koala.

I really don't know how to end this.

Will Shapiro

Hello everyone,

As you can probably tell from the title my name is Will Shapiro. Some things about me are that I enjoy the outdoors like rock climbing and camping despite how much it wrecks my allergies, I like to build computers, binge watch netflix for days at a time, and play soccer for the Henry Clay varsity soccer team. I think I need to cut down on my netflix time though because last spring break I managed to watch 55 hours of a TV show within 5 days... That's more effort than a 40 hour work week.

As a moderately good student my goals are to get all A's and pass AP tests with 4's and 5's. I'm already pretty sure that's not gonna happen with AP Physics though because of the 30% pass rate and the fact that am trash at math. Despite that this year is looking pretty good. Some non-academic goals would be to save up enough money for a car this year and get out to the gorge more than I was able to last year.

Something memorable that happened this summer was getting to visit Glacier national park and see a cool bear in the wild. If I had to just choose one superpower, I would have to choose stopping and starting time because of the sheer amount of use I could get from it. Don't know an answer to a test question, just hold everything and go look that stuff up in my study guide. Straight A's for life with that trick.

Above is one of my favorite youtube videos by Key and Peele. My favorite website has to be a tie between reddit and netflix because of the sheer amount of time I spent procrastinating over there.

S̄wạs̄dī, My name is Noah William Tapp. People refer to me as Noah. I have an obsession with contact sports so I decided to play tennis for Henry Clay. When that gets too rough rough I reside to the non KHSAA approved Pingpong Club.
My geek thing is University of Kentucky Sports. I try to attend every game I can and thanks to my family I have had the oppotunity to do some cool things with the UK sports team. For example, this year I flew to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to watch the wildcat basketball team take on the tigers. This was no ordinary trip. I went on the offical UK Team plane. Yes you heard me... the players' plane. Just a few rows up was the beautiful Devin Booker and just a few rows behind was Karl Towns, the future #1 pick in the 2015 NBA Draft. But how could I forget the artistic WCS, the midget Tyler Ulis, and the clutch Harrisons ( just Aaron actually. AKA a-aron to the substitute teacher). Just interacting with these future professional athletes was a treat. I ate all the same meals , stayed in the same police guarded hotel floor, and even went to the same shoot around before the game. Being apart of that undefeated regular season is something that I will never forget. In the past UK trips have brought me to Indianapolis, Charelston, Nashville, Rocky Top, Gainesville, New York,and New Orleans( 2012 National Championship). Hopefully the renovated football stadium is complete by the time next weekend when UK will show the Rajun Cajuns what a real SEC football team is.
Enough about UK Sports.I actually am a competitive tennis player. I've played varsity since 6th grade so hopefully after 7 years of playing high school tennis I will either be a team state champion or an individual  state champion. I also want to play college tennis . I started playing when I was around 4 so it has been "my" sport ever since then. From an academic standpoint, I try to achieve As and pass AP tests. This is the year I will take the PSAT, ACT, and SAT so I hope to score well on those so I can get into a decent college. My dream college would be somewhere relatively near home but far enough away to where my mom could not get there in one night. If I could have a power it would be the ability to go back in time. Not that I have any regrets but there are always times when better decisions could of been made.
 a picture of my tennis coach doing his thing in college. http://espn.go.com.      ESPN cause sports.

My name is Mark C. Walsh, and I am an incredibly busy and confused High School Junior. My goal is simply to live through this year without having a nervous breakdown and manage to get B's this year.
I am generally a bad student, and I cannot pass AP exams as a side effect of my irreparable handwriting. My pet peeve is people telling me to try harder with my handwriting. I could write a multiple page essay on why that is an awful request, but I won't make you go through the boredom of having to listen to me rant about the lack of consideration some people have.
Over the last summer, I was ridiculously busy because my family was facilitating my late grandfather's hospice care. I was by his side all summer, until he passed away in the end of July. I took him, in his fragile state, to see his wife everyday for the first month he stayed with us, and one week his condition greatly deteriorated, and we stepped it down to once a week. I am not upset about his passing, I am relieved. He was in so much pain that at the end, they had to put him into a coma-like sedation. He was a wonderful man, but he, like every man, had his faults. He was a drunk, and he was abusive towards his sons and grandchildren, but he was one of the most charitable men I have ever met, and he taught me many important lessons. I would be such a different man without him, and I am proud that I had the pleasure of knowing him.
I am an avid hobbyist photographer, and am now going to be a staff photographer for the school newspaper this year. My camera is by my sides at all times, because I live by the philosophy is that the worst kind of camera is the camera that is at home. I use a Sony A5000 because, for rather technical reasons, it was what was best for me at the time. I would upgrade to a Sony A7RII, but that camera costs more than my car, and a new camera is rather low on my priority list at this time. Here is one of my pictures of my dog (I know that this is a corny subject for a picture, but it is a subject that is readily available, and lends itself well to black&white)

I am a huge fan of vintage German cars, and I hope to become a collector at some point. I currently drive a 1995 Mercedes C280 that I inherited from my Grandfather, and I am working on making it nice. This is one of the things limiting my new camera budget because premium gas, full synthetic oil, and custom parts, or original parts from germany are all expensive things and are excessively necessary for my car. I love looking at this "German Cars For Sale Blog" when I get the opportunity,

Tommy Gardner

My name is Thomas Gardner, but I go by Tommy, and I've gone by that name as long as I can remember. This year in school I would like to get a 4.0 GPA, and to get 5 on all of my AP exams at the end of the year. The best part of my summer vacation was when my father and I went to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. We spent 5 days on the water and over the course of the week we canoed 50 miles. It was the best part of my summer, and the area was great. Now for my superpower, I would have to go with flight, simply because flying around would be fun.




Here is a picture taken on the island that we stayed on for 2 days. I took this picture just after we had gone and cleaned a fish on a rock about 50 feet away from our island. The eagle stayed in that tree for about 45 minutes, then left.

As for the favorite website it has to be https://www.youtube.com/
Occasionally on weekends this website will keep me up till 3 to 4 in the morning.

Jessica Sunnenberg

Hi friends :) My name is Jessica Sunnenberg. No, not Sunnenberger or Sunnenbert (as it was featured in the newspaper when I was little), or the ever so common Sunnenburg.

So to start off...a little about myself. I attend Henry Clay High School as a Junior in the Liberal Arts Academy. I have also played volleyball for Henry Clay since I was in the 8th grade and have loved every minute of it. I used to do many different individual sports such as competitive swimming and karate (yes, I am a black belt in Tae Kwon Do), but never enjoyed them as much as I do volleyball. It is my passion and I have made so many wonderful friends because of it. I ended up meeting my best friend Emma in 6th grade when we both made the team for our middle school. Our friendship has grown immensely since then. Maybe its because we were actually meant to be twins. But really though. We were born on the same day, in the same hospital, have the same middle name, the same height, both play volleyball, and well, you get the point. This sport has helped me and has made me a better person in so many ways.

When I'm not doing volleyball I tend to do more volleyball. This thing people call "a life", yeah I don't have one. But that's all okay because I truly wouldn't trade it for the world. 

When I do occasionally have some free time I tend to binge watch shows on netflix, but then again what high schooler doesn't? My current favorite is Grey's Anatomy. I am on season 3 and am still going strong. Because of this, it will come at no surprise to you that my favorite website is http://www.netflix.com/browse. I have also played the violin since 3rd grade and continue to play in the Chamber Orchestra at our school.  

My academic goals for this school year are to receive a 4.0 GPA, raise my ACT score even more, and pass my AP exams. This won't come easy, but I am willing to do whatever it takes. My personal goals this year are to get recruited for college volleyball. I have a couple wonderful schools interested in me, but I am still considering all of my options and hope to be recruited sometime during this school year. 

My favorite summer memory was the night of July 26th. I would like to start this story off by saying that I am a hot mess, a klutz even. My group of volleyball friends and I decided to spend the night with each other the night of our annual volleyball picnic, where I started off the night by falling out of a tree. When we got to said friend's house we went on a little adventure. She knew a spot where we had to walk across a slippery pipe to get to the other side. Once we got there all of my friends had gotten to the other side just fine. When it was my turn, I put one foot on the pipe and slipped off, falling into the water. As the night went on I also got a spider thrown on me, which resulted in a major freak out. I then jumped across another deep creek and gashed my foot open on a rock (it was not easy getting back across with one good foot). For the rest just watch the video below. 

To conclude, some of my favorite things include: penguins, the color aqua, roasting people in our volleyball group message (HCYEETBALL #OAM), the bOAD, Matt Anderson, Stitchers, and Key West. Along with that are some of my least favorite things: school, clowns, spiders, and worst of all dunbar. And with that, I'm outtie. Until next time. 

Daniel Kolpek

Hey! My name is Daniel Kolpek and I am currently a junior at Henry Clay. I like playing golf, skiing, hiking, watching sports (especially basketball), watching movies/Netflix, and just hanging out with my friends. I am a huge Kentucky fan and attend the majority of their basketball games. I love dogs and am definitely a dog person. Cats are okay, just not as awesome as dogs. As I mentioned before, I love to hike and have gone fifty miles on the Appalachian Trail. I also hiked over one hundred miles over ten days in New Mexico last summer.

This summer, I decided to take a break from the hiking and instead go vacationing more. The most memorable part of my summer was probably the wedding I went to in the Bahamas. It was the first time I had ever left the country. It was really cool to see the Caribbean and how blue the water is. My family and I did a ton while we were down there. Me and my dad golfed every other day, and we also went scuba diving where we unexpectedly swam with sharks. After we got back from the Bahamas, we got a new chocolate Labrador Retriever puppy. His name is Comet and he is currently twelve weeks old. I was able to spend the last two weeks before school started training him and getting him familiarized with the house.

My academic goals this year are to get a 4.0 unweighted GPA and pass all of my AP exams. My personal goal is just to have a great time this year.

If I could have any superpower, I would have to say I would want the ability to fly. I picture it being like a roller coaster, with the air blowing in your face and hair flying.

I'm a big fan of both Kevin Hart and Jimmy Fallon, so here is a video from when Kevin Hart was on the Tonight Show.

 

 

I also am a big fan of Vine so here is a link to that. http://vine.co

 

 

 

Meriwether Carling

Hello everyone, my name is Meriwether Carling. No, Meriwether is not a double name. It's not Mary, or Meredith, or any other name made up to make it easier to say. It is just simply Meriwether.

Whenever I am asked to "tell a little something about myself" I never know what to say. Example: What is your favorite song? Well I wouldn't know how to answer that. My taste in music is a large variety of just random (and often very questionable) song choices that I couldn't just choose one song from. Other basic questions like a favorite color or a favorite animal are a little easier to answer. Green and dogs would be my response. More basic things to know about me are that I go to Henry Clay and am a junior. I live with my dad, mom, younger brother, and two dogs. I play varsity soccer for Henry Clay and for Commonwealth Soccer Club. Soccer pretty much controls my life. But don't let that sentence fool you, I love the game I play and wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. If I could have one superpower it would be to predict the future because I don't like not knowing what is going to happen next.

Two words, junior year. This school year, aka the most important year in high school, my academic goals are what every other fellow academy member also strives for; to maintain a 4.0, to pass all my AP tests, and to get a high score on the ACT. Personal goals for me this year are to become more involved in the Dance Blue organization that Henry Clay is doing this year and to learn to not procrastinate!! As I sit here writing this blog, on the Sunday it is due, I begin to realize I am going to have to work a lot harder to reach my second goal. Seeing as though I'm doing to right now. But one good thing did come from me waiting until the very last minute to write this. Before last night I had absolutely NO idea what video I was going to put on here that describes my life but it fell into my lap at approximately 11:00 PM last night. The Henry Clay Soccer Team had a team bonding sleepover last night and one of my fellow teammates, Caroline Totty, decided it would be "fun" to sing an acapella cover to one of the Pitch Perfect mashups they do in the movie. So I now present to you the best thing I have ever been a part of, the HCWSA acapella group of 2015.



How surprised could one be to find out my favorite website is http://www.netflix.com/browse ? Answer: Not surprised at all.

Alec

Hi I'm Alec, and I just spent way too much time trying to figure out a clever way to start this post. Writing isn't my favorite pastime, I prefer playing soccer, drawing, and playing guitar, though I promise not to be "that guy" who carries his guitar around all the time. I spent this summer mostly procrastinating on the annoying summer work handed out by a few teachers, but in between  my loafing around their was time for a vacation to Cancun, where I believe that I ate more than enough to satisfy twelve full size horses, and I spent my time enjoying all that they had to offer there, from wake boarding to windsurfing, it was too much fun. I returned to the Henry Clay soccer practices, going from the comfort of waking up at ten next to the beach, to waking up at 5:30 to go to the grueling soccer practices conjured up by the all-powerful coach Behler. Then school returned, and while my goals include trying to get more than four hours of sleep per night and not reducing my lifespan by ten years from work-induced stress, I also want to maintain a 4.0 by the end of the year, and pass all of my AP tests with an average above a 4. And that is a little about me.

My favorite website, where I spend many hours gloriously procrastinating Youtube, and my favorite video while hard to choose has to be this...

El Duderino

Henry Walther

Well, I'm finally here. After forgetting to email Mr. Logsdon to re invite me to the blog due to the pesky little 2 after my name in my school email, I've finally arrived. So what better place to start than the aforementioned number 2. The number 2 has a very special place in my heart because of the 2 ventricles that keep me alive (I kid I kid) but seriously 2 has been MY number, since the wee age of.... you guessed it, 6! During this numerically defining year I participated in baseball for the first time on the Eastern Little League Yankees. I refrain from using the work "play" in depicting my futile participation in America's pastime because instead of hitting homeruns, I was picking dandelions in the outfield. Despite my bad play I had the strength of 3 thousand four hundred and sixty five hits on my back. I was wearing the captains number, the Yankees all time hits leader number, Henry's favorite player's number, I was wearing Derek Jeter's number.

If you've noticed so far I've been using 2 instead of two. 2 reasons I can cite for this: first, my 2nd grade teacher Ms. Gruca who repeatedly scolded me for never spelling out my numbers (this 1 is for you Ms. Pukca (my affectionate nickname for her) 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2)) second, unlike THE Mr. Lebowski I'm into the whole brevity thing, Dude.

Seamless transition into another thing about Henry (Henry likes referring to himself in the third person) he's a huge movie buff (allegedly, but Henry only enjoys movies from the 1980s on and will vehemently lie if you ask if he's seen classics such as Citizen Kane or Casablanca). Some of my favorite movies that I've unequivocally seen are The Big Lebowski, Forrest Gump, Citizen Kane (ahem), Pulp Fiction, Shawshank Redemption, Casablanca (AHEM), and Memento.

The year 1994 stands the test of time as the greatest year of artistic achievement ever, forever ever. Movies such as my previously mentioned favorites Forrest Gump, The Shawshank Redemption, and Pulp Fiction were released coupled with poets Nas and Biggie Smalls released their breakthrough albums.

The geekiest aspect of me lies in Americas Pastime, baseball. The geekness does not lie on the field, rather in my obsession with the analytical and statistical side of the game. I scoff at people who claim (read in stereotypical surfer Keanu Reeves voice) "dudeeee, guess what man, player x is sooo good because he had 120 RBIs last year!!" *facepalm*. No, player x isn't good because his abilities, it's because he was batting in a beneficial spot in the best lineup in baseball IN FREAKIN COLORADO WHERE THE FENCES ARE SHORT AND AIR DENSITY MAKES THE BALL GO FARTHER!! YOU GOT THAT "MAN". I digress... On the less crazy side of my obsession is WAR. No not the device that we use to justify the annihilation of cities and death of millions of innocent civilians, but the statistic wins above replacement. This is basically a catch all number that encapsulates a player's worth in comparison to a league average replacement player. Now here is a funny stat line of Ted Williams career as both a hall of famer and an Air Force pilot:
1941  WAR 10.6
1942  WAR 10.5
1943  world WAR 2
1944  world WAR 2
1945  world WAR 2
1946  WAR- 10.9

Now, here's a really funny picture:

Finally here's a link to my favorite website and podcast, http://cespedesfamilybarbecue.com/

Clara McKinley 1

Although I don't find it hard or uncommon to add a simple "a" to the end of my name, people often manage to just say Clare when they first meet me, unless reading my name off of a list, but I am named and go by Clara. For me goal setting is something I fear, as I always feel it would be worse to set a high goal and not reach it than to set a low goal and over achieve, so I tend to have to somehow force myself to write down my highest goals. To start, I am going to (I find it better to state that I am going to do it, rather than to say I hope to) maintain my 4.0, and I am not going to add maximum levels of stress by receiving another 91.68, by the luck and hours of studying to bring a B up to an A with my final. Along with keeping my 4.0, I plan to receive enough growth and knowledge to score a 4 or 5 on all of my AP tests. Personally, this year I plan to continuing playing soccer and to convince my self to run the horrible 26.2 miles of a marathon in January. Just typing the idea of running 104.8 laps around the Henry Clay track makes me question my sanity, but I have to say that many things do. For the past 2 years I have run the half marathon in Charleston, SC to raise money for children of single parents to be able to attend the camp I am now, strangely, old enough to be a counselor at, and I find that running twice the milage means I could collect twice the money, so hey...why not?

Coming off of attempting  to run a marathon simply for children to be able to spend 4 weeks of their year at a camp, the most meaningful moment of my summer occurred when I was a CILT (camper in leadership training-which is kind of like being a counselor, but not being a counselor.) I was in cabin 11, which was the youngest 4 week cabin. This meant, me and my 3 counselors, who were 17, 18 and 19, were in charge of 12 little girls, plus 2 day campers, between the ages of 7-8, 24 hours a day for 28 days. Although this seems like the most questionable way to optionally spend your summer, being able to have so many kids look up to you is a feeling you can't explain and becoming so close with people from all over the place is something I would "give up" my summer for any time possible. On the closing night of camp, as I sat at a table with my cabin, after spending 4 weeks here, I watch my little campers cry about having to leave. To me this was so special to see that even children this young could enjoy and love an experience so much to go from crying for their moms and dads during weeks 1 and 2 to saying they didn't want to leave. 

If I could have a superpower, I would have to say it would be the power to "watch as much disney as I wanted without mom hiding my remote" as inspired by one of my campers, except I would change watching disney to watching netflix  and with out my mom stopping me to without failing out of school (aka in my mind getting a B). Even typing this I find this super power making me seem electronically obsessed, so I think I would change my superpower once again from watching netflix to doing whatever pleased me in the moment. As much as I enjoy learning, there are times when I just wish I could read a different book, go for a run, or just lay in my bed and not go sit in the florescent light filled school. 

My favorite website, without a doubt, is simply amazon.com. From the outside, there is nothing fascinating about this simple link, but by clicking on it you are exposed to a place where you can buy pretty much anything a-z that you can think of, plus more. You can buy your groceries or book or clothing or electronics and you can probably even buy yourself fake hair, and if you convince your mom to get amazon prime, you get it all in 2 days, so I really can't think of a website that could be much better. 

Lastly, I'd like to share with you this photo of a baby. Although it just looks like your typically baby photo, it is most definitely not. I found this photo when I got home from babysitting one night, having no idea how it got there. After being confused for a while, I came to the logical sense, that somehow this 9 month child had managed to take a selfie on my phone. 

Assignment 1

Hi,

My name is Cameron Combs. I am a junior at Henry Clay High School, and I enjoy playing baseball and soccer. I am currently involved in the varsity soccer team for Henry Clay and am preparing for the upcoming season in baseball. As for some of my other hobbies, I enjoy playing fantasy football with my friends and fishing. My favorite moment from this summer actually involved fishing. When a few of my friends and I went to Marco Island, FL this summer, we went deep sea fishing and ended up catching some of the biggest fish I had ever seen. This was extremely entertaining, but not as entertaining as it would be to have the ability to fly, which would of course be my superpower of choice. Just imagine the money I could save on taking an airplane to Florida if I could fly, or even the money I could even make by flying other people around. I bet flying would also be a pretty good workout so it could keep me in shape at the same time. My goals for this school year are to pass all of my AP tests and finish off the year with a 4.0 GPA. My favorite video would have to be this act on America's Got Talent that I am sure caught everyone in the audience off guard https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VhQK-6iI7cI and my favorite website would have to be https://answers.yahoo.com for all that it has done to help me with my homework.

Lauryn McNair

My name is Lauryn Marie McNair and I'm 16 years old. I work at Fazolis and I'm a member of our school's Young Democrats, Gay Straight Alliance (GSA), and Cultural Diversity Club. I really like Harry Potter, Alice Walker, Thomas Harris, and William Blake. My personal goals for the year is to be more grateful, buy less things, and spend more time with my family. My academic goals include obtaining a 5.0 GPA, scoring well on the ACT and SAT, and improving in my writing.

The most meaningful moment of my summer was when my family had a little get together. I grew up in a small family that consisted of just my mom, three siblings, and myself. However, over the years this has grown to include one more sister, three nephews, and a sister-in-law and a brother-in-law. Despite the growth, I see less of my family due to the start of their own independent lives. Over the summer, we had a get-together which consisted of all of the previous mentioned family members, my uncle, and a few friends. Overall, it was really nice to see everyone for more than a hour and everyone actually got along, which was rare. In addition to that, I also volunteered at St. Joseph East Hospital for a month, United Way for two weeks, and began my first job, all of which were exciting.

If I could have any superpower, I would have the power to keep pollutants from contaminating water and keeping a healthy amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. This would be beneficial to everyone, especially poor countries and people who are affected greatly by this and don't have the means to combat it. Also, I don't see this superpower becoming problematic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUC_DOhfzwQ- This is a video of a crowd protesting police brutality while chanting a line from Kendrick Lamar's song "Alright". With an increased awareness of police brutality, primarily on black citizens, a lot of my time is consumed informing myself on these injustices while mourning them. I also love protest and the song Alright, so this video sums up a little bit of my interest. https://twitter.com/ My favorite website is Twitter, on which I spend an abnormal amount of time on.

Alexis Farmer

My full name is Alexis Noelani Farmer. I am 16 years old. A fact about me is that I always look mad because I have a ‘’resting mean mugging face’’, but in reality, I am really chill and nice. I also dance at Premier Athletics, and work at Fazolis. This year, I hope to improve my ACT score, and my GPA. I also hope to improve on my time management skills. The most meaningful moment of my summer vacation was when I went to the beach. I thought it was going to be really boring because I am an only child, but I ended up meeting with some of my friends which made it a lot more fun. If I could have any superpower, it would be either to be able to turn any tree into a money tree, because money is great, or the ability to walk/fall through walls, floors, etc.  Jay Versace is one of my favorite viners so here is a link to one of his videos: https://vine.co/v/OlDeF93v7PH. My favorite website is https://www.youtube.com/ because one day I hope to be a famous beauty guru/ vlogger.

Emily Sandford

Hi my name is Emily Sandford, not Samford, Sanford, Standford, Stanford, or even Standiford, you may be asking why that’s included but I have gotten all of these and hated it. Now that you know I can’t stand it when people misspell my last name let’s move on to some more stuff about me, I’m incredibly awkward and shy, unless you start talking about things I really like then I won’t shut up. Also I like to explain myself but it mostly ends up being me rambling and nobody likes that myself included.

What’s another thing people don’t like? Failing. That’s why one of my academic goals for this year is not to fail. I know it’s nothing special but it’s a good goal especially when you miss a lot of school like me. I would also like to at least get some threes on my AP tests, but isn’t that everyone?

Some people already know this but over the summer I participated in Women in Engineering (WIE) workshop series hosted by the University of Kentucky College of Engineering Admissions. So to most this would sound really boring, but that’s just the name not what happened. So the WIE went through six areas of engineering Civil, Electrical, Computer Science, Minning, Chemical, and Biosystems all of which were tons of fun. I started with Computer Science which is coding, in the workshop we made apps for androids and they worked, they all had the same outline which was press the button and get an answer, mine was “Which Disney Song Should You Play?”. I then went to the Civil Engineering where we built catapults and trebuchets, my group’s catapult failed a little, but it had a maximum distance of 40 feet, so not too bad. Then it was time for Electrical and Computer engineering which I had heard a lot about at this point, the day started out by soddening a circuit board for a piano with the parts made from a 3D printer, then it was time for the main event creating and programing ardino boards to be pianos specifically grape pianos. Yes you heard me right grape pianos. The next workshop I went to was biosystem engineering where we made cheese from scratch and ruined several foods such as Cheetos, did you know to get the shapes on the crunchy Cheetos that they just fry the puffy ones. Then came Mining Engineering where we went down into the limestone mine in Georgetown, and learned what true darkness really is, and detonated ten different kinds of explosives, oh and I mention that all nine of us got to pick and set up and detonate an explosive, cause we did, and not to brag but I detonated the dynamite. The last workshop was chemical engineering where we made acetate membranes and learned about desalination and how it affects water.

There was a lot in that one I know but I’m not exactly finished talking about my summer yet. Before any the workshops had occurred I had gone to the Kentucky 4-H Teen Conference and interviewed for a spot on the State 4-H Science, Engineering, and Technology Leadership Board. To my surprise I got on and I’m now a part of this lovely group of people.

Moving on, if I could have any superpower I’m not sure what it would be, but it wouldn’t have to do with engineering. I say I would like control over snow and ice like Elsa or control over fire, but these would definitely lead to consequences in the unforeseeable future like freezing an entire city or arson because I’m not capable of trusting myself not to do these things, and controlling and hiding these things would be a pain and eventually too stressful. So it’s because of this that I would have to go with the classic power of invisibility because I’m good at being quiet.

As you’ve seen throughout this I’ve mentioned some stuff such as Disney, Engineering, and 4-H. All of these add up to my favorite things, and I hope to combine these into future careers, such as Jungle Cruise Skipper, and Audio-Animatronic Imagineer. How does 4-H play into this? I participate in Ham Club, Shooting Sports, Dog Club, Teen Council, and the SET Board, I’m loving every second of each of these and I’m becoming better able to reach the requirements of these jobs because of it.

Before I forget my favorite site is http://blogs.disney.com/ shocker right?

I know that was a lot to go through so I'll leave you with a video of the mysterious grape piano.

My name is Brian and I'm a junior at Henry Clay. I usually go by Brian but people call me bsat, Sato and satosunday. Some of my academic goals are to get 5's on my AP tests and finish junior year with a 4.0 GPA as well as raising my ACT composite score. My personal goals are to make new friends and having a good time this year. My favorite things are the great outdoors such as going camping, fishing, canoeing as well as playing sports, hanging out with friends and tailgating. UK college football is almost upon us and I'm so excited for the first game.

My biggest passion is the game of soccer. I've been playing soccer since I was three years old. I started playing competitive soccer when I was eight and I've still been playing. It's one of my favorite things to do and can be played throughout the whole year either inside or outside. It's a great game both competitively and recreational.

The most significant part of my summer was the last night of summer. That's the day where everyone makes the most of and that's what I did. I had a lot of fun and met some new people that I became friends with. It was a great night and ended my summer with a bang.

Since I love the Walking Dead...

But Everyone Calls Me Liz

Hello! My name is Elizabeth Corbin Graves, but everyone calls me Liz. I live on a farm, so I've always liked being outside. I used to ride horses when I was younger, but I was forced to ride a horrible beast of an animal that threw me off everyday, so I stopped. I did have an aspiring career showing sheep 1-4th grade--I won 2nd place in Showmanship three years in a row at the State Fair, so, yes, I'm kind of a big deal.
I love hiking, cooking, reading, and watching Netflix. Grey's Anatomy is my favorite show. That show (McDreamy, oh my goodness) is part of the reason I want to study psychology in college. I want to do research on the functions of the brain and find out why some people are prone to certain disabilities.
I have a gigantic dog, Angus,  and two equally large cats, Duchess and O'Malley (named after characters in the movie the Aristocats).
 My academic goals this year are to get all 5s on my AP exams, maintain all A's, all the while avoiding a mental breakdown. My personal goals are to figure out which colleges I might want to go to and pass my driver's test in January. I was born in late July, so I've always been one of the youngest in my grade. Being able to drive by myself and not having to rely on someone to pick me up will be one of, if not the, most freeing experiences of my life.
Living so far out of town prohibits me a my siblings from doing a lot of things that might otherwise be normal summer activities, so our summer breaks are usually pretty boring. This summer, though, we had three Australian friends of ours stay at our house for a week while they were traveling all over the Americas. We got got to hear all of their amazing stories about what they've seen and the people they've met. They have most likely seen more of the United States than I ever will, and I live here! We took them to Krispy Kreme for the first time and the outlet mall in Simpsonville (they wanted to have the most American experience possible). They had never seen lightening-bugs before, so watching them discover that was hilarious.
If I could have any superpower I would choose the ability to fly. Looking out the window of an airplane is by far the best feeling in the world, so I can't imagine how much more amazing flying on my own power would be!

This is a link to my favorite website and the reason I never get anything done- www.buzzfeed.com 

And below is a very funny segment by Jimmy Fallon, my favorite comedian. Enjoy!

Hannah Freibert

Only when my mom is scolding me do I go by "Hannah Elizabeth!", other than that I keep it pretty simple- Hannah. I've always resented setting goals out of fear of not achieving them, but since "What are your goals?" seems to follow me everywhere, I can give it a shot. Personally and academically, I would say my goal is just to survive, and not fall victim to death-by-junior-year. I guess in a more literal sense, I strive to get a 4 or 5 on each of my AP exams, maintain a 4.0, and balance my academic career with my swimming career. You probably thought I was going to say social life... nope, I basically rule that one out from the months of August-May. Its as if there were three things important to a teenager: dedication to school, sports, and a life outside of the halls of Henry Clay, but you can only pick two. So for me, my sport is swimming (which I seem to do a lot of). I don't know how much you know about it, but in most ways it is awful, and strangely mirrors child enslavement. I practice usually eight or nine times a week, depending on my motivational level day to day. Twice on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and once on the remaining days of the week with Sunday off. Getting up at 4 A.M. to go get in a cold pool pretty much sucks, but its the kind of group suffering that a team bonds over. 

My summer consisted of traveling, this foreign thing known as free time, and... surprise, swimming. I was fortunate enough to be able to go to Switzerland and Italy with a group of fellow Henry Clay-ers (Is that a thing?) lead by Mr. Rexford. If I had had to pin a meaningful experience of my summer, it would definitely come down on that week, in which I narrowly escaped being stolen away in the night and trafficked into the Swiss Yodeling business.

As for my video of choice, I feel I need to brief you a bit on it before subjugating you to it. Semi-recently, a song called “Watch Me” gained popularity, you may know exactly what I’m referring to. Lucky for everyone this bad song is accompanied by an equally tragic dance, the Whip, which happens to resemble a Ty Bo workout. Occasionally I would “whip” to mock those who listened to the song or partook in the dance in a serious manner. But before I knew it I found that the Whip had taken over my life like a plague, and I began to spontaneously whip everywhere. At practice, whip. Supermarket, whip. Presenting a project, whip. It became a subconscious act. Anyways, this video shows what triggered my whipping career. Without further adieu, I present Meriwether and myself whipping across Europe.

Oh, and my favorite website is Vine, where all the time that should be spent on homework goes.https://vine.co

My name is Viviana Andrea Ortiz Guerrero Aguilar Olaya Olarte Carillo Forero, but then again who really has time for that? So in reality, I'm Vivi. Academically, I strive for really the same things as the others, those perfect AP test scores, and the stunningly hard to achieve all A's. Personally, I would simply like to figure it out. Simple as that. We are in high school, a jungle of tall people and short people (me), smart people and not so smart people, athletic and nonathletic, band geeks and well the others. As for these categories and all the other characteristic traits, I have yet to have it all figured out.
Music however does seem to chase me around quite a bit. If I'm stressed I play my oboe, no that is not a small clarinet. If I am sad, I play my oboe. If I'm happy, I play my oboe. See the pattern? Marching band- that geeky organization that also slightly resembles a cult- is my family. I spend day and night with people that aren't quite normal. They are... hard to capture in words, but I would not replace them for any ridiculous amount of money. I also am an avid classical music listener which is a bit strange for people my age. Musicals also intrigue me, varying from Shrek to Wicked to Les Mis. I like to sing although I've never been in a chorus class, but what can I say?
I suppose having a healing power would be my choice. Primarily for use on other people, because death is of course one of my childish fears. But, also I've broken 7 bones and am overall a clumsy person. I don't find myself capable of walking in a straight line most days. Or having the power to update Netflix shows just a little faster. The heart-wrenching wait for the next season to be put on Netflix is one that I would not wish upon others. Nonetheless, www.netfllix.com will always be my favorite and most frequently visited website.
Also, as we can all see, Colombia is found in South America, not Mexico. I do not speak Mexican, nor do I do any drugs, or like spicy things all that much. That will be all. :)

rachael gilbert.

i am composed primarily of a love for my cat and an obsession with harry potter. perhaps that is childish. maybe kittens and magic are things that i was supposed to have left back in elementary school along with recess and innocence but on july 31^st i will always check the mailbox for letters written in green ink and i will forever love my cat, who eats too often and who pokes holes in my favorite sweaters with his claws. i dislike capitalization because i do not understand its importance. my name is my name regardless if it begins with a little "r" or a big one. sentences will begin and end regardless of its existence; besides it is self-centered to believe that my name deserves a capital while other words like jelly beans and mitochondria and kangaroo do not.
           i’ve watched the same tv show four times over and i’ve read the same series nineteen times and i’ve listened to the same album more than i’d like to admit. perhaps that is not understandable. but for some reason i find comfort in the things that do not change. no matter how terrible the world gets, dean winchester will always drive a ’67 chevy impala and sherlock will always solve crimes and harry will always hate potions class and the little prince will forever long after his rose and the head and the heart will always sing about their namesake. there is hope to be found in that.
          i sometimes wish i could fly, mostly because i find it frustrating that several tons of metal can propel itself through the air and i can’t even levitate; but also i’d like to see the world from a perspective other than my own and maybe looking at the world upside down will make me see right-side up and i apologize because this sentence has gone on too long and i’m well past the 150 minimum but i’ll keep on going because sometimes i get stuck on things like elevators and people and words.
          i am a sentimental person. i believe that flowers are more than flowers and that hope can be found in a home. i look for messages inside of bottles and hunt for men in the moon and wish on falling stars. but i do not much believe in god or faith or anything beyond myself. when i told my father this he said that the fault was mine, and then he blamed himself. but i cannot find fault in him or myself or the world for that matter. somehow that message just got lost somewhere between the heavens above and these god-forsaken fingertips.

 http://theworstpuns.tumblr.com/

Rachel Roberts

Hello world! Name is Rachel Roberts, and I mainly go by Rachel, although frequently called Little Rachel or Little Racecar. I love to sing, play piano, eat, watch movies, work out, and just existing in general.

My academic goals this year are to get all 5's on the AP tests I'm taking, get all A's and get a 31 on the ACT. My personal goals are to pass my driver's test and to actually finish one of the books I start.

This summer I went to Charleston. I thought the city was beautiful. I loved all the cute houses painted all different pastel colors (if you haven't noticed yet I really like colors). But I refused to get in the water because there had been a shark attack up the beach a few miles a few days before we got there. I'm a bit paranoid about freak accidents and acts of nature seriously harming/killing me. Especially sea creature related accidents.

I also am trying to teach myself to play to ukulele. So far I can play 3 songs. I'm getting there, I promise. Being a piano person the whole string thing is rather confusing.

If I could have any superpower it would be telekinesis because moving stuff without having to move yourself is a pretty great idea. Plus it would freak a lot of people out.

I am an avid fan of the Walking Dead. Super excited for the new season coming this October. I ship Daryl and Carol pretty hard core, they really need to be a thing. I've also started watching the spinoff that amc just put out called Fear the Walking Dead. It's pretty good, but the Walking Dead is still way better.

One of my other obsession is Broadway. specifically any show that Aaron Tveit is in, was is, connected to, or is rumored to like. He is kinda my favorite human in the whole world. He started doing musicals in high school because one of his friends told him this girl he was interested in was in the show and he should do it to be near her. And some how he ends up on Broadway. Very inspirational. The show I'm currently obsessing over is Newsies, but this is subject to change at any point.

I also have a major obsession with Disney and Disneyworld. From the days of Walt to today, I love all the movies. The stories are so rich and the artwork is fabulous. I adore Peter Pan. I feel like Wendy embodies what a Disney fan should be, full of child like wonder and unwilling to grow up. As much hate as the Princesses get, they all overcome some obstacles and keep a positive attitude, which I think is really important and I don't think the Princesses deserve any of the hate they get. I also love what Pixar does with Disney. Almost all of the Pixar movies make me cry hysterically. Up is my favorite. Even Disney short films are awesome. Lava and Paperman have to be my favorites. I've been reading up on what was showcased at D32, and excited is an understatement. I do have to say I'm particularly excited about Finding Dory, Incredibles 2, and Gigantic. To go with my love of the movies, I also obsess over Disneyworld. I would much rather be there than anywhere else in the world. My goal is to get into the Disney College Program and to work as a character performer. I really want to work as Tinkerbell. Mainly because I'm to short to be a Princess. But Tinkerbell is awesome too.

My favorite website is tied between  https://www.netflix.com/ and http://www.rotoscopers.com/. I get my movie fix from Netflix and all my Disney news from the Rotoscopers.

And this video is one of the many gems of internet, hope you enjoy! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diU70KshcjA&feature=player_embedded

Wow, that's a lot. Sorry it was so long, but I had a lot to say. Have a great day!

Mason Saunders

My name is Mason Saunders and I am, obviously, a junior at Henry Clay. Academically, I would like to get all 5s on my AP exams this year, raise my act composite, and close the year with a 4.0 GPA which I have narrowly missed both of my underclassman years. In terms of hobbies I enjoy the outdoors, so anything associated with that I most likely find amusing. The most significant thing that happened this summer was probably making the all star team at a lacrosse tournament in which nearly all of my teammates were committed to colleges. If I were to have a super power it would definitely be the ability to stop and start time. I could get so much done and always be prepared for whatever came next in life.A funny video is the breakaway bottle prank https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8DmgYZ5sdU and an interesting website is reddit.com, you can find anything on it.

cacascascascascascascascas - Cas Young

Other people have been saying "Hey, my name is..." to start their posts and it kind of feels like an AA meeting but my display name is my name so I don't feel the need for that kind of introduction, I guess.

This year has been really weird for me, this summer I concluded my 14 year career in dance that has consumed so much of my time I haven't been able to do much else. From my final endeavor there in Boston (I got to throw tea in the harbor and that was the highlight of my life.), I went to Maine, where I tossed my phone for a week and read a lot of books and played a lot of board games and watched my mom finally win Solitaire after playing for four hours straight in the morning. Did you know Solitaire was a competitive thing? She and my dad played simultaneously all morning trying to finish first- which was unusually riveting, I must admit. I wrote a lot when I was there, too.

I'm definitely a writer, not much an academic writer, academic writing still intimidates me for no good reason, but a creative writer. I had a piece I was working on since early this year, in which I still have yet to nail the exposition, which makes me furious and makes me not want to continue with it but it's such a compelling tale I might just have to go back after I finish writing this. (We'll see how I hold up on that...)

Back to the aforementioned timeline, after I left Maine and ate lobster until I exploded I got to spend a lot of time with my best friend, Lexi, who is now off at college in Indianapolis having fun without me. I miss Lexi a lot, but I wish her well in college and she Snapchatted me in 5th hour today, so I guess things are going just fine.

I don't really feel like a junior. Whenever I get a year older, move up a little in the world I still feel like that 12 year old in art class except in high school with all the big kids. This is the first year I've gotten to actually be involved in school activities, which I definitely haven't taken for granted but I'm almost done with high school and I'm just now doing things and it's still so unusual to me not having to go home and go straight to dance until 9:15 P.M. (That sucked so much, I lost a ridiculous amount of sleep and drank a lot of coffee.)

Anyways, I really like the color yellow, I think it's really cheerful and reminds me of daisies and sunflowers and those are my favourite flowers. I think alternative rock is really cool but I have an affinity for Icelandic music. Sigur Ròs is a personal favourite, it's really dreamy and... magical? I don't have the right words for it. Just imagine if storms and stars could make music, that's what it would sound like, good stuff. I like rings and expensive shoes. Not heels expensive but like stompy boots expensive. Also I think that broccoli is the most underrated vegetable.

Now, I spent a while considering what video to attach, but I figured this one is pretty fantastic. Also I bought this t-shirt and it's really comfortable.

And I waste all my time watching vines and this is a personal favourite.

andthatsallbye

All about Hye Jee

I’ve found over the course of my life that I’m most awkward when I’m introducing myself. So, apologies in advance if I make anyone cringe.

My name is Hye Jee Kim, and I’m a junior. Guess where I go to school. My interests are mostly theoretical. For example, I love the fresh, bright, lush concept of the outdoors, but I despise the damp, muddy, insect-filled reality of it. Depressing, right? The same goes for Twitter, quinoa, lakes and the Central Library. Love the idea, hate the actuality. There are a few exceptions to this rule; the Internet, musicals, NYC, the Internet, dark chocolate, and the Internet are the main ones. If you couldn’t tell, I love the Internet, namely Netflix. It consumes 67% of my life and spirals my life out of control. Yet for some reason, I love it and willingly (and enthusiastically) fork over $8 a month to sustain my addiction. Outside of Netflix, the Internet can seem like a mess. But every so often, as you’re combing through the dumping ground of duck faces, #Don’tJudgeMe’s, and Ashley Madison hacks, you encounter something magical.  For example:

 

Watch this and bask in it’s majesty. This is the second time I’ve mentioned this video to one of my teachers this week, and I have no regrets.

I’m hoping to do more than showing my teachers Actual Cannibal Shia LaBeouf this year. I also want to maintain my GPA, which I will do with the coffee and highlighter, get 5’s on my AP tests, and not fail at the new PSAT. I’m still furious and slightly offended (I don’t know why) that they chose to change it the year we take it for national merit. In fact, if I had a superpower, it would be the ability to conjure up any information I need. That way, I wouldn’t have to worry about studying. Or school. I could probably just live as a stage performer and trick people into giving me money by “reading their minds”. That would be great.

You know what would also be great? Being able to transition into a new paragraph smoothly. Hopefully I’ll learn that this year because clearly that’s a skill that I lack. I had an abundance of meaningful moments over the summer. However, I have to peg the moment that I bit into a ShackBurger for the first time as the most meaningful. Imagine the feeling that Einstein had when he figured out the theory of relativity, that “I’ve discovered something that will change the world!” feeling. That’s what I felt. 

Ending this entry, I’m realizing that I’ve written more than twice as much than the minimum. I guess I’m talkative. Sorry.