I Am An Avid Reader

We had what was called ‘Renaissance Reading’ and we had to meet our A.R. goals every 6 weeks. If we met our A.R. goal, then we would be rewarded. I didn’t mind all the reading because I absolutely loved to read, and I still do. In 6th grade I had a 12th grade reading level. I was very proud of that. I met every one of my A.R. goals in junior high and every year I got to go to Lake Tomahawk. It was so rewarding and I loved to get the day off of school. At Lake Tomahawk they let us swim, go down slides, jump off the blob, play sports, ride kayaks, etc. Being able to have that experience really influenced my reading and made me want to achieve my goals. Now that I am in high school, we don’t have A.R. goals. We don’t get rewarded for our achievements. We are treated like adults sometimes. Since I got into high school, I have not read as much as I used to. I would read the required books for my classes, but I did not read on my free time. In addition to that, I do not have a lot of free time. I enjoy reading and writing and it is very influential to my

I smacked the ball over the right fielder but it seemed as that time slowed down, I felt as the ball was lost in space. As i realized it was gonna be a hit I turned on the wheels and sprinted off. Once I got to first I knew I had a easy triple so i rounded 2 and head for third. When I was running to third I looked at coach and he was telling me to go home. I could not believe what I was seeing, I knew it was gonna be close so I ran as hard as I could. As I got closer to home plate I saw the catcher preparing to catch the ball so I slid head first. Then there was silence then the umpire shouted “safe”.

The day of my last softball game was the most terrifying day of my life. I have been playing softball for my whole life, Usually your last game is bittersweet and sad, mine was the complete opposite.One reason why the day of last softball game was absolutely horrid, was because it was the championship game and the whole game the score was back and forth, neither team could keep the lead.Another reason the day of my last softball game was extremly scary is because my dad who is the coach, randomly disappeared as well as my mother. The assistant coach came up in between innings and told the team that he would be taking over because my dad did not feel well. Next thing i noticed both my parents were gone, and i heard the fire truck and ambulance

I was on the varsity softball team for Oakridge High School. On the 6th of May our opponent was Montague. It was the bottom of the 7th inning, I was playing right field. I was running to my position, and all of a sudden had to sneeze, so I stopped behind first base. Let me just tell you, huge mistake. Next thing I knew I was on the ground. People start swarming me and asking me all these questions, and at the same time I was trying to process what

Ever since a young age I’ve enjoyed reading. My mother even read to me while I was in the womb. When I started kindergarten I was so eager to learn how to read. After I learned how to read my reading level was always significantly higher than the others in my class. I was reading chapter books in first grade. Similarly I was very excited when I learned how to write. Ever since then I have enjoyed writing and do it in my free time. I have been told and

As a young child, my memory of reading starts with a troubling period in my life. It started in first grade after I had moved to a new school. For me he year kicked off normally, but the further down the road, I found myself struggling to keep up in my reading class. In addition to falling behind in my classes, I was feeling isolated from the other students. My grades started to suffer and everything got worse. We didn’t have a school counselor, so my principal arranged a meeting with my parents to discuss what actions should be taken. My principal told my parents it isn’t uncommon for new students to fall behind in classes and that the move could be causing some of the issues. He recommended that I start attending special education for my reading course. My parents thought it over and explained to me that it was ok and not to be discouraged about this. However,

I told myself, "come on Lina you can do it," next thing I knew it was two strikes and three balls. it's now or never Lina strike three the ball was over the fence and into the street but it was as if it turned around and headed right for me I put my glove up and felt something hard hit my hand I caught the ball but it was already too late the girl already hit a grand slam(she got four people in including herself)my eyes started burning I tried to hold them back some very strange back but I felt something sliding down my cheek I ran into the dugout and I could not stop my feet. I got to my mom I held her like there was no going back, all I felt was a warm body hugging me. I slowly looked up and cried "I don't want to play I disappointed my hole team."

It was a good day to play baseball. Sun in the sky, cool breeze in the air. Nothing that could stop me from playing, or messing around. It was the Brentwood Pony All-Star game and I was fired up to play. Since I had the coolest Coach ever and my team just recently won the championship, my coach let us slack of a little bit just because, why not? It was about four o’clock in the afternoon and I was up on deck taking my practice swings, lefty! I was using a batting sleeve to weigh down the bat to make the illusion of it feeling lighter. But as I was watching on deck I realized something, the pitcher was throwing some serious heat. Even though I was experienced hitter, I was just a beginner lefty. I take a deep breath and walk to the plate, one of my teammates walks back to the dugout in deep despair as I go to the plate. As I start walking I hear my mom screaming my name and cheering for me as she always does, and I look back to see my sister laughing so I then let out a quiet giggle.

I was having a better than average game, throwing a few people out from centerfield, but nothing more than anyone expected out of me. While up to bat I had a couple hits and a few bunts. With extreme focus and excitement, my team and I found ourselves in the top of the seventh inning, tied ball game. At the end of our lineup, we were still excited especially after getting two girls on base. I was up next. This is the opportunity I had hoped for. The pitcher set up and began her windup… foul ball. And again, kicking her arm back and bringing it full circle delivered me an outside curve ball… ball one. Count of 1-1 and we were both feeling confident. Coach called me over to him for a quick pep talk he leaned over and said, “Shupe, how ‘bout you come up big this at bat, I want to see you go yard one more time.” The last ball ever thrown to me by the scary Albany Alexander pitcher, the sweet sound of the ball coming off the bat rang in my ears. I had hit the ball on the sweetest part of the bat and the sweetest feeling in the world was upon me. Going, going, gone! The ball soared over the left field fence. I began my homerun trot and could not help but wear an immense grin on my face. Rounding third, I saw my team jumping, screaming, cheering, and crying all waiting there at home plate to congratulate me. The most outstanding feeling in the world, making my team proud. I thrived under the pressure and it had never felt so good. But, we had to stay humble. We still had the bottom half of the inning to play. One, two, and three batters up, three batters out. We won! I felt so humbled by all the kind words my fellow teammates showered me with after the victory. It was as if I had won us the World Series. On the bus ride home we were lead back into West Portsmouth by fire trucks to help us celebrate the big win. Arriving back to the softball field where our cars were parked, I was

Once I released the baseball my heart dropped and I hoped for the best. It was one of the most stressful moments i’ve ever had in baseball. But first we should go back to when all this first started. It was a perfectly normal saturday we had a tournament like most weekend over the summer but not until I got to the field and and everyone was talking about the game did I over hear someone say this is the state tournament. This tournament ranked us in Illinois. We played the first two teams with ease we were up by five and they couldn’t seem to keep up, but the last game of the tournament was us versus the Plainfield Tornadoes. I remember that team very distinctly because of the circumstances I was in. I had pitched the first two games we played

July 30, the day I was leaving for California. My mom, my brother, my grandma, and I all leaving for the big trip. After a seven hour plane ride, we arrived. My mother was in line to pick up our rental car, the wait which felt like a million years. Slouching on top of all the suitcases and imaging all my teammates laying out in the sun, swimming and having fun in the water made me feel bitter and antsy. We finally got our car and we were on our way to the hotel. It was another hour car ride, eventually we got to the beach. From there on out my day could not have gotten better. The water was as cold as Antarctica and yet it felt so good against my sweaty skin. At about 5 o’clock my coach decided we would hold practice. The field was in a park it looked like something out of the 1920s Great Depression, homeless people everywhere, but we made best with what we have gained. I had not had anything to eat since 6 o’clock that morning, but being the strong fighter I am, I tried to fight the pain of hunger off and finish through practice and get some food afterwards. Turns out my body could only handle so much, I was standing up painfully fielding the balls hit at

One of my favorite moments of my life was when I sat the whole game and was the last kid called before the rest got cut. My coach looks at me we were down by 1 point and says we need you to bat. I step up to the plate and the first ball went by strike. Were at the end of the count 11 pitches in the count is 3-2 runner on first base. The pitch came

I remember as a kid, how my parents use to take me to the library every month pick out a book. My parents would let me take at least two to three books home with me and they would read to me every other night before bed. When I first started elementary school, my parents learned that I had a learning inefficiency. That was when I was put into to the special program with Ms. Quick. When I started to progress in school my parents were literally forcing me to read a book every other day. As started getting older, I started to not to like reading because it was always little things that I would struggle with but my parents didn’t give up on me. From third to fifth grade, my parents were making me read chapter books; every night before bed my parents made me read a story to them for thirty minutes and afterwards, they would ask me to give an explanation on what I read to them. By the time I started junior high, I was a great reader. From then on, I had no problem with my reading abilities.

It was a bitter cold sleeting Texas day in February when we laced up our spikes and hit the diamond to continue our school tradition. It was our senior year and basketball season had just ended two days before. Cody and I were the three and four hitters in the lineup and it still felt like we were in our sleeveless jerseys. Third pitch of my at bat I get hit by a pitch in the back. I told my first base coach "what a wonderful way to start off the season in 30-degree weather." and he then laughed. Cody came up to the plate with the bases loaded and hit a grand slam on the first pitch he saw. We won our first game of the season and we all knew that it would be a special one, but for Cody and I it would be different from all the rest of our teammates all thanks to one coach.

In today’s society what does an average person like to do for fun? Let’s go around asking many people form the age of 10-25 and see what their answer may be, It will more likely be something along the lines of “watching television” or “hanging out with my friends” but when that one person says “I like to read for fun” Some people may find that weird or amusing, but in all reality reading is fun, it is something wonderful to do in our spare time. It takes our minds to a different place than your own. It is like escaping and pretending to be someone else for a couple of hours. As Neil Gaiman said in his lecture, “You get to feel things, visit places and worlds you would never otherwise know. You learn that everyone out there is a me, as well,