New Year Eve and my family and I were just doing our daily things: sleeping in, doing house work, playing, or watching TV. This day went very slow and I was very happy because I love having a break, but I miss talking to my friends on a daily basis. Around 11:30 my parents called me and my brother up from down stairs to watch the ball drop down and begin a new year, but this year was very different from all the other years. Normally my family has friends over, but we spent it alone. I was thinking we are suppose to be having fun and being with our friends and having a bunch of good clean fun. It’s New Years and ten minutes after we went right to bed. This was totally weird. I was always spending this time with close friends and staying up until 3 o’clock or 4 o’clock. I was not happy to start the New Year off like this but Happy that there is A New Year ahead of us. So I went to sleep and woke up and got all nervous because I had basketball practice at 10 o’clock in the morning and it was ten forty-five. I took my phone about to call my coach and saw it was Friday. I have practice on Saturday. I was so glad I did not miss practice I went right back to my bed and listened to some music. I later woke up at eleven forty-five and started my New Years off by eating a big bowl of cereal.

Normally my family and I who are my Dad, Mom, brother, two sisters, Grandpa and Grandma eat at my house but since my Grandfather had hip surgery he did not feel like driving and it would be too risky. After some thinking we decided to go to a restaurant on Christmas Eve. After a few days go by it is already Christmas Eve. My family drives out to their house and my Grandpa says he is not going because his hip hurts him too much and it is hard to walk, and my Grandmother was just not feeling good so they stayed home while we went out to eat because we had reservations. This was a surprise for us and we felt very sad. After we were about to leave we ordered them some food. The restaurant gave us a huge portion, enough to last my grandparents four days. We drove back to their place and separated the food so all my grandparents needed to do is put the plate in the microwave. My grandparents gave us our Christmas cards since they were not coming to our house on Christmas and we opened them finding about 150 each in the cards. There are four grand children so that’s a lot of money. After about a half hour my family went home and were all excited for Christmas so we all went to bed at around 10:00 which was kin of early, but not too early. For some reason I could not sleep and I kept waking up in the middle of the night.

My reaction is that any one can change something they believe in, even just one person. It was nice to see that not everyone was racist and treated everyone as equal. PK was in the prison because Doc was found to be German, so the police took him in and PK had no where else to stay. At the prison PK learns how to box and he becomes very good at it. The guards at the jail treated the African men very bad. Sometimes they may beat them if the job wasn’t done the way they like it. When someone important came to the jail PK and Doc prepared a song about how the guards are weak inside and that they were cowards. This made the prisoners feel good and a little freedom was given. Later in the movie he has an option to box an African man and chooses to do it. This may very well be against the law but he has no racism in him. PK was English and the English men were despised and so PK kind of knew what it felt like to be hated. PK fell in love with a girl who dad would not approve him being with his daughter because he was English. This made PK mad and it never stopped him from seeing this girl. Towards the end of the movie the girl dies from accidentally being hit from a night stick. At the funeral the dad is so angry and picks up a shovel and tries to hit PK but is stopped by some of the dad’s friends.

What I am Thankful For

First of all I am thankful for my family. My dad who works and makes the money while I get to play and have fun on the days there is no school. He is a real state broker who won many awards and is very popular. My mom who stays home for the day and cleans the house or goes and buys groceries for our family. We need her cause we have four animals to take care of. They are a dog, Casey, two cats, Lucky and Cove, and a bird, Sunny. We got Casey at a pet store and she is really the best dog ever because she listens very well and is very playful but she is eleven years old. Then Lucky and Cove my two cats, they both were at risk of dying at one point. Lucky was found on a highway going to church with burns and a broken leg. She sleeps on my bed with me and always comes to me to find attention so she is my favorite. Cove we got from our campground that we go to that’s call Campers Cove. This is in Canada and Cove was a newborn kitten that had blue eyes and couldn't walk yet. We felt bad for the four cats because they were thrown in the woods left to die and no mother was to be found. Now Sunny, we had a bird before called Smoky but he died and I wanted another bird so we got Sunny. He is also playful and loves to fly on your head. All four pets get along even though you won't think so. We are one great big loving family. I am thankful for my four pets too. Next is my younger brother, Stone. He is just a year younger than me and when I'm bored he is always there to play basketball or just to hang out. Finally my to sisters, McClain who is 11, and Madison who is 10. They are very loving and Madison is a very talented singer. This might get annoying to my sister or brother and me but if she keeps singing she will have a good chance of following her dreams. McClain is a great pianist and a pretty good songwriter along with my brother. Stone and McClain have written a developing song that was pretty good but they are both great at rapping a fast or upbeat rap song. Now you know why I am thankful for my family but no you will know what others things I am thankful for. I am thankful for my house because in this fallen economy many people are losing their homes and belongings. I also like having my Ipod and cell Phone because they are the latest and greatest but not everyone gets to have one. Along with many other items I am thankful for having these wonderful gifts or belongings.

Listen up freshman of SHS High School because I am here to tell you some advice. The first and most important tip you will need for high school is to not be afraid, and to be a leader not a follower. The first week or so you will need a rectangular shape piece of paper that shows what rooms your classes are in and what hour they are. For me this only took about three days to know, so this won't be too hard for the freshly new freshman. Once you think you know all the class rooms, you should keep that piece of paper with the room numbers just incase you forget. Another great tip is to get to the lunch room pretty early to buy food or get a table. If you don't all the tables will be taken and you will have to wait in a long line to buy your food. Now you know some important tips about the classes and lunch, but it's time for some study tips. First of all, the best tip is to do your homework and to review your notes. By doing this you will do well in your classes and doing good in school would mean you will have more opportunities at life once you get out of high school. I would suggest to do your homework cause you only get one late past and once that is gone the rest of the late assignments are marked as zero percents. Last but not least is to try to go to school activities and to join clubs, only if you really want to though. Now you know or have an idea of some pretty good advice to survive high school....well at least Stevenson.

Culture
By: Spencer Reggish

American culture is a way to express yourself and your family. This is different for all people because different cultures came to America and different people also came so the country of America has a huge diverse population. Some examples of culture are religion, dancing, or holiday traditions. These are examples of culture because all cultures have something different and unique traits about them. Americans do not have any special dances or dance moves, we just dance with our own style by ourselves or doing our own thing in a group. Finally culture is how someone acts, way of greeting, or just communicating.
Hard working is mostly my whole culture. My ancestors were always hard workers and told their children to do the same and it carried on to the rest of the family. This was only my dad’s side of the family and I have not that much knowledge about my mom’s but there side of the family is more easily going, but when something is important to the family or the family is in trouble both sides of the family will not be easy going or pushed around. I believe my family was Christian when they came over but I’m not fully positive. Since I am a Christian we celebrate the holidays, but do it our own way. My great grandfather, on my dad’s side, came to America so that means that side doesn’t have a bunch of generations in America. They are Ukrainian, Hungarian, and they might be part Australian because my great grandmother, they think, was from Australia. On my Mom’s side I have no idea when they came to America, but they are 100 percent Polish and that’s a fact.