IB CAS taneda

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The most time consuming project this year for me was Pizza for Three. We started in the summer with an idea to make a film with a positive message. Eventually, that film became charitable and we named it Pizza for Three. I feel like this was one of the greatest moments of growth for me throughout high school. Logistically, we had to work through so many problems concerned with the actual filming of the concept. coming up with the idea and fleshing out the story was one of the easier steps, but I can also recall spending hours just talking about what one of the characters was like. We held auditions, found actors, organized them, coordinated shooting, and then finally spent the majority of the time polishing the film. We started the process in July and were done filming by September. We eventually had screenings around February where we raised about $300 for the Nishant Foundation. We had many, many problems and I don't remember ever being so frustrated in my life, but in the end, it was worth it just to see what we had created. 

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Running

Lately, I've been running after school. My normal routine is to come back from school, change into running clothes, and go running for at least a mile. I use an app on my phone that tracks where I run to, how long it takes me to get there, my peak speed, and my average speed. It's very helpful to have such technology and it makes me motivated to run more. As a side note, it makes me really interested in technology and its development. 

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Working Out

So a friend and I decided that enough was enough and we weren't going to have people calling us skinny anymore. I've been going to my friend’s house to do various exercises. Our routine consists of abdominal exercises, pushups, more abdominal exercises, and then some time on the pull up bar. We did previous research and found that a lot of people suggest pushups and pull ups as some of the most effective and fundamental exercises available to do at home. We also switch it up every day: one day will be strength, and the next day we do aerobic exercises. To top it off, we serve ourselves a tall glass of protein powder and milk. As I feel myself getting stronger and healthier, I also feel closer to my friend than I ever have. I know we'll be good friends for long time and the memory of exercising together will stay with me for a while. 

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Indoor Soccer

Like last year, I've enrolled in an indoor soccer league with a couple of other high school students. We have games once a week. It's different playing indoor soccer since it's faster paced and it's really easy to get tired quickly. I've built my stamina up while learning to play with agility. Our team is currently undefeated and we hope to keep it that way! 

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Firehouse

This Saturday, along with a friend, I volunteered at a Firehouse. We showed up early in the morning to make pancakes that would later be used to raise money for this firehouse. I learned more about what an actual firehouse looks like and how volunteer fire departments are always struggling to raise funds so they can serve their community. Helping a local firehouse made me feel good about being part of my community and I'm glad I got to see it get just a little bit better. 

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Special Olympics

This Thursday I went to go cheer on our Special Olympics team as they faced off against the NHS officers. I'm proud that my school has such a great program to involve the mentally handicapped students. We cheered them on for about two hours and it was a great experience. I gained an appreciation for the mentally disabled and got to see displays of happiness and excitement as they dribbled down the court. 

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Today, on a school night (risqué, I know), my sister and I went to an Arctic Monkeys / The Black Keys concert. As the first real full out concert that i have ever been to, I found it necessary to log. 

We arrived at the venue at around 6 and the concert was set to begin at 7:30pm. My sister and I were, but mostly my sister, were extremely excited. The Arctic Monkeys are my sister's favorite band and she had asked me to come with her to the concert and make her dream of seeing them live, come true. Being unable to refuse such a request, i agreed to go. 

The Arctic Monkeys, however, were merely the special guest at the concert so when they began to play at 7:30, the theater was not even full, despite being a sold out show, and the crowd showed lukewarm to mild enthusiasm. Shocked, but nonetheless extremely excited, my sister and I enjoyed an hour of great music. I remember being extremely surprised as I realized that the Arctic Monkeys were an excellent band live and that their music sounded nearly identical to that of their CD and recorded music. That, spoke to me of true talent.

Finally home and with my ears ringing, the high energy concert showed me the wild side of human nature, and truly demonstrated the power of (loud) music.

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On the orchestra trip to Colorado, I was determined to ski. I had seen it in the winter Olympics and the speed and agility of the contestants and always astonished and impressed me, so when I heard that we were going skiing, I was a little scared, but at the same time ecstatic. My goal, however, wasn't to merely "ski," it was to ski. To reaaally ski.

So after our basic lessons a group of four and I, trekked up the mountain onto the ski lift determined to do a blue run. Blue runs are second in the ladder of difficulty for ski slopes. Skiing down the mountain at speeds I had never thought I could reach fear and adrenaline took hold of me. Coming up the mountain, I had assumed that the goal of skiing was to go as fast as you can, but I quickly realized that "as fast as you can" meant eating snow as your skis lost control and flipped you over. After a couple painful falls, i finally mastered the art of speed and control. 

Sitting on the snow later that day I remember thinking how skiing was just like life! You could speed through everything, but that didn't mean you had control of anything. Spinning out of control and into despair only seems viable when you lack the control and foresight to gauge your speed and stability. 

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As part of our FBLA competition, two partners and I participated in the "Digital Video Production" category and produced and filmed a short public service announcement about the dangers of texting and driving.

While the idea of producing a video about texting and driving doesn't seem very creative or interesting, that was in actually the creative part. Turning something with little potential for creativity, into something engaging is truly difficult. We spent a long time trying to come up with something that wouldn't be too overdone. 

Editing and filming were, as usual, a fun experience and teaches me the value of technology in modern films. It also teaches me art in a way that people normally don't think about. Cutting raw videos into a tangible and enjoyable film is a true art. 

And we didn't do so badly either! We placed 2nd in our Area, and 4th in the state. 

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Today I had my first soccer game for the season. Our team has practice twice a week for either an hour or an hour and a half, except for weekends when we have games. Games are 90 minutes long with a 5 minute half time break. 

I've been playing soccer as long as I can remember and I love it for what it makes me feel. On the field, I feel at home. I know what to do and it comes easily to me. Soccer is also a team sport and it requires a lot of teamwork. Thankfully, with that team work comes a great sense of friendship and bond.Additionally, soccer requuires a great stamina and physical ability due to the nature of the game. Running and running and running may sound bad, but in reality, it is something else that I enjoy doing as it clears my mind. 

Sadly, our team's first game went poorly. I hope to achieve a good standing at the end of the season and will work to accomplish this. 

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Playing basketball on a regular basis really brings me closer to my friends. Non-IB players who I don't get see often are a welcome sight too! We usually play in teams of 3-5, depending on who all is able to go, and we always end up tired, but happy. It's a good feeling to exercise and run around for two or three hours and while at the end of the game, you're exhausted, you feel content.

I would say that it really builds team spirit and a sense of camaraderie among us. United not only in grades and homework, but in sports too! 

It also feels great to know that I'm not neglecting my body and I can feel my endurance increase every time we play.

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As part of the private lessons that i have been taking for Viola, my teacher assigned me scales. Scales aren't very fun, but they work on your technique, so that's good. 

That's just an example of some of the work that my teacher assigns me. Whether it be etudes, excerpts from famous symphonies, or fun allegros, I usually always have something to practice for orchestra.

I'm glad though. It keeps my fingers and mind busy and teaches me things that not many other activities can teach me. I learn determination as I struggle to achieve perfect intonation whilst playing, I learn the beauty of music as I strive to make my  viola not only make sounds, but truly make music, and I learn the art of patience as I have to deal with moment (maybe even hours) of arduous and out of tune notes at first.

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Script Writing

As part of our little film group, we have been doing quite a bit of brainstorming

for our next big movie. We started a collaborative script through email.

The rules are as follows:

1. Once a line is written it cannot be undone.

2. Everyone writes either one line of dialogue, or scene setting.

3. You must follow the progression of the story. The Script cannot be edited until

the end of the writing process.

SCENE 1: EXT. LIBRARY – DAY (Two teenagers are loitering in the back alley of the library, both wearing hoodies.) JACK: “So...” EVAN: “There’s no time for chit-chat. Why’d you call me here, JACK?” JACK: “Shut up. Watch. That guy in the corner.” (JACK points deeper into the alleyway at a homeless man.) JACK: “Think we can take him?” EVAN: “Wait—what? You want us to beat him up? What’s wrong with you?” JACK: “No, stupid. That would get us in trouble, wouldn’t it?” EVAN: “Sure, but that’s never stopped you before...” JACK: “I mean in trouble with the cops, not the stupid teachers. All we have to do is intimidate him. Look big and strong. These homeless guys are pushovers, man. It’ll be easy.” EVAN: “What exactly are we trying to prove here? That we’re stronger than a scrawny little hobo?” JACK: “No! You think if that’s all we had to prove we would still be here!?” EVAN: “So what are you thinking?” JACK: “Check it out.” (draws a gun from inside his JACKet and shows it to Evan) EVAN: (startled, looks around nervously) Where did you get that?! (The homeless man looks up.) EVAN (nervously whispers): JACK, put the gun away. Don’t do something you’re gonna regret. (Homeless man starts grumbling and yelling and gradually getting louder.) (JACK and Evan look at each other briefly, then both get up and run.) JACK (while running): You... you’re just afraid to live. Scene 2: INT. BREAKFAST TABLE – DAY MOTHER: “Where were you last night, dear?” (A different teenager is sitting in a chair with a spoon of cereal in his mouth. When he hears his mother, he stops chewing and a panicked look comes on his face.) RODYA (a teenager with glasses, a pimply face, and a permanent nervous expression): “I-I was at home, mother.” MOTHER: “At home?” RODYA: “Umm... actually... I wasn’t at home.” MOTHER: “I don’t believe you.” (The mother obviously isn’t very intelligent.) RODYA(sarcastically): “What do you want me to say? I was out dealing drugs, Mother. I almost got caught by the police three times. Is that what you want to hear?MOTHER: (sweetly) No, Rodya.(expressive, angrily) I JUST WANT THE TRUTH. RODYA: (sincerely, he might be telling the truth this time) I was at JACK’s house, mother. He had a sleepover. I’m... I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I was just afraid...” (Rodya, sensing that the conversation has gotten too tense, gets up and picks up his backpack and begins walking towards the door) SCENE 3: INT.DESERTED HALLWAYS IN FRONT OF LOCKERS – DAY (A single student walks down the hallways, clutching a huge backpack and way too many textbooks.) (As the student continues to walk down, we see Rodya, JACK and Evan in the background) JACK:  “Rodya!” (motions for Evan to go ahead without him) RODYA: “Yeah, what.” JACK: “Not again. How many times have we told Leonard that he’s gonna snap his spine in half with that backpack? (sighs exasperatedly). RODYA: (laughs) “That’s not even the problem here! Leonard needs to man up and ask her!” JACK: “He’s a freaking nerd, Rod. Nerds don’t go to parties. They study and stuff.” RODYA: “The point is, he’s our friend, and we need to help him live a little.” JACK: “The way he’s been living just frustrates me.” RODYA: “Beats the way you’ve been going about things. I heard, uh, you and Evan were down by the library the other day.” JACK (looks down): “I’m just sick of it. Not just Leonard, not just Evan, but everyone. We have to...do something. Something big. We’re in a rut right now, and we need to do something to get out of it. You understand, right Rodya? RODYA: “What?” JACK: “We need to stop being afraid of it. Of  life.” (fade to black) SCENE 3: INT. RODYA’S HOUSE – SLEEPOVER – NIGHT (JACK and Evan are playing video games. Rodya watches them from a distance. We hear the doorbell ring.) RODYA: (he looks around nervously)You guys need to go. EVAN: “Go where? What’s wrong?” RODYA: “Just go.” (angry shouting is heard by Rodya’s parents downstairs) JACK: “Holy crap.” EVAN: “Wait, are we not supposed to be here?” (downstairs the shouting seems to increase and we hear a couple distinct phrases:                 WOMAN: “What is your problem?! Why can’t you just be a father, a husband?”                MAN: “I! I! I am a husband to someone like you, you— RODYA (angrily): I’m sick of this. Let’s go, guys. (Rodya grabs his JACKet and storms downstairs with Evan and JACK behind him. The door slams behind them.) (Outside, Rodya and his gang stand around and laugh about the near encounter. Though the group appears to be happy, Rodya is standing apart from the others and appears lost in thought) RODYA (abruptly): “They’ve been arguing a long time.” LEONARD (speaking for the first time): “Why do you put up with it?” (the kids quiet down and get serious) RODYA: Because I’m afraid. JACK: “Of what?” RODYA: “Well why do you think? I’m their only son! I’m the scrawny Russian barrier between sanity and divorce! If I did something stupid like run away, god knows what would happen... JACK: “I think that’s the point. The fear drives you, it fuels you.” (fade to black) SCENE 4: INT. SCHOOL – DAY (Leonard is walking through the halls with his face buried in a textbook. All of a sudden, Jack pulls him to an empty corner to talk to him.) JACK: “You’re doing it. Today.” LEONARD (innocently, with a kind of smile on his face): “What? Doing what?” JACK: Living. LEONARD: “Yeaaahh ok, I have no idea what you’re talking about.” (Leonard edges around the corner and slips away. Jack raises a hand like he’s reaching out for Leonard, but then gives up and just smiles.) SCENE 5: EXT. SIDEWALK – EVENING (Jack turns the corner and sees the hobo lying on the street) JACK: “Hey! Hey! You there! Get up!” EVAN: “Why do we have to do this every day? He’s been there for the past six months, and he’s not gonna go anywhere no matter what you tell him!” JACK: “I just wanted to apologize.” (He looks back, and the hobo is gone.) JACK: “I don’t understand him...He’s so free, so uninhibited, but he lives in the middle of a sidewalk in a used $10 sleeping bag... If I had that type of freedom, you know what I would be doing? EVAN: “Um, I don’t know... nothing?” JACK: “I’d write a book. About my life.” EVAN: “What, like a textbook in school?” JACK: “Yes. *awkward silence* Are you kidding me, Evan?” EVAN: “Dude, shut up." LEONARD: “If I were free...I would go into solitude..” JACK: (curiously): I think... It’s not up to us. Just chance. LEONARD: “What if we could control that chance? You know, rig the dice. Flip the coin with two heads.” RODYA: “Don’t “science” this up, Leonard. If we want freedom, then I say we just go for it. Who’s stopping us? The four of us could break free from any chains holding us back and leave.Tonight. And nobody could stop us. LEONARD: What are you talking about? What do you mean ‘tonight?’ We have a bio test tomorrow! RODYA: “Follow me.” JACK: “Yes!! Are we really doing this? We’re really running away? LEONARD: “Look, I don’t know what you guys are doing, or what you’re talking about. You guys are being reckless and stupid and it’s going to get you killed, or worse: expelled.” (Jack pulls on his arm and drags him toward Rodya and Evan, who are already walking off. Jack has a reckless kind of smile on his face.) EVAN: So this is like a sleepover? Should I call my mom and tell her I’ll be back tomorrow? (fade to black) SCENE 6: EXT. STREET – NIGHT (The four boys walk down the sidewalk. Jack and Rodya hold Leonard’s arms and he continues to put up a fight against them.) LEONARD:  “STOP! You guys need to know something first.” (Leonard looks hesitantly at all of them.) EVAN: “What is it, Leonard?” LEONARD: “We need to keep a log. A journal, in case something happens to us.” JACK: “So someone can find it? What good will that do?” EVAN: “Well if someone finds the journal, they can read it! Maybe they’re bored, and our journal makes them laugh!” LEONARD: “You’re missing the point. This is probably the most important decision you’ve made since you picked the toilet as your place to pee. You can’t just forget this. Especially you, Jack. If you ever wanna be a writer...” JACK: "By writing a journal? What is this, 'Dear Diary'?" RODYA: "I'm with Jack on this. If this is our first night of freedom, why would we waste it writing in a journal?Tonight, we live.  LEONARD: "Fine. Do what you call "living," we'll see where it takes you." SCENE 7: EXT. FIELD -- EARLY MORNING (Rodya, Evan, and Leonard are sprawled across the grass sleeping. The camera pans over to show Jack sitting in the grass, gazing off into the distance) (He looks around at his motley crew and involuntarily smiles, then turns back to the landscape around him) (Wide shot of the sunrise, Jack silhouetted against a backdrop of trees. He sighs.) (The sound of sirens begins to break the peaceful silence. Jack's reverie is broken and he immediately jumps up and runs to wake up the rest of the boys.) LEONARD: (moans) "Oh no!" JACK: "Guys. Guys! Wake up!"     RODYA: "I'm asleep. Now shut up."        JACK: "No, this is serious!! Listen!" (The sirens continue. The boys are coming awake now, slowly. Only Jack and Leonard seem to be aware of the gravity of the situation.) JACK: "Listen!! Do you not hear the sirens? What do you think our parents did when we never showed up last night? We can never go back now. It's time to run."

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Today, was homecoming mum making day. A little rushed, but it's okay. One week before banquet starts! Making mums is a lot more difficult than it seems. You can either pay the $60 for an already made mum, or make the thing yourself. I'm just very thankful that I had friends who knew what they were doing or I would be short $60 right now.

We met in the morning at Michael's to buy supplies and we were literally there for two hours trying to decide what was necessary for the process. We ended up going to a store called "The Mum Shop" where the people were much more helpful and knowledgeable.  

Making mums has been a really fun and positive experience and I learned not to procrastinate and also that wisdom from experienced, homecoming veterans is always helpful. :)

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Writing

Over the summer, I started a blog where I could keep personal thoughts and reflections on. But it wasn't only for random blurbs about my current state of mind, but it was also meant to be a base for my writing. I never actually thought of myself as a writer, but gradually I realized that when the feeling to write something came over me, nothing could be more engaging than to actually write out what was in my head.

For a time, I wrote a blog post a day, but it became too taxing to write everyday, as homework and other projects took precedence. But still, I continued to write. I think that as a person, my writing skills became more honed. Often times, I would lie in bed and not allow myself to sleep until I had come up with a satisfactory blog post. This kind of on the spot writing, I think, has really leaked over into other parts of my life, such as school. 

Writing impromptu essays, for the ACT, SAT, IBUSH, etc, has become a lot easier since the advent of my blog. 

In the end, I'm glad that I started a blog and gave myself the opportunity to explore my writing skills, however meager they may be. 

nevilleswaltz.blogspot.com