Softball

Monday, March 22 – Today in softball we began by stretching out and then we did our running drill. I found that I was able to run much faster than in the previous practices and that I was much less sore afterward. Then we got partners and practiced our throwing and catching with each other. Here, I found that I was working out the mechanics of throwing much better and much more easily. I could throw the ball farther than before and with more force. After this we were all assigned positions in the field so that we could practice fielding the ball. First I was in the outfield and I was having a little trouble catching the ball as a pop up. However I did very well whit grounders and I was moved up to the infield. Now I was playing third place which is my least favorite position but I did alright and the only real issue I ad was throwing the ball to first because it is the longest possible throw to make on the field. I moved one last time to the outfield before the end of practice and I did much better catching pop ups.

Tuesday, March 23 – Today we did not do much for Softball because we had to leave early to go to the sports meeting that was being held as an introduction to spring sports. We stretched out and did our running drills and we all found that we were improving. Then, for the rest of the practice we did some basic conditioning and did not really throw the ball around much. After practice we went to the softball meeting and listened to some of the coaches talk about what this season would like for us. They explained that we were now a varsity team which meant we would be practicing harder and playing more difficult games. I was still in disagreement with this decision because the Softball team had only been in existence for two years and there were some girls on the team who had never even played the game so to me it seemed unfair that they should be pushed onto a varsity team where they would most likely be ignored because the coaches would feel they had to spend more time working with their experienced players to prepare them for playing varsity teams. But there was really nothing I could do so I decided to accept and support the decision.

Wednesday, 24 – Today in Softball we started the practice by stretching out and doing our running drills. Then we broke off into two groups and had a sort of competition between the two groups to see who could throw the balls the fastest to each other. We lined up ten feet apart from each other and threw the ball down the line back and forth two times. My team finished the first so the other team had to do a running drill for losing. Then we did another game where we tried to see which group could catch the most pop ups out of 30 balls. In this game we lost and I was not surprised because I am not that good at catching pop ups. So we had to do the running drill this time. After this we did some batting practice where we hit the balls against a wall as rapidly as they were thrown to us. I did very well with this exercise.

Thursday, 25 – I could not come to practice today because I went to Habitat for Humanity.

Friday, 26 – There was no practice today because of rain and wind.

Softball

Monday, March 15 – Today was the first day of Softball practice for this school year. Because it was just the beginning of the season and not all the players knew each other’s names, the coaches decided we would start by introducing ourselves and talking about why we decided to play Softball this year. I told everyone my name and said that I was playing this year because I had played last year and wanted to continue, and because I really enjoyed being the catcher on the team. After this introduction we stretched out and were told that the first practice would be mainly dedicated to conditioning to get our muscles toned and strengthened for the season. So we did some running drills and we did pushups and sit ups to try and get back into shape. I was surprised to find that I did very well with these drills and was in better shape than I had realized. It was a successful first practice.

Wednesday, March 17 – Today at Softball practice we were told that we would be working out the mechanics of the sport by doing things like catching, throwing, base running, and hitting. We started by stretching out and then we moved to the catching and throwing. We each got a partner who we stood ten feet away from to start. We threw the ball to them and then every time we made five successful throws in a row we would move back a few steps and try throwing from a farther distance away. The coached went around to each player and pointed out any mistakes they were making in the mechanics of throwing the ball. After this, we moved to base running. We did a drill where we all lined up and ran to first base, then got back in line and ran to second base, then got back in line and ran to third, and so on. It was tiring but overall everyone did well. We were unable to get to hitting today but we were told we would do it next time for practice.

Thursday, March 18 – Today we did not have practice because it was raining.

Friday, March 19 – Today in Softball practice the coaches kept their promise of letting us hit for a while. First, as always, we stretched out and then the coaches informed us that we would be repeating the same base running drill we had done last practice at the beginning of every practice from now on. So we ran the bases and I felt that I was already improving in that. Then we finally got to the hitting. We all lined up and went one after another to hit and after we hit we went out into the field in no particular position and helped catch the balls being hit. When it was my turn I was pleased to discover that I could hit each of the balls into the outfield. Some were grounders but most of them were line drives which meant I was off to a good start for the season. After this we all went to random positions in the field and practiced fielding the ball to first base. We made some mistakes but in general we were all able to successfully get the ball to first base even if we missed it the first time. It was a good practice.

Habitat

Thursday, March 25 – Today at Habitat for Humanity I was to help my advisor, Hilary, set up and run one of the organization’s monthly meetings. This is why I came today instead of on Tuesday, so I could be there fore the meeting. When I got there I was given a name tag and asked to set up chairs and tables in the conference room. Then I wrote the schedule for the meeting on the board and set up all the posters and diagrams that would be used during the meeting. I also set up the Habitat documentary that would be shown during the meeting. When people finally arrived I helped seat them in the conference room and Hilary began the presentation. When she got to talking about office work she asked me to say a few words to the group about my experience with this. I talked to them about data entry and said it was very enjoyable and relaxing. Then I played the clip from the documentary. This featured interviews with some of the families the organization had built houses for in the past and they all expressed their gratitude for what Habitat had done for them. This made me realize what a serious issue their living conditions had been before Habitat helped them and it made me glad that I was helping such a wonderful organization. It seemed to me that bad living conditions must be an issue all over the world and I eager to help solve it at least in my own community. After the meeting was over I helped Hilary clean up and put the tables and chairs back. Hilary was pleased with how the presentation went and so was I.

Habitat For Humanity

Tuesday, March 16 – Today I went back to the office at Habitat for Humanity to hopefully finish the rest of the applications that needed to be put into the computer. Now that I knew all of the different codes and things for the applications I did not need any help from Hilary putting them into the computer. I was able to finish more applications today than any of the previous times. I was very proud to have gained so much knowledge about computer work and data entry. Hilary informed me that next week she was going to need my help setting up and hosting one of the organization’s monthly meetings in the same building. She told me to come on Thursday instead of Tuesday.

Creative Writing

Thursday, February 25 – Today in Creative Writing we got a submission that was a continuation of one of our previous submissions. It was story that was told through the journal of a young girl whose teacher was making everyone in her class keep the journal as practice for writing. I had really enjoyed the first entry of this story because I thought it was a unique idea to tell a story in this way. Now I liked the second entry even better because in continuing the story we learned more about this girl through her journal and I thought it was really well done because none of the information was out rightly stated, it was all hinted at in the form of the journal. This submission really exposed me to different styles of writing that I had never seen and never thought of before. I told the author that I really enjoyed it and that I was eager to read more.

Thursday, 4 – Today I could not attend Creative Writing because I was having my final Extended Essay meeting with my advisor.

Habitat for Humanity

Tuesday, March 2 – Today was my first day of working with the organization Habitat for Humanity. I went to their main office building in Yarmouth and I met some of the people who do the organizing for all the fundraisers and events that Habitat holds. I went there to help them with some of this office work because currently there are no functioning building sites on the Cape for me to attend. I was told that the building would resume in April and until them they needed help with office work and organizing Habitat applications. This became my job. I met with my supervisor Hilary and she set me up at a computer and gave me a stack of applications to process. It was not very exciting but I enjoyed it anyway because I learned a lot about the computer I never knew before and I felt this knowledge could come in handy later on. It was a good first day.

Tuesday, March 9 – Today was my second day of assisting the organization Habitat for Humanity with their office work. I went to the same building as before and met with my supervisor Hilary. She took me to the computer and gave me the pile of applications to process. She also showed me a few more things about the computer like what certain errors meant and the different codes I needed for some of them. I really learned a lot about the computer and I enjoyed learning it. I started processing the applications and I found that I was much quicker in getting them done now that I knew how to work the computer. I was pleased that I was improving my computer skills and work effort through this activity and I felt confident in my knowledge of the inner workings of Habitat for Humanity.