Life Goes On

I have only 3 days left at St. Mary's School, a school that I've gone to for 8 years of my life.  St. Mary's is pretty much like a second home to me; I feel like I'm here more than I am at my own house sometimes!  I feel so comfortable and confident here, and I know the way around this school like the back of my hand.  I've walked down the same halls for 8 years of my life now, so it's going to be weird to go to a different school and not feel as confident on where I'm going, and who I am.  This school has played a big part in my life, in all of our lives.  Even if we don't always show our appreciation for this school, the teachers, or the facilities, we do appreciate it.  All of it.  We owe our childhood to this school. We also need to appreciate our parents for sending us to this school; no matter how much we might have exclaimed that we wanted to leave, they kept us here, and we need to be thankful of that.  Now that I think about it, I've taken being in classes with these people for granted.  But I won't ever be in a class with all of us together again.  No more knowing how to just operate as one big group to get exactly what you want.  No more inside jokes.  No more knowing exactly how someone is feeling without them having to explain.  I'm going to miss all of them so much. I know that there will be days when I want to come back here and have one more class with all of these people. Days when I will want to go back to Mrs. Slotsve's math class, or gym class with TG. Days when I will want Brady to make all of his jokes, or Kristen's random impressions of people.  I will never forget anyone.  Thank you to you all for making this such a great experience for me.  I love you guys.

We won't ever forget our time together,

The memories we will always treasure,

I will think of you all, when I'm young and old,

Please remember, stay gold.

Eggs

ksanders

'Break Free'

 'Breakfast With GG: 1017, Carton' 

 '30 Days of Gratitude- Day 19' 

Borrowing and Saving

Taken by EricGjerde on Flicker CC

Today in class, we learned about borrowing and saving; all of the good things that can happen, and all of the bad things that can happen.  We mostly talked about debt and loans, and how much trouble you can be in if you don't pay of your debt.  We used the example of college; college has lots of fun and cool stuff to offer, but how are you going to pay for it all when you most likely already have a loan to pay off for college?  You just have to be smart about what you're buying, and really just know how much money you can spend. Just really monitor how much money you have, what you can spend, and then finally what you need to save.

Hey everyone! I really think that Alyssa's blog is worthy of winning the Blogger challenge because I just think her blog is really fun, and her blog is relatable to a lot of people my age. She keeps her blog updated, and her blog is very interesting.  I also don't think she would be expecting a win, so I think it would be really cool for her to win!

Taken by on Flicker Creative Commons Cranamanor13 -I think her blog is fun, and I think the circus is fun, so I related the two :)

 

Lacrosse Tournament

This is a picture of my team!

This past weekend my lacrosse team played in a tournament in Blake, Minnesota.  There were 28 teams at the tournament, and we were split up into different seeds.  This is the only tournament that we do the whole season, so our coach was telling us that we have to go hard and play hard if we wanted to go all the way to the championships. A lacrosse game consists of two 25 minute halves, but at this tournament, we just played half hour games, due to not enough time to play full games.  We were scheduled to play 4 games, and depending on how we did on those, determined whether we would go to the finals. We lost our first game to one of the best teams there; we only lost by two, and we kept the game close.  We were tied at one point, but then they got ahead and they won.  We won our next three games, though, and that was enough to get us in the finals!  Our first game in the finals was against a team that we had tied against in our regular season.  We were ahead 7-3, but then the refs saw lightning, and whenever they see lightning we have to wait half an hour until we can play again.  The lightning kept coming, and soon after, the rain.  But the refs said that since the game was over 80% over, and whoever is ahead will win, so our team had won! We were in the top 4 out of 28 teams! The people running the tournament said that they will try to reschedule the remaining games, but they don't know for sure.  I really hope they do!!!!!

Dream Job

There's always that question, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Your parents usually first ask you this when you're about 5 or 6, and most kids answer, "Princess!"or "Pirate!" or "Movie Star!" or "Astronaut!" When you're a kid, you have no idea how long it will take to get there, for any of those jobs. As you get older, your answer usually changes, and when you finally decide what you're going to do when you get older, what you actually become is WAY different then what you said when you were 5 or 6 years old. I have no idea what I want to do once I leave school. People have told me I would be a great librarian, or a physical therapist, or a coach of some sort. I still have a couple more years to decide what I want to do with the rest of my life. I'm keeping my options open. Work isn't always enjoyable even if you're doing something that you love to do. Like say your a fashion designer, and you love it. You love designing stuff, and expressing yourself. There's still the the paperwork, the meetings, the flights, the pressure of getting a new line done in time for a big show. That can all be very stressful and NOT enjoyable. In the end though, its ususally worth it, because you're doing what you love and what you have a passion for. My fantasy dream job would definitely be a pop star, but I can't sing if my life depended on it, and I have stage fright so I know that will never happen. Other dream jobs of mine would be: music producer, manager for a band, T.V. producer, or someone who just gets to work in Hollywood. That would be my dream. It would be nice to be paid, but if circumstances are complicated, you're doing what you love, and you can somehow afford not being paid, I think it would be okay not being paid. When you're working at school, you're doing work that affects your job when you're older. You're also not being paid at school, and you have your parents to help you through more than you do when you're older. You're also doing what you love when you're older, compared to school. :)

Taken by KiranAmbre on Flickr Creative Commons

Wolf Ridge

This is the view of Lake Superior that we had on our Superior hike.
Image taken by one of my classmates.

This past week, my class of 36 students and 6 adult chaperones went up north to Wolf Ridge ELC in Finland, Minnesota for a week. We left at 5 AM Monday morning, and we stayed until about 1 PM on Friday. It was incredibly amazingly fun!!! I stayed in a dorm with 4 other girls, and a chaperone. It was like a huge slumber party, but you were always so tired, everyone went to sleep easily. Our days were filled with classes. We went on a ropes course that was 30 feet up in the air! We also went rock climbing, and we got to belay our classmates. Some other classes that we had were: Smammals (Small Mammals), Changing Climates, F.I.R.S.T. Games (Team-building), Beavers, Stream Study, and Competitive Orienteering. The best thing though was just being with my classmates the whole week. I learned new things about them, and I'm really glad that this is the class that I got to go with. I wouldn't change that. The thing is, at my school you look forward to this trip all through elementary school. You work 30 hours of service that goes towards the school to be able to go.  You hear so many stories as your anxiously waiting to go. I've gone, and now it's over. That's the sad part. I'm glad I had the opportunity to go; it was all I hoped it would be. I will never forget this trip.

Images on the Internet

I've been using the Internet for what seems like forever.  It's always been there.  Through the years, I've learned how to properly use the Internet; this including how to use and post images.  I've only learned recently that you're always supposed to site your images.  I never knew that you were supposed to do that until about a year or two ago.  I never did it then, thinking it wasn't important. Now I do it whenever I post a picture on the Internet. It's just the right thing to do, to give attribution to someone. If you don't give attribution to someone, bad things could happen to you.

Taken by solidether on Flickr Creative Commons

How I Spend Money

I spend my money on things a normal teenage girl spends her money on: music, books, clothes, movies, food, etc.  I also give some of my money to charity.  I probably don't need to buy as much clothes and food. I can always watch a movie at home, and I have food at home.  I'm a saver, though.  Whenever I spend my money, and either for something I really want, or something that I believe is a good cause.  I believe that I just need to be even more careful with what I buy. :)

Picture taken by Toban Black

Health Care Reform

I think that healthcare for everyone is super important. I think it's reasonable for Obama to want to pass a law which makes everyone buy healthcare. Why wouldn't you want to purchase healthcare? Don't you want to be covered? Sure, it's expensive, but it will turn out positive for you and your family in the end. I think that President Obama is just doing his job, and that's taking care of his country, by keeping them healthy.  And if this happens, taxes will go down for people because they don't have to pay for other people's hospital costs. The Supreme Court is definitely under a lot of pressure from both sides of the debate on how they're going to end this case.

Minnesota Laws for Minimum Wage and Child Labor

There are state-minimum-wage-laws and federal-minimum-wage laws.  If an employee is subject to both laws, the person is to receive the higher of the two wages.  Minimum wage applies to all hours worked.  Minimum wage does not apply to all jobs, though.  Here are just a few that minimum wage does not apply to: babysitters, taxicab drivers, and volunteers of nonprofit organizations.  Minimum wages in Minnesota very from $4.90 an hour to $7.25 an hour.  In Minnesota, a child under the age of 16 may not work before 7:00 AM and after 9:00 PM; this does not include newspaper carriers.  You also cannot work during the school hours, unless you have an employment certificate issued by the school district superintendent.  For minors aged 16-17, they may not work after 11:00 PM and before 5:00 AM, but if you have written permission from a parent or guardian, you may work until 11:30 PM, and start work at 4:30 AM.

Image by 401K on Flicker Creative Commons

HEY. Well, yesterday, One Direction (If you have NO idea who I'm talking about, go to YouTube and type in What Makes You Beautiful One Direction. You will be amazed.) was in Minnesota, and they held a CD signing for their album Up All Night at Mall of America and my friends and I went to go see them!  The MOA staff said it was the biggest signing Mall of America has ever had! We were on the 4th floor (the top floor) and they were on the first, so they were kinda far away, but it was still absolutely incredible! The screams were deafening when the boys walked out! It was a amazing day! Words cannot describe!  We also watched them when they left the signing to go to break, and we were 10 feet away from them! When they came up from the break room, Harry Styles of One Direction waved at two of my friends!  They were freaking out.  It was the best day EVER.

Our posters for One Direction!  Harry waved to the girls on the ends!

                                       

I'm so excited for The Hunger Games movie premier! I'm going at midnight with some friends! I can't wait to see Katniss, Peeta, Rue, and Gale on the big screen! Which character is your favorite?  I like Rue!

THE HUNGER GAMES
Picture by nxusco on Flickr Creative Commons

Hello to my mentor, Patricia Alexander! I have a couple question for you, and I hope you find the time to answer them! If anyone else wants to answer, please do.  Enjoy. :)


1. What country do you live in?
2. What's the weather like there?
3. Do you have any hobbies/ interests?
4. What's your favorite type of music/ artist?
5. Whats your favorite food?
6. Do you have any pets?


Thanks! 

Hey! You guys should totally check out this blog, because she is truly an amazing person, and it's most likely you gave something in common with her. You should also check out this blog, because she is a unique person and I lover her back round.  And last but not least, you should check out this blog because she has an interesting survey on it about Jello! Hope you check them out!

Mini-Biography :)

Hey! My name is Emma and I'm taking a 21st Century Skills Class at my school in Minnesota.  I love music, and below is a picture of one of my favorite bands, One Direction.  I love to play lacrosse, and I also love to read.  My favorite color is green, and I love nature.  My friends are the best and I don't know what I would do without them.  This past year I also played basketball for the first time, which was a blast, and totally worth it.  I'm looking forward to a good last part of the year at my small town school.  

One Direction, taken by junninhofletr on Flickr