Mary Gail

Mary Covert has meant a lot to me these past few years. She is my best friend that I can tell everything to. Nothing can separate us, we hope.

            I met her in pre-school at Central Minnesota Christian School. We were friends till about eighth grade, than we became best friends. We played really good together when we were young. Making snow forts in the woods, blanket forts, camping out in the yard, and sledding in the creek. We would draw tattoos, have airplane contests, hoola hoop, jump rope, and be mermaids in the pool, four-wheel with Luke, her brother, and his friends. You name it and we had a blast doing it.

            I didn’t truly know Mary until our eighth grade year. Some class drama went on that made everyone mad at each other for an entire day. It was horrific. I got sick of it all so once I got home from school I went on Facebook and put it all to a stop. The next day everything was fine and forgotten, and Mary and I were inseparable.

            We have our own way of doing things. Our conversations are so random and fast moving we can barely keep up with them. When we are together it’s like we are in our own little world and no can stop us. We have our own way of talking to each other that leaves people pondering.

            To me, Mary and I are related in our own special way. We have a connection that no one will ever be able to understand. We could get into a huge fight, but in our heads we are telling each other how much we love them.

            The biggest thing Mary had taught me is that when you have a boyfriend, you need to make sure you don’t loose your friends. It’s easy to do because you get so lost in the moment that the person who knows you the best is slipping away. She’s also taught me that when you have a certain connection with someone that has taken a long time to build, it can easily get torn away without you knowing. Luckily, our relationship can be rebuilt easily.

            Mary and I have had a lot of good, funny memories together and I’m going to share a few with you so you can get a feel of our friendship. There are so many that it is hard for me to choose which ones I want to share, but these ones are ones that I will remember forever.

            There are always those memories of sleepovers with friends. This one with make your heart smile. Mary and I had just gotten back to my house after a movie with a bunch of friends and we were sitting on Facebook doing some, as we call it, Facebook creepin’. We were looking at some pictures and laughing, having a good time. It got kind of boring so we decided to go get ready for bed. When Mary and I say we are going to bed, it means we are going to talk until we fall asleep. That night we talked about boys. A lot. This is strange for Mary and I cause we usually never stay on one subject no longer than five minutes. This is the part that is going to make you smile. We were having dream date dreams. Dream date dreams is when we take about three minutes and imagine our dream date and then we would tell each other, whom it was with and what we did. We did that for about three hours. It was pretty great.

            Another fun memory with Mary really shows our true hair color. We were at Calvin Classics walking around together. We were wearing the same shirts, shorts and Phiten necklaces. We were walking across the track talking about how some people could think we were twins, because at that time my hair was really light. I didn’t realize until I got home and I was looking at the pictures on my camera. There was a picture of Mary and I from behind. On the back of our shirts Covert and Erickson was printed. I laughed so hard I could barely explain to Mary over the phone why I was calling her.

            A memory that made me realize Mary was so special came to me at a RCW girl’s basketball game. I was on the bench because I had a broken finger, so I was sitting in front of the team on the bench. We had the ball and Karisa was dribbling it down the court, it got passed to Mary and the next thing I knew she was on the floor crying. The coaches ran over to her to see if she was okay. They started carrying her to the bench and something inside of me popped. I flew up and popped an ice pack for her. She hurt her ankle really bad. They got her sat down and the game was back on.

Everyone’s attention was on the game except mine. I was sitting next to Mary, holding the ice pack on her ankle and talking to her. The coach from the other team brought us a bag of snow so then it would stay colder longer. I helped her get comfortable and wiped away her tears. I took off her shoes and set them aside. Her dad came to talk to her, so I ran to the locker room to get her bag and everything that she needed. I went back to the bench and put on her shoes and her jacket for her. I helped Kevin, her dad, walk her to the front door. I held on to her while he went and got the truck. Watching them drive away was the hardest thing ever. I wanted to go with so badly to make sure she was okay.

The rest of the JV and varsity game was torture. I waited patiently for her to call or text me to let me know she was fine. When I got home from the game, I still hadn’t heard anything from her. My mind was racing till I finally saw that she sent me a text. I was so happy knowing that she was okay. I told her that I loved her and that I was very worried about her. I realized that night that she meant a lot to me because I knew if it was anyone else that had that happen, I would not have reacted the same way I did when it happened to Mary. She means a lot to me. I wanted God to make me feel the pain, not her. Whenever I think of that game I get the goose bumps knowing that I helped her.

There are so many memories that I could tell but it would take a million years to tell all of them, even though a majority of them have happened in recent years. There are very few bad memories with Mary and I don’t think about the bad ones because they don’t matter to me. The only thing that matters is a friendship that will hopefully never end.

Compare and Contrast: Courtney vs. Tiakay

Courtney Paige Groen is one of my good friends that I’ve had since kindergarten. We have a lot in common but we live two very different lives. In this essay you will read about how two friends can have a lot of differences, but still be very good friends.

It was the first day of kindergarten, a bright sunny morning. The gym was packed full of students from pre-school all the way through the twelfth grade. One by one the grades would be called off. The students would say good-bye to their sad parents, knowing that their baby is growing up. Pre-school was called first, then kindergarten. It was time to go. It was our first time being away from our parents for seven hours at a strange place they call school. It was a scary feeling. We followed Mrs. Jasper all the way from the high school gym to the room we would spend ten months in almost everyday, which was in the elementary.

 We got all settled in and Mrs. Jasper was telling us the rules we needed to follow from now on. I knew a few kids from pre-school, but not all of them because we got split into two groups for every other day classes. I saw Courtney and I knew we were going to be good friends someday. Throughout the years our whole class were friends. There weren’t many cliques because we weren’t a big enough class to have any. Courtney and I were friends but we have gotten to be closer as the years have gone by.

I’m going to compare and contrast Courtney and I, so I’ll start with our similarities. We are both freshman girls that attend Central Minnesota Christian School. We play volleyball, basketball, and Junior Olympics volleyball together. Courtney and I love shopping at American Eagle, we pretty much just love to shop. We both have our ears pierced and have one sibling. Both of our siblings are taller than us. If you ever see Courtney and I together we are usually watching or talking about America’s Next Top Model, a TV show we watched together every Monday and Wednesday afternoons for two summers. There are a lot more similarities but I’m going to start on our differences.

Courtney is short, but I am tall, well, compared to her I am. I have long dark brown hair and she has short light brown hair. Courtney has blue eyes and I have green eyes. I have one sister that is older than me and she has one brother that is younger than her.

One of our similarities is that we both play volleyball, but we play different positions. I am a left front and Courtney is a right defensive specialist, which means she doesn’t play front row. Along with a lot of girls we have boyfriends, but she is dating Weston Hanson and I’m dating Justin Bieber. We live in different places too. Courtney lives in the country near Renville and I live in the town of Willmar but I also live in the country with my dad.

Courtney’s family attends Emden church and my family goes to Evangical Free church. Courtney had braces for two in a half years and I have never had braces before. We have a lot more differences but too many to list, and saying all the differences make me feel like we are too different to be friends.

In the summer, Courtney plays Pepsi league, which is a summer basketball league for girls. Every Wednesday night there are games going on. She spends her summers hanging out with friends, babysitting, playing basketball, staying at her cabin on Green Lake, going to open gyms for volleyball, and much more. In the fall, she goes to school and then after school goes to volleyball practice or games. She always does her homework and has only failed one test in her entire life. In the winter, she goes to school, basketball practice and games, and snowmobiles. In the spring she is all smiles, but that’s her all the time. All the girls know what spring means, Junior Olympics volleyball. JO is a volleyball league for girls in school, but not supported by the school.  There are tournaments every Saturday for about 6 weeks. It’s a lot of fun, but not the waking up early to travel.

I like spending my summers hanging out with friends and family, babysitting, being lazy, and pretty much not getting anything productive done. I go to open gyms for volleyball and Minnesota Twins baseball games. Fall means the beginning of a new year and spending all my time focused on volleyball and school. In the winter, I sleep, eat, and snowboard. I also go to the girls and boy’s basketball games and watch the Minnesota Wild hockey league and Minnesota Gophers basketball and hockey. I also play JO in the spring too. Courtney and I are on the same team this year and we have been doing really well so far.

My point of this essay was to show that just because people are different, doesn’t mean they can’t be good friends. You shouldn’t judge people by the way they look. You need to know them before you predict anything.

Persuasive Essay: Do Phiten's really work?

            Phiten’s are the most original, in a good way, things I have ever seen.  Phiten is a brand that makes titanium filled bracelets, necklaces, rings, headbands, arm sleeves, and ect. They are known for relieving pain, stopping pain, loosen you up, and make you less tired. The question is: do they really work?

           

Phitens come in all different sizes, colors, and styles. Mostly athletes wear them because they believe they actually work and help them play better. Then there is the athletes that wear them because they think they are good luck. They win one game when wearing them and that must mean they are lucky. But there are a lot of people who aren’t convinced by them. Dr. Orrin Sherman, who is chief of sports medicine at the New York University Hospital for Joint Diseases said, “ There is no science and physiology. There is just no way the chemical structure of the body can be influenced by magnet that small. It’s all superstitious with no scientific basis.”  He also noted that people who have contact with magnets with more power, show that there are no effects on them. He also stated, “for the Phiten to work, you have to believe in the placebo effect.” I am still trying to figure out myself, if it really works. There are a few reasons for doubting them, but plenty pointing that they do work.

We do have to consider side effects though. There are magnets next to your head when you are wearing a Phiten necklace, and there have been studies going on about magnetic fields causing cancer. Does this mean that anyone who wears a Phiten is more likely to get cancer? In California, progesterone is a chemical that causes cancer. On the official Phiten website, progesterone is listed in the legal disclaimer section. It is in some of their products, but it is listed in the information if it does. The titanium in the Phitens is carbonized and put into elastomer rubber. There aren’t enough facts that state that the Phiten brand does cause cancer though. There hasn’t been an actual study on a human being that after wearing a Phiten for a long period of time, they get cancer. I think that scientists are just trying to prove that there is something wrong with them to stop the popularity of them.

People shouldn’t judge the brand until after they have tried a product themselves. I think that Phitens do work. But maybe I think they do because I believe that they work. When I wear one, my muscles feel relaxed and I don’t feel any pain. I actually stop getting headaches when I’m wearing one. If you haven’t tried a Phiten yourself, you definitely should. I think scientists and people will argue about this for a while about if they actually work or not, but you should really try one of the products yourself.

Book Review: Go Ask Alice

                                                                        Go Ask Alice

By TiaKay Erickson

Go ask Alice is a diary of a young girl whose parents had published into a book soon after her death. This diary does not give specific names of the people, or specific places for privacy. It is her actual diary that she kept with her through her fifteenth birthday till she was about seventeen. She got hooked on drugs and they gave her the ride of her life.

            She was a young girl who had few friends but she was really close with her family. She didn’t tell people much, but she told her diary everything.

            The diary starts out with Alice being angry and sad. Her father was always gone to work because he was relocated and would stay at a hotel near his job, and only come home when he would get a break or when he missed his family too much. Her mother was very controlling, yet loving which drove Alice nuts. She would always correct Alice and tell her what she did wrong. The worst was when her mother would tell her how bad of an example she is for her little sister Alexandria and her little brother Tim. She wanted to be the perfect older daughter for her parents but when all they did was bug her, all she would want to do is rebel.

            Most of the time she would go to school then come home and lock herself in her room to escape the madness. She only got good grades in the classes she liked at school. The other classes she would just flunk everything and didn’t always show up for class. She would hang out at parties, but never did any drugs. She didn’t want to do drugs either. What started the addiction was at a party when someone slipped some lace into her drink. She didn’t know what happened to her until days after. She described how it felt amazing, all the colors, and how she felt like she was flying. She didn’t know that it was the start of an addiction. Her life became a downward spiral. After that party she was completely addicted and would do anything for any kind of drug. It even got to the point of stealing her grandfather’s painkillers. Once she ran out of his pills, she lied to the doctor about not being able to sleep. She got put on some pills that didn’t fully satisfy her, but she still took them. Her parents knew and tried to stop her but she wouldn’t listen.

            Chris was a girl that was a few years older than Alice. She owned a boutique and offered Alice a job. Chris also did drugs, but only when she wasn’t working.  The two girls would use their money to buy more drugs. They got to be good friends and Alice would go stay at Chris’ place so she wouldn’t have to deal with all the nagging of her parents. Alice got so into her job that she dropped out of school just so she could work for drug money.

            The two of them got sick of the small town that they lived in. They wanted bigger things in life. They decided to move to Florida. They saved money for a while and once they had enough money, they were gone. Alice never told her parents she was leaving she just let them worry. They didn’t have enough money for a house, so they got a small apartment. The apartment was a junk hole. It was all one room with holes in the wall, beat up floors, and no running water. They got into prostitution to pay the rent and to save money for a better apartment. They saved enough money to buy a house. They still needed money so they made the living room into a hang out spot for kids who needed a place to do drugs and not get caught by their parents. They needed to stay prostitutes so they could pay off their house, buy food, pay bills, and have money for more drugs.

            Alice and Chris got into a big fight so she road tripped back home. She would do anything for food and a ride. She stole a lot on her way back too. When she got back she knew she had to stop the drugs. That’s exactly what she did She got back into school, got good grades and got her self back together. But the death of her grandfather made her slip. She started taking drugs and doing bad things again. She ran away when she was high and something happened to her that made her loose consciousness. She woke up in a hospital bed; feeling like something was eating her. She was full of blisters, bruises, a broken leg and arm, and blood oozing out from everywhere that wouldn’t stop. She wrote in her diary about how much pain she was in all the time. She didn’t know what happened to her. She slowly felt herself disappearing and getting closer to death. She was only seventeen when the last entry in her diary was written.

            It’s hard to critique a book that wasn’t written to be a book. It got confusing at times and didn’t make much sense. It’s hard picturing a young girl doing stuff like that, but it’s true. Sometimes in the diary Alice wouldn’t write everything because she knew about it and didn’t want to write it in there, which made it confusing at points. It’s hard to critique a book that wasn’t written to be a book. I liked how when she would use slang or big words, the publishers would have a definition at the bottom of the page for each word. After Alice’s last entry the publishers had a page put into the book and explained what happened after that entry.

Revenge

   “He broke my heart. He put it in a blender and ripped it into a a million pieces,” cried Ryder.

   “I can’t believe we thought he would be our prince charming! Even though you were the one dating him, he broke my heart too.” Josie mumbled.
  
“Don’t worry you two,” smiled Sailor. “What I have planned for him, will defiantly be revenge.”

   It all started out with three best friends: Josie, Ryder, and Sailor.  They were all crushing on the same jock, Jackson Tate. He was tall and thin, with skater sandy blonde hair, deep blue eyes that looked like the ocean. He had a mind of his own. He was a forward in soccer, forward in hockey, and catcher in baseball. Every girl in the school, even out of the school, wanted him.

   Ryder and Josie were the young ones. They could keep it cool around every guy except Jackson. He made them drool and day dream every minute of the day. Then there was Sailor. She could play cool around everyone, no matter who it was. She could be face to face with Justin Bieber and act like he was her annoying little brother. If that gives you and image of how she was. But Ryder and Josie were never jealous of her, never.
  
   Ryder and Josie were very cute girls. Sailor was cute too, but not as cute as Ryder and Josie.  Josie had long, curly blonde hair with tanned skin, big green eyes, freckles that covered her nose and cheeks, and a thin average height body. Ryder and Josie looked alike in a way. Except Ryder had brown hair, and she had a thin, short body. Sailor was the odd ball. She had straight, medium length, orange hair, brown eyes, and freckles all over her tall, muscular body. She was a giant who towered over everyone, even some guys.

   You could tell these girls were best friends. They all dressed the same, acted the same, had the same grade average, same friends, and same likes and dislikes. They even all liked Jackson the same about, or so they thought, and agreed that they wouldn’t fight over him even if he asked one of them out. They got put to the test when one afternoon Jackson asked Ryder out. All three girls were on cloud nine for a long time, especially Ryder.

   Ryder and Jackson dated for about four months. During those four months the three girls never changed. They still hung out as much as they did before. Ryder never cared that Josie and Sailor still had crushes on Jackson because she knew he was hers.

   One day Jackson showed up on Ryders door step asking if he could talk to her.
   “Ryder, I really need to talk to you right now.” Confused, Ryder let him in and sat down on the sofa together. Luckily her parents were at work, so they didn’t have to worry about them.

“This isn’t working out Ryd... I realized that I still love Riley. I need to get her back.” Jackson left after he spoke his harsh words. Riley was his ex-girlfriend that he cheated on with a girl named Carson. But Ryder, Josie and Sailor were actually good friends with Riley.

Ryder immediately called Sailor and Josie. The came over right away. They talked and cried with Ryder for hours. Finally Josie spoke up. “Don’t worry Ryd... I’ll get him back.”

Josie and Sailor had a plan.

Josie and Sailor talked to Riley and told her what Jackson did to Ryder. She couldn’t believe that he was the same old Jackson. They shared their evil scheme with Riley and made a game plan. She agreed that she wouldn't reply to his texts, and would ignore him at all times so his feelings for her would vanish.

A few weeks later Josie started texting Jackson, buttering him up, flirting, and leading him on as if she liked him.

“You’re just so cute Jacky-boo,” she would giggle. She got him wrapped around her little evil finger.

Jackson would start making hints to Josie about them going out some day. 

“I wonder if we would make a cute couple,” he would ask.

Most of the time it killed Josie to talk to Jackson knowing how badly he hurt Ryder. The girls would talk about it it when they hung out and would take turns talking to him. Even sometimes Ryder would text him. She wants him to know what it’s like to have your heart broken.

After two months of flirting continuously, Jackson finally asked Josie if she would be his girl. He fell for Josie fast and hard. He felt like he loved her. Which was perfect for the girls plan.

“Would you be my valentine, Josie?” Jackson asked sweetly.

“Jackson... Dear, dear Jackson... You broke my best friends heart. Now it’s your turn...” Josie spoke.

“I like you so much though Josie! That was the past. I’ve changed! I promise,” cried Jackson.

“Ryder means the world to me. You hurt her right to the core. She was in love with you, and you tore her heart in a million pieces. I don’t want that happening to me. Sorry,  Jackson.

Memories...Good and Bad

I remember Pre-school, being shy and not saying a word.
I remember Kindergarten, playing 'house' with the girls in my class.
I remember First grade, when we got in trouble for playing cops-and-robbers.
I remember Second grade, when we could have a peppermint or a sucker of the sucker tree.
I remember Third grade, learning Dutch songs.
I remember Fourth grade, doing moon rocket was pretty rough back then.
I remember Fifth grade, playing with Corney, the snake.
I remember Sixth grade, my best friend Breanna came into my life.
I remember Seventh grade, being terrified of exams.
I remember Eighth grade, wondering what high school will bring.
I remember Ninth grade, many memories being made.

Baller

The crowd calmly chillen’ on the bleachers.
Players banking every shot.
Oh, the coach sassing the ref?
Is this game coming to a wreck?
Nahh
We are playing phenomenally!
We blasted that intense fleeking game.