Weekly Blog 2-9 (52): Bowling for Ships

Hello 'Ilima

What's up bowlers and ballers! One more week of school left and I couldn't be more excited! During this week of school, we had two big events. The first of these was the 8-3 Field Trip which was on Wednesday. We were going to Pearl Harbor to learn about the different submarines and the history behind them. Arriving at Pearl Harbor, all of 8-3 was brought to a circle full of chairs where some adults explained what we would be doing. We were then divided into groups and sent out to the museum. My group began by listening to some people who were running booths. The first one was from a guy explaining how you can clean saltwater. The other booth had a submarine model that was in a tank that would fill up with water. It was pretty cool to see and there was other cool exhibits inside the museum. Our group then went to the USS Bowfin and we got to actually walk in and explore the ship. It was so awesome seeing so many antiques and exhibitions of the past. We got to see the different sleeping quarters, the kitchen and bathrooms, and even all of the wiring and buttons used to power the ship. Then we got to roam around a small area full of missiles that were fun. There were even missile launchers that we could climb on. A short break ensued and our last stop was a museum all about missiles and submarines. It was a really interesting insight into all of the different types of missiles in history and how they worked. We even had a tour guide with war experience who explained to us how nuclear powered ships worked. I left the field trip learning a lot more about the history of weapons and ships and got to have a lot of fun with my friends during it. Then the other event was bowling which was one Friday. I came in confident and ready to dominate the game because I felt like I was more prepared. But little did I know, I would be in for the same world of pain I experienced last year. The bus ride to the alley was pretty peaceful and I was either playing games or closing my eyes. Once we arrived, we put our things down and went to get our shoes. Something to note is that I never realized just how big my feet are compared to other people. I wear a size 11, and sometimes larger, while everyone else wears 9's and 8's. After putting on my shoes, I ordered some food so that I could 1. Not be grumpy because I didn't eat. 2. So that I could avoid the long lines that would form later on. I got a breakfast plate that included bacon, eggs, and toast and I gobbled it up. I was only bowling with Jacob and so we found the balls we wanted to bowl with and sat down, waiting for all of the school's to arrive. I was getting sort of anxious because I wanted to preform well, but I remained confident and shortly after the games began. I started of pretty good, getting a 9 on my first bowl, but I immediately hit a spot where I was barely hitting anything. I was getting frustrated but I was able to beat Jacob 49-43 in the first round which kept me a bit stable. I started the second round hot by getting a spare on my second frame, only for all my momentum to die out, only scoring 20 points in the next 8 frames. I even lost to Jacob 38-30 which only grew my frustration. Between rounds, I tried switching up what I was wearing to at least give me the feel that I was changing something, but it was all for not. In the third round, I scored 41 points while Jacob scored 56 and I was left very frustrated and disappointed. It didn't help that I could see Mr. Ing and Ms. Shayna judging us which just made me more tense. After the games ended, I put back the balls, returned my shoes, and walked to a corner so I can just watch YouTube and sulk. Looking back on it, I was a bit dramatic to sit in a corner and brood after loosing, but I am a very competitive person who hates loosing. You can ask most of my friends and they would tell you that I would probably sell my arm and leg before I would lose a game. Overall, these two events were very fun because it was a break from the normal action and it was quality time with friends. In other news, this was my last week of being on TV and I didn't disappoint. On Wednesday, I was a man from the country and I think I did a pretty good job with my accent. On Thursday I was the Fortnite character, Durr Burger, and it was such a fun time putting on the costume. I even kept it on during some parts of the day which I found hilarious. And of Friday, I admittedly didn't have a plan. I was going to go for a Kung-Fu Magician but I started to think that was bad idea so I just did the chill guy meme. Finally, my mom's job had their annual Christmas Parade and I was again apart of it. The budget defintely went down this year because there was much less candy to give out, which made me feel bad for all the kids who didn't get any. But  I still showed the festive spirit and probably made some kids days better which is the most important thing.

 3rd Anniversary Christmas Picture

Woah! Look at that Cool Guy

Bowling in Action

Captain Rei!

A Dinner for Six

The first highlight from this week would be the 8-3 field trip and bowling. Like I said in the first paragraph, these two trips were a break from the constant cycle of school work which made the inclusions in the week greatly appreciated. Even with the flaws that I have with both trips, I still was able to enjoy them because the alternative was sitting in school doing work. The next highlight would be this week of fishing. We were actually able to cast the reels this week and it was super fun. I was having some struggles early on, but it was really rewarding to see my line fly from the rod and go all the way across the field. The final highlight I would mention was discovering a camcorder in my house. My friends and I have had an idea to record short films and vlogs on a camcorder once we got to high school, and to do that we would need a camcorder. I asked my parents about getting a camcorder and my mom brought me to one of our rooms which actually had a camcorder. And it wasn't just a camcorder, it was a full sent that a travel bag and chords necessary for charging. It going to be a very fun high school experience, now that I have this camera in my possession. The first lowlight from this week would be the weird thing that my team is doing. Basically, some people don't want to have a team cheer and now there is a whole vote that has started on if 8-3 should participate in the team cheer. I feel like there is only one answer to this question and it is a big YES. Of course we should have a team cheer. First of all, it's stupid for the team to not participate because it's supposed to be an event that brings us together and allows us to work together to create a grand project. They are basically saying that they don't want us to work with one another and instead do whatever useless things they do in advisory. Another thing, it's a bad look on everyone involved because not participating in a whole school event shows a lack of spirit and resolve that reflects a bad light on the team. Or maybe it's not a bad light and just a clear reflection of who we are. Besides that, this week was overall a pretty good one.

The lesson that I learned from this year is that you need real practice before doing something. This comes from bowling as I had done a little bit of warm ups, like watching YouTube videos and practicing motions, but I never actually went to go play a game of bowling and try to actually improve on what I was doing. I instead had a lot of confidence built up on nothing and fell right on my face. This lesson can be used in a lot of other ways. If you have a math test, you shouldn't just study by remembering the concepts. You should actually try use the concepts in practice problems so that you know where you go wrong when solving them and then be able to change based off your practice. But if you just go into the test without practicing the problems, you will be in for a lot of trouble once you see a problem that the concepts don't really help with and that you would need actual experience to solve. Other minor lessons I learned from this week were about the history of missiles and how to actually cast a reel. With that being said, this concludes this blog. I hope you have a great week. Cheers to another day!