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Posts by Malori

My Wish for You...

Discussion by: mmcgill on Sun, 2010-05-23 22:33 with 0 comments
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 As I approach graduation, I've been reflecting on just what it is I gained from my high school experience. Was it purely academic knowledge that I received? Did I only participate in activities and sports to have something to fill time? What was it that I really took away from four years of high school? Sure, I did acquire a wealth of academic knowledge (hence why Judge is a "college preparatory" school), and yes, being involved was one of the best parts about high school, but I believe my high school experience was more than just that. I believe over my four years of high school I learned many invaluable lessons that no textbook, soccer coach, math problem, or voice instructor gave me. Amongst those lessons, one word comes to mind-embrace. High school taught me to embrace life as it comes, to embrace the relationships, challenges, hardships, celebrations, and everything in between that life can throw at you. I learned in high school that many things, well, most things, don't come as planned. No matter how planned out one can have his/her life, things are bound to get changed somewhere, sometime. But I've learned to embrace those changes.

Attention: Tax Ahead

Discussion by: mmcgill on Fri, 2010-04-30 16:35 with 0 comments
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I'm sure you can all remember the last time you drank a soda. From routine soda-drinkers to "when I need some caffeine" drinkers, soda is a part of the American society. Over time, it has become a far too large part of our society. On average, Americans drink fifty gallons of soda per year, (NPR) which is equivalent to 1.4 servings per day for every American. That's a nasty statistic when you consider the health effects of routine soda drinking. A recent UCLA study showed that adults who drink at least one soda per day are "27 percent more likely to be obese or overweight." (NPR). If you think about how many people you know that drink a soda daily, that equates to way too many adults asking for weight issues. 

Logging 26.2

Discussion by: mmcgill on Sun, 2010-04-18 23:37 with 1 comments
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What I'm good at

 This past weekend I volunteered for the Salt Lake City marathon. Myself and a handful of other Judge students and teachers worked a water station at about mile seven. I woke up at 5 AM in order to get to the station in time to set up before the first bikers and marathoners arrived. As a rolled out of bed and put on whatever sweats I could find, I thought to myself, "Why in the world am I doing this?" And as I turned my headlights on and drove the dark roads, I couldn't help but think, "I could still be sleeping right now." Well-ode to coffee- I made it to the station just in time to fill water cups and slap vaseline on popsicle sticks. At sunrise, the first bikers arrived, all of them still too fresh to stop for water. But within the next half an hour, over 1,000 runners, passed our station. And I mean it when I say, every type of person you could imagine was running in that marathon. Young and old, elite and recreational, male and female, sanguine and doubtful-yet nearly all of them parched.

How to be a better balancer?

Discussion by: mmcgill on Sun, 2010-03-28 20:09 with 1 comments
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Balance. It's been the story of my life the past four years. I know, it seems rather predictable that high school would prove to be a balancing act, right? Well, lately I've found I have been forced to balance more than I have since I began high school. Last year I figured my senior year would be a piece of cake. My grades wouldn't be so important, teachers would lay off the work, I'd enjoy being the oldest in the school, and everything would be more memorable being my last. I'd even find out where I was doing to college which would make the year, and looking towards the future, that much more enjoyable. I'm not about to say I haven't enjoyed my senior year thus far. I have, and I will remember it for the rest of my life. But, I've found I have been faced with challenges I never imagined, all of which caused me to be a better "balancer." 

Two extremes

Discussion by: mmcgill on Sun, 2010-03-21 19:57 with 1 comments
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The "News of the Weird" column of the Salt Lake Tribune has a new feature story I think: "600-Pound woman eating for the record books". I know it seems backwards, right? In a day and age where people seem infatuated with fad diets, weight loss television series, and calorie-cutting how-tos, I found it hard to believe that there are people out there purposefully gaining weight. But anything goes for Guinness World Record seekers I suppose. Donna Simpson is breaking the status quo to do exactly that. She's claiming she'll be   the next fattest woman on earth, and do to so she needs to gain 400 more pounds. But the record isn't what Simpson is all about; setting such a goal is just a "fantasy" as she calls it to attract even more fans than she already has. Simpson is an increasingly successful model on a highly popular site, Supersizedbombshells.com. The site caters to men attracted to women of such size. 

A Canceled Prom

Discussion by: mmcgill on Fri, 2010-03-12 15:25 with 1 comments
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For me, and most other seniors I'd presume, the spring's Prom dance is something to look forward to. Not only will we be that much closer to graduating, but it will be one last night for memories with our class, the final dance of our high school years. I guess it will be bittersweet, knowing Prom will be the last time I spend weeks picking out a dress, devote an entire day to getting ready, buy a buttoner, and overcome those initial pre-dance jitters. But above all I look forward to a good time, getting dressed up, and dancing the night away with classmates and friends. I hope every senior enjoys a night to remember come Prom. But that won't be the case for seniors at Itawamba County Agricultural High School in Jackson, Mississippi. Earlier this week I came across a striking story. The high school in Jackson recently decided their spring prom would be canceled. Constance McMillen was planning to take her girlfriend to the prom and wear a tuxedo to the dance. When school officials found out about the lesbian couple's plan, they immediately took measures to call the dance off completely.

How do you download?

Discussion by: mmcgill on Sun, 2010-02-28 15:21 with 0 comments
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 When my English class began discussing and learning about modern copyright laws, I found myself wondering how modern laws and technological advances are influencing modern music sales. With easy and widespread access to free music downloads, I would assume CD sales specifically have pivoted rapidly. Why would one spend one to two dollars on a single track when they can get an entire CD for less than a dollar, or even better free? As perfectly sound and moral humans, everyone's answer should be because it is legal. But because even the legal sides of copyrighting and downloading are muggy, it is inevitable that the music industry has been influenced. "While the number of Internet users paying for digital music rose by over 8 million to 36 million, and purchases of digital music downloads rose by 29%, sales of CDs fell 19%." So it is evident that the nature of online media is changing the music industry.

How far would you go?

Discussion by: mmcgill on Tue, 2010-02-16 11:01 with 0 comments
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Figure skating is my favorite event of the Winter Olympics. The grace and creativity matched with the athleticism of the skaters awes me, not to mention the difficulty of gliding on ice with centimeter thick blades. I'm certain it takes countless hours, weeks, and years of practice to even come close to acquiring the type of skill the Olympians posses. For most of them, it takes ample sacrifice as well. We've all  heard stories of young Chinese athletes, who give up any aspect of a normal life at an early age. They leave their families and schools and head to the Olympic headquarters where they devote their lives to a sport. From then on it is living and breathing figure skating, which predominates their lives. That defines sacrifice to me. 

Let the Games begin

Discussion by: mmcgill on Sun, 2010-01-31 23:24 with 0 comments
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On February 12th, a torchbearer riding on a bike will carry the Olympic torch on the shores of Vancouver; as he officially lights the Olympic torch, the 2010 Winter Games will be under way. The Twenty-First Winter Olympic games are nearly upon us. Over 80 nations and 5,500 athletes will come together under the motto "with glowing hearts" for the games. What better way to set the stage for a "glowing" event than the historical Olympic torch relay. This year's torch relay began in Olympia, Greece on October 22, 2009. For 106 days it travels across the oceans to Canada, where it will have traveled approximately 45,000 miles across the country until the Opening Ceremonies on February 12th. The route of this year's torch relay has been dubbed the longest within one country in history. 
Once the torch relay has come to an end, the race to the podium will begin. The U.S.

In Tune With True Holiday Spirit

Discussion by: mmcgill on Tue, 2009-12-15 23:17 with 2 comments
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Every year during the Christmas season, I, along with many I presume, ponder the "true meaning of Christmas". It seems we've become a nation so focused on gifts and possessions, we've lost sight of that true spirit of Christmas. I too fall victim to such a holiday mentality, but every year I aim to focus my holiday spirit and joy on gifts other than material possessions, and focus my efforts on giving rather than recieving. I find every year it's easier said than done. A young Philadelphia couple recently showed just what I believe is what the Christmas holiday is all about. "It played like a scene from a holiday movie", is the description by MSNBC about this past Saturday at Aramingo Diner in Philly (Mystery Couple Sparks Cascade of Giving).The young couple had enjoyed their weekend breakfast, and as paying the tab for their meal, they told the waitress they'd be picking up the tab for another random table of diners.

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