This semester in English

This semester in English was much better than last semester in my opinion. Although I am not a big fan of poetry and reading stories, I did not mind the ones that we had to read in class. I enjoyed class discussions much more than last semester. In my class nobody ever actually came to class, it was usually the same 5 or 6 people every class. I think it made class more enjoyable though. I felt like I could be more open about certain things with less people here. It is so hard to believe that it is the end of the semester and that today is the last day of class. I am so glad though, and I'm so glad that I am done with English for good. Well hopefully. I feel like just the other day I was starting class in August. I couldn't be more excited that it is over and I am so ready for summer. And also so thankful that this is my last blog!

Puppy Madness

 

 

For Christmas my older brother Gray got a new puppy. His name is Gunner and he is a Boxer-Lab Mix. When we first got him he was the cutest little thing. He would just sleep and eat and play a little. He was very easy to potty train and to teach new things to. But then he started getting bigger.

On day I was in the kitchen and I look over to see Gunner taking ornaments off the kids tree and then before I could stop him he pulled the whole tree down and broke some of the ornaments. He then started getting into everything. He loved shoes and anything that he wasn't suppose to have. Typical puppy I know, but he has such a little personality.

Don't let the cute face fool you, he is a brat. My brother is really into hunting and loves doing it so he wanted Gunner to be a Gun Dog. He had been training him to get the bumper and how to sit and do everything, but Gunner doesn't like to listen. So the training isn't going to well. It is so sad as to how fast puppies grow up. Gunner is now 65 pounds and is a big moron.

He loves to eat trash and to get anything he can off the counters. I'm so glad that we got him, but he is such a mess and so much to put up with. I can't wait for Gray and Gunner to move out!

 

 

 

 

Big Brothers Big Sisters

I have been volunteering with the Big Brothers Big Sisters Program for a few months now. My little Sister's name is Hailey. Every week I go to Fort Lee and spend about two hours with her. We usually talk about her week and how school is going. I help her with her homework and anything she is having a problem with. After we get done with homework we usually do some type of craft that I bring. One day we made friendship bracelets and matching necklaces. Another day we did a Easter coloring activity. The last time I went we made butterflies and made spring necklaces. I truly enjoy going and spending time with her. She is such a sweet little girl with such a big personality. There is never a dull moment when she is around. It means a lot to me that she looks forward to seeing me every week and that she looks up to me. If you are interested in being a Big Brother or Big Sister I would highly recommend it. It is a lot of fun and totally worth your time!

Volunteering

Every Friday morning my friend Anna and I volunteer at Iron Bridge Baptist Church. The Mom's have Bible Study from 9 until 12. We help out in her Grandma's "Crawl and Cruise" class. The Crawl and Cruise Class consists of about nine little kids who are two and younger. We usually just play with them and entertain them until their Moms come back. We usually have a lot of fun. Sometimes they are really cranky and just brats.

My favorite little kid's name is Ben. He is the cutest little kid that I have ever seen. He doesn't talk or walk yet so he usually just sits there and looks around. He is so sweet and such a happy kid. We really enjoy helping out with the nursery and with the kids.  

Beyond Class 2

For my second beyond class activity I attended the Dominion Power Presentation for the Honors Program. The Presentation was given by Mr. Green, who attended Howard University. He talked about a lot of interesting things that I did not know. Dominion Power is the largest power company on the East Coast. They have coal, oily, hydro and two nuclear power plants. The two nuclear power plants are located in North Anna and Surrey. He talked about how Dominion is highly involved in making their means of power very environmentally safe. He mentioned that the facility in Chester has state of the art pollution control equipment.

Mr.Green mentioned that everything in todays society requires more electricity to operate. He talked about how Dominion is always expanding and growing and finding new and safer ways to produce power. For instance, they are thinking about putting a third nuclear reactor in North Anna to compensate for the high demand of energy and power. Dominion is in the process of studying how solar and wind can be better incorporated into means of power. He mentioned that underground power lines are being looked into, but that they are very expensive and will take time to install.

He mentioned that Dominion is more than just power plants. They have seminars that inform people of where to plant slow growing trees and how to trim them properly. They also have offices on the nuclear power plants to make sure that everything is functioning properly. they have a team of meteorologist who look at weather patterns to know how many units they need to operate for the day. I thought that the presentation was very informative and very interesting. I learned a lot of things that I did not know.

Easter Care Packages

Over Spring Break my Best Friend Anna and I started making Easter Care Packages for the Navy. I really enjoyed making them. We are making them for our Leadership Project, but mostly just because we wanted to make them. Anna got the names of a few people on the ship who would generally not get any care packages. In the care packages we included things such as: various snacks, games, candy, Easter decorations, toiletries and other items. We decorated the boxes with all different colors of construction paper and then we put Easter decorations on them. We have only started to make them and we are going to continue to make them. We are asking for donations for the boxes so that we can hopefully do a lot of them. The care packages are going to the US Naval ship the USS George HW Bush.

Today in English

Today in English we wrote our writing process 2 memos and we talked about poetry. Here is my writing process memo that I typed up.

Writing Process for essay 2

Essay two I did a character analysis. It was a little rough and I had to use outside sources to get an idea and an idea on how to start. The worst part about having to write this paper had to read that long play. After I got done reading it I realized that it really wasn’t that bad. For this paper I brainstormed my ideas with the “brainstorm bubbles” and then planned out what I was going to put in each paragraph. When I started writing my essay just started flowing. I had some troubles with trying to figure out more stuff to write about, but other than that it wasn’t that bad.

Anticipations for Essay 3

My anticipation for essay 3 is that it is hopefully not that hard. I don’t think that it will be too complicated because it doesn’t have to be about poetry exactly. I like how we can write about whatever we want to and just use one of the stories we read to reference it. I hope that my paper comes together smoothly and isn’t complicated to write.

Doing well and do better

In this class I am participating well. My writing could use a lot of improvement. Writing has never been my favorite thing to do and I am not that good at it. My thoughts are usually very scattered and all over the place so when I go to write my papers can get confusing. I could also work on my interpretation skills of the poems and stories that we read. I could also participate more, but for right now I think that I am doing pretty good at that.

Beyond Class 1 - El Orfanato

For my first behind the class activity I went and watched a movie in Spanish for extra credit. The movie was called El Orfanato. The movie wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be, especially for being in Spanish. It was very interesting and even though it was a little hard to follow I understood it at the end. It was a horror movie about an orphanage. The lady's son goes missing and the ghost orphanage children have him. The movie had English subtitles so you had to read as you watched, which was not my favorite part because I kept getting lost. I would recommend the movie to people who like to read while watching movies and to people who like horror movies. All in all it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be.

Writing Process

 

Today in class we had to write our writing process for our first paper which I think is kind of stupid but any who, here is my writing process memo.

The process that I used to write my first paper was a little rough and last minute. I waited till the day that our rough drafts were due to write my paper. At first it was very scattered and crazy. I was just throwing in my ideas as I thought about them so it was very out of order. After the first peer review I got some good ideas and I had time to redo and make my paper more how I wanted it. When I was re-doing it I made a flow chart for my paper so I knew where I wanted the details to go in my paper. I also had time to look up details and quotes for my paper, which was just a ton of fun. So next time I will start my paper earlier and be more prepared for the paper. I will also make a flow chart to begin with so that I can visualize where I want the details to go. The brainstorming that we did in class really helped me because it gave me some good ideas for where to start with my paper. I am nervous for the next paper because it sounds more complicated and specific and because we have to read that long complicated story. I am not looking forward to writing any more papers because writing is not my strongest subject.

How to become a writer

A while back we read "How to become a Writer". It was about a girl named Francie who struggles with finding her calling in the world. I personally was a little confused when I first read the story because it was just so random. Looking back on the story it had many great points to it. I liked how it said, "Fail miserably. It is best if you fail at an early age." I like the quote because in life you have to fail to become better. I think that in life it is okay to explore other options besides what you are "majoring" in. I think the story has a lot of valuable points, it was just a little confusing. I could relate to the story because for the longest time I have been planning on being a high school math teacher. Recently I have been exploring new options and I am not completely sure that that is what I want to do with my life. I have been thinking about working with sick children in a children's hospital. There are so many different career fields in options in the world that it can be very overwhelming and frustrating sometimes. That is why I could relate to Francie in the aspect that she doesn't know what she wants to do with her life completely.

Beyond Class 2: Holocaust Museum

For my second beyond class activity I went to the Holocaust Museum in Richmond. Although I have been to the museum almost 10 times, it is still interesting to go. If you've never been, I would totally recommend going. It is so detailed and interesting but yet very sad. The museum has so many neat things in it, and it is very informative. The exhibits are so realistic and they really take you back and make you think. Every time I go I learn something new. The thing that always gets me is how quiet the museum is, it's like everyone who is in there is just in such shock about it all. Or I guess it could be because there is never anyone there, but whatever.

Beyond Class 1: Segway tour

A few weekends ago I went a Segway tour around Richmond with my mom and aunts. It was surprisingly a lot more fun then I thought it would of been. Learning to ride the Segway was a little nerve racking at first, but once I got the hang of it, it was easy! Oh and the helmets just make it all the better haha. On our tour we went around and saw some of the important spots in Richmond and what they were. To be completely honest I have no idea what places we went too because I wasn't really paying attention. But the tour was a lot of fun! They have like 10 different tours, and if you've never been and want to ride a Segway.. I would say just go!

2013 Cruise

About a week ago I went on my first cruise to the Bahamas. I went with my two brothers and my mom. It was absolutely amazing, and not to mention I got to miss school. I had never been on a cruise before so I wasn't sure what to expect.. it exceeded my expectations.The boat was so beautiful and humongous.. I got lost so many times. 

 They had shows every night in The Amber Palace. The shows were actually really good and entertaining.  The first and second day we were at sea the whole day. We got to hang out on the pool deck and dance with all the old people since there were like no kids on the boat.

 The food on the boat was so good, and you could eat all day if you wanted.  The second night they had elegant attire for dinner, which meant you had to dress up.. but it was fun. 

The third day we arrived in Nassau. We went snorkeling off of a Catamaran. It was so much fun, although I was a little scared because it was kind of sketchy. We snorkeled around a reef and saw all the fish.. it was so pretty. After that we shopped around some of the shops and then we had to get back on the boat. 

The next day we arrived in Freeport. There we went to some of the local shops and got some souvenirs. After that we walked to the public beach and we swam and just enjoyed the sun. The water there was so light and pretty. 

  The last day we were back at sea, on the way home. It was so nice to just get away from school and everything and just go on a vacation. The cruise was amazing and so much fun, there was never a dull moment. Oh and did I mention I could gamble, pretty cool right? Everyone on the ship was so nice and so pleasant. I honestly can't wait to go on another cruise. Below is our cruise ship, The Carnival Glory.  

Reminiscing - Homecoming

As you probably saw in my other post, tonight is my little brothers Homecoming Dance. It is so weird not going to the dance. One of the main things I miss about High School is spirit week. It was probably the best week of school each year. You got to dress up and be creative and just enjoy the time with all your friends and classmates. From the many spirit days like, Class Color Day, Character Day, Salad Dressing Day, Holiday-day, Battered Opponent Day and of course Spirit Day. Each day was something different and something exciting.

 The whole week while you're dressing up and having fun, your anticipation builds for the Homecoming Football Game and the Homecoming Dance. Even though our Football Team has never been the best, and we lost almost every game.. it was still great to spend time with everyone. Once the game was over, you had to joy of getting ready ready for the dance the next day. Our Homecoming Dance's were always very lame, it was still fun getting ready and taking pictures with everyone. Those were definitely some of the best times I've ever had.

The ugly ducklings Homecoming

Tonight is my little brothers Homecoming Dance. I honestly can't believe that he is a Junior, time sure does fly! The reason I call him the ugly duckling, is because he is very cocky and he knows that he is good looking. So, I wouldn't want to boost his obnoxiousness by telling him he looks good. And plus, making him mad is always fun.

State Fair

Over the weekend I went to the State Fair with my family. It was really hot, but a lot of fun. We watched some stupid tractor pulling thing which was really boring.. but that's whatever. Then we went and rode some rides and my step mom and dad played some games. We watched The Marvelous Mutts, which was absolutely adorable. It was also amazing how all the dogs had been rescued. My favorite part would of been all the animals. The day was pretty good all together.

Death Penalty

I wrote my first paper on the death penalty. I'm personally against the death penalty. Some people say the death penalty is okay because they like the "eye for an eye" approach. I don't think that killing someone because they killed someone is okay or is the fix to a problem. In most cases, the victims family does not get closure from the killer getting the death penalty. It is said that it prolongs their grieving. Not every murder gets the death penalty, so I think its so unfair that some gets to decide who lives and who dies. I think giving murders life without parole is a much better options because they have to live in jail for the rest of their lives and think about what they did. So, that's how I feel about the death penalty.

A day that will never be forgotten

People all over the world woke up on September 11, 2001 expecting a normal day, little did they know that their day would be anything but ordinary. 

Nineteen terrorist boarded four commercial airplanes with then intention of hijacking them and crashing them into iconic and important U.S. buildings. At 8:46 a.m. American Airlines flight 11 crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. All passengers on board were killed instantly. 

At 9:03 a.m. American Airlines Flight 175 crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center. Like Flight 11, all passengers were killed on board. 

At 9:37 a.m. American Airlines flight 77 crashed into the Mall side of the Pentagon killing all passengers as well as civilians and military personnel inside of the building. 

At 8:42 a.m. United Airlines Flight 93 departed with hopes of crashing into the White House. The passengers supposedly heard about the hijackings and tried to take back the plane from the terrorist. In their attempt the terrorist ended up crashing the plane into a field in Pennsylvania. Everyone on board was killed on impact. 

At 9:59 a.m. the South Tower collapsed. At 10:28 a.m. the North Tower was gone. 

During all the devastation The New York Fire Department lost 341 firefighters and 2 paramedics. It is said that 2,996 people lost their lives during the events of 9-11. 

Although I personally do not remember September 11, 2001 very well, it is a day that will be remembered forever. 

"There is no such thing as an American"

The saying “There is no such thing as an American” can mean so many different things. I think the saying is used because America is full of so many different types of people with different back grounds. Everyone has had their own journey in some way, so of us were born here and some of us came here. So then the disagreeing comes in, how do you define an American? America is supposed to be “The land of the free, and home of the brave.” So many people come to America to start new and live in this “great” country full of opportunity, but does taking a few test and becoming naturalized really make you an “American”? Some people think that you have to be born in American to actually be considered an American. I think that being an “American” means having pride and taking the opportunities that are given to you. Then comes the other argument, does America have a national language? Many people say no, that we can’t have a national language since there are so many different races and languages spoken here. I personally think that the national language should be English. All the different nationalities coming over to America is completely fine, but if you’re coming over here then you should have to learn our language. But all this is just very controversial. 

About Me.

Hello. I've never done this before so I don't really know where to start. So I guess i'll tell y'all some stuff about Me. My name's Blake Gwaltney and this is my first year here at Richard Bland. I just graduated from Colonial Heights High School and I hope to transfer to William and Mary or Longwood to become a high school math teacher. I have two brothers, Gray who is 21 and goes to VCU and Jordan, who is 16 and is a junior at Colonial Heights High School. My mom is Police Officer with Chesterfield County Police Department. I love to volunteer in my spare time and work with children. I absolutely love to run, it helps me clear my mind and just get away from everything. I love to fish and do outdoorsy types of stuff. Volleyball is also a passion of mine.  My Family is a huge part of my life; they are always pushing me and inspiring me to be a better person. My friends are also a huge part of my life, they get me through everything. But, anywho being at Richard Bland is so much different than high school, but it’s much better. So I guess that’s enough for now.