Bball(:

-What stands out to me from the book or one of our conversations? What impacted me most?

Our last conversation talked about how this book corresponded with the bible parable the Pearl of Great Price. While I was reading the book, I just looked at it as like another ordinary book that we had to read for class. But when we started talking about how it related to the bible I became a little more interested in the meaning to the book and how well the book and the parable actually fit together. That’s also what impacted me the most.

-What do you learn from this book or one of our conversations? Why does it matter?

I always knew that greed was a horrible thing. I never knew that it could take control of someone like that. That just shows me how awful things could actually become when you are so consumed with greed. It also showed me that possessions such as the pearl don’t matter. The things that matter for real are things like your family. It was hard for me to relate to Kino in that situation, it just made me realize.

-How does what you learned cause you to live, think, or approach the people around you differently?

It will help me be grateful for what I do have, and not to want more and more. It also showed me that people are a big part of your life, no matter what. Kino didn’t really realize how much he really needed certain people in this book. But I noticed how often Kino relied on people during this book. It shows me that I need to be love everyone and thank them for everything they do for me.

Thursday morning, authorities sent out a search party for two missing people off the east coast of Australia. A 30 year old man and a 26 year old woman were seen on a Carnival Cruise ship called Spirit before their disappearance. The ship was docked in Sydney the same morning they were declared missing. When they didn’t claim their luggage, people became suspicious. Later, the police watched the onboard video and discovered that the couple went overboard about 93 miles off of the east Australian coast. The police believe that they were on the mid-deck of the ship. That’s a pretty significant fall according to authorities. They’re not exactly sure what happened to the couple but police determined to find them no matter the cost.

My opinion: I think it’s really scary for one. It just said in the article that they went overboard. They don’t know how. That scares me. It’s also scary to me because something like that could’ve happened to anybody. I’m going on a cruise this summer and it’s scary to think of those people as yourself. And I think it’s really sad for the family and friends that were with them. It would be awful to be on a cruise, enjoying yourself, when your family members and friends fall off the ship and go missing.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/09/world/asia/australia-missing-cruise-passengers/index.html?hpt=wo_c2

On Job Shadow Day, I shadowed my dad, Tim Schoonveld. He works at Hope College as an Athletic Director and Professor. At the beginning of the day, we sat in his office. We filed and organized some papers for the upcoming athletic years. After that, we went out to the track. We set up hurdles, high jump, and pole vault. My dad oversees everything, making sure everything is organized and efficient. I got to experience not only what he does for a job, but how he interacts with the many people he encounters during the day. It was really cool to see how he dealt with conflict and how he solved problems that went on. Shadowing my dad was really fun and a really cool experience.

If I could have anything I want, I would be the fastest human being on the earth, I would be really strong, and I would be able to play sports really well. All of this will add up, and my one BIG wish would be to go to the olympics. I don’t know which sport I would go to the olympics for, maybe basketball, volleyball, beach volleyball, who knows! But whatever the sport, that would be my one big wish. The olympics. I could just imagine it know. The screaming people, the enormous stadium, and the shiny gold, silver, and bronze medals. But that’s not the best part. Not even close. The best part about being good enough to go to the olympics would be that I get to do the things that I love most, which is play sports.

If I got to go to the olympics, first, I would be really excited for days, weeks, months on end. Second, I would have to leave everything I know back home like extended family, friends, school. That would be one of the hardest parts of going to the olympics. Third, I would travel to where the olympics was being hosted, and hopefully get some sight seeing in before competitions start. Of course, I would train while I was there. A lot of training would be required. Then I would compete. My life would forever be changed. I would be at the olympics. Not only AT the olympics, but COMPETING in the olympics. I would be a dream come true. I know that when I would come back home, with medal or no medal, people would be giving lots of praise and stuff like that. But that really isn’t what it’s about. I would be most excited about going….PLAYING….in the olympics because I was giving the opportunity to play something I love at a highly competitive level (it would be pretty cool to be on TV too, not gonna lie).  That would be the most exciting part. And yeah…my life would change. Hopefully for the better. But no matter what, I think it would all be worth it if I could have anything I want.

One thing that I enjoyed about the senate session was how everyone was willing to participate and take part. Presenting bills was required, but I loved that we had good questions and good debate throughout the entire session. One thing that frustrated me during the senate session was how some people were very unprepared to present. It made it harder for me as Vice President and also for all of the other Senators if they weren’t prepared.

Something that I learned about myself during the Senate session was that I get very frustrated if things didn’t go smoothly or weren’t organized. Disorganization during big events makes me really on edge so I learned that if I keep things organized I will get less frustrated. I also learned that I don’t like being in front of class all the time. Being put on the spot in front of my whole class makes me really nervous, so I have to remind myself to not get nervous and calm down in those kind of scenarios.

How does this shape my future actions? Well, I hope in the future that I will be able to help those who were more unprepared so that the next Senate session can run even better than it did these past couple of weeks. I also hope to gain more patience with myself and others in the future. If I can stay patient with people, hopefully things can get done smoother and better. Another thing I hope to get better at in the future is nervousness in front of class. Running the senate session made me nervous, so I will work on relaxing and by doing that I will hopefully make the session more superior.

My favorite part of the session was that everyone participated and everyone had their own opinion. I liked how it ran but I would like people to be more prepared. That’s what I would change.

How were my countries’ governments similar/different to the US in structure and in how they dealt with issues?

1. Both Guatemala and the United States had a similar government type. The US has a Constitution Based Federal Republic and Guatemala has a Constitutional Democratic Republic. They centralize different things, but as a whole they govern almost exactly the same way as each other. A difference they have is that the U.S. has a biocameral legislative branch, and Guatemala has a Unicameral legislative branch.

2. When Gen Rios Montt was arrested, it said that government officials were relieved to have him on trial because when Rios Montt was ruling the country’s war was at it’s highest point. It also said that government officials considered in a victory when he was put on trial because they’d been waiting for the trial to happen for a while. In many ways I think this is the way that government officials feel when someone dangerous is put on trial. The only thing that makes me wonder is the fact that Gen Rios Montt was only put under house arrest. I’m not sure if that’s what the U.S. would do. I think they would put a criminal like this behind bars. Not that I know for sure, but I think the U.S. would give a slightly harsher punishment for a murderer and that house arrest wouldn’t do much good for someone like Rios Montt. In spite of that, I do think that the government officials would react the same way in this particular issue.

According to firefighters and family, a man fell into a sinkhole that opened up on his bedroom floor on Friday. Sinkholes are  very common in Florida, where they live. His brother said that he heard a loud crash, a scream and then when he went to check on him, he only saw his mattress. Authorities have already pronounced him dead. The sinkhole that swallowed him up was natural, and was about 100 feet across and 50 feet deep.

My opinion is that it’s really sad that someones friend and family member is gone in the blink of an eye. I also think it’s sad that his family members weren’t able to get there in time to help him out.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/01/us/florida-sinkhole/index.html?hpt=us_c1

Muchos Volcanes