Julia Butterfly Hill

The ability to overcome tough obstacles in an individual's life is known as human resilience. The book “Boys in the boat”, written by Daniel James Brown, is about a young man named Joe Rantz, who is on the rowing team for the University of Washington. He had to overcome many challenges regarding his past, but it didn’t stop him from gaining a spot on the United States Olympic crew team. He helped lead his team to victory, despite the hardships of living alone as a teenager. The second story…

Manning: Prior to his withdrawal, he has some unexcused absences and some excused absences. I believe that they had received one letter that he was at 5 absences, which we always send out as a warning that attendance is going to become an issue and he needs to improve. And his grades were not as usual, in the past Aaron has been and A-B-C student, when he left us he had a B in P.E. he was not passing economics, calculus, English or photo and had an A- in graphic design. It was just after the…

When one first walks into the doors of The Forest Lake Club they are presented with a welcoming, elegant, and calming atmosphere. This is complemented by a lot of windows and light colors making their rooms feel open. The windows outlook a spectacular view, allowing their members to feel as if they were outside. Similar, they pay attention to the minute details throughout their club. For example, they take the time to print their logo onto their napkins. However, is it very competitive to…

On March 4, 1993, Jim Valvano was awarded the inaugural Arthur Ashe Courage and Humanitarian Award at the first ESPY Awards. Jim Valvano, nicknamed Jimmy V, was a college basketball player, coach, and broadcaster. Jim had an excellent coaching career, coaching for many teams, but most prominently at North Carolina State University. Despite being weakened from his fight against cancer, Jimmy V delivered an inspiring and energetic speech at the 1993 ESPY Awards with a goal to encourage the…

Ryan Lochte has won a total of 89 medals in major international swimming competitions. Eleven of those were Olympic Medals. One might wonder, what would lead a man to such incredible success in swimming? There are as many reasons for athletics success as there are athletes, but Ryan Lochte has had at least three significant advantages. Ryan Lochte is one of the most prominent swimmers today because of the positive influences his dad, who served first as a swim coach, the lifelong molding and…

It’s Different If you were to look up success in the dictionary you would find that, success is “1. the accomplishment of an aim or purpose 2. a person or thing that achieves desired aims attains prosperity.” Yet we all seem to take the definition of the word a bit differently, what might be considered successful to a six year old will vary from what it means to a 17 year old. Malcolm Gladwell, author of the book “Outliers”, defines success based on the facts of when you born, where you grew…

Can you believe that some people think swimming isn’t a sport? Awesomely swimming has been around for centuries, but most people like it for entertainment. Luckily, people learn how to swim because it’s an essential skill that should be, but unfortunately almost required in life and parents want them to be safe, but other people learn for different reasons. Some learn it because you can actively perform it your entire life. Amazingly others pursue this sport because it’s the sport they dream…

principle, however, is often forgotten with the presence of strong religious beliefs and rising emotions following violent crimes. Directors, Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky, in the documentary film Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills (1996) takes an insider look surrounding the trials of three teens who were accused of brutally murdering and sexually assaulting three eight year old boys in the Bible Belt town of West Memphis, Arkansas. The accused, Jessie Misskelley Jr.,…

In the Time of the Butterflies In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez is the story of the Mirabal family during the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo. The story is told through the perspectives of the 4 sisters, Patria, Dede, Minerva and Maria Teresa as the family is slowly torn apart by the Military Intelligence Service. Minerva was the first of the sisters to become involved in the underground movement against the government. She made friends at Inmaculada whose family had been…

If the name Headwaters Forest Preserve does not ring a bell, you might recall Julia Butterfly Hill, who spent 738 days between 12/10/1997 and 12/18/1999 in the tree affectionately known as "Luna," to prevent Pacific Lumber Company loggers from cutting it down. Pacific Lumber had been bought by Maxxam Corp., and they were clear cutting everything in sight to pay off the bonds they sold to buy this forest. Pacific Lumber, which had been doing sustainable logging for generations, suddenly became an…