Softball

As of right now, we are 12-14. So far, that is three more wins than last year. We, as a team, are not done yet though. Our goal is to make it to the HCAC tournament in May. Sweeping Bluffton the other day definitely helped with that! That was the first time that we have even beaten Bluffton in five years! Next we have Anderson. They have been on a losing streak lately, and we are hoping to get them when they are down and take two tomorrow! Also, if we win both against Anderson, we will have gotten Coach Holava her 200th win. I am definitely looking forward to making a statement in the conference the rest of the season and getting coach her 200th win!

Top 10 Songs

My top ten favorite songs are the list below:

1. "Fight Song" - Rachel Platten
2. "Runnin' Outta Moonlight" - Randy Houser
3. "I Go Back" - Kenny Chesney
4. "Summertime" - Kenny Chesney
5. "Gone" - Montgomery Gentry
6. "My Town" - Montgomery Gentry
7. "Roller Coaster" - Luke Bryan
8. "Drink A Beer" - Luke Bryan
9. "See You Again" - Wiz Khalifa ft. Charlie Puth
10. "Purpose" - Justin Bieber

"Fight Song" by Rachel Platten is probably my most favorite song because of the meaning it has to me. It was released right when my life was basically going through hell. I had two major life changing events happen within three days of each other. These two events made my life the hardest it had ever been, and probably the hardest it will be for a very long time. But, as you can see now, I have fought through it and have become a better person and matured very quickly because of it. When I heard this song, I knew immediately that it described my life perfectly.
"Runnin' Outta Moonlight" is another favorite because it is my boyfriend and my's "song". When we picked this song, we loved hanging out so much and had so much fun, that we didn't have enough time in the day, or night. Therefore, we always ran out of moonlight.
My very first concert I ever went to was a Kenny Chesney concert. My parents LOVE Kenny Chesney, so I always had to listen to his songs/CDs on car rides. I ended up loving him as well. When I think of Kenny, I immediately think of one of his top hits, "I Go Back". This is also my mom's ring tone on her cell phone.
"Summertime" is another Kenny Chesney song that I love. I never listened to this song until the very last day of school, then throughout the summer. It has always been my summer kick-off song. Also, my dad used to be the Park Director at Hicksville, so when it says "that ballpark man is back in gear" it always made me think of him.
"Gone" by Montgomery Gentry is one of my favorites because it reminds me of when I was little. My dad used to also be the Head Baseball Coach at Hicksville and I was the bat girl. I had a favorite class on the team and it was the class of 2009. They were my favorite because I got to be bat girl for all four of their years playing and they were all so nice to me. They treated me like their little sister. This song reminds me of them, because their senior year they made it their theme song because they hit A LOT of home-runs.
"My Town" is another one of my favorite songs by Montgomery Gentry because it was also on the warm up list when I was a bat girl. It was one of my dad's favorites and it reminds me of being from a small town that I will probably come back to if I ever leave.
"Roller Coaster" by Luke Bryan was the first song I fully learned how to play on guitar. It is one of the few songs that I fully remember the whole thing and still play. I love to play it every once in a while.
Going back to the hell week from earlier, one of my closest family friends died of cancer that week. He was my dad's best friend and when he heard "Drink A Beer" by Luke Bryan, it automatically reminded him of his friend. After he said that, I listened to it carefully, and it reminded me of him as well. That is why this song is in my top ten.
"See You Again" by Wiz Khalifa ft. Charlie Puth is on the list because I absolutely LOVE the Fast and Furious series. It is also one of my favorites because it reminds my of my Goddaughter. She unfortunately died a few hours after birth in August.
Lastly, "Purpose" by Justin Bieber is on my top 10 list because it reminds my to always have a purpose for everything that I do.

Summer

I am definitely looking forward to summer! Only 3 more weeks of regular classes, then one week of finals until summer vacation. Though I will have to continue to work out over break to stay in shape for the next softball season, I am looking forward to being at home and getting to relax. I also know that I will need to work a lot of hours this summer to get as much money as I can. Even though I will probably have a busy summer, I know I will still have relaxation time and I will not have to worry about school work and homework. (Unless I decided to take a summer class.) Either way, I am very excited for the summer vacation in a not so far away 4 weeks!

Skills Learned in College

By the time I graduate from college, I would like to have learned multiple skills. These skills include, better time management, communication/presentation, budgeting, prioritizing, and working under pressure.
Currently, I have a decent skills in time management, yet I always have room for improvement. I could definitely improve where I use my time more wisely, instead of watching an episode of Netflix. With playing softball, I think I have learned a lot of time management already, but like I said, there is always room for improvement.
I have also had terrible communication/ presentation skills. I struggled throughout high school and even now when I have to stand up in front of a crowd or a group of people and talk. I especially struggle talking about myself. I took a college communication course in high school to have the credits, but I look forward to learning more skills for communication and presenting in the future so I can look confident when I go in for interviews for a job after graduation.
Budgeting is a large skill that I need to learn. Prioritizing goes along with this as well. I still need to learn when to prioritize when to go out to eat, or when to buy specific things. I tend to go out to eat a little more than I should, especially when I have the Cafe food right here on campus. Also, when I go shopping for groceries, I tend to buy a lot of things that I see rather then things that I need. I need to learn better prioritizing in when I can go places and things that I can/should by. Also with budgeting, I need to start setting a specific amount on how much I spend a week, or how many things I get at the store. This would be so I still have spending money when my friends want to go out to eat or go do something fun so I don't have to miss out.
The last skills that I would like/am starting to gain in college is working under pressure. In high school, I always got everything done early. Papers and assignments were usually done up to a week early and I studied for tests a large time away from them. Now, it is hard to get assignments done a week early because we don't always get that much time to do them. It is also hard to study for a test a long period of time out too because most of the time we get all the information two days before a test. I have definitely learned how to bust out a decent paper or study hard for a test in a short amount of time and being under pressure.

Individual Hitchcock Activity

After reading through other group's interpretations of Hitchcock and his works, it seems to me that Hitchcock was an experimenter of his generation. He dared to use new things, like the camera angles to create suspense, suspicions, and distrust between characters. Hitchcock also brought up ideas that most others would not. These include having a women be a drunk and be an undercover spy for the United States. He found ways around rules with the multiple short kisses rather than one long one. Hitchcock used events from the current time period as well. He incorporated the fighting and suspicions between the United States and Nazi Germany from World War II era. Hitchcock had a very unique style for motion pictures in the time that he lived. He used different psychoanalysis, sciences, and historical events than what most people would at that period of time.

Small Group Hitchcock Activity

During the 1940s, morals and ethics played a large role in motion pictures. Hitchcock portrayed ethics in some very interesting ways in his films. In many scenes, he also found ways around being completely ethical, but still staying within the guidelines. Some specific parts where this can be seen in Notorious are in some of the women’s clothing, the kissing, alcohol and drunk driving, women being a part of an undercover job, and women participating in adultery.

The clothing that women wore throughout the 1940s was meant to form a sort of silhouette. Woman wore dresses with broad, wide shoulders and tight waist bands to form an hourglass shape. In Notorious, you can see that Alicia wears long, tight waisted dresses with square shoulders. This gives her an hourglass shaping to her body and makes her look professional. You can even see when she wears the suit on the airplane that it still follows these ideal aspects.

Throughout Notorious Alicia (Ingrid Bergman) and Devlin (Cary Grant) begin to become closer as they work together undercover. Eventually, the two find themselves in love. Of course being in love requires some kissing scenes, though this was difficult in the 1940s. The Production Code of 1930 was created to set some moral guidelines for motion pictures in the United States. This occurred during the period of Silent Movies switching to Sound. Due to the code, “Excessive and lustful kissing, lustful embraces, suggestive postures and gestures, were not to be shown.” This meant that even though they were in love, Ingrid and Cary could not show their characters’ true emotions. Hitchcock’s way around this was to have the couple do multiple short kisses, rather than one long kiss. Though it may look odd if you were to watch Notorious today, it was a very clever way around the rule then to be able to still show passion in his movies.

One scene portrayed in Notorious showed Alicia driving a car with Devlin after a party. The scene clearly shows Alicia is under the influence of alcohol as she is swerving all over the road and she cannot see straight. After World War II, the car market was on a rise. Everyone was buying cars and most drivers were uneducated. Laws prohibiting drunk driving began in 1910 but intoxication was not clearly defined at this point. In the 1930s lawmakers stated that a driver with a BAC of 0.15 percent or higher is inebriated. By the 1970s DUI laws become more strict and the legal drinking age was raised to 21. Today, drunk driving is an incredibly unethical action and a driver with a BAC of 0.08 percent is considered inebriated. In 2014, 9,967 people died and 290,000 people were injured in accidents due to drunk driving. In the 1940s, drunk driving may not have been seen as unethical as it is today because the laws that were placed then were not as strict as today. Also, less accidents had been reported then versus today.

In Notorious, we see one of the main characters, Alicia Huberman played by Ingrid Bergman, get thrown into the world of covert intelligence and spy business. What many don't know is that if this was actually set in the late 1940’s, Alicia might not be there. Women were not a big part of federal intelligence agencies during that time period, as far as field agents. Now during WWII, there was a substantial increase in women police officers, but even they were put on leash for what they could do while in the law enforcement. Indeed there were women in agencies, but they were doing desk work. Field agents were seen as a “thing only for boys”. It wasn't until 1972, that women were allowed to join FBI training. This goes to show that Alfred Hitchcock wanted to make his film stand out, and probably got heads to turn when they saw what a woman was doing in the film.

During the movie Notorious, after Alicia and Alex get married, Alex keeps suspecting her of having an affair with Devlin. Back in this time period, there was a different belief about marriages. They encouraged women to think of marriages as a successful career. They believed that it was the women's job to make sure the marriage was happy, his career was successful and that it didn’t end in divorce. Even if the problem in the marriage was alcohol or an affair from the men, it was the wife's job to change something to bring him back home. There was a thought back then that the wife was supposed to make the marriage work and nothing was her fault even if the man was having an affair. If a woman had an affair in the time period, it was much more taboo and less common than a man. If the woman had an affair it looked bad on the husband and not her.

https://twentyfourframes.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/review625.jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_Picture_Production_Code

http://www.artsreformation.com/a001/hays-code.html

http://automobileandamericanlife.blogspot.com/2010/12/brief-history-of-drunk-driving-in-post.html

http://www.liquorlaws.net/duilaws.html

http://www.madd.org/drunk-driving/about/drunk-driving-statistics.html

http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?sid=720b1235-df16-454d-9728-b251f3184cfc%40sessionmgr110&vid=7&hid=111&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU%3d#AN=510858586&db=bft

http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2012/02/27/a-glimpse-into-marriage-advice-from-the-1950s/

http://www.thebluegrassspecial.com/archive/2010/june10/bergman-grant-screen-kiss.php

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/ten-miles-square/2015/01/weekend_film_recommendation_no053659.php

http://www.deepfocusreview.com/reviews/notorious.asp

Dear High School Senior...

Dear High School Senior,

         High School is fun and, as some make think, easy. The teachers are usually pretty lenient, and they are generous when it comes to breaks. Assignments can be found right in the book or directly online. The homework load is never too bad because the teachers know that there are student-athletes and many busy students. If you plan to take on the life of a college student and think that your life will not change, you're in for a rude awakening. College is a completely different ballgame than High School with a multitude of differences.
         One difference that you will run in to is that high school teachers are considered generalists; whereas, college professors are specialists. High school teachers usually, only know so much on a number of different topics. A college professor is going to know a lot of information on a specific type of topic. Personally, my high school biology teacher was also my anatomy proctor, but she also had taught anatomy. She also teachers other forms of science, just like my chemistry teacher. He teachers chemistry, physical science, environmental science, and a few other sciences. Most of my college professors only teach specific kinds of classes. One of my professors only teaches the introductory level course for my major.
         Another difference between high school and college is that you will have to have a lot more motivation and self-discipline to do the work that is required. You will have a lot more time and distractions during college than in high school. Some night, your friends may ask you to go out, but you have a paper due in two days that you barely have started. You will not have parents or others to tell you that you have to stay and get your paper done before you can do anything. Therefore, you go out with your friends, and the next night you're up until 1 o'clock getting your paper done. This goes for classes as well, your parents are not there to tell you to go everyday. This is why incoming students need to find some motivation and self-discipline to get things done. The biggest problem I have with this is pushing off my online class assignments and having to do them for hours on Friday before it's due, instead of being with my friends.
         Most students come into college with a large culture shock. I know I did! I came from a small town in Northwest Ohio. Coming to college, I realized everybody wasn't from the same race anymore. There was a lot of difference and a lot of different color. The best way to deal with this is to go in with an open mind. Some of your best friends could end up being from a completely different race than what you are.
         If you come into college as a student-athlete, you will also experience many differences than high school athletics. It can get very difficult juggling a college sport, academics, and a social life. Some athletes may find it to be too much stress and not fun anymore. Someone once told me, "College sports are not necessarily supposed to be fun, they are like a job." I found that to be very true. College sports take up so much time in your day, that it is basically like having a job that you go to everyday. Now, I'm not saying that you will not have any fun. The bonds that are made between teammates can be amazing, and you can have a lot of fun while participating. The best thing to do is to learn how to organize and manage your time so you can have that fun while playing.
         A large thing to do that will help you with coming to college is to not believe it is not different than high school. You are essentially lying to yourself if you think that it is the same, and it will lead to being completely unprepared for college. This could lead to getting very behind on assignments and other works, that college won't be any fun. The best thing to do is to make sure that you understand college is a completely different world than high school. Also, always know that you are able to talk to upperclassmen or professors that you may know and ask them questions about the transition. They are always willing to help in the most positive way. I hope your transition goes the best way it possibly can.

         Sincerely,
         Michaela Bauer

Spring Break

I have never had a Spring Break vacation. I didn't even have one when I was little. My dad was Hicksville High School's head baseball coach before I was born, therefore, he was always coaching baseball during spring break. By the time he was done coaching baseball, I was in Junior High and playing softball. High School passed with still no Spring Breaks, and now I'm in college. Even though I will be playing softball over Spring Break, it will be somewhere other than Northwest Ohio. I will be in warm, sunny Florida! I am very excited to finally be done with my last 5 A.M. of my Freshman year tomorrow. Then, we leave Friday afternoon at 1 P.M. We are staying in Tennessee on the way down, then when we get to Florida Saturday, we will practice. Games start on Sunday, and we play a total of 10 games while in Kissimmee, Florida, with a day off on Wednesday. We will leave the next Saturday morning, and stay in the same Tennessee hotel that night. We will then get up early Sunday morning and travel back to Defiance, arriving around 4 P.M. in the afternoon. Granted I will still be playing softball, but I am definitely looking forward to being in a different, exciting place for Spring Break.

Biggest Regret

My biggest regret would probably be not getting my high school softball team my senior year a first ever Regional Title. This regret does fit the "not" pattern. Not winning a Regional Title is probably my biggest regret because I truly believe it was something that the team could have accomplished. We had already won the first ever District Title in school history that year, so it was the first ever Regional Appearance for Hicksville. We started the Regional Semifinal game very well! We were making all the plays we needed to, and we were hitting the ball hard in the gaps. We were up 4-1 when lightning struck. We waited for about an hour and a half through lightning and rain to see if we could continue. Unfortunately we were not able to continue the rest of the game that day. We also could not call the game because it was only the bottom of the 3rd, with 2 outs, and we were the away team. Games have to have a total of 5 innings (or 4 and a half depending on who is home and winning) in before they are able to be called. Therefore, we had to come back the next day to finish the game. We decided (based on superstitions) that we would wear the same uniforms we had worn. 

We got back to Findlay High School (wear Regionals was held for Division 4) and started the game. During warm-ups were were listening to the boys game on the radio. Our baseball team had left earlier in the day for their Regional Semifinal game. They finished about the time we started and they won. We had said it was our turn, but saying that was different than doing it. When we came out flat, the roles were completely switched. We could not field the ball and make necessary plays, and they were hitting the gaps very well. We ended the season with a 5-4 loss in the first ever Regional Semifinal softball game Hicksville had been to. The main reason I regret this loss is because the team we played went on the the Regional Title game and killed the team they played. If we would have come out strong, We could have had a very strong chance of giving Hicksville Softball its first ever State appearance. 

Honestly, it is hard to turn this regret around and not feel regretful anymore, but I was satisfied at first. My initial goal for the year was to win the first ever District Title, and we achieved that goal. That would be the only way I would not feel regret for not winning the Regional Semifinal game. 

My regret does not necessarily relate to lies and deception, but other regrets could. This could happen through someone using lies and deceiving a loved one, then eventually losing them due to those lies and deception they put that person through. Another way would be if someone was under the influence of something and had sexual intercourse with another person, then regretted it in the morning. During the time of intoxication, there could have been lies said, and one person could have been deceiving the other to get them in bed. These are ways that regrets could relate to lies and deception. 

Fast and Furious

An unusual movies series for a typical girl to like would be the Fast and Furious series. If you know me at all though, I am definitely not a typical girl. I dress nice and "girly" here and there, but growing up, I was one of the biggest tomboys you had probably seen. My hair was always up, I always played games at recess with the boys, and always wear t-shirts and shorts or jeans. Now that I am grown, I am definitely a lot more "girly," but there are some times where my tomboy does come out. Sports and movies are a large part of this. Fast and Furious is probably one of the biggest times. I LOVE the movies! I enjoy the different stunts with the vehicles, the speeds and races, and the gambles. It has definitely gotten me into liking different cars and the beauty in them as well. The Fast and Furious series is a very enjoyable series that I recommend to anyone who has not seen the movies.

Lying TEDtalk

Lying is a cooperative act in that the power of a lie appears when someone else agrees to believe in the lie. By doing this, you agree to be lied to. I agree with what Meyer has to say about cooperative lying because cooperation is agreeing with someone on a topic. In cooperative lying, the one being lied to, agrees to believe the lie being told. Large reasons of why we lie is to please someone else's feelings. If you would not want to be deceived by others, then you need to make sure you know exactly what you are looking for. When Meyer states that lying is a way of connecting that we wish we were with what we are, she is basically saying that lying bridges a gap. We know that we are not something that we would really like to be, so we lie to make ourselves think we are what we aren't. I would definitely agree with Truth #2 that we, as a society, are against the thought of lying, but we do it as needed for good reasons. We do this because we don't completely understand the gaps and lying is something that is just part of our culture and history. Some techniques used to spot liars include not using contractions in speech to over determine denial and using phrases like, "that woman" to distance themselves. Other techniques are freezing the upper body, not fidgeting at all, looking in the eyes too much, fake smiling, looking down, lowering the voice, etc. Now, even people telling the truth will show some of these signs, but it is when you see a large number of them in clusters that you can tell they are lying. We would want to learn techniques to see if people are lying or telling the truth. These would mostly come in handy in the law setting when telling if someone is guilty or innocent. Honestly is definitely something worth preserving. Most relationships, whether they be romantic, business, or athletic, are based on honesty. If there was no honesty, the world could end up being a very unsafe place. We can create a cultural/societal change through things like social media. If we change the way we post by not oversharing our lives and everything in them, it will definitely help. Oversharing things is not honesty. Integrity and character are what matters, and oversharing is something that does not not help us keep either. Being more straightforward about moral codes could help signal to others that you life is an honest life. This will help to change the ground and even people around you to be more positive.

5 A.M. Progess

Tomorrow (Saturday) marks the end of week three for early morning practices. We are halfway done. I am doing well with waking up in the morning, that has not been much of a struggle. The struggle has been staying attentive during my classes. Lecture classes are the hardest (Psychology). I do my best to try and get a short nap in around 11 before I eat lunch. That is something that definitely helps me to stay awake. As far as practice goes, we are doing well. In three weeks, we have only had one bad practice and it was yesterday (Thursday). Today we definitely picked up the intensity and had a lot better of a practice. This year, Coach decided for Saturday practices, we will be doing a "travel roster." The first Saturday, we had 22 out of the 34 players at practice. Each Saturday we go down by one player. Tomorrow we will be at 20. So far, I have made the cut for every Saturday practice. My goal is to make it to every Saturday practice and make the 18 man travel roster for the season.

5 AMs and Sleeping

Being a college athlete is one of the most difficult things to do. School, work, and social life is enough, then you throw in a sport with it. It can become a crazy life! A college sport is a completely different job. I am on the softball team and it is definitely a challenge at times. The most difficult part is 5 am practices. Getting used to waking up at 3:45 am is not too bad as long as I go to sleep at a decent time. The biggest problem though, is the getting to sleep. This is the worst when the hallway is very loud at night. I struggle getting to sleep when I don't have to get up at 3:45 and there is a lot of noise. I am one of those people that I am used to no random sounds while going to sleep. This is why I struggle so hard to get to sleep when other people going through the halls are loud or shut doors very loudly. Since it has been a week, most of the hallway has gotten used to being quiet sooner, which has helped. The biggest thing now is people who do not live in the hall and walk through it. They are not very aware that there are seven of us try to sleep. Like I said though, it is getting better. Hopefully, these next five weeks will go by fast, so I can get back on a regular sleeping schedule!

Audiences

We should be critical about intended audiences because not everything is intended for everyone. For example, the book/movie "Fifty Shades of Grey" is not for the audience of young children. It is for the audience of 18 and older due to its content. Another example would be an advertisement for a new toy. This gears toward the audience of small children because an adult or 18 year old is not going to be interested in a toy, unless they would get it for a child.
In the first advertisement, it talks about the iPhone. The audience intended for this ad would be non-iPhone owners. It mentions that 99% of iPhone users love their iPhones. This advertisement is basically trying to convince non-iPhone users to switch over to an iPhone.
The second advertisement is for anyone that is in the market for a TV. This would mostly be adults, and the ad gears it mostly toward male adults. This is shown by the women being in the window in not so much clothing and "waving". All the men think she is waving at them, but in reality, she is controlling the TV. This shows the audience that the TV is very different and so high-tech that they would want to buy it.
The third advertisement is for the audience of adults who are looking to buy a new vehicle. This ad shows the adults that the car is so nice that the child took a very long journey just to get a ride in the vehicle. This tells the audience that it is a very comfortable vehicle even young children could enjoy.

One Good Season

During my senior season of softball, I went on a streak. I hit a total of seven home runs over the entire season, with five being five games straight. My first homer of the season, believe it or not, was the very first game of the year. We were at North Central and we had been fighting back and forth all day. After an inning full of errors, we were tied at 3. I was the fourth batter and all of the people in front of me got on base. I had a couple pitches go by before I got my perfect pitch. I swung and It went over the centerfield fence. I hit my first home run and grand slam of the year. The next inning we got the three outs and won the game 7-3. My never five home runs were a little later in the season. The second one was on a Saturday at Delta. It was a beautiful day! The first warm day we had to play on. I got up to bat in the fourth spot, and my very first pitch I hit over the fence. We won that game 9-1. My third home run was against Edgerton on that next Monday. We played a very good defensive game that helped us win this game. The only scoring though was my two-run home run in about the fourth inning. We won that game 2-0. The fourth home run was at Holgate. We played right beside the baseball team during this game. Our pitcher threw a no-hitter, but we won 11-0. My home run was about the third inning. Even the baseball players and their parents heard us when I hit it. This was when the team started counting what number I was at. When I got on the bus after the game they asked me if I hit another one. All I did was show them the ball and smile. The fifth home run came at Patrick Henry on Thursday. This game started off very rough. It was a legit "fight" back and forth for the lead. We started ahead, then they got ahead by a few for a while. That was when I hit a 3-run home run to put us back in the lead. From then on, everyone started hitting very well and we won the game 16-10. Friday we had practice and I even hit a home run off our pitcher while we were doing live hitting on the field! Saturday we traveled to Lincolnview. It was a very rainy and crappy day, but our bats worked very well. There was a total of four of us that hit a home run that day! That was my sixth home run and the last of the streak. My last home run came later at Tinora. I played travel ball with their starting pitcher and I always hit well off of her. I hit it very high right on the left field line. It stayed fair, but just barely. Later in the game, Coach Holava and Coach Butt came to watch. They talked to my parents and asked if I hit a home run jokingly. My parents told them I did and they just laughed. Overall, I hit over .550 my senior year. I would say that my senior year was my best year of High School softball, which makes me happy because I went out on a good note.

A Very Traumatic Memory

I am going to be honest, I do not have the best memory. Because of that, my vivid memory is going to be from my Freshman year in High School. Though I do not have the best memory, I remember this particular event very well because it was a traumatic event. 

It was just like any other day. I went to school and had a pretty normal day. The softball and baseball teams got out of class about fifteen minutes early to make to to out conference game on time. We all got to the locker rooms at the park and got dressed and ready to head to Wayne Trace. Like usual, the girls fought the guys for the back of the bus. Again like usual, we did not get it. Everyone finally loaded up, and we were off. I was one of the only girls at that time that knew how to braid hair, so multiple people asked me to do so. It took me a little while to get everyone’s hair braided that wanted it, but finally I finished! We had just got over the 24 overpass passed Antwerp. I sat down, put my music in, and pulled my leg up to seat back in front of me. The next thing I remember was hearing the bus honk loudly, then “CRASH!” The bus had t-boned another vehicle that pulled out in front of it. The coaches yelled back and asked if everyone was okay. After that, I saw my dad, who was the head softball coach at the time, sprint off the bus to the car we hit. The car had spun multiple times and crashed into the stop sign and Route 111 sign on the other side of the road. My dad was very knowledgable in what to do at that moment.  On the bus, everyone was freaking out. The bus driver was trying to get us off as quickly as she could. I was on the was off when I realized I was missing a shoe. I remembered I took one off when I sat down. It had slid to the front of the bus where I found it as I got off. The coaches and bus driver had us go back across the road and camp out there until EMS got there. I called my mom to let her know what happened since my dad was busy. She got upset, but said she’d be there as soon as she could. After I go off the phone I went over to the only other freshman softball player that was on Varsity. We were best friends and I wanted to make sure she was okay. She, like many others, had hit her head and were complaining of headaches. When the EMS finally arrived, they put a total of eight softball players on stretchers and in neck braces as a precaution of their headaches. I eventually ended up being one of the girls. Before I was taken away on the stretcher in an ambulance, I got the see the life-light land in the field across the road. They were there to transport the people from the car to a hospital in Toledo. They finally stated transporting everyone to Paulding Hospital and my dad rode in the front of the ambulance that transported me. After a couple minutes of being there, my mom and sister arrived and came and stood by me while my dad went to check on the rest of the team. It took about four hours of being in a neck brace and on a backboard in the middle of a hallway to get a CT scan. Finally, I did get one and was able to go home. During about two and a half hours of that, I had to go to the bathroom. I would say this is definitely one of my most vivid memories because it was the first vehicle accident I had ever been in. It was definitely something I will never forget. In fact, I still get nervous going through that intersection at times. 

One Crazy Night

I woke up to the bright morning sun with a slight headache. My body ached from laying on a hard surface, and the first thing I saw was bars. That was when I realized I had spent the night in a jail cell. I sat up real quick and felt a little queasy. I had on a red and black plaid flannel that I knew was not mine and cut off jean shorts. There was also a little mud on my legs and my boots which were on the floor next to me. I felt a sharp object in my pocket and reached in to pull it out. It was a Redd's bottle cap. I decided to check the rest of my pockets to see if there was anything else that would help me remember the night before. I found a pack of matches, a couple corn kernels, my ID, and a key. I knew the bottle cap meant I had to have been at a party of some kind. I thought about the matches for a second and realized I started the fire with one of the matches at the bonfire the night before. I looked at the key and thought about the mud on my boots and legs. I thought about it for a second, remembering we went mudding on the four-wheeler and I must have put the key in my pocket when I got done. Next thing I remembered was sitting by the fire being cold and a cute guy coming up to me. He gave me his shirt so I would stay warm. I really had to think hard about the corn kernels though. I was completely stumped! I looked at the back of my hand and saw some scratches. I remembered being in the truck and sticking my hand out the window and getting a scratch. That's when it hit me! The cops came and busted the party. That's when the cute guy and I ran to his truck and started to drive through the corn field, until we came to the county road and a cop was right there. Some kernels must have flew in the window and wedged their way into my pocket. When the cop pulled us over I had to show him my ID since I had been drinking. I was legal, but since we ran, he had to take us in. That was definitely a night to remember.

Living on Campus

When I decided I was going to attend Defiance College, I immediately wanted to live on campus. I knew it would cost more and I only live 30 minutes away, but I wanted to have the "college experience" that everyone has when they are away from home. If I would have decided to stay at home, I would not have the friends and relationships I have today. The softball team is like family to me. I do not think I would be as close with the the girls or have gotten to do half the things I have with them if I did not live here. Also, I have such a wide variety of friends from other sports and classes. Some of my best friends are sophomores and juniors on the golf and tennis teams! Other really close friends of mine are all classes on the baseball, volleyball, football, and basketball teams. Being an Athletic Training major has also helped me to gain these friendships as well. Already, I have a large number of fun, happy, and exciting memories with all my new friends. I am beyond happy of my choice to live on campus while attending Defiance College. If I would not have chosen to live on campus, I do not think I would have the friendships and bonds I have today.