The If Game

"Peace with all the world is my sincerest wish."
          -George Washington

In my opinion the greatest President that the United States of America has ever had. These are my reasons:
1. If it weren't for George Washington then we would have had a monarchy, but because of George Washington's suggestion we have a president. (So if it weren't for George Washington then some of your favorite president's wouldn't have been in office....What?! No Abe Lincoln? No Truman? No JFK? You're telling me if he wasn't president then we wouldn't have even had those tremendous leaders?....Yep!)
2. He set the precedent of having two terms (because he knew that power could get to a person) which was later turned into law.
3. He gave some concrete advice.
        -Don't start political parties.
        -Don't have allies because that means enemies.

Just to think of a world without George Washington is a thought of despair. That's one of the things I like about history; you can look back and imagine the slightest change and how that would affect the world today. If we would have listened to George about not having political parties, then where would our country be today? Would we come to a mutual understanding on abolishing slavery or would it last for centuries more? If we didn't have allies, would we remain neutral in WWI or WWII, would we be considered the international police that we consider ourselves today?

History repeats itself and it makes an impact years and years later. Who would have thought that December 24, 1979 would have a lasting affect on the world we live in today? Who would have thought that it would matter today that the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan? But it has.

The if game: If the Soviet Union did not attack then the Taliban may not have taken control of Afghanistan, thus the devastation of 9/11 would not have happened because Al-Qaeda wouldn't have had the protection of the Taliban. If the Soviet Union did not attack then the government may not have fallen and there would be no Russia, if so then the United States may have still been in poor terms with the Soviet Union and the cold war wouldn't have ended.

Who's to say that the political problems we currently face won't have affects on decisions made centuries later? It's a scary thought to think of, honestly, no one can tell at that moment what kind of decision they are going to make for the generation ahead of them. Who would have thought that the rule of war that goes against chemical weapons would have been tested and caused such a controversy today? That rule was created to stop a conflict but now it is testing us to see what action we will take.

The best way to play the if game: Look at least a step ahead because what you do now will have an affect on what comes later, personally or politically. Look at least a step behind you because history repeats itself, if you don't like what you see then don't repeat it, learn from it. You won't take the right step every time, but when you take the wrong step be prepared to act because you will have to act. When you have chosen and what you did becomes history. People will evaluate your decision, whether they are family or historians and they will play the if game.

Thank You Ya Highway!!

First off, I want to say a HUGE THANK YOU to ya highway!

On Thursday I was having a not so awesome day, after losing our second volleyball game against Cameron. Then I had to go home and write a college admission's essay for homework. (Man oh man is that stressful stuff. It's one thing to say I have good grades and that I am active in extra curricular activities, but it's another thing to brag. The way I was raised I was taught bragging is rude, so it's really hard to sit there and evaluate yourself to make others feel the need that you have to attend their school.) Anyways...it was Thursday night, and I remembered that I had my dad forward me a bunch of emails from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln so I decided to get on my email.

That's when one of the worst days ever turned into the best miracle God could give me.

That's when I saw that I received an email from ya highway. I love following their blog, it's very insightful especially for an aspiring author...which fits my description. So back to what the email said. It said something like "Hurray!" and that's when my heart stopped and I tried to stifle an energetic scream. I stood up really fast, which made me a little light headed because I wasn't feeling so well, and then I ran to my parents room. Well they were both out cold, go figure it was eleven thirty, so after that I ran back to my room to read the rest of the email.

It told me that I won a query critique. For those of you that don't know what a query is, it is a letter that an author will send to agents asking for representation. Queries have to be well written and really explain your book, if they aren't then you could very well end up without an agent. So winning a query critique is really good news, especially since I've never written one before and I need my query to be good.

A little note: I have written something, but I've always been hesitant about saying anything. However, I haven't let my hesitation stop me from going after my dream of being published, so I've asked some well trusted people to read it. Both times I've given them the manuscript I have heard a song that always reminds me of my manuscript, and both times I have looked up and thanked God for giving me the courage to write. Because it does take courage.

Here I am again thanking God because he has definitely given me a miracle. Winning a query critique from the ya highway giveaway is a true blessing. Once again I really want to thank ya highway, they are helping people learn how to be better writers and it really makes a difference.

Thank you so much,
Bailey

Leaving a Legacy

"A man can be destroyed but not defeated."
            -Ernest Hemingway

I think that this quote kind of goes along with the saying, "You can kill a person but you cannot kill an idea." I believe 100% that that is true. A legacy is always left behind after a person leaves. And a legacy is what people call to remember most about a person. It's based off of what the person has done, what they wanted to do, what they said, what they didn't say, what their ideas were.

Each person will leave a legacy, good or bad or in between. They will impact people in very different ways, but it all depends on what the person watching saw and what they heard and what they didn't see or hear. It all depends on the idea you left behind.

Joseph Stalin said, "Ideas are more powerful than guns." I don't think that this quote could be any more true. Ideas are the reasons guns are fired, because people have a tendency to act on their ideas. Even if a person has a morally incorrect idea they will still act on it. People can persuade others to fight for their ideas, after all, people are good at finding reasons to fight. If this weren't true then we wouldn't have to learn about the genocide in World War II. We wouldn't hear of revolutions. We wouldn't see good things either, like civil rights movements, or the formation of religions.

Ideas are powerful things, they can live for years or even centuries. They are what keeps a persons legacy alive. They are what keeps a person alive. They not only keep a memory strong but they also can give people a reason to keep going, to keep trying. The idea of equality saved many people from the evil of others.

Either way, good or bad, you will leave a legacy. With your ideas you will infuence others. Those people will impact more people.  Leave a legacy worth hearing. Leave an idea worth living.

The Last First

Today was my last first day of high school. I don't know if I should be ecstatic, or depressed, maybe both. All I know is right now I'm overwhelmed, but hopefully it will get better. Scratch that, I know it will, I will make it better. This is going to be one of the best years of my life!

Earning Your Honor

Even though school hasn't started yet for me I still have to do some work so I won't be so stressed out when school does start. For one assignment I had to watch a movie. I picked one of my favorite Disney princesses, Mulan. So I started watching and writing my paper over the movie. (Spoiler Alert!)

As I was watching Mulan I figured out why Mulan is one of my favorites (The other favorite is Pocahontas.) I compared Mulan to all of the other Disney princesses, including Pocahontas, and I realized that what Mulan does is something the other Disney characters don't do. Mulan goes out and she gets it. Technically Mulan isn't even a princess, but she's better than the others because she wasn't born into greatness, and she didn't have greatness thrust upon her. Mulan earned it.

I made the point of my paper to be why standing in the crowd isn't always the right choice. Mulan proves it constantly in the movie that what everyone else does isn't always right. The biggest example is going against the law and joining the Imperial Army. Even when she starts to lose hope in herself she tries again.

In the movie, Mulan states, "I just wanted to see someone worth while."

Before she might not have been someone worth while, but she changes that. She becomes someone worth while, she makes herself into someone worth while. SHE DOES IT. No one else did it for her. She wasn't born with a crown, heck she was even told that she would never bring honor to her family. The match maker was clearly wrong because Mulan brought home the Emperors Crest to honor her family. The point being that Mulan didn't start off honorable, few people ever do, she became honorable.

People didn't believe she would be anything, but she proved them wrong. That is why Mulan is my favorite Disney princess. Mulan is the best figure for a little girl to look at and say I want to be like that Disney princess. In a way a little girl could grow up to be like Mulan (maybe not exactly but you get my point...) a little girl could learn that she has to achieve her own dreams because not everyone is going to see her with a crown.

No Pain No Gain

I'm two days in volleyball practice and I'm starting to feel it. Yesterday I didn't feel it as much but today... Oh, do I feel it. That's okay though, sure I'll complain but I'll complain with a smile because it might be odd, but, I like the feeling of being sore. Feeling sore makes me feel accomplished. There is a good reason I'm sore, why my teammates are sore, because we are working hard.

As a senior (the only senior on the team) I want this season to last as long as possible, which means that we have to win games to keep going. I think that with all of this hard work burning in our muscles we will have a good season. That's what I can hope for anyway.

That's what we all hope for. That's the reason the coaches push so hard. There is always room for improvement and they know that. Just because I'm a senior doesn't mean that I know it all, I try to learn something different every time we go into a drill. If I don't bother in trying to learn something different, if none of us bothers, then there is no reason we should be out there. If we aren't learning, we aren't winning. And if we aren't working hard, we aren't winning. This might sound rude but, I want to win. If we lose, then, fine as longs as we did our best.

So, yeah I like the feeling of being sore. It means we are working, and working hard. Feeling sore is just being one step closer to a better game.

Changing Water Flow, I Don't Think So...

I have recently learned that although, changes are awesome and sometimes for the better...they aren't always. Sometimes after you write something down, and you've kept it and built it into the story, it really does belong. It makes sense. It flows. It WORKS.

So why do I keep wanting to change it?

I have the theory that I'm so used to changing the story before that I must constantly change it. I mean... It worked then so won't it work now.

NO. What I have now has been crafted together. It flows already remember? What I want to do is make it flow differently, change things up. And you can't change the rivers flowing direction (unless you're an earthquake, but I am not).

But I have to. I want to. I need to. After constant change I want to change it even more. And then more. And more. Until it is not what I originally had.

But the truth is the original stuff works. It meshes together and creates this really sweet story that I originally loved. That your reader loves too. If your reader doesn't like it, change it to a way that both of you do. So you still have the original stuff and the reader still has the grand toppings.

To sum up what I've learned. Advice to solving the problem of constant change: Ask your reader first. I don't know if that's what an author typically does but that's what I'm doing.