The month of Halloween.

As Halloween time comes around, many people get excited to dress up and get candy. I truly never was a big fan of dressing up. However, once in a while, I dress up but rarely. It’s not that I’m getting too old to dress up, it just isn’t my thing. When I think of Halloween, candy isn’t the only thing that comes to mind. The number one thing that comes to mind is haunted houses. As soon as the month October begins I’m instantly setting up dates for every single haunted house. I always try to go to every one possible, the good ones at least. Fright Fest at Darien Lake, I never do. I went their once and I thought it was the worst thing ever. Therefore, I only focus on House of Horrors and Haunted Catacombs, Fright World, and Final Fear. My favorite of all three is definitely House of Horrors and Haunted Catacombs. One reason why I love doing the haunted houses is because it really gets your adrenaline going. It gives you the feeling as if you’re inside a horror movie. No matter which one I go to, I’m always the one leading. I haven’t ever been placed middle or last in line. When it comes to my siblings, they fight over who gets to be in the middle. The houses and their effects on the outside get to them just as much as the effects on the inside do. When it comes to me, I can easily be first and walk right in. I’m not going to lie; there are times that I do get scared. However, I don’t scream like my siblings, I jump. I’m the type that loves scary movies but get scared while watching them. Once it comes to haunted houses, I’m absolutely fine. I don’t let the mechanicals, the people, or the effects get to me as much as others do. To me, it’s nothing. I know that I’m paying to go in and be scared. It’s funny how the simplest things can scare you when you’re in the mind frame of terror and fear. To me, the haunted houses are the best part of October and Halloween all together!  One thing I know is that I never will get too old for the houses. That is something I have been looking forward to ever since sixth grade. I love Halloween because of how much everybody gets into it. It’s one day that you can dress up as whatever you want, get candy, get scared, and have fun!

The Turkey Day tradition!

For all holidays my family always has a family gathering. However, each gathering tradition is different. For thanksgiving our traditions start off with making the homemade food. Thanksgiving is usually at my house, so everybody usually comes over around noon or so. Some of my family members make their part of the food at home, while some make it at my house. My parents usually always make the turkey. Preferably my dad because my mom is so busy with making sure the house is tidy and other stuff is done before family arrives. My siblings and I always have a specific thing that we have to do to help out. It varies from cleaning to preparing food. Although it is just family coming over, it’s important that we make the house tidy just for family respect. By the time family arrives, food that is already made waits to be heated back up while other food is in the process of being made. My house is always packed with my family spread out everywhere. My grandparents have a tendency to sit at the dining room table chatting, my younger boy cousins are usually upstairs playing play station with my brother, my older boy and girl cousins sit in the living room with their girlfriends/boyfriends along with my uncles watching television, my younger girl cousins are usually in my room with my sister and I, while my mom and my aunts are usually in the kitchen watching over the food. Everybody is spread out everywhere until it’s time to eat! Once we eat, everyone is usually in the living room or in the dining room eating because those two rooms are right off of each other. One thing I love is the sound of everybody talking. If you sit back you can easily hear everybody’s conversations. Once dinner is finished it’s time for desert! As everybody finishes their deserts, my mom and aunts do the dishes. Once those are done the entire house is empty except for the living room. This is the best part of our family’s Thanksgiving tradition! We all sit together in the living room as we watch many movies. I’ve never had a better thanksgiving movie night then this one. I can’t even begin with the variety of movies we watch. There is never a genre we don’t miss. Everybody usually sits around until about eleven at night, and then we all say our goodbyes. I love how much family time is truly spent together during our Thanksgiving tradition. This is one of the million reasons why Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Nothing about this traditional gathering gets old. I simply love it.

My favorite holiday: Thanksgiving!

No matter how old I get, I will always be a sucker for Thanksgiving gatherings. My entire family is very family oriented. No matter what holiday it is, we always have a family gathering. Some people may have an issue with this because they aren’t very close to their family. With my family, it’s completely different. My entire family is extremely close. I never have a dull moment when I’m with them, nor do I ever get sick of family gatherings on holidays. I think the reason I enjoy it very much is because of the fact that I don’t get to see them very much. No matter whom it is, grandparents, aunts, uncles, or cousins, everybody is always busy. My family is extremely large on both sides so it isn’t constant that I see them. I usually see them once in a while. When it comes to holiday gatherings, it is extremely hard to choose a favorite but I would have to say hands down it would be Thanksgiving. Having to go to religion from first grade to eleventh grade, I have always heard a lot about the last supper. When I look at that compared to my family gatherings on Thanksgiving, it feels pretty similar. Thanksgiving I love for many reasons, one being the food. I love the wide variety of different foods that we get to eat. It’s one holiday that you can never go hungry on. Another reason I love it so much is because of the fact that I have my entire family surrounding me. Although we have our share of fights, it’s nice to be able to get together on special holidays. It’s a great way to spend time with them because you don’t know what could happen tomorrow, weeks or months from now. Also, you don’t know when the next time you’ll see them will be. To me, every holiday is special, especially because every holiday calls for a family gathering. However, there is just something about Thanksgiving that makes it so different to me. I would have to say it is the homemade foods. To me that is something special. Seeing all of my family baking all of the delicious foods is priceless. Also, I love the season that Thanksgiving is in. It’s usually a nice fall season, not too hot, not too cold. We always make it a day inside together filled with movies, laughter, games, and so much more. Hands down, my favorite holiday will always be Thanksgiving.  

Winters on its way!

The weather is eventually going to start cooling down and that only means winter is on its way! Waking up in the morning now, it is much darker outside. You can feel the change of weather in the coolness of the air every single day. Sooner or later, snow will start falling on the ground layer by layer. I personally, am not a fan of winter. I do love the change in seasons because I do think it’s very beautiful however, winter is just not for me. In the winter time, there isn’t much for me to do. The only fun thing going on for me is basketball season. However, it’s hard to practice basketball at home due to the snow on the ground and the ice. In the winter, many people snowmobile, sled, ski, ice skate, tube, etc. I however, can’t do any of those except tubing and sledding. Even though I go tubing and sledding, I’m not a major fan of it. I do go tubing and sledding in the winter with my family for the day but other than that I don’t go outside a lot. Instead, I like to hang out with family or friends indoors where it’s nice and warm. Cold weather hasn’t been something that I can enjoy. It makes it difficult for me to be able to stay outside long. Yes, you can wear a jacket, hat, snowsuit and gloves but once you touch the snow multiple of times, your material begins to get wet. Even your clothing underneath your snow suit and jacket can get wet. Once it’s wet, you’re going to be freezing and then you also have to be careful of getting frost bite. Also, you have to wear boots and change into other shoes once you’re indoors. It’s just more and more clothes that you need to add on just to stay warm and dry. It can be a handle at times and I like things pretty simple. Personally, I think summer time is a lot easier because you don’t need to worry about that stuff. You also don’t have to wear a lot of layering. One thing I absolutely do love about winter would be Christmas. It’s one of the few times my entire family and friends all come together for a large Christmas gathering! Being close with friends and family is important to me. I love knowing we can all get together at once and share that day together. Even if the snow is bad, it’s a good feeling knowing that nobody lets that stop them from making it to the gathering. It shows how important you all are to one another.

Goodbye high school...Hello college.

High school is going to be coming to an end for me sooner then I think. This June 2012, I will be walking across stage graduating. I still can’t believe it. Some people haven’t figured out what they are doing after high school and then some people have. I fall under that category. Since last year I really started realizing my love for art and I didn’t want to just throw that away. After I thought thoroughly about it, I realized that I wanted to become an Art teacher. This idea came about due to constantly taking art and helping assistant teach on Saturdays for St. John’s first grade class. I started volunteering at St. John’s junior year because I needed community service in order to make my confirmation. Little did I know I was going to love it! I decided to still volunteer again this year, senior year. I struggled on deciding what I wanted to do until I put together my love for art and my love for assistant teaching. After high school ends I will be going to Erie Community College for two years. Once those two years are up, I will be transferring to Buff State. I wasn’t sure on what I should do class wise once I get to ECC so I called Buff State to find out what they would want me to have. Turns out that Buff State works with ECC and has a program that I can attend about twice a week over at Buff State. Therefore, once I get to Buff State, I will have had one class fully completed. Also, the person in charge of scheduling classes at Buff State said he will directly help me to set my schedule up with all of the classes I fully need to get a degree as an art teacher. It’s a good feeling knowing what you want to do and what you’re going for. It takes away a lot of confusion and stress for us seniors. Although I’m going to miss Alden high school, I know I’m going to truly love college!

"Best class ever!"

My favorite class so far would definitely be Online Publishing. I love Online Publishing because of the fact I can choose what I want to write about when it comes to the blogs and the newspaper articles. I enjoy knowing every week has different blogs to write about. It’s never the same because it gets changed up. Having a wide variety of topics to choose from for The Bulldog is one of the many advantages to this elective. This elective gives you freedom to express yourself through your blogs and articles in so many ways. Although we can’t choose what we want to write about unless we have a choice blog, we still get to express our own thoughts and feelings through the chosen topics. Being my last class at the end of the day, Mr. Currin’s personality and enthusiasm helps us all along. Usually by the end of the day everybody wants to slack off and relax. Everybody just can’t stay focused once it’s fourth block. This class however, keeps you going. There isn’t ever a dull moment in this class. I love that the teacher along with the rest of my classmates gets to express their selves easily in this class. It makes the environment very comforting. One thing I really like about this elective is how we have our assignments online for the entire week. No instructions are really given. You’re expected to do your work however you’d like just as long as your article and blogs are done by the end of the week. It gives me a more independent feeling and makes me get the feel of how things will somewhat be in college. Overall, I really like this class for many reasons. It’s a very easy way to be you and express yourself. It’s one class that I will always look forward to and it is a great way to end my day on days one and three.

You made a difference!

Someone who has impacted me in a positive way would be Mrs. Tryka, my seventh and eighth grade English teacher. Although many kids would think that a teacher impacting your life is “uncool”, I strongly disagree. First off, Mrs. Tryka’s family and my family know each other. Therefore it’s extremely easy for me to talk to her. I don’t see her as just a teacher, nor do I see other teachers now as just a teacher. Mrs. Tryka is completely different in school then she is outside of school. In school or not, I have always found it extremely easy to speak to her. I would have to describe Mrs. Tryka as loving, caring and outgoing. She always looks after others needs and tries her best to help them out as much as possible. She’s someone you can go to and trust. Kids may think teachers don’t understand what you’re dealing with or going through, when really they do. They were just like us, and that was just it. Every single time I went to her to talk, I found myself being able to tell her secrets, ask for her opinion or even for help. She has always been very generous, honest, and caring towards me and everybody around her. Nobody gets that being a teacher means you have rules to follow and you have to be strict at times. Just because they need to act and be a specific way at certain times, doesn’t make them a bad person. I look up to Mrs. Tryka and I always will. I feel safe with everything I need to say when I’m with her. She impacted my life because she made me see that it’s okay to go through things. She showed me that no matter what, life keeps going on and gets better. You’re meant to go through hard times and good times. That’s what life’s about. Mrs. Tryka taught me that it’s alright to open up and put trust into someone. She also taught me that I can do anything I possibly want as long as I go for it and give everything I have. Yes, some find it difficult to speak to an adult about things, however, I don’t. I like the fact I can come to her because she is an adult and understands more. She has been through more than my friends, and she can relate. Knowing I could go to her and that she was one of my teachers, made it a lot easier to get through some school days. If anything happened that could easily bring down my day, I was able to go to someone just to vent. I respect her for all of the time she gave up to talk to me and all of the patients she had to listen. I also dearly thank her for her help. While some people that you consider enemies or “friends” can bad talk you or even judge you, most teachers won’t. They actually try to understand and fully help. Her impact helped make me who I am. I know there are a few people that impact my life in many different ways, but I’m glad to know that she was one of them.  

Town & Country.

Alden isn’t filled with many different restaurants. However, we do have a few though. I would have to say that my favorite restaurant in Alden would have to be Town & Country. Whenever my family decides to go out to eat, we usually go there. Very rarely, do we go anywhere else. Yes, other restaurants in Alden are good, but I prefer Town & Country. Not only do a few friends of my parents work there, but so does my friend Ashley. So usually when I go there, it’s a delight to see her working as well. The friends of my parents are waiters and they are extremely friendly, along with the other waiters that I don’t know but see there. They have a nice wide variety of breakfast, lunch, and dinner foods. Every day they have a different special of the day, along with all of the food on the menu being available at any given time that you want. I’ve had many different types of food that they serve there, every one of them I enjoyed. I do have a few favorites of theirs but it’s always so hard for me to choose what I’d like to eat. Town & Country’s area in general gives you just a nice comfort feeling. It’s a little lodge type of restaurant. Not only does the outdoors of it look comforting, but the indoors even feels comforting. Whenever you’re there, you don’t have to wait long at all for your food. They sit you down and ask you instantly what you would like to drink. Only a minute or so after they are there giving you your drinks. They also bring your salad or soup, if you ordered one for prior before your meal, instantly. Not long after, your meal is there. I haven’t ever experienced any bad service from them. I haven’t ever had my order messed up, or delayed. The workers there are always on top of everything to make your meal the best it’s ever been. I love these types of restaurants because it shows that they work hard for their customers and for their money. They don’t take advantage of the fact that they’re going to be paid. They enjoy where they work, they work hard, they have good service, and they are extremely friendly to their customers and other coworkers. This restaurant, in my opinion, definitely is the best and is my favorite restaurant in Alden!

Lunch time!

I would have to definitely say that the best school lunch in my opinion, is taco day. I preferably love taco day, because I love to get taco in a bag. My parents don’t like taco in a bag so this is usually my only time to get that. Many love taco day in general. You’ll very rarely ever see the lunch line short. When it comes to taco day, the line is as long as can be. You will catch many people running throughout the hallway just to get in line! It’s crazy how many people really love this day. It isn’t just taco day that people race for, but also for spaghetti day, baked potato day, and big cookie day. The thing I have noticed is that this school really lengthens out specific days that they know many wait for anxiously. Students will wait just for that specific lunch day. It’s crazy but I don’t blame them because running is definitely worth it if you’re first in line! I usually bring my lunch with me every day except once in a great while; I will buy lunch at the school only if it is something like taco day, etc. My key strategy is to wait for the line to go down because I’ve noticed that by the time the line dies down; they are just bringing out some new made food. Also when you wait, you’re in and out of the line quite fast. You get your food, sit down, eat, and then you have about ten minutes left of lunch for chatting with people. Whether you wait, or decide to stand in the long line, either way, you will end up getting the food that you want. I love the different special food days that this school has. It makes it more exciting and worth it. A lot of people wait for these days and absolutely love them. They definitely make and brighten up some of our days!

"I promise you, It will get better."

When I heard about the incident with Jamey Rodemeyer, a Williamsville North High freshman, my heart instantly sank. It amazes me how cruel some people can be. I feel extremely sorry for Jamey’s loved ones for what they are going through right now. It seems as if nobody truly cares about people being bullied. It’s as if their thoughts are, “better them then me.”  Nobody in any circumstances deserves to be bullied for anything. Whether it be sexual orientation, religion, intelligence, or high school status, everybody is human and is equal. I, however, don’t agree with their not being a law against bullying. I feel that there is too much of bullying in the world today. Some people may say they haven’t seen it, but the truth is, they have. They just aren’t truly looking at the issues at hand. Instead they look past it as if it’s normal, which sadly, it pretty much is. Bullying shouldn’t be something seen as normal. It’s something big and major. It’s pretty sad that it takes one fourteen year old boy to take his life in order for this to come to people’s attention. This issue went so big that celebrity Lady Gaga has been tweeting on Twitter about it. Gaga even recently sang a song at a concert in memory of Jamey Rodemeyer. The song she sang, Hair, expressed words that went perfectly along with this issue. Lines such as, "Why can't I be who I wanna be?", "I want you to love me for who I am", "I just wanna be myself", "I've had enough, this is my prayer, that I'll die living just as free as my hair" and "I just want to be free, I just want to be me, and I want lots of friends that invite me to their parties. Don't wanna change, and I don't wanna be ashamed." Many were choked up by the lyrics that went hand in hand in the memory of this young boy. Many campaigns have been created because of this entire issue such as Paws up for Jamey and NoH8. Jamey was just a boy who was being true to himself. He liked what he liked because that was him. Not everybody is meant to be the same. Everybody is going to be different, that’s the way it’s supposed to be. What others choose to listen to, to wear, to like, or to do, is their choice. Not yours. If you don’t like it, that’s fine, but you don’t need to bully them because of it. The last time I checked, everybody was allowed to be their own person, to do their own thing of their own liking. Just because somebody isn’t like you or doesn’t fit your standards doesn’t mean they should die or shouldn’t exist! In all honesty, not everybody is going to like everybody. However, you should still be civil towards that person. People now a day are showing how heartless they are. Before you speak you should truly think about what you’re saying and how it is going to affect your life along with that person’s life. I’m not a fan of bullying and the way I see it, nobody deserves it. If you see someone being bullied, you should speak up and say something. Don't keep it quiet. You never know, you just might save a life.