Personal Reflection: Catholic School and Public School by Clair Marion

Catholic schools are definitely smaller than public schools. Therefore, it can lead to different outlooks on the school environment. I went to a Catholic school for grade school, from preschool to eighth grade. In ninth grade however, I came to Abington instead of staying at a Catholic school. This change for me was hard in some ways yet also very fun. However, as one can only imagine, public high schools are very different than the 300 kid Catholic school that I went to. Going to a Catholic school has forced me to adjust to the differences between public and Catholic schools.

I went to Our Lady of Peace for grade school. There were about 330 students in our entire school. That to me seemed like a normal number of students at the time. However, that was nowhere near the 1000 some kids at Abington Heights. When I arrived at my first day of high school, I was shocked. My seventh and eighth grade self never knew that a high school could possibly have this many kids! It lead me to take a step back and just embrace the fact that I was going to meet many new kids. I knew from the start that I needed to have a positive attitude and be open to anything. If I took the opposite approach, high school could have been terrible. I would not have been ready for what was ahead. However, public school kids walk into high school knowing that there will be a lot of kids and knowing what lies ahead because their grade school teachers prepared them for it! My teachers on the other hand did not.

Catholic school has also taught me to give back to my community. Everything we did at OLP was based around service. The field trips we went on and every activity we did was service based. Catholic schools really stress the importance of giving back and I truly feel that that is one thing I can take from my Catholic school experience. I have learned that volunteering is a great task one can do. It not only makes me feel good but it also tremendously helps others. Public schools may not stress that as much and therefore the students may not know the true meaning. When I came to high school, my cousin was the president of the Interact Club. She told me what it was all about and I knew I wanted to join. Volunteering and giving back are things that I understand, thanks to my Catholic school background.

Additionally, transfering from a Catholic school to public school made it harder for me to friend a friend group.  All of my close friends from OLP stayed in a Catholic school and went to Prep. Therefore, I had to find a new friend group at Abington. I was and still am friends with my friends from grade school, but I knew I needed friends at my new school. It is definitely hard to find a whole new group of friends. My cousin Abby had gone to Abington her whole life, so thanks to her, her friends welcomed me like I had been there all along. This perspective is different coming from a public school because the students had eight years to find a friend group. Since public school kids were already in the district, the students did not need to worry about making new friends. I however had to find a new friend group which was another aspect about high school that I needed to worry about.  

Although I had to adjust to many aspects of high school, I am really enjoying my high school experience. Freshman year was a great year in terms of grades, sports, and friends. From having to find new friends, adjust to the size and service, I am happy with where I am at as of right now. I hope to walk out of highschool with contentment and look back on my highschool years and tell people these years were the best years of my life.

Opinion: Why LeBron James is the Greatest Basketball Player of All Time by Jacob Anderson

“All your life you are told the things you cannot do. All your life they will say you’re not good enough or strong enough or talented enough. They will say you’re the wrong height or the wrong weight or the wrong type to play this or be this or achieve this. They will tell you no. A thousand times no. until all the no’s become meaningless. All your life they will tell you no. Quite firmly and very quickly. And you will tell them yes”(3) -LeBron James

In my opinion, I believe LeBron James is the greatest basketball player of all time. LeBron is the greatest because of the affect LeBron has on the league and his team, the amount of starpower he had go up against while still carrying his team to the Finals yearly, the major accolades of James’s career up to this point, and how as he gets older, somehow LeBron continues to get better and better.

The Workload and Effect of LeBron

Because LeBron is so great, teams run their plays around him because that is what they need to do to win. In the 2009-2010 season, the Cavaliers went 61-21 in the regular season with LeBron, which was the best in the NBA. After that season, James left to go to the Miami Heat. In the very next season without LeBron, the Cavs went 19-63. This was the second worst record in the entire league. This all happened because LeBron was so valuable to that team. They went from the top to the bottom in a two year span. More recently, LeBron pulled his groin on the Christmas day game against the Golden State Warriors. The Lakers were 20-14 with LeBron before the injury and third in the western conference standings. The team with him before the injury went 6-11 over the 17 games he missed(1). They were tenth in the western conference when he came back. That is a seven spot drop over twenty one games because they lost one player, LeBron James. The King is so valuable to all of his teams in a way that no one ever has been before.

LeBron vs. the Warriors

In addition to this, LeBron has faced much tougher competition and forced other teams to create superteams just to make sure that he does not win. A perfect example would be the Golden State Warriors. In 2015, it was the first time the Cavs and Warriors squared off in the NBA Finals. At the time, the Warriors had three all stars. They were Klay Thompson, Steph Curry, and Draymond Green and they are not just typical all stars. Steph Curry is the greatest shooter to ever pick up a basketball and Klay Thompson is right behind him. The Cavaliers had two all stars in Lebron and Kyrie Irving. The Warriors won the series 4-2. LeBron averaged just about thirty-six points per game in this series with a game high of forty-four points(1).

Round II

In the next year, the same teams faced off again. LeBron again dominated the rest of eastern conference to make it to the Finals. The Warriors again had the same three all stars and the Cavaliers had the same two. This was also not just any team to make it to the Finals. The Warriors were the best team in regular season history with a record of 73-9. The Cavs were down 3-1 at one point in the series. A team has never came back from down 3-1 in a series until now. LeBron carried the Cavs all the way back from three games to win the NBA Finals. LeBron averaged twenty-nine points with nine assists and eleven rebounds(1). LeBron had two games in this series where he scored forty-one points(1).

Round III

The teams faced off for a third time in a row but this time the Warriors had four all stars. They added arguably the best scorer and the second best player in the world, Kevin Durant. This shows the affect LeBron had on that team. He took down three all stars which is already a huge mountain to climb over, and now the Warriors were forced to add the second best player in the world just to take down one player(2). Not only did Lebron have another all star to go against, he lost the only other one on his team. Kyrie Irving left to go to the Boston Celtics. This would be incredible for the Cavs to even make it to the Finals as a four seed going into the playoffs. Sure enough, LeBron got it done. LeBron and the Cavaliers faced off against the Warriors for the third time in a row and Lebrons eighth straight Finals appearance. This is also something no other player has ever done. The Cavs lost 4-1 in the series despite LeBron averaging thirty-four points per game. LeBron again had a game high of forty-one points in that series(1).

Other Championships

The Warriors have not been the only team in LeBron’s path to a championship. LeBron has won a total of three championships, and two were when he was in Miami with the Heat. In 2012, LeBron took on the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals. The Heat ended up winning in a five game series. LeBron lead the way with averaging twenty-eight points, ten rebounds, and seven assists per game. The very next year, the Miami Heat beat the San Antonio Spurs in a 7 game series. LeBron averaged twenty-five points per game with ten rebounds and seven assists(1).

Playoff LeBron

Throughout the playoffs every year, the league seems to see a different kind of animal in LeBron James. He single handedly takes over playoff games and playoff series just by himself. No one can count out whatever team LeBron is on in any playoff series. Over the course of LeBron’s career, he has had twenty-six playoff games where he has scored over forty points. This stat by itself is mind boggling. LeBron has had one playoff game where he has scored over fifty points. It was against the Golden State Warriors and he finished with fifty-one points. LeBron also holds several playoff records. LeBron is currently leading in total playoff points of anyone in NBA history with six thousand nine hundred and eleven. In addition, James is third in all time playoff assists with one thousand six hundred and eighty seven. LeBron also has played the most playoff minutes out of everyone in NBA history with ten thousand and forty nine. Bron is number one in free throws made with one thousand six hundred and twenty seven. Not only does he lead in all these categories, LeBron leads in steals as well with four hundred nineteen in his postseason career(1). In just about every other category, LeBron ranks top five in that statistic. With LeBron leading in all these categories and in the games where it counts the most, how can anyone else be better than the King?

Accolades

It would not be right to talk about how great King James is without mentioning all of his accolades in his NBA career. Starting early in his career, LeBron was named the Rookie of the Year for the 2003 season and was also on the 2003-2004 all rookie team. From there, LeBron lead the league in the 2007-2008 season and therefore, he was crowned scoring champion for that year. LeBron has not just been an offensive juggernaut in his entire career. He also causes havoc on the defensive end. Bron has been selected to six All-Defensive teams in his career so far. The way he can do it on both end of the floor at that level is something very few players are capable of. For the fifteen seasons he has been in the league, LeBron has been selected to every all star team he could be selected to. In those 15 games, Bron has been crowned the MVP three times. Also, out of his fifteen seasons, he has been on 14 All-NBA teams(1). LeBron can certainly break the all time record of 15 times selected to an All-NBA team by the end of his career. This is just another record The King will break.

The Real MVP

LeBron brought home his first MVP award in the 2008-2009 season while he was with the Cleveland Cavaliers. In his MVP season, James averaged twenty eight points per game with seven rebounds and seven assists. In the very next season, he won it again with the Cavaliers. In that showing, King James averaged just about thirty points with seven rebounds and eight assists. In the 2010-2011 season, LeBron won his third MVP and it was with the Miami Heat this go around. LeBron averaged twenty seven points per game with eight rebounds and six assists. In the very next season, he had won MVP in back to back seasons for the second time in his career. Bron averaged just about twenty seven points per game with eight rebounds and seven assists. This was his fourth MVP award in just five years. Although LeBron has won four times, he can debatably win the award every single year. King James has finished top five in the MVP race for thirteen straight years which is the longest streak out of anyone in NBA history(1).

Age is Just a Number

As LeBron keeps getting older and older, he somehow keeps getting better and better(2). LeBron has never averaged under twenty points in year in his career. From the get go, LeBron has been a force in the NBA. A player’s prime is typically from around twenty four or twenty five years old until around twenty nine or thirty. LeBron has been in his prime for what it seems like his whole career up to this point. He has been the best player on his team since his rookie year in 2003 and the best player in the league for over a decade. Forbes states;

No one in the 15th season of their careers, at age 33, has accomplished what LeBron has done at such a consistent, dominating and efficient rate. He has averaged the most rebounds and assists of his career this season. Like a fine wine, he has only gotten better with age, with no signs of slowing down. He started and played in all 82 regular-season games and 18 playoff games, playing the most minutes in the NBA. This past Sunday against the Boston Celtics, James played 48 minutes in his 100th game of the 2017-18 season, posting a magnificent 35-15-9 performance, breaking the hearts of Boston fans and silencing his critics in Game 7 at TD Garden(3).

This shows just how in shape and dominant LeBron is even at 34 years old. There is also no signs of James slowing down.

Conclusion

LeBron James is the best basketball player in NBA history. James attracts arguably the most attention a player ever has, he is the definition of a champion, he single handedly forces other teams to have to create superteams, and age is no factor for LeBron. As time goes on, LeBron gets better. Like LeBron has said in the past, “Ask me to play, I’ll play, ask me to shoot, I’ll shoot. Ask me to pass, I’ll pass, Ask me to steal, block out, sacrifice, lead, dominate, anything. But it’s not just what you ask of me. It’s what I ask of myself”(3). With all of these facts, it seems obvious that LeBron has achieved G.O.A.T. status.

Biography: The Life of LeBron James by Gray-Paul Bossi

 

LeBron Raymone James is an American basketball player that competes in the National Basketball Association (NBA). LeBron, by some, is regarded as the greatest basketball player of all-time, but he is an amazing player and athlete nonetheless. He is currently playing for the Los Angeles Lakers, but he has also played for the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Miami Heat. In addition, LeBron is in his sixteenth season and is still playing at a highly competitive level.

Early Life

LeBron James was born on December 30th, 1984, in Akron, Ohio. He is an only child and to this day has not met his biological father. He grew up considerably poor and decided to focus on sports and education at a young age. Obviously, his most notable sport is basketball, but he was also an All-State wide receiver for his high school football team. Because he was such a strong athlete, St. Vincent-St. Mary High School recruited James to play basketball in 1999. LeBron would end up averaging 18 points a game his freshman year and he won the Division III state championship that year[1]. In his sophomore season LeBron was named to the USA Today All-USA First Team[1]. He also won the state title for a second year in a row. In addition, he did not win the state championship his junior year, but he was named the PARADE magazine High School Boys Basketball Player of the Year and won the Gatorade Player of the Year in Ohio[1]. He was contemplating going professional after that year but he decided to finish high school. James ended up averaging 31.6 points a game and winning the State Championship for the third time[1]. He then would skip college altogether and enter the NBA draft. Consequently, LeBron James was selected with the first pick in the 2003 draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers.

NBA Career

LeBron’s NBA career started when he was just eighteen years old. He skipped college to enter the draft at that young age, which was rare back in those days. He was as previously mentioned, drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers. James would then spend seven years with the Cavaliers before going to the Miami Heat in free agency. LeBron was an All-Star in six out of the seven years that he was there. By the same token, the Cavaliers only ended up making it to the finals only once during the seven years that LeBron was there[2]. The Cavaliers lost that final that they made with LeBron. But, LeBron would go on to win two finals with the Miami Heat. He was only in Miami for four years, but he made the NBA Finals all four years there. He won two championships out of the four appearances, those years being 2012 and 2013[2].

Back to Cleveland

LeBron promised the city of Cleveland a championship, so in 2014, he went back to Cleveland to do so. From 2014-2018, LeBron and the Cavaliers made the finals every year[2]. The Cleveland Cavaliers won once during those years, which was in 2016. In 2016, the Cavaliers accomplished a feat that no other team has accomplished in the history of the NBA; which is winning an NBA finals when they were down three games to one. They were facing a team composed of three All-Stars: Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green. Unfortunately, he lost the other finals to the Golden State Warriors, who were a powerhouse team because they added superstar Kevin Durant in free agency. The last part of LeBron’s career for now is the Los Angeles Lakers. LeBron signed with the Lakers in free agency in 2018, and has since played over twenty games with them. LeBron hopes to win another championship and develop the young core of the Lakers for the future.

Stats and Achievements

LeBron James is one of the most statistically sound players to ever play the game. As of February 20th, 2019, LeBron has a career average of 27.1 points, 7.4 total rebounds, and 7.2 assists[3]. These numbers are legendary, as he almost averages a triple double. His achievements are just as impressive. LeBron is in his sixteenth season, which is a huge feat on its own. He has made the All-NBA team fourteen times, he was an All-Star fifteen times, and he has won the all-star game MVP three times[3]. LeBron won the scoring title one time, in which he averaged 30.0 points a game[3]. He won the 2003-2004 Rookie of the Year Award and made the First-Team All-Rookie team in that same year[3]. LeBron James won the NBA Championship three times, and was the Finals MVP all three times[3]. Also important, LeBron won the regular season MVP four times[3]. He won the award in the 2008-2009 season, and again in the 2009-2010 season[3]. He did not win the award in the 2010-2011 season, but he won the award again in the 2011-2012 season, and the 2012-2013 season[3]. Now for his defensive achievements, which is an underrated aspect of LeBron’s game. He has made the All-Defensive team six times, and placed second in the Defensive Player of the Year award in the 2012-2013 season[3]. LeBron only has one season where he played every game, and that was the 2017-2018 season[3]. He has also led the league in minutes played three times[3]. Most of these statistics and achievements are almost impossible for an average NBA player to achieve. Only few in the history of the game have done what LeBron has done.

One of the Greats

LeBron James will go down as one of the greats at the end of his career. His prolific scoring ability and all-around play style skyrocketed his place on the all-time greatest players list. Even though he is known for basketball, he is an amazing guy who helps out the community all the time. I hope that LeBron continues to play at this legendary level for the rest of his career, because it is truly a sight to see.

Legacy

Not only is LeBron a generational type talent in the NBA, but he also helps out in his community. LeBron recently opened up a school in Ohio named the I Promise School. The school was meant to help kids get an education in inner-city Akron, where poverty rates are high. This is an outstanding achievement on its own, and the people of Ohio will benefit from this.

Fiction: The One That Got Away by Adin Hopkins

It was a cold dreary day in November. The setting of this story is on Robbin's Family Farm. The Farm is Northeast Pennsylvania. It is a nice farm; there is plenty of room to roam in the fields and the workers are some of the best in the state. Although the farm is small in size, there is a lot going on. There is Mrs. Robbin who takes care of the other cows and animals, there is Mr. Robbin who fixes everything that needs fixing and helps milk the cows. They work on the farm and own it. They also have a son. His name is Thomas and he is a very hard worker. When he is not working on the farm, he is working at Central Valley High School where he is a teacher. The Robbins are amazing people and are hard workers.

It was a cold weekend in November when one of my favorite memories happened on this farm. It was around twelve o’clock noon when I saw a green pick-up truck pull up to the farm. I was confused because I have never seen this truck in my life. All of a sudden,a rumor broke loose in the herd.

“There selling one of us!” I heard someone moo.

I watched a tall man with a red shirt and black cowboy boots get out of the truck. He looked intimidating. He started walking toward the house. I could feel my heart beating in my chest. He slowly walked up to the front door where he met Thomas. They shook hands and began to walk toward us. My heart beat faster with each step they came closer. Thomas opened the gate and on instinct, I booked it.

“Hey! Get back here” Thomas yelled at me.

I was gone. I never looked back until I thought I was clear. I was about a mile away when I turned around. I was shocked. Thomas has been chasing me this whole time and he is now gaining ground. I turned and kept running, this time faster. I was gone with the wind. That is what I thought at least. When I came to the realization that he was still following me, I got mad.

Then I thought, “What if I chased him away?” I smirked. I turned and ran toward him. His face dropped and he was running away from me in horror within seconds. I chased poor Thomas for about another mile. Then he got thirsty. He took a long drink in the creek where I noticed I was thirsty as well. As I was drinking, we both remembered why we were there. He stood and started chasing me again. Eventually, he caught me and walked me back to the farm.

To my surprise, when we returned no one was getting sold after all. That man that came in the truck was actually the farrier. He was using his rasp to file the other cows’ hooves. Everyone else was done getting their hooves trimmed and filed by the time that it was my turn. I was ashamed and embarrassed that I let myself get worked up enough to run away and waste time. As I was getting my hooves getting taken care of, Thomas watched.

“See bud, it isn’t that bad,” he said.

From that moment on, I learned that I should wait and get the whole story of what is going on before I react in a crazy way. That lesson has stuck with me from that moment and will stick with me until the day I die.

This story has both changed me, and life in the farm. I do not panic anymore when there are visitors and I do not listen to rumors. Security around the farm has increased as well. Now there are much more farm hands watching over us and the fences are inspected once a week just to ensure that another escape does not happen. Since that day I have become a well behaved cow and I have not caused an ounce of trouble since the day I got away.

Report: Rape Culture by Maggie Carper

The United States has faced many epidemics in its lifetime; however this is one of the few that they are not alone in. Rape is a world-wide epidemic because there is is no widely accepted definition of what it actually is.  Common phrases that men and women have been taught since grade school have led to the normalization of rape throughout the world. Attitudes, beliefs, and mistaken ideas about rape have been with people for centuries. Rape culture exists, and there’s several ways to fix it, but only if people work together.

Rape culture can be defined as “an environment in which rape is prevalent and in which sexual violence is normalized and excused in the media and popular culture” (Rape Culture, Victim Blaming, And The Facts). There are several ways that rape has become “normal” to society. One of the main, most known reasons is the language people use. In many cases of rape, people tend to blame the victim with a phrase similar to “She asked for it!” The phrase “Boys will be boys!” is also commonly used. While it seems like an innocent thing to say, it is actually trivializing sexual assault and rape, making it seem that men are rapists by nature.

Victim blaming is a huge issue. It is often justified by what the woman is wearing. Men in particular use provocative clothing as an excuse because according to them, if someone dresses like that then they deserve to be raped. A very recent and tragic example of this occured in Ireland. In November of last year, a middle aged man was declared not guilty of his rape accusations after his lawyer cited the seventeen year old girl’s lace underwear as evidence (Ingber). It is a common tactic used by defense lawyers to discredit women who have the bravery to go to court. Recently, lawyers have used clothes and even fake tans as evidence of women “asking for it” (Ingber).  People often make accusations such as “she shouldn't have been there, she should’ve screamed louder, or she shouldn't have drank that much”(Ingber). These common accusations prevent many women from sharing their story. What person would want to have the embarrassment of her underwear being held up in court as evidence? Consequently, the teenage girl commited suicide just days after the trial. The whole event resulted in protests throughout the world with women holding up underwear and using the phrase “#ThisIsNotConsent.” While protests do prove to be beneficial in raising awareness about an issue, it is not enough to end the rape culture.

People are often surprised when cases such as these come to light and assume that it was an anomaly. However, they are really symptomatic of cultures that failed to remove the grey areas and promote messages to their children about how women are submissive and sexually passive.  Throughout their lifetime, women are taught to “try not to get raped” as they grow up. Instead, people should try to spread the message to men to not be rapists. Women should not be responsible for protecting themselves against men during everyday activities. Not all men are rapists by any means. Most men, in fact, are not rapists and will never rape a woman. Society likes to pretend that rape is not a huge widespread issue, that it is just a few bad people and their actions that people focus on. Instead of focusing on the outpouring of sexual assault stories and saying “How can I help?” men tend to focus on things like “It wasn’t me!” Believers of the rape culture do not see all men as rapists. They know that there are a lot of wonderful men in the world who respect women and treat them how they’re supposed to be treated. Men tend to take offense to the fact that when rape is discussed, people usually talk about man on woman rape. This is a problem because anyone could be raped by anyone, but the most reported rapes have been men on women, which is why people tend to talk about that more.

The rape culture is a societal issue where rape is normalized due to the messages about gender and sex. Sexual violence has become the norm and victims are blamed for their own assaults. It has gotten increasingly worse, to the point where women are too afraid to come forward with their stories. It must come to an end. Men and women need to work together and pass along messages about empowerment. It must be solved, for the safety of women in the future.