Disabled Athletes

link: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/16/sports/disabled-athletes-suit-up-raising-questions-of-logistics-and-fairness.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

In the article “Forging Path to Starting Line for Younger Disabled Athletes” by Mary Pilon, is mainly about weather disabled body athletes—such as an athlete without a leg, blind, or deaf—should be able to compete competitively with able body athletes. Federal laws have long provided guidance on what students with disabilities are legally entitled to during the school day. But what exactly is reasonable accommodation in sports? Also, if you're in a wheelchair does it really mean you have an "advantage"??

Mary Pion definitely wants the reader to look at this topic from her perspective so she includes many stories of disabled athletes. She wants to show the reader how unfair it is to discriminate against disabled athletes and that disabled athletes don’t always have thing to their “advantage.” For example, Kiara Chapple—a tennis played deaf since birth—relied on an interpreter on the sideline to show the score and communicate what Kiara couldn’t to her doubles partner and opponent. ‘Chapple said she was surprised when, at a doubles tournament in her sophomore year in 2009, her interpreter was removed after complaints from a coach for the opposing team.’ I find this shocking and incredibly unfair especially after reading what Chapple had said. ““I thought it was unfair,” Chapple said. “They were discriminating, and I have rights to an interpreter. I felt sad. We lost the match, and I couldn’t communicate with anyone.” Mary Pilon also tells the story of Mary Callahan who began swimming when she was 6 and wanted to join her high school team but she got a rare disease and could not use her legs. She was told that she could not compete in any statewide competitions. “I really wanted to have a true swim meet,” Callahan said. “I wanted to compete against the best. Swimming is part of my high school experience.” Lisa Madigan took on Callahan’s case as a co-counsel and helped win a settlement in September that allowed her to swim at the state meet, along with at least six other high school girls with disabilities. “We didn’t change much,” Renee Miller, Callahan’s swim coach, said of how the team accommodated Callahan in the pool. “We made sure we had a bus to accommodate a wheelchair so she could travel with us and made sure that schools we traveled to could accommodate her.” This made me really hopeful and confident that in the not too far future disabled athletes will be able to participate competitively and that they won’t have to fight to get there.

This is an issue that I have been thinking a lot about recently. I think about what would happen if I had an accident and lost a leg…how would I run track? I probably wouldn’t be able to play softball or tennis. Now that I’m thinking about it, sports are a major part of my life and I wouldn’t be able to live without them. I feel like what Callahan was able to do worked because she had a team that was probably very supportive of her. If I were to lose a leg, I feel like my team would go through the pain with me—we would all be in it together. But what about tennis? How could I run? If I got one of those metal running devices would people discriminate against me because they’d think I have an “advantage”? I like to run but running competitively and in a real race is not only a lot more fun, but it really pushes me to excel. I think there are ways disabled athletes can participate in competitive sports and it’s not always to their advantage…

Writing about What Haunts Us

Orner, Peter. "Writing about What Haunts Us." New York Times 12 Jan. 2013. Opinion. 15 Jan. 2013
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/12/writing-about-what-haunts-us/?ref=opinion.


I just recently read “Writing about What Haunts Us” by Peter Orner. One reason why I got hooked into this article was because it started with a sort of anecdote that I could relate to. Peter writes fiction and often feels like he is “dressing up” the truth. He tells a story about his father who got these new lambskin leather gloves and how a week later Peter stole the gloves from his father. “I learned for the first time how easy it is to just grab something.” Peter hid the gloves for a while and then took them with him everywhere he went—but he never once put them on. This is because Peter didn’t steal the gloves because he actually wanted them…he stole them because he was afraid of his father and since they had so little in common, the gloves seemed like a part of his father that Peter could hold on to. Although it seemed like Peter was trying to contort his theft in a made-up story, I also got the feeling that he was trying to convey an important message: That “well-made things eventually deteriorate.” Peter describes the gloves as “no longer baby soft” because “all the handless years had dried them up” and then compares it to his father—“pulling on the beautiful gloves with a rare stillness in his face and a kind of hopeful calm.” Peter now thinks to himself, “Was this what I wanted to steal?”

By comparing the gloves that eventually got dull and lost its softness to his father who was still hopeful and full of free spirit, Peter definitely wants the reader to remember the elements in our lives that don’t deteriorate. Peter also writes in his article, “Our imaginations sometimes fail us for a reason. Not because it is cathartic to tell the truth but because coming clean may also be a better, if smaller, story.” I found this line really deep and thought provoking. I think it’s telling us that writing fiction and disguising the truth isn’t always a bad thing to do, but sometimes you have to just face the pure truth to move on.

I think this is a really important message because often times we tend to ignore our fears or the ugly truths and push them farther away, pretending they don’t exist. Over the last year I have started to write a lot of poetry to express myself and my feelings. Sort of like how Peter contorts his fears through made-up stories, I find it much easier to disguise my fears beneath the symbolism and depth in my poems.

Penetrating Truths

Have you ever been so embarrassed about something that you lied about it or hid it/kept it inside of you? Or you did something you know was really wrong but you tried to hide while you were doing it? I’m sure we all have been in this position at least once in our lives. Although I can’t think of a recent moment, I do remember when I was in pre-k we had “nap time.” We got to place our mats anywhere in the classroom and I often placed mine next to the bucket of little plastic bears. I was looking at the bears and then quickly reached my hand in the bucket and pulled a yellow one out. I quickly glanced around the classroom to make sure Ms. Rose didn’t see me. I hid the bear in my shirt and brought it home. When I got home, however, I felt really bad. I know taking a plastic bear from school doesn’t seem like a big deal and I’m sure the teacher wouldn’t have minded, but for me I still felt like I had done something wrong (being the “perfect” calm child I used to be).

I just recently began reading The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls and I have been looking very closely Jeannette’s character and her decisions. She has not made any huge decisions yet, but she has made a very minor one that tells me a lot about her character and personality. Since this is a memoir and obviously it’s real, I thought it was interesting to picture myself in Jeannette’s shoes and what I would do if I were in the same situation.

The first chapter is all about how Jeannette sees her mother digging through the trash and how afraid she got. She was afraid that her mother would see her and start to hug her and talk to her and how she was afraid someone from the party she was going to would find out that that old woman (who seriously did look like a hobo) was her mother. This chapter really pulled me into the story. I was desperate to know more about Jeannette and her relationship with her mother….how did her mother turn out to be a hobo? Was it a mistake, or did she really want to be living on the streets? Why does Jeannette seem to have money, yet her mother seems so poor?—I mean, she’s in a taxi and she is going to a party…she even asks her mother later what she could do to help her. But whatever her relationship is with her mother, or however much money she has, I tried to picture myself in the same situation as Jeannette. Would I make the decision to hide if I found my mother digging through the trash? Would I be embarrassed? Honestly, I think I would be afraid for the same reason—that someone from the party or one of my friends would see me. I would be embarrassed just like Jeannette was… I mean, if your mother is a hobo living on the street and some of your friends see that she is digging through the trash….who wouldn’t be embarrassed?

This seemed like a very minor decision at first (just like when I took the yellow bear from school) but then I realized that from the first chapter, I already know a lot about Jeannette’s character and her personality. She’s definitely ashamed and embarrassed of her mother because she is afraid a friend or someone from the party would find out her “secret.” She is so embarrassed she hides! This probably means that she’s someone who cares a lot about what other people think of her.

Jeannette seems like she is the kind of person who blocks out the truth and tries to hide it just like she tried to hide behind some bushes so her mother wouldn’t notice her. Over the years and after reading this book, I have come to realizing that blocking out the truth is probably one of the most hurtful things you could ever do to yourself.

When my grandmother passed away two years ago I pretended to act as if everything was fine—although I did get really depressed. Sometimes at school my friends would ask me if I was okay but I never wanted—or maybe I just didn’t know how—to express the pain I was feeling. So I would say, “Yeah I’m fine. I’m just really tired.” At the time I thought it would have been more painful to just be honest with them but now I’m starting to realize that hiding the truth and pretending as if it isn’t hurting you is far worse.

You suddenly begin to realize that you’re all alone in the dark—you are nothing more than a dark figure wandering the streets of a lonesome village. To others you are invisible in the taciturn, dark silence…but if you listen intently, instead of a scream for help, you will hear a shatter in the distance. Next thing you know, it’s the shatter of your heart calling to fix up all the broken parts.  But realizing this is too late…no one can put back together all the millions of shattered parts that fell apart from your sunken heart.

Cold Tiles of Truth

Some nights when I’m lying down in my bed and letting my mind wander free, I realize tears running down my cheeks. But it’s weird…these tears don’t come from something that happened that made me sad, or mad, or even angry. They just seem to appear out of nowhere….and so I usually ask myself questions as if I’m the only thing visible in the dark silence, “why is life so complicated? Why do I have to make it so hard for myself?” Often I think about school and why I couldn’t just shoot for the “average” student—“why do force myself to do all the extra work when I could get perfectly good grades without doing it?” And since probably more than half of my life right now is devoted to sports, I usually ask myself questions like, “Why are you spending your weekend trying to become a “perfect” pitcher when you could easily let the other two girls on the team do all the work?” It’s almost as if I force myself to go beyond just a base player in softball, but to devote my Saturdays into doing all this extra work that seems to do nothing but give me cramps, bruises, and get me extremely tired. Often I fall asleep thinking, “what’s the point?”

As I’m reading Ishmael Beah’s memoire, “A Long Way Gone” it not only made me feel incredibly mad at myself for thinking about my life being hard but it helped me in my understanding to why I must push myself so hard in everything that I do. “A Long Way Gone” is the true story of Ishmael Beah who became an unwilling boy soldier during the war in Sierra Leone. When he was twelve years old his village was attacked which left Beah, his brother, and his friends wandering village to village in search of food and shelter. This becomes a day-to-day struggle both in their hearts and physically to survive. Although I’m not that far into the story, I find it so incredibly unreal that such a thing could happen to a twelve year old—though it’s filled with heartbreaking honesty.

On page 54 when Beah is all alone in the woods and letting his mind wander free, he begins to think about his father saying, “If you are alive, there is hope for a better day and something good to happen. If there is nothing good left in the destiny of a person, he or she will die.” However this quote is not where I got hit by a strong realization. It’s what Beah had written after that that really stuck with me. “Those words became the vehicle that drove my spirit forward and made it stay alive.” In life—or anyone’s life really, you have something—big or small that keeps you going. This reminded me of a book I just recently finished a couple months ago, “The Art of Racing in the Rain” by Garth Stein. It’s told from the point of view of a dog named Enzo. At one point in the book he figures out that life, like racing, isn’t simply about going fast. Using the techniques needed on the race track, one can successfully navigate the vehicle even when there are bumps along the way. For me, I think that I could end up in a dangerous situation wanting everything to be perfect and all, but I guess that’s just a part of who I am….pushing myself hard in everything is what gives my life purpose. If I were to stop pitching, play a piano piece “at my level” and start writing blog posts that meet standards, sure I would still get good grades and play good music….but for me that’s not enough. However if I were in Beah’s shoes and had lost basically everything—even my family—I think that I would also hold onto my memories and find even the tiniest things in life to keep me going so I wouldn’t slowly fade away like black watercolor when it hits paper—so I would still have purpose in my life to keep going with a linger of hope for tomorrow.

Later on page 69 Ishmael Beah writes, “One of the most unsettling things about my journey, mentally, physically, and emotionally, was that I wasn’t sure when or where it was going to end.” This reminds me of my first cross country race at the beginning of the year. I felt like I just kept running and running and at each strait-away I thought it was the finish but it never was. I felt like it was going on forever and would never stop which made me want to slow down for a while. I am not the type of person who gives up easily but I have to say, that was probably one of the closest times I have been to giving up in a long time. Then Beah writes, “To survive each passing day was my goal in life. At villages we managed to find some happiness by being treated to food or fresh water.” Again, Beah is finding even the smallest things in his struggle to survive to keep him from a drooping sunflower lacking a drop of water.

If I were in Ishmael Beahs situation, I think I would also hold onto the little things throughout my daily struggle for survival to keep my burning soul alive. Within the depth of this story I seem to have discovered the cold tiles of heartbreaking truth and meaning. I have also found the fire burning in my soul and the wood that keeps it burning red, roaring, and alive. The wood may be hard to get and may give me many scratches while gathering, but if it’s what keeps me going in life, the scratches are worth it.

Oh, the Places You'll Go!

I just recently read “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” by Dr. Seuss. One reason why I think this is my favorite picture book is because people of any age can relate to the message Dr. Seuss is trying to teach. I found that the overall message in the book is to help people realize that there are going to be many ups and downs in life as well as many difficulties such as fear, loneliness, and confusion. When I read this book, I began to think about all the hardships I have had to face but then I realized that life will always have bumps along the way but only you can decide what to make of your life by facing these hardships and taking control. I think the book overall is amazing but there are a couple verses that really stood out to me and made me think deeper….

One of my favorite verses in the book is:

“I’m afraid that sometimes,
You’ll play lonely games too.
Games you can’t win,
‘cause you’ll play against you.”

This was really powerful for me and after thinking about it on a much deeper level, I found that what this really means is that there will be times where you will succeed, but other times when you don’t believe in yourself, you just end up losing the game or not succeeding at all. One reason why I find this verse so meaningful is because it’s true and we probably don’t even realize it.

Not only was this verse really powerful but I realized that I could also relate to it….this is probably one of the reasons why I understood it so well. When I was a little munchkin with chubby red cheeks I was incredibly shy. As a person I was (and I’ll have to admit I still am) very reserved and humble. Although most people say these aren’t necessarily bad traits, they seemed to take away from my self-confidence, especially in my “munchkin” years. When my mom would stop to talk to a family friend or someone on the street I would hide behind her and I wouldn’t budge. It was this internal fear that was taking over my life and I finally realized that I couldn’t go on in fear. Little by little as I started to overcome my shyness, I realized that I was becoming a much more confident person in everything I decided to do—from reciting monologues in drama, playing the piano at recitals, and pitching in softball. In all of these things I grew less and less nervous and I became a much more determined person.

All in all, I think that in order to do great things in life you must be determined and fight through your fears that try to stop you. The key to success is believing in yourself….well….at least for me ;) 

Little Things Cut

I am currently reading the book “Looks” by Madeleine George. So far (in the first 40 pages) this book is about two girls who are struggling with their physical looks which impacts their lives greatly. Meghan is litterally a hippo but feels invisible at school while Aimee is an anorexic seems empty and lost in the world of poetry. Although they seem like complete opposites at first sight, it seems like on the inside they are both quite similar. Meghan seems like she sees something more in Aimee but what will it take for her to really take action?

On page 15 when Meghan is in the nurses office and hears a girl at the door speaking to the nurse, she describes Aimee’s voice: “Thin as paper but sharp as a paper cut.” This line really stuck in my head and didn’t make much sense until I really got to know Aimee. Although she is incredibly thin and may seem weak on the outside, on the inside she holds much more. It’s as if someone else holds a blade that is carving out her insides and damaging her body in this way to say what she cannot….

I hope Meghan will do something more than just see the blade and move on which is probably what fires me up most in the world—people who see things going wrong and just keep going. Even I get mad at myself sometimes for seeing something and not doing anything about it because it’s just easier to ignore. BUt what if Meghan ignored the fact that Aimee was being hurt and waited for the day Aimee’s anorexia takes over and she dies to regret ever putting her step forward? By then it would be too late anyway. Maybe if you see bullying going on you or enough people will take action….but what if it’s something small? What if this seemingly tiny, innocent person is being hurt by a blade that is hidden inside of them that it’s out of control? I believe that it’s these little things within a small person hiding that cause the most damage. Not only are these little things hard to find, but they’re even more difficult to help someone else overcome.

Leave a comment if you have ever seen something happen and didn’t do anything about it because it would just be easier but then regreted it afterwards or if you have any questions, please feel free!!! :)

Attention readers!!!

Sorry I forgot to mention this earlier but for the past 3 weeks I have been posting my blogs on this url:   http://room116sold.blogspot.com/