Potentials

So today, my friend Dusty Boyer won the Minnesota State high school league AA tennis championship. the boy has worked hard all year and out of all the good tennis players i know, he is probably the least arrogant. i went with a couple of my friends from my tennis club to go watch and were pleased to see our old teaching pros that we had in high school were there to support one of their players. before the final after watching dusty win his semifinal match, one of them told me something that was somewhat upsetting. well maybe upsetting isnt the word but it made me thing. what he said was "this could have been you jon". when i think about it, it definitely could have been. I'm a hard worker, talented, smart, composed, and very dedicated to the things i do so last year, it very well could be. in fact, it probably should have been. but in reality, not only did i not win state but i didnt even make it there. sure i was sick a lot during the season and i had trouble with my shoulder. honestly i kind of chocked it away. although this is probably not a big part of the problem, its unsettling to think about. what if i was afraid to reach my true potential? was i afraid to put myself out there and lose just before the final. if this is a problem with me, not that i think it was at all, its impact will go far far beyond the tennis court. if anyone were ever afraid to reach their true potential, then they'll likely never even reach the modest goals they set for themselves for fear of having to push themselves farther.

Nadal Losing

For most people, they don't quite understand what happend today. Rafael Nadal, who was thought to be unbeatable on clay, lost to a relatively unknown player. Most people would take this as a lesson teaching young children that "Anything is possible!". The way I look at it is different. In reality, Nadal had to lose eventually. Unless he retired beforehand which may be 10 years from now, he eventually had to lose at the French Open. What I take out of it is that things will happen at completely unexpected times. Personally I wanted Nadal to lose so Federer can win the French Open. My point is that you may have to wait a long time for something wonderful to happen or for a chance of a lifetime, but when opportunity strikes, you have to be ready to capitalize on that chance. It's a lesson I myself need to learn as much as anybody else.

Impact

So I've always wondered if I would ever be remembered. Usually when people graduate high school they leave and in a few years nobody remembers them. I put a lot of work into a lot of things in high school but I always wondered if it would mean anything. In 7th grade, our tennis program was a complete joke and although I had a lot of help from some parents and community members, I spearheaded the student effort to make it decent and the program went from 2 wins my 7th grade year to 12 my senior year along with 3 all-conference players. I assumed that after my senior year and the 4 other seniors left the team that the program would be horrible again. Well, I was wrong. The team went 7 and 7 and each players had an individual record around .500. When I came back to watch a match, all the younger kids acted as if Santa had showed up and parents I had never met before came up to talk to me. One boy I swear I had never seen before not only knew my name but had my shoes and walked around the court with the same mannerism as me. I made a joke about it to my friend Libby and she replied that the kid probably looks up to me. I laughed but then I started to think. The things I do really do have a big impact. The same thing was similar with band to a far lesser extent. Many of the younger kids who drove me nuts in Patriots sectional all added my on facebook and have messaged me several times. Maybe too many times. Although when I come back to high school I may be forgotten whenever there's a party or other social gathering, at least I'm remembered for things that I really care about.

Freshmen year

It's hard to believe freshmen year is already over. When I was moving all my stuff out of my room, I remembered the beginning of the year when I moved everything into my old room and how it seemed like it had just happend last week. My parents were there, the weather was warm, and we had to carry everything up and down several flights of stairs. I feel like I grew a lot my first year of college. I didn't learn as many things in the class room as I expected, but I learned far more than I ever thought I could outside of the classroom. In high school, especially the early years of high school, my people skills were lacking to the say the least. I rarely talked and when I didn't I often inadvertently offended someone. Although I still have work to do, I'm now comfortable in nearly all social situations and usually don't offend people as often anymore. The last weekend of tennis was crazy. Losing 5-4 in a 5 hour match with Luther and all I can say is those guys are assholes. Thankfully, I beat 4 of them in the next 2 days while winning the conference tournament. I will try to blog more often but no promises. I know so many people read these......

Whirlwind

Who knew college would be this exhausting? I don't have a problem getting anything done, but once I'm done, I become either anti-social or just fall asleep. I just can't seem to catch. Anyway, Thursday was FLUNK DAY meaning classing were canceled and the school just threw a huge party. It was amazing. I almost got written up by security because I was looking at a library shelf where all the books were knocked off of and security showed up and obviously thought it was me. I got the hell out of there haha. Anyway I didn't have to go to Michigan with tennis because I wasn't going to play and coach told me to stay at Coe and have fun so that was awesome. Today I experienced walking in high heels while raising money for charity. Long story. So I suck at blogging but nobody reads these so who cares huh? Peace

Birthdays

So today is indeed my birthday and birthdays have always been a weird days for me. In high school, I don't know that I ever really enjoyed my birthday in high school, for various reasons that are no longer important. But this year so far has been different. Because we didn't have classes today because of student symposium(whatever that is), I began celebrating last night. Basically I decided I was going to use this date to bring everyone I know together. In other words I threw a huge party. I bought a giant cookie that says "Happy Birthday JR!" and some of my favorite beverages. I think birthdays are more about the people I care about then myself. Personally, I enjoyed having everyone having a great time on Tuesday night more than I've ever enjoyed receiving a birthday present. For me, it's not about me.

Tennis weekend

So I'm sleeping on the window ledge right now because were  out of beds. hahahaha. Tomorrow I have a match and one a noon and then I have to quick drive back to Coe by 8 to play in a band concert. Sunday, match at noon, band concert again at 4. So basically no fun and no homework will get done this weekend. Its all good though

Small Colleges

So I knew that inevitably, being at a small college would produce drama. Well it has happens. Currently some of my friends are in a state of panic and it's kind of getting old, like a week ago. Anyway I just owned my bio test this morning(I was studying Saturday night so I didn't have to listen to people) and my CAP(College Adjustment Peer) interview is tomorrow. Also I got formal all figured out. Slowly, I'm starting to knock things off my massive to-do list. Good work JR

My year

So this semester has flown by and I realized I don't really have plans for this summer. My original idea has most likely fallen through so I will probably spend most of the summer at home and hopefully I will find a job. Also, my hope of becoming a college adjustment peer at the beginning of next year most likely will not happen because I got written up Friday night. Ridiculous I know. Also, this school year is just a crazy mess until the end. I spend 2 weekends away from Coe for tennis, one of which I have a 12 page research paper and project due that Monday. I have a large fraternity harm reduction report to send to nationals which is due just after finals week. I don't have a date to our formal because people are either out of town, already asked, or have various other reasons they don't want to go. On top of all this, I still want to have some fun. A daunting task indeed, but, I'm Jon Roger, I'll figure it out.

Been Slacking

My bad guys. I've been neglecting my blog. Life's been a little crazy lately. I just got back from spring break in Florida and now my hair is blonde. At least it's getting a lot of laughs. I came back to Coe with a lot of homework that I don't want to do in the first couple of days. Overall things are going well but there are some things that are stressing me out. For the first time in awhile, I'm not entirely enjoying tennis. It just sucks to watch all the time when you know you're almost or as good as the players playing but the coaches will never put you in. Also, girls are confusing. Enough send. Night folks