STEVE JOBS

On February 24th of 1955, Steven Paul Jobs was born in San Francisco, California. His parents were unwed college graduates, and decided that it was best to have him adopted. Paul and Clara Jobs, a lower-middle-class couple from the Bay Area adopted Steve. It’s crazy to think that a boy who grew up in apricot orchards is now one of the most successful people in the world. I am only going to focus on a couple of his main successes, the first Apple computer, Macintosh, and the iPod revolution.

Growing up he was fascinated by the engineers who would fill their garages with electronic devices, and in 1969, he became friends with a “computer wiz kid” named Stephen Wozniak (Woz). They worked together to make a computer board, and Woz had the idea of designing his own computer which they soon after sold. The first Apple Computer had been born. During Apple’s first years, they worked hard and made a more improved computer called the “Apple II” which they finished in 1977. This was the most advanced computer in the market, and Mike Markkula saw the potential in it. He invested $250,000 in their business and predicted that they would make at least $500,000 in less than two years. Mike was right, but it didn’t stop at $500,000. People continued to buy the Apple II, and on December 1980, Steve Jobs’ net worth passed $200 million-he was only 25.

Soon after the release of the “Lisa Computer” he was thrown out of the project because he was too temperamental for a manager. He decided to take revenge by starting a little project called Macintosh. Its development started in 1979 with the motto “a computer as easy to use as a toaster.” He recruited brilliant engineers to his Mac team and called them “pirates” as part of the rebellion. In January of 1984 he introduced Macintosh. The Mac’s first months had them encouraged, but as time when on sales started to drop. The Apple team started to become annoyed with Jobs’ arrogance and so they moved him to remain only as chairman of the board. While he was gone the company continued to plummet and they new they needed him back to make an improved Mac. 10 years later Steve Jobs was back at Apple, and soon after he introduced the iMac. This brought the company back to greatness, and in January 2000 he became the CEO of Apple.

From then on it only got better for Steve Jobs. In early 2001 he began working on Apple’s first MP3 player, which came out just in time for the holiday season that same year. It was a great success because of its amazing design, brilliant user interface, and the ability to connect and sync with iTunes. Because of this, people started buying Macs just so they could use the small portable iPod. In 2002 they opened the iTunes Music Store, and in 2003 they developed a Windows version. The iPod’s market share was close to 75%. Each year Apple continues to come out with a better version of the iPod, making it smaller and easier to use.

Steve Jobs is an extraordinary man. With no college education, he left his mark on more than five industries: the Apple II, Macintosh, iPod, iTunes, iPhone, and his animation with Pixar. (which I didn’t talk about) Even though he was kicked out of his own company, he came back and turned it into one of the world’s most successful companies. He never gave up, and never will.

Feeling of Accomplishment!

When I entered into the "Teen Ink" writing contest for honors english, I didn't think much of it. I posted my story, and saw that there was also a photography section as well. Since I had taken photography with Mr. Nolan last semester, I pulled up some of my best photos and posted them on the website as well. A few days later, I was checking my email when I saw an email from "Teen Ink." It said that people had been commenting on my picture, so I quickly clicked on the link. It was exciting to see that kids from across the U.S. were commenting on my picture, and telling me how much they liked it. Even though I haven't won anything, that alone is enough for me. Knowing that people are looking at my pictures, and taking the time to write comments and rate them, is the biggest feeling of accomplishment that I could have.

The SBO's definitely have fun at games...:)

Some people ask, “Isn’t it boring going to all of the school games?” I always respond saying, “No way.” The officers are definitely obligated to be responsible, and to do well academically, but that doesn’t mean we don’t like to have fun. No matter where we are, we always find something new to entertain us.

When we board onto the school bus with the team, I often worry, because I never know what kind of trouble we’ll get into. 99% of the time we are well behaved, responsible, and on-task. It’s just the other 1% of the time when we are irresponsible. At the last game we heard a boy say, “Hey look! If you buy an orange juice you can hit the button multiple times and two will come out!” This caused a lot of commotion as the students, and officers, went to go buy some orange juice. Next thing you know we were all carrying two bottles of orange juice in our hands unsure what to do with it all. Since we didn’t need a never-ending supply of orange juice, many students lucked out in receiving a free orange juice from the charitable officers.

What I’m most excited to tell you about is our lovely prank, which I must say, was very clever. We thought of a plan at the beginning of the game, and all we had to do was wait for an opportunity to execute it. You are probably wondering what the plan was, so now, I will tell you. Our plan was to start counting down “5..4..3..2..1” like the usual routine at any other game, but this time we would start counting down when there were still 20 seconds left. Obviously, we would only do this if the opposing team had the ball.

The game continued, and as the end of the fourth quarter drew closer, we became even more excited. The timer was at 25 seconds when the other team got the ball, and dribbled it to their side of the court. At 20 seconds we started counting down, and the player on the other team believed us! She threw the ball from the half-court line resulting in a complete air ball. After that the crowd laughed, our team laughed, and the other team laughed as well. It seemed as if everyone was laughing except for the player who was shooting the ball. It was a great way to end the game, and also another great memory for us officers to remember forever.

Valentine's Day..??

Ah.. the day of love, of romance, of celebration for anyone who is in love.. this oh-so-lovely day my friends is called "Valentine's Day." While a kid, you have big parties and celebrations at school to celebrate this holiday, but now that is not really the case. Don't you remember making the little "mailboxes" so the other students in your class could deliver you a valentine's card?..Staying up late the night before filling out each card with a different name?...Making crafty projects with red and pink card stock? Coming home with backpacks filled to the point where zipping the bag was an impossible task? These are the things I remember from my past Valentine's Day experiences.

Once in junior high, there weren't parties or card stock projects, it was just a normal day, with normal projects, and normal homework. Let me tell you that I'm glad my elementary days are over, but I do miss the holidays where we would do nothing other than party at school. Something else that happened the minute I got into junior high was the pressure for "liking someone." Whether It was announcements, fundraisers, or school dances, it seemed like everyone was asking at least 5 times a day "Who do you like?" Being an innocent little seventh grader, I had crushes but didn't really like anyone, which shocked my friends. The annoying questions day after day got even worse in the eighth grade, but it didn't stop there either. Why everyone can't mind their own business, I don't know! I think everyone already know that everyone is bound to have a crush on someone, so why can't we leave it at that? That is beside the point, but back to Valentine's Day.

So yes, Valentine's Day in junior high is not the funnest. It is just a day of awkwardness as silly people around you hand each other candy and teddy bears. At the dance, intimidated kids stand around hoping that someone will ask them to dance so their day can be complete and they can have the moment they've always wished for.

The only thing I love about Valentine's Day is the family parties we have. We have fondue with strawberries, bananas, and quite honestly anything you can cover in chocolate. We "celebrate" by watching a movie or getting out the apple cider to toast on how much we love each other. Really this is what makes valentines day special for me. I don't care if I get any candy-grams or if anyone asks me to dance, because that really doesn't matter.

Now I am going to quote a friend. When asked, "What do you love about Valentine's Day?" she replied, "I love valentine's day because I get to love everyone!" and now, that is my new motto. haha:)

Poem Contest Entry:

Once a kid just having fun,
Now facing paths that I must run.
Which one is best for me?
Who am I going to be?

So far I’ve been a busy bee,
Just ask my parents, they’d agree.
When I start to feel run-down,
I give a smile and ditch the frown.

Trying hard to be my best,
Realizing that I am blessed.
I think, “Why should I complain?”
When half of our world is in so much pain,

So instead of going with my friends,
I get out paper and some pens.
Sitting down and doing schoolwork,
They just say that I’m berserk.

They may think that they are right,
But I know that my futures bright.
There will be cheers and also tears,
As I go throughout the years.

Will someone pick me off my feet?
Or will my life be incomplete?
These are questions that I ponder,
As I continue to run and wander.

Each new day is a blast,
But time is going by too fast.
Coming toward the intersection,
With so many different directions,

But in the end I know who I am,
And that I’m doing the best I can.
For that’s all that really matters,
During life and all its chatter.

Half Marathon...No Big Deal! :)

A couple weeks ago I came home from running when my mom confronted me saying "I have an idea!" I asked her what that great idea was, and come to find out, she was lacking someone to do a half marathon with. I debated whether I should take this huge challenge upon me, or if I should just say "Sorry! Find someone else to do it with!" Later that night I came to the conclusion that I wanted to take the challenge to do a half marathon. For the next couple of days we made the training schedules, and hung them up on our walls. I was excited, but also very nervous for what laid ahead. The first week went pretty well, but with dance, schoolwork, church responsibilities, and piano, I wasn't sure how I was going to continue to proceed with this difficult training. This last week was my second week on the training program, and I felt like it went by better than the first. Your probably wondering what the training program is, so I'll take a minute to explain it. What it pretty much comes down to is 4 times a week of running. You run 3-5 miles during the week, and then on Saturday you have a long run. The long runs get longer every week until you hit 13 miles. Right now 5 miles is pushing my limits, but I know that if I stay dedicated and try my hardest, I will be able to do it. It's cool to see how being consistent and running regularly gives you more endurance. Before I started training I could only run 2 miles without falling over dead after. Now I am running more than 4 miles on a regular basis. I know It is only going to get harder, but I am only going to get better!

I love technology....

I just thought I would dedicate this lovely little entry to an experience I had earlier today. I previously spent many hours trying to understand the book "A Tale of Two Cities" and had finally said "I understand It." It took a while for that line to come out of my mouth, but once it did, I felt very good. The process of coming to understand the book consisted of many sticky notes, and help from other resources. My book is now covered in sticky notes that will stay there until I turn in my book. Soon after finishing my reading, I started writing a lovely post on my discussion board that I felt very proud of. I probably spent a good 20-30 minutes on it, contemplating and making sure it was close to being accurate. As I finished typing that last wonderful line, my hand wandered to some key on the keyboard I never knew even existed. Why would they ever make a key that exits you out of a page you are working on? I don't know why they did invent that key, but they did, and I hit it. I kept hitting the back button, and refresh button trying to retrieve the words I had spent so much effort in typing, but it was too late. I went and told my parents hoping that they could fix my problem, but I didn't think that would be possible. My dad came over too see if maybe by some miracle he could get the page back, but my lovely little brother had completely logged out of my account on the computer, and was now playing a brainwashing game. This was how my lovely Sunday morning came to a start! :)