Men's volleyball

Today, like all Sundays, I played volleyball. We had 6 guys show up (and 2 coaches). First we played 3 versus 3. We also rotated every time the ball got hit over the net. Doing this made every keep on their toes, and be able to play all the positions in a short amount of time. Also, since we had only 3 people per side, it was very hard to receive balls. After about a half hour of this, we got going on a real game.

We were playing on the other side of the curtain as some girls. They were in 8th grade, but had played for much longer than any of us. Also, they had a very strict coach. It was funny when we got a point, and they walked back to their positions with their heads hanging down. Their coach yelled at them, saying that they have to keep happy and energetic and awake. Meanwhile, the guys were joking around clicking our heels like the old men on movies did.

The girls were pretty good, but you could tell that they weren't worried about volleyball skill for a lot of the practice. This is because after every play, they would yell 1-2-3 and clap. Also, when they got an ace, they had a little cheer/chant that they did. It is obvious that the coaches had them do this to keep their spirits up, no matter how the game was going. I noticed that it is a lot like what the softball players in little league do.

Because the girls were doing this odd thing that we had never seen, we were all taken aback. After a few points, we started to do our own thing. When we got a point because of a spike, we would jump up and click our heels. When we got a point because of an error the other team made, we would do a fist pump. Finally, when we lost a point, we would hang our heads down dramatically (opposite of what the girls were supposed to be doing). Needless to say, we had a good time.

Another funny thing that we did was stall the game. Our coach's son, who plays with me, had the serve. His mom blew the whistle, and he started doing tricks with the volleyball (like spinning it around his body). She started counting down, because there is a time limit (though not strictly enforced). He stalled for as long as he could, until he had to serve. When he hit the ball, he hit with only his finger tips, which made him miss horribly. Nobody said much except me, who laughed, clapped, and gave him a high five.

We won our first game, to 25 by a wide margin. This gave the girls time to adjust to the sky-high net. The second game went down to the last points. They were ahead 14-13, and we were playing to 15. A few bad bumps quickly gave them a win.

Calcium

Calcium. Good, right? Most vitamins have no significant downside, or if they do they must be taken in very large amounts (I have heard of the deterioration of skin, but maybe that is completely crazy). Unfortunately for me, I had a bad experience with calcium.

My dad and I (who share most of the same moles... weird right?) both had an annoying mole, and though it wasn't horribly huge or gross, he decided that we could get them taken off.

We went to a skin doctor, who my dad liked (I'm not sure why he went there in the first place, but I'm not sure I want to question). The old guy was very nice and funny, and also painted the pictures that hung around the office.

After getting our moles taken off, which was a very easy and quick procedure, I asked about a lump that I had on my shoulder. I didn't remember it always being there, but I supposed that it could have been. Also, I explained how it felt like there was a little black (I could barely see it) hard pebble in my skin. I could squeeze it around a little, but it would start to hurt, so I would discontinue.

He wasn't sure what it was, but he said that he would take it out. After taking it out, and coming back for a return visit, he told me that it was a deposit of calcium. He said that it wasn't a problem to worry about, and left it as is.

Taking it out wasn't hard at all. I laid onto a medical bed thing (?) and he got to work. First, he gave me some shots around the calcium, which numbed the area. He then took a knife and cut into my skin around the calcium. I remember because I was watching, as my blood tickled my arm. Of course, the numbing worked very effectively. He then burnt my blood vessels, which stopped the blood from flowing. When the blood stopped (mostly), he stitched up my shoulder.

I didn't get much of a reaction, considering it was on my shoulder and not very visible. Some people did make comments, though. My brother said it looked like I got shot (but really, how would he know that?). But what he said made some sense. The bullet would go in, get pulled out, then stitched up. That is kind of like the calcium thing, right?

Now, I have a scar. It is probably only a centimeter by 3 centimeters. It is a light shade of pink and slightly bulges out (but not very noticeably). It is certainly nothing to brag about, but it may be a topic of attention. Of course, it would only get brought up if I was somewhere like a pool, and the people I were with got VERY bored.

Mysterious body parts

I was sick for three days in a row this week. During that time, or at least I think it was, I noticed a few things on my lower back. I didn't know what to call them, and I still don't, but I guess they might be considered bulges. But they weren't a goiter or tumor or anything, because I've seen them before. They are the two bumps that are directly above the buttocks (did that sound formal/doctoral or what?). I didn't know what they were, so I felt them. They felt kind of like muscle, I thought. This presented another question: How do I flex them? It must be true that all skeletal muscles can be flexed, but I couldn't figure out how to do it. After perhaps five minutes of bending my back and kicking my legs, I figured it out. They are above the butt because they are (kinda sorta) part of the butt.

This changed my view of this muscle, seeing that we guys are showing our butt to everyone at the swimming pool or beach. It wasn't a big problem to me; I didn't quite care, but it is still interesting. I wondered what other muscles could be extending further than I had thought. But then I threw up, and the moment was gone.

Scholarships

I wrote a brief autobiography for a potential scholarship. This is my first one, and I made it in maybe ten minutes while sick, but I think it turned out okay.

I wrote about my participation in German club, band, bowling, baseball, and volleyball. I also provided my ACT and GPA scores. By providing this information, I came up with the thesis that I would be a good college student.

I got an account for a few sites that help students in getting scholarships. They provide advice, links, and many scholarship opportunities. One that I went to even has its own scholarship.

Some scholarships given have very odd requirements. I've seen ones given only to openly gay or lesbian college hopefuls, Czech or Slovak ancestry, and even students who survived cancer (I think that is what it was, but it doesn't sound very practical).

Being an average health, Caucasian male doesn't help me any with scholarship opportunities. There are no scholarships that exclude a majority of people applying, but include me. Also, The scholarships that I can apply for are the ones that focus on academics. I have an okay GPA, and a pretty good ACT score, but they aren't anything substantially good.

I have a feeling that I will be getting a lot of student loans, and have to pay them off for a long time. I don't know how much money my parents are going to help me out with. It's true that my brother didn't go to college, but he got lots of other things like counseling that costs a lot. Also, it is hard for me to judge how much money my parents have. We have a pretty nice house (but not a huge, 3-story mansion), but my mom still insists on getting the cheap Hy-Vee brand cereal that tastes considerably worse, and the toilet paper that is much coarser than the soft stuff that costs ten cents more. On the other hand, the two big screen TVs (one never gets used) and recent remodeling of the whole upstairs says otherwise.

However long it takes, scholarships can always help. Also, the more I apply, the more I will get. Writing a good essay about myself is going to be my next step in trying to get scholarships. It is nice that they want only 300ish word essays, rather than 900-1200 (which is way too high, even for revised essays >:-(), so it shouldn't be too hard. Also I will need to find people who could write letters of recommendation.