Ultimate Frisbee Club

Although I am generally considered a tennis player, what most people don't know about me is that I am an avid ultimate frisbee player. I played a lot over the last few years sort of just leisurely, and increasingly often since this past summer. My best friends just created the AHS Ultimate Frisbee Club! So now we have a competetive team for the high school and we have been practicing diligently and we are pumped to play Huffman an Kingwood's teams. A lot of people don't know how to play ultimate frisbee, well. Ultimate is a sport played with a 175 gram flying disc. The object of the game is to score points by passing the disc to a player in the opposing end zone, similar to an end zone in American football or rugby. Players may not run with the disc, and may only move one foot (pivot) while holding the disc. So it involves a lot of running and teamwork. It is a challenging and fun sport. It becomes very competitive and violent sometimes. It probably is perceived as a "man's sport".... well, it is. I am the only girl on the ultimate frisbee team. Most girls either don't have any desire to play, or just aren't good! Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I am actually better than a lot of the guys on the team! It makes me feel good to know that I'm not some althetic inferior to all the boys, I'm used to being the only girl... I've sort of always been one fo the guys! But not in a weird way. I like to look pretty and wear makeup and I think boys are cute, but I also like to play and get dirty and have fun, which is what I do in UFC!

"Kitty!"

One of my favorite movies of all time was on last night, Monsters Inc. It's an adorable movie that is appropriate and enjoyable for all ages. The whole time I was watching I felt all warm and fuzzy inside! It is incredible watching these Pixar movies, the artistic ability and creativity is unbelievable. I sit there in awe, partially because I am amused, and partially because I have hopes and aspirations to someday work for Pixar. Pixar itself has taught me that these big dreams are not unattainable.

Bah Humbug!

My precious boyfriend called me right after school yesterday, so excited because he had just been informed that he got the lead role in his next school play, A Christmas Carol. Although in reality, he is not a grumpy old man, I know he will play the part of Ebeneezer Scrooge perfectly. I would like to consider myself one of Hargrave High School Theatre's biggest fans, considering I go to see John in every play, and usually more than once. I am so happy for him and can not wait to see him with such a huge role that he truly deserves! Congrats John!

The Dog Ate My Homework

I am starting to really stress out because all of my homework is piling up! It's hard to get it done when I have 95 other things going on in a day. Not to mention college applications and essays too! I don't even know how to maintain a social life anymore. What teachers don't realize when they assign us this surplus of homework assignments is that we have 6 other classes and a life outside of school! I work hard in school, and then I come home from school, and I still do school work! Sometimes I just want to relax and spend time with my family or my friends.

Surprise

This past Saturday my boyfriend asked me to come over for dinner with his family. When I arrived at his house it was completely quiet and empty, I was so confused! He told me to follow him upstairs and out onto the balcony, where he had this lovely little romantic dinner set up that he cooked for me himself! It was the sweetest thing anyone had ever done for me and I felt so special. It was also supposed to be the date of his homecoming, which he didn't want to go to. So instead we danced on his balcony at night to some Michael Buble, surrounded by christmas lights and nature. It is definitely one of my fondest memories.

The Little One

This is my best friend, Emily Wyble. She is approximately 4 feet and 11 inches tall. She is the cutest little thing in the whole wide world and the funniest and sweetest person I know. She may be small, but she has such a big heart! She is always very loving and caring. We have so much fun together and hopefully next year we will be roommates in our dorm at ATM!

NOT Homecoming!

Instead of spending our money on lame dresses and tickets to the dance where we would only go for maybe an hour, a group of my friends and myself decided to do our own thing this year for homecoming. We went out to dinner and took a few pictures, but after that we ran around outside playing fugitive, hide and seek, and sardines. We had so much fun! We didn't drink, or have a wild party, we took the road less-traveled and had the best "homecoming" ever because we were spending time together and having a blast doing it.

Tobias Fünke

One sunday night I was in bed soundly asleep to the sound of a storm outside. Despite the roaring thunder and pouring rain, there was a weak mewing sound coming from outside our back door. Much to my surprise, the tiniest, little, orange, stray kitten was wandering around our back porch. It was much too small and too cute to leave out in the bad weather, so we took the kitten in and named him Tobias Fünke, or Toby. Everyone knows once you name an animal it's yours! So he's grown up quite a bit since then and is quite the character. This little ball of love has offered a lot of laughter and brightness to many of my days and I quite like him!

Purple Envelope

I normally never get mail, but a few days ago my mother called my name after checking the mailbox and announced that I had something! I was surprised, and excited to see the little purple envelope with my name neatly written across the front of it. I saw in the top left corner a sticker that had the name and address of my boyfriend's family. I opened the envelope quickly and took out a folded piece of purple paper. It had a drawing of a person, which my boyfriend's brother drew who is 10. I smiled and opened up the card, and it was a hand-written note from his mom, Miss Lena. She was just expressing how she is thankful for me and happy that I am in her family's life. And next to the writing was a chick fil a gift card. Such a small and simple little thing meant the world to me and made me so happy and it inspired me to do things like that for other people!

College

I've waited 12 years to finally be a senior in high school, and now that it's here I'm scared to death. Imagining myself a year from now, leaving my home of 14 years and going to a new school with new friends, teachers, and a new lifestyle is unnerving. And the worst part of it all is I have no idea where I am going! I have to complete college applications, college essays, transcripts, scholarships applications, the list is endless. But even in the midst of all the craziness I know that there is a God much bigger than me who is working things out and planning my future for me. So even though I am nervous and scared, I have peace and comfort in knowing that He will work everything together for my own good and I am so excited to see what that plan is and to go off to college!

Boyf.

This is my precious boyfriend, John. He is 17 and goes to Hargrave High School. We met in 7th grade at one of our mutual friends' birthday party. He is the most fantastic, most beautiful person inside and out that I know on this earth. He is brilliant, funny, and charming. He is such a gentleman and I love that about him. He is incredibly patient, selfless, giving, caring, gentle, and forgiving. He is the cutest and best boyfriend in the world, but sorry girls... he's mine!

National Honor Society President

This year, I was accepted into the membership of National Honor Society. I also was elected to serve on the executive committee as the Publicist. It was a fantastic honor and a great learning experience. It personally has been one of the best high school experiences I have had. Not only do I feel like I am bettering myself as a person, but I am also contributing to the society and it feels good to give back. I recently gave a speech and ran for next year's president and was lucky enough to be elected! I was and am so overly enthralled and can't wait to lead such an immensely talented group of students. Our previous presidents have done very well and it will be a hard act to follow, but I am not at all hesitant or dubious as to my potential. I am confident that I will do my best and and work hard to make it a successful year. Tonight I am conducting my very first executive committee meeting which I have created the agenda for. I am a little nervous, and SO excited!

Budget Cuts Cut Deep

Below is a letter that I wrote to the superintendent of Humble ISD and the board of trustees as well as our principle here at AHS several months ago. Following this letter I conversed with Guy Sconzo, Dan Huberty, and attended the rally in austin.

Hello All,

My name is Karly Lewison, and I am a junior at Atascocita High. I am a National Honor Society officer, and I play varsity tennis. At the end of every day, I look forward to a productive and enjoyable practice. Now I have left practices before in tears from losing matches, or from physical pain. But today I left our team meeting in tears for a reason that I had never before encountered.

As my team and I all settled down in our conference room, the head coach, Ruben Canales, explained to us that our assistant coach, Taylor McClain was not there because he was in a meeting with the school board regarding the budget cut his employment at AHS for next year. Immediately the room felt uneasy and heavy and I felt the need to express to you all, exactly why this situation brought upon such overwhelming feelings for all of us.

The tennis team took a huge hit at the beginning of the school year when our previous assistant coach, Tim Hurlbert, told us that he would no longer be coaching. We were losing a great coach and we knew this. I personally resented our replacement coach, before I even knew him. I felt like no one could replace Hurlbert, and I wouldn't allow myself to like the new guy. But I was soon proven wrong. I have never felt before that a teacher or coach was so personally invested in my well-being, and I speak on behalf of my whole team.

 Coach McClain is so much more than just a tennis coach. He takes the time to learn my strengths and weaknesses as a tennis player, and as a person. He has stayed after our after-school-practices multiple times to practice with me and other teammates, even when I'm sure that he's exhausted from a long day's work. When playing a match and I feel like I've already lost, McClain is the one on the sidelines cheering me on and encouraging me, giving me the push I need to keep going. He bakes us cakes and brings us donuts, just because(and always makes us run it off afterwards!). McClain has given me advice with social issues, and calmed me down when school became overwhelming. He helps me to deal with the stress that consumes my junior year. Coach McClain gives me books to take home and read, we discuss politics, education, movies, and music. We share an interest in writing, and he suggests pieces for me to find, and also encourages me to send him my own work to give me critiques and guidance. I have endowed the trust in him to discuss my hopes for college and a career.  When I come to the tennis office every day, I feel like it is one of few places that I can lay my burdens down and express myself, because he is always there to listen to me. Coach McClain is so unbelievably caring, selfless and wise. He is fun, but disciplinary and holds so much of our respect.

Before McClain came to AHS, he was a golf pro. He told me that he has always wanted to be an english teacher, and it wasn't until now that he has decided to pursue that. He didn't come here in search of an easy salary and summers off. He came to AHS because he loves to teach. He tells me every day how much he loves his job. It should be our honor to have teachers like him! Coach McClain's students walk by the tennis courts every day, and yell out "Hey Mr. McClain!" and I see the big smile on his face as he waves back at them. As a student, I care about my time and my learning. There are countless teachers here in Humble ISD who I feel have little credibility, terrible teaching styles, and some who don't even know my name by the 5th six weeks marking period, but yet are guaranteed a job next year. So presumably, you can detect why this hit home for me. Teachers who love their job make better teachers and I urge you to take it from a student's perspective. 

So I ask you, how can you expect your students at Atascocita High School to "learn for life through Rigor, Relevance, and Relationships" if we don't have proper guidance? Especially if our administration is willing to cut one of the most qualified teachers in our school, because it is their first year here and I assume this applies to several others as well. Hopefully you will reconsider your decisions, I would be more than happy to meet with you all personally and I know the same applies for many of my teammates and our parents. I've always believed that is it best to lead by example, and that's how students are successfully impacted, by having someone to look up to. I definitely look up to Taylor McClain. Not even a budget cut can take away the experiences we have shared as a team this year, and hopefully it won't take away the best thing this team has had, Coach McClain.

"My goal is not to turn you all into great tennis players, it's to turn you into great people." -Taylor McClain

Thank you so much for your time and consideration,

Karly Lewison

Friday the 13th

Just last week I was riding in a car with a group of friends and I was just singing and talking until my friend turned around and was making it obvious to me that he was holding his breath. I wasn't really sure why until he dramatically pointed to the cemetery we were passing. I'm not an especially superstitious person. I enjoy the thrill and excitement of being scared. The idea of superstition is not really based on any logic or reason. I think it's silly, so I turn it into something fun! :)

Prom 2011

Although I am currently a junior, a majority of my closest friends are seniors, so this year I attended prom. In the picture above is my best friend, Ifeoma Osadebe. She is the main person who encouraged me to go to prom with the group. As the months and weeks dwindled down I was nervous and excited that the date finally arrived. I didn't want to build up the weekend for it only to be a disappointment. But that wasn't at all an issue. I proudly went with a fantastic group of friends who did not participate in any drinking or drugs, and we had the time of our lives. Everyone looked so beautiful and handsome, and we had a ton of fun throughout the weekend at our lake house! I met new people and rekindled friendships with old. It made me realize that I'm fortunate to have such wonderful people surrounding me, and I am extremely sad that I'm not a senior as well because I will miss them all so much next year!

A Girl's Best Friend

This is Alex Hoffpauir, we've known each other and been best friends since 6th grade. What I like the most about her and our friendship is the sillyness. We're always goofy and don't care what other people think, we just have fun and that's why I love her. Every girl appreciates a wonderful best friend. :)

AHS Lip Dub

On Friday, April 29th at Atascocita High School we recorded our first Lip Dub involving every student in the school by showcasing all of our clubs, organizations, students, sports, etc. It was focused on welcoming the incoming freshman and making them feel comfortable as they enter a new campus.  I think it will encourage them because it makes our school look huge and fun! They will be excited to be a part of our school. The Lip Dub turned out to be a huge success, it unified the whole school and we had a lot of fun. :)

Introduction

As an extremely busy high school student, I am constantly finishing homework assignments, beginning projects, attending meetings, practices, events, you name it. Barely catching up on sleep, I have realized that all of these things distract from the simplistic beauty of life around me. I will use this blog to take time for myself, and explore my immediate, everyday surroundings that I so often take for granted and would hardly even notice. Enjoy!