Communication

        When I was in seventh grade I was one of the quietest kids in school. I didn't say hi to anybody other than my close friends and I was never one of the social butterflies. I was just shy Shyla. My dad noticed this and he told me that I needed to break this shell of mine. He told me that every single day I had to talk to five new  people at my junior high school. When he told me this I was so scared! I thought he was crazy and I dreaded going to school that day.
        The first day it was all I could think about. Finally, I saw some kids in my class that I didn't know and I approached them. Obviously, it was not as scary as I thought it would be and by the end of the week I was so happy. I could talk to a kid without looking down or mumbling.
       I am very grateful to this day that my dad made me do that little "exercise" of his. Not only did this allow me to grow socially with kids, but it gave me a boost when talking to adults too. With this new club of ours, I am dealing with working adults all of the time. Every month we plan at least two or three events. So I pick up the phone, dial a company, and work out the schedule with them. I am so comfortable talking with them now. I have to be confident, clear, and "I gotta sell it." If I get them interested in us, then the event will go much smoother since they appreciate our help.
        I think communicating with adults and teens will benefit anything that I pursue in the future.

Watching the Pros

         Recently I went to Maui, Hawaii and I had the privilege to attend and follow the professional golfers at the SBS golf tournament. Alot of pros including Paul Casey, Ogilvy, Kenny Perry, Reteif Goosen, Stewart Cink and many more played some awesome golf. It was an amazing experience to watch these guys kill in such a tough sport! To get so good and to be so precise and powerful almost EVERY shot just blows my mind. I watched them hit a tiny white ball 280 yards (almost three football fields) and knock it right next to the pin.

         My dad entered the Professional-Amateur tournament which was the day before the pros played on tv. This tournament gave the amateurs (my dad) a chance to pick one of the pros that was playing in the real tournament and to play a round of golf with them. They did call it a tournament but they didn't follow the normal match rules so it would be more fun for the higher scoring amateurs. Anyways, my dad picked Pat Perez. He had a lot of fun with Pat who is an awesome golfer. He is one of the long ball hitters out there and  it was killer to watch him crush the ball.

        Like any sport, pros do make mistakes (but rarely haha). On the eighteenth green Sean O'Hair had a shot into the green and he needed to land it close and make the putt for birdie. If he made birdie, he would tie with first place and have a chance to make the playoffs. He ended up hooking the ball right into the hazards. I felt so bad for him because I know exactly how he felt when I hit a shot on 18 that totally threw my score down the drain. (Well maybe not as badly since I wasn't playing in front of hundreds of fans and national television.) It was the nerves that got to him. I guess the professionals are human after all.

      This will definitely be an experience that I won't forget.

CC December Events

                    This has been such a fun month for Comanches Care. For our December month, we volunteered at the Special Olympics Floor Hockey Tournament. It was an amazing experience and I really cannot wait to volunteer for them again. Our jobs were to be the timers and the scorekeepers. We also took down all of the players' stats. Anyways, once we set up the boundaries and goals, the teams began to arrive. The players ranged from high school kids to adults and every single one had a smile and a great attitude. They were so excited and ready to play. I was amazed at how much heart they had. They gave 100% in every play and pass. I could see them encouraging their teammates and working together. Their coaches were pretty amazing people as well. They really care about their players and treat them all like their own kids. The Special Olympics Association did an amazing job with the tournament and I am sooo glad I went.
                

CIF Southern Section Champs

http://www.ocvarsity.com/sports/comanches-17736-cif-cypress.html    

This week our golf team took first place at CIF. We played at El Prado, the Butterfield side. It was such an amazing day. Our team shot a 372 to win by three strokes. I personally did not play as well as I wanted to but I made sure to keep my head up and in the game. I started out really well with mostly pars and the occasional bogey. Then I stumbled across a rough patch in my round. In the past, when my round starts to head downhill, my attitude would go down along with it. This time, I stomped those thoughts right out of my head and marched on to the final four holes. I ended parring all of them except a bogie on the second to last hole.

      After counting my score, I realized that I hadn't played the game I wanted but I did "think" the way I wanted to. When I met up with my team and we added our total, my stomach turned over! Three strokes...that is not a very big number to win by.

Homecoming Game '09

       I just got home from our homecoming football game. We almost won!  So basically it was a pretty slow start. By the  end of the third quarter, it was 0-21. We were all pretty bummed and ready to go home. Then, our quarterback launched a 50 yard pass to our amazing receiver and he scored our first touchdown! That brought life into the crowd and we were so excited.

      We managed to score another touchdown before the clock ran out. Even though we didn't win, the score was still respectable. I had a lot of fun sitting with my friends too. I love high school football games!!

Motivating My Peers

       My sister and I are in charge of this club at our school called Comanches Care. It gives a chance for Varsity athletes to donate their time and to volunteer for our community. Right now we are in the process of organizing our first event and basically getting the ball rolling. We have been working very hard on this project of ours. However, there is (was actually) one of the members of our board who was not pulling his own weight. He wanted to be a part of our board so he could "improve his resume." I want to run this club for the benefit of volunteering and giving back.
        After constantly pestering him to get a move on, I finally told him that there were plenty of other students who would willingly take his position and actually work and do their job. Finally, after he realized that his position could be taken away from him, he promised me he would work harder. I was so pleased with this new motivated board member. I am really excited for this upcoming month. My goal for the end of the month is to have our first event up and running.

Commemorating 9-11

       Tonight, we went to a nearby park to pay tribute to the lives lost in the tragic event of 9-11 and to those who risked their own lives to save others. The theme was "neighbor to neighbor." They had some speakers relate to us their experience during the day of September 11, 2001. After the speeches, we listened to some songs performed by a young choir group. They were all dressed up in their red, white, and blue outifits. So cute!
     Then, everyone lit their candles shedding a warm glow around the park. It was a very warming ceremony.

OC Register Link - Moments of Remembrance