This year I got offers from two different travel teams for lacrosse,this one of the hardest decisions I've had to make because it was picking my identity as a lacrosse player. One of the teams develops d1 lacrosse players.the other one was more based on having more fun  and thinking about d1 later.It is hard for me to talk about my identity as a student because I want to go to a prestigious university and I did not show that this year. I want to be a communications major and I am practicing my public speaking.

My inspiring community member is neko. Neko is the 7th/8th boys lacrosse and high school boys lacrosse coach and a Fort Lewis lacrosse player. I look up to Neko because he always has a drive to make his players better and is always showing the habit of heart and mind. One of the ways he shows respect is he always respects the team he’s playing, on the sideline, he meets the other team's coaches and players with respect. Neko shows effort by coming to all the tournaments and practices for all his high school and middle school athletes. How he shows refinement is he's always refining his players skills . Integrity because he became the middle school and high school coach even though he didn't have to.

During the second half of the year, I had a hard time respecting my group mates during the silk road. THis was because my teammates frustrated me sometimes but I worked through it and I was mostly respectful to them. I worked through it by looking at situation and seeing other peoples perspectives on the teammates that were annoying me.Outside of school, I had to play with Telluride LAx and this was hard for me to stay respectful because they were not nice and did not include me. I had to work through it and get them to like me. I did this by celebrating goals and a good play. I felt like the coaches did not like me at the beginning of the season, so I showed up to tournaments early and always tried my best. I did this instead of being disrespectful, which has been my tendency when people are not friendly to me right away. 

1. A way I showed integrity this year was when one of my peers needed help with social skills. I displayed integrity by keeping this work confidential and not telling anyone who I was helping or what I was doing. Keeping this privacy shows integrity because I didn’t gossip about it and make my friend feel embarrassed for needing some help. 

A time I didn’t show integrity at school was when I was working on the Beaver Project with my group. I didn’t help out that much and let my group do a majority of the work and didn’t show integrity because I didn’t do what was expected of me. After the project I felt bad because my group did a lot of work, and I didn’t do much work and I realized that they could have used my help throughout the project. 

Outside of school I have started to show integrity by always doing the drills that we are doing at lacrosse practice, even when my coach isn’t looking. Me and my teammates used to not pass or do ground ball drills when my coach wasn’t looking, and I was not always running the full warm up laps or trying my best in stretches. Now I always work my hardest at lacrosse and I am always doing what is expected of me, even when it is hard and not what I want to be doing. 

A way I showed effort this year was working really hard to make a model of the Greek Pantheon for the Silk Roads exhibition. I worked really hard to make a realistic model and make it look as good as I possibly could. My hard work led to compliments from my teachers, my classmates and my parents, and it felt good to know others recognized my hard work. I am really proud of myself and how it came out. 

One time I didn’t show effort was in Digital Media when we were making our Penguin sites. My partner and I  didn’t finish our work and didn’t put a lot of effort in because we didn’t give the project our full attention or effort and spent a lot of time talking and off task. We didn’t finish the website and this was because it wasn’t the best effort I could have put into the assignment. 

Outside of school, I put a lot of effort into lacrosse by practicing for at least 1 hour everyday, practicing 100 shots everyday, and doing a wall ball routine everyday. I decided to put a lot of effort into lacrosse because it is something I really love and want to be the best at. Putting effort into this will only make me better and reach my goal of being a D1 athlete. 

- to me refinement means to revisit your work and improve to make it better then before

A way I showed refinement this year was turning in a lot more of my work. I used to only turn in one assignment a week, and now I turn in almost every assignment. This shows refinement because it shows that I go back and check the homework guide to see what work is due, and then making sure I have those assignments done and ready to turn in. This refinement has led to me getting better grades. 

An assignment that shows refinement is my essay we wrote for the service learning project in Mrs.Nancy’s class. This assignment shows refinement because I worked really hard on it and I went to Mana and set up an interview with the leaders of the backpack project so that I had the correct information for my project and my essay. I also made sure to check my writing so that my information was correct and so that my writing was refined and professional. 

A time I didn’t show refinement outside of school was during dance season. I didn’t practice my dance outside of my lessons and didn’t work on refinening it before the recital. I only worked on my dance for an hour a week during class when I was supposed to also work on it outside of class and refine my skills and moves for the recital. Because of this lack of refinement, I didn’t do the best that I could have during my recital. 

A time I did show refinement outside of school was when I show up to lacrosse practice early to refine my technique and skills in defense, shooting, groundballs, faceoffs, and lots of other skills. Showing up early to practice these skills outside of the designated practice time shows refinement because I am putting in extra effort to practice and make myself the best player I can be. 

Group work at Mountain Middle School is important because our school is focused on Project Based Learning and this requires a lot of group work to do. We also are being taught important skills to make us the best people we can be by learning how to work with others, because you will have to work with others in high school, college, and at work for the rest of our lives. It is important for us to learn how to work in a group now so we can always thrive in group settings in the future. Some projects where we worked in groups are Earth Day Clean Up, Silk Roads Exhibition, Change the Story of Life Exhibition, Field Day, and so on. I think my group work went well and I was a valuable team member when I showed my best effort. 

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1. Ownership - This year in group work I had ups and downs with my groups. Sometimes I feel I did a little too much for my group, and other times I feel I did too little. Everytime I did too much or too little I took ownership for the work I did or didn’t do and wasn’t surprised if my grade reflected my effort. 

2. Helpfulness - I tried to help my groups as much as I could this year. It wasn’t always easy to do but I tried my best to be helpful. Sometimes I wish I could have helped my groups a little bit more, especially during the weekends when people would get together to work on the projects outside of class. It was hard to be helpful over the weekends since most of my weekends were busy and jam packed with lacrosse and other activities. 

3. Respect - This year I feel like I was really respectful to my groupmates. I took the time to listen to their ideas, I listened to their admirations, and I didn’t get into any fights or confrontations with my group members. 

omething I am proud of is my hard work on lacrosse this year and how much better I have gotten in such a short time. Another thing I am proud of is I am learning how to reflect and own my actions. This is something that will help me a lot moving forward, and reflection is the key to growth, so I am excited to see how I can grow. I have prepared to move onto the 8th grade by improving my skills for new competitors I will face on my travel team. I am ready to take on more responsibilities and be a part of planning things. I am excited to have a fresh start with my teachers and show them how hard I can work. I am ready to be the oldest in the school and be a role model for my friends in the grades below me. I am also ready to grow as an 8th grader in the habits of heart and mind and be the best person I can be. 

As you can see 7th grade was a football game. There were lots of ups and downs. But hey I made it though with stories to tell. My hard work and perseverance helped me get through the football game and figure out how my identity helps me succeed as an athlete and a student.