The most special woman in my life is my mom. Firstly, my mom is the most special woman in my life, because of all the things she does for me. My mom does so many things for me, which I greatly appreciate. She drives me to both school and swim practice, she shows up at every swim competition, plans out vacations and fun activities to do over the weekends, works hard to get food on our table and to get a roof over our head, and so many more things that really make a difference. Without her doing all of these things, my life wouldn’t’ be as special as it is. Furthermore, my mom is special to me, because she is super supportive. Out of all of her traits, I think that this is her best and most special one. As my mom, she is always encouraging me to do my best and stay positive. For example, she always wishes me good luck and cheers me on during my swim races. Even if I do bad, she is there to cheer me up and help me feel better. Finally, my mom is the most special woman in my life, because she helps me create great memories. A few specific memories that I always smile looking back on are when I go to the theater with her. Every once in a while, my mom takes me to the theater to see some plays. These nights make great memories I will never forget, because we can stay up late on school nights, have an awesome time enjoying the show, and most importantly, spending some quality time with her. These are only a few of the reasons why my mom is the most special woman in my life!

Hello. This week was week five of my 20% project. This week, I accomplished my last week of solving the Rubik’s Cube. Not only can I now confidently solve the Rubik’s Cube, but I can also confidently solve it with speed (somewhat). Although, I don’t see myself being a world record holder for the fastest time to solve the original three by three cube. This week, my average time to solve the Rubik’s Cube was around two minutes, which is a big accomplishment for me, since I started out at five minutes, then worked my way down to three minutes, and now I have dropped another minute in time to be able to solve the Rubik’s Cube in two minutes. I also accomplished recording a video of myself solving the Rubik’s Cube, which I will play in the background of my presentation, to prove that I have completed my goal of solving the Rubik’s Cube, and that I can solve it with both ease and speed. During this week, I had no struggles. Because I didn’t have any struggles, I have no adjustments to make. Next week, I will work on (and complete) my poster board and my presentation speaking points. Thank you for reading, and I’ll see you next week!

In the month of April, I read Allies, by Alan Gratz. This novel follows the journeys of six different characters during D-Day. D-Day was a battle fought in World War II. This battle was very significant in history, because it liberated France, which, in the long run, put an end to Nazi Germany taking over Europe. The Allied powers invaded France in order to push Nazi Germany and the rest of the Axis powers out of France and other countries that were under control of the Nazi’s. Luckily, the Allies were able to liberate France and several other countries, pushing Germany back to their original territory. In Allies, each of the six characters somehow contributed to the success of the Allied invasion. Dee Carpenter, an American soldier, rides on a small boat right up to the beaches of France. He spends a tireless day dodging bullets and mortars, so he can destroy Nazi bases lined on the beach, which enables more Allied troops and weapons to get into France. Similarly, Bill Richard’s, a British tank driver, also helps rid the Nazi forces off the French beaches. Henry Allen, an American medic, searches for lives to save on the French coast, while also trying to not get in the way of battle. James McKay, a Canadian paratrooper, jumps from a plane on a midnight raid to help free French citizens. Finally, two French girls, Samira Zidane and Monique Marchand, both help wounded Allied soldiers and also help spread the word of the Allied invasion to other French citizens. Although they are all unrelated, all six of the characters are able to help the Allies. Each of the characters faces several losses, hardships, and close encounters with death.

I really enjoyed this novel and would recommend it, because it is very interesting. Every once in a while, the novel switches perspectives and setting, so you never get tired of reading about the same setting, or the same thoughts and actions of one character. For example, a few chapters could be on the beaches of France, and others might be from a plane or ship, or even a small French town. Additionally, this novel is thrilling. Each and every page has action. You will keep wanting to turn page after page, because there is so much to read about. The combination of both things mentioned make this novel a quick, easy, and enjoyable read!

My favorite character from Allies is Dee Carpenter, the American soldier. I really admire his actions and traits displayed throughout the novel. Dee Carpenter is selfless. Within the text, “Dee kicked and pulled at what was left of the boards. The hot, charred wood scorched his hands, but he wasn’t going to stop” (253). For context, these were the actions of Dee when he learned that the Nazi’s had trapped a bunch of innocent French citizens in a church, that they then set on fire. Dee risks his life to save others, despite knowing that he might get injured or even die from burns or being collapsed on by the burning church.

My favorite quote from Allies is “It was just like Samira and her mother had said — no one of the soldiers had saved them. They all had. And now they were going to save the rest of the world. They were stronger together. They were allies” (307). This is my favorite quote, because it is a great conclusion to this novel. It portrays a positive future for the characters, which, as the reader, is what I want to hear after reading about their harsh D-Day experiences.

Here, you can see Dee Carpenter, landing on the shores of France, while the raging war happens around him:

This week was week four of my 20% project, which is learning about the Rubik’s Cube and how to solve it. During week four, I accomplished solving the Rubik’s Cube for the first time, without watching a tutorial video or looking at my notes on how to solve the cube! I feel great that I can now confidently solve the Rubik’s Cube. Not only that, but I have timed myself throughout my progress on solving the Rubik’s Cube, and I have dropped roughly one minute in time from when I first started solving the cube. This week was great (possibly my best yet), and I had no struggles at all. Since nothing went wrong, I have no adjustments to make. Next week — week five — I will continue practicing how to solve the Rubik’s Cube, filming a video to play in the background of my presentation, which will show that I can solve the cube, and starting to work on my display board. Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you next week.

Hello! I am continuing my project of learning about the Rubik’s Cube and how to solve it. This week (week three), I accomplished solving the Rubik’s Cube for the first time! Although I don’t quite have all of the steps memorized, I now know that I can solve it. I feel very proud of myself, and I am even more excited to continue solving it. I watched a video on YouTube by a Canadian speed cuber named J Perm. He has a great ten – minute tutorial for people who have never solved the Rubik’s Cube before. This week was great, and I didn’t have any struggles at all! Since nothing went wrong, I have no adjustments to make, although I will practice over the weekend, if I have some spare time. Next week, my plan is to have all of the steps and algorithms memorized and be able to solve the cube by memory. Thanks for reading, and I’ll se you next week!

My favorite room in my house is my bedroom. There are a few reasons as to why it’s my favorite room, so let me share them with you. However, I would like to tell you a little bit about my room first. When you first enter my bedroom, you would probably notice all of the posters, photos, and drawings of several things, including the beach, family and friends, books, movies, and more. Other than all of the things hanging up on the walls of my room, there isn’t much to see. I have a small, but cozy bed, and a desk and reading chair under a long row of windows. I also have a large wardrobe with all of my clothes and clutter. The color scheme of my room is very neutral. It has a lot of blues, grays, blacks, and browns.

To start, my favorite room in my home is my bedroom, because it is my personal space. It is decorated with the things that I like, which is nice, since it really represents me. In my room, I am surrounded with all of my belongings, too. For example, cluttered around my room, I have my clothes, schoolwork, books, and miscellaneous items. It really gives me a space that is full of things that I enjoy. Furthermore, my bedroom is my favorite room in my home, because it is the best spot at home to relax. My bedroom is at the back of my house, so there is not a lot of commotion happening right outside my door. If there is any commotion or noise, my room doesn’t get any of it, which keeps it very quiet and peaceful. Also, my bedroom is near the backyard, where there are a lot of trees, so my room is always kept shaded and cool. These things may not seem like a big deal, but because I spend a lot of time in my room, as well as sleep, my bedroom becomes the best spot in the house to be. Lastly, my favorite room in my home is my bedroom, because it special to me. Now, what makes my bedroom so special, you ask? Well, as I mentioned earlier, my bedroom has a lot of photos of family and friends. All of these photos remind me of good memories and some of the best times in my life. Having all of these memories on my wall is very special to me. My bedroom has also hosted many sleepovers and hangouts, which is where I make a lot of memories too. As you can see, my favorite room in my home is my bedroom!

Hello! I have just completed week two of my 20% project: learning about the Rubik’s Cube and how to solve it. This week, I accomplished finishing my research on the background of the Rubik’s Cube, as well as proof checking it. Some of the things that I researched about are: why and how the cube got so popular, what values you can take away from learning it, what events and records are held, fun facts about it, and much more. Last week, I wanted to organize my research, photos, thoughts, and ideas on a google slide, so everything was saved and can be easily printed when I need to print them for my poster board, so I also accomplished doing that. Week two was a great week, and I had absolutely no struggles. I am on track to executing my project as planned. Since nothing went wrong, I had no adjustments to make. I left off with my research completed, so next week I will be learning how to solve the Rubik’s Cube! See you next then!

This summer, I am traveling to Ireland! Ireland is an island country located in Western Europe. I am half Irish, so my family and I will be exploring the place of our heritage, which I am so excited to do. The reason as to why I am excited to visit Ireland is because I have never traveled as far as Ireland, and because it’s a relatively small country, we are going to travel to several counties across almost the entire island! We are going to do many things while in Ireland, but here are three things that we will do in Ireland. One thing we will visit are The Cliffs of Moher. The Cliffs of Moher are one of Ireland’s biggest tourist attractions. It is a long range of cliffs above the ocean. Now, you may ask, “What’s so special about some cliffs?” Well, these cliffs are said to have some beautiful views and some would say it is a natural wonder of the natural world. Also, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince as well as The Princess Bride have scenes filmed here on the cliffs. Another thing that my family and I will do while in Ireland is visit the Blarney Castle (Cork) and the Kylemore Abbey (Galway). Both of these places mentioned are from the old days of Ireland. Inside of the Blarney Castle is the Blarney Stone, which is another attraction. It is tradition to kiss the stone, as it will supposedly provide you a “gift of eloquence.” Lastly, we will spend a few days in Dublin, Ireland, which is the capital of the country. There, we will see and meet a lot of Irish locals and see a lot of restaurants and pubs where we can try the Irish cuisine. As you can see, I will be doing a bunch of fun and interesting adventures in Ireland, and I can’t wait to go. Ireland, here I come!

Hello, I am Thomas, and for my 20% project, I will be learning about the Rubik’s Cube and how to solve it. My mentor, who will be helping me learn to solve the Rubik’s Cube is my dad. As a part of my goal, I want to learn the background of a Rubik’s Cube, so this week, I accomplished half of my research on the background of a Rubik’s Cube. Some of the background details that I learned about this week are: what a Rubik’s cube is exactly, who made the Rubik’s Cube, when it was made, for what reason it was made, and more. This week, I sort of eased into my project with background research on the Rubik’s Cube, so I did not have any struggles that I dealt with. One adjustment I want to make is recording all of my research on a google slide, rather than paper, so all of my worked is safe and organized. I left off halfway through my research, so when I continue, I will ask myself more questions to learn about the Rubik’s Cube, and I will also proof-check all of my information, so I can easily move on to my next task in week three, solving the cube. See you next week!

There are many people that I would like to invite to dinner, but I will share with you my top three choices of who I would invite and why. To start, I would invite Michael Phelps to dinner. Michael Phelps is the greatest Olympic swimmer of all time. Not only is he the best Olympic swimmer, but he is the most successful and decorated Olympic athlete of all time. As a competitive swimmer myself, it would be a dream to meet and be in the presence of the greatest swimmer ever. I would love to see if he can give me some tips for technique and training that helped him to be successful, or even just talk to me about what he did in his career that he would recommend me to do in my swimming career. I think that we would get along well, as we share the same passion for swimming. I also think that Michael Phelps is a nice and cool guy in general, because he has a foundation of his own that helps some clubs out by support them financially, with staffing, with equipment, and more. Next on my top three list of people to invite to dinner would be Neil Armstrong. Armstrong has unfortunately passed, but during his lifetime, he was an American astronaut and aerospace engineer. He was most known around the world for being the first person to set foot on the moon! I would invite him to dinner, because I am really interested in him and his life story. When I was in elementary school, I conducted a research project on his careers and achievements. Because of this, I have so many questions I would love to ask him. Neil Armstrong is someone that I feel would tell incredible stories during dinner, because he could tell the thrills of serving in the Korean War, training as an astronaut, and his moon landing. Lastly, Gordon Ramsay would be someone I invite to dinner. Gordon Ramsay is a British Michelin – Star chef. He is famous in the culinary world, because of his expertise and many restaurants. Gordon also hosts a few TV shows, which revolve around cooking. The reason why I would invite him to dinner is simply because of his cooking. I would absolutely love to feast on some Michelin – Star foods, while enjoying my time with Gordon and the others I have invited. While he’s there, I think I would ask him to mentor me and give me some cooking lessons, so I can use those skills/tips in the future, since I enjoyed taking Home Economics and school, and want to continue to cook. These are the top three people of who I would invite to dinner and why.