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Sean O'Donnell's highpoint blog

  • Final Reflection

    Sean O’Donnell

    Over the course of this semester I have completed a wide variety of assignments. These tasks range from longhand writing, group work, games and online assignments. Though it may seem tedious and difficult at times, in the end I do see improvement and bonding between me and my peers.

    The first real challenge was when I had the analyze one of the readings we read as a class. I chose to write my analysis on “The Falling Man” by Tom Junod. The whole reading was about symbolism of an unidentified man falling between the twin towers on nine eleven. The author made it challenging to analyze because of the sheer amount of imagery and metaphors he uses in his writing. A few examples of Tom Junod’s metaphors are, “…he departs from this earth like an arrow… He appears comfortable in the grip of unimaginable motion… a new flag made of steel bars shinning in the sun.” Though it took a lot of time and thought to decipher what he meant, I was proud of the result. I believe I wrote a good analysis on a difficult piece of writing. It gave me the confidence I needed in my own work and used to longhand writing at the same time.

    The collaboration in this class is very enjoyable. Everyone is very friendly and willing to work together. Collaboration assignments include scrabble word play day, Check, Please! assignments, reading each others blogs, commenting on each others work and working together in in class writing assignments. There was a specific assignment about the “New York Magazine” cover. It was trying to give the message that New York is cooler, trendy, unique and up to speed with the future. My group collaboratively looked for quotations and found one in the “Writing Analytically” textbook by David Rosenwasser and Jill Stephen. The quote we found was, “… the magazine is also admitting, yes America, we do think we are cooler and more individual and plastic than the rest of you, but we also know we shouldn’t be so smug about it.” We came to the conclusion that it was just New York trying to get attention and they did so by creating false drama with opinions, not facts. Working collaboratively is in my opinion the best part about this class because of the friends I made while getting work done. At the end of the day as well we all see each other regularly and can work together any time.

    With the end of this semester comes the end of this class and a takeaway is needed. I’ve improved my writing skills and my abilities as a student to get things done. This class showed me how to work with peers in the same spot as me and to get off the computer and use be hands on with my work. Though it was short, it was a great learning experience and recommend it to incoming freshman that were just like us.

    Junod, Yom. “The Falling Man.” Esquire, vol. 140, no. 3, Sept. 2003, pp. 176+. Gale Academic OneFile Select, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A106423422/EAIM?iu=hpu_main$sid=bookmark-EAIM&xid=ce48797f

    “Intergrading Quotations.” Writing Analytically, 8th edition. Wadsworth/Cengage, 2019. pp. 231-33

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  • Final + Bibliography

    Jaden Gleiber, Sean O’Donnell, Christopher Sciortino, Joshua Stevens

    Dr. Lucas

    ENG 1103-24

    19 October 2022

    Technology as a whole has grown and developed along with the rising leaders of future generations, and the intense growth of the internet over the past decade has allowed for information to be available to anyone within seconds of searching. However with all the positive outcomes that have been achieved the thought of technology negatively affecting our culture has been pushed away.

    Iranian Students, Javad Lebni, Razie Toghroli, Jaffar Abbas, Nazila NeJhaddadgar, Mohammad Salahshoor, Morteza Mansourian, Hadi Gilan, Neda Kianipour, Fakhreddin Chaboksavar, Seyyed Azizi, and Arash Ziapour of Lorestan university of Medical Sciences wrote “A Study of Internet Addiction and Its Effects on Mental Health: A Study Based on Iranian University Students” to determine the negative effects of technology and mental health. The Lorestan University students claim that while the internet is an easy medium to gain information from around the world, excessive use can overwhelm living standards along with relationships between peers. With the endless amount of information and opportunity available so quickly online, instability coupled with curiosity is leading to a downward shift in mental health. The article moves onto elaborating upon the rapid increase in internet use within the past twenty-plus years, “Globally, the users of the Internet have increased from 414 million in 2000, 665 million in 2002, and over 4.574 billion by December 31, 2019. The US National Science Foundation specified that the internet users enabled by smartphone access would increase to 5 billion in 2020 (Lebri, Introduction 1).” This is used to give context and elaborate on the fact that internet overuse is becoming a rampant issue, and internet use continues to grow at large margins yearly. This problematic overuse of the internet, Internet addiction disorder, “results in substantial impairment in the function of individuals in their different life domains over prolonged time (Lebri, Introduction 2).” 

     The study conducted gave a general health questionnaire to 447 students, applying the Young’s Internet Addiction Test and Goldberg General Health Questionnaire to collect their data. The results stated that internet addiction corresponded to a negative relationship with mental stability and depression. The authors of the study selected nine faculties, medicine, dentistry, pharmaceutical medicine, nursing and midwifery, paramedics, public health, nutrition sciences, and food industries, and self-governing college, then selected students from these majors and classes. The study made sure to ensure each participant with full confidentiality and disclosure to verify the validity of each sample. Without this detail it could have been possible for some samples to have been seen as variables. The questionnaire contained a demographics section, and an Internet addiction test, a scaled questionnaire measuring addiction based on how frequently you pursue the action the question is asking. This test was used because it is able to determine addiction levels based on the total amounts of points added up at the end of the questionnaire. It allows an easy outlook to see a baseline number, the higher being the more dependent, on the severity of a certain addiction. 

    The Results found that the main reason for internet use is for communication. The Study showed that, “The mean and standard deviation of students with internet addiction was 3.81 ± 0.88. Besides, the mean and standard deviation of students’ mental health was 2.56 ± 0.33, which stated that the general mental health of students was not in good condition (Lebri, Results 2).” This is stating that ninety one percent of people involved in the study scored over fifty in the Internet Addiction Test, and are either at risk or addicted users. This overuse of the Internet can lead not only to long term emotional effects, but long term physical effects as well. With overuse of technology comes overuse of Screen time. 

    The overuse of screen time is something almost every college student in America suffers from, too much exposure has negative physical and psyche effects.  A study done by Hsing-Hao Lee and Su-Ling Yeh shows bluelight is sensitive to certain cells in your eye called photosensitive retinal ganglion cells. Exposure to blue light to these cells dramatically increases saccadic eye movements, your eyes ability to focus on a single thing in sight. It also increases attentional disengagement. “Our findings provide evidence for the blue-light facilitatory effect on eye movements and attentional disengagement, and suggest that blue light can enhance the speed of saccadic eye movements.” With this we can conclude that the majority of college students in America are affected by over exposure to blue light. Though maybe now seen as normal, a large proportion of people are having trouble sleeping. 

    Blue light is everywhere in our environment, especially recently with the rise of computers, laptops, cell phones, etc. All things they have in common is they use blue light. On top of the effects it has on your eyes it also has an imprint on your brain. Blue light delays the time it takes to fall asleep and disrupts our circadian rhythms. Blue light glasses started becoming a normal accessory for a lot of adolescence. According to Crostophe Moderie in a study in 2017, he claims,  “In a recent study, exposure to blue light in the evening has been associated with a late circadian phase. Hypersensitivity to evening light, especially in the blue spectrum, could therefore contribute to delaying circadian phase and to a persistent tendency to delay bedtime.” The light we see during the day is what makes your body not produce melatonin. Bluelight mimics sunlight in which it activates the same cells that tell the body to stay awake. So, many adolescents have a delayed sleep schedule and tend to complain about their sleep. Before most adolescents go to sleep, they typically use some device that uses bluelight. Ask any college student about what they do before bed and it’s typically using their smartphone, laptop, tv or video games. Blue light surrounds us everyday in our lives now, there is almost no avoiding it, but there are ways to cut back from it. 

    Going to bed at a normal time without the use of any technology will help with sleep and the production of melatonin. Spending less time in front of a screen and doing anything else also helps your eyes and brain. “Our results suggest that a late circadian phase, a slow build-up of sleep need, and an increased circadian sensitivity to blue light contribute to the complaint of a delayed sleep schedule.” Decreasing the use of our technology has proven effects to help us sleep, stay focused and be more lively in general. Though we have to use technology in this environment, we can limit ourselves and use a healthy amount that allows us to do what we want at a minimal expense. 

    Another popular topic in regards to the negative effects of technology with college students in America is the social impact on students. In 2014, a research study, reported by Carlos P. Zalaquett and SeriaShia J. Chatters, consisting of 613 college students was surveyed to elaborate on their experience with cyberbullying, both in high school and college. Out of the surveys, nineteen percent of those surveyed confirmed they were currently being cyberbullied at the time at their college, yet only 35% of the subsample had been cyberbullied in high school. That being said, of those who were cyberbullied in college, a majority of which had no experience of being cyberbullied in high school. Therefore, from Zalaquett’s and Chatters’ research study, those statistics prove a significant increase in cyberbullying from high school to college.

    More importantly, it is best to determine what the effects of cyberbullying have on a student to impact their social life on campus given the increase in cyberbullying in college. To start, cyberbullying with college students include racist, sexist, homophobic remarks, or threats of physical violence begins towards another person at the school. With this mass presence of cyberbullying, students often refrain from exposing their personal feelings and interests to other people in fear of seeing their own name anonymously appear on another social media page for laughs. In return, this blocks students from socializing with their appearances at college, and studies included in Zalaquett’s and Chatters’ research shows that students are more likely to avoid school entirely mainly to avoid any leads to being cyberbullied. In doing so, college students have been reported to lose multiple connections with their peers and find it hard to reach out for help in combating cyberbullying in college.

    As cyberbullying is a common thread on the internet, the amount of internet users themselves have been growing over the years, especially in younger generations. To ward off the overall appearance of cyberbullying on the internet for college students, it is important to remember that most victims feel alone when in reality they are not. It is always best to turn off your devices during times of cyberbullying for victims to reduce feelings of stress, sorrow, and potentially anger. Most importantly, victims of cyberbullying are always able to reach out for help and must maintain a strong mental health system for college as it can help them get back into their social environments in college.

    Technology not only affects college students mentally, physically, and emotionally, but also academically.  As seen in Jesper Aagaard’s article “From a small click to an entire action’: exploring students’ anti-distraction strategies” research has shown that students often use digital devices for off-task purposes like instant messaging, meme-browsing, news-reading, and video-watching.(Gaudreau, Miranda, and Gareau 2014). The article explores students strategies to prevent off-task distraction and how these strategies may benefit learning as being distracted can lead to missing information being taught. As students have full access to the internet when using technology in the classroom,  just a simple click can lead to an individual being caught up in a whole new task without them even realizing it. This can negatively affect the students ability to retain the information being taught as they are not focusing on what is being said. 

    Annotated Bibliography

    Lee, Hsing-Hao, and Su-Ling Yeh. “Blue-Light Effects on Saccadic Eye Movements and Attentional Disengagement.” ProQuest, May 2021,                https://www.proquest.com/docview/2522429337?accountid=11411.

    Moderie, Christophe, et al. “Circadian Phase, Dynamics of Subjective Sleepiness and Sensitivity to Blue Light in Young Adults Complaining of a Delayed Sleep Schedule.” Sleep Medicine, Elsevier, 4 Apr. 2017, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1389945717301582. 

    Zalaquett, C. P., & Chatters, S. J. (2016). Cyberbullying in College: Frequency, Characteristics, and Practical Implications. SAGE Journals. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2158244014526721

    Lebni, Javad, et al. “A Study of Internet Addiction and Its Effects on Mental Health: A Study Based on Iranian University Students.” Journal of Education and Health Promotion, vol. 9, no. 1, 2020, pp. 205–205.,

    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7530416/

    Javad Lebni along with his fellow researchers conducted a “Study of Internet Addiction and Its Effects on Mental Health: A Study Based on Iranian University Students” in order to determine the hidden risk factors that can arise from excessive internet use. Using a set of health General health questionnaires and internet addiction tests they were able to determine firstly the ranges of technology use among the participants, and secondly the mental health status of sed participants. Determining that 45.5% of students were addicted to the internet, and 50% of the students had poor mental health proved a correspondence between the two. 

    Javan Yoosefi Lebni is an Iranian Doctor with a PHD in health education and health promotion from the Lorestan University of Medical Sciences. Lebri has helped work on over 70 publications considering a variety of topics inside the medical field, his most recent being, 

    Irandoost, Seyed Fahim, et al. “Activities and Challenges of Volunteers in Confrontation with Covid-19: A Qualitative Study in Iran.” International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction : IJDRR, Elsevier Ltd., Nov. 2022, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9499992/.  

    In Activities and Challenges of Volunteers in Confrontation with Covid-19: A Qualitative Study in Iran the researchers try to determine the effects of public participation in promoting positive health behavior.

    Moderie, Christophe, et al. “Circadian Phase, Dynamics of Subjective Sleepiness and Sensitivity to Blue Light in Young Adults Complaining of a Delayed Sleep Schedule.” Sleep Medicine, Elsevier, 4 Apr. 2017, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1389945717301582.

    Authors Christopher Moderie, Solenn Van der Maren and Marie Dumont all work at the Department of Psychology, University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada. Together they composed, “Circadian phase, dynamics of subjective sleepiness and sensitivity to blue light in young adults complaining of a delayed sleep schedule.” Christopher Moderie attended the University of Montreal, University of Montreal, Faculté de Médecine, University of McGill and then went to the School of Medicine in Montreal. His areas of study consist of, Medicine, Neuroscience, Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology, Psychology, Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics, Arts and Humanities. Solenn Van der Maren started in the Hospital of Sacré-Cœur, Montreal while attending the University of Montreal and now works at the Center Integrated University of Santé and of Services Sociaux of Nord-de-l’Île-de-Montréal, Montreal, Canada. His area of expertise is Medicine, Neuroscience, Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology, Psychology. Marie Dumont attended University of Montreal, went to Harvard Medical School while interning at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, United States and moved on to The Institute of Research from Centre Universitaire of Santé McGill, Montreal, Canada. Marie Dumont’s area of study is Medicine, Neuroscience, Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology, Agricultural and Biological Sciences, Psychology, Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities, Health Professions, Nursing, Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics, Multidisciplinary, Dentistry and Environmental Science. This article was found on HPU Libraries and includes but is not limited to, citations, charts, data analysis, an exact explanation of what they did and a control group and experimental group. The people they studied were college students, all except for one. They go on to explain all effects felt by the participants and measures taken for each individual and study each and every one carefully. With the team of scientists with a mass amount of knowledge and certifications it can be assumed that everything they say is fact and unbiased. The article being in this university’s library also proves its credibility. The article as well was from 2017 so this is information taken five years ago when blue light was still a prominent issue. Finding an article that’s more recent might have more to say but their research still concludes that blue light is harmful. 

    Zalaquett, C. P., & Chatters, S. J. (2016). Cyberbullying in College: Frequency, Characteristics, and Practical Implications. SAGE Journals. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2158244014526721

    In the article, Cyberbullying in College: Frequency, Characteristics, and Practical Implications by Carlos P. Zalaquett and SeriaShia J. Chatters, the main focus of their subject is to elaborate on the research done on college students who have experienced cyberbullying and the effects it may have on their college life. Zalaquett and Chatters go by many research studies to identify specific problems in cyberbullying, such as background of victims, background of cyberbullies and overall background information towards the process of cyberbullying. Their research methods include surveys, allowing in-depth levels of personal experience from victims of cyberbullying to portray a correct image of what the average cyberbully victim may feel during college. Zalaquett and Chatters also reference other research studies in their article to address mental and social health issues in college students, allowing others to educate themselves on an issue they believe many should be interested in.

    Professor Carlos P. Zalaquett is a well known professor of education at the University of PennState. He serves in the Department of Educational Psychology, Counseling, and Special Education and is a co-coordinator of the Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program. As for SeriaShia J. Chatters, she is also a well known professor at the University of PennState as an Adjunct Associate Teaching Professor and Assistant Vice Provost for Educational Equity.

  • The Light in the Dark

    Sean O’Donnell

    ENG 1103, Sect 24

    October 1st, 2022

    The Light in the Dark 

    “… he departs from this earth like an arrow. Although he has not chosen his fate, he appears to have, in his last instants of life, embraced it.” Author Tom Junod, the man who wrote “The Falling Man”, turns words into a work of art with a man jumping out of his building when the twin towers fell. Though those who fell to their death were dealing with an unimaginable fate, Tom Junod did not write about it being a sad tragedy. Tom Junod seems to describe the falling man in a way that gives us hope, a new banner to follow, and a new American spirit. 

    Tom Junod is able to paint a picture of the situation happening to the falling man as a calm but terrifying moment. The falling man is descending at a horrifying speed but is calm so Tom Junod demonstrates that with his descriptions. “He is fifteen seconds past 9:41 a.m. EST, the moment the picture is taken, in the clutches of pure physics, accelerating at a rate of thirty-two feet per second squared. He will soon be traveling at upwards of 150 miles per hour, and he is upside down.” You can clearly get an image in your head of what is happening to the falling man. You can feel the speed in your mind and get an idea of how fast the falling man is falling. You can imagine the grip gravity has pulling the earth closer to you with no control over the situation. The terrifying imagery used in Tom Junod’s writing is able to convey the emotions these victims must have felt during their descent. Though the imagery he used was crystal clear, his take on the picture is ever so moving and developed.  

    Tom Junod articulates the other victims who jumped differently than the falling man. His coworkers falling with him seemed to be in a completely different area of thought, thinking about the end and what they had to lose, but not the Falling Man. “ He appears comfortable in the grip of unimaginable motion. He does not appear intimidated by gravity’s suction or what awaits him… the people who did what he did – who jumped – appear to be struggling against the horrific discrepancies of scale… Some of them are shirtless; their own shoes fly off as they flail and fall.” The Falling Man somehow seems to be in control of his falling self while everyone else is scared to death. The Falling Man’s clothes stay intact during his fall, showing the reader that he isn’t your average box office worker. While everyone else’s clothes yards sales behind them, Jackets, shoes, shirts, jewelry, etc. The thought of falling at a top speed of one hundred and fifty miles an hour should leave everyone and anything scared out of their mind. Humans are hardwired to be scared of three things, loud noises, aloneness and falling. But with that, the falling man stays in control of his situation, overcoming his genetic fear with calmness that shines through everyone else during their unimaginable demise. 

    The imagery used by Tom Junod almost creates a second flag that sends a powerful message to all Americans and people around the globe alike. Though waving a flag of a man falling to his death on a tragic day may not seem the most uplifting, but the message he portrayed is one that could never be misunderstood. “The man in the picture, by contrast, is perfectly vertical, and so is in accord with the lines of the buildings behind him. He splits them, bisects them: Everything to the left of him in the picture is the North Tower; everything to the right, the South. Though oblivious to the geometric balance he has achieved, he is the essential element in the creation of a new flag, a banner composed entirely of steel bars shining in the sun. Some people who look at the picture see stoicism, willpower, a portrait of resignation; others see something else—something discordant and therefore terrible: freedom. There is something almost rebellious in the man’s posture, as though onced faced with the inevitability of death, he decided to get on with it;”. There is plenty to pick apart from this quote in this passage, the undeniable truth to it is that the Falling Man’s spirit lives on forever in this picture. His spirit is the ink of that new flag we all can look upon. His geometric balance makes him look as if he is soaring rather than plummeting. He is a man full of courage in a situation where that seems impossible. His rebelouis posture mocks what awaits below him, giving us his powerful spirit when he departs from this world. Though he is long gone and his message was silenced by the chaos around him, the picture grasps his message and continues to shine over us for the rest of time to come. 

    The falling man shows everyone what the true indomitable human spirit represents. People have been known throughout history to overcome seemingly terrifying unimaginable odds to move forward. People are fragile, we can’t fly, can’t survive under water, can’t eat the wrong food, can’t sip the wrong liquid, break bones, disease spreads and everything and anything can kill you. This man knew all of this while living his life yet knowing all of the dangers this universe has in store for him, during his final terrifying moments he stands tall and falls with a fighting spirit.

    Junod, Tom. “The Falling Man.” Junod, Tom. “The Falling Man.” Esquire, vol. 140, no. 3, Sept. 2003, pp. 176+. Gale Academic OneFile Select, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A106423422/EAIM?u=hpu_main&sid=bookmark-EAIM&xid=ce4879f

  • Climbing the Ladder of a Leader

    Being a leader has been one of the most challenging processes I’ve ever done. If I had the chance to do it again though I would do it in a heartbeat. I was the captain for my club hockey team, the Rye Rangers, for my final year in their program. I was the big guy that could do it all but getting there was really tough.

    I started hockey late so I was already put on the lowest team and I was terrible. My dad was pushing to see a personal coach for a while because he was doing it. I reluctantly agreed to get him off my back and then in a couple days I saw myself in a freezing cold ice rink at five thirty in the morning. My dad introduced me to his coach that he called Mickey. Sadly I didn’t work with him long at all because he moved to Canada. I went on to the next coach, Coach Bill was his name. He was a great guy and set up my foundation for the sport. But sadly he was also gone because he had to leave and coach a d1 hockey team. I thought I would be bouncing around coaches but then came in Coach Mike. Coach Mike was the captain of his college division 3 hockey team at NYU. He also played juniors with the Apple Core where he scored the game winning goal for division 2 national finals.. He was a short guy with a gut and looked to be in his late twenties. He introduced himself to me and I did the same and the first question he asked me was, “So you ready to get your ass kicked?” I laughed at that. He kicked my ass on the ice. My sixth grade body has never sweat like that ever, my whole shirt was a different color from the sweat. Coach Mike then sat down next to me and told me that I had a lot of potential and that he’s willing to make me better if I work with him. I agreed with him just to make everyone happy but then I noticed the schedule my dad was building with Coach Mike. 11 year old me did not think it was possible for me to wake up at five in the morning twice a week, on top of two Rye Ranger practices, two games and hockey camps that range about two to three times a week. This meant I was on the ice almost everyday.

    I do this schedule for about three years and continue to work with Coach Mike throughout all of it. He was always critiquing, yelling, talking to me, reading up on my teams stats, coaching me on his spring team, pushing me through all my seasons and taught me the most important thing about the sport, getting up after going down hard. While practicing with Coach Mike he also taught me discipline and how to always be the bigger man. He would push me to do the drills over and over again until I got them right, but then make them immediately harder by adding to it straight after. As a result of his coaching I started to see significant change in my game. I was scoring, I was faster and I was hard to knock down. I started climbing up divisions and playing on better teams. Now the road I was on led me to my freshman year of high school with tryouts for varsity and the Rye Rangers were coming up. I tried out for varsity but I made JV which is expected for freshmen. But for my club I didn’t make the top team. I found out during school when my friend and I checked our new team roster. I wasn’t on his and he wasn’t on mine, but I saw that he had the better players and I didn’t. I was devastated to the point where all I wanted to do was just quit hockey because my efforts just felt like they were for nothing this whole time. I talked about it to my dad and of course he wanted me to keep playing but advised me that maybe I should talk to Coach Mike about this. I went to his morning skate and brought up that I didn’t make the top team and that I didn’t know what to do anymore. He looked at me and said, “You’re really quitting hockey because someone with money put his son on the higher team instead of you? C’mon that’s weak, be a leader.” There I realized I could easily be a captain and maybe have some hope of moving up teams. It wasn’t over yet. With that in my head I kept on working till the season started. The years of skating almost everyday finally started paying off. We had our first game of the season against the Scarsdale Raiders and it just wasn’t fair at all. I couldn’t even believe my own skill. I was scoring, making big hits, quicker and creating plays. I could tell I was dominant just after the first game. There was one other guy on my team named Liam who was also in the same exact boat as me. He was also dominant on the ice but was much better with his stick handling, tricks and cool shots. Us combined on the same line was deadly. We both knew only one of us was going to get called up but we shook hands wishing each other luck and as a sign of respect which means no hard feelings. After about two weeks of the top team being weird and going back and forth they just dropped the both of us without saying anything, not even criticism. There was no explanation and I still don’t know now but we both just gave the finger to the program after that and decided to never come back after this season. I told Coach Mike about the situation and he asked what I was going to do about it. That was when I buckled down and decided to be a captain and make the top team wish they had me.

    I ended up having my most successful season ever averaging about a goal and a half per game, always landing big hits, was faster than almost everyone and was finally at the top. But knowing this, I had to also become a leader for my team. I always stood behind my team making sure no one was picking on anyone. I always celebrated with them when they made a good play and talked to everyone. I would give speeches to my team and make them push themselves. During practices I would always start the drills to show everyone how the drill goes. I would pat the goalies on the back no matter if they made a save or let in a goal. All these little things allowed my coach to put the ‘C’ on my sweater and announce me as a captain. For the first time in my life I felt like I was important, I mattered to this team. I was always the third or fourth line guy but now I was first line with a captains patch. This made me love the people on my team because I felt like I was making an impact. At the end of the season, all teams in the program go to Lake Placid to compete in our biggest tournament of the year. The tournament we go to always has relay races where all teams compete in a race. Me, my other good teammate, and two other teammates were racing against the higher team. We ended up putting them all in the dust which added salt to their coaches’ wounds.

    At the end of all this, I dedicate all my successes to Coach Mike. Without him I would’ve never gotten to where I got to. He always pushed me to be a better player and better person and showed me what it takes to be a leader. He helped me move on to play for the New York Apple Core and finish out my varsity season. He was my shadow in my hockey career and showed me the beauty and brutality of the sport. I thank him for every one of my career successes and for always being a fantastic mentor.