Moulton English

Ronan Stone Ms. Asuncion English 9 Honors, Block 1 12 October 2016 February 22, 2011 If you’d asked nine-year-old me what he wanted to be when he grew up, he’d probably say a-l-o-t, of stuff. First, he would probably say that he wanted to be Batman. Later he’d probably change his mind, over and over and over. Then he’d wind back up as Batman. Yes, I wanted to be Batman when I was nine. Who didn’t? In 2007, my family decided to leave the US and move to New Zealand. For those of you who don’t know where that is for some reason, it’s about 100 miles south of that that thinks-its-so-cool-but-it-ain’t-really continent known to some as Koala Land, and to the rest as Australia. If you ask my parents why they decided to move to land-down-under-the-land-down-under, they would say that it was to raise their children. The public schools in New Zealand perfect if you have little kids. When we moved, I was more excited at that point than I had been in my entire life. It was a uniqu...

Liam Vereb Ms. Asuncion English 9 Honors, Block 2 13 January 2016 Conquering The Double Diamond “Wakeup! We’re going to be late,” shouted my sister as she jumped up and down on my bed. I sprang up out of my bed, showered, threw on my ski clothes and ran downstairs to join my family for breakfast. No trouble getting out of bed today as this was the day I would ski my first Black Run. I helped my father load the last of our bags into the back of the car, double-checked with mom that we had everything, and then we were off on our three-hour journey to the ski resort. "Look there it is," my sister said, pointing at the massive mountains that rose up above the clouds. Finally, after an exhausting three-hour drive we had arrived at the ski resort. Since we had been through the ticketing system before, we decided to divide and conquer. My mom and I would go and get in the line for the ski rentals while my dad and my sister would get us lockers. We would rendezvous in...

Karan Nair Ms. Asuncion English 9H 3 8 October 2015 Tournament          What are tournaments like? I have been learning karate for eight years and tournaments are one of my favorite things to attend.  They are held annually around January and lots of people attend them. The place I attend, Enshin Karate, has gone through many changes but still follows tradition.  I started karate lessons at age six in first grade and throughout the years I’ve learned a lot of lessons,  particularly patience, respecting others and good sportsman ship.  Currently I am a first degree black belt at Enshin Karate.  I have competed in five tournaments throughout my eight years.  My third one was the most intense for me.          I arrived at the Westminster Elementary School in Fairfax and knew what to expect, but still had butterflies in my stomach.  I signed in with my parents and ...

Gabrielle Buffaloe Ms. Asuncion English 9H, Block 3 9 December 2015 The Five Day             Every year, I go to a summer camp in Vermont. There are no electronics allowed there and you sleep in platform tents, which have a wooden frame and platform. There is a large tarp over the top of the frame. There are many things to do there including canoeing, swimming, sailing, archery, sports, arts and hiking. This past summer I was chosen to go on the five-day backpacking trip. Backpacking trips at the camp are normally two to three days long. There is only one five day each summer and there were only three campers chosen to go on it this summer. Those three campers were my best friend Amalia Dorion, another friend named Elizabeth Mullgrew, and me. Amalia and Elizabeth both took a while to decide whether or not to go because if they chose to go, then Elizabeth would miss the big biking trip that she wanted to go on. There’s o...

Tasnia Chowdhury Ms. Asuncion English 9H Block 3 6 January 2016 Surviving the edge of Orlando             “5…4…3...2…1… Rock on!” I could hear the screams and shouts in the distance as the roller coaster roared by at a terrifying speed. I’ve never been scared of roller coasters before but when I saw how fast this roller coaster launched, my heart was pacing very fast. I guess its name “Rock n’ Roller Coaster” suited its rapid speed. As I sat down in the seat of the roller coaster, all I could think was how I ended up here, and now all I wanted was for this ride to end.  Fears however did not have time to fill up in my mind as the roller coaster started to slow down as quickly as it took off at launch. Then I opened my eyes and all I could see were stop signs, colorful bright Hollywood signs and the screams began to fade away. My cousins started laughing and I was so relieved that I survived the ride. I then realized ...

Lauren Janoschka Ms. Asuncion English 9 Honors, Block 3 30 September 2015 Three Men, Three Memories Loving father and mother with a few children living in a quaint house in the typical suburban neighborhood. The family has a few pets; Perhaps they have a fish or a dog. Their grandparents might come and visit on the weekends, never far from their grandchildren. A perfect example of a perfectly normal family.  This is my life, except for one thing. I have three grandfathers, yet I’m not sure what life would be like with one. I might have three, but in reality it’s almost like having none.             My first grandfather is a man I’ve never met. I know him only by name and relation. Will Janoschka, father of Darin, Michelle, and Steven Janoschka, and former husband of Karen Davis. He could be tall or short. He could have dark brown hair like my father, or maybe a he’s a light blonde like my brother was when we were...

Kyle Manalo   Ms. Asuncion   English 9H, Block 2   1 October  2015   Weekend Full of Band   It was finally Friday afternoon. I have the whole weekend in front of me, but it wasn’t going to be a normal weekend. This weekend I’m competing in first marching band competition. Before the competition, Rock Ridge has  a   home football game to play.   It was future  P hoenix  N ight so the eighth graders from Stone Hill will play music with us in the stands. About an hour before the eighth graders co me, we start getting dressed. A marching band uniform has several different parts :  the jumper, jacket, shako (the hat), gauntlets, and gloves. This  was  the first time we’re going to perform in our uniforms. Each person’s uniform is tailored to fit the m  perfectly . T hat might sound cool but sometimes it  is   uncomfortable and it gets really hot inside.   When we heard that...