You can skip ‘Leap Year’

Humorless, anti-climatic, and lacking even the slightest chemistry between the actors, “Leap Year” was disappointing.
With Amy Adams and Mathew Goode, I thought “Leap Year” would be a cute romantic comedy I could watch again and again whenever I needed a movie to cheer me up. Instead, as I sat through this tediously long movie, I became angry that I had spent $7.50 and two hours of my Friday night watching a bad movie — and embarrassed, since I convinced my friend to accompany me by telling her that romantic comedies are rarely disappointing.
“Leap Year” is, unfortunately, one of the rare few.
Adams plays a controlling American who flies to Ireland to propose to her American doctor boyfriend. Because of bad weather, the plane has to land in a different town where she meets an Irish lad, the handsome Goode, with whom she ends up falling in love with as he travels with her to Dublin. The plot line remains very simple throughout the movie.
It’s supposed to be a romantic comedy. However, it lacks both romance and wit.
Usually, when I watch romantic comedies — like “Bridget Jones’ Diary” or “The Proposal” — the chemistry between the actors is so believable that I am convinced they must be a couple in real life.
Adams and Patrick Dempsey did an excellent job of this in “Enchanted” as did Goode and Mandy Moore in “Chasing Liberty.” Knowing these actors’ skills, I thought there would be definite chemistry between them.
Unfortunately, Adams and Goode did not convince me at all that they were in love. And it is quite hard to watch a movie about falling in love when I am not rightly persuaded that the characters are in love.
Also, the sprinkled bits of humor that usually make a movie that much better made “Leap Year” that much worse. There was a funny aside about three old men who forgot the details of a superstition and would argue about it for a minute or two. For example, was it bad to begin traveling on a Sunday, a Monday, or a Tuesday?
The joke was funny the first time it was played out, but after the fifth time the old men forgot the details of a superstition, the only people in the theater who were laughing were old men who had forgotten the joke.
These jokes could be forgiven as a small blemish if they are part of a great movie.
The problem is “Leap Year” is not a great movie.

— Mia Walsh is a senior at Davis High School and a member of the Herald-Republic’s Unleashed journalism program for students.

We will not let you down

I walked steadily to the table, trying to look as natural as possible.
My head was pounding and my hands felt clammy. I slowly looked down and — with a shaking hand — turned over the pages; there it was.
A grin crept onto my face as I took in the newspaper font, the enormous photograph and the freshly printed newspaper smell of my first first-person feature story.
It was more than a column about my eighth-grade Outward Bound summer adventure; it was my voice speaking to the entire Yakima Valley.
It was a Tuesday in the middle of August in 2006. And it’s a day that I won’t forget because it was the day I realized I can make a difference. I can make heard hidden voices in my community. I can tell stories that have never been told.
From that story forward, I loved every moment of reporting — from nail-biting interviews to the many hours I would sit in front of my computer writing articles. I often met wonderful and interesting people while doing interviews for Unleashed assignments and — in the process — learned so much about my community.
Last February, when I found out Unleashed was going to be cut in the middle of my junior year of high school, I was devastated. Even acknowledging the downturn in the economy, it was too difficult to understand. Why would anyone cut off teenagers’ voices?
How could anyone eliminate a 10-year-old, award-winning youth program? Was it really possible that other local teenagers would never experience the same feeling I did when I saw my story about Outward Bound published in the newspaper?
For three months after Unleashed ended, every student reporter, photographer and artist on the team had to learn to let go of their once amazing opportunity to share their ideas with the community.
Then, on July 10, our former Unleashed coordinator and editor, Adriana Janovich, sent an email to the old Unleashed team telling us to look out for some “exciting news concerning Unleashed coming out in the paper in the next day or two.”
And lo and behold, two days later, there was an article in the Yakima Herald-Republic reporting Unleashed was being revived, thanks to a new partnership between the newspaper, Educational Service District 105 and local school districts and high schools.
Speaking for the members of the new Unleashed team, I would like to thank every teacher, parent and community member that understood the importance of Unleashed and called or wrote a letter begging the newspaper to change its mind. It made a difference.
And thank you to the schools and school districts for coming together and providing the funds so local teenagers can be heard again.
You have given us back an opportunity we were — and now are again — so fortunate to have. You have put the smile on the face of that 14-year-old girl opening the newspaper and seeing her first first-person feature story in print.
Thank you. We will not let you down.

— Mia Walsh attends Davis High School.

Yakima Valley teens talk about the presidential election

“There is not a liberal America and a conservative America. There is the United States of America. There is not a black America and a white America and Latino America and Asian America. There’s the United States of America.”
— Barack Obama, at the 2004 Democratic National Convention

By MIA WALSH
UNLEASHED STAFF
Barack Obama will be sworn in as the next president of the United States of America on Jan. 20, 2009.
Although most Yakima Valley teenagers were too young to vote in the recent election, that did not stop them from having strong opinions about it and the candidates, Obama and John McCain.
“We had the chance to watch history in the making,” said 17-year-old Julia Kennedy, a junior at La Salle High School. “I am very happy because even though I was for McCain, Obama worked very hard to be where he is.”
Seventeen-year-old Alex Cottle, a junior at Davis High School, had a similar reaction.
“Although I don’t agree with Obama’s political opinions, him being elected president is still a historic event,” he said.
What does this historic event say about our country?
“An African-American man is going to be president, and a woman ran as vice president. This shows that most people look at their ideas, not their race or gender,” said Whitney Ketcham, also a 17-year-old junior at Davis.
“I am fine with a black president, but I know some kids at my school who aren’t,” said Annalee Davis, a 17-year-old senior at Zillah High School.
What are some of the challenges Obama faces as president?
“The economic crisis and the two-front war overseas are the major challenges,” Cottle said.
“He has a lot of pressure to turn the country around and a lot of expectations to live up to,” Kennedy said.
What would local teens like to see happen in the next four years?
“I want our country to become united again,” Kennedy said.
Kyle Ketcham, another 17-year-old junior at Davis, wants to see a change in the economy.
Also, “I hope we become more of a positive country, where we are there to help other countries,” he said.
The election was also an opportunity for teachers to incorporate current events into classroom discussions.
“We didn’t have an actual lesson about it, but we talked about historic elections and how the current one relates to them,” said 39-year-old Jose Garcia, who teaches history at Davis. “People need to understand the true historical significance that this election has for our country.”

— Mia Walsh is a member of the Yakima Herald-Republic’s Unleashed team. She attends Davis High School.

Sarah Palin: Not Ready to be Vice President

By MIA WALSH
UNLEASHED STAFF

“ … What is it exactly that the vice president does every day?”
That’s how Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska, replied when asked by Larry Kudlow of CNBC’s “Kudlow & Co.” about the possibility of becoming John McCain’s vice presidential running mate.
According to the World Book Encyclopedia, the “vice president of the United States is only a heartbeat away from the most powerful elective office in the world. The vice president must be ready to become president or acting president at a moment’s notice if the president dies, resigns, is removed from office, or becomes unable to perform the duties of office.”
Thirty-one percent of past vice presidents have had to serve for some period of time as the President of the United States.
The question is whether Palin has shown — in her past experience in Alaska and recent interviews — that she has enough knowledge of politics to one day become President of the United States and Commander and Chief of its armed forces.
Palin began her political career by winning a seat on the Wasilla City Council in 1992. Four years later, she became the mayor.
Wasilla is a small city in Alaska with a population, according to the 2000 U.S. Census, of only 5,469. That’s smaller than Toppenish, which has a population of 8,946.
After two three-year terms as mayor, Palin ran for governor of Alaska. She lost the 2002 election, but won after running again in 2006. She only served for 20 months as the governor of the 4th least populous state in the U.S. before being chosen by John McCain as the Republican vice-presidential nominee.

Soon after becoming mayor of Wasilla, Palin approached the town librarian about the possibility of banning books, The New York Times reported.
She also fired John Cooper, the city’s museum director, who had a “long-running feud” with Steve Stoll, a local conservative who supported Palin, The New York Times also reported. The city attorney, Richard Deuser, was also fired by Palin after he issued a stop-work order on a home being built for Don Showers, another Palin supporter, according to The New York Times.
While running for governor, Palin proved she didn’t know Alaska’s policies during candidate forums. She had to be aided by the many color-coded note cards that she kept at hand when answering questions. During one forum, when asked what she would do about health care policy, she said she would find an answer in the pile of solutions and she placed her hand atop a pile of reports sitting beside her.
When she became governor, Palin again made sure she was surrounded by people she had known for years, even though they were not qualified. For example, she appointed Franci Havemeister, an old high school friend, to a position with the State Division of Agriculture — with the salary of $95,000 a year. Havemeister was a real-estate agent that reportedly loved cows.
Palin hired at least four other high school friends for positions in the Alaskan government, The New York Times reported.
However, if any of those old friends did anything in their personal life that Palin disagreed with, she would fire them. Take John Bitney, for example. Palin hired Bitney, then fired him when she learned he had fallen in love with another longtime friend, according to The New York Times.
Plus, Palin rarely spent time in the state capital of Juneau. In fact, in her first year as governor, she spent 312 nights in her home in Wasilla, about 600 miles from Juneau, and got paid extra for it.
According to The Washington Post, Palin’s per diems totaled $17,059, from Dec. 4, 2006, when she took office, through June 30, 2008, the most recent data available. Her salary is $125,000 a year.
She was able to receive the per diems while at home because her official “duty station” is listed as Juneau, The Washington Post reported.
She has also sided with oil and gas companies instead of protecting Alaska’s wildlife. As governor, Palin sued the federal government to block the listing of polar bears as endangered because she said the scientists had found no ill effects of global warming on the bears. According to The New York Times, Rick Steiner, a professor at the University of Alaska, acquired the email messages from the scientists to Palin; the scientists had actually agreed the bears were in danger.
Palin also opposed listing the Cook Inlet beluga whale as an endangered species. The population of this unique whale has decreased from 1,300 in the 1980s to only 350 today. But listing them as endangered would threaten oil and gas development.
And with her “drill, drill, drill” tactic, Palin supported drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, home to a countless number of wildlife, including many endangered species.

After serving for only 20 months as governor, Palin was named McCain’s running mate in the 2008 presidential election.
Since then, she’s given many interviews, which show she has little knowledge of governmental issues and tends to not answer the questions she is asked.
On ABC “World News Tonight,” Charlie Gibson asked her: “What insight into Russian actions does the proximity of this state (Alaska) give you?”
Palin answered: “They are our next door neighbors and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska.”
She reiterated this again and again during other interviews, trying to prove she has dealt with foreign policy.
In an interview with Katie Couric for CBS “Evening News,” she jumped from one topic to another in an incoherent attempt to answer a question about the economic crises.
And when Couric pressed Palin for examples of McCain’s leading the charge for more oversight, Palin, the Republican vice presidential candidate, said, “I’ll try to find ya some and I’ll bring um to ya.”
When Gibson asked Palin, “Do you agree with the Bush Doctrine?” about four seconds passed until Palin finally answered, “In what respect Charlie?”
What do you interpret it to be? he asked.
With a lack of confidence, Palin smiled and — sounding more like a question than a statement, said, “His world view?”
Not exactly, Palin.

If these things happened once, we might think Palin was having a bad day. But these things keep happening over and over again.
It seems as though Palin is having a lot of bad days lately.
The vice president is supposed to be ready to stand in as president. Through Palin’s past experience as governor and her recent interviews, she has shown the people of the United States that she isn’t ready for either job.

• Mia Walsh is a member of the Yakima Herald-Republic’s Unleashed team. She attends Davis High School.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles: Adventures in Transportation in Italy, France and Ireland

By MIA WALSH
DAVIS HIGH SCHOOL

“Diana, seven people are staring at us,” I whispered to my sister as we walked with the rest of our family.

Disheveled and tired from a long day of traveling, each of us dragged a rolling suitcase, navigating cobblestone streets until finally coming to the bus stop.

Here, with huffs and puffs, we threw our heavy suitcases under the bus and scrambled on trying to remember where we placed our tickets. We found seats and readied for the ride to Praiano on Italy’s Amalfi Coast.

Much to our dismay the bus ride was far from relaxing. Around corners, the driver would honk his horn, and we hope no one was coming the opposite way on the road that was too small for two cars. As the road narrowed, it also became windier.

Instead of taking pictures of the beautiful coastal towns, our hands had a death grip on the seats, and we tried not to think of our growing nausea. After what seemed like hours, the bus came to a halt, and the driver yelled, “Praiano!”

We hopped off the bus, grabbed our luggage, looked at the teal ocean glistening below the cliffs and finally reveled at the gorgeous view.

In late August, when my family returned home to Toppenish from our three-week European vacation, the first thing we did was develop 13 rolls of film. After looking at the photos, I was astonished by the fact that our experiences with transportation in Italy, France and Ireland had become one of the highlights of our trip. Although at times sickening, confusing and nerve-racking — as well as hilarious — these experiences added to our trip’s excitement.

Our adventures with foreign transportation started with the bus to Praiano from Sorrento. After that long, nauseating ride we promised the only bus rides we would take would be short, pleasant rides to Positano — about 15 minutes away — and back. Or so we thought.

When we weren’t basking in the sun, eating fresh seafood or taking long, sweaty walks to the market, we traveled by bus to Positano, a neighboring seaside town. Usually, we would leave at 7:30 or 8 a.m. so we could arrive early enough to rent chairs at the beach.

The first time we took this bus we realized it was much like our bus ride to Praiano that first day. The corners were sharp, the Vespas sped by, and the roads were tortuous and windy. In the morning, the ride wasn’t very bad. It was still cool outside, there wasn’t too much traffic, and the other passengers were Italians who lived in Praiano and worked in Positano. This gave the ride a very cultural feel and made me feel less like a tourist and more like an Italian just taking the bus as usual.

At the beach, we spent hours improving our tans, splashing in the water and eating Italian ices. But the bus ride back wasn’t as pleasant.

Waiting for the bus on the crowded street, the sun was harsh and the tobacco smoke strong. Once on the bus, we were lucky if we found seats. Usually, we had to stand among other sweaty, sandy and tired tourists. And, for some reason, the roads seemed much curvier and the bus driver less careful.

After a week in Praiano, we once again packed our rolling suitcases. This time, we headed to France. Two train rides took us from Naples to Rome, where we boarded our overnight train to Paris.

My mother thought we could save money by sleeping and traveling at the same time, and thus booked us for another adventure in transportation. Each compartment on the train held six beds, or couchettes, but there are only five people in my family. This meant a stranger would be sleeping in the compartment with us.

We sat staring at the one empty seat, each of us curious as to with whom we would be stuck or would be stuck with us. Would he be smelly? Would he be very talkative? Would he keep to himself and not say one word?

Our questions were left unanswered until late in the night. Until then, we took pictures of one another and shared expensive, seven-euro sandwiches.

The sun went down, and as the train rolled by sunflower fields and magnificent mountains my family made up the folding beds so we could go to sleep. We lay in our beds we awaiting the arrival of the sixth person.

The train soon eased to a stop. Each of us held our breath as a middle-aged man walked into our compartment, put down his stuff and left for the bathroom.

Although we were on a train, I thought I would get a good night’s sleep. I was very wrong. The bed was only wide enough for me to lay flat and still. Instead of regular sheets, these were sewn into a sleeping bag with one side open. As for a pillow, I decided my sweatshirt would work fine after finding hair on the pillow the train provided.

My sleepless night began when I climbed up the steep ladder to the top bunk, crawled into the thin sheet, laid my head on my sweatshirt and tried not to notice the only thing preventing me from falling off were two loose straps. I would fall asleep for about five minutes, then wake up to the train’s unsteady movement or lights being turned on in the corridor.

However, my experience was better than that of my father, who slept on the bottom bunk. This was very uncomfortable because not only was he on a train trying to fall asleep across from a stranger but the bottom bunk was hot and coffin-like.

I woke to my mother tapping me on the shoulder. Looking around, I realized everyone’s beds were put away and my family was talking with the man, a Moroccan immigrant, who had slept in the extra bed.

My mother directed me to help my father carry back six espresso cups from the dining car, which was seven lurching cars away. To go from one car to another, I had to walk down a narrow corridor toward two heavy doors. With force, I opened these doors, then quickly moved through a second pair so as to not get stuck in the middle. This is very difficult when carrying three espressos.

Going through the corridor was easy except when the train turned. Walking through the doors, however, took balance and patience. I had to open the door with my elbow while watching the espresso sway from side to side.

As I walked through the hallway to our compartment, the train bumped and one espresso went flying. As it splashed onto the floor, I sadly realized this meant I wouldn’t get my daily dose of espresso that morning.

After four days of eating croissants and crêpes and viewing museums and cathedrals, it was time to leave Paris for Ireland and our next adventure. After a short plane ride, we headed into the pouring rain with our rolling suitcases to find our rental car.

There it was: a glistening red stick shift Ford station wagon with the steering wheel on the right side of the car. My father turned on the car, took a deep breath, and slowly maneuvered out of the parking space. I turned on the Global Positioning System, which we christened “Emma.” Once we figured out how to punch in the correct address, Emma began to speak: “Drive 5 kilometers and then enter roundabout.”

My dad followed Emma’s directions as cars zoomed by us. Other drivers probably knew we were foreigners by our lack of speed.

“In 50 meters enter roundabout and take second exit,” Emma said.

After getting lost due to disregarding Emma’s directions, driving too close to the side of a bridge, and turning into the right lane, then quickly switching to the left, we safely reached the hostel.

Each day, my father became a better and better driver. By the time it was time to go home, my dad was quite good at driving a stick-shift on the left side of the road.

Leaving Toppenish for Europe, I expected the food, language and culture to be different; I never thought about transportation. At home in Toppenish, there is no mass transit. There are no buses or overnight trains. My only mode of transportation is a car, and I drive on the right side of the road.

In Italy, we took the daily buses, to get to Paris we took the overnight train, and in Ireland my dad drove stick shift on the left side of the road. Even though transportation just takes you from one place to another, it colored our trip with adventurous, frightening and wonderful memories.

Catholic Teens Pray in Taizé Tradition

EDITOR’S NOTE: Robert Fontana is the father of Unleashed reporter Colleen Fontana, who co-wrote this column. Colleen Fontana and Mia Walsh both attend the Taizé youth group at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church.

By COLLEEN FONTANA and MIA WALSH
DAVIS HIGH SCHOOL

The lights are off. Only the dim, flickering glow of candles illuminates three icons, each depicting a significant person in the history of the Roman Catholic Church.

Twenty teenagers sit nearby, each holding an unlit candle in their hands. Quietly, they start to sing hymns. Then, one by one, they light their candles and kneel near the icons to pray.

In preparation for the sacrament of confirmation, these teens meet once a week at Yakima’s St. Joseph’s Catholic Church to pray and discuss issues facing the church. They come from different schools, both public and private. And leading their Wednesday night meetings is Robert Fontana, 50, who has been the youth group leader at the church for eight years.

Fontana uses prayer in the Taizé tradition as a way to help strengthen teens’ faith.

After visiting the Taizé (pronounced Teh-ZAY) Community in France in 2000, Fontana says he thought it would be beneficial to use this method with teenagers in a youth group. In 2001, he began to invite young people to participate in the Taizé youth group, which continues today.

Hannah Kaluzny, a 16-year-old sophomore at Davis High School, has been attending the Taizé youth group at St. Joe’s for almost two years.

“It gives me a lot of time to reflect and think about my own life,” she says.

Taizé prayer services involve the use of candles, icons and short, repetitive songs.

For Frank Sziebert, a 16-year-old junior at Davis, the Taizé aspect sets this youth group apart from others.

“Most youth groups have discussion time, but Taizé is something new and different,” he says.

Taizé is not new. The monastic community was founded in 1940 by the late Brother Roger. Since the late 1950s, the Taizé Community has become a symbol of reconciliation between Christians and other groups. It’s made up of more than 100 brothers of Catholic and various Protestant backgrounds from more than 25 countries. And that’s part of its appeal for young people, who have popularized pilgrimages to the community as well as Taizé prayer services around the world.

Fontana explains: “Candles create a beautiful but soft lighting that helps the person praying to get out of their head and get more into their heart and simply be present to God.”

Kaluzny says she finds it easier to do that at the Taizé youth group than during Mass on Sundays.

“This is much more personal,” she says. “Mass is traditional, and it is hard to get stuff out of it, where as here it is more personal and (relevant) to your life.”

Thirteen-year-old Christina Foley, an eighth-grader at St. Joseph-Marquette School, agrees.

“There is a lot of talking in Mass, but Taizé is silent, and we spend more time with God as well,” she says.

Once the Taizé prayer has finished, the teens get to eat a quick snack before regrouping for discussion. Every week there is a new topic to discuss; some pertain to current events and others to church history.

“We don’t just sit there,” says 16-year-old Chris Wilson, a freshman at Eisenhower High School. “We get to ask questions if we don’t understand something.”

And, says 18-year-old Minerva Perez, a senior at La Salle High School, “I can actually be with people my own age.”

These weekly discussions and reflective prayer services create an atmosphere in which students can come together and share their faith.

“Taizé is very relaxing,” Kaluzny says. “And since life is usually busy, it is hard to find time for my faith.”

For these teens, Taizé gives them that time.

BreAnna Jones: Local Student, National Poetry Finalist

By MIA WALSH
DAVIS HIGH SCHOOL

Sitting in the computer lab last winter, 16-year-old BreAnna Jones, a sophomore at West Valley High School, indifferently searched through hundreds of poems — from William Wordsworth’s “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” to Edna St. Vincent Millay’s “Recuerdo.”

Not finding any particular poem that spoke to her, she decided on a humorous poem, “Beautiful Black Men” by Nikki Giovanni. As she sat in class memorizing it, she thought only of one thing: Perform well and get a good grade.

However, BreAnna, who loves to dance, ended up turning a classroom assignment into a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

The classroom activity — memorizing and reciting a poem — was for Poetry Out Loud. The competition’s goal, starting at the classroom level, is to interest youth in poetry through recitation.

BreAnna won her classroom contest, then performed at the school level, competing against students of all grades at West Valley. For this part of the contest, she had to recite two poems in front of an audience of parents, teachers and students. For her second poem, she chose another humorous one: “Forgetfulness” by Billy Collins.

“It was nerve-wracking to do it in front of my peers,” says BreAnna, who was chosen to continue at the regional level.

But she told her parents she didn’t want to perform again.

“She didn’t want to go on because her plate was already filled, but her teacher wanted her to, so BreAnna did,” says her mother, Debbie Jones, 47.

The regional contest was held at Yakima’s Allied ArtsCenter, 5000 W. Lincoln Ave. There, about a dozen students from Yakima Valley schools competed against each other by reciting three poems. BreAnna recited “Forgetfulness,” “Vita Nova” by Louise Glück and “The Old Swimmin’ Hole” by James Whitcomb Riley.

“After I heard her, I realized that she had a naturalness about her,” her mom says.

And that “naturalness” enabled her to win again. BreAnna and two other high school students advanced to the state competition in Tacoma.

And, says BreAnna: “The skill level went way up.”

Ten teenagers from high schools across Washington competed at the state event — and BreAnna won again, earning a spot at the national contest in Washington, D.C.

“I am not a stage mom whatsoever, and I rarely see my kids compete, so when she won I started to cry,” her mom says.

BreAnna started practicing for the national competition a mere two weeks before the event. Many of the other students, however, had personal coaches with whom they practice all year.

“I didn’t want to over-practice. I wanted it to be fresh,” says BreAnna. Her father, DeNard Jones, 45, helped her with precision and accuracy.

“I gave her only a little feedback and critique,” he says. “She found her voice very quickly.”

There were 52 students in the national competition, one from each state plus the Virgin Islands and the District of Columbia.

BreAnna was one of the top 12 contestants. She didn’t make the final cut, but she isn’t going to give up.

“I really want to compete next year and maybe the year after,” she says with a grin.

Meantime, BreAnna is in New York City on another adventure, this time through the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which grants wishes to young people with life-threatening conditions.

Early last year, BreAnna felt a pressure in her chest whenever she bent over. Two days later, she felt a mass on her left clavicle; she told her parents, who took her to the doctor.

A CAT scan showed tumors in her chest and left clavicle, and in February 2007 she was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer that attacks the lymphatic system, the part of the body that fights infections.

BreAnna’s cancer has been in remission for about a year.

Last November, 44-year-old Sherrie Leavitt, a local Make-a-Wish volunteer, met with BreAnna and asked her what her wish was.

After doing research on the Internet, BreAnna decided on her dream: to participate in a two-week program at the School of Cinema and Performing Arts in New York City.

Leavitt made BreAnna’s wish come true.

On June 20, she and her parents flew to the Big Apple to see a Yankees game, the Empire State Building, and other New York City sites. Two days later, they dropped BreAnna off at a camp to do what she has always loved to do: dance.

Mia Walsh’s Day — Davis High School

6 a.m. “Come on, Mimi. Time to wake up,” my mom says in an unnecessarily loud voice.
6:15 a.m. Thump, thump, thump. I hear my mom coming up the stairs to wake me up again. I quickly throw back my covers and run to the bathroom.
6:45 a.m. A red shirt and khakis, a sweater and jeans, jacket, no jacket. I hate this weather.
7:10 a.m. My dad is driving me to school. “Who is Charles de Gaulle?” I use the 30 minutes in the car to review for a history quiz.
7:45 a.m. Everyone tiredly waits for school to start by talking to their friends in the cafeteria.
8:10 a.m. I sit in English my eyes drooping from a late night. I watch the clock slowly tick.
9:36 a.m. 1.51, 1.52, 1.5… AH! Frustrated with stoichiometry.
11:15 a.m. Mmmmmmmmmm. I love almond roca americanos.
12:30 p.m. My sister and I talk to each other on the phone, sharing gossip and celebrity news. She tells me how excited she is for me to open up the birthday presents from her. I CAN’T WAIT!
1:45 p.m. Time to start my homework.
2:46 p.m. Snack time!
6:30 p.m. My stomach growls as the aroma of tomato sauce fills the house. I watch the clock waiting for my mom to come home so we can eat dinner.
6:45 p.m. As I hear my mom walk in the house, I quickly clear off the table and help my dad finish dinner preparations.
8 p.m. More homework
9:30 p.m. Yay! Tonight I can go to bed early.