I Just Realized That Howdy is Short for How Do You Do

Hi, my name is Sam Vandiver.
 I love animals, specifically dogs. All together, I have six dogs and two cats, the most recent addition being my puppy that joined the family this summer.
 
His name is Wilson and we got him from a family friend the week he was old enough to leave his mother. Recently, my older dog named Skully jumped on his leg and broke his femur. He is, however, fine and on the mend. Plus, the three legged limping is just pathetic enough to be cute, but not enough to be depressing.
I have a great fondness for the country of Sweden because of the majority of their social and economic solutions to problems that many other countries cannot seem to get right (higher education, prisons, paternity leave, etc).
I love to play video games and I have since I had the motor control abilities to do so. My first game that I can remember playing was the video game adaptation of A Bug's Life on the Playstation 1. Good times. 10/10. 
I am currently reading the third book in the "A Song of Ice and Fire" series (Game of Thrones) and I just tonight finished the first season of the HBO show.
My other interests are incredibly varied, but generally tend to fall along the theme of "things that would get me shoved into a locker if my life was a 90's sitcom."
I enjoy listening to a wide variety of music ranging from Foo Fighters (the band of the musical mastermind that is Dave Grohl) to Adele to Fleshgod Apocalypse. The latter being an Italian symphonic death metal band. I am not a Satanist as some assume when they discover that fact, but I do enjoy symphonic, melodic, and progressive death metal. I also listen to many other genres but they are not as summative of my personality or necessarily as interesting
One thing that geeks me out is in-depth discussion and analysis of pop culture. It is for this reason that I very much enjoy the Cracked: After Hours videos on YouTube. I searched for one of these videos that was appropriate to post in a school setting, but it ended up being in vain due to coarse language.
Instead, my hyperlink is to one of my favorite YouTube channels that puts on a daily morning show about a random topic.
Rhett and Link

As a student, I’m interested in engineering and medicine. I like to understand how technology works, why we use it, and what we could do as a people to use it to our “best” advantage (it’s pretty obvious humans don’t always know best).

As an athlete, I enjoy practicing and playing lacrosse. I hope to get a Division 3 scholarship somewhere and play, maybe even one to a small D1 school. I love playing Frisbee. I wish it was a more competitive sport across the US and I would play it every day if I could. Basketball is definitely my favorite sport to watch, though; I’m a huge Big Blue fan, and I play in a church league.

Here’s a picture of my friends and I on the lake.

As a student, I’m interested in engineering and medicine. I like to understand how technology works, why we use it, and what we could do as a people to use it to our “best” advantage (it’s pretty obvious humans don’t always know best).

As an athlete, I enjoy practicing and playing lacrosse. I hope to get a Division 3 scholarship somewhere and play, maybe even one to a small D1 school. I love playing Frisbee. I wish it was a more competitive sport across the US and I would play it every day if I could. Basketball is definitely my favorite sport to watch, though; I’m a huge Big Blue fan, and I play in a church league.

Here’s a picture of my friends and I on the lake.

And as a person, I really love spending time with my friends and family. Music is a special part of my life. My family is filled with people with musical talent. I play guitar every so often when I have the time. I’m also very critical about music. I believe every type of music and artist should be respected, but this doesn’t mean I enjoy their actual sound at all. Music should have meaning and I think this lacks in a lot of current/mainstream music. Rock is something my dad and I have bonded over throughout the years. Below is a link to one of our favorite band’s songs, The Twilight Zone by Rush. I also enjoy quality rap and hip hop. Although there are some current rappers who have my full ears when they come on, I think this area of music has lost a lot of what made it special. So I’m going to share a song by probably the most respected rapper in the last 20 years, Eminem. Although the song isn’t exactly what I think rap as a music represents, I hope the listener will enjoy it and maybe get a laugh out of it.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xl0xq_the-twilight-zone-by-rush_music

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVkUvmDQ3HY

Howdy, y'all.

Hello. My name is Corey McMullin, not to get confused with that copycat, Cory Baker. I'm not a very complicated guy, I come from a long line of Kentuckians, but I'm among the first to actually grow up in the "big city." (Lexington is the 61st largest city in the USA.) Academically I just want to pass my classes and the AP tests like everybody else. Unlike everybody else, I went on a cruise to the Bahamas over the summer. Seeing the beautiful landscape was just breathtaking. I was on the beach during a rainstorm and the shades of blue and gray were so calming. If I had a super power I would want to be teleportation. Not only would I be able to travel to the Bahamas for free, I could pop into banks and take money to afford to go on another cruise there. (Cruises are worth it just for the food.) Now all I can think about is Nightcrawler from the X-men, a blue Russian that can teleport. I'm a big nerd about superheros thanks to my dad (my middle name is Logan in honor of the wonderful Wolverine). I'm also a massive nerd about Pokemon and other video games.

This is my cat, Pandora. She loves hiding in boxes. Now that my sister is in college, Pandora just follows me everywhere. She is a 12 year old Himalayan.

One of my favorite websites for when I'm bored is http://www.houstonzoo.org/meet-the-animals/giraffe-platform-cam/ but don't feel like you need to stay on the giraffe page, they also have flamingos, chimpanzees, rhinos, and elephants.

Howdy

Hey. My name is Ji-Hae Kim. It's funny because, since I wasn't given a middle name, sometimes things sent to me in the mail or through email say Ji Kim. I guess they think my middle name is Hae...

A little bit about who I am? Well, I was born in Lexington, KY. I've been here all my life so I really want to go out of state for college. I mean, I don't have anything against here, but I want to live in a bigger city. I don't have a specific college in mind for the future, but I hope that it would be a place that I'd fall in love with in a heartbeat.

Some other stuff... I'm more American than Korean. When I'm with Koreans, I feel too Americanized and when I'm at school or something, I feel really asian. It's weird to be Korean-American. I don't speak much Korean. I can understand it, but I can't speak it. I could read Korean if I tried.

Academic Goals. Hm. I'd like to maintain my GPA and pass my AP tests. I'd also want to get an idea of what I'd like to do in the future. I hope I don't get too caught up in all I have to do this year. To be honest, I have a terrible studying habit. I don't study. I absolutely despise studying. I get too distracted. I can't get myself to sit down and actually do anything because I don't know how to. I usually just cram information in my head in the last second... I have a feeling that that's not something I can do this year.

The most meaningful moment of my summer vacation was probably when I went to a retreat in the middle of July. It was in the middle of nowhere, but I got to see a bunch of friends that I haven't seen for a year. That week was way too short. Summer vacation was way too short. 

I think that it'd be great to have the power to pause. To stop time for a bit. Sometimes I feel like I don't have enough time to do everything. I could do anything in that extra bit of time. There is so much I could say about this, but I'm frankly just too lazy to type it all out.

I don't really have anything that really geeks me out. I guess the closest thing would be music. I try to learn every instrument I get my hands on. I can't play them amazingly, but I like the process of learning something new. I get really excited when I start, so I practice a bunch. When I get tired, I move onto a new instrument. I've learned the djimbe, drums, violin, piano, electric bass, acoustic guitar, and some electric guitar.

Pandora is a great website. I usually can't do my homework unless I have music playing in the background. I just can't stand the silence. I get bored of it. When I absolutely just can't find something to do, I go to boredbutton.com. 

This is a picture of Incheon, Korea. I really want to go to Korea soon. I have 5 cousins on my mom's side that I haven't met yet. FIVE.

One thing about living in America is that I never see my distant (literally) family. To see them, I'd have to fly all the way over to the other side of the world. Actually, teleportation would be a nice superpower too. Then I could go anywhere I wanted in the world. I want to travel around but there just isn't enough time or money. Teleportation and being able to control time would be nice... I just can't choose one. I think I'm too indecisive.

Howdy- Welcome to the Chronicles of Walt the Salt

Hello Mr. Logsdon and anybody who may happen to be reading this.

My name is Robert Walter Finch Jr., but I go by Walt.  Many people know me as Walt the Salt, particularly at Lafayette.  I have earned this nick name because I am very aggressive and salt has gained the meaning of angry to todays youth.  I play basketball and lacrosse for Henry Clay, and one of I love to workout.  For college I would love to go to the Naval Academy, even if it is extremely hard to get into.

My academic goals this year are basically the same as everyone else's in the Academy:
    1) Maintain a 4.0 GPA in my 5 AP classes
    2) Get a 4 on all my AP tests
    3) and prepare and do very well on the ACT and SAT
I'd also like to do GSP but I don't know if I'd be able to get into the program.

My personal goals are get fitter, sleep more, and win a state championship with the basketball team this year.  And I'd also like to become less aggressive so that I will no longer be known as Walt_the_salt, even if it is the greatest Instagram name to ever be created.

The most meaningful moment of my summer vacation was when my AAU team played the King James Shooting Stars at a big tournament.  There were coaches from every school you could think of, and it was standing room only around the court for people who wanted to watch.  We started off well, held our own, and then our guards had a few turnovers and the King James team got a couple fast break dunks.  Then our team just quit.  Suddenly they were way to good and we lost 80-45.  It was embarrassing.  People said we should have been happy with scoring that much but we could have done a lot better, and would have gotten on a lot of schools radar for scholarships if we had.  But we didn't, and it was one of the most frustrating experiences of my life, making it the most memorable.

If I could have any super power it would be to never become tired.  That way I would be able to stay up all night if I needed to, never struggle with falling asleep at school, not get tired during basketball games, and be able to lift so much more and run so much faster.  This way I could become better mentally and physically.

Something that geeks me out, not in the slag definition of the term, I guess would be our nations military and wars.  I think the struggles that these men go through and overcome are inspirational, and I think its important to understand what they go through when they're abroad.  That's why I read a lot from sofrep.com, and they also post a lot about current events.  It's important to know what is going on in the world, and so I guess current events geek me out too.  Just no the kind like Justin Beiber getting arrested last night.

So my link is: www.sofrep.com
I also like shoes a lot so here's my second link: sneakernews.com

And here's a picture of me playing basketball (aka getting buckets):

 

Howdy

Hey guys my name is Samantha. I have lots of nicknames but most of my friends call me Samantha or Sam. I was born and raised in Lexington, Kentucky. I am a huge Kentucky Wildcats fan. The first person I recognized by name other than my parents was basketball coach Tuby Smith. I am also a Pittsburgh Steelers fan. I have no personal connection to Pittsburgh but I originally started liking the Steelers in the 5^th grade because all my  friends liked the Colts and I wanted to support an opposing team, but I have been loyal ever since (which can be very challenging at times given the Steelers's current record) I come from a huge family of a lot of loud, opinionated women, and I am the youngest so I know how to speak up to be heard, so naturally I have a big personality. My favorite TV show of all time was Heroes (which was canceled a couple years ago but is being revived as a miniseries in 2015 and I am very excited) and of all the superheroes on the show the coolest, in my opinion, was Peter who absorbed the abilities of those around him, so that would definitely be my choice of powers.  My summer revolved around my family, mainly my Uncle Bob who is currently battling stage 4 throat cancer. I spent many hours in the hospital visiting with him. He is an amazing man who is incredibly strong and my goal has been to keep him laughing which is essential in kicking cancer’s butt.  I have been extremely blessed with an amazing family and although I am an only child, I grew up with 3 cousins who have been like siblings to me. Here's a collage of really old pictures of us

 

 

I am not a very excitable person and don’t “geek” out about anything in particular, but I have a taste for anything from the 90’s. Some of the greats came from the 90's like Biggie Smalls, Sex and the City, and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Titanic, Pulp Fiction and Pretty Woman. I also have a love for comedy. Watching late night talk shows, stand ups and Saturday Night Live are how I enjoy spending my free time. That being said here's one of my favorite videos of Jimmy Fallon and Will Smith. Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTpn30Pms8I

 

 

 

Howdy

Hi everyone, my name is Lucas Soard. The things that define me most are the sports I play. I’ve played football since I was 9, and been a wrestler for Henry Clay since I was 12. Academically, my goal is to get good grades, and to improve upon my GPA from last year. Athletically, my goals are to beat Scott County in football, and to make the state tournament again this year in wrestling. The best part of my summer was our vacation to Florida, which was especially wonderful because it was the only 2 weeks of summer where I didn’t have football practice. The superpower I would always choose to have would be to control time. This way I could do all of my homework, pause time, and still get all of the sleep I want.

 The link I’m choosing is to Grantland.com, and it was started by a writer for ESPN, Bill Simmons. Grantland has contributing writers from anywhere imaginable, and they write about any topic they want to, which leads to insanely long pieces. Most of the content is either sports or pop culture.

http://grantland.com/

This is a picture of Dan "The Duke" Davis, a 72 year old former sports broadcaster that occasionally will spit fire on the mic for our amusement, thanks to ESPN radio's own Scott Van Pelt and Ryen Russillo. A link is included. Enjoy.

http://espn.go.com/espnradio/shows/scottvanpelt/story/_/page/Duke/duke-raps

hi, my name is Logan Cox. I play soccer for henry clay and LFC. I like to fish and hunt. I enjoy hanging out with friends and going to parties. my academic goals for this year are to pass with mostly A's and to make it through the year alive. my personal goals for this year are to make some new friends and party a lot. the most meaningful moment of my summer was getting to spend a week with my family from Arkansas. if I could have any super power I would choose the ability to stop and rewind time so I could correct mistakes I have made in the past. soccer geeks me out because I really enjoy playing and watching it. www.twitter.com

Howdy

Hello fellow classmates, I'm Jack Phillips. My academic goals for this school year are to get no more than one B, and get at least 5 A's. My personal goals revolve mostly around my prestigious position of Team Manager for the soccer team. I hope to manage our team to the state finals, because in all honesty, the team would be lost without a manager... This summer I went on a trip to Zion National Park and Lake Powell with a group of 16 of my friends and several teachers from my middle school. A number of the people that I got to share this experience with are in the academy. This trip was a lot of fun, and living without technology for about two weeks was awesome. If I had a superpower it would be telekinesis, because with telekinesis I would be able to fly, move super heavy objects without moving, and effectively immobilize anyone, making it the most powerful superpower. I am fully geeked out by astronomy. Even though I have only been doing it for two years, I have had a lot of fun learning about the constellations, and being able to see distant nebulae and star clusters has been a blast. With my reflector telescope, I can zoom almost 300x and see more than most people would think. My picture is a picture of Saturn at 250x zoom, and in my opinion is one of the most beautiful things to look at in the night sky.
http://www.cloudynights.com/page/index.html

Assignment 1 - Cory Baker

             Hello, my name is Cory Baker and i'm a Slimehouse film connoisseur. My personal goal is to create a Slimehouse film and the score by the end of the school year. My academic goals are to achieve all A's and a 32 on my ACT because that is higher than what my brother got. The most meaningful moment of my summer was when I had my first epiphany (listening to track 8 of T-Pain's 2007 studio album 'Epiphany' on repeat) on the subject of music and sonic aesthetics. I got into slimier music when I stumbled upon Young Thug's Old English. The release of "You The World" opened new creative grounds inside me and continues to inspire my work to this day. If I could have one superpower it would be to be as slimy as the intro to LIL UGLY MANE'S "SEND EM 2 THA ESSENCE" (bonus track on MISTA THUG ISOLATION). I am into fashion too, I would say that is what "geeks me out". This website is a big inspiration for me and one of my favorite websites in regards to both fashion and music. Here's a pretty neato picture that inspires me on a day to day basis..

howdy

Hey guys, my name is Aislinn. I'm actually more ambitious than I originally planned for, evidenced in the five AP classes I'm taking this year. My goal there is to somehow maintain a 4.0 GPA without losing my sanity (I'm legitimately concerned about that at times). I suppose that also could be considered a personal goal. Other personal goals include... Well to be quite frank, another personal goal is coming up with some personal goals.
Ah! Here's one: learning to function as an only child. My brother just left for college and it's been weird to say the least. Suddenly, after a year of pretty much being ignored while all the focus was on Mr. Applying To Colleges, my parents are showering my in attention. It's really not okay. My shorts are too short, they say? Funny how they just now mention this, as I've been wearing these exact shorts for over a year. So learning to deal with that is a priority.
 I had my first job this summer; I was a camp counselor at a Girl Scout Camp out near Morehead. I've been a camper there since I was a little kid, so actually being paid to be there all summer was amazing. The most meaningful moment was definitely on the very last night of camp, after all the campers were long gone and the staff was shutting things down for the year. We had a big campfire and all sat around it in the dark and talked and laughed and cried for hours. That camp is a second home to me, and my time there means everything to me.
 "If you could have any super power, what would it be?"
If I had a dime for every time I discussed this question with campers over the summer, I'd have been making more than minimum wage. I actually worked an entire week in a superheroes unit (the best superpower by far was poison elbows). I've thought long and hard about the question and the busybody side of my brain decided on the power that would be most beneficial to my current lifestyle: time manipulation. Not the ability to travel in time, just the ability to make more of it. Think of it as a personal play/pause button; I can pause time whenever I wish and everything just sort of stops. Then I might actually have enough time for productivity and sleep and studying.
 What geeks me out? Oh my, now there's a dangerous question.
We'll keep it simple and stick with Les Miserables. The book, specifically. The musical and all of those movies from the 50s and 80s and great and all, but they're adaptations that, in many ways, fall hopelessly short. That said, an adaptation that didn't fall hopelessly short would be perhaps six hours at the least. The book is more than 1200 pages long, affectionately referred to by fans as "the brick."
So yes, Les Mis, I'm extremely attached to it. I have two copies, one of which I'm annotating.

Fun story behind this picture. I was hiking at some point, and had been reading my pretty (and more competently translated) copy of "the brick" in the car, but I must have put it into my day pack and forgotten about it, because I sort of hiked up a mountain with it. Of course, I didn't realize this until we reached the top, although I had been complaining that my pack felt too heavy for about an hour. When I realized it was there, I naturally had to do a little photo shoot. It's not often that nature and literature, two of my favorite things, come together so beautifully.

And lastly, a link. an 18 second video that I connect to on a deep and emotional level

Howdy

     Hey (or howdy) to all who are reading this. My name is Weiran Liu (although I do go by other nicknames sometimes) and I am currently a 16 year-old junior. My goal for this year is to survive - in other words, maintaining a 4.0 GPA while working, sports, participating in other extracurriculars, spending time with friends and finding some downtime as well. My dream school is Stanford, which I had the opportunity to visit last summer, and is the source of my motivation to do as much as I can. Although it may be a stretch, it is still worth a try.
     In contrast to last summer which was spent in California and swimming 7 practices a week for my club team, this one was spent working. I worked 40 hour weeks over the summer so I could save up for some of my expenses. The real highlight of my summer (surprise surprise it wasn't having a job) was that I started boxing. It gave me an outlet to let my stress out as well as a new training goal. It was a new sport for me that unlike my previous ones - track and swimming year round - hasn't damaged my joints yet. I also met new friends who encourage me and challenge me to live a healthier lifestyle, i.e. running 4 miles a day.
     If I could have any superpower I would pick teleporting or being able to walk through walls and other objects. It would make navigating much easier...especially in the halls of Henry Clay. I would also argue that being able to read minds is a great super power to have - after all, who wouldn't want to? My friend recently told me of a superpower from the show Heroes where a character is able to copy the superpowers of others, but that's just cheating.
     I love music. It has always been a big part of my life. It is pretty safe to say that Pandora is one of my most visited sites. But I really enjoy MentalFloss which provides me with my weekly dose of "random facts no one really needs to know but are still cool to learn about". The link to the channel can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/user/MentalFlossVideo
     I also enjoy painting late at night and hope to slowly improve. Whenever I can and when the weather permits, I like to hike, paddleboard, and spend time outside. I hope to someday return to Lake Tahoe, arguably one of the best places I have ever been to. Below is a picture of it as well as my latest painting.

            Hello! My name is Harrison Inocencio, and one of my main goals for the year is to remain committed to school and maintain a solid 4.0 GPA. I plan to throw the kitchen sink, and then some at these AP classes and get through the most difficult year of high school in one piece. I also plan on studying up for the AP tests and gaining credits to go towards one of the colleges I'll be shooting for. While I have several in mind, I plan on going to UK at the moment, specifically for the science and engineering schools which I've heard are pretty good. Technology and engineering is what I'm most interested in, and my career dreams range from an areospace engineer, to a computer graphics designer. Computer graphics in particular attract me because I've always had a big imagination and talent for art, and a job that combines art and technology sounds like a golden combination to me.
            If I could have a super power, it would probably be to fly. No wings or anything, just simply being able to climb up to the roof of my house and walk off into empty space. The ability to go anywhere you wanted, whenever you wanted, and just the feeling of flying in empty air is something I can only dream of. Not to mention it would have countless uses from fetching something from the store, to taking a girl on the best date ever.
           One thing that really geeks me out is probably the SCP Foundation. Its a fictional website that impersonates a secret government agency that's goal is to Secure, Contain, and Protect the world from abnormal creatures and objects. People go there to post creepy stories that have been "leaked" from within the foundation. The wild tales and descriptions of the things imprisoned in SCP range from a freaky statue that snaps your neck if you look away, to a creepy old man who has the ability to pass though and destroy all matter. I find the stories extremely detailed and almost believable, and sometimes I can spend an hour just reading the different things people post on that crazy site.
          As for a picture that describes me, I'm an avid music addict that has been playing the classical violin and the fiddle(same instrument, different styles) for over 9 years now and who also has recently delved into guitars as well. So here's a picture of my favorite instrument, the violin, or fiddle, depending on what I'm playing. Also here's a link to my favorite site, which I've already told you about. Enjoy! http://www.scp-wiki.net/

     Hello Mr. Logsdon and classmates. My name is Rena Childers and I am 16 years of age. My personal goals for this year are to keep a 4.0 grade point average and not be killed by my AP classes. I plan on visiting 12 colleges this year, (ahhh) including ones in California, New York, Washington D.C., Chicago, and South Carolina. My number one choice right now is University of California Berkeley or City College in New York. This past summer I went to Naples, Florida with one of my good friends, Ella. We laid out and swam in the ocean. 
     If I could have any superpower in the entire world it would be the ability to transport to any location I desired. My favorite thing to do is to travel, so this would give me the opportunity to do what I love. I would love to be some kind of international relations correspondent later in life, so this superpower would make my travels much easier. 
      The thing that geeks me out the most is old movies and artistic movies, such as those by Woody Allen and Wes Anderson. Also Key and Peele videos and Wayne's World make me laugh a lot. A link I enjoy is http://www.google.com/#q=seth+rogen+&safe=active because I am in love with Seth Rogen.  Here is a picture of my mom and me in Costa Rica.