Bowling scores still in the same range.

I missed last week due to a bad headache so this week I bowled six games, of which my scores were; 73, 84, 100, 120, 104, 104. The average of these is 97.5, which is not as good as the average of my three from two weeks ago (108), but this could be for a number of reasons. First being this time I bowled more than one game and I was up one time after another and my wrist began to get tired from this, now that I am using a heavier ball than I was using before. However, my overall average since I have begun the activity has now risen one point, to a 95. I should, if I continue getting scores above 100, have a 100 average by the end of the program, which is what I am hoping for. I never expect that I will leave here like a professional but I am still trying to develop skills that will put me significantly above where I was when I began. I am definitely getting more strikes and spares now, and I got three strikes in the game today that was 120, and several spares in some of the other games.

Once I get used to the heavier ball even more and it stops making my wrist hurt after some time, I am sure I will improve a bit. Part of it also has to do with how I was making up for the previous week so I didn't have any time between frames and that probably stressed me out to an extent since there were other people waiting for their turn and I hurried myself a bit, worried they'd get annoyed by it. I now can see that they probably weren't but that was my worrying getting the best of me. But this Friday I plan to go with my friend and bowl a few games, and see if I can find any methods and techniques that are helpful to me. And for whatever it's worth, I got a higher score than the girl in the lane next to me who has been participating in this activity for three years, so I must be doing something right! Even Violet, the coordinator, told me she's noticed improvement in me, and that I am developing a very positive attitude compared to when I first started. I go every week with a positive attitude even if I am so tired I can barely keep my eyes open, although this time I went to bed early enough the night before that I wouldn't wake up in that way.

Bowling; using a heavier bowling ball, scores about the same.

Last night I went bowling with my friend Nicole and I decided to practice using a heavier ball. I had previously used interchangably a 6 pound ball and an 8 pound ball, which were at the time the only ones I could use with control, but I decided to use a 12 pound ball and a 14 pound ball when I was there last night just for practice and so I could get used to them. Violet, our program director, told me that the heavier the bowling ball, the more control you have on where it goes and you're less likely to fling it aimlessly.

At first I did pretty badly when practicing on my own - scores of 60 and 70 were not uncommon, however I left last night with a score of 111 using a 14 pound ball, so I figured today I would be good to go and I'd try and use the same ball when actually bowling with everyone else in the program. My scores were 97, 107, and 121. These were close to my regular scores with the lighter balls, and I have come to the conclusion that now that I have used the heavier ones and am comfortable with them to some degree and learning how to control my usage of them, I will never be able to bowl with an 8 pound ball again. By comparison it'll feel far too light and I will be tempted to exert as much strength with that ball as I have gotten used to using with the heavier ones and I will end up flinging it too far.

I feel like switching to a heavier bowling ball was a good choice for me because I will gradually gain a greater sense of control while bowling and the ball will go exactly where I want. In addition, I just realized that only the heavier balls curve, so maybe I will be able to get that to happen for me as well. Also, the average of my three scores today was 108, which is above my average and a good sign for me; if I can bowl that with a heavier ball I am just getting used to, I'll get better in the weeks to come as well.

Traveling to China essay

Here is a copy of the essay;

Michael Piccione

February 5, 2010

In this day in age, cross-cultural skills, communication, innovation, and critical thinking are becoming increasingly important as the world is made smaller by an increase of international relations, business, and trade. If one has these skills needed to be involved with such interactions, they will be at a great advantage for several careers and opportunities to come. In this consistently changing world, I would like to acquire these skills so that I might open myself up to several career opportunities in the future involving international relations, and so I can approach unfamiliar cultures with an open mind and with awareness and respect for the cultural diversity that exists globally.

Going to China on an international tour for 14,000 minutes will both broaden my horizons and open my mind to new possibilities, and it will give me a taste of just one of many unique cultures that I am completely unfamiliar with. Cross-cultural skills are more and more important with every day that passes. Gone are the days when people live their entire lives in the same place, never leaving the country and all the while having limited interaction with other cultures and people. The more culturally experienced you are today, the better. While I am very familiar with some aspects of Western culture and the culture that I was born into (Italian-American on my father's side of the family and Portuguese-American on my mother's), I still do not even understand the cultural traditions of some parts of my own country. Traveling to China, which is in most respects VERY different than the United States in terms of religion, language, and cultural practices, will expose me to a completely different picture. I will admit now I know little to nothing about China, and I don't know a single word of Chinese. What could possibly improve my cross-cultural skills than dropping me off in a country I know little to nothing about? Nothing, and this is why. Anyone would be uncomfortable at first if they had to adapt to another culture's way of life for a number of days, but in no time that very person will see things they've never seen, taste foods they've never tasted, and see things before their own eyes that may not have any meaning to them but have meaning to someone else, and there is much growth that can result from entering another culture with an open mind. If I do go to China, I will hear words I do not understand, and I will eat foods I cannot name the components of, and I will have to find some way to communicate and to get by every day without resorting back to my American ways. I will have to learn enough Chinese to communicate on a basic level, and since I will not be able to cart my refrigerator all the way across the globe, I will have to eat authentic Chinese food. I can guarantee I will grow tremendously from the experience. I want to go to China not as an American that wants to be spoken to in English by the locals and who will eat at American restaurants, but as someone with an interest in learning about the ways of life of another country. Exposing me to the Chinese culture will improve my cross-cultural skills because by the end of the experience I will have learned how to adapt to a culture that is not my own and embrace the differences and at the same time, notice the similarities that exist between their culture and my own, embracing the similarities as well. This will open MANY doors for me in the future. I want to work for the United Nations and I will need to be as knowledgeable about many cultures and I will need to know how to speak several world languages, including Chinese. Dealing with people of other ethnicities and cultures on a regular basis will be much easier for me if I have the skills needed to understand the background from which they come, and going to China will open my mind and help me to understand the world better as a whole.

In addition, my innovative skills will improve because every day, I would be exposed to something new and unfamiliar. As I stated above I know NOTHING about China other than the fact that it's capital is Beijing, 1/4 of the Earth's population is Chinese, and the Great Wall of China stretches along the northern half of the country. This means that there is just that much more for me to learn while I am there and that much more that I can immerse myself in and expose myself to. Everything will be new to me. I will be trying a new food every day, and I will hopefully learn about daily customs and learn to embrace them while I am there and enjoy the experience. Not only will my communication skills improve because I will need to know enough Chinese to get by, but communication is more than just speaking. Communication also includes etiquette and behavior. Not every culture has the same standards for etiquette and when communicating with someone from another background, it is necessary to be respectful and understand the way in which that culture expresses itself through gestures, motions, and movements as well. It is so easy for me to say that I understand that etiquette and what is considered appropriate behavior differs from one society to the next but having to modify my own behavior to meet another culture's standards will help me understand so much better. First-hand experience is ALWAYS better for learning.

Traveling thousands of miles away from home without my family and in an unfamiliar culture will also help to build character and to improve my survival skills. Not too far in the future, I will be going off to college, and I will be with completely different people than the ones I know now, in a completely different environment. Going to China for a number of days, far away from home or anything/anyone I know, will make me a more independent person and I will learn to adapt to change. When I actually DO go to college, my comfort level will be much higher and I will be less afraid of being far from home. If I do end up working for the United Nations, I will likely have to travel far and wide. I won't have my family to fall back on every time something may go wrong and I will need to learn to survive in another culture and get around on my own. Communication skills, cross cultural skills, and innovation will help me in EVERY aspect of my life in the future, whether studying abroad, in college, or at a job. The skills I could learn in China could help me anywhere else because once I can be comfortable in unfamiliar surroundings, I will be able to approach so many more situations with an open mind, free of the anxiety that often comes with unfamiliar territory, both figuratively and metaphorically. My interactions with people in China will benefit me because regardless of our cultural, linguistic, or ethnic background, people deep down are very similar, and people are capable of feeling the same emotions.

If I do get to go on this trip, it will probably be one of the scariest experiences of my life, due to my unfamiliarity with the Chinese culture and my uncertainty about what lies ahead. I have so many questions; What would I eat? What would I do if I didn't like the food? What if I am not received well by the locals because I am a foreigner? What if there are creepy bugs and scary animals? At the same time, even with my doubts, it will be one of the most rewarding experiences of my life because I will find the answers to my questions, and I will need to learn to find a way to overcome my uncertainties and use critical thinking to solve any problems that arise. I will realize firsthand that the whole world is not like the town where I have lived most of my life, and I will see that everyone is a foreigner somewhere else. I will better understand the struggles and concerns of foreigners in the United States. I will build the courage and the strength to get on the plane to fly there, and will do everything I can to make the most of the experience, by embracing the local customs, learning as much as I can about one of the Earth's most populated countries, and I will build the skills needed to make my future what I want it to be. And when I return and come back to my rather isolated peninsula of Cape Cod, I will have so much more insight and self-awareness and will know where my strengths and weaknesses lie, and I will be able to say, I took a risk, and I grew as a result.

I wrote this essay because I want to win the trip to China this summer, and when I was told that an essay needed to be written and that one student from Sturgis is a guaranteed winner, I thought I would give the essay a try. Travel is important to me for a number of reasons that I explained in the essay; I find world cultures and the study of different languages very interesting, and one of my dream jobs is with the United Nations or to be involved in foreign business/trade or foreign relations, so as much worldly experience as I can get while still in high school, the better. I feel like if I get to go to China, it will open my mind and help me to see the world on a larger scale and its diversity. I chose learning outcome 6 (issues of global importance) because I will be traveling to somewhere unfamiliar and if I increase my own understanding of the world, it will help me to make the world a better place by being one more understanding and open-minded person who is open to other people from different places and backgrounds, and by doing this I will have done my part to make the world even a little bit more cooperative. Even if I don't win the trip, I still will have gained the knowledge of my own goals in terms of increasing my understanding of the world, so I will be able to fulfill these goals whether I travel or not. I chose learning outcome 8 (developing new skills) as well, because the traveling will be a new experience for me in which I will seek the skills I outlined in my essay, and I will do my best to come home with as many new skills as possible, that I can apply every day in my life. Whether I win or not, other opportunities will hopefully come my way to see the world, but if I do win, this will be a very beneficial experience for me that I will embrace wholeheartedly.

Bowling average increased by one point, is now a 93.

My bowling average went up from a 92 to a 93 within the past week, and this week I bowled six games because I will not be able to go next week due to that I'll be in Quebec with the school trip. My scores were 113, 96, 122, 77, 108, 104, and the average score is 103. I am not sure if these will increase my average when factored in, but I think that is a good consistency for scores, and with the past week I have noticed a definite trend in my capabilities.

The majority of the time that I go to bowl, I knock down 8 or 9 pins each time, and the majority of the time, the remaining pins are right in the corner. I usually miss, because I struggle in aiming to get the pins in the corner and my ball ends up rolling right into the gutter, or misses by an inch. If I learn how to aim in this situation, I can improve my scores by a lot because I will get many more spares instead of getting an 8 or a 9 for that frame. Like learning objective number 1 (increase awareness about areas of strength and areas for growth), I have identified the next thing I need to work on, and I plan on talking to Violet, the coordinator, and seeing what tips she has for me. I almost always hit the middle pin every time and I am getting more strikes now than ever before.

I talked to Violet about whether or not she thinks I should start using a heavier ball, and she told me that the heavier the ball, the more control you have over the ball, and you can almost always get it exactly where you want it to go. I didn't want to try using one on Saturday and negatively impact my scores so I decided I'm going to go with a friend one day and practice using a heavier ball and see what I can do with that. This may help me in getting a spare more easily when I have one pin left toward the corner, as I will be able to better control the direction of the ball and prevent it from landing in the gutter. I can say that remaining pins in the middle of the lane, I almost always am able to get spares in that situation.

My interactions with other people are improving as well. Since most of the other kids there are equally as experienced as me or much more so, I have been asking them for advice on what I might be able to do better, and I've found them to be very supportive when I do well. There was this one girl who I was talking to and she told me every now and then that I was doing a good job, and this made me feel much better and like I have improved. I feel like the goals I set for myself each week are just right, and not too high or too low, because each week I look at the one thing that the next week I will work harder to improve, and last week I said I would try and concentrate more so I might get more spares, and I was able to do that for the most part, and I identified this week where I still have gone wrong and what I might be able to do in the future about that.

I have two weeks to prepare and to work on it, so I'll see what I can do!

Second best bowling score yet.

So last Saturday my three scores were 90, 101, and 131. 131 is my second best score yet, and the average of these three scores is 107. This is very good for me because with my average now a 92 (which increased one point in the past two weeks), I feel like if I continue to do well and beat my own scores and aim for scores that are above 125 (of which this was my second), I will be able to get my average over 100 by the end of the program if not higher.

What I did not realize until a few weeks ago is that we are actually bowling against another group of kids, which is why regardless of which lane they put me on, there is always one kid who is there with me, while everyone else switches. I did not realize until recently, surprisingly, that it was a competition against anyone else but myself, meaning I thought the purpose of the program was to improve my OWN scores over time and that they just switched us up for the sake of change. This is not good for me, considering that (like I have said before), most of the other kids are significantly more experienced than I am, as they have done this program for the past three years or more. I think my goal for myself is to continue to improve my scores and to increase my average, but I have noticed that I am getting as good as some of the less-experienced kids that were in the beginning of the program, still much better than myself. For instance there is this one guy who was, in the beginning, much better than me. This Saturday I was within 10 points of his score every time, and he even noticed that I have improved.

My goal for myself is still to improve my own scores and raise my average but now that I know it is competitive and that Violet (the instructor) is keeping track of wins/losses from team to team, it gives me more of an incentive to not only work to better my own abilities and scores, but to also try even harder so that I can compete with the other kids. I can't believe I didn't pick up on that earlier, but my main priority is to better my own abilities and to boost my average. I am still learning how to curve the ball but otherwise I have pretty much gotten a method down that is working for me. In fact, I could have gotten a higher score than 131 but in the last frame, I messed up and sent the ball into the gutter where I could have gotten a spare, which would have given me 146 points if I had successfully done such.

I think if I continue concentrating like I have been and I focus even more and watch my motions just a little bit more carefully I will come even closer to achieving my goal, and hopefully in the process, making myself just a little bit more of competition for the other, more experienced individuals. Even if I don't use it as a CAS activity next year I'd like to participate in this activity again, because it has helped me make some new friends, and enter unfamiliar situations better than I was previously able to do, and with that skill I will be able to approach situations and activities in the future in which I have little experience.

Bowling.

I missed a week due to being sick so they made me do an extra three games, meaning I did six total. My scores were 86, 91, 95, 109, 109, and 116. All of these except the 86 were my average or above average, and the average for all 6 games is 101, which is ten points above my average. I see this as a definite sign that I am doing consistently well, and an 86 is not bad, although it is not my best. It was the first game bowled on Saturday, so it goes without saying that I was a bit tired then.

I am going to make a graph of my averages for each week soon and that way I can see with my own eyes, my progress since I began this activity months ago.

Average Scores... again (bowling)

This Saturday they were 69 (first game), 101 (second game), and 106 (third game). The first one was not my best, and the other two were relatively average. I calculated the average of these three scores, and it comes to a 92, which is still better than my overall average of 91 by one point, so I see that as evidence that I am at the least, not getting worse.

It would probably have been better if during the two weeks that there was no bowling, I had been able to practice with my friends. The night that I went in the arcade/bowling alley with my friends, there were leagues already occupying all the space so we had to stay in the arcade and didn't have a chance to bowl.

My low score of 69 was a combination of my lack of practice for the several weeks that there was no bowling, and how tired I was when I first woke up in the morning. My goal for myself is to get my average to 100 by the end of the spring, when this activity ends. I went from an 89 to a 91 from November to December, so I think with extra practice I will be able to achieve this goal. I also plan to go on Friday with my friends for some practice, and to get extra sleep that night so I'm less tired in the morning. I have got the technique down, and at this point my success or failure depends on how tired I am and the amount of practice I get. I want to make the surrounding conditions better for myself so that I am awake and alert and able to do my best.

Best bowling score ever... but average remains the same.

My three scores today were 106 (first game), 68 (second game), and 146!!! Due to the 68, my average of the three games for today is 106, compared to my average of 109 from last week, so my averages are pretty consistent.

I feel great about today overall, despite the one bad score of 68.

Due to last night, which was drama-filled due to some former friends, I woke up very stressed and tense and I didn't even want to get out of bed, but I knew that I should go to bowling so I went anyway. I was so tense, barely in the mood to talk, and stressed out when I got there, so the fact that I was able to bowl a 106 right off the bat showed me that even in stressful times, I was still able to focus and concentrate.

HOWEVER after my first game, I received a call from someone, and the phone call bothered me so much that I was on the verge of tears. I bowled a 68 my second game, which is not one of my better scores. I practically cracked under pressure, and the bowling coordinator Violet came over to talk to me, she asked me what was wrong and told me I wasn't doing well my second game, and she gave me a helpful hint. I told her someone was bothering me and really getting to me today. She said, "If someone is bothering you and causing you stress and you can't get it out of your mind and this is causing you to do badly, pretend that every pin is their face. Think to yourself, I want to hit every single face and not just one, I have to get a strike." And sure enough, in the midst of my anger and frustration, I was able to bowl with the most accuracy and precision that I ever have. The first five frames, I got a spare each time. I got two strikes later in the game, and I was able to focus on the exact pins I wanted to hit, and I ended with a score of 146. The score of 146 made me realize that I AM capable of getting that score or even better in the future.

If I could get a 146 today, I can get one again in the future, or even strive to do better. I also did better the third game than either of the more experienced kids that were bowling in the same lane, which gave me the incentive to keep pushing myself to concentrate more, continue working on my aim, my posture, and to not settle for less than my best. And obviously, 146 has been my best and I firmly believe I can do this well in the future.

I don't have bowling again until January 9th. I have PLENTY of time to go and practice some more, which I intend to do :) :) I'm proud of my improvements, given that the first week my wrist hurt due to the weight of the balls, and I could barely even direct the ball in a straight line.

Bowling scores back in the 100s consistently.

I'm proud to say that today in bowling my three scores were 103, 110, and 116 in order from my first game to last. I have been working on my aim and Friday night I once again went bowling with my friends so that I could get more practice. I think the practice has helped me quite a bit, especially because it gives me the time to try using different bowling balls and to just have fun without the scores counting. One thing I've learned is to use the same bowling ball consistently and to find one that fits your hand perfectly, and I found one ball that I am comfortable with. In the past I alternated between different balls, some of which were harder to hold than others or didn't fit my hand as well.

I'm becoming less nervous around the other people in my group too. This is good mostly because I think the few weeks in which I had done badly, I feel as if for one reason or another I was more self-conscious either because of the people in the lanes next to me or the people in the general vicinity, who may have been very experienced, attractive (in which case I would have been distracted, nervous, or tense), or critical. Now that I have developed an "I don't care what anyone else thinks at all and if they want to criticize, let them!" type of attitude, I don't care if bowling slowly and precisely makes me look inexperienced, it gets me good scores and I have very precise control over the ball and much better aim when I take my time. I'm not ready to begin bowling faster with a lot more force yet, although a few times today I was able to release the ball with a little more force, trying to make sure that in doing this, my aim is still good.

As hard as it is to believe, for the first time this week I noticed that all of the pins are not in a row, but some are closer to me and some are farther away, therefore it really is necessary to hit the middle pin in order to knock down the ones behind it. Each time, I try to aim for the middle pin and hope that there is a domino effect and the rest of the pins fall, giving me a strike.

All in all right now I feel very comfortable with myself and my skills, and I am going to continue to practice during the week (most likely Friday nights). I've been learning more and more about bowling and the basic things, and becoming more observant, so that I can deduce subtle ways that I can improve. I know that going up there and flinging the ball and trying to bowl as fast as I can has not worked for me so regardless of my nervousness if certain people are around (attractive people particularly), I am going to have to get over this nervousness and pretend that the people around me that cause it are not there, so that it doesn't get in the way of my bowling. My average for all of the games thus far (from the start of the program) is 87 and I am determined to get my average to at least 100 by spring, and nothing is going to stop me!

Bowling scores improving again. December 5, 2009.

There are a few things I have learned from these past two weeks of bowling, both of which I am reflecting on in this journal entry since I did not post one last week. Several weeks ago, my scores were always good and in the 100s, because I had learned the technique of releasing the ball with my arm kept straight, and I had been taking my time and not trying to bowl really fast like the other people there were able to do. Of course they are more experienced so their abilities as of now surpass mine, but since I had gotten a lot better and figured out what to do, I thought I'd have been able to bowl well even if I started to go faster and release the ball faster and with more force. This was not the case.

I finally identified the problem that had caused my scores to begin decreasing again, which last week were 86, 63, and 75, ALMOST as bad as my scores the very first week, when I had no idea what I was doing. Last week and somewhat the week before, I had gotten so confident in my abilities that I thought if I began bowling faster like everyone else, I would be fine and that this would yield good results. I can't see myself when I bowl and I today was frustrated with the first game, in which I got a 64, and I didn't honestly know what I'd been doing wrong. I called Violet, the instructor, over to watch me and tell me what she noticed me doing, and she told me that I had gone right back to my old method of flinging the ball down the lane as fast as I could, losing track of my arm motions. I was surprised because I didn't realize I was doing this again but it made sense, that tactic was unsuccessful when I began bowling so it explained the decrease in my scores.

So I tried to bowl slowly, like I learned to do before, monitoring my motions once again, and I got better scores of 106 and 96 in the next two games, respectively. The problem that caused the decrease in my scores should have been obvious to me but it was not, until it was once again pointed out to me. I learned from this that I am still not at the level of everyone else but that I have found my comfortable place, which is bowling slowly and (although looking much less experienced than those who can whip the ball down the lane and knock down at least 8 pins off the bat), actually succeeding. I hope that I eventually will be able to bowl with more force and speed but as of now, trying to do so is not going to make me successful so I am going to have to wait on that one. I'm realizing that the meaning of learning objective 1, which is to gain awareness of my areas of strength and areas for growth, also means that I should become fully comfortable with my abilities before I try to change my methods. If I can still improve while bowling slowly and carefully (which I can, I still need to work on my aim and concentration), I should do my best to gain THESE skills before I try to bowl faster and with more force.

I just have to try and concentrate on immediate improvement and not think, 'oh well I have already improved enough, time to completely change my methods and tactics and hope it works!" I should probably go bowling during the week twice, which I have been going mystic bowling on friday nights with my friends so that I have practice for the next day, but another day of practice would be good, that way I can try and bowl faster but I can try and do so while keeping my motions in check, that way I have some practice for the next day. I think though that I need to remember that I am less experienced than the others that bowl with me but that only means I have to take it slowly and work my way up to their level, which I am trying to do, and it doesn't mean I will always be worse, because it's not a matter of worse, it's a matter of that I need practice and the more I get, the better I will get and the more comfortable I will be in my abilities.

Bowling - scores spanned a spectrum from 68 to 101.

Today, my scores in bowling spanned the spectrum, with my best game being 101 and my worst, 68. After each week I sit back and analyze and try to figure out what I did well, what I could have done better, and why I did as well or as badly as I did.

I was very tired when I woke up this morning, around 7. Bowling starts at 8. I stayed up a bit too late last night, until 2 in the morning, when I should have thought, "I have bowling in the morning so I should go to bed early so that I have the energy tomorrow when I need it" (yes, it does require energy to some extent). I was tired when I arrived at the bowling alley and I feel that if I was less tired, I could have been more alert and coordinated, and I would have been able to aim the ball right down the middle of the lane a lot better than I did today, or at specific pins if there were only a few to be knocked down in order so that I'd have gotten a spare. My final game was a 101, and by that time I was much more awake. Now that I have seen first hand what happens when I have too little energy to function at my best, I will be going to bed much earlier on Friday nights from now on.

My average is 89, and two of my scores today, 89 and 101, were therefore average or better, which is good as far as I am concerned. My first game was a 68, which could have been because I was tired, and because usually, my first game each week is my worst. I did get some practice last night, because I went bowling with two of my good friends. I also scored 101 on one of my games last night, and 109 on another, but these don't count for the purpose of this activity since they took place on my own time.

I decided to take this week as a learning experience instead of only seeing that a 68 is lower than the rest of my games. I will make sure I go to bed early enough on Friday nights so that I am awake and alert the next morning. I also want to go bowling again during the week for more practice, which I feel did help me.

Bowling, November 14, 2009 (Good consistency in scores)

While there was no dramatic improvement in bowling scores this week, my scores were still some of the better scores I have received and they are pretty consistent with my scores from last week. This week, they were 99, 109, and 117.

My first game (99) was due to in the last frame when we have three balls, I went too quickly and the ball ended up going into the gutter, causing my score to be one point away from 100, while the other games were more typical in terms of my recent scores. I have kept track of all of my scores up to this point and my averages for each week and after bowling ends in the spring, I am going to make a graph so I can see how my scores got better or worse (which hopefully they will not) from the beginning to the end. My capabilities have improved significantly since I began bowling but it's also due to the fact that I was able to identify where I was doing well and where I was not doing well in the beginning. I still have areas to improve, and I acknowledge that. That's what learning objective 1 that I chose for this activity is all about - identify areas of strength and areas for growth. My areas of strength are increasing because in the past I was able to identify my areas for growth and I have been working to overcome these areas for growth (which in the past were the flicking of my wrist, the fact that I have recently realized I was putting the wrong fingers in the holes in the bowling ball, and my concentration), and now that I have improved those aspects of my performance, I know where I can still improve now.

Most of the more experienced people that I bowl with are able to make the ball curve and I still would like to be able to do this. It'd improve my scores tremendously, and I have been studying their motions when they bowl so that I can do the same thing when it's my turn. I don't know exactly what it is they're doing, because from my perspective it LOOKS as if they flick their wrist, but they can't be flicking their wrist in the same manner that sends the ball into the gutter. I need to talk to the instructor/coordinator, who is herself very good at bowling, and see what she has to say that can help me learn this technique.

I would also like to touch on something else - my social skills are improving week by week. Learning objective 8 - learn new skills - doesn't necessarily have to only be about the bowling itself. I have been learning to adapt to working with new people, as they switch us around every week. I am forced to be with people far more experienced than I am, of different ages, although now they're placing me with kids my own age. I used to be afraid that I'd look like an amateur or like I was really inexperienced or shouldn't even be there since I barely knew what to do, but now I am more comfortable being around people that I don't know at all, who may be watching me and criticizing in their minds. I have opened myself up to the opportunity that I might even make some new friends, and I have been much more successful the less nervous I have become. My growth as a person from this activity is not only related to bowling skills, but my social skills as well. It's easy for me to be myself around people I have known for a while, but it's more difficult for me when I know no one, causing me to be much more quiet and reserved. But slowly, this is changing and I am opening up a lot more.

Bowling, November 7, 2009 (continuous improvement)

Today I got my best scores in bowling yet, and my scores were 112, 107, and 121 (my all time best score).

What I did this week was make sure I used the same ball every time for consistency, which was something I did not think to do in other weeks. I also made sure to bowl slowly and carefully and follow through every single time, and learn to stand in a certain place so that way I could send the ball right at the pins I wanted to knock down, rather than always standing in the middle and trying to aim that way. I am good at sending the ball in a straight path, so I used this to my advantage today when trying to knock down one pin in the corner - I am now able to do this WITHOUT sending the ball into the gutter.

I have not had any of the problems I had in past weeks and by now it's definitely a habit to release the ball correctly and not flick my wrist, and I also have become more confident in my abilities and less worried about what the people around me will think. I'm also adapting well to the fact that they put me with a different group of kids every week, and I don't let this make me nervous or intimidated.

My goal for next week is to try and raise my scores even more, and try and beat my highest score of 121. I also still would like to learn how to make the ball curve, but I have several weeks ahead of me to learn :)

Bowling, October 31, 2009 (More improvement)

I am doing well in bowling, and I think that I have definitely gotten much better these past few weeks. Today my scores were 61, 106, and 98. 106 is the second highest score I have ever gotten, and 98 is my third highest score ever. I would say I am definitely improving and I am proud of myself also for being at almost the same level as some of the other kids that bowl with me, despite the fact that they have much more practice. I still have room for improvement though.

What I did this week was remember what I did last week that got me my best score ever (113). I released the ball slowly and didn't fling it down the lane. The good news is that now, it's no longer a habit or a natural instinct to flick my wrist and send the ball into the gutter! Almost every time that it was my turn today, the ball rolled right down the middle of the lane. My main downfall this week was that sometimes I would knock down every pin except the furthest one on each end, therefore making it impossible to have all of the pins knocked down after my second/last ball, leaving me with 9 pins knocked down. My other problem is if I knocked down every pin but one and the one pin was the furthest on either side, it'd be difficult to get the ball to hit that pin without rolling into the gutter before getting far enough down the lane. Either way, I have definitely improved, and many of the problems I had the first two weeks aren't problems anymore.

The reason I got a 61 the first game today was because I was initially very tired when I arrived at the bowling alley, having woken up exactly an hour before. By the time the first game was over, I was much more awake and able to bowl better, giving me scores of 106 and 98.

So my goals for next week are as follows; try to learn how to knock down the pin closest to the gutter if it is the only remaining pin which would give me a spare (without the ball rolling into the gutter), and to try to roll the ball with a little more force, so that more pins fall down when I bowl.


*Side note, I also missed Prom Committee this week to study with Ms. Singer for an algebra test that took place right after lunch.

Bowling, October 24, 2009 (Major improvement!)

My bowling scores today reflected major improvement on my part. My scores this week were 91, 113, and 84. My lowest score this week, an 84, was better than my highest score last week, which was 81. I am proud of myself because I did better than I expected I would, and everyone there today commented on how much I had improved.

I believe the secret to my success was that I went very slow, like I didn't charge up there and fling the ball down the aisle like I had been doing in previous weeks. I walked up slowly, and released the ball and followed through with my arm every single time, and most of the time, the ball went exactly where I wanted it to go. Occasionally it would roll into the gutter but this was not a frequent occurrence like it was last week. I still am unable to make the ball curve but I think that if I continue to go very slowly and make sure I release the ball without flicking my wrist, I will continue to succeed. My average score this week was a 96, which is much better than my average overall for the three previous weeks combined, which was about a 74 if I remember correctly.

One of my learning objectives for this activity (number 1) - increase awareness of my strengths and areas for growth - is achieved every week. For example, I was able to identify in previous weeks that my scores were not as high as I'd have liked them to be, and then I identified why - I was releasing the ball too quickly and flicking my wrist to the side, sending my whole arm and the ball to the right side of the aisle. I was able to correct this problem this week by slowing down my motion and remembering not to flick my wrist and keep my arm straight, and it is becoming habitual now to follow through properly. However I have identified that I would like to be able to learn to make the ball curve, which is the next thing I am going to work on, to improve my scores even more. Through this process I am achieving learning objective 8 (learning new skills), or at least attempting to. These skills are not limited to bowling, as I am learning perseverence as well. I'm not about to give up on this activity or accept failure.


* a side note - I skipped the Prom Committee meeting this week so I could go to extra help for algebra with Ms. Singer, and also there was no Key Club activity this week. I did attempt to stay after on Wednesday to help decorate a window, but this didn't end up happening at all because the door to the room was locked and there was a teacher's meeting, so all of us key-clubbers went home.

No improvement in bowling so far :( 10/17/09

I went to bowling today. My scores are not improving, they are actually getting lower and lower each week. I am giving a sincere effort, and I think every week before I go, that my scores are going to improve and I will have figured out exactly what to do, but my scores are not reflecting much improvement.

I actually DO know what it is I am supposed to do, but then when it's my turn, I don't always think to do it. It's not even an intentional thing, it's just what happens. I know that I am supposed to not flick my wrist and follow through, with my arm releasing the ball so that my arm goes in the air in a straight line, following through with the whole motion. However, every time it's my turn and I try to do this, I flick my wrist to the side and send the ball toward the gutter. I don't realize that this is going to happen but it does, it's almost like it is a habit for me to release the ball that way. I have at least IDENTIFIED the problem - my wrist flicks, ALWAYS toward the right gutter. I don't know how to break this habit or even what I am doing with my wrist, I am not seeing myself bowling to identify the problem, but I know what the problem is because I am told by other people. When I do carefully monitor my motions when I bowl, the ball goes right down the middle and I apparently follow through correctly, with my arm going straight up and my thumb sticking straight up as well after the ball is released.

My scores this week were 51, 74, and 81. Also to take into consideration is the fact that the lanes were not greased, so the ball did not move as well for me or for anyone else. My score of a 51 reflects that the first game, I kept flicking my wrist, and by the second two games, for which my scores fall into the average range for me when compared to games bowled the previous two weeks, I had figured out how to NOT flick my wrist for the most part. In fact by the end of my final game, I had gotten two strikes in a row. It figures that I'd start doing well right before it was time to leave.

I think I need to go once or twice during the week and practice. When I carefully monitor what I am doing, I do well, but it's just a natural habit for me to flick my wrist when I bowl, and that is what is keeping me from being successful. Now that I have identified the problem, it's time for me to do all I can to correct it. I should probably bowl a lot slower, and watch what I am doing carefully so I can remind myself to follow through correctly. If I released the ball correctly EVERY time, my scores would be much higher, because I am much more successful when I don't flick my wrist. Learning objective 1 - recognize areas of strength and areas for growth - is what this is all about. I identified the problem and am going to attempt to fix it.

One solution to fixing the problem is to go during the week so I could try to improve without bowling under pressure, when my scores count.

Bowling, Saturday October 10, 2009

I am not sure if I have made improvement since last week, or if I have not. My scores last week in bowling were 91, 67, and 105, and this week they were 73, 74, and 82. The obvious answer would be that I have not made improvement and that I still need to develop a technique, but my scores this week were much more consistent, rather than, a good game here, a bad game here, which would suggest that my good scores are due to sheer luck.

This week, I was with a totally different group of kids, most of which were closer to my age. There are about 30 kids of various ages that are part of the same bowling league but they divide us up into groups and put us in different lanes. I thought that the people I was with last week would be with me all the time but they do switch it up. This week, 2 of the kids in my group were MUCH better than I was, and close to my age. The rest were at the same level of ability as I am, but I still worried I was the weakest link. I did try my hardest, though. But often I would get nervous roll the ball too fast, and the ball would end up going into the gutter. What this is telling me is that I need to practice, by myself, at some point during the week when I am not competing against other people so that I can work on my technique and then when I go on Saturday, I will have some idea of what to do, rather than trying different techniques (like, position of the arm, the wrist, etc.) for the first time and having them either work, or fail miserably. 

What I have realized is, when releasing the ball, it is better not to go so fast that it goes off to the side and into the gutter. It is best to release the ball right down the middle, and try to keep your arm straight, so that the ball is headed on a clear path down the middle of the aisle. Sometimes for me though, I just get something wrong and it still goes into the gutter or off to the side. Learning objective 1 - increase awareness of my strengths and areas for growth - tells me I need to go bowling with a friend or by myself during the week when I am not competing against anyone, so I can discover what works and what doesn't work, and so I can gain some awareness of what I am doing well, and what I still need to work on. I intend to do this soon, because if I am by myself, I will feel much less pressure and my scores will not count. To achieve learning goal 8 - develop new skills, I am going to need to practice by myself.

As frustrating as I was getting when I felt like the weakest link, it didn't stop me from trying, because that is the only possible way to succeed.

Bowling at Ryan Family Amusements first day, October 3, 2009

Yesterday I joined a once-a-week bowling league at Ryan Family Amusements in South Yarmouth, the "Saturday Strikers".  We meet every Saturday at 8:30 for 30 weeks, and bowl 3 games. I was nervous at first, mostly because I didn't know who to expect to see there, and I was hoping that I wouldn't see a lot of people I knew, and I especially hoped that I would not be with mostly older kids. People might think, bowling is so easy, it's not a big deal, but that couldn't be further from the truth. After observing some of the kids who have been bowling consistently for a while (and they range from ages 10 to 17), I could see that it's not easy and not everyone is good and knows the techniques.

I arrived, and I signed in with the coach and had to fill out a paper, asking for my name, age, email, phone number, parents' phone number, etc. After, I was introduced to the other kids on the team and was pleasantly surprised to see that I was the second oldest. Most of them are between the ages of 12 and 16, with one girl who is 10 and the manager of the bowling alley's son who is 6. My first impression was, this is going to be a piece of cake. Let me say now, IT'S NOT. I did not realize until I showed up that we weren't going to do candlepin bowling. I mean the thought had crossed my mind but I assumed that because the ages of the kids varied and many of them were used to the bumpers that stop the ball from rolling into the gutter, that if we were bowling with the heavy balls, that we'd be using the bumpers. Surprise number 2; no bumpers. 

I didn't realize just how heavy the bowling balls are; I have only done candlepin bowling, with the small green balls. When it was my turn, the ball rolled RIGHT INTO THE GUTTER the first time, and my wrist hurt from using the heavy ball. I figured I would get better. I talked to the coach and she showed me how to hold the ball properly, and the motion with the arm when letting the ball go. She told me that my thumb is supposed to be straight up after releasing the ball, so I tried it on my next turn. She was right! My score for the first game was 91, my score for the second game was a 67, and my score for the final game was 105. Sometimes I would remember the proper way of releasing the ball, other times I would not, and by the end, my wrist hurt so much that I was lucky if it didn't roll into the gutter due to my inability to follow through with the proper motion.

So I wasn't as bad as I thought; HOWEVER I'm not that good. I'm better than some of the smaller kids, but I fall way behind when you compare me to the others that are closer to my age. The 10 year old girl is really good too, and she beat me every time. My personal goal is not to beat everyone else on the team (we're competing against each other, not other teams), but to improve my own techniques so that my scores are consistently good, rather than me doing well by sheer luck if I just happen to remember the correct form and stance, or if I do without even realizing it. There is a definite method to bowling, and this can be seen when you see how some of the older kids are able to make the ball curve and roll down the aisle with such a force that the pins are all knocked down by a domino effect. This is where learning objective 1 comes into play - increase awareness of my strengths and areas for growth. I have identified my strengths (I get decent scores, I am beginning to recognize a method that I want to learn to improve my scores) and I have identified my area for growth, which is that I can learn the methods and techniques. Learning objective 8 - develop new skills, branches off of this. I can learn new skills after I identify my areas for growth, and then I will be able to later look back on my performances and see how much I have grown, or not, if I find I am not able to.

I am going to do my best to become more talented at bowling. And if you think it's easy, IT'S NOT!! I can definitely say that candlepin bowling with the bumpers will be a piece of cake after this.