Many of my friends have special hobbies that define them, such as Soccer, photography, and even sightseeing around the world. However, I have gone into the hobby of swimming, which can be described as the exercise of the body to push through a pool of water. It takes strength and determination to finish and surpass those who race against me. To me, swimming is the challenge of literally trying to go farther than my peers in reaching a goal. 



          I have always liked being in the water, the feeling of weightlessness in a world where everything will weigh you down. I started swimming in the summer of 4th grade, when most of my friends were swimming competitively against other kids of our age. The challenge was easy, as all one would have to do was to literally pull yourself through the water to get to the other side. As time progressed, I learned that to go faster, you have to split the water as you pass through it, making the heavy water that you swim through, slide by instead of weighing you down. I also learned I could not play other sports, as a health condition kept me from playing contact sports. Learning that swimming was one of the only sports I could now excel at, I now exercise and practice so I can be the best at one of the few sports I can participate in. 
       So if you can do something well, pursue it to the point where it can benefit you the most. 

Dear Chamblee News,

          What might you think about our school, Chamblee? Do you think it is a teacher/student friendly environment for learning? Do you think the teacher’s jobs are well-paid and in the right hands? No? Then you are agreeing with the teachers’ strike in Chicago.

          Would you lower the wage of the teachers of your children? Would you do it based on test scores that are affected by children who may not even care about their education? Although the school system is for the children, the teachers definitely deserve more concern.

          So what might teachers be dissatisfied with in the school system? Well for one, their salaried are dependent on test scores of ALL children, not just kids who care about their education. If some children don’t even care about their education, why should it affect the wages of our school teachers, when it might as well have been caused by an out-of-school event!? And when this happens, the local community should worry about it more than school teachers.

         Teachers everywhere are also having their wages cut and their healthcare lowered. Are you willing to have our teachers have their earning reduced?
 
                                                                       Sincerely,
                                                                       Concerned Students (Patrick L. and Michelle S.)

    What is your favorite sport? What skills are needed to become an elite athlete in that sport?
Have you tried swimming against your friend? Have you ever thought that swimming competatively was actually a major sport? Well swimming is actually a large-scale sport, and one of the foremost sports in the Olimpics, contributing to why it is my favorite sport. 
    There are many aspects to becoming an elite athlete in swimming. First and foremost is a healthy respiratory system, as oxygen is a vital fuel for your body when swimming, and breathing can be particularly difficult in an agitated situation such as a swimming sprint. A good swimmer also has to have a strong body, as you use all parts of your body to propel yourself through the water. Elite swimmers also have to practice very often, usually 5 times a week, to reach peak physical condition for swimming, as strength and endurance can be lost very quickly. Overall, to become an elite swimmer, one must be in peak physical condition and must know proper technique to prevent possible injury (such as swallowing water).
    Swimming is a major sport in my life, and is an exciting sport. The energizing feel of water rushing by as I propel myself through the water is exhilarating, with the deafening sound of water slowly attempting to fill my ears. It is awesome in that it is not dull like running, as one can be constantly be looking toward a goal that is so within range and can be won within a fraction of a second. It is also a non-contact sport, thus making injury minimal. What might your favorite sport be, and how does it affect your life?
 

            “Meet your new family, Jacob,” said the child, showing the dog his father and his home.

            The child, who was just a high scholar, was very reminiscent of Jake. The child’s name, learnt after years in the family, was Charlie. Charlie, the awkward child at school, often consolidated his emotions and problems upon Jacob, the misunderstood Shiba Inu. Never judging, Jacob usually sat through Charlie’s emotional rants, which ranged from his alcoholic father to his cruel and merciless peers at school. However, on some occasions Jacob had to protect his new owner, often barking away potential threats to his kind owner, who resembled Jake like a resonant image.

            Sadly, this blissful relationship could not last, as one day Charlie’s father had one drink too much. With any impending threat, Charlie ran to Jacob, hoping for consolidation and shelter from the bad things in the world. This time, Charlie’s dad was prepared for the dog, bringing a baseball bat to protect himself from the Jacob’s vicious bites. As his dad loomed toward the teen/dog duo, Charlie tried to assuage his father, to no avail. Charlie’s father made the first strike, hitting the dog’s thick and unyielding skull. The strike damaged something in Jacob’s head, shifting his attention from protecting Charlie from his dad to attack (and kill) any threats to the dog. With wolf-like tenacity, Jacob reduced the dad to a gruesome corpse, after which he calmly tried to huddle next to his best (and only) friend in the world.

However, due to this scene of unimaginable gore, the once friendly Charlie backed away from the dog, throwing anything that came within his grasp.

“Get away from me!” shrieked the teenager.

 Now the new threat to Jacob, the dog made short work of Charlie, making the whole house a scene out of a horror film. Upon arriving on the scene, animal control officers soon found they had to exterminate the once friendly Shiba Inu.

Born in Louisiana, a litter of Shiba Inus were born to a surprised family. The family quickly bestowed the puppies to families and friends. Two pups were soon given to John Trench, a college graduate with many troubles in his life. Jake, an uneasy sole inhabitant of a suburban home, soon grew to love the dogs as if they were what was missing in his life. He soon named them Jacob and Wilhelm, after the brothers who wrote the fairytales which helped him throughout his troubling childhood. Instead of writing in a journal, recording his thoughts and emotions on a lifeless piece of fiber, Jake had two living, loving animals that would never judge him and forget all faults. Jake’s life soon started to reach equilibrium, a good balance of his miserable life at work and the intervals of pure joy with his new friends at home.

            Similar to all pleasant things, Jake’s lovely time with his canine friends was limited. The neighborhood in which Jake lived in was as diverse as the lucky charms that were admired by the children of the neighborhood. Having to resort to thievery and petty crime, some of its populace were not the luckiest of people. A prime target for robbery, Jake’s house appeared unprotected and vulnerable to burglary. A night’s worth of planning, two men dressed in dark clothes and armed with a revolver and knife snuck into the house with insignificant amounts of commotion generated. To their dismay, almost every room were filled with items with minute value, for the dogs were always causing destruction to the material objects in their wake. Finally, there was one room left to examine, a room which was closed off to the world, ominous and foreboding. The burglars slowly creaked open the door, to find two fully conscious and aggressive Shiba Inus ready to pounce on the unwary thieves.

            “Oh my god!” exclaimed the thief, as he took as step away.

Wilhelm struck first, jumping on the man with the revolver, biting the man’s neck, and waking up Jake. The resulting shot killed Wilhelm, scaring Jacob into jumping and attacking the man with the knife. Jacob dispatched the crook after a short fight, sustaining slight injuries, all before Jake could stop the two from causing such a violent outcome.

            Distraught with the loss of one of his only friends, Jake collapsed and started weeping, with only one of his friends to comfort his loss. After about five minutes of quietly struggling, the man with the revolver was finally able to push off the corpse of Wilhelm. He slowly aimed his revolver to the dog, in an attempt to take away the last thing Jake cared about in the world. Upon seeing that the dying burglar was about to make an attempt to eradicate the dog, Jake kicked up the revolver out of the thief’s hand, causing the revolver to go off, killing Jake. After making his last stand, the thief slouched on the ground with an expression of peace. Considering the lack of life within the household, Jacob searched the house for an escape from his deep-rooted establishment. He soon found an opening which turned out to be a window, observed when he jumped through a now shattered glass barrier.

After making his escape, Jacob made his way to the streets, limping his way to any sign of hospitality. Following a month of hopeless wandering, Jacob came across a friendly teenager. He was kindly towards Jacob, offering food and speaking to the dog as if it could understand complicated emotions and thoughts. Jacob soon found himself ushered to a household, a friendly place with two inhabitants, reminiscent to his old residence.

“Meet your new family, Jacob,” said Charlie, showing Jacob his father and his home.