Write a story about anything school related. Needs to be up to 500 words.

It was the first day of school, and I jump out of bed in hopes for no work today. I brushed my teeth, put on my deodorant and ran out to the bust stop. "Hey, Sam," Jay says. "Oh, hey, Sam," I said. "So, long summer, huh?" Jay asked. "Yeah, I responded. The bus finally pulls up. Great talk. I sit in an empty seat and stare out the window. Suddenly, she gets on. Miranda Smith. I've been dreaming about her all summer. She walks to the back toward where i'm sitting. "May I sit here?" she asked. I nod, blushing.

"Hey, look! Sammy has a girlfriend" a bully singsongs. "Shut up, Todd!" I shouted. "You shut your face!" Todd screamed back. Everyone laughs. Except me. Even Miranda's laughing. The bus finally arrives at school. I walk into the cafeteria to get my schedule and I see Jacob. I run before he spots me. JAcob and I use to be friends, but we got in a fight earlier this summer. The fight was about his sister, Miranda Smith. Yep, I have a crush on my ex-best friends sister.

I go to my first class. "POP QUIZ" the teacher singsongs up front. "This is a quiz to tell me what you've learned last year. If you don't know an answer, leave it blank," the teacher says. "Aaanndd... BEGIN!" the teacher shouts. I don't know any of these. 15 minutes in, I turn in the "quiz". "It's BLANK!" The teacher says. "You said to leave the answers we don't know blank!" I responded. He hands me a yellow slip and tells me to go to room 141B after class.

Great. On my first hour of school i've managed to get in Detention! My Dad WON'T be happy. I sit there, bored. The detention door opens and /miranda walks in. "Look, it's Sammy's girlfriend!" Todd whispered. "Knock it off, Todd!" I shouted. "Hey, I can give you an extra day of detention!" Mr. Galinski shouts. Todd smirks.  

I get home and run up to my room. My door slams behind me as i face plant into my bed and cry. I sit in my bed for an hour, until Dad walks i. "Hey, Buddy, I heard what happened today," he says, softly. "I didn't deserve detention!" I screamed. "Well, some teachers don't know," Dad says. Okay, time to come clean. I have Aspergers.

Dad hands me a cold slice of pizza. He turns my TV on and walks out. I grab my homework from my backpack and begin to complete my English. So what if today was bad? Tomorrow should be better, right? I got my hopes up.

Todd is by the school doors, waiting for me. "You got me 2 days of detention, i give you 2 days of pain!" he shouts. Suddenly, I wake up in the nurses office. "Hi, Mr. Jackson," the nurse says. "You were out cold!  You know what, i've talked to the principal. He says you can be taught in our room for kids with special needs," she continues. Yay, I don't have to deal with Todd Whenzel anymore! My luck's changing.

I rush through the front door and tell Dad the news. "I know," he says. "I'm the one who called up the school and suggested that" Dad finishes. I hug him I couldn't help it. "Okay, okay, now go pick up your room!" he says. "I can't, it's too heavy" I responded. We both laugh. I head upstairs and clean my room. Goodbye bullyville!

i have learned a great many things from participating in varsity football. it has changed my entire outlook on and attitude toward life. before my freshman year at [high-school], i was shy, had low self-esteem and turned away from seemingly impossible challenges. football has altered all of these qualities. on the first day of freshman practice, the team warmed up with a game of touch football. the players were split up and the game began. however, during the game, i noticed that i didn't run as hard as i could, nor did i try to evade my defender and get open. the fact of the matter is that i really did not want to be thrown the ball. i didn't want to be the one at fault if i dropped the ball and the play didn't succeed. i did not want the responsibility of the team because i was too afraid of making a mistake. that aspect of my character led the first years of my high school life. i refrained from asking questions in class, afraid they might be considered too stupid or dumb by my classmates. all the while, i went to practice and everyday, i went home physically and mentally exhausted.

yet my apprehension prevailed as i continued to fear getting put in the game in case another player was injured. i was still afraid of making mistakes and getting blamed by screaming coaches and angry teammates. sometimes these fears came true. during my sophomore season, my position at backup guard led me to play in the varsity games on many occasions. on such occasions, i often made mistakes. most of the time the mistakes were not significant; they rarely changed the outcome of a play. yet i received a thorough verbal lashing at practice for the mistakes i had made. these occurrences only compounded my fears of playing. however, i did not always make mistakes. sometimes i made great plays, for which i was congratulated. now, as i dawn on my senior year of football and am faced with two starting positions, i feel like a changed person.

over the years, playing football has taught me what it takes to succeed. from months of tough practices, i have gained a hard work ethic. from my coaches and fellow teammates, i have learned to work well with others in a group, as it is necessary to cooperate with teammates on the playing field. but most important, i have also gained self-confidence. if i fail, it doesn't matter if they mock or ridicule me; i'll just try again and do it better. i realize that it is necessary to risk failure in order to gain success. the coaches have always said before games that nothing is impossible; i know that now. now, i welcome the challenge. whether i succeed or fail is irrelevant; it is only important that i have tried and tested myself.

the topic of this essay is how the applicant has matured and changed since his freshman year. he focuses on football. one of the strengths of this essay is that it is well organized. the applicant clearly put time into the structure and planning of this essay. he uses the platform of football to discuss and demonstrate his personal growth and development through the high school years. what he could have done better was spend more time describing himself after he made improvements. as it is, he only tells us about his newfound confidence and drive. this essay would have been stronger had he actually shown us, perhaps by including a story or describing an event where his confidence made a difference

explanation:

what: when quoting a source, use the author’s words verbatim, or word-for-word. this means you shouldn’t change any grammar, punctuation, spelling, etc. put quotations around the words to tell your reader where the quote begins and where it ends.

you also need to acknowledge the author. for example, if using mla format for your research paper, you should have in-text citations with the author’s name and page number listed at the end of each quote.

when: use quotations to provide concrete examples to support your claims. using direct quotations is a great way to build your credibility on the subject. it’s also a good idea to quote your source when the author states things in a powerful way. if you think he or she said it best, then use the exact words to share the ideas.

example: in the short story “a jury of her peers”, mrs. hale compares mrs. wright to her caged bird, saying “she—come to think of it, she was kind of like a bird herself. real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and—fluttery. how—she—did—change” (glaspell).

paraphrasing

what: paraphrasing differs from quoting because you restate the passage in your own words. since you don’t use the author’s words, you don’t need to use quotation marks. however, you still need to acknowledge the author for his or her ideas.

when paraphrasing a text, you should communicate the full meaning of the text; don’t change the meaning. it can be a condensed version of the text, or it could end up being longer than the source it’s paraphrasing.

when: you use paraphrasing when you take notes, or explain a chart or diagram to someone. paraphrasing highlight the important parts of a larger text. it also allows you to simplify the ideas for your readers.

example:

original: “it was no ordinary thing that called her away–it was probably further from ordinary than anything that had ever happened in dickson county. but what her eye took in was that her kitchen was in no shape for leaving: her bread all ready for mixing, half the flour sifted and half unsifted” (glaspell).

paraphrase: as mrs. hales walks around mrs. wright’s home, she notices that the kitchen is in disarray as if she was in the middle of baking bread (glaspell).