My First Backflip

      One of the most memorable days in my life took place in the fall of my sophomore year. I had just recently started riding mountain bikes, I used to ride BMX until I knocked my front four teeth out when I took a spill. After this incident, which occurred during my freshman year, my parents and I both agreed that I should no longer ride bikes of jumps. I sold my BMX bike and purchased a mountain bike so it wouldn't force me to hit jumps. However this was not the case. 

      Now it was fall of my sophomore year. This was my most memorable day. It was a Saturday morning when I texted my friend Chad. He is one of my best friends and is a sponsored mountain bike rider. I texted him if he could come over that day because I needed him to give me some help for the flip. I had the perfect jump set up in my yard for backflipping. My neighbor and I built it with his father a few weeks prior to this day. Sure enough my friend Chad wanted to come over, and was excited for me to flip. I was beyond scared. He brought pads for me to wear that protects your spinal cord if I fell. However, I couldn't make him drive over for nothing, so there was no backing down. I went for my first flip attempt in the late morning around eleven o'clock. I messed up on the flip terribly and broke my handlebars, I should have broken my neck. Luckily, my neighbor had a spare pair of handlebars in his basement that he let me use. Then it was back to flips. It took me nine tries total of me just crashing attempting the flip. I finally landed the backflip on the tenth attempt and was so happy. If I was not wearing those pads he let me borrow, I probably would have been seriously injured. But I had just landed my first backflip on a bike. All my friends ran up to me and started hugging and clapping for me. They were all excited too. This was my most memorable day. 

      Looking back at this day to where I am today with biking, I have succeeded greatly. I have no learned some other tricks, and have even rode in a competition. I was awarded an award at the competition too which was awesome. Now I love biking so much and can do backflips whenever I please. And I no longer fall on them like the first time when I tried them. Chad and I have been working real hard lately at riding and learning new tricks. We are having a professional filmer come and film us to make and edit so we can get sponsors for biking. I can't wait. From when I landed my first flip to now, I believed I succeeded tremendously. 

Broken

A year ago I would never have thought that I would be in the same position or be even remotely the same person that I am today. Before the summer of 2012 my entire life was based around basketball. Basketball was not just a sport to me, it was more like a lifestyle. Everything that I did had to do with playing, watching, thinking, or coaching basketball. This is not a totally healthy lifestyle because it caused my mood to reflect the outcome of how I did that day in my game or practice. I recognized that this lifestyle wasn’t totally healthy, however I enjoyed it because it brought a lot of attention to me since I was very good. Basketball also began to become like a trait that some used to define me as a person. An example of this was when my new neighbors with a son in my grade at the public school in my town came to my house and immediately saw me and said “You’re Zack Goldman, the basketball prodigy”, and laughed. Although this was an obvious exaggeration it shows the real type of the one definition aspect that was put on me.

During the summer of 2012, right after I came home from a two month summer training facility in Florida, an event happened that forever changed my life and started a new chain of events to occur; I broke my foot. When I returned home from Florida I went strait to a school practice the next day, eager to show off my new skills. In the school practice the team was doing a one on one defensive drill when suddenly I felt a pop in my foot and pain that started to gradually worsen. At first I didn’t think much of the pain, however after trying to play through the pain for the next half hour I realized that something was seriously wrong and that I needed to stop practicing. After returning home and icing my foot for about an hour I recognized that this was no sprain or temporary injury. It was then that it hit me that my journey back to basketball was going to be just that, a journey. The next couple months that followed included severe pain, trips to multiple doctors across the country, and extremely frustrating inconclusive/contradicting diagnoses by every doctor that I saw.

By the time that school started I was a mess mentally and in a cast up to my knee due to the last doctor who wanted to “try something” because he had nothing else in mind. The worst part of the whole experience was getting told be each and every doctor dates when my foot should have healed, and passing each of those dates, one by one, with a foot that was no better than it was before. This was all unbelievable mentally taxing and I began to become depressed and recognized that I would be missing the entire basketball season. The stress that my foot was putting on me mentally was too much to deal with and I therefore told my parents that I couldn’t deal with the kind of lifestyle that I had been living and had to have a new start. This resulted in my parents and I frantically looking for something that I could do with my semi-broken foot for the second semester of junior year. I also was determined to repeat my junior year so I could get some time to set in my new personality and look at life in general.

My parents and I kept coming up blank in our search for a non-physical program that was willing to accept a second semester junior who wanted to repeat junior year. We also faced some trouble getting permission from the school to repeat junior year. Finally my parents and I found one program that did something that I never in my life had a desire to so, spend a semester of high school in Israel. I never really felt proud of my heritage as Jewish or even really ever liked or cared about the religion. I was however willing to do anything to get my one missed basketball season back.

I never imagined how great of an outcome that my semester in Israel would have on me. The trip and particularly the people on it who became my best friends gave me a whole new perspective on life and made me realize how truly big and diverse the world really is. After returning home from the trip I had a totally new attitude, new things I wanted to try, new best friends, and most importantly a new view of what could make me happy or upset and a new perspective on everything.

New York City

I love to sing.  That's a fact and that's what I love to do.  I always sang in the car and did musicals when I was little, but I never knew it would become my passion.  When I was seven, I did my first musical with my dad.  The years following, I continued to do theater, but it was only a fun thing to do with my dad.  When I was nine, I had my first major audition.

I remember it perfectly.  It was my first New York audition, I was very nervous.  I was auditioning to be in the American Girl Doll musical at their store.  My mom and I went up to New York the night before so that we could get there early for the audition.  I hated waking up early, and still do.  But it was an open call, and many girls flocked to New York to audition so we had to get there early.  I was number 17 in line, that's how early we got there.  I remember waiting there for hours standing outside of the store before it even opened.  It was wintertime so I was so cold.  I remember hearing older girls complain about how their vocal chords weren't warm.  We waited even longer once we were in the store.  My girls didn't eat that day because they didn't want to ruin their vocal chords with dairy products (meanwhile, I'm literally having cheez its and goldfish).  I was really nervous for my audition, but it ended up being one of the most thrilling ones I've been to.  I got called back to audition three times after the first audition, I remember being back in Connecticut and hear my mom excited on the phone with the producers.  I made it to the last group of girls.  There were 8 roles and they called back 10 girls.  I was so excited, I couldn't believe I was this close to being an American Girl.  Unfortunately, I was one of the two girls cut, but the experience brought out my love for theater and spark of competition at such a young age.  

That audition led to many others.  Overwhelming at first, but I got used to it.  I loved auditioning for new directors and seeing people I knew at different auditions.  I soon found out that theater is a small business, and I bumped into the same girls at multiple auditions.  Although I started auditioning and taking classes in New York at an early age, it soon became difficult to travel to the city and I fell behind in school.  My mom decided it would be best to start looking for opportunities in Connecticut, so I started to audition for professional theaters here.  I was lucky enough to be in two tours at the Bushnell and three at Hartford Stage.  As a teenager, I now average being in 3-4 shows a year.  It's almost like I'm addicted to theater and I'm determined to build my resume.  Now that I'm older, I desperately want to go back to New York auditions.  I want to get out of Connecticut and go back to New York but it is too hard with school.  I wish I could go back to that first link and audition more in the city.  The bottom line is that ever since that one audition when I was nine years old, my passion for theater grew.  I love theater, but I almost feel like I love auditioning more.  The thrill of auditioning really gets me.  I love trying to impress someone who hasn't heard me sing before, and maybe even surprise them.  I love bumping into old friends at auditions.  And I love getting happy results from auditions.

Squash

Basketball was really the first link in the chain for me. Or, rather, being cut from the A team in 7th grade. Frankly, I didn't really like playing in the Duck league, as it was called (that was an intramural league that those on the B team played in). So, I decided that, rather than play another year of the Duck league, or make the A team but not play as much, I decided to give squash a try in 8th grade.

I had heard of it, but never really had any idea what it was. I got 1 or 2 lessons from Joanne at Trinity before going to my first day of practice at KO so that I wouldn't completely make a fool of myself, but I was still really bad. However, as the season progressed, I continued to play, and even got in several lessons throughout the winter. By the time the season ended, I was in love with squash. For many years before that, lacrosse had been my main sport; now, lacrosse was out the window, and squash filled its place.

Freshman year was when my squash career began to take off, because it was my first year of actual competition, rather than just playing the people who were at practice with me. Now, that isn't to say that I was any good; I lost every single game that I played in every one of our matches. However, I was getting lessons once a week, and got a membership so that I could use the Trinity courts whenever I wanted to, and wasted no time in going down to play on the weekends. By the time the season ended, I knew that I wanted to continue playing squash for quite a while longer. I was getting lessons every week, even through the spring.

Fast forward to sophomore year. I was playing on the Varsity team, if not very high up on the ladder. For the first half of the season, I was still getting lessons at Trinity, playing my school matches, but I noticed that I wasn't really improving as much as I wanted to. Sure, I won a game or two, but that was it. However, during the second half of the season, I finally got in touch with Mick Robberds, the squash pro down at Hartford Golf Club, whom I had been trying to reach for quite a while. I had heard about him from Mason, the #2 player on the team, who had been getting lessons from Mick for quite a while. As soon as I went down there to play, I absolutely fell in love with it. Mick was great; he really helped me get my game underway, and I was noticeably improving. I won a couple of my matches, and could tell that I was really getting better.

Once winter of sophomore year ended, I knew that I didn't want to stop laying just because the season had stopped. I was getting lessons from Mick once a week, and I was playing in the clinics at Hartford Golf Club as well, which was really beneficial because I was able to get in some good competition. However, the really big push was this past summer, when I was playing 5 days a week almost every week. Mick was holding camps, and bringing in different professionals to help out each week. I was playing for 2-3 hours every single day, resting up on the weekends, and going right back to it on Monday.

Now, I am still getting lessons from Mick every Friday, and going to the clinics every Wednesday, and loving every minute of it.

The First Link in the Chain

Sometimes I like to think that my marriage was fated. Or, maybe I just read too many books, filling my mind with questions about destiny and free will. When I look back over the last 10 years, I can trace where I am now back to one memorable day.

My husband and I grew up in the same town for most of our young and adolescent lives but never knew each other. I'm two years older than him, we didn't attend the same elementary schools, and he went to the local public school while I went to Taft (where my parents teach and I grew up). Although we knew many of the same people, my husband and I never met--until the summer of 2003 when I had just graduated from college and took a job working at the Taft Summer School. He applied to work there as well, and we first saw each other during an opening meeting on the first day of summer school. As a returning summer school teacher, I gathered with friends I had made the summer before, glad that I wasn't part of the terrified throng of interns. I can still remember the unshakable sense of deja vu I felt that muggy June morning in the faculty room. Sure, the wood-paneled walls and recessed bookshelves of the faculty room were a familiar sight, and the odd aroma of coffee, old books, musty furniture, and freshly cut grass brought me back to previous summers of my youth, scrambling over the furniture and climbing the rickety spiral staircase to the balcony of that room. These sights, smells, and sounds were ingrained in my childhood. Something else seemed strangely familiar. I scanned the room, wondering if perhaps I had crossed paths with one of the teachers in high school or college. That wasn't it. The intern with the wild curly hair and the beaded hemp necklace stood out. We must have crossed paths a number of times before then, so this familiar feeling wasn't unfounded, but the first time we met (on that late June morning) forged the first link.We discovered that he was good friends with the younger brother of one of my best friends, and that his parents and my parents knew many of the same people as well. By the end of that first week, a summer romance had begun, and we were inseparable.

By the end of the summer, when he was headed back to college for his junior year and I was leaving for Boston to start a job, we decided to give the long-distance thing a try, and it worked.

After a year in Boston, I found a job teaching at Berkshire School (a boarding school in the Berkshires), and I remained there for 4 years while my husband finished his last year at UConn, got a MA in Teaching and looked for a job. As a faculty kid myself, I always loved boarding school life, and for years I thought I'd probably end up living and working at a boarding school for the rest of my life. But, my husband comes from a family of public school teachers, and the idea of living in a dorm with high school kids was less than appealing to him. He found a public high school teaching job in CT, and our yet another link in the chain was forged. Still together (but not yet married), we moved together to central CT, and I found a job at a lovely day school in West Hartford. :)

Now, my husband and I have been married for over 2 years, have a house, and are set on a path. Ten years ago, I never would have guessed that I'd be living in Avon, working at a day school, and married to someone from my home town, but fate had plans for me, and I can trace where I am today back to that one memorable encounter on a late June day.

Pip

"I have never been absolutely certain whether I uttered a shrill yell of terror, merely in spirit, or in the bodily hearing of the company. I felt that I could bear no more, and that I must run away. I released the leg of the table, and ran for my life" (30).

 I had been waiting for him to see me, that I might try to assure him of my innocence. (38)

It was not at all expressed to me that he even comprehended my intention, for he gave me a look that I did not understand, and it all passed in a moment. (38)



Pip reminds me of Stanley from the classic That's so Raven.  He is portrayed as a very innocent and short-minded person that has no idea what could be the consequences of their actions.

-The Real English J

Joe

"Joe was a fair man, with curls of flaxen hair on each side of his smooth face, and with eyes of such a very undecided blue that they seemed to have somehow got mixed with their own whites. He was midl, good-natured, sweet-tempered, easygoing, foolish, dear fellow-- a sort of Hercules strength, and also in weakness." (pg. 6)

" Joe and I being fellow sufferers, and having confidences as such, Joe imparted a confidence to me the moment I raised the latch of the door..." (pg. 7)

"Joe's station of influence were something feeler (if possible when there was company then when there was none." (pg. 25)

"With my heart thumping like a blacksmith at Joe's broad shoulder..." (pg. 34)

A present day actor that I picture for the character Joe is Joe Dempsie. I think that he fits this character well because he fits the physical description, and I can picture him doing everything that Joe does.

Mr. Pumblechook

"I noticed that Mr. Pumblechook in his hospitality appeared to forget that he had made a present of the wine, but took the bottle from Mrs. Joe and had all the credit of handling about in a gush of joviality. Even I got some." (33)

"The sergeant took a polite leave of the ladies, and parted from Mr. Pumblechook as from comrade; though I doubt if he were quite as fully sensible of that gentleman's merits under arid conditions, as when something moist was going." (33-34)

"But Mr. Publechook said, sharply, "Give him win, Mum. I'll engage there's no Tar in that:" (32)

Mr. Pumblechook is a free-spirited, debauchery loving kind of guy. He's always throwing around the bottle of liquor and won't hesitate to bring out his best drinks to impress everyone, even Pip gets some wine when Mr. Pumblechook starts to hand it out. For this party-animal spirit, I believe Robert Downey Jr. would be perfect as Mr. Pumblechook.

Mr. Joe

"Joe was a fair man, with curls of flaxen hair on each side of his smooth face, and with eyes of such a very undecided blue that they seemed to have somehow got mixed with their own whites. He was mild, good-natured, sweet-tempered, easy-going, foolish, dear fellow - a sort of Hercules in strength, and also in weakness." Pg. 8

"'I bolted myself, when I was your age- frequent - and as a boy I've been among a many Bolters; but I never see your Bolting equal yet, Pip, and its a mercy you ain't Bolted dead." Pg. 12

"But he always aided and comforted me when he could, in some way of his own, and he always did so at dinner time by giving me gravy, if there were any." Pg 26


The character Joe in "Great Expectations" reminds me of the actor Taylor Kitsch. He reminds me of this actor because Taylor Kitsch played a key role in The Show Friday Night lights as Tim Riggins, and was definitely a fair man, had amazing hair, and blue eyes just like my first quote. As soon as I read the quote it made me think about Tim Riggins. Also, Tim Riggins could be known as a "bolter" because he would leave his house when he got in fights with bis brother and even Joe referred himself to one too. Lastly, Pip was saying how Joe always comforted him whenever he could, and that reminds me of this same character Tim, because he would do a great amount of things to various different people to give them a helping hand. So that's why he reminded me of Joe.

The Convict

"A fearful man, in all coarse grey, with a great iron on his leg. A man with no hat, with broken shoes, and with an old rag tied round his head." (page 2)

- This quote shows that the convict is a rough and unforgiving looking man. He doesn't take care of himself very well and is very poor.

"What's a convict? Joe put his mouth into the forms of returning such a highly elaborate answer, that I could make out nothing of it but the single word 'pip.'" (Page 14)

-this quote shows that the convict was someone who was not really well known and someone who wanted to be or had any qualities that made them special or useful. 

"Mind! Said the convict, wiping blood from his face with his ragged sleeves, and shaking torn hair from his fingers...." (Page 36) 

-this is such a great description of the struggles this convict had to suffer and what he typically would look like and how he would act. Obviously these lifestyles were not ideal and not fun for them.

The actor I think is a good representation of this chracter is Jack Nicholson. He plays a lot of those scary (joker) and criminal characters and he seems like such a rough and tough actor that I think he would be perfect for this role! 

Oh Mrs. Joe How crazy you are

"I often served her as a connubial missile" (9).
Mrs. Joe is a crazy, strict woman who serves an an abusive wife. She has no boundaries and does not hesitate to use others to exhibit her frustration. She is a selfish person who is also self absorbed.

"It's bad enough to be a blacksmith's wife (and him a Gargery) without being your mother" (9).
She often victimizes herself and makes it seem like she is the one that should be helped. She will never take the blame for anything and believes that she can do no wrong. She is haughty and full of her self.

"She was not a good looking woman, my sister; and I had a general impression that she must have Joe Gargery marry by hand" (8).
She is a harsh looking woman who looks like an abusive, harsh person just by looking at her. She is intimidating and scary to look at.

For her role in a movie I would pick Tori Spelling. Spelling is considered an actress that could easily play a villain even though many of her actual movies were comedies. She has a harshness to her look and looks intimidating. She could be a great Mrs. Joe.

Mr. Wopsle = Danny DeVito

Mr. Wopsle is a secondary character in "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens.  He first comes into play when invited to a dinner party at the "Joe" residence.  First described to the reader, Mr. Wopsle is "united to a Roman nose and a large shining bald forehead, had a deep voice which he was uncommonly proud of (24)." His character later develops into a character that Pip can release his stress and anger on.  Though he does not express these feelings physically, "Mr. Wopsle's Roman nose so aggravated me, during the recital of my misdemeanors, that I should have liked to pull it until he howled (28)." During this scene, Pip finally expresses his emotions toward a character which seems to be Mr. Wopsle.  Many times after Mr. Wopsle has been introduced into the story, Pip takes several subtle shots at him.  For example, on page 35, "Mr. Wopsle had greatly alarmed me more than once, by his blowing and hard breathing," and on page 34 "And stimulating Mr. Wopsle not to tumble on his roman nose, and to keep up with us."  These subtle remarks by Pip show his dislike for Mr. Wopsle and develops him into a release of stress and anger for Pip.

I believe that Danny DeVito would be a perfect actor to play Mr. Wopsle.  This is because the character description is closely matched to DeVito's physical appearance.  Also, many roles that DeVito plays are extremely similar to Mr. Wopsle's character and his purpose in the story. 

Pip

""What does that mean, Joe?" said I. Mrs. Joe, who always took explanations upon herself, said, snappishly, "Escaped. Escaped." Administering the definition like Tar-water. While Mrs. Joe sat with her head bending over her needlework, I put my mouth into the forms of saying to Joe, "What's a convict?"...."Mrs. Joe," said I, as a last resource, "I should like to know –– if you wouldn't mind –– where the firing comes from?""Lord bless the boy!" exclaimed my sister, as if she didn't quite mean that, but rather the contrary..."That's the way with this boy!" exclaimed my sister, pointing me out with her needle and thread, and shaking her head at me" (13-14).

"I have never been absolutely certain whether I uttered a shrill yell of terror, merely in spirit, or in the bodily hearing of the company. I felt that I could bear no more, and that I must run away. I released the leg of the table, and ran for my life" (30).

"I had alighted from Joe's back on the brink of the ditch when we came up and had not moved since. I looked at him eagerly when he looked at me, and slightly moved my hands and shook my head"(38).


I would have Chandler Canterbury play Pip because he reminds me of someone that could look nieve and unsure of what they are truly getting themselves into.

Pip.

'When i saw him turning, I set my face toward home, and made the best use of my legs' (Page 7)
       - He is a curious boy but not confident enough to level all of his curiosity

"As i never saw my father or mu mother, and never saw ay likeness of either of them"  (Page 3)

"and were sacred to the memory of five little brothers of mine"

Pip is somewhat unrealistic and expects a lot more out of himself than he is capable. He is a passionate character with a good heart. He is always trying and wants to better himself knowing that he doesn't have the perfect background to grow off from.

If i had to compare Pip to an actor it would be Rupert Grint, because he reminds me of Ron Weasley, especially the way that he expects more from himself than he is capable of.


-English P

The convict

The Convict

    When we first meet the convict in the story he is a fierce looking individual with an abrasive side that comes out clearly when he " turned [him] upside down and emptied [pips] pockets." ( pg.4). The convict then goes further in showing his not s friendly side by saying "what fat cheeks you ha' got" followed by " darn me if I couldn't eat 'em" said the man, with a threatening shake of his head" (pg. 4). 

    Another side of the convict that is shown early on is his cunning way of thinking. After cornering Pip in the graveyard he begins to question his asking him where he lived, which Pip responded by saying he lived with  his sister and her husband the blacksmith. To anyone else this information would not seem important however to the convict disinformation was very useful. Due to him being an escaped convict he was wearing a metal brace which limited his mobility. However using his quick thinking and the fact that this boy was living with a blacksmith he said " blacksmith eh?"..."get me a file" (pg. 5). 

    Despite these very distinct characteristics that the convict shows early on, as the plot thickens he becomes more confusing in the showing of his emotions. After he is caught in the marshes by soldiers and his fate of going back to prison is clear he turns to the sergeant and says in almost a eerie  sort of manner, " I don't expect itto do me any good. I don't want it to do me more good than it does now" said my convict, with a greedy laugh" (pg. 36). Here the reader has no idea why he has this sense of confidence in this sort of confidence. 

  The actor that comes to mind when I think of a scruffy looking, yet tough at times with a cunning mind is automatically directed toward Johnny ; who not only has an amazing range in characters and their personalities however the character of the the convict seems especially fitting.