 As you begin your new unit about choices and decisions, reflect upon a time in which you were faced with difficult choices and had to make the tough or unpopular decision.
Write about the reflection providing detail and critical thinking. For this discussion, you will need to respond to two (2) other students' posts.
Alyssa Saggio
3/24/2014 03:26:32 pm
Throughout my life, I have experienced several instances in which I was faced with making "tough or unpopular" decisions. One that comes to mind would be my junior year of high school, during my third field hockey season. There came a period in my season where my coach had stopped playing me. She didn't want me playing in J.V. games, yet I sat on the bench the entire varsity games as well. I didn't understand why this was happening because I had always played every game during my sophomore year. During practices, I also began to notice that my coach was riding me harder than most other players; I thought maybe she had begun not to like me. But, I had been tired of sitting on the bench. I found myself coming home from practice and games extremely unhappy and upset. I considered not even playing my senior year. Although it was a tough decision, I thought it best to endure the long months to come before my senior year. I guess my hard work paid off because I had been elected one of the new captains of the varsity team While I was miserable a lot of the time in my junior year, it got much better and I am so happy I didn't give up.
Tori McCaslin
3/25/2014 04:03:16 am
Looking back on my life and the choices I have made, I realized that some of those choices were extremely difficult. No one wants to be faced with a hard decision and be judged upon how they handle it. One instance when I had to make the "tough or unpopular" decision was when I had a basketball tournament the same week as my families vacation. I knew that going on vacation would be fun because most of my cousins would be there and I have always enjoyed spending time with my family. However, it was the summer before my senior year and I was now one of the oldest on my team. Thinking about the fun I would have on vacation made it difficult to decide, but I knew what the right choice was. I had to stay and be there for my team. Any athlete would know that you can't let your team down when they need you most especially when you are one of the seniors. I think this decision was very hard because I had to think of how it would affect others(my team) before myself.
Devin Blattner
3/28/2014 09:29:46 am
I hate making hard decisions like that! It's really hard to choose between something really fun or a commitment that you've already made for yourself or team. I had to make a decision like that in the summer before junior year. I had to chose between doing cheerleading that year (since they were MANDATORY summer practices) or going to South Carolina with my family. I chose cheerleading.
Brian
3/29/2014 04:15:20 am
This decision seems like a difficult one. I personally would of wanted to go on vacation. But you are also right when it comes to being a sr and having obligations to the team. Ultimately the decision you chose was more beneficial to you and your entire team.
Devin Blattner
3/25/2014 09:19:39 am
Some life choices are much harder than others. A person is responsible for making good life choices in order to be successful and have a decent life. In high school some choices are much harder because of the circumstances. When you are young, you want to fit in with everyone else which sometimes means agreeing with what they say or do, even though it can sometimes be the wrong thing to do. People in high school are faced with different choices each day such as the easy ones like what you want for lunch or the hard ones like where you plan to attend college. One of the toughest decisions that I had to make in high school was which college I plan to attend in the fall. Although it wasn't a "unpopular" decision, it was definitely one of the hardest. Even though it was a very hard decision, I believe that I made the right choice and will enjoy the university that I have selected to attend.
Cole
3/25/2014 10:10:16 am
I have had to make a lot of decisions in my life. Sometimes I wanted to do something that my friends were doing, but I had to make the right decision for myself. One occurrence that sticks out to me is when I was asked by my friends to go out with them that night, but I had to wake up extremely early the next morning to help my dad with something. As much as I really wanted to go out with them, I knew that if I went out with them, I would be tired the next morning, and worse, I might have over slept and left my dad hanging. So, sadly, I stayed home that night while my friends went out and had fun, but I got up early and did what I promised my dad I would do. Although there was a bright side to helping my dad. He took me out to lunch after we were done to my favorite restaurant.
Alyson
3/27/2014 03:02:22 pm
I always get stuck with the 8:30 in the morning shift at work, so most Friday nights I have to stay in while my friends go out because I'll be tired out for my shift the next morning. It sucks having to hear about all the fun things they did without me, but it my responsibility to show up to work on time and at my best no matter how I feel. I think sitting out of somethings to fulfill a previous commitment you made is all part of becoming a mature adult.
Alyssa Saggio
3/28/2014 01:50:56 am
Definitely agree with you on this one (both Cole and Alyson). I've given up so many Friday or Saturday nights for tons of Saturday and Sunday mornings. I don't mind staying out late and waking up early, though. I feel as though the true struggle comes when I am scheduled for a night shift. I lose time for friends, school work, and even sleeping. If I choose to stay out late one night, I have to go into work whether I want to or not. The same goes for night shifts. I can't call off of work because there's a party or sleepover I want to go to. Becoming an adult is really about sacrifice.
Brian
3/29/2014 04:09:10 am
I can relate to that decision as well. I often have to work in the mormings and my friends ask me to go out with them. I don't see it as a big decision though. When it comes to work and friends I often have to chose work. It's not my favorite option to choose but it is usually my choice.
Alyson
3/25/2014 11:29:33 am
In life, there is give and take. Sometimes decisions are made and the options put you between a rock and a hard place. When I stepped into the role as co-captain my senior year, I knew that some bridges would be burned, but I decided to take the leadership role anyway. Defining yourself as authority figure to your peers is hard and a lot of the time you have to make decisions that may be the better choice for your team and a not so great choice for your friend. Even though I was only a co-captain, I found myself having to make all the hard choices and doing all the yelling while the other captains made the fun decisions. Two of the other captains and I began to disagree with one of the other captains and it turned into a fight in front of a crowd of football fans at a game. It is really hard to step back and be the bigger person sometimes, but I had to remove myself from the situation and remember that I was a leader and the underclassmen girls looked up to me as that.
Cole
3/26/2014 12:57:11 pm
I completely get that! I was the captain on my wrestling team and it was a lot of pressure. Although, I didn't find it hard to yell at my team and get them to do what had to be done because in the long run I knew it would make us better as a team and individually. I think you did the right thing in being the adult/team leader in the situation you were in.
Alyssa Saggio
3/28/2014 01:55:11 am
Hey Alyson, I know what you mean about the captain situation. I was also one of three captains this year. However, the other captains didn't really take on a serious role, and so I felt as though I had to. It was hardly ever that either or them had to do any yelling at the girls, but when mistakes and poor choices are made, someone has to do it. However, I didn't stick up for my feelings like you did. I actually was yelled at by my coach for being "too serious." I felt like no one actually understood how seriously I was taking the sport (especially my teammates) because we had all been such good friends. We were a good group of friends, but not a good field hockey team. I wish I hadn't become more lenient like my coach wanted; I truly regret that decision.
Kasey Gallagher
3/28/2014 04:31:11 pm
Even though I wasn't captain of my cheerleading squad this year, I completely understand what you mean about having to make the right decision and having younger girls look up to you. One of my "team leaders" aka captains on my cheerleading squad was bringing our team down constantly at practices and discouraging younger girls so I stepped in to let him know how the rest of the team was feeling and what we needed from him, even though I knew he wouldn't like what I had to say.
Brian Burke
3/25/2014 02:22:21 pm
Decisions are made every day. Some weigh more than others. You may not favor the choices you have to made, but some are necessary. A choice I can reflect on is dropping a friend. As I grow older it becomes easier to see who is there for you and who is holding you back. Although there weren't real issues, I have had to drop a few friends. Some because they are bad influences, and some because they attract trouble. It's not easy to make that type of choice. In the end, it's about you. So some choices are needed in life if you plan to exceed.
Cole
3/26/2014 01:03:44 pm
It's funny because I know who this is about :P But yes, I agree that you have to make decisions that are ultimately better for you. I've had to make a few decisions in my life that were better for me than the other person in the situation with me. It was tough, but sometimes "ya gotta do what ya gotta do". I hope your decision works well in your favor, which I'm sure it will. Good luck friend.
Alyson
3/27/2014 03:07:15 pm
I've been in that situation before too. The person I was best friends with since the second grade became a completely different person our junior year. I honestly think she was always that way and maybe I couldn't see it, but our friendship became toxic. I was always involved in drama because of her and I was so stressed out because of her problems and what I was afraid she would do that I had no time for myself. Sometimes the best choice is to cut your losses and move on. You have to do what's best for you and that's not always easy to see at first.
Devin Blattner
3/28/2014 09:37:10 am
I feel like a lot of us can relate to this post by the time we are seniors in high school. I know I can totally relate to "dropping friends" because of them attracting trouble or being a bad influence. Also, by the time we are seniors, we realize who our real friends are and the friends that are "fake" towards us.
Kasey Gallagher
3/28/2014 04:28:46 pm
I agree with you 100%. There's nothing worse than feeling like someone is constantly bringing you down and holding you back. I didn't have real issues in my situation either, but it was obvious to me that I didn't want or need those people in my life because like you said, they were attracting trouble and that's not what I wanted. Its so much better to have a few people you can totally rely on!
Tori McCaslin
3/28/2014 04:49:23 pm
I agree with everyone in their replays to your blog post, being in high school requires us to make a lot of decisions that are for the best. Everyone loses and gains friends throughout high school. Like some said, people get involved in bad things and can try and pressure you into to doing it with them, and sometimes you need to "drop them."
Kasey Gallagher
3/25/2014 02:40:48 pm
High school has been the biggest time of change for me in my life. I'm faced with decisions every day and sometimes it's hard for me to figure out what is the right choice for me. I think the biggest "unpopular" decisions I've had to make have probably been the ones where I decided people didn't fit in to my life anymore. It's always hard to see someone as such a big part of your life and then slowly you realize there's no place for them anymore. I've grown close to a lot of people through high school but I've also grown away from a lot. It's been hard to let go of the people who weren't right for be anymore but I've been better off since I did.
Alyssa Saggio
3/28/2014 01:42:55 am
I feel the same. I sometimes feel as though no friendship has truly last for me, except for two. Keeping friends are really hard to do I guess. Once I was new in eighth grade, I though I has such great friends, but I quickly found out that they weren't. Ever since then, I tried being friends with many people and having a good social life. In my junior year I realized that some people just aren't compatible with one another. I realized I have strong opinions. I've stopped trying to please others and start pleasing myself, because chances are that I'll never see half of these people again.
Alyssa
3/28/2014 01:44:04 am
This was supposed to be a reply to Kasey!
Tori McCaslin
3/28/2014 04:52:18 pm
I agree with Alyssa on this one. I've only really kept 2 or 3 real friends throughout middle school and high school. I used to have a lot of friends but as we get older, people's true colors show and the hard decisions like "dropping them" are very necessary. Those friends would bring you down or make you unhappy, and no one wants that. Comments are closed.
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