Spelling Bees

THE WORD OF THE DAY

Meliorism    \  MEEL-yuh-riz-uhm, noun; 

def.  the doctrine that the world tends to become a better or may be made better by human effort.

SUMMER IS HERE! For some, it has already been underway and for others, it is just getting started. Regardless, this part of the year is where we all make plans and promises yet to once again every year pass them up or just let them slip right on by. We all get caught up in worrying about what is going to happen next and when and where and why...which puts us in these places towards the end of August going "This summer was boooorrrringggg." So why not make a goal and try to achieve it? Strive for something that you know will be a challenge? Something like...a Spelling Bee?

The idea for this post (after it being quite some time since I've been on here..oops) came from the coincidence of my return to the blogger world around the same time of the scheduling of one of my favorite non-athletic events broad casted on the networks of ESPN...

The Scripps National Spelling Bee

For some odd reason that I am still not sure about, I have always been fond of the Scripps National Spelling Bee's. Something about these kids who are 8, 9, and even 10 years younger than me (and smarter) spell words that are arduous and words that cause me to feel vexatious (See what I did there). I remember back in the 2009 Scripps National Spelling Bee when Kavya Shivashankar won by spelling the word Laodicean.

Championship Word - Laodicean

                                    Kavya -  2009 Scripps National Spelling Bee Champion                                  

Vanya - 2013 5th Place 

The special thing about Kavya was that she is from my home state of Kansas. It was pretty cool seeing her win. My favorite to win the 2014 Bee is her little sister Vanya (She's a beast = Got 5th last year) But honestly, I'm not really sure what it is, although I did participate in a spelling bee in the fourth grade so maybe that's why. If I recall, I misspelled the word radiant. (switched the i and a) Beesides that point, one of my favorite movies when I was growing up was Akeelah and the Bee, starring the one and only...Keke Palmer. The word Meliorism fits in with this movie quintessentially (Ha) 

Akeelah strives to reach her goal of winning the national spelling bee by surpassing the odds of her poor elementary school and her community that is full of poverty, gangs and violence. Her power to bring different people together to make a better place is what make this movie special. Her effort to make the world a better place shines throughout the movie and that's something I feel that we all should try and do as well. The smallest acts are just as great as the large ones. For a challenge this summer, try and make the world a better place. Work at putting forth the effort to make amends to your community. Be present in helping others improve our society because it can all make a difference. So the next time you see or hear anything about a spelling bee, think of Akeelah. Think of the girl from the ghetto of Los Angeles who made a difference in the world by spelling. Think of the girl who is equivalent to the definition of pulchritude. So in the mean time...focus on the doctrine of Meliorism...and let the movie tagline speak for itself... 

"Changing the world... one word at a time."

Oh...and tune in to ESPN/ESPN2 on Thursday to watch some mad spelling. It will be canonical. Ha

- Caden 

Ultimate Toughness.

Do You Have...

Mental Toughness - ✓

Emotional Toughnesss - ✓

Physical Toughness - ✓

Ultimate Toughness - ?

Every day we go through ups and downs, we witness acts of kindness and acts of disgrace, we find out more about the people we so call our "friends" and the people who really do care about us.

No matter the issues, (positive or negative) they happen. How we deal with them is different. In order to do so, we have to be tough. 

The word tough can describe many things. 

Tough can describe a test or exam that we know is the hardest of them all.
Tough can be a piece of steak that we ordered at a restaurant for dinner.
Tough can explain the game of Candy Crush Saga (currently stuck on Level 319 for about 4 weeks and counting) 

These different elements of "tough" bring out the general idea of the word "toughness". I received an email from my football coach that had 3 types of toughness. I figured I would (to best of my ability) interpret what these 3 ideas of toughness mean not only to the code of our team, but to life itself.

Mental toughness - a collection of attributes that allow a person to persevere through difficult circumstances

Mental toughness is KEY in being apart of

a team. 

a unit.

a brotherhood.

a family. 

To be apart of something that goes on forever, something that you invest your life into, something that will knock you down..even after you get back up. Again and again. Over and over. It takes mental toughness to withstand every sharp twist and turn thrown our way.

Whether it's 105 degrees
with the sun burning, beating down
or
32 and below
with freezing rain that feels
like knives against your skin,

you can look to the person next you and know that they won't give up. 

Not on you. 

And you won't either. 

That's mental toughness.



Emotional toughness - is about controlling your emotions; not allowing your emotions to control you.

There are times when we are emotionally hurt.
confused.
upset.
angry at the world.

But having the toughness to deal with those feelings allows us
to be strong 
to be resilient
to be capable of overcoming anything. 

Being emotional can be productive for certain circumstances. You could say "being hyped" or "getting pumped" for example in the context of sports. But overall, being emotionally tough is beneficial in allowing ourselves to be the best that we can be.



Physical toughness -  is categorized in two aspects, namely strength and endurance. It can benefit players such as allowing the one to stay on the court or field for a longer period. 

This is a given for any sport of course. 
You have to
be physical
think physical
and play physical. 
Period.

One of my favorite drills in high school basketball was the box-out drill. Other guys hated it because they knew how much I loved it. Being one of the shorter players, I had to use my strength and play with the mindset that I could beat anyone. Even if I did lose, I learned from that error and bounced back even more than before. By being physically tough, we can learn how far we really can go, not only on the field or court, but in life.

Being tough allows us in situations, to give it our all no matter what. By focusing on these 3 types of toughness, anything is possible when you put your mind to it. 

That is what's called the..

 Ultimate Toughness. ✓

- Caden

If Monday had a face...I would punch it.

Those 3 horrible facts are so true...yet so very true. There's only 2 weeks of school days left. Exactly 14 days. It's so close yet so far away... These Mondays are getting harder and harder to withstand. There's absolutely no focus whatsoever to be or do anything productive at all. The stress of finals coming up and not knowing half of what's going on made me realize how much of a struggle these last couple of weeks will be... Even Honey Boo Boo knows how I'm feeling..

Quote right there from the Princess herself. But beside that point, I decided I would read my horoscope today and it had a good point today. (I'm a Capricorn - Dec 22)

Don't expect everything to fall into place right away. You could hit a few obstacles, but the ultimate result will be worth the bumps along the way. 

Definitely needed to hear something like that. It's hard to see what the final result will be when there's so much stuff going on. With spring football coming to an end, homework on homework, and of course summer, there is going to be obstacles in our way, but in the end they will benefit us in the long run. 

On another note, the NBA Playoffs have been underway for the past week. Definitely looking forward to some more crazy, last-second shot, biting off all of your fingernail type of games. I personally enjoy watching all the games. Of course I have my preferences (OKC in the West, Brooklyn in the East) but I do enjoy the so called "Aura" that April brings along with the second wave of "Madness" that May has going into the Summer and into the NBA Finals. Honestly, I'm pulling for the underdog and the dark horse this year. LeBron James and company has already had enough time in the spotlight so bring on the upsets (Wizards, Trailblazers, maybe even the Mavs). As long as there's not another "Heat Repeat", I think I'll be alright. Of course with the Summer comes the NFL Draft as well. Looking forward to see who the #1 pick will be and who the Chiefs and Steelers will take as well. While everyone is talking about Jadeveon Clowney and Johnny Football, I think some of the people to be talking about are Clemon's Sammy Watkins and Blake Bortles from UCF, both who helped their teams win BCS Bowl Games (Orange and Fiesta respectively). It's a draft that I'm actually pretty excited to watch so tune in to ESPN on Thursday, May 8, 8 p.m. ET to catch the draft. It should be a good one. 

Oh! And in recent news, the WNBA draft was a couple week ago and I'm proud to say another #NerdNation all-star was drafted No. 1 overall! Chiney Ogwumike followed her sister Nneka's path of being the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA Draft. This is the 2nd player in the past 3 drafts to come from Stanford and they also became the second set of siblings to both be drafted No. 1 overall. (Peyton and Eli Manning) Ever since we went to visit my Uncle Steve and Aunt Stephanie in California, I've been a fan of the Women's Basketball program at Stanford. My Aunt was finishing up her medical school at Stanford in Palo Alto and we got to visit the campus. I wished I would've have been a nerd after that. It was a dream school for me and I would love to go back just to visit. But after that, I followed the Cardinal through the regular season, the Pac12 and the Final Fours watching players like Candice Wiggins, Jayne Appel, Kayla Pedersen, Jeanette Pohlen, Lindy La Rocque, Joslyn Tinkle, the Samuelson Sisters Bonnie and Karlie, and of course Nneka and Chiney. Definitely enjoyed watching them play throughout the past couple of years for #NerdNation and I'm stoked to see them play against each other in the WNBA. 

Chiney - No. 1 - 2014

Nneka - No. 1 - 2012

#NerdNation - San Franciso, CA (Favorited by Nneka & Chiney on Instagram)

I've always enjoyed pretty much all sports; male, female whatever. Some people think that women's sports are ridiculous or stupid. I see it as another event I enjoy being able to watch and experience. I would want people to support me in whatever I do. Why not support others as well. Some people only care about themselves and immediately turn away everything that they know nothing about. But that's another rant I'll leave for next time...

So as for me, I'll stick with my love for ALL sports.

 Men's and WOMEN'S. 

 I'll end with this quote from Pierre de Coubertin.  ~ The Founder of the Olympics ~ 

"All sports for all people."

- Pierre de Coubertin

- Caden 

The Beginning..

"With all these things I wait for revelation
These things make me want to duck for cover
With all these things I wait for revolution
These things ask the biggest question to me
And it's are you what you want to be" 
- Mark Foster


I went to a Foster The People concert the summer before I started school at Sterling. I had just gotten back from California with some of my best friends (which was a blast) but to say the least, I was **Pumped Up Kicks**(couldn't help it) to see FTP.

The concert was AMAZING. Definitely want to see FTP again.
And well since then... alot has happened.

I was an RA.

I did some modeling.

Played the sport I love with some of my best friends.

We won the KCAC for the first time in school history! 

Went to a Giants game. 

Did a Color-Run.

And went to Ethiopia. 

All of that happened in a blink of an eye. Literally..

It's crazy to think how fast these two years have gone by. There's been so many obstacles along the way that I still ponder how we overcame them. As the days have gone by, I've began to realize more and more often why God brought me to Sterling and why he put certain people and certain challenges in my life.

At the start of this "grand opening" of a blog, I was talking about Foster The People. Their new album 'SuperModel' just came out about a month ago and the very first track on the album is titled, 'Are You What You Want To Be'. It's definitely a catchy, upbeat, vibrant song that will get stuck in your head. Of course I had the album on repeat for the first two weeks after it was released, and I never really listened to the lyrics that Mark Foster was saying. The quote I used at the beginning is the chorus of the song and to me, it shouts at us, saying
'Are the things we are associating ourselves with, the things we say, do, or preach to others...are they what we do to make us fit in, to be apart of the A-team? Or do we hide from those things and wait for a revolution...a revolution that asks the question..Are You What You Want To Be?' (Here is the song)

The reason I named this blog "Are You What You Want To Be" and not your typical "All About Me: The Life of Caden",  is honestly because of what is happening in our society today. We put on these masks of what we want people to see us as...when we should really just let our true selves show. Sometimes, we need to do what is good for US, and not worry about others. How can we help others be the best THEY can be, when we can't even the best WE can be. Follow your dreams. Do what people said you couldn't. Achieve what you believe. And in order to do so, we all have to answer the question..  Are You What You Want To Be?

- Caden