Q2 Outside Reading Post 4

The section I read in my book was about the Olympic trials. Everyone from all over the US were getting ready, and getting nervous. Days before the trials, Natalie's coach Teri Mckeever said "Obviously I'm nervous. It's such a tense atmosphere around here" (229). Everyone in the trials all had the same goal: make the Olympic team. Only few could make it, though, which probably was the reason for all the nervousness. Swimmers were feeling the nerves too. Mckeever said that "most people are going slower than you'd expect, and that's because this meet is so emotionally overwhelming" (229). Not only were the swimmers anxious for the meet, but sometime the nerves would end up affecting their performance. When there is a meet as big as the Olympic trials, there are bound to be a lot of nerves.
The meet is also an emotional one. Some ecstatic, some devastated. A former swimmer Amanda Hall said "you should see the warm-down pool. It's half chlorine, half tears" (236). Most of these tears were disappointed ones. Many swimmers childhood dreams of going to the Olympics had just been lost, and the were very upset. On the other hand, some were very excited. When Coughlin made it in her event. Coughlin was "dancing around in her black sweats like a prizefighter, all smiles" (242). She accomplished what she meant to do, and was now fulfilling her dream of going to the Olympics.

Q2 Outside Reading post 4: Golden Girl

Many times in a swimmers life they feel like they want to quit. Sometimes, Natalie Coughlin used to want to tell swimmers to give up "Get out, now, before this sport devours your body and spirit. Trust me. I know" (126). The toll swimming takes on your mind, body, and spirit, can be overwhelming. Some people would quit just to get away from it all. One of Natalie's teammates, Lauren Medina, used to think the same thing. She said "So many times I just wanted to quit. I felt like I was beginning to burn out. People who I used to beat were now beating me, I swam lousy in meets and my parents started getting down on me: 'You just don't want it bad enough' At least twice a day I would think about quitting" (136). When you aren't dropping a lot of time, one may have these same thoughts. Pressure from your parents doesn't help either.
Often what helps someone not quit is a good coach. Medina said "Teri was so supportive...She said everybody makes mistakes. You're not the first person this has happened to... I felt really comforted by that" (137). Teri ended up keeping her in the sport and helped her improve. Another time Lauren thought she couldn't breathe and wanted to stop in the middle of the set. Teri said "Lauren, you're having a panic attack. It's OK; you're going to be fine. Trust me" (134). Her helpful words calmed Lauren down and she continued swimming.

Q2 Outside reading post: Golden Girl

In her fourth year of college swimming, Natalie Coughlin participated in a big meet even though she was sick. Because her body wasn’t up to it, she swam awful. Many people wondered if this was the best she would ever get. Natalie was offered endorsement deals, and was tempted to take them, even though it meant that she could no longer swim collegiately. Many coaches thought she would take it, and one expert said “Few college athletes, let alone athletes who compete in nonrevenue sports, would think twice about leaving for such a bounty” (9). Natalie had a choice to make. She could either give in and take the deal, or she could do the right thing and keep swimming collegiately and then have a better chance of representing her country at the Olympics. She chose the right thing, and thought of what America would have wanted her to do, so she turned down the deals. Had she had taken the money before, people would have thought of her as someone who was just in the sport for the money, like some Olympians did “As much as she stood out in the water and embraced her role as a star, she worried about being cast as an ordained Olympic hero before her time” (10). She wanted to go into the Olympics with a good reputation, which is what the Country would have wanted from someone going into the Olympics.

Q2: On the Waterfront

This week in class we watched the film On the Waterfront. The film goes along with our quarter two topic, which is ethical choices. Many characters make decisions based on ethics, and others do it for loyalty, even if it isn’t right. Terry, the main character, changes his mind about the things he believes in the movie. In the beginning, he believes that staying loyal to your friends (even though those men were not real friends), was more important than doing the right or ethical thing. But near the end of the movie, he realizes that doing the right thing is the most important thing to do. He stands up to the mob, even though is old friends consider him to be a traitor, or as some people call it, a “stool pigeon”.
I believe that what Terry did at the end of the movie was the right thing. Even though I think staying loyal to your friends is a good and honorable trait to have, in cases like the one in On the Waterfront, you must first think of what is best for the community. Sometimes doing so can get you into trouble with people who would want to keep things the way they are, but it is a risk you have to take in order to do what is best for society.

Q2 Question

In the play “All My Sons” by Arthur Miller, many choices are made by the characters that are considered ethical and unethical. Two characters who seem to have different opinions on ethics are Joe Keller and Chris Keller. Joe believes that if you make a choice that is unethical, it can be excused if you did it for your family. This is shown when he says “Chris, I did it for you, it was a chance and I took it for you” (70). He knowingly shipped out parts for planes that would not work, and he did it so his business would not be shut down. He wanted his son Chris to take over the business. On the other hand, Chris could care less about the business. He wanted what was best for society, and that meant turning in his father for what his father had done. Chris said to his mother “I’m taking him” (84). Even though it was his father, Chris planned on turned his father into prison for what he had done to those pilots. The fact that Joe was doing it for Chris had no impact on Chris; Chris believed he had to do what was right.
I believe that what Joe did was wrong. I’m all for supporting your family and taking care of them. But there are definitely circumstances where family does not come first. If it hurts the society, then you should make choices that would help society. You have to think of not just your family, but of your friends and neighbors and coworkers. Sometimes it is more important to put them first.

Q2: Post 2 Golden Girl

Although the autobiography i am reading is about Natalie Coughlin, it also tells a lot about the people around her. You learn about her college coach, Teri Mckeever, her parents and siblings, and also teammates. The author includes these people in the "story" because they are a part of Natalie's life. Her decisions affect them; their decisions affect her. One constant theme throughout the book is that even though one may make a decision with yourself in mind, it affects others as well.
One of the biggest decisions in someone's life is where they want to go to college. For Natalie, one of the main factors that affected her decision was swimming. She decided she wanted to go to Cal, because of the coach and team there, even though her parents wanted her to go to Stanford. Natalie's parents said that "Oh god she (Natalie) hated us. That whole situation was really ugly, and it took about two years to live it down" (61). For weeks the Coughlins fought over where Natalie wanted to go to school. The disagreement caused tension within the family for weeks. The decision Natalie made to go to Cal caused a lot of anger within the Coughlin family.
Another big decision in Natalie's life was not made by herself. It was made by Haley Cope, her good friend and teammate. Haley decided to switch schools because she didn't like Teri Mckeever as a coach. Natalie was devastated, and was quoted saying "I need her" (99). The loss of Cope affected Natalie at practices, because she was a great person to race against. It also hurt the friendship between the two girls, because it felt to Natalie as if Cope was betraying her. It shows how much decisions can affect people.

Quarter 2: Post 1

I am reading Golden Girl, by Michael Silver, which is the biography of Natalie Coughlin. Natalie Coughlin is an Olympic gold medalist swimmer, and her biography tells the story of how she got so far in the sport. One theme that has already been shown in the book is how a negative attitude can lead to unfortunate consequences. In her teenage years, she swam with a swim team she ended up not liking very much. The coach of the team was verbally abusive to the girls on the team, sometimes telling them “You girls are fat… you need to watch what you are eating” (Silver 31). This negatively affected the swimmers. Many girls got eating disorders, or simply quit the sport they loved because of it. Natalie hated the criticism, and it made her move teams.
Another example of how negative criticism affected her was when an older swimmer, Staciana Stitts on her college team tried to get inside Natalie’s head. The swimmer, who older than Natalie, and jealous of her swimming abilities said to her “You’re not a team player” (Silver 20). The criticism affected Natalie greatly. Natalie began hating to go to swim practice because of Stitts. It also affected Natalie’s swimming, and made her go slower times.

Silver, Michael. Golden Girl. Rodale Inc. Michael Silver. 2006.