Kiefer, Jazzmynn
March 18, 2014
Mr. Hanson
Period 6
Historical Biography
Have you ever wanted to know what an Olympic gymnast’s life was like before all of the fame? You will now because I chose Shawn Johnson. In this paper I hope to tell you about her energetic childhood and teen years that lead her to the Olympics, the 2008 summer Olympics, and the reason she retired.
On January 19,1992, in Des Moines, Iowa a future Olympic gymnast was born by the name of Shawn Machel Johnson (Shawn Johnson Biography). The first score Shawn ever received was given to her on the day she was born and she scored terrible. She scored “0” on her Apgar test, which stands for appearance, pulse, grimace, activity, and respiration (Johnson, Chapter 1). Shawn is an only child of Terri and Doug Johnson. When Shawn was nine months old, her parents looked up one day to see her toddling into their room, after that she never slowed down. One time she climbed up the kitchen counter and tried skydiving off of it, when Shawn landed, her teeth went through her bottom lip and there was blood everywhere (Johnson, Chapter 1)! Since Shawn was physically active her mom had to find an outlet for all of her energy. At about three years old Shawn was enrolled into her first gymnastics class. She loved it and so did her mom because it was a large, open, and soft area for her daughter to play. For three years, even though the coaches were strict Shawn enjoyed running and tumbling in the little gym and she always had a smile on her face.
By the time Shawn was six she was training at Chow's Institution of Gymnastics and Dance. At seven years old Shawn was an elite gymnast, which means she was doing a lot of the skills th...
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...on’s career.” Teamusa.org, 2012. Web. 12 Feb 2014. http://www.teamusa.org/News/2012/June/03/Injury-ends-Shawn-Johnson-s-career-June-3-2012. Unknown “Shawn Johnson Biography.” BIO, 2014. Web. 12 Feb 2014. http://www.biography.com/people/shawn-johson-20830353. Unknown. “Log In- The New York Times.” Nytimes.com, 2014. Web. 12 Feb 2014. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/07/sports/olympics/johnsonbio.html?ref=shawnjohnson. Deusen, Amy. “Shawn Johnson Bio.” About.com Gymnastics, n.d. Web. 19 Feb 2014. http://gymnastics.about.com/od/gymnastics101/p/shawnjohnson.html. Unknown. “ Shawn Johnson – Official Website.” Shawn Johnson – Official Website of Olympic Gold Medalist, 2013. Web. 21 Feb 2014. http://shawnjohnson.net.
Unknown. "Shawn Johnson Quotes (Author of Winning Balance)." Goodreads.com, 2014. Web. 1 Apr 2014. http://ww.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2919203.Shawn_Johnson.
“It was the best, worst thing to happen to me.” claims Ian Keith Tyson of his military career. Mr. Tyson is a veteran Marine who served in both Operation Iraqi Freedom (later renamed Operation New Dawn) and the war in Afghanistan from the years 2009-2011. Born in Boston, Massachusetts on July 31st,1985, he eventually enlisted in the Marine Corps at the age of 24. After interviewing with each individual branch, he decided that the Marines simply fit. This was a decision that would permanently alter his life, for the better.
Fraser, Allen. “What a great gymnastics movie should be.” The New Yorker. conde Nast, n.d. May. 17 Feb. 2014
Quiner, Krista. Shannon Miller: America’s Most Decorated Gymnast. East Hanover: The Bradford Book Company, 1997. Print.
Did you know that Joe Montana grew up in a town where many other great quarterbacks grew up for example Dan Darino and become one of the best to ever play. Joe had a amazing life he won many awards and become very famous over the years. He has a beautiful wife and two kids. Joe montana is one of the greatest football players to ever play.
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I have always liked emotional commercials, they grab my attention and make me feel strong emotions while watching TV. Seeing Derrick Coleman’s commercial made me hopeful and made me feel like anything is possible. In the beginning of the commercial Coleman is a kid with hearing aids and he talks about how kids picked on him, how he was always picked last, and how his football coaches didn’t know how to talk to him because he was deaf. Everyone told him to give up playing football but he kept playing even when he wasn’t picked to play in the NFL right away. He trained hard and at the end of the commercial it shows him walking out on to the Seattle Seahawks field with the stadium lights glowing and everyone cheering. I believe this commercial had a lasting powerful effect on the people that saw it because it made you feel emotional, the story supported Duracell’s argument, and people admire and trust Derrick Coleman.
After being mesmerized by figure skating at the age of eight, I became a member of the Markham Skating Club. As a competitive figure skater, I must perform various jumps and spins in a choreographed program. I have participated in numerous competitions in Central Ontario and have received multiple medals for my achievements. Yet, my achievement as a figure skater stem from the adversity that I faced throughout my skating journey. This sport has imposed challenges to both my mental and physical strength that have ultimately constructed the qualities of dedication and humility within myself.
Gabrielle Douglas, also referred to as Gabby, is the 16-year-old African American woman who made history by winning a gold medal in the individual all-around gymnastics portion of the 2012 Olympic event. Instead of acknowledging the fact that Douglas became the first African-American woman to win that particular competition, people on social media sites joked on how she was in need of a relaxer for her hair. Tiya Miles, the writer of “Why focus on Gabby Douglas’ hair?,” strongly states her opinion about the comments toward the situation. Her argument about the topic is overall strong and informative because it gives the reader many points-of-view to acknowledge before he or she develops an opinion. Miles states that criticizing comments made Gabby Douglas’ achievement an undermined factor. She stresses that Douglas’ hair is a n...
The United States has had a long-standing policy of intervening in the affairs of other nations when the country has thought it within its best interests to do so. Since the 1970’s the United States has tried to impose its will on other nations to combat the most pressing political enemy of the day often linking the war on drugs to the matter to stoke support both domestically and abroad. In the times of the Cold War, this enemy was communism and the government tried to make the connection of the “Red Dope Menace” insinuating drug links with China, Castro’s Cuba, and the Sandinistas in Nicaragua. However, as the world has evolved and communism’s prominence has waned, there is a new enemy whose existence has become intertwined with the drug war. That enemy is terrorism. The connection has gone so far that politicians and journalists have coined a new term to describe the link calling this new problem of our time “Narco-terror.” This paper will examine US efforts to control the drug trade and fight terrorism in Colombia, Peru, Afghanistan and the desired and often undesired consequences that have come about because of those efforts.
Lyndon B. Johnson's, a man who was raised from humble beginnings was able to rise up in politics from a Representative, to a Senator, to Vice President, and finally becoming our nation’s 36th President. Starting off his presidency with tragedy due to John F. Kennedy’s assassination, he took the position of extending the legacy of JFK’s visions and making them his own during his time in office. Although Lyndon B. Johnson is not viewed as one of our greatest presidents due to his foreign policies and involvement in the Vietnam War, his achievements in domestic policies in my opinion has had the greatest developmental impact on politics in the US since 1945.
The "G.O.A.T.", is coming used term in the sports world meaning, The Greatest of All Time. In the National Basketball Association, when you mention the term, the "G.O.A.T., everyone assumes of one name and one name only, Michael Jordan. Michael Jordan was an innovator of the basketball work and influenced many different people and players that inputted & mimicked Jordan’s style of play and implicated it into their own game. In today's generation, there are several players that many average day people would consider these players on the road to becoming a Jordan type of player, potential or maybe even greater; players that may be able on road to sharing a Michael Jordan type of legacy includes Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant and LeBron James.
Bryant, Janine. "Dancers as Athletes." The Dance Journal. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 May 2014. .
Gymnasts use physics everyday. As a gymnast I never realized how much physics went into every motion, every back handspring, every mistake on the bars. If gymnasts were physicists (or at least knew more about physics) they would be better equipped to handle the difficult aspects of gymnastics. As a gymnast I learned the motions that were necessary to complete the tricks that I was working on, and as a coach I taught others the same. I never truly understood why a particular angle gave me a better back handspring or why the angle that I hit a springboard at really mattered when completing a vault. We are going to explore some of the different apparatuses in gymnastics and a few of the physics laws that are involved in them. We will not even barely scratch the surface of the different ways that physics can explain gymnastics.
With a growing interest in weight training younger children are beginning to lift weights. Which brings about questions about when children should be allowed to start lifting and what degree of difficulty should they be allowed to attempt. This topic has sparked a debate about whether or not a person under the age of eighteen should be allowed to competitively lift weights in the Olympics. Many believe that the risk of injuring children is not worth the opportunity for them to succeed in the Olympics. The risk is not as enormous as it is made out to be. Anyone who has a fully mature body and is over the age of thirteen should be allowed to participate in Olympic weightlifting. If done correctly lifting weights is a great way to stay active and healthy for a person of any age.
The start of the 2002 track season found me concerned with how I would perform. After a disastrous bout with mononucleosis ended my freshmen track season, the fear of failure weighed heavily on my mind. I set a goal for myself in order to maintain focus and to push myself like nothing else would. My goal for my sophomore track season was to become a state champion in the 100 meter hurdles. I worked hard everyday at practice and went the extra mile, like running every Sunday, to be just that much closer to reaching my goal. The thought of standing highest on the podium in the center of the field, surrounded by hundreds of spectators, overcame my thoughts of complaining every time we had a hard workout. When I closed my eyes, I pictured myself waiting in anticipation as other competitors names were called out, one by one, until finally, the booming voice announced over the loudspeaker, "...and in first place, your 2002 100 meter hurdle champion, from Hotchkiss, Connie Dawson." It was visions like these that drove me to work harder everyday.