Danielle Simon

8/30/16
Core 4

Positive/Negative Graph Explanations

Earning the Six and Under Most Improved Swimmer Trophy 2010 (3): My birthday
is in the summer just after the swim season ends. While all my friends were in the seven
and eight age group I was still in six and under. When all my friends were swimming fifty
yards and diving off the blocks, I was swimming twenty-five and starting at the shallow
end. I tried my very best to keep up with them in practice and by the end of the summer
most days I did. At the end of the season we had an awards ceremony where we got all
of our ribbons and the coaches gave out awards. I asked my mom if we could go to the
bathroom after I got my trophy because I didnt want to miss it. My mom said that not
everyone was going to get a trophy but I didnt even have time to frown because the
next name they called was Danielle Simon. The trophy now sits on a shelf in my room
with two more swimming awards and many skating trophies.
U.S. Figure Skating Changed the Levels Twice! 2012 & 2016 (-2): I have been figure
skating at the Highland Park Ice Rink for a very long time. When I was younger U.S.
figure skating decided to add an advanced level after each Basic level therefore after I
took Basic 6, I had to then take Basic 6 Advanced. I liked this change at the time
because I thought it made me look better than I was. I now realize it also prevented me
from moving up more quickly. After I passed Basic 8 (the highest basic level), U.S.
figure skating must have discovered this flaw because they got rid of all the advanced
classes. In June I passed Freeskate 6 which is very special because after passing
Freeskate 6 you remain in High Freeskate. My coach had told me before I took the test
that they were going to change the levels even though I was not supposed to know. I
worked very hard to pass because I knew that they were going to add a spin into that
level that makes me very dizzy. A few weeks ago one of the coaches handed me a
piece of paper that has the new levels on it. They now have a Freeskate 6+, probably to
keep me out of High Freeskate. I will also have to repass Freeskate 6 to get a solo in
the ice show which was another reason I worked so hard to pass last June. Thanks U.S.
Figure Skating!
Bringing my Best Friend to my Grandparents Lake House for a Week 2015 (4): My
best friend Livia always goes to Michigan for the first four weeks of summer with her
family and I normally go to Chautauqua, New York the second four weeks of summer so
we never spent much time together over the summer. The weeks I spent up there were
still super fun because I had a really close friend who spent the whole summer there.

Unfortunately her parents got divorced a few years ago so she had to spend some time
with her dad off the grounds of Chautauqua. Its impossible to be lonely there because
there are so many kids and activities. There was no place I would rather be, but it was
not the same without her. One day my grandma brought up the idea to invite Livia to go
up there for a week. Neither of us were interested in overnight camp so our parents
liked the idea. She came the week of my birthday and every day was one of the best
days of my life. All the kids up there go to a day camp that has all the same activities as
overnight camp and we had a blast. Recently her mother was talking to her friend about
Livia being away. When Livia was asked where she went to camp she answered CHQ.
Her moms friend had never heard of it but we both think it is a great camp.
The Time When I Tumbled down a Black Diamond Slope in Ski School 2015 (-5):
Every spring over spring break my family and I go on a family trip to Steamboat,
Colorado. My brothers and I were always forced to go ski school all but one of the days
we were there. In 2015 I got tonsillitis on our trip and spent most of the vacation in the
hotel. My parents did not enjoy staying there with me so I got talked into going to ski
school as soon as I had no fever. My brother, being the adventurous kid he is, begged
our ski instructor to take us down a double black diamond which is the hardest trail type
that exist there. They are designed for experts only. Our ski instructor decided to take
us down Rolex, the hardest black diamond there. All four people I watched ski down the
hill fell which did not help my confidence. Neither did knowing it was the hardest black
diamond or missing several days of ski school. The instructor told us to keep our skis
parallel which is proper form but makes you go faster. I did not want to go down the hill
fast so I pointed my skis towards each other to slow down which is what they teach
beginners in ski school. One of my skis got stuck on top of the other. I fell and started
tumbling down the hill. I tried to get my skis to point across the mountain to stop my
rolling but that only made my ski fall off. I screamed for the instructor to help but no one
did. Finally somehow I stopped tumbling right in front of a tree at the end of the slope. I
never planned to go down Rolex again. It was by far the scariest moment of my life. A
year later my mom asked what my brother and I skied in ski school and I was surprised
when my brother named Rolex. He was right and we skied it many more times that
spring.
My Closest Friends Stopped Talking to me 2015 (-5): It would be a lie to say my
friends and I always got along. There were moment when I hated them but we always
talked about our troubles and every fight only made us stronger. One day at lunch three
of my friends started talking about a kazoo band that my friend Rainey and I were not
included in. We asked to be included but we were informed that it was now too late.That
lunch was not fun so Rainey said to me that tomorrow we should sit somewhere else.

The next day felt like a better day. I believe in second chances. I made no effort to move
tables and neither did Rainey. I do not know if she remembered the conversation the
day before, but Stephanie, a member of the kazoo band certainly did. She liked to
speak the truth no matter how hard it was. I had always admired that quality of hers. I
thought you werent going to sit with us today, she said. Rainey and I responded by
asking her if she wanted us to stay. Almost a year later, I still remember her exact
words. I can still hear them in my head. Honestly, after that, I really dont. She then
looked at the other two members of the kazoo band who gave her approving looks. So
Rainey and I moved. The new table was welcoming but I didnt think I would sit there
every day for the rest of 7th grade. After school that day I received a text from a kazoo
band member which was not surprising at all because they text a lot. It was the words
that surprised me. She wanted to know if it was ok if we were not friends anymore. I
cried a lot to myself; however, it did not seem to bother Rainey as much. Ivy wanted to
be just school friends but I cant say that is working out too well for me. Stephanie
reached out to me and Rainey several weeks ago and things are fine between us but
even now I get a weird feeling in my gut everytime I see the the rest of the band. I find
myself wondering what would have happened if Stephanie hadnt said anything.
Landing my Axel 2016 (4): A single axel is the hardest single in figure skating.
Although it is considered a single, a single axel is one and a half rotations in the air. I
worked for many hours, days, and months to land this jump. I started on the harness,
where my coach could give me a big boost, then moved to a pole harness, where my
coach could do much less, and eventually graduated to attempting the axel with no help
at all. At first I was nervous about doing this. Falling without a harness can be painful. I
soon found my brain thinking more towards how to land it instead of the many ways to
fall. I focused on exactly what my coach told me. I sprang up off the ice did a rotation
and a half in the air and my toe hit the ice perfectly backwards. I looked over to my
coach who smiled.
Braces off 2016 (3): I had braces for a year and a half which many people considered
lucky. Sometimes they were ok but whenever they were tightened it hurt to talk and it
hurt to not talk. Moving was painful and so was staying still. I got my braces on in 6th
grade about a month before Halloween so I had to trade all my favorite candies to my
brothers who were constantly eating sticky things, popcorn, whole apples, and other
random foods I could not eat. Most of my friends did not get braces until later so they
too were free to munch on whatever they wanted. Finally after 18 months of braces the
orthodontist said next time I came I could get them off. I counted down the weeks. The
weeks turned into days, days turned into hours, and finally hours turned into minutes.
Afterwards the orthodontist gave me candy which was surprising. It was in the same

bag with teeth on it, that he had given me a year and a half earlier with braces cleaning
supplies. Personally I liked the candy better. My mom brought me popcorn and gum for
the car ride home. My dad advised me not to chew gum after eating popcorn but I did
not listen. It felt good to be metal free again.
Three Boating Incidents in One Summer 2016 (-4): The summer of 2016 was not a
great summer on lake Chautauqua. My siblings, Livia, and my four year old cousin,
Elliot, and I were very excited to go tubing so we got right on the lake, and hopped into
the boat the first Saturday we were there. After a lot of tubing we decided to switch to
water skiing. We put the tube in the front of the boat on some seats. Elliot discovered it
made a nice fort that shielded him from the wind and stayed under it while my brother
Addison waterskied. All of the sudden the window snapped off its hinge and flew into
the water. Where is Elliot! My mother yelled. My grandpa wasted no time turning the
boat around to him and in no time my mothers sunglasses were on the boat floor and
she was in the water. She brought him back onto the boat were Livia noticed his foot
was broken. I was in charge of calling his mother who called an ambulance. When we
docked the boat we saw the ambulance turn the wrong way so Livia and I quickly ran
after it. Elliots foot was broken in two places and he needed stitches on his leg but he
soon found it was nice being king and learned to enjoy being wheeled around town in a
wagon. We are still unsure what broke his foot. Personally I believe it was the force of
hitting the water but others disagree. Later in the week we got attacked by a jet ski and
capsized a sailboat. However these events did not stop us from having a great summer.