Fall 2025 Black Belt Cycle

Candidate Journals

King Tiger Tae Kwon Do Black Belt candidates blog daily about their journey: their thoughts and feelings, their struggles and successes; their pain and their encouragement. Follow along on their journey; words of encouragement are always welcome!

Monday

Waking up and going to school on Monday is really hard. I got to go in late which was nice but I wanted to stay with my mom instead of going to school. It was a good day and I am excited that I will be testing for my black belt on Friday.

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THE LAST WEEK!!!

 This week is the last week of the cycle. I think that everyone did a great job. I need a few more push ups and sit ups. I also need more mentee sessions, a few more miles, and pull ups. I think that I am ready for testing.

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Rainy Days

Today was a rainy day and I highly disliked it. I do not like rainy days at all. They really make me feel lazy and sad for some reason. I hope we don't have many more of these rainy days this week.

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Essays done!

Today we had friends over for waffles and sausage. Afterwards, I wrote my final essay for black belt about my community service project. We also wrote one of my recommendation letter requests. We watched Moana, talked to my grandparents in Denmark, and had chips and salsa for lunch. I ran two miles and had a burger for dinner. And I completed ALL of my situps.

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Happy B-Day dad

Today was my dad's birthday. I gave him a new back pillow. His old one was ripped. Today was a good day.

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4.23

Last day of training with students on this raining Sunday. We call it rain train! 

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Ugh Why Rain

Today it rained so hard and bad. It ruined my plans to go watch Fast 8. I love the FF series. The sad thing about it though is that Paul Walker died on my birthday 3 years ago. I actually remember him every year on my birthday because he was my favorite actor. 

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B DAY

yesterday i had my 10 b day it was awsome we had community service and we went to Dave and busters sooooooooooooo much fun doable digest 

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Leadership project

Today I did a leadership project for school and finally finished it. I am Finnishig all of my exsesices so I am ready for they test this Friday aka my birthday and am ready for that pain filled day

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Community Service Day

This morning my brother and far had belt testing. My far got a red belt and Erik got a camo/yellow belt. After testing we went to do our community service for black belt. Far had to take me because my mom was sick. I had fun pulling out the weeds.

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4/22

Today I didn't do much. I studied for my Ap exam that is coming up and then I had dinner at this Indian restaurant called Woodlands with my family. It was a lot a lot of fun. I got to see my 2 cute baby cousins as well. Today was a good day.  

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4.22

Going to volunteer on this hot day! I'm ready! 

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Friends Friday

Tonight we had friends over to hang out. We ordered pizza and stayed up really late watching TV and playing games. It was a great fun night!

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CAROWINDS!!!

    Today I went to Carowinds. I had so much fun. My two favorite rides were probably the Afterburn and the Fury. The scariest thing of both of those roller coasters were the part before when you were about to drop. I had so much fun though. I cant wait till I go again!

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Great Day

Today was amazing. I woke up with this super positive vibe. Then school seemed better and more fun than usual. I think probably because I was more of a goof today than usual. I laughed a lot today and I heard that laughing is good for the soul, so I guess me laughing a lot today was goood. :)

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4.20

Processes & Systems... Define & Upgrade... Deep work commences. :)

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Good Day

I really enjoyed TKD today!  I was able to get most of my work done.  Tomorrow I'll be going to get my running in with my sister.  It has been a good week.

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Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!

Today was my parents anniversary and I baked them a cake and everything. They picked me up from my bus stop and took me home today and then we waited for my brother to get home. Then we went to Concord Mills and some other places to look for a carpet for our new massage chair. Then we had dinner at our favorite restaurant we have as a family called Olive Garden and as usual the food was amazing!

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4.19 Part:2

Big decisions takes big changes but it's the small incremental steps that keeps you going towards success. 

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it rained

It rained this morning and it rained hard. It rained until 2:00 and i wasn't able to run my mile because it was soaked. But i was able to get my other stuff. I still had to go to class and sparring. But i made it again. And also, testing is right around the corner. Good luck everybody. :}

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I THOUGHT IT WAS TUESDAY!

   I thought that today was a Tuesday because I did not have school on Monday. I am glad because it is going to be a short week. This week is good because I have no tests this week. I am also going to Carowinds on Friday, and I am also might also go see a movie with my friends. I really like this week.

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4/19

So I made it half way through another week of school. We only have about 6 more weeks left of school and I am so happy. I just can't wait for summer. It is going to be blast. Plus it is going to bring me closer to the next school year, where I will in 10th grade,another yer closer to graduating. Plus next school is also going to include my big 16 :)  

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4.19

Rain... Rain, wash away the pollen so I can breathe for another day. :)

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A NICE CHALLENGE!!!

Today Master Evins gave us the first challenge to do for the cycle. We had to do 100 jump ropes, 50 squats, 50 burpees,and 25 of our poomsae. It was hard, but we did it. The burpees were pretty hard. I liked the poomsaes being last so we can cool down. I can't wait to see what the extra credit is going to be.

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WooHoo!

Today we had our first challenge of the cycle and I can't wait for the rest! In my last cycle we had so many and I started to think we would never do any this cycle and I was so sad until today. We had a challenge, that hopefully everyone has completed, which consisted of 100 jump rope, or 50 double, 50 burpies, 50 air squats, and 25 of your poomsae. I got it done in 25 minutes and I can't remember the seconds, but unfortunately Instructor Marcus beat me by 32 seconds! But that's not the point, the point is that we got it done. I'm really excited that all I need left is two mentee sessions and I really can't wait. I, Jason Gould, Congratulate Everybody!   ~"This is Gould, Jason Griggs, Out"~    

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Second Day Back

Today was the second day back from Spring Break and it was also A day for me which means that I had my hard class today. My hard class is Ap Human Geography. It is so difficult. It takes way to much thinking and I am not up for that all the time. But it was not that bad of a day today so I guess it was ok. 

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Freddy's

today we went and got steak burgers at Freddy's and it was delicious.

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No School

today i had no school it was so great and i got to spend the day with my grandma and i got A LOT of exercises  done best day for exercises so much done not falling behind as much ooh yesterday i did 15 min. of jump rope straight and 21 min. in all :)   

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First Day Back

Today was the first back to school from Spring Break and let me tell you, I already can't wait for this weekend. Today included all my easy classes which meant I could sleep. I almost slept in all my classes which is very bad but I have very good friends and they told me what we did so I could turn it in tomorrow. 

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After Easter

It's afte Easter and it is a boring  Monday. My stomach has been grumbling becauseI  only had a bowl of cereal and some applesauce which tasted disgusting. But i have to make the best out of it today. Its going to rain and i have to do my stuff .But we all made it. 

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Easter Sunday

I am never going to outgrow Easter and today we did what we normally do and went to our grandmas house and did an Easter egg hunt. It was fun and I got to do it with my little sister Alex. 

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EASTER SUNDAY

TODAY I CANE HOME FROM MY GRANDMAS HOME 3 DAYS NOW SHE IS AT OUR HOUSE FOR THE WEEK. BEST EASTER EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GO EASTER.  NEVER TOO OLD :) 

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WHAT A RUN!!!!!

 Today was a great day for running. Me and my friend for a run in a trail in Birkdale. It was amazing! I had so much fun. we ran t0o a bridge that had water beneath it. We saw a lot turtles and fish below the bridge. I had a great time. I can not wait to run around there again!

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My Plan

My plan is to finish all of my requirements by next Saturday.  If I can get it all done, I can relax until its time for testing.  I still have to go to class and work with instructor Weeks, but I'm ready to get it done! I hope everyone had a great Easter!

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Aaand That's a Wrap

So today is the last day of Spring Break. Spring Break was amazing. I was able to spend time with my grandparents, my aunt and uncle as well as my baby cousins. I got to go to Carowinds and ride roller coasters which I absolutely love to ride. Spring Break was wonderful. 

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MY BREAK IS HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My break is finally here. Im so happy that its here, but i can't forget about TKD. My mother has ben sad. I don't want her to be sad anymore. Im happy that Easter is tomorrow.

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4/15

Today I didn't do much but go to my temple with my grandparents and help my grandmother around the house. I also talked to some of my friends. I did some homework and watched 13 Reasons Why. 

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FEELS LIKE SATURDAY.

 Today feels like a Saturday because I did not have any school today. I am not saying that is a bad thing, it just feels weird. I am also happy because I do not have school on Monday. That means I have more time to do requirements.

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13 Reasons Why Is So Good!

SOOOOO I started watching 13 reasons why today and oh my god, it is so good. It is very emotional but it teaches you so much. I really like this show already. I can't wait to keep watching!

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DONE WITH SPARRING!!!!!!!!

   I am done with my sparring classes. I would have been done if I counted the weekend sparring classes as 1.5 in stead of 1. Someone told me that later on the cycle so I just did not count it. Even though I am done with my sparring, I will still take them because they are very fun, and I have a great teacher.

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Tomorrow is Friday

This morning I did what I normally do.  I got ready for school and had a bowl of cereal.  I'm excited because tomorrow is Friday.  It's a half day at school and then I start Spring Break!

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Carowinds

Today we went to Carowinds with a few of our friends from school. We talked a lot and had fun. We went on the Goldrush and then i went on the afterburner with Isiah and Maya. I am so happy my mom bought us season tickets so we can go back many times this year.

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4/13

Today was boring. I didn't do much but watch television, talk to my friends, and visit my temple. That basically summed up my whole day. 

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A NICE WEEK.

This is a pretty good week so far. I had a Spanish test on Monday, and two tests tomorrow. I have a Science and Grammar test tomorrow. Grammar is pretty easy, but science is kind of hard. I think I will do fine on the test because the review seemed not that bad. Thursday is the last day of the week for me because I have Easter break. I don't have school on Friday or Monday. I like this week so far.

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Carowindsss!

Today was very fun! I helped my uncle do some gardening. Then we all got ready to go to Carowinds. We went to Carowinds, we did some rides for my baby cousins. Then my aunt, my brother, and I went on some roller coasters. We had cheese fries, which are very unhealthy but also very good. We then went to Taco Bell, bought food and then went home and had it. Later we had ice cream and watched Boss Baby. It was a great day today!

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So Close!!

Congrats every body who has made it this far. We have all made it this far through all this hard work and what can I say? Congratulations! I can't wait to see everybody on at testing and at the tea ceremony getting their belts. We've all come this way, so don't give up now! 

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Finished

Today I finished all of my requirements but I did not finish weekend black belt class. I only have one left. Today is a good day.

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WHAT A NICE DAY!!!!!!!!

    Today was a really nice outside. I went outside for P.E and it was really sunny, and it was a good day to enjoy class. Today when I went to class, everyone was out for spring break. I did not have demo class. When I went home I did a some requirements. I wonder if anyone will be there for sparring class on Thursday?

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Spring Break Has Officially Started

My parents left for Las Vegas today at 5:00 in the morning. I hope they have an amazing trip. They deserve it. As for me my Spring Break has officially started and I can't wait for the sleep and talking to friends!

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Dad is out of town

My dad is out of town again.  I miss him a lot when he's gone. He will be home tomorrow to pick me up from TKD class.

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4/10

Today was the start of the slower week since many students are on break. But I am prepared to deal with the slower classes.

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Long Day

Today was a long day. I had to pack and help my mom pack. I also had to babysit my brother and his friends which really wasn't a sweat since all they did was play xbox and minecraft. 

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4/9

It was a normal day I stayed home and relaxed. 

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Sunday

Today's Sunday and it was just a normal Sunday.  I had to go to church and eat breakfast. I learned about trust and how to make a book. Then I did my workout for today. I've been spending the rest of the day relaxing, playing some video games, and watching TV. A normal Sunday. 

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Woohoo!

Today was the birth of my god who we call Mahavir Bhagwan and we had a huge event for that at my temple. We prayed and we also had a event where the kids either danced on a song related to our god or sang one. My brother, his friend, my cousin and I danced on a song and everyone was so impressed. I am very proud of my dancers and proud that I choreographed such a good dance. :)

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Done in a week

Today I put in my numbers. And I saw I had a few things left. I went on the calculator and divided my numbers. Yah! I am almost done with my physical requirements  

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My Last journal?

I wanted to wait for something profound before posting my last journal entry but alas.. This is my last journal and no inspiration has come to me..

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DONE WITH MY ESSAYS!!!!!!!!!

    Last night I finished all my essays. I read one book in one day. I did not know that I could have done that. On Friday, I did three essays. I did the hero profiles, new skill, and the how can I apply Tae Kwon Do to my life. Yesterday I did the empathy training and the book reading. I submitted them at 9:45 ish. I am never going to do what I did next cycle.

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UNCG

Man today was excellent I had so much fun! I got to enjoy the campus and meet all sorts of new people. I am even more ready to go to college than before. 

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Temple Day

I spent the whole day in the temple today, helping for the event we have tomorrow. We had our grand rehearsal for the dance we are having tomorrow as well. 

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MUTE FOR A DAY.

  Today I am being mute. I thought it was going to be easy, but it was not. there were so many times when I felt like talking, but I did not. When I went to Black Belt I wore a bandana so I wouldn't talk. I was messing around with it so much, Master Evins told me to take it off. It was kind of hard communicating. Now I know very little about how the people who are actually mute feels like.

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200+ Kinda Day

Since its getting close to be over, I did a lot of work today! My mom sets up WOD's for me to do everyday!  The numbers were in the 200's or start with the number two!  My dad did my sit-ups with me today.  He could barely get half of what I was doing. So, I had swimming, BBC, finishing essays, and WOD's today. In a little while, i'm going to get a haircut. Hope you guys are having a good day!

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3/7

I'm going to visit Greensboro tomorrow I am really excited as I am going with a couple of friends. We are going to have such a good time.

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Finished my Kwans

Today I finished my history of the kwans essay. Since it's five pages long I decided to do one kwan on Tuesday, another on Wednesday, another on Thursday, and the Last two today. Yeah, it took awhile but it was worth knowing the fact that you're done with essays. Well, I really need to get going to bed so, good night!

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DOING THE ESSAYS ON THE LAST MINUTE!!!!!

 I made a big mistake. I did the essays on the last few days. I did three essays today, and I have to do two essays tomorrow. I am going to be mute tomorrow. I should have not kept all this stuff till the last minute. I still have to do the book reading essay. I learned my lesson. I am going to try to do better next cycle.

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another friday

Today was a another friday and another regular school day. But i made it through the day. Im so happy that the weekend is here. I hope you guys are having a great day. God bless you all ;)

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4.7

Friday! Friday! Our promotional video is going great. Results are positive. On to the next one! 

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Concert Day!

Today I am going to a really big indian singers concert at the Owens Auditorium. His name is Mika Singh. I am going with my family and friends and I couldn't be happy. Tonight is going to be a blast! I can't wait. :)  

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Grandparents house

Today I went to my grandparents house. When I went to sleep my sister woke me up. Today is a fun day.

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4/6

Spring break starts tomorrow no 5:30 wake up times for nine days!

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A windy day

Today was really windy.  I had a regular day at school and tomorrow is a house day.  When i got back home after school the wind was blowing really hard. So hard that it knocked the power out.  I read my book before going to TKD and again on my way back home.  I finished it and I started writing my essay.  Time for bed.

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Ouch!

I am very sore today. I have bruises on my left leg and my body aches. I have Tae Kwon Do to get through today though and I will push myself as hard as I can. Hopefully I can finish the whole class with full energy. 

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4/5

I have been working hard to finish school strong as it is my last quarter and I only have less than 45 days later. I got my cap and gown today so I an ready for graduation... only a couple more months.

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ESSAYS

7 down 1 to go almost done with essays  great love this sooooo much

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I HATE THIS DAY!!!!!

I really hate this day. I am in the seventh grade so we do not go outside and play any more. We try to beg the teachers if we can go outside for study hall( a class that where we do homework). Some times it works, but it mostly doesn't. Today the teachers told us we will go outside. We were so happy. Then it had to rain and thunder/lightning so we could not go outside. We all were really sad. The teachers were doing that for our safety.

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4/05

Today was alright. Just had the routine life I have every day. Nothing really interesting. 

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How is everyone doing with their essays?

Well the final days of the cycle are coming very close to an end and now the essays are due... Have been cranking them out but I am having a difficult time with the "history of the kwans" essays. I guess because I dont know what sources to trust when it comes to Historical information (you can never trust wikipedia) so anyone else having difficult with this essay? 

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A fair day...

I don't know if anyone noticed, but right at noon it was gorgeous outside! I t was so sunny, but there was just barely enough clouds to prevent it from being really bright outside. I thought it truly was such a sight. So, today Instructor E.J. was wearing a flamingo t-shirt and it reminded me of something. I have been going to King Tiger summer camp since I was 5 so that is 8 years. When I was 8, in summer camp we took a hike through the woods. It was very bright outside but thankfully the canopy of the trees blocked a lot of the brightness from getting through. But, we came upon a river, and there was a narrow land bridge going through it. In the middle, stood a tall, elegant Crane.(An animal crane, not a machine). Then, a hole in the canopy right above the Crane shown a...

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4/03

I am almost finished with my essay and I am glad that I have almost finished my essays and I will be able to refocus on my other projects in my AP Economics class.

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04/04

Today is 04/04. I always find that interesting for some reason. Today wasn't the best day, but hopefully tomorrow is better. Good Night.

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Mutated Flu? Or something else

I feel like I am getting sick again, which sucks because I thought I had the one and done flu... Here's to hoping it isn't something like will take me out for a couple days. 

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4/3

The last few days I have been so busy I have been working on essays and multiple projects for school and I am trying so hard to keep up with everything. So I am continuing to work on my essays and the test coming up. 

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Today was my teachers birthday

Today was Mr. Stevens birthday!! He got a gift card bouquet from the class!I got him an XL package of a Kit Kat bar. I begged him to give it back, because I love them too!! I later found out that thats not a nice thing to do! I will apologize to him tomorrow and I have something else for him that I really like too, but I won't do what I did today.

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My Book

yesterday i started my book i am reading Hoot it is a really good book i like it a lot. I think i might Finnish tomorrow or the next day. AS SOON AS I FINNISH THE BOOK I WILL START THE ESSAY ON.  I am getting better. I love the book #really good book:)

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Essays

After school my dad and I started to finish up our essays. I have already started the five kwans which is going to take me a while since it is a five page essay. But we are still doing well through this cycle.

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It's Monday Agian

There goes another Monday. Another day of school. I am up earlier than usual today so I wrote my journal entry early. 

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Back

Today I get back in the swing of things. I went to Atlanta for 3 days and then came back and went to a sleepover but now it need to work my butt  to get caught up after missing 3 days 

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Oops...

I didn't get a lot of requirements today and that is not a good thing. While on the other hand, I finished my pushups and sit-ups and that Is a good thing. I really need to remember to do a lot of jump roping because I am behind on those. Now I just need to take every Thursday sparring class I can. Well, Good Night!

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Super Sunday

So I am not the biggest fan of Sundays but today was a good Sunday. I got to shop and get some Starbucks as well as Ice Cream. Then my friend and I watched a movie at the cinema. It was fun. 

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This morning

This morning i started my day by reading my essay book. My dad dropped my dogs to the groomers and got me Dunkin Donuts. We went to church and played the whole time. After that the church had their 11th anniversary and we celebrated. This was just the morning and I'm so esxited about what the evening has in stock for me.  

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JUST A FEW MORE CLASSES.

 I only need a few more classes that I need to do. I need three more Black Belt weekend, two more Black Belt weekday, and two more sparring classes. I am doing good on leadership credits, mentor sessions, and mentee sessions. I need six more leadership one credits, few more mentee sessions, one more mentor session, and I am already done with my leadership two credits. I can't believe I am almost done.

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Almost done

Today I just found out that I am almost done with the cycle requirements it feels good. I would like to do the cycle again it is not easy but it is not hard. Today is a good day.

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Sunday

I helped my mom make waffles for breakfast but she did most of the work. We didn't go out because my mom had to do a bunch of work stuff. My dad spent a lot of time working in the yard. I finished of my essays for the black belt cycle. My parents helped me a lot with them. 

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Tarheels

The Tarheels won!!!  Im glad I had a chance to stay up and watch that game.  I haven't journaled in a while because Ive been working on my essays and trying to get my requirements done before the end of the month. Im almost done.

  914 Hits

April Fools!

Happy April Fools Day! I can't wait to fool my family members! I have something amazing planned. It is going to be so funny. I can't wait to execute this plan.  Hahaha

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Friends

My friends Alex and Alyssa came and spent the day with us because their mom had to work and their dad was sick. It was really fun and we played video games all day. I did go out and run 2 miles but none of them wanted to come with me. Alex can't run because he has asthma. They stayed for dinner and my mom made spaghetti. It was a good day. 

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You gotta be kidding me

Today I was going to get my last leadership credit 1 and I had no idea what time the class started. I was never told, and by the time I found out, the class was over. Plus, besides black belt class, it was the only class to help with.(Since I can't help with bb class since I'm only a 1st degree). Well, look's like I shall have to get it done on Monday. Well, Good Night!

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And then there was none

I didn't realize that yesterday was my last journal. As much as I enjoy writing, I enjoy my quiet time and my wifie time a bit more. It's been a great ride folks. You have motivated me and made me want more out of myself. Stay strong, be good to each other, help out a stranger, and stay off the video games, there's a world to conquer out there. This is Brian Foster signing out until the next cycle begins for me.

  1262 Hits

3/31

The last day of March is today, we now roll into April the last month of cycle and only 28 more days left until the overnight exam. I am ready to continue training and bring 110% to the exam.

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SHE IS BACK!!!!

today at 8:00 my sister came back from a three day trip to Atalanta for school. I love to see my sister and it was soo boring with out her i dint even know what to do with out her i messed her because she is so nice to me and i love her at least she is already back we just picked her  up like 5 minuets ago   

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