Candidate Journals

today was super boring. my body hurt and the hype of testing has already slowed down. i didnt get to hang out at all today, i just had to be around the house. it was very uneventful

today was the day of the public test. my whole family and my girlfriend and sister came out to watch, so i had to impress them. everyone said i did very well at testing. i even broke 3 bricks! im still very nervous though, i made the mistake of not doing my journals. but when master evins asked me why, i told him i didnt have an excuse. and its true, there is no excuse

today is testing day and im super nervous. i know all my stuff but im behind on some of my requirements and im super nervous about it. i really dont want to get in trouble but its my fault for not being on top of everything. i especially dont know what to do about my journal entries

work wasnt too bad today. the kids are usually a lot calmer on thuesdays as opposed to mondays and wednesdays

today was pretty average. school, class, requirements and taking hannah out to eat. its always fun though. but the physical and written test are tomorrow so i need energy

today was a long day. i realized ive got a lot of work to do on my physical strength, but i think i did well on the written test

its the first day of october. all my friends and i are super excited for halloween, its the best holiday even if were too old to dress up

today was an unsettling day. i didnt feel like doing anything at all. i didnt want to do homework or play video games or anything. it was a very weird feeling

Class has been intense lately. Master Chelley, Marcus and I have been drilling staff, bolo and short stick lately and we spent all of class doing it and some time while we were teaching class

Today is the day before testing and it was hectic. My girlfriend got in a car accident, thankfully she's okay. i am scrambling to enter everything in the website but i will get it done. 

today was a very successful day. I had a test, two quizzes and i got a quiz grade back. I got an 88 on my English test. It was an analysis for the book "Things Fall Apart. I got an A on both my French and Biology quizzes and i surprisingly got a 100 on my math quiz from Wednesday. My grades right now are all A's and a B in bio. Hopefully I can get more focused after the cycle. All the work at night makes me very tired in the morning. We're almost done though!

my schedule has been so busy lately. i leave the house at 6:45 to go to school, take drivers ed until 5:30 and then i take my sister to swim afterwards. i dont get home until about 9:30. then i have to start my homework and do requirements. ive probably fallen asleep while i do sit ups a million times. i can't wait to finish drivers ed and pass my black belt test so i will actually have time to live.

Yesterday was my empathy challenge. it was very different from what my regular day is like. it consisted of a lot of hand communication and my mom purposely making me mad because i couldn't say anything back. overall, it was interesting to live completely silently.

today was my first day of drivers ed. i'm happy i'm finally learning how to drive. i should have taken it back in january when i was first able to, but at least i'm not a junior or senior already. there's actually a senior in my class. i feel bad for her. its all freshmen and sophomores in there. pretty soon, i wont have to beg master chelley or anyone else for rides home all the time.

This school year is really stressful already. I'm in my sophomore year and the third day of school we got right into work. Today I had 2 quizzes and an assessment. I also had a quiz and an EOC practice yesterday. The day of the black belt test is approaching too and it feels like an 8th class I have to stay on top of. I should be okay but it is stressful!

Yesterday, the 22nd was rough. My shoulder has been hurting for the past couple of days which has made it hard to fill out my requirements. My mom and Master Chelley have both said to take a couple days off, but I really don't want to fall behind. I'm already behind on some stuff too which is stressing me out even more. 

Today was my first day back in school. I am officially a sophomore at Lake Norman Charter. I enjoyed my classes and my teachers were pretty cool but after reading syllabuses all day, it got boring. I really want to stay organized with my schoolwork and I need to figure out a plan to balance out school, Tae Kwon Do, clubs, church and volunteering. I'm going to be jam packed this year!

Today I got home from camp. It was a lot of fun. We went to two real concerts, not little choirs singing. We had this thing called house wars where everyone is divided into four teams and we compete against each other in things like capture the flag and giant bouncy house races. We ate lots of good food, in the house I was staying at with 15 other guys, we made 2/3 pound burgers, 5 pounds of fries and 5 pounds of beans! And ate it all. We made giant platters of bacon and pancakes, breakfast pizza and cookies! It was a very filling and great weekend.

Today I left for a directed by my church  I'm a little nervous as I haven't really met anyone but we do fun stuff in church so this should be fun too. They told us to bring clothes that you're okay with never wearing again soo...

Today was insane! Aside from the fact that there were 35 kids at summer camp and only 6 counselors including the Hartles, i did a LOT for my cycle. I did over 50 Poomsae's throughout the day! Me and my mentee were working on a lot after we finished his actual mentee session. We ended up working for an hour! We sparred, did partner push ups and sit ups, everything. If i do all this every day, I'll be done with the cycle in no time!

Today was officially the first day of the cycle. It was a little scary but it didn't feel any different than the pre-cycle. I went to black belt class, worked on some requirements at home and then later I went to my friends birthday?going away party. She's moving to Germany for a year! It was nice to see a bunch of my friends though because I know that from here on out it'll be all Tae Kwon Do, all day.

I'm feeling much better today thankfully. My throat was still scratchy but I was able to go to work and class today and do my requirements. I took for granted how good it feels to have a clear nose, instead of a stuffed up one. Work was tiring but I had fun. I got to help out with a little Tigers class which was a first for me. It was entertaining to hear their little Ki Hap's and watch them do the obstacle course. Black belt class was also very helpful. I needed work on my rolls and falls so master Chelley made us practice falls for a while. I'm also getting better at Bo Cho specials.

Today was a very unproductive day. I woke up sick as a dog and could barely get out of bed. It was even worse that I couldn't go to sparring class. I was in bed drinking tea and blowing my nose all day. I didn't get any requirements done and I could barely sleep either. I was very mad at myself and at the fact that I got sick.

Not much happened today. I've still been worn out from Kukkiwon and my sleep schedule is extremely messed up. I started running to class again and it was awful today. It was 97 degrees! On the bright side i got to enjoy a delicious seafood taco when i got home. I have to say it was worth the wait.

Today was another tiring day, but it was very good. I found out about all the credits you earn from attending Kukkiwon, and I ate really good pizza from Jasons Deli. Other than that, it was a pretty normal day. I helped out with classes after summer camp and got a lot done since it is red stripe week. I'm excited to finally sleep now though.

Well, I'm finally home from Kukkiwon. It was a lot better than I expected it to be. I got a gold medal in Poomsae and a silver in sparring. The worst part was definitely the drive. I woke up at 2 because I thought we were leaving at 3:15. I didn't get picked up until 4! It was a four hour drive both ways and it was exhausting. But it was a great experience and definitely worth it.

Tomorrow is Kukkiwon! I'm really excited but also very nervous. I've been working on my Poomsae, stances, and sparring a lot and i hope it will make a difference tomorrow. All i can do is try my hardest!

I have been just practicing and practicing for Kukkiwon! It's a little nerve wracking but hopefully I'll do well. I didn't do a lot today. I helped my mentee practice before he tested for his high white belt, and it felt good to see him receive it. I took sparring class and i think I've gotten much better than i was before. Other than that, i stayed home all day.

Today wasn't anything special. I worked at summer camp and every single break I had, I worked on requirements for my cycle. I was so exhausted at the end of the day but at least I'm getting closer to finishing everything I need to do.

Well there's only a week until the Kukkiwon CUp. I'm very nervous since this is my first time attending. I'll be doing festival sparring and Poomsae. I practiced Taeguek Pal Jong for at least an hour. ANd when i watched TV, i stood in front and back stances to try and angle my feet correctly. My legs are still a little sore, but hopefully I'll do well thanks to it. I attempted to teach my little sister how to spar and attack me for self defenses so i can start working on them at home, but she was way too scared of me. Maybe that's how everyone at Kukkiwon will react!

Today was an interesting day. I took my first Saturday black belt class at the North Charlotte location. I was a little nervous to meet new people but everyone was very nice. I worked on my Poomsae the entire class. After i got home I rested for a bit and got ready to head out. I walked to my friends house and we got some of his bikes to ride to Birkdale. As soon as we turned the corner down a big hill, it started pouring. We were supposed to meet people so we didn't want to turn around and we got soaked. After we made it we hung out and ate food. Then We went back to his house so i could work on my cycle requirements. 

Today was another day of watching children at the summer camp. It wasn't a hard day today, we went to the library and park. During my break I went to McDonalds and i felt awful afterwards. It was not worth it at all. After camp ended I took black belt class and learned Bocho Dan special self defense. When I left class I found at that my grandma was visiting. Now I am super tired and ready to sleep.

Today was a very busy day. On top of doing my cycle work, I also helped my mom clean the garage and put my TV up on the wall. After that I went to sparring class and watched TV on my new wall TV.

Today was a very long day. I woke up at 5:45 so i could get ready and walk to summer camp at King Tiger Lake Norman. The kids were pretty well behaved today but I was out in the heat and doing stuff for my cycle all day. It was pretty exhausting. I'm glad to be back in class and helping out though. It feels like this is when my cycle really begins.

Today was a bit of a stressful day. I woke up early and couldn't fall back asleep. I also did extra push ups, sit ups, and kicks to make up for yesterday. Lastly, my TV wall mount finally came in the mail, only for me to discover the drill was nowhere to be found! I did get to have a couple relaxing hours at the pool though, and we ordered pizza for dinner. I guess my day wasn't that bad after all.

Today I woke up extremely tired and cranky. I felt completely out of it. I tried going back to sleep, but I couldn't. So I decided instead of laying around, I would clean and redesign my room. I put up some paintings and pictures I have, dusted and cleaned the windows. Later I took my sister and we went on a short walk to get some fresh air. It was a relaxing day but I wish I had dedicated more time towards my cycle.

Today was a very relaxing day. I didn't have to cook any real food today and I took a very nice nap with my cat. I read the news a lot today because I like to stay updated and that took up a couple hours of my day. I also made plans to hang out with my friends one last time before my life is consumed by the cycle. After this weekend, it's going to be Tae Kwon Do all day and all night for me.

Today was an interesting day. I woke up and completed my daily goals and took a nice shower. For lunch, I used some leftover ground turkey and mixed it into some macaroni and cheese that i had made. I wasn't quite sure how it would taste but I enjoyed it so much that I ate it for dinner too! I also talked on the phone with my friend for hours because my mom and sister were busy all day. Now it's time to clean the kitchen and go to bed.

Today seemed to drag on forever. I was waiting for the mailman to come all day with my packages and he didn't show up until about 3. It seemed like I was either laying around or working out all day. I also cooked some really tasty turkey tacos for dinner. Everyone said they were amazing. I had to debate on whether or not I could make that a random act of kindness.

Today was my first day of my first black belt cycle. I woke up, had some blueberries and peanut butter crackers, and study my stufy guides. Afterwards, i did 200 push ups and sit ups over 3 and a half hours. My arms were pretty sore but I still managed to walk 2.5 miles to get chipotle with my friends. I just ate an apple as a late night snack and now i'm off to bed. my first cycle will be quite interesting.