Candidate Journals

Today was alright, nothing special. Went to school, came home, finished up requirements and homework, and ate some dinner. I'm definitely happy that it is a 4 day school week but I've just been feeling tired and bleh lately. Hopefully I'll be in a better mood tomorrow. Have a great rest of the week! ~ Peyton

Happy Martin Luther King Day! "Darkness cannot drive out darkness: Only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: Only love can do that." - Martin Luther King Jr. I love that quote, be positive. Break the cycle of hate and transform with love. I punched out all my requirements this morning. 6 hour drive home, felt nice to just do nothing. I hope everyone had a great weekend and has a great start to their week tomorrow! Cycle can get tough, but think about where you started and how much you have improved from day 1. Indiana vs Miami game tonight, good luck to both teams! Excited to see a good game! ~ Peyton

Hope everyone's having a great weekend! I'm up in VA spending time with my family. And I have to say, it is a lot colder up here than it is in NC. Unpopular opinion, but I don't like snow. Its just so cold and makes everything so much harder and more complicated. It started snowing today, not too much stuck to the ground but constant flurries. I went out and ran 2.3 miles and the snow was blowing into my face the entire time. Definitely not comfortable, but proud of myself that I got it done. Finished up some more requirements and then we went out to a Mexican restaurant (I love Mexican food)! Relaxing with some football the rest of the night! ~ Peyton

I'm up in VA visiting with my grandparents this weekend! We got in at 1a.m. last night so I'm a pretty tired. I got some requirements done this morning. Then I played Uno with my grandma. That's our thing, we play about 15 games of Uno every day and keep track of who wins. I have records from when I was five years old of our Uno games! I worked on some more requirements, ate lunch and then went for a run. In their neighborhood, they have this one huge hill and when I have been on cycle before I have always had to walk up that hill, but not today! Today was the first time I ran all the way up the hill. I had really great stamina due to the cold weather! I finished up my last requirements and ate dinner. Relaxing the rest of the night! Keep working hard...

I hope everyone had a great week! Today was pretty good, school was alright. I got on the bus and went to work. The kids had a lot of energy today so that was fun. Took BBC and got to work on some stick forms with Master Natasya and the 3rd dans. I'm now in the car on my way to my grandparents house in VA. It'll definitely be a late night! Make sure to rest your body this weekend, because you deserve it but also try to work ahead on somethings. Take advantage of your time that you do have! Keep up the good work! ~ Peyton

Heyy! I hope everyone is having a great week so far! Keep practicing and doing your requirements, I know its hard but just think about the long weekend and resting up then! Today was pretty good, I went to school, came home and ran 2 miles. Then I finished up the rest of my requirements and some homework. I'm going to relax the rest of the evening. I am so looking forward to relaxing even more this weekend! ~ Peyton

Today I went to school, I got to do a book tasting in English. We read about the author and their book and then wrote our order for the books we would want to read first (1 through 6). I had never done that before, so that was kind of cool. I got home, ran 2 miles and got to work on the rest of my requirements. Lot of stuff done for the week, so definitely happy with that! I'm finishing up some homework now and relaxing the rest of the night! Have a great Wednesday tomorrow! ~ Peyton

Heyy, hope everyone had a great start to the week! I definitely did not want to get up this morning, but I never want to get up in morning lol. I went to school, nothing much there. Went to work and was teaching kids today when I was surprised by how bad their stances were. In multiple classes, I had to review what a front stance, back stance, and walking stance looked like. So I guess this is a reminder to make sure you check your stances in poomsaes and self-defenses! Sometimes, you grow without realizing it and before you know it your front stance is still 2 feet long from when you were 8 years old! Anyways, I got home and finished up some requirements. Have a great day tomorrow! ~ Peyton

Heyy everyone! Read a lot of journals saying you all are pretty sore, which is very understandable (I am too)! Something to help with that is stretching and rolling out your muscles, it may hurt in the moment but it should feel better afterwards and help you be sore for a shorter amount of time. My day consisted of sleeping in (which felt really nice), poomsae class, requirements, and then a birthday party that I just got back from. I'm tired but I'm not tired, I don't know if that makes sense but yeah. I'm definitely going to bed early tonight. Have a great start to your week tomorrow! ~ Peyton

It was so nice to put a face/voice to everyone's name today! I was so proud of all of you who came out and completed the pre-test before the sun was even up! Although some need a little more practice than others, I saw really great effort today and was very proud of all of you. BBC is really hard and everyone has different ways of pushing through. You have to find your way, what works best for you may not work best for someone elese and that's ok. Anyways, my run went really well. I achieved my goal of being sub 40 for 4 miles!! Once I got back to Lake Norman TKD, I still had to work but then I came home and watched some TV while I did the rest of my requirements. I worked ahead on some stuff today and I'm hoping I won't be too sore tomorrow!...

Heyy everyone, hope everyone had a wonderful week! My day consisted of school, work, mentee session, BBC, mentor session, dinner, then requirements. Thankfully I didn't have any homework due tonight. A little nervous to run 4 miles tomorrow but it is just pre-testing so at least I don't have to beat a specific time! For tomorrow: bring water, jump rope, wear running clothes, bring uniform/belt, book and pen. Personally I would also bring a sweat towel and an extra change of clothes if you are riding the bus back, as well as some deodarant, and hair ties! I'm so excited to see everyone bright (well maybe dark) and early tomorrow morning! Get some rest! ~ Peyton

Cognratulations to everyone who performed well on tests and who have been working super hard, getting up early, and staying on top of all your requirements, homework, work, and other daily duties! Time management is super hard but that is one of the best things you learn from being on this BBC, taking advantage of every minute you have! My day consisted of school, homework, requirements, and sparring class. Overall, not too bad. I hope everyone recovers from any sicknesses and has a great Friday tomorrow!! ~ Peyton

Half way through the week, woohoo!! I had MAPs testing today which was super boring and used up all of my brain cells. I came home and had a good run today. I finished up my other requirements and have the rest of the night to myself! I just wanted to remind everyone that the way your practicing is important! Even when no one's watching make sure you have correct stances, good blocks, strong punches, ect. How you practice is how you will most likely perform so make sure you think about that next time you are just "running through" your poomsaes or self-defenses. Sparring tomorrow, BBC Friday, pre-test Saturday! Have a great rest of your week! ~ Peyton

School was school, nothing super interesting. I had an orthodontist appointment and am hopefully getting my braces off in about 2 months!! I came home and went for a run but for some reason it was just really tough today. However, I did get in 2 miles so I'm happy with that. I get done with all my other requirements too and am going to hopefully relax the rest of tonight! I hope everyone is doing well with school basketball tryouts! Also make sure to make your color belt poomsaes and self-defeneses solid before Saturday! Definitely work with your mentor if you have any questions or need to run something by them! Keep pushing through all of your requirements! ~ Peyton

I'm not a big fan of Mondays and today was a Monday which means back to school and a regular routine. I definitely had a hard time getting up this morning, especially since I am still sore! :( Went to school and then work. I got some good work in with the kiddos today at TKD and worked on some self-defense and poomsae with Ms. Jen! I got home around 7:45p.m. and started working on my BBC requirements and just finished up some homeowork. Hopefully I will be less sore tomorrow! Also Happy Birthday Jordan!! Have a great day tomorrow everyone! ~ Peyton

I woke up today and my entire body was super sore! I went to poomsae class and got to hold baby Olive (Master Natasya & Master Marcus's new baby)!! I came home and punched out my requirements. It was actually a really nice day for running, the weather wasn't too cold but the sun was out and made it nice! I'm very happy that I could push  through all of my soreness and still be productive today! I'm definitely not excited about school starting again, but hopefully the teachers will take it easy! I hope everyone has a wonderful rest of the weekend and a great start to next week!! Keep up the great work! ~ Peyton

Hi everyone, my name is Peyton! I attend Lake Norman KT and have been since I was 4 years old and I am now 14! I love TKD, the people there are my 2nd family! I am on my audit cycle for my 4th degree black belt. I am so excited to start this new cycle in 2026! I love writing these journals on the website and love reading others, usually I write a lot! If I had any advice to give for newbies who haven't done this before, just don't fall behind. Work ahead as much as you can on the weekends, especially if you work or go to school Mon-Fri. Get as much as you can done, when you can and definitely keep up with your essays! Don't wait until the last minute to do everything! Overall, my day was good! BBC was a lot of fun with bocho...