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!

9/10/2025

I had so much fun last night! I went to the fair with my friends and I bought one of my friends a necklace and I think it looks really good on her. I also bought some lemonade but I think there was something in there because I was walking and then suddenly I fell asleep for two seconds and then woke back up and had to look at around to see where I was. After that weird event I went in the car and had fun.

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9/11/25

My day was good. As usual  i woke up did my Exercises and got dressed for school. After school I went to the Dojang for sparring class as usual that is always a good workout. After that I went home took a shower. And then me and my family watched this spin off series of the office called the paper. It was actually pretty good so far cause most spin-offs Are not that good. And that was my day     

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)(?!!?@%=09/11/25+shift

Today I had to study for a test. then I came to king tiger and did sparring. and then came home and ate dinner.

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9/11

Today my school had the remembrance of 9/11 after school I went to tkd then I went to get dinner.

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9/11

today I didn't have much homework just studying for a math quiz, so I was able to get a lot of requirements done. Thats all g'night 

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9/11/2025

Today is weird. Today we have a day many regaurd with reverence. That reverence is not shared with the younger generation for the reason of overexposure to it. Th exposure downplays it & due to the time gap with the exposure it's become less taboo. I learned about this in ap gov as a part of political socialization & life events.

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September 11

Today I woke up and did school and requirements. And  I hurt my ankle so I rested it that’s all! Night!

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Day #49 9/11

Today I had a huge test in my first period, but the rest of my day was pretty good. I got home and did some homework, went on a run, and had to get ready for sparring. Sparring was pretty good. I sparred with some people that I haven't in a while, so that was good, and got to practice some combinations. 

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Thursday

QUIZ, QUIZ, QUIZ! Back to back quizzes in math, science, reading, and a vocab quiz in Social Studies. I'm having to practice the National Anthem for band to play at a football game next week. Have a good day.

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Wednesday

Today was a half day and there was a pep rally and I went to the fair which was fun and I got tacos there. 

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Journal Entry #48 9/11/25

Today is Thursday. Today was 9-11. And we had to do a minute of silence for the people that died. And they sang the national anthem. But our class wasn’t able to go outside for the flag thing. I don’t really know why. But in weight lifting I helped move boxes to the lower school. Today was pretty good. We didn't do work in the last period. So we just studied for 45 minutes.

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Entry 28

September 10 - Entry # 28 Went to school. Picked up dinner on the way home from school and ate once we made it home. Today was an "off" day so we just got to hang out at home and relaxed for a bit. Got some requirements done. I wanted to check my time capsule, since its rained a lot.. the rain got inside it and messed up my expensive mewtwo card. So, that made me pretty upset. 

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A Blog Title

I wanted to go to Belmont for sparring tonight but didn’t make it. It’s all good though. I worked on some PMAA with Master Hartle, which I’ve been neglecting because of the cycle I’m loiling forward to the PMAA seminar this Saturday. I hope we get a good turnout of cycle people. 

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9/10

today was a half day at school which was cool. i went out with some friends and later did some requirements in the spare time. but yeah that was kinda it

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9/9

I’m still not really feeling well but I couldn’t miss more school so I went. I got early dismissal anyways because I had a doctor’s appointment. They said I just have acid reflux. I rested and tried to eat a little before doing my requirements. My parents keep saying I shouldn’t do so much because of how nauseous and in pain I’ve been feeling but it come and goes and I don’t have enough time to make up missing days. I went on a small run and then had sparring and black belt class. Wednesdays are usually pretty tiring. I did okay in sparring today not that proud of myself. I hate how I have bad days and good days because testing is coming close and I can’t just hope it’s a good day that day. I have no idea how I’ll do the 2 v 1 too. I felt really...

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9/10

today me and my friends went on a double date, and it was a resounding success. my friend parker and my girlfriend's friend hannah-grace seemed to click really well together. hopefully they'll get together because they kinda seem to feed off of eachothers personality.

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#60.

Today I hurt my wrist at school.  I think it’s ok but yeah.

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9/10/25

Big day today, got a good amount of credits. Sparing was fun today, we worked on some more combos and high impact sparing today.

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9/10/25

Today I woke up and went to school and at school we mostly just did whatever we did yesterday in math and english and then I had my college class and it was pretty easy we just did this activity thing and then after that in history we got into groups and we had to make a skit based on different things that happened during Andrew Jacksons presidency and that was fun and then after that we did this worksheet and then we played quizlet and whoever won got candy and i won 2 times but someone won like 6 times which was crazy. and then after that I came home and did requirements and went to taekwondo and came back and shwoered and ate dinner and did hoemwork. 

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9/10/25

Today was another busy day. I had school and soccer practice like usual. Then I had a pasta party to load up for a game that I have tomorrow. After that, I went to the North Charlotte school and did black belt class. Once I got home, I did my homework and now heading to sleep.

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9/10/25

Today was a normal day. First I woke up and went to school. Then since it was a half day I came back ate a snack and went shopping with my dad. After that I came back and did my homework and went to taekwondo took a class and got a mentor session in with Master Knight. Finally I came back watched tv and ate dinner.  

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9/10 Curtis Journal

I started off the day at the DMV so I didn’t have high hopes for the rest of the day. However, it turned out all right. Work had an international food competition, and I got to eat an assortment of foods from all over people brought in. I voted for some Arepas, which were delicious. Abigail and I went to North Charlotte for sparring and black belt, Master Opie put us through the wringer and I am exhausted! See everyone tomorrow!

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Sep 10 day #38

Today was amazing. I woke up got ready for school. At school my Chromebook has not been working, but this morning it started to work! YAY! The principal thankfully got the tech guy to fix it. But Im kind of annoyed because I have a lot of work to catch up on now. But I can do it. Anyway I went to taekwondo after school and went to a shin kickers class and a sparring class. I also got my requirements done in the free time! Overall today was great. 👍🏻 

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9/10

Today was a pretty chill day, I went to north-Charolotte for sparring, then came home and did my requirements and homework.

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Day #48 9/10

Today I had two different meetings that I had to go to for some clubs at school. I got home and went on a run and decided to walk my dogs after. I did my homework and did my requirements. I watched a show and that was it. 

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9/10/2025

I got work on hapkido 4 today & I am excited. I have never had great experience flipping people, but my mentor & this form helped me learn the very valuable skill. I hope to use this in most of my self-defense & just whatever else I need. That's all for today.

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9/10

Hey guys today I went to school and we got free hairtyes. Later I got to my dads house and we ate and I got ready for taekwondo and we left, at taekwondo I got a few singures. I just got home and did my schoolwork. But bye yall.

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Journal Entry #47 9/10/25

Today is Wednesday. Today was a chill day. In weight lifting we had a free day. In math our teacher is out. So today was a bit of a free day. And tomorrow we can wear red, white, or blue shirt for 9-11. I’m sure I have a lot of shirts in those colors. And tomorrow is the last day of our school week.

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Mid week

Today is Wednesday, I had to dig really deep today to push through. We are rounding now and my body is telling me that I need some rest. I was able to go to sparring class tonight at the dojang. I plan on Friday going to Harrisburg to do the black belt and sparring class. I am really trying to finish these requirements, so that I can focus on just refining my stuff for black belt testing.

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9/10/25

My day was good as usual I woke up did my Exercises and got dressed for school. After school I did my two mile  run  planks and Sit-ups. I also staring writing my essay (the history of the kwan's) I enjoyed writing about  the first school Which  is named Chung do kwan which  translates to Gym of the blue wave. I cant wait to write another page about the second school. Have a good night guys 

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9/10 #20

Today I went to school on time I had a very good day I almost finished my bench in ce then I got to work on my science project and I’m almost done with half and in math we got to have two 8th grade teachers come in then we went to an 8th grade classroom.

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I need to learn hapkido 5

Why did no one at our tdk school not know hapkido 5 until 5 days ago, I dont want to go to testing and look dumb because I didnt know it but whatever. I had to take so many stinkin quizzes today in school. I have church later today. See yall at testing. 

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Entry 28

I am very nervous. Testing is in 2 or 3 weeks!!!!! But, I think I can do all the things I’m supposed to do in time. 

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9/10

I've not been doing well lately on submitting journals, I'm still on track to hit my requirement before testing, but I need to do better. I've been practicing a lot and getting more confident.  Hapkido is still my weakest point.  It's so difficult to practice alone.  As I go through the rest of the requirements it seems I fall apart on something different every day.  Sunday - Bo Dan Specials, I completely blanked.  Monday - Sipjin, there's no way I did it right.  Tuesday - Staff form 3.  Today - Green Belt kick defense.   I'll keep working on them, but man it's frustrating.  Hopefully I can put it all together on testing day.  

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September 10

Yesterday I had a day off school, so I was able to catch up on some requirements and work on my essays. I went to the Belmont black belt class. I enjoyed it. Tonight I am looking forward to going to the Harrisburg black belt class, and having sushi afterwards.

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Wednesday

It's been a busy week. Yesterday we went to the Belmont black belt class. It was great. Today I'm going to make time to work on essays and my test, hopefully, and then go to Harrisburg for another black belt class.

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Tuesday

Today i went to school which was boring and after i went to trail life and then ran and ate dinner. It is a half day tomorrow for some reason. Anyways Goodnight.

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mondays journal

Today i woke up and went to school which was boring and after school i went to class and then ran. Then i went home to eat dinner. Goodnight.

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Weird schedule

This week starts the weirdest schedule for me as things wind down on the cycle. For the next few weeks I will be all over the place at different schools to get my last few requirements completed. I am excited, exhausted at this point. 

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9/9

tomorrow is a half day at school so im deciding to go pick up trash at the park for the community service project, its one of my last or the last one i have to do so yeah. 

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9/9/25

Today I just went to school and we learned about logorithms in math and also i had to do this presentation in this class called seminar and i think i did pretty okay but i feel like i was talking too fast. I didnt feel too nervous but i kept tripping up on my words anyway. After that I went to lunch and then we worked on our essay in english and then our teacher took us outside at the end of class, but he meant to take us outside halfway through but he forgot i guess. anyways after that in history we just worked on a project. Then i came home and i went for a run and did my requirements. After that I worked on the history project with my partner and then I had dinner and then did a violin lesson. After that I just finished up my...

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9/9/25

Today was a pretty long day. I had school and I had a soccer game in concord. It was a tough battle but eventually we came out on top with a 5-0 win. I got home around 8 ish and I took a shower and got my homework done. It is late so... goodnight!

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9/9

today i had a really long day and im super tired. work flew by because jakhye now works with me on tuesdays. i had alot of english homeowrk. me and parker have a double date tomorrow so wish him luck (me and my girlfriend are playing matchmaker for him).

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9/9/2025

Today I had school and I we had a lot of homework which I was really upset about. I finally got all of it done after 3 hours. After home work me and my dad wrestled and now I'm really beat so I'm going to bed.

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9/9

No school today so I hung out with some friends and got a run in at 4am (I'm gonna stick with after 5 from now on). Got requirements in and a mentee session before I went to sleep.

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9/9

I’ve been sick these past couple of days. I didn’t go to school on Monday because I threw up 7 times throughout the night before. Not fun…But I’m feeling kind of better. I had a teacher workday today so no school fortunately. I haven’t gone on my run the past 2 days but did everything else. I didn’t want to push myself too much. I mostly chilled today. I didn’t want to procrastinate on my essays but here I am. I still haven’t finished the book but am almost halfway. I started my diet 2 weeks ago too. Working on my role model and my hero essays for now. Also have been studying for the written test. Had a pretty normal class today. I’m still having trouble fully digesting food but not that big of a deal. Only 4 more weeks left!!

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9/9

Simple day, but chill day. It was probably the nicest looking day I've seen this year. Not too hot nor to cold to say the least. I wanted to go to the park but that got shutdown by my parents easily about that idea. I got my requirements done fairly fast, and helped out in a class too. After class I: did some homework, took a shower, and ate some McDonalds for dinner (it was the only place open).

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#59.

Today I just did a lot of black belt requirements and homework. 

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9/9 Curtis Journal

It was a quiet day today. Got up for the morning workout, got my requirements in and that’s about it. Looking forward to hitting up north Charlotte again tomorrow for black belt and sparring, 

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Entry 27

September 9 - Entry # 27 Another day on repeat. Woke up, went to school, went home, requirements, class, home for dinner and to get ready for bed. Tomorrow is an "off" day so thats nice. Still need to work on red belt self defense. 

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9/9

A pretty good day on my run I met a dog named Cooper. Also I’m getting a lot better at one of the self-defense as I was struggling on other than that not much else happened today.

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Sep 9 day #37

Today was really chill. I woke up went to school. After school I went home and got ready for taekwondo. I just went to a black belt class tho, but I got a mentor session in. After class my mom and I got McDonald’s. Then I went home and I am about to go to bed.

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9/9/25

Today was a normal day. First I woke up and went to school. Then I came back ate a snack and did my homework. After that I did my dance practice and had a mentee session. Finally I finished my essay for my new skill and then I watched tv and ate dinner.

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9/9/2025

Today was a good day. Got up and and went to breakfast with my mom at a new restaurant called Uptown Yolk. It was amazing. After that we went to get my glasses fixed but they had to order new ones. When I got home I relaxed and played some games. I finished my requirements after that. I spent a lot of time on first dan self defense now that the video is posted...thank you Harrisburg. I feel better with it now. I probably will go back to school tomorrow. Today was a teacher workday and Monday I stayed home because I was sick. I am ready to get back to tkd classes tomorrow because I couldn't go last week. Have a good night everyone.

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Day #47 9/9

Today I didn't really do anything in school, but during study hall, I got to finish some homework. When I got home, I went on a run and got ready to go to taekwondo. Class was pretty good good we did stick form and self-defense, and it helped me a lot. When I got home I did the rest of my requirements. 

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9/9 #19

Today I woke up very late for me which was at 7:22 and then i went super sayian and in 6 minutes I finished everything so my day went on and I had a great day

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9/9

Today was another normal day at school, I went home for a bit then I went to tkd after that I went home and did my requirements.

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Sept 9

Today we had a great black belt class at Master Shin's and we had a good day at home with school and got the sail shade up on the back patio, which I'm really excited about and we're looking forward to our second Wednesday of Feast tomorrow

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9.9.25

My day was good. I woke up did my  Exercises and then I got dressed for school. After school (as usual i went to the dojang after school to help out and then I took the Tuesday Black belt class. Now I am exhausted and just chilling. It has been a long day 

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Journal Entry #46 9/9/25

Today is Tuesday. And today in weight lifting class we maxed out on our squats. I got 245 pounds. And before I squatted 175ibs. So that's a 70 pound growth. But the rest of the day was boring. And tomorrow will be Wednesday. And on Wednesday we do awful calisthenics. 

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September 9

Today I woke up and did school and essays that’s all night!

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9/9

So today I made a sound of my clarinet. I then I went to taekwondo and I helped out with classes . Then I went home and ate . Bye

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Tuesday

Hello today I woke up and went to school we did a little experiment then I went to king tiger after school then I did a help out with class then I  did my requirements I'm getting good at pull ups then I went home well that was my day byyy.

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neglected life

I missed the 6pm class but can still make it to the 6:45 class if I leave in a few minutes.  Trouble is, there are so many unread emails, unpaid bills, maintenance tasks etc piling up.  I may just stay home to get caught up a bit and work on essays. Maybe even go to bed at a decent hour.  

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9/9/2025

Today I get to go driving with my dad. That's fun. I like the fact that cars are machines & not living organisms as sugested by the movie cars. Cars is beloved for it's message & characters with everything summating to a climax where the hero learns humility & is rewarded for it.

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Entry 27

Today I will be helping out with the lower belt class and hopefully do a mentee and mentor session. Me, my dad and my brother went one a bike ride and the way coming back home was mostly uphill. I am surprised that my legs are feeling sore!

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Feast

Today we had Monday feast and it was okay. The art class was cool. We did scribble art and learned about optical illusions and I'm not nearly as exhausted I usually would be

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Sept 9

Today was our first day of Monday co-op and it went really well and it wasn't nearly as exhausted as Wednesdays are and I'm looking forward to doing that for the rest of the year

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less than 4 weeks??

Classes, requirements, aches and pains, tiredness and dread at not having enough time to fix everything I want to fix. 

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Entry 26

September 8 - Entry # 26 Woke up, ate breakfast and went to school. We played Blooket and I got 1st place because I got the most questions right. So that was pretty cool. When I got home, I did some requirements then went to class. After class, I came home and finished requirements then we had Subway for dinner. Now im going to bed.

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9/8

today was a really long, boring day. had tons of school and kinda felt like i was running all over the place. did a mentor session with master foster. i've finally realized how much i hate the cycle and how ready i am for it to end. it doesnt even feel rewarding anymore. who knows, maybe my opinion will change.

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9/8

today nothing really happened. i did some requirements and had a pretty long mentor session. i will also finish all my class assistance credits tomorrow.

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9/8

light day of more studying today. Helped out with the 8-12yr class and then took advanced class after. We worked on basic kicks and some development of hook kicks.

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#58

Today I started off feeling sick and got better after lunch.  Just watching football now so yeah.

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Smash Burgers

Tonight, we had double homemade cheese smashburgers on the blacktop grill, they were delicious. Also, we made homemade fries for them too. It was very delicious, and I would want it every day until the end of the year😋😋😋.

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Journal #50

Today after school we had Stix class and after class I got my hair cut and blue highlights. Tomorrow is picture day so had to get it redone. After that, I finished my homework and requirements. 

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9/8/25

Today was mostly a normal day. I had school and soccer practice. Once soccer practice was done, my dad and I headed to family class at Lake Norman where I helped out. Then after I got home, I did my homework and watched some of Monday Night Football. 

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so much work

I have so much homework, but all of the assignments I have are long term assignments so i dont feel like doing them right now, because they are due in a couple of weeks. Still I'm trying to get as much done as possible now because im only going to get more work and its gonna start piling up. Anyways at school i just had my regular classes. After school i did my requirements and went to taekwondo and after that I came home and showered and ate dinner and did homework.

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9/8

Today I had a ton of homework, but I was able to get t done and finish my exercises before bed.

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9/7/2025

Today I had my concert and had to sing in front a lot of people. Master Foster also showed up. I turned out to be the best singer there which I was proud of.

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9/8 Curtis Journal

Monday- lots of mind numbing tasks today but I did manage to work on my essays. Morning workout was good and not too hard. These 4 minutes of each exercise don’t seem like a lot less but I feel better!

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9/8

Today was a good day because after school, I got to go to Boy Scouts for a ceremony where we got all our new ranks and merit badges. Other than that I just did my requirements.

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Day #46 9/8

Today was pretty boring. I went to school, but we really didn't do anything. When I got home, I worked on some homework and ran down to my neighbor's house, where I am dog-sitting. After that, I came home and got changed for taekwondo. I got to help with all the classes today, which was nice, so I got some credits from that. After I came home and ate dinner, and am about to go to sleep. 

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9/8/25

Today was a normal day. First i woke up and went to school. Then I came back and ate a snack and did my homework. After that I went to taekwondo took a class and got a mentee session in. Finally  came back watched tv and ate dinner.

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9/8

Today was a normal day at school. After school I went to soccer practice then I went home and showered then did the rest of my requirements after that then I ate dinner.

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9/8/2025

My day was good woke up did my Exercises and got dressed for school. There was two quizzes in Chemistry today. And after school I went to the Dojang early to help out and I got home around 7:15. My friend she told me to watch to one one piece its actually  better than I thought it was gonna be. But yeah that is my day  now I am just relaxing. Have  a good night guys 

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Today

               So today at school I didn’t make a sound off of my clarinet. At king tiger I finished some of my homework. I helped out with some classes . That’s it bye bye 

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Monday

Hello today I woke up and went to school we did a since project then I went to king tiger.Then I did a mente session then I helped out and did leadership and then I went home and ate diner byyyy.

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Journal Entry #45 9/8/25

Saturday we brought lunch for my grandpa’s birthday and spent time with him. Then, me and my uncle, and my little cousin ate at a bigger spot. It was so good. And they made the food pretty fast. And I liked the sauce that they put on it. I’m not a big sauce guy. But it was surprisingly good. Then we all played call of duty. Then I came home and it was raining heavy. So I couldn’t run.

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9/8 #44

Today at school I was kinda scared because I am on saftey patrol and it starts tommorow. But later after school I got to my dads house and I did my homework and chores, then I had to leave for taekwondo and I did the red belt class and helped out for class. Then I got to my moms house and I finished my homework, well bye yall.

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9/8 18

today I went to school and had a very good day and this week Mr gibson wants us to make a bench this is going to be very hard and my science project is going to start the experiment soon.  

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Sep 8 day #36

Today was pretty good. I woke up, got ready for school. After school I went to my grandmas house, then my dad picked me up. We went to taekwondo, and I helped with a shin kickers class, and then I did another white-yellow belt class and I did my white belt challenge which went good. Then I went home and had a delicious dinner.

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Entry 26

Today I ran one mile without taking any breaks! I am so exhausted. I will be helping out with the lower belt class and will do a mentee and mentor session. My number one word of the day: TIRED. 

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Movie Night

Tonight was the first of many movie nights with some people at the Chinese House. I watched Marry My Dead Body, a Taiwanese comedy, and it was pretty good! I sort of miss the movie nights I had last year with people I used to hang out with, but I am recreating that here! Anyway, I did a zoom mentor session and it went well. Between Friday and yesterday's training sessions, I'm pretty sore, as I found while doing some workouts.

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Entry 25

September 7 - Entry # 25 Today I woke up and ate breakfast, then knocked out some requirements. I played video games with my friends. Hung around the house with my family a lot today too. Just got out of the shower, now im playing with my dogs for a few minutes before bed. Today was our only day "off" from everything so that was nice. Back to school and class tomorrow. 

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9/7

Today was a pretty packed day when I woke up I had to go to hockey practice for the preseason. Then once I got back home from hockey practice, I had A thing for Boy Scouts anyway now I’m about to go to sleep

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Sunday

Today I woke up and went to church then I went to run and I chilled and then I went to my confirmation class at youth and then played kickball at youth group then I went home and ate pizza. Goodnight.

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good day

Today was pretty good. I was mostly finishing up homework due this week because we had a lot of things assigned to do over the weekend. I did my requirements and got a good run in. Lately I havent been able to run that long without coughing because I'm a little sick. Everyones getting sick lately, its just that time of the year i guess. Anyways today i was able to run without coughing too much so that was good. I played volleyball with my friends but it was a little cold. After that I just came home, showered, ate dinner, and finished some more homework. The workload for school is getting higher and im going to have to stop procrastinating things. Anyways thats it, byeee

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9/7

today was mine and parkers show, we sounded really good and had a great turnout. im not excited for school tomorrow but ill live. did requirements and headed to bed.

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9/7

Got in a great study session for the written exam today, as well as a great run. After my run I took a nap and finished up some requirements, watched some tv before bed and got some journaling done also.

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