What makes Noah Calhoun 
special ​ ​ By Matthew J. 
​ here are many positions
T
in football including strikers,
midfielders, defenders and of
T​here are many characters in The course goalkeepers. For
Notebook. Every single one of them has goalkeepers, there are many
unique personalities. Personalities that techniques in catching the ball and
you don't see in your everyday life. it is important to execute them
Everyone one is unique in some way, well.
maybe it's your smile, your charm, or
your way of thinking but this essay is
going to be about Noah Calhoun. Noah, Handling can help avoid
as handsome as the devil himself but has conceding goals for keepers. Deflecting the ball is the most
the heart of an angel. popular technique for preventing a goal. However, deflecting can
cause rebounds which if the ball were to land at the opponent’s
Noah Calhoun has many unique personalities and feet then your team has a very high chance of conceding a goal. So
characteristics. He is also the main character of The Notebook. In if the keeper caught the ball, the keeper would have full
the movie, they portrayed him in three different ages. The possession of the ball instead of
teenager, the young adult, and the elder. Noah was attractive. he his or her opponents. The most
had a mixture of blond and black hair, a recommended way to catch the
light complexion with clear skin, light ball is by
brown eyes, a pointy nose, a long stubble, Handling for goalkeepers 
and a medium build. He looked By Matthew J. 
masculine yet friendly. Noah is a person using the “W” or the contour
who is devoted. He even rebuilt a catch. This technique is useful
two-story house even though it took when the ball is coming at you
him years. One of the most memorable from the waist up. To perform
characteristics that he has is that he is very this technique, simply position
passionate. He even said “When I see your hands into a “W” shape. Your arms should always be
something that I like, I gotta, I love it.” extended but don’t lock your elbows, just make your arms firm.
but the thing he is most passionate about One of the most important things to know is to always put your
is love. What I believe is the most unique characteristic that he hands behind the ball. Another technique for catching the ball is
has is that he is brooding. he has deep feelings and deep thoughts the inverted contour. This technique is used when the ball is
no matter whether coming at you from the waist down. This technique is a little bit
it’s about love, life more difficult to perform but will
or happiness. He definitely be worth learning. To
can be selfless at perform this technique, you must
times. He embrace the ball tightly to avoid
sometimes cares letting it slip out of your arms at the
about others more exact time that the ball reaches your
than himself hands.
especially if it's
someone he loves. Handling is one of the most
Last but not least important statistics of goalkeeping and
even though he is selfless he can also be ignorant. When he has an just by catching a ball can be the difference between winning and
argument with his lover, she often blames it on his ignorance. losing a match.
A movie may have many characters with many
different characteristics, but Noah Calhoun is genuinely a unique
character and he is what makes The Notebook special.

(Some picture found on this page are lifted online)

 How Greece went bankrupt 
By Matthew J. 

Bankruptcy can be a severe problem for everyone
because in today’s society money has become an essential part of
our lives. We all know the causes of bankruptcy, but what causes
a country to go bankrupt? Greece experienced this crisis in 2015.
It’s hard to believe that a developed country like Greece at
one point in time went bankrupt. Amadeo, K. states that Greece's
financial crisis didn't actually start in 2015, but in 2009. Greece
had very generous social benefits such as a pension, health care,
and unemployment just to
name a few. These social
benefits made Greece a country
that people saw as developed
and made the people of Greece
satisfied. However, Greece’s
social benefits were very costly
financially which made their
income 12.9 percent lower than their expenses. As the years go by
Greece slowly decrease their budget deficit but it was not enough
to save them from their debts. Greece simply did not have the
funds to pay off their debts which made Greece fall into this
financial crisis. Luckily the European Union gave Greece a second
chance and gave a loan to Greece. Greece may have survived this
tragedy but it harmed Greece severely. Greek citizens were also
sorely affected. During this crisis, Greece’s unemployment rate
skyrocketed and their
economy dropped greatly.
According to Stylianu,
L.R. Greeks lost their jobs
and homes due to this
crisis. Greece’s social
benefits were
discontinued including
health care which caused roughly 800,000 people without health
care due to poverty. Greece’s suicide rate increased by five
percent and many Greeks, seeing that their country was slowly
falling, immigrated and continued their lives elsewhere.
Greece may have gone through a truly frantic financial
crisis but Greece still stands to see another day. Greece is still
recovering to this day but a mere shadow from its past self. What
would you do if you found out your country that you currently
live in went bankrupt?

My Goalkeeping Accident 
  By Matthew J. 
 
​ ometimes you may think that today
S on doing the might hurt a little. He started pulling on
will just be another ordinary day, but drill until I my pinky. It was one of the most painful
accidents happen unexpectedly. was halfway experiences of my life. The nurse put a
Sometimes accidents may even teach you done, then I cast on it and I was pretty much free to
something. told my coach go home.
that I couldn’t
Every Sunday, I attend football do it anymore A lot of accidents are unfortunate
goalkeeper training. I wake up at six and because my especially if that accident involves an
do my morning routine. Then I drove my pinky hurt. injury or death. With that being said I
motorbike to the football field. By the My coach said am still
time I got just give it thankful
there, it time and told me to go get a water break. for this
was about I thought that it was just bruised because accident.
seven as a goalkeeper these things happen all However,
thirty. I put the time, but this time it hurt more than it does not
on my usual. So I took my glove off and I saw mean that
goalkeeper my pinky bone sticking out a little bit I will try
gloves and strange and it was pretty clearly to
got on the dislocated. So I told my coach and he dislocate
field. In one didn’t know how to correct it. I called my my finger every time I play football. I am
of my Sunday training, my coach and I dad and asked him if he could pick me thankful for this accident because it
did a few drills but with this drill, we up. taught me how to prevent it from
were practicing catching low balls. My happening again.
coach kicked the ball and it hit directly My dad took me to the local hospital. I
on filled out a form and did an X-ray. The
my left pinky because I didn’t position nurse told me to get on a little bed, so I
my hands properly. It hurt but I just kept did. Then the doctor came and said this

(Some picture found on this page are lifted online)

 Why religion isn’t real? 
By Matthew J. 

The debate of the existence of gods have been going on for many millennia, but why hasn’t this topic been
justified yet? Why hasn’t anyone found any concrete evidence to stop this argument once and for all? There are two
main sides to this conflict, the believers and the non-believers. These non-believers are classified as atheists. There are
about 450 million atheists worldwide. Why do so many people turn to atheism? I personally don’t believe in gods and
think that all religions with spiritual beliefs are false because it is more likely that people made it up and there is no
evidence back up its validity.

Back then, people didn’t have much knowledge of science, but they did have a lot of creativity, so people could
come up with as many theories as they want even though they might not be realistic. Religion is something that was
made many millennia ago but how were religions actually created? McGreal(2014) notes that
due to the lack of knowledge of science in the past, people would make a religion out of the
unknown, for example, the Greeks didn’t understand the science behind waves so they made
up a god named Poseidon the god of the sea. In Greek mythology when the waves got violent
resulting in tidal waves or tsunamis, they believed that Poseidon was angry. Thanks to
modern-day technology, scientists are able to prove that this is simply not true. Another
reason why people would make up religions would be to teach morals to not only kids but
adults as well. People would make up stories teaching what you do is what you get, these
stories sometimes include gods punishing the person who didn’t obey him. This was a common way to promote
religions. A good example of this would be the story of Atlas rebelling against Zeus. The story results in Atlas having to
hold the earth on his shoulders for all eternity as a punishment. These stories lead religions to have more followers
because people would fear what would happen to them if they didn’t follow the will of God.

It’s easy to deny the existence of spiritualism because there’s only as much proof as you want there to be
meaning there is none. This is a common reason why many people don't believe in religions. Because there is no
evidence supporting the existence of Gods. Cinman(2015) states that some people
may say that there are tons of evidence proving that Gods are real. However, all of these
pieces of evidence are controversial, there are hundreds of possible reasons why a
particular event happened. As long as there are multiple possibilities other than it
happened because of God, people won't have any evidence that will be compelling to
skeptics. Sure maybe the possibilities are low that a certain event happened in some way,
but just because there’s a low possibility doesn't mean that it happened because of God. I also
believe that just because you want something to happen and you pray for it, it will have
as much of a possibility happening than if you didn’t pray for it. For me, if I want something to happen I would actually
do something to increase the chance of it happening rather than praying for it.

Do I believe religions are real? No, I don’t, but am I trying to stop other people from believing in their religions?
By all means no. I believe that you can believe in whatever you want. These are just compelling reasons why I stand by
my claim. Nobody can definitively say that Gods are or are not real. Are religions real? This question will probably
never have a definitive answer and remain a controversial topic forever.

(All picture found on this page are lifted online)

  
 
My way! 
  By Matthew J. 

My name is Matthew Jedrzycki. My father is Canadian and my mother is Thai. I was raised doing things the Thai
way or according to my mom, “it’s the “right way,” but when I reached the age of 12 I broke out of that behavior.

When I was young, I never gave much thought about how I wanted to act or how I wanted to behave because I
was living life how my mother taught me with no questions asked. I was brought up as a Buddhist by my mother but as
I grew older I realized that I don’t believe in Buddhism or any religion
for that matter. My father is an atheist and that’s where I got my
beliefs from. When I found out about doing things my way instead of
other people’s way I started to question the way I was living my life.
Then I realized that I was more a foreigner than a Thai. I started doing
things in a more Canadian fashion rather than Thai. I began to do things
with reason rather doing what I was told. The way I acted and the
way that I acted changed completely. I was finally living how I
wanted to instead of how the Thai society wanted to. In Thailand, you
aren’t allowed to argue with your elders that include your parents, but
when I finally did it I realized that I'm good at arguing and I could do
things my way. I never did get along well with my Thai friends very well, no matter how many Thai friends I had I
couldn’t connect with them. Then at 15, I went to Canada for a month. I connected with the people there very well and
that confirmed that I got along with Canadians better than Thais.

Here is some advice from someone who has had experience with doing things by someone else's way rather than
your own way. Stand up to them and say that you would rather do it your way than doing it their way. If they don’t
agree to it, you could either complain to your friends for the next few years about it or you could do it anyway because
it’s your life and you control it, but keep in mind that your way isn’t always the right way.