Month: October 2023

Window or Mirror?

Posted on by 30mayas

 

One of my favorite books is The Last Fallen Realm. The Last Fallen Realm is of the fantasy-fiction genre and is the last book of a three book series. The first two books in this series are called: The Last Fallen Star and The Last Fallen Moon. The author, Gracie Kim, did a fantastic job writing this series by illustrating the characters with great depth, adding humorous inputs, and major plot twists. I chose to read this series because I really enjoyed the previous Rick Riordan Presents series I read and I wanted to read another one.

There are three types of books: a window book, mirror book, or both a window and mirror book in one. A window book is where you feel like you are watching what is happening in the book from a window. In other words, you feel like that story doesn’t relate to your life. A mirror book is where you feel like the story very much relates to yourself and your life. It is as if you’re looking at a mirror. And of course, there can be both a window and mirror experience in one book. However, this may vary between people. For example, you might think a certain book is a window book for you. On the other hand, I might think the very same book is a mirror book for me.

Personally, I like to choose an equal amount of window and mirror books because I like to read about stories I never knew about but I also like to relate to stories because it makes me feel like I’m not alone in doing something.

The Last Fallen Realm, for me, is a window book. This is a window book because the book is set in fictional worlds with mythical creatures based on Korean culture and beliefs. I, for one, am an American of Indian origin so I know nothing about Korean culture and mythology. If I were to make this book more of a mirror book to me, I would make the main character of Indian origin and base the book on Hindu mythology. The thing I love most about this book is that I get to learn more about Korean mythology. For example, Dokkaebi (DOE-geh-bee) or “Korean goblins”, are nature deities or spirits possessing special abilities that are used to engage with humans. Sometimes playing tricks on humans and sometimes helping them. 

If you are interested in The Last Fallen series I’d definitely recommend it to you if you like the fantasy-fiction genre or are willing to read an adventurous book with a Korean twist. 

 

My Journey Through Volleyball So Far

Posted on by 30mayas

Photo from unsplash

You may have heard about a sport called volleyball. If you haven’t, volleyball is a sport consisting of multiple arm and hand contacts to get a ball to not touch the ground and get it over the net. Unlike many other sports, if you mess up you still get high fives because it is all about encouraging your teammates and staying in the right mindset. 

This sport first caught my attention after I had made it onto a competitive soccer team in June. My mom had asked if I was interested in volleyball. She said that since I had played goalie in soccer for a while that I may really like volleyball because there are a lot of body sacrifices to save the ball. At the time, I was not enjoying soccer so I pondered on the idea for quite some time. After about a month of thinking, I quit soccer, nervous (but excited) to try something new. 

My journey soon started at my first volleyball lesson sometime in July at NC Volleyball Academy and needless to say, I loved it. Soon after, my mom enrolled me in a volleyball camp where I learned various skills such as how to pass, set, bump set, spike, and serve overhand and underhand. That summer, I went to a total of four volleyball camps, two of which were eight hours a day for three days. 

Over the course of August and September, I had multiple group sessions with Coach Daphne and some other girls to work on all the skills I had learned in July. In the three months I had to practice volleyball, I had improved immensely. I finally started to get the ball over the net when I served, I had better sets, I finally started to hit a topspin when I spiked, and I got really good at diving for the ball. 

As my volleyball tryouts were “just around the corner”, I practiced a lot with my dad. I practiced mostly on my dives because Coach Daphne said I’d be good at defense. I spent many hours diving on my living room carpet just to get my technique right. You might be thinking “doesn’t that hurt?” Well here’s my answer, it hurts a lot, but only in the beginning. Sometimes, during my serving I got so frustrated that I would flop on the grass crying. 

Soon the day of my volleyball tryouts had arrived and recovering from a month long cold, I wasn’t feeling too great. We did various drills focusing on different skills. My favorite drill was when we had to dive for the ball and get back up and be ready for the next ball. We’d go until we messed up. It was very tough and tiring. In the end, I felt like I did horrible (even though I hadn’t).  Two hours after the tryouts, we got a call that I had made the crystal team which is the second best team. You may have guessed that I was extremely excited. Soon I am going to have practices in November and I’m very excited. 

Even though it’s only been 4 months, I have learned so much and learned so many valuable lessons along the way. Even if I quit volleyball for some reason, I will never forget this memorable experience even though it’s only the beginning.