Summer Job

This summer, my uncle and cousin introduced me to my first official job at LCR (Liquid Crystal Resources). When I was younger, my uncle would always bring me home fun color changing stickers, mood rings, computer mouse pads, and other novelties. These came from his work at LCR, and learning about how they were made and how a business functions was really interesting.
The liquid crystals that the company uses are chemical compounds and mixtures that change colors. The company uses many thermo chromic liquid crystals, which change color with changes in temperature. The products that use these are a wide variety of thermometers. I was really excited to learn that these temperature gauges can be reversible or irreversible, because they are examples of the reversible and irreversible chemical changes that we learned about this year in chemistry class!
While my job mainly consisted of packaging and labeling the products, I also enjoyed tours of the business: seeing the chemicals mixed in the lab, watching the graphics designer create the labels that I would later be using to package the products, and just getting to see all of the cool products that can be created using the chemicals. (My favorite was the CC sneakers from Puma.)
Hikyle. "Puma Basket CC (Color Change)." YouTube. 10 Aug. 2007. 16 Dec. 2008 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfteadnfpbg&nr=1.

Although most kids don't like having to take on the responsibilities of a summer job, they can be fun and I think that most people will find that they will gain a vast amount of knowledge day to day.

Benefits of Running

I joined the cross-country team this year after deciding to start running this summer. At first, running was very difficult, and I had to go running with friends so that they would motivate me to go, because what I really wanted to do was stay at home and just relax. But, I eventually got into the habit of running, and went on a jog everyday over the summer. When my friend convinced me to join the cross-country team, the workouts were definitely a lot more challenging than those I had been doing over the summer! However, I found that running became a habit for me, and one that I enjoyed and looked forward to participating in. I did some research on the benefits of running and found out that there were a lot more than simply getting in better shape:
Of course, running helps a person lose weight. But, it also improves cardiovascular health, which can reduce a person's risk of heart disease, which is the number one killer in the United States. Running also slows down the aging process by improving bone strength, and can improve coordination. Some of the main benefits of running that I experienced were psychological. Running, like other forms of exercise, releases endorphins that make a person feel good. It also gave me a positive attitude as I saw myself improve over time.
While running may seem like a pain at first, the benefits are endless and very positive. So, go out and start running!