i'm about to jump into an ocean full of sharks

Tennis. A sport that I never once played in school, but have played for fun against my brother in the summer. As for watching it on TV, I will when it is on in the bar I work which is an occasional thing. So, this is the first time I am hearing about the final match in the Australian Open. After a lot of research on the match itself I found out that Novak Djokovic defeated Andy Murray in four sets. This was also Djokovic's third consecutive Australian Open title and fourth overall. According to The Huffington Post in the sports section, this was the second time in three years that Djokovic has beaten his longtime friend in the finals. Because Murray is a long time friend, Djokovic celebrated by: • Raised arms • Small kiss for the trophy • No grand histrionics • Small victory ceremony This was not to say the moment was lost for him, but it has to be hard on two friends competing against one another. Like I stated before I really don't know anything about Tennis as a sport nor the Open itself, but after a good amount of research I have come across that no other player has won the Open in three consecutive years. So, congratulations Djokovic!

Djokovic celebrates after defeating Spain's David Ferrer in their semifinal match. Photo credit: Associated Press NPR goes on to tell the story about Murray and Djokovic's friendship which I think is amazing. They have been friends since their junior playing days and have competed against each other quite a few times. I think it is great when friends are able to play against each other like this because even though it is a competition no harm is done to the friendship. I also did some research on Murray and found out that last year at the U.S. Open he won against Djokovic that ended a 76-year drought for the men at the majors. After reading countless articles on the Australian Open final match I decided to watch a video and really try to get into the match.

If you were to ask me back in 2008 anything about politics I would have shrugged my shoulders and simply stated I registered for the first time this year as a Democrat. Since then I have turned 22, almost completed college in which I have taken a few politics classes and seen Obama through his first four years. Here we are today, in 2013, re electing Obama. Now if you ask me why I re-elected him into another 4 years I will definitely have more to say, but the question is which is a bigger achievement for Obama: His election in 2008 or his re-election in 2012? Take a second and answer that yourself? Obamaachieved a lot his first election in 2008. He got elected right after the economic and military issues of the George Bush era. A lot of people will say he did little to nothing at all during the next four years to pull us out. I on the other hand believe he did because we were able to pull our troops out of Iraq.

Barack Obama and Michelle Obama at his first inauguration in 2009. Photo credit: Associated Press But, after a long 4 years that proved to be difficult, Obama pushed through his campaign and was successfully re-elected. I am going to take the side and say I believe his biggest achievement was his first election in 2008 because of how inspirational it was with him being the first African American President our nation has seen. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TR-sn2vzmFQ His election in 2008 will forever be an important moment in our nation's history. No matter how others felt once he was elected it was still a moment our nation as a whole felt proud. I as an 18-year-old then was more than excited to be apart of his election. Today as a 22-year-old helping re-elect him was still just as important. His inauguration is not something that deserves less attention then his first election in 2008 because it is just as important. He has by-passed four tough years with our nation and was able to motivate the public into letting him lead us for another 4 years. How do you as a public feel Obama will do these next 4 years? The Huffington Post states Obama was the 17th President to win re-election and his second-term goals are ambitious for a nation's who is split when it comes to political views. Even though I believe his first inauguration was the one I will remember the most and how it has impacted me. Some people were more impacted by the second inauguration, but other's hated it as well.

[View the story "Obama's Inauguration" on Storify]

Obama was sworn in on Sunday during a simple ceremony at the White House. He promises to focus on trying to restore the still-shaky economy and combat terrorists overseas while also keep the tradition with an oath to "preserve, protect and defend" based on the Constitution.

This seems to be the question that many are wondering after the Sandy Hook shooting. Should we make schools "gun-free zones" or does that just make the students easy targets? Gunmen who ignore the "gun-free zones" like the Sandy Hook elementary gunmen make more than just parents' worry, but communities throughout the nation as well. When I read all the articles and reports on the recent shooting, I ask myself would it had been different if a teacher had a gun? Could that teacher have stopped the gunmen from shooting our nation's innocent? This recent shooting is definitely not our first and the debate for teachers to have guns in school for protection of themselves and students has been going on since the Columbine massacre. It is definitely a question that has come up before.

Teachers during concealed weapons training in West Valley City, Utah. Photo credit: AP Photo/Rick Bowmer My thoughts are simple. I feel strongly that teachers should be armed. When the massacre happened in Columbine it turned heads and made the public upset, but after the Sandy Hook shooting where 20 innocent children had their lives taken from them I think more heads were turned. Because of that shooting, I feel that teachers in elementary and high schools should be allowed guns if they so feel. I wouldn't say we should make it a law that all teachers across the nation should be armed, but if they so feel they should then they should be allowed. Many people, including myself feel that circumstances like the Sandy Hook shooting could have been stopped if their were laws in place that allowed teachers to be armed. This brings up another question. How can teachers protect themselves along with keeping their children safe with no means of protection? While I might hold the opinion that teachers may be allowed to be armed if they so choose, many of our nation's public does not hold the same opinion because they can't see fighting guns with guns.

[View the story "Opinions on teachers with guns" on Storify]

New Year's resolutions are something a lot of people 'try' to take part of. Every year around this time they will wish to be better at something like.. -I will not eat fried foods starting this year. -I will go to the gym 3 days a week. -I will not swear etc. Most people will try their best to stick to these resolutions that they spend days thinking about. While others will break that resolution in a few weeks, but they just can't live without the thing they gave up. Let's take a trip back to last year's resolutions. From my own experience a lot of people I knew gave up sweets and tried to do it all the way till Easter. What about you? How long did your resolution last? My thoughts on New Year's resolutions are simple. Everyone should have a small resolution if anything. It doesn't have to be a huge commitment like giving up alcohol..but it can be 'one drink a week.'

If you were to ask me a year ago a lowlight of my Thanksgiving, I would simply say the food. Or the football teams. Even the pumpkin pie (because I hate pumpkin pie).

This year is different. This year I would give anything to go back to last year's Thanksgiving. Don't get me wrong, there were some highlights of the holiday this year.

These were the wonderful things about my Thanksgiving break. Things that I am more than thankful for:

Having my brother home for college.

Being with my family. And friends.

Delicious desserts

Laughter.

The newest member of our family; my foreign exchange student. Charlene.

And even work.

Even though I spent every other day of break at work. I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Now onto the lowlight of my Thanksgiving break. The reason I say I would go back to last year's holiday is because we were one short a family member. Even though last year was filled with terrible football teams and pumpkin pie. It was full of laughter and love from cousins, aunts and siblings. This year it was not.

In the beginning of summer, my family unfortunately lost my 17-year-old cousin, Samantha in a car accident the night of her prom. Because of this, Thanksgiving was not the same.

Yes, there was love and a few outbursts of laughter. But, it just wasn't the same.

I didn't do anything wrong.

I don't want to cry anymore.