Hello! Welcome to blog post #5. During the last two weeks, Mr. Salisbury became a father, a volleyball has been relocated to a roof, and Devon and I have been practicing with each other.
Progress Report
To begin, Devon and I have not been able to meet up with Mr. Salisbury for quite some time now, with different reasons affecting our scheduling each week. With a new world of parenting ahead for our mentor, any free time for sessions that Mr. Salisbury might have had has now been significantly reduced. This has led to Devon and I having to practice on our own without the guidance of a mentor. Fortunately for us, we have been able to get lots of practice time outside of mentoring sessions through the use of parks and home drills. I have also considered making a change (or rather an addition) regarding my mentor. With Mr. Salisbury having such a tight schedule now, I am looking to reach out to fellow students who are experienced with volleyball for the guidance that Mr. Salisbury is unavailable to provide at the moment. This is not to say that Mr. Salisbury is obsolete from our project though, as Devon and I could always reach out to him for advice. If the circumstances are right, we may even be able to run a few mentoring sessions in the coming months with him.
Without Mr. Salisbury, Devon and I were left to practice with each other, which is exactly what we did. For the last two Wednesdays, Devon and I have been walking to Glen Park to use their nets for practices and mini-matches with each other. These sessions were really helpful as I was able to run drills with a partner instead of by myself. It also gave me an opportunity to put my skills in a match. By making our own small boundaries using the net, Devon and I were able to run our own 1 vs 1 games. We played best out of three games, with each game requiring two sets to win (you won a set by getting to ten points). Sparing the disappointing details (and lots of yelling), my lack of stamina got to the better of me as Devon was able to win the overall game on both Wednesdays. Although I was the ultimate loser, these matches were extremely fun to play as it was the closest experience to a real game I had since the volleyball season in school ended. Despite the abrupt and disappointing changes that Devon and I have been through so far, things are finally looking bright as the weather begins to warm up.
Another quick tidbit: While practicing at school with Devon last week, I lost my new volleyball to the school roof. Luckily for me, I was able to quickly purchase a new one, which is the volleyball I am currently using to practice at home.
Image of my new volleyball, which will never be close to a roof as long as I live.
How to Have a Beautiful Mind
For this blog post, I will be transcribing a conversation between Devon and myself and identifying the “Six Hats” of thinking, which we devised by De Bono. The chat below was when I informed Devon about Mr. Salisbury’s absence as he was busy in a hospital with his wife. Although quite short, the conversation set up the next time the two of us would meet.
*Gyu Min shows Devon the email he received from Mr. Salisbury*
Gyu Min (White hat, Green hat, Blue hat): Here’s the scoop my friend. If you wanted, we could head to Glen Park and use their nets to practice after lunch tomorrow instead? Or we can just resume with Mr. Salisbury next week.
Devon (Red hat, Yellow hat): Yay! Mr. Salisbury is having his baby 😀 Also, that sounds great 🙂
Gyu Min (White hat, Black hat): So I actually have a Student Council buddies program that goes until 12. But we can start heading to the park as soon as that’s done. Think you can bring your volleyball (I still hadn’t purchased one by then)
Devon (Yellow hat): Yep! Also yeah, I’ll just hang out until 12.
That’s it from me this time!