Sometimes a person just needs a little encouragement. This idea can be used in many different circumstances, and mine was put into play in regard to fitness. Summer school is wrapping up, so my break is just beginning. To welcome some days off and to rejuvenate my mind and body, I started attending Fit Body Boot Camp, enrolling in a 6-week Slimdown Challenge. The class is a 30-minute, fat-blasting workout that mixes cardio and strength training with a meal plan and encouragement. It is this place of encouragement where I want to focus. At my boot camp class, I set goals and monitor those goals every day either by tracking my food or my weight or my calories. I know where I am, and I know where I want to go. I enjoy boot camp because I signed up with my friend, so we get to spend time together chatting and supporting each other. I like my teacher. She is funny and upbeat and welcoming. However, the class is not without its own sets of adversity. At times, I cannot perfo
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Main street, Richey, Montana. Rural education offers its own unique set of triumphs and challenges. Small, isolated communities are built upon strong, traditional family values. The school is often the center of these communities, playing host to Saturday night dates, choir concerts, and basketball games. I grew up in one of these rural places, graduating with 16 other students. The high school had less than 50 kids, grades 9-12. Today, more than 20 years later, the high school is at least half that size. While many assumptions could be made about rural schools, the students who attend them, and the teachers who teach there, one assumption that should be avoided is the belief that diversity is unnecessary. Specifically, it is important to offer students options and present them with stories and characters who are different from themselves. It is more important to present these stories to young people in rural schools because they do not see the events, individuals