AuthorI´m Logan Allen and I am the creator/owner of Strike Out Against Cancer Archives
December 2018
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Genius Hour: 1212/19/2018 The End is HereThis is our last week of Genius Hour. I have accomplished a lot in the last 12 weeks. I wish I could have done more but I’m glad where I am at. I have raised $85 to a cancer charity of my choice and I have selected to give the money I earned to St. Jude Children’s Hospital. This was more than just a project to me, I learned how hard it is for families to deal with cancer. Cancer is more than just a simple sickness, and it is nothing to joke around with. Cancer tells you how grateful you are for your life and all of your friends and family. Some people don’t understand how much cancer affects a family unto a family member of your’s gets cancer. Nowadays some cancers aren't deadly but there is still no cure. I want to be someone who helps find a cure for cancer. My Next SeasonAs for my baseball career, I’m just about to start up a new season in February. I will be trying out for the Davie County High School baseball team. As of now, we are working out either outside or the weight room. Soon after the high school season ends I will be on a new travel ball team. The team is still being made and we don’t know what the team name will be. I might be trying out for Jr. Legion as well. But I know as of now I will be on 2 teams from now to the beginning of the next school year. Final TotalsFor my current totals, I am off track by about $115. I have raised $85 and that counts for 18 strikeouts. For the number of times I pitched I am okay with the strikeouts I got. I will admit I’m not the best pitcher in the district but I’m also not the worst. This is why I wanted my Genius Hour project to be about pitching. I want to get better and I won’t get better or work harder if I don’t have an end goal to reach. Yes all the money I am giving to St. Judes is my money, but in my mind, it is worth giving, St. Judes is a great place to give money too.
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Genius Hour: 1112/14/2018 Ending is nearOur time is starting to run out. Next week is our final week for genius hour. Am I where I want to be at? No, I am far off from my total goal. Does this effect my entire project? No, I am happy where I am, It wouldn’t be me if I made my first total on the dot. I have a total of $85 to donate to a cancer charity. My original goal was $150. This doesn’t mean I did not work hard to get those strikeouts. Some of them I had to work for. Not everything comes to you as easy as you want, you have to work for the things you want. CancerCancer is widely known in most households in the past few years. Am I glad that the death rate is going down? Yes, it is a great thing to say to everyone who has or hasn’t had cancer in their family. It is still a worldwide problem that kills thousands of people each year. Cancer death rates are still decreasing but it is still the number two cause of death in the United States. Most people think that cancer is untreatable and that everyone dies. There are some types of cancer that are permanent and that will eventually lead to death. Then there are some forms of cancer that are easy to treat and that are rarely harmful to us. Yes, all forms of cancer are not good but there are some forms of cancer that are very treatable if found in time. Children and CancerDuring the time they were studying some forms of cancer became more common, less common, and some became more deadly, or less deadly. “Between 2010 and 2014, American children became more likely to be diagnosed with cancer — but they were less likely to die as a result.” As for children and teens, the rate increased for cancer but the death rate was lower. This is due to that children and teens have a better immune system to fight off the cancer cells. I also feel like that us as teens are more likely to heal due to the treatments of chemo than older adults. ChemotherapyYes, chemo is a thing that I would never like to receive, but I think if I was in the shoes of a person that got cancer I would do anything to help my chances of survival and to keep a normal life. As of now, I feel like the side effects of chemotherapy outweigh the benefits of cancer. I know some people that had to get chemo and it helped them greatly, but there are also people that are immune to chemo and it doesn’t help them at all
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Week# 1012/4/2018 Facts About CancerCancer is not a subject to joke around with. 1 in 4 families have an imidate family member with a form of cancer. This is a scary thought if you think about it. Either your father, mother, sister, brother, or grandparents might get cancer. Yes, some strands are genetic and you might be less likely to get certain strands but there are hundreds of strands that you might not know about. A fact about cancer is that even your dog or other pets might get cancer. Animals in ResearchThis is why we use dogs and other animals in cancer research. Some people think it’s unethical to use animals since there living and I completely agree. What would you do if they were testing medicine on your pet that's not sick? But there again I understand why they do use animals. Scientist tries to use the smallest living organisms and sadly for us, dogs are the smallest organisms for a full-scale animal test. Cancer as a studentWe might not think that much of cancer as students but it can affect us no matter if your healthy and strong or weak and poor. Some forms of cancer affect mostly teens and younger children. There also some forms of cancer that mostly affect adults. One quote I love saying is that “we will never know when our last day on earth will be. So, love with full sincerity, believe with true faith and hope with all of your might. Better to have lived in truth and discovered life, than to have lived half-heartedly and died long before you ever ceased breathing.” I love this quote because we don't know what God's plan for us is. We might live to be 110 or we might die at the age of 8 we don’t know. Sometimes there are tragic events that we can’t prepare for then there are also the times that we know that we're getting closer to our final resting place. People don’t know if they will be involved in a mass shooting or get pushed off a bridge. I hope this happens to no-one is anywhere in the world but we all sadly know this does happen in our society. But people get a sense of knowing when their time runs out.
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Genius Hour #911/28/2018 This WeekThis week I have learned how chemotherapy affects the human body. Yes, chemotherapy kills harmful cancer cells but it also kills healthy cells. One of the side effects that are visible to the human eye is hair loss. One of the major side effects are depression and/or anxiety. Do the side effects outway the positives? In my opinion yes and no. My reasoning is that to people who haven't had cancer thinks this is outrageous and people don’t think it is worth it, because they will experience more than just stopping cancer. But to people who have cancer thinks this is an amazing “drug.” Yes, there are plenty of side effects but they know this is their last chance and they are hoping that it works. My GrandmotherI know of people who have stopped taking chemo because their cancer was getting worse and they knew they were going to die. My aunt works at the front desk of a hospital in Washington D.C that is a place of last hope where experimental drugs are tried. This is where my grandmother had to go in 2008 due to cancer. It started off like any other day that year. As for us, we knew her time on this earth was slowly coming to an end. This occurred 3 years after my grandfather died. From the time we got the news that my grandmother had a heart attack, we all rushed up to D.C. We got into Washington around 10-11 pm. As for me, I was still pretty young and I didn’t realize how much trouble my grandmother might have been in. So my dad took me to my aunt’s apartment while my mom and aunt stayed in the hospital overnight. This was the longest night of my life. Not just the fact that my grandmother was dying, but I also got sick on the way up to Washington D.C and I wasn’t feeling the best. By the next morning, I don’t remember that much other than going straight to the hospital. Sadly for me, I missed the worst night of my life. I later found out that my grandmother died that previous night. I never got the chance to tell her goodbye.
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Genius Hour# 811/20/2018 Last WeekThis past week I had been able to go out to the baseball field once. During my practice I worked on fielding and hitting. I’m planning on going back Thursday or Friday to mainly focus on pitching. As of now I would consider me an average pitcher but not above average. I can strikeout people but I also walk just about the same amount. Coach PerryI am still working with my hitting and pitching coach. This has gone from once a week to maybe once a month. It’s gone down in practices because we don’t currently have an indoor hitting facility and my coaches net does not have a light to see after the sun goes down. Like i've said before he was the coach that told me the most about the complicated side of baseball. Before him all I knew was basically to hit, run, throw, and hit. Don’t get me wrong this is the major concept but each one is broken up into multiple steps that you have to remember in order. After awhile it becomes ingrown into your brain to do these things but if you have a bad form you've been doing for awhile it becomes a hard habit to break. Road to the ShowAs for the High School we have been in the weight room for the past 3-4 weeks. My coach is planning on us being in the weight room every day after school (Monday through Friday) until January. This is the one thing we all don’t want to do but it something we have to do if we want to play at the next level. The next level is to play from little league to travel ball to middle school to high school to college to the minor league then make it to the show or majors. No matter what stage you are you are always looking to get to the final road and get into the majors. I don’t personally hate lifting weight or doing the conditioning but it is a struggle for me to do it. High School TryoutsThe tryouts are in early to mid February. As of now I am still considering becoming a pitcher for Davie as long as I decide I’m good enough to compete. I am planning on being a starting second baseman for my high school. A week after tryouts we play our first game at Lake Norman. In baseball Lake Norman is our biggest rival. It might be one of the furthest teams from us but they beat us in the playoffs for the conference championship two years ago.
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Week# 711/14/2018 Quotes and Importance"Seeds of faith are always within us; sometimes it takes a crisis to nourish and encourage their growth." ~Susan Taylor "One day at a time, one step at a time. Do what you can, do your best. Let God handle the rest." ~Michelle Jones I like these quotes because cancer can either kill a person or it could make you stronger. Cancer is a scary thought no one wants to think or talk about. We all know it’s a big deal. Fifty-four percent of Americans say they or someone else in their immediate family has been diagnosed with cancer at some point. This is a scary thought, over half of Americans have someone affected by cancer. I know of three people that have had cancer in my family: my mom, my grandmother, and my grandfather. My mom and grandmother are both cancer survivors. List of CancersThis shocked me, I knew that there were a lot of different forms of cancer but I didn’t know there was that many. This is not all cancers and most of these are uncommon. I decided to list all of these cancers for the reason that we do not know what we think we know. We think that there is only 5 types of cancer; leukemia, breast, melanoma, prostate, and Lung cancer. Those are the most common that people get but like it’s listed there a lot more than we realize. As of now there are no current medicines for cancer. The only “medicine” we have are treatments that only help control the cancer. An example of a treatment is Chemo
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Week: 611/13/2018 End of my fall SeasonSince my season ended last Tuesday I have no more chances to raise money by striking people out. This does not mean that I’m done trying to donate and receive money. As of now, I have a total of $85. All of this so far has come from strikeouts. My second have the goal for genius hour is to get $500 worth of donations. As for me, I’m donating everything I receive, I’m not pocketing anything. Reason for choosing cancerThe reason I chose to do strikeout against cancer is that my grandfather died due to cancer when I was 3. (2006) This was a big deal to me because I used to do everything with him. I’d help him mow the lawn, he gave me ice-cream, he gave me his most valuable pocket watch. The pocket watch I received was handed down from generation to generation for many generations. It is so special that my mom will only let me touch it and not wear it anywhere. But there is one thing that my grandfather wanted me to have but once he died we had an auction type of thing and it was sold and I recently found out that I was supposed to get it. Off the top of my mind, I don’t know that that item was but I do remember that it was something special. I know your grandparents die but, in my mind, they died before I really got to know them. Even today I could still pick them out over one hundred faces. My GoalMy goal is to help kids to elders make sure they don’t have to deal with what I had to go through. I know that it happened 12 years ago but, tragic memories don’t fade as easily as hearing your goldfish died. I want to help doctors find a treatment that is 100% effective and that no one with cancer will ever have to worry about dying. The number one reason why doctors can’t find a cure is due to inconsistent funds. That is why I’m trying to donate money and make that not a problem to anyone dealing with cancer treatment bills and to help doctors have the money to afford new medications and machines. I know $500 isn’t a lot of money but it is a starting point to start a project that will hopefully continue year after year. The Long boring breakI know that the season is over but that does not mean that I’m done working. This time of year is the part that we dread as baseball players. This part of the year is the time for the weight room. We all want to hit a ball 450 feet, throw 100 miles per hour, and run the 60-yard dash in under 4 seconds. (if not baseball fans this is our driving goal for every player.
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Week# 511/4/2018 Southwest Athletics SeasonThe past week has been the last week for games. I had a game on Monday and Tuesday. I pitched both days. On Monday I got no strikeouts and on Tuesday I got 6 strikeouts. On Monday we lost 14-0 and Tuesday we won 5-4. My total amount of strikeouts from Southwest alone is 17 strikeouts which is a total of $85. For reference, I only got one strikeout for the Carolina Rockies. I figured I wouldn't reach my original goal of $200 but if I didn’t set my goal high I would have a harder time trying to reach $100 than just setting my goal at $85 and feeling good. Along the RideLike I’ve said before the money doesn't matter, it’s putting in the effort to help the sick and injured. It’s been a fun ride and I learned a bunch about pitching but, this won’t be my last season pitching nor playing baseball. I thought of something Tuesday night that I hadn’t thought about before. Don’t try and strike people out, just let them hit and they will strike them self out. Once I thought about that I threw 95% strikes and threw about 5-10 (5%) balls. This was really surprising to me because I had usually hit one batter per game and walk around 3 per game. That particular game I gave up one triple, no walks, no hit by pitches. Along with the 6 strikeouts, I didn’t even try getting. Final TotalsMy current and the final total are 18 strikeouts which are worth $90. For a finished total, I fell under my original goal by $110, which is equivalent to 22 strikeouts. As for batting totals for myself, I struck out a total of 5 times. All 5 of my strikeouts I got was from the Carolina Rockies. This was abnormally high because that is equal to 1 strikeout per tournament. For reference last season for the Rockies I got 1 strikeout over 5 tournaments. (1 tournament= at least 4 games) As for the Go fund me account, I still need to create the account and my goal is to receive at least $500.
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week# 410/26/2018 Over the course of last week.Over the last week, I had played 3 games. I should have played 5, but 2 were canceled due to rain on Saturday. On Sunday I played 2 games which one of those games my team won with a score of 3-0. We played at Lenoir Rhyne University. I played one game on Monday which we lost substantially. Over the last week, I did not have a chance to pitch. I still have a chance to pitch today with a scrimmage at Davie and one game at Southwest. With the game at Davie, it will be hard for me to make my other game. My History with BaseballI started playing baseball when I was 5 years old. At the time I understood the basics like 3 outs and you switch sides, home vs. away, and how to swing. Over the years I started learning how complex the game is. The first coach that taught me more than just swing the bat was Rick Perry. He was my first coach for the Carolina Rockies. He played baseball at a Division 1 college as a pitcher. He continually works with me with my hitting and my pitching. At the age around 12, I started my first travel ball team with a team called Home Plate. My coach then was alright but he watched youtube videos over baseball workouts and used those to teach us. A few years later at the age of 13-14 was when I was on Rick Perry’s team. His assistant coach was Andy Monk and he played college baseball at a division 1 college as well but as a catcher. Carolina Rockies season is doneThis past weekend was my last tournament with the Rockies for this season. I am still trying to find out if I will return to the Rockies next season. For my totals with the Rockies this fall, my team ended with the record 2-11-1. For my totals pitching for the Rockies, I had pitched once during 2 innings acquiring one strikeout. I mainly played catcher and second base. I played at 3 different fields in Hickory, Cary, and Rocky Mount, North Carolina. Running TotalI am currently sat at a total of 14 strikeouts. Which is a total of $70 Since last week I have not pitched. I have a total of 5 games left to get 11 strikeouts. I have dropped my original goal to $100, for the reason that I equate 3 strikeouts per game as long as I pitch.
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Week# 310/17/2018 This weekI had played 5 games from Saturday to Monday. I had pitched a total of twice. I ended up pitching 2 ⅓ innings. During those innings I through 1 strikeout. For my end total to become what I would like for it to be I would have had to get 5 strikeouts this past weekend. I still have a chance tonight to get more strikeouts but it would be my season high for a single game. As well as my game tonight, Davie baseball workouts have started back. It was later than last year by about 1 ½ month. We are around 2-3 weeks until dead period. Cancer TreatmentsSaying this is my first post about cancer treatments, I have a lot to mention which I will break up into the different blogs for the next few weeks. Learning about Cancer treatments and practicing baseball will become a hard mix just because Davie will be practicing every day except Saturday and Sunday. The most important thing I have learned recently is that animals help in treatments for more than just cancer. As an example they will use rats over dogs if they can, they do this because rats are easier to take care of so they can have more than just one or two to study. The animals they use the most to study cancer are Dogs and primates. If you don’t know humans aren't the only species to receive cancer, animals of all kinds can get cancer. It is harder to treat animals than humans just because researches have been studying human cancers more than animal (animals and humans can get the same cancers there isn't anything different between them). Running TotalMy current total is 9 strikeouts which would equal $45. I am currently under my goal for being ¼th done with the 12 genius hour. I need to have 10 strikeouts by this Sunday, which means I need one strikeout from my game today or my 4 games this weekend. My goal is still to receive $200 (40 strikeouts). This is a really big stretch just because I need to get an average of 7 strikeouts a week. I plan to use my own money to donate to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
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