Reese's anyone?

This is totally random... but I had a good idea for a blog post and wanted to see how it panned out. Lately I have been on a weird kick with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.

If you know me, you know that I don't really like peanut butter very much at all, unless it is with chocolate. But even when it is with chocolate I usually don't eat it very often, and I mean hardly ever. A couple weeks ago I was at work and needed a snack... now this is usually a daily thing when I am at work since my work is located very close to the Albertson's in Orem... very close... like in the same shopping center. So I left work, walked down to the store, and was standing in the candy bar isle for a while, which I'm sure looked funny. Usually I will just grab some peanut M&Ms (they are my favorite by the way), but this time I grabbed a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup bar. Don't know why, but I did. Since that day I have multiple times been getting them as my snack. I don't know what it is, but I love them right now! Something I always remember seeing on TV as an ad for Reese's the many different way's people eat their Reese's. Now, I don't have a particular way that I eat them, because to me any way that you eat them they still tastes the same. Just plain great! So tell me how you eat your Reese's Peanut Butter Cups!

I am a Sports Writer

Now well under my belt, joining the UVU Review this semester is by far one of the best things I have ever done with my education. It is amazing how much I am learning from being on the staff and from other members of the staff. I absolutely love being part of such a great opportunity. I was asked yesterday by my editor if I would write the UVU Women's Basketball preview article for an upcoming issue. I am stoked beyond control to do that article! There is going to be many exciting articles to write with basketball season approaching! As for now, I am still covering the cross country men & women's team and have also started writing about the men & women's golf team. I am freak busy being that the paper is volunteer and unpaid time of mine, but it is so worth it because of how much fun it is! For this weeks issue my article was a blast to write. It was my first shot at doing a feature on a athlete. I had so much fun writing it, and learning that everybody has a unique thing about them. Here's my article, enjoy!

First year running at UVU and it won’t be the last
By Kira Terry

Jared Keller, a red shirt sophomore from Orem, doesn’t only enjoy running as a passion, but more importantly runs for his teammates.

Running cross country for Keller is all about his fellow teammates. “I love the team aspect. You rely on the other runners, you know your racing for your teammates and they are relying on you,” Keller says.

Keller grew up in Orem and began running in eighth grade. “I started to run track in junior high and been running ever since,” Keller said. He kept running through high school at Mountain View. “That’s when I really started running cross country,” Keller said.

After running for Mountain View from sophomore year on, Keller ran one year at the United States Military Academy at West Point in West Point, New York. Following a two year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in McAllen, Texas, Keller transferred to UVU where he began his sophomore year with the cross country team.



Although Keller’s passion is running, he is currently studying Biology. “I want to go the medical route, not sure what, but want to practice medicine,” he says.

Being his first year running with UVU, Keller says, “This team is awesome, I just love the guys. We are really showing potential for what we can do.” Keller is happy with this season so far. “I feel really good. It’s been my first cross country season in a few years and it was really good to see that I could run with a lot of the top athletes in the state,” he said.

Keller went into this season with a few strong goals and did an amazing job at meeting them. “I wanted to be competitive, run with the lead packs and stay up there. I just really wanted to help contribute to the team, and I feel like I’ve done that,” he said.

Will we be seeing Jared Keller for the next two years running with the cross country team? “For sure, with out a doubt,” he says. “Next year we only loose one of the great guys. The sky is the limit, we all have big dreams.”

Since this year’s season is nearing an end, Keller says “It’s been a lot of hard work to get to where I’m at, but it’s been worth it.” Going into the Great West Conference Championships coming up on Saturday Nov. 1 at UVU, Keller is positive about how UVU will perform, “Team competition is going to be pretty tough, we want to win it, keep our pack tight, and take home the team title.”

Mini for ME!!

Ok, so here is an explanation to my "poll" on the right side of my blog. I am ready to get a new car, not that there is anything wrong with mine that I currently have... i'm actually quite fond of "Lil' Mobee", but it is time for a new car. I will be sad to let my car go, but exciting news-- I'M BUYING A MINI COOPER!! I am going to buy a Mini Cooper Clubman '09 sometime between Jan '09 and Spring '09. So, I want everyone's imput on the which color to get. I"m totally for multiple votes too. If you see that the color YOU want me to buy is loosing the race, keep voting. Vote as much as you want between now and December. I'm not going to tell anyone my choice because i really am curious as to what everyone else thinks. Here's a little info about the new Mini model that I want. It is slightly longer than the current Mini Coopers, but not to much longer to make it look strangely long. I'm actually quite excited about getting it as is my family, which sometimes I think they might actually be more excited than me. :) Its kinda funny, my dad said this to me when I told him I wanted to buy a mini cooper and that I am serious about it "What! We could have some serious fun in that car". He also said "Are you going to let me drive it all the time? & oooh, you should get the racing package so that it will be a serious fast car". (Sadly, I will not be getting the racing package, because 1. I don't need it & 2. It is ridiculously more). Ha, Ha! I love my dad... he is hilarious. Here are a few photos of the new model that I am buying.

You can see the extension it has on it in this picture... just behind the door.

Side view of the extension. On these models there is a small door that opens for the back.

Top view. Fun!!


Here is a picture showing the difference between the new model and the original models.

Life Changing

After three weeks on the UVU review staff I am absolutely loving it! For this week's issue I was able to write two pieces. I did my piece for the sports section on the UVU cross country meet, and I did a piece for the news section. My piece for the news section was an amazing article to write. I was asked to cover a speech for disability week on campus. The speaker was Mark Zupan, a paralympian that just won a gold medal with team USA in Beijing. Instead of telling his entire story, here is my article. His story was life changing to me. I was so excited to be able to cover his speech and hear his story.

Two choices: live or die

Kira Terry and Guest Writer Robbin Anthony

Mark Zupan, a Paralympian who has recently won a gold medal in Beijing, has starred in "Murderball" and has written a book titled "Gimp," spoke on Thursday in honor of disability week.

"Fifteen years ago when I first got hurt, I thought my life was over," Zupan said. When Zupan was 18 years old, he was asleep in the back of a friend's pickup truck when he was thrown from the truck, over a fence and into a canal, which resulted in his being paralyzed.

After spending 14 hours in the water, he was found by a passerby who heard a faint repetitive voice then saw the top of his head. "The only thing above water was my eyes, my nose, my mouth and my arm," Zupan said.

Even though Zupan has been through so much, "he is a great example of perseverance and positive thinking," Edward Martinelli Jr., accessibility services director said in his introduction.

When Zupan woke up in ICU, the first thing he communicated was, "I am lucky???" After spending three months in the hospital, he realized, "There are ultimately two choices in life -- you can live or you can die."

"The best thing that probably happened (after finishing his time in the hospital and rehab) was I got my license back. I say that because you have your independence back, you can go and come as you please," Zupan said.

The next stage of his life took him back to college at Florida Atlantic University. He later transferred to Georgia Tech, where he graduated in civil engineering. Zupan said going back to college was the next best thing that happened to him.

While at Georgia Tech, he took up wheelchair rugby. "I found rugby and fell in love with it almost instantly," he said. This led to him being the star of the documentary, writing his autobiography, winning numerous medals and most recently being a part of Team USA to win gold in Beijing.

So what's next for Zupan? "I want to do an Ironman triathlon, and I want to teach because it is fun and you can see the benefit from that," he said.

Zupan said, "The big thing that I've learned is that everybody has their own disability, everyone has something that goes wrong in their life, it doesn't have to be seen. Life is short, enjoy it."

First Article in UVU Review!!

This may not be super exciting to many of you, but for me it was my dream job starting to come true! This semester I was told during two of my journalism classes that anyone can sign up to write for UVU's campus newspaper which is titled "UVU Review". I thought about it for a few weeks into the semester and decided if I could actually handle it this semester with the little bit of time I actually have. Finially I went and signed up to be on the staff and to work on the sports writing staff. It took me another week to beable to balance my time so that I could write weekly for the rest of the semester. Last week I was assigned my topic and went to do my first interview. It went well, got some great quotes and information from my interviewee. Went home, started to write my article and got worried that my article was going to suck! So I put it asside and picked it up the next day and everything worked out really well. Monday when the issue came out my first article was inside that glorious paper. I was so excited to see my name and the work I had done to put that article together! If any of you are interested to see it, go to www.uvureview.com, click on sports and scoll down 3 stories and there I am!