The minute details are vital to a good story. While reading Moby Dick, by Herman Melville, the vivid detail put into every sentence is what helps you mentally visualize the book and makes you want to read on. No matter what Melville is writing about, he puts meticulous detail into every line and carefully crafts his sentences to make them engaging and to fully explicate the story. It wasn't hard for me to immediately recognize how detailed every aspect of Melville's writing was. Wherever I was reading Moby Dick, I felt like I was present in whatever scene the story was taking place at. At first, I enjoyed the detail but I didn't have an appreciation for it, but by now, on Chapter 77, the detail of the book is my favorite part. At no other point in my reading experience was the detail in a book more evident to me then when I picked up Moby Dick for the first time and began reading it. Because of the unparalleled descriptions put into every chapter, paragraph, and sentence, I began to feel like I was on the Pequod with Ishmael and the rest of the ship's crew. For the first time reading a book, I felt an immediate connection with the characters and a resentment towards Moby Dick. I began to despise the creature and wanted to seek revenge against him like Captain Ahab did. I am truly thankful for reading Moby Dick because if I had not, I never would have realized how vital adding detail to a story is. Although the book can become slightly pedantic at times, there is never a dull moment where I want to put it down because the details make me want to read on. For me, I now know to always remember to add detail to my writing because it is what makes reading a story exciting and it is what makes Moby Dick arguably the best American novel of all time.

"Without a sense of caring, there can be no sense of community."
~Anthony J. D'Angelo

Being part of a caring and tight-knit community is rare and very special. The community at Fenn is certainly all that, and then some. The small and caring community of Fenn has greatly impacted my school experience these past six years, and if it weren't for Fenn--and Fenn's community in particular--I would certainly not be who I am today. 

The community of Fenn is extraordinary. Since coming to Fenn in fourth grade, I was immediately struck by how quickly I was cared for and thought of as one of Fenn's own instead of just another number like at many other places. Within a few months of being a student at Fenn, people began learning my name and saying hi to me whenever I walked by. Although this may seem like a very minute gesture of kindness, it really made me feel welcome at Fenn, and I almost instantaneously felt like I had attended Fenn for years. 

Despite feeling welcomed into Fenn right away, it wasn't until entering the Upper School that I really began to recognize how special the community at Fenn was. Being much older than the Lower Schooler's and realizing that I was once their size and maturity level made me appreciate how much I had grown in five years in many different aspects and it also made me appreciate the people who got me to that point. It was then that I began to realize how special Fenn was and that having a caring and supportive community is unique and vitally important. 

For me, I will be forever grateful for Fenn's community and I will strive to remain part of it. 

Today was another relaxing day. I went to my team's hockey game and picked up my lacrosse heads after they were strung, but other than that, I didn't do too much all day. It was actually pretty nice. I watched some TV, read a lot in Moby Dick, played a few board games with my family, and sat on the couch. In an ideal word, I would like to do more productive things with my day, but I am being as low key as possible so I can recover quickly. I am about to watch the Academy Awards and after that it will be off to bed. I'm excited for school tomorrow too and I'm also hoping for warmer weather. 

Today has been a great day. It is nice having a low-key day after a difficult week in school. Although I did three hours of homework, I was also able to listen to some music and just have some down time. I got my pull-ups, push-ups, and sit-ups in too. I have no real plans for the rest of the weekend. Certainly some more reading and writing is on the schedule. I can't wait to hear from schools in two and a half weeks. Also, I can't wait to get a walking boot on so I can finally get on my feet again. Lets hope spring comes soon and we can all get outside. 

Yesterday was a great day. All of my classes went well, I had fun in steel drums, and also had fun when I went home. My foot is doing much much better too. Today I'm going to a friends after the Fenn Hockey game which I'm looking forward to. I can tell today is going to be great. 

Today was my first bad day in a while. It didn't help that it took me 10 minutes to try to put my pants on, I didn't have a great morning, and my day mimicked that. Classes went fine and everything but my day just wasn't great. I think it was the first day where I really let my injury interfere with my mood; I can't let that happen anymore. Anyways, let's hope my day will turn around quickly and I'll have a great day tomorrow. Maybe some relaxing and music will fix that, maybe reading Moby Dick will. It's just one bad day; I am still lucky to be alive. 

Today was great. I slept in, had a nice breakfast, and got on with my day. Wanting to get out of the house, I went to the Apple store in Natick with my mom. After that, we visited some family friends for a few hours and then came home. At 7:00, I went to my hockey team's game; they won by a lot, but even more importantly, it was great to see all of the boys on my team. When I got home it was right to the couch to watch the Bruins game and thats where I've been since. 3-1 Bruins right now with 13 minutes to go in the 2nd.