Crossing the Rubicon

The Serpents read about Julius Caesar and his decision to cross the Rubicon River, ever changing the course of world history and beginning the downfall of the Roman Empire. We discussed the phrase "crossed the Rubicon", meaning making a decision that is potentially life altering. The Serpents wrote essays about their own personal crossing the Rubicon, here are a few.

By: S.B.

When I began to play Pokemon competitively, it was a “Rubicon” for me because it changed my life forever. This essay tells how it affected me, what came out of it, and how I made it.

            How I started to play:

My first experience with Pokemon was at a fast food restaurant. Seriously. I was five years old, and my little brother Zachary, my dad and I were driving back home. We were all hungry, and we stopped at Burger King for lunch. It happened that the toy theme for the kid’s meal was Pokemon cards, following the release of the Sinnoh region expansion of Pokemon. I got my first two cards there, two Piplup, and I was hooked. I went to Burger King several times after, and soon I had about twelve.

On my sixth birthday, I received a theme deck as a present. (Theme decks are starter decks with sixty cards for beginners). I played at home for a year, and when I was seven, I started to play at league,  my first step to playing competitively.

Over the course of the year, I played Saturdays at league. I got better and better, and attended a few small tournaments, not dominating but doing well at some. At 8, I played a small tournament in which I got 2^nd with a half-competitive deck. I was beat in the top two by Calvin Conner, who next year would advance to the senior division at age twelve (Divisions are chosen by age).

Starting to play competitively:

The first time I played in a large tournament was at the Washington State Championships. I entered with the popular Eelektrik deck, going 4-2. I whiffed Top Cut at 9^th place, but it was still good practice for me.

Afterwards, I decided to keep playing competitively and not give up. I would play in small tournaments for the rest of the season, but next year, halfway through the competitive season, I was ready. And I was coming fast.

Getting an invite to Worlds:

It was every Pokemon player’s dream to go to the World Championships. You needed 400 CP (Championship Points) to get an invite to Worlds. I went to the Washington and Oregon States and Battle Roads tournaments. I went to two Regional Championships and more Battle Roads. But I still didn’t have enough CP.

The last Championship before Worlds was Nationals. It was in Indianapolis, and luckily, it was on the way to Michigan, where we went to every summer to visit family. If I made Top 8, I was in. If I was Top 16 and got Top 8 at an additional tournament they were having after Nats (Nationals), I was in. If I didn’t get top anything at Nats but got 4^th at the other tournament, I was in.

It was after Nats and the standings went up. I was depressed that I was past 100^th place. I prepped myself for the additional tournament, and entered it the next day. I won the first and second rounds, and won my first game in Top 8. The winner of this game was in. The second round my opponent lucksacked and beat me with a perfect start. The last round, I crossed my fingers…. .and my opponent lucksacked again. I lost, but I still had one last resort.

The Grinder. A two out of three tournament before Worlds; if you lost, you were eliminated. Top 8 made Worlds. Everyone else didn’t. I entered along with eighty other people and my friend Andy. The  first round I got a Bye, and second round a No Show. I won the third round. The final round, I played another TDK deck. It was the hardest match of the day, but I 2-0’ed him. I was overjoyed to find Andy made it in too. Worlds was tomorrow, and I was ready.

Worlds:

I started the championship off with an explosion, going 4-0 and beating former USA National Champion (Sorry, I forget his name), but it was because I lucksacked and probably couldn’t do it again.

In the first round I faced my first defeat at the hands of fellow Pokemon player Abaan Ahmed, also from Washington. I was defeated again the next round, putting me at 4-2. I had to win the next match to make cut.

Luckily, I outplayed my opponent and made cut. I played Top 16 and beat a Japanese player, and then in Top 8 beat USA National Champion Carson St. Denis. Finally I played Ondrej Kumal from the Czech Republic. It was 10:30 and I was so tired I could barely play, and I lost. However , I was not disappointed at all! I was 4^th place in the world for the Pokemon Junior Division.

How my decision affected me:

My decision to play Pokemon competitively is one of the best and most important decisions I have ever made. It has given me a $5,000 scholarship (Yay!) and I am now training for the next World Championships in Washington D.C., and I am glad of my choice. All in all, my decision to play Pokemon was a Rubicon for me and I don’t regret it.

By: G.T.S.

I have always been an active person. I have done a lot: gymnastics, soccer, taekwondo and cub scouts. I like swimming and my parents put me in a class at the Center at Norpoint. I already knew how to swim a little because I would go to my friends’ summer swim parties and swim and play around in their pools, which was a lot of fun. Swimming class has been a Rubicon moment because I have met new friends and kept in touch with some old friends, which is really fun. Swimming is excellent exercise and I will finish the swimming class at station 10, the last and most difficult station.

I have kept in touch with new and old friends through swim class and we played games during free time. I saw one of my old friends, Michael, from my old school, Brown’s Point Elementary. We talked and during free time our class and other classes played Marco Polo in the water and it was exciting. Some old friends I knew from cub scouts were in my swimming class, too! At free time, we played monkey in the middle. I met a new friend, Bob, during my fourth station. We became friends by playing monkey in the middle, sharks and minnows and we would race each other.

The swimming part of class is very difficult because I have to do a lot of long laps but it is very good exercise. In the breast stroke, 30% of your speed comes from your arms and 70% comes from your legs. I have super strong legs and that makes me go faster. To build strength, the class starts class with “bobs”, which is going under the water and coming up about twenty times.  After that, we do a few laps of crawl stroke and a few laps of back stroke. Next, we do a minute of treading water. After that, we practice our butterfly stroke. It’s a really hard stroke because it is painful since you actually have to leap out of the water.

There are ten stations, one being the easiest and getting harder up to ten. In each station, you learn a new stroke and then are required to master it. Once you master the stroke you move onto the next station. I began at station one and I went to the next station in only one week.  Now, I am in station seven and I am working on butterfly, breast stroke and flip turns. Flip turns are difficult because they have to be timed exactly and it’s hard to tell the distance from the wall when you’re in the water. I’m working very hard to get to station 10. My goal is to get to station 10 sometime during my middle school years.

Swimming has changed my life because I met new friends and have kept old friends. Swimming is a very fun sport and I am hoping that after station 10 I will be able to join a swim team. I’ve learned to stick to my sport and to never give up. This will help me to stay dedicated to other things for the rest of my life. Also, if I get trapped at sea, swimming could save my life.

By: K.C.

When my grandma said we were starting the tradition of just her and me going on a vacation in the summer I was so excited I could not wait to find out where we were going. Then when she said I could choose the location I was so excited that I did not know where to choose. Finally when she it could be almost anywhere I went crazy. Then I suddenly knew exactly where I wanted to go: Europe.

            There are a few locations I really want to go to. One place I want to go is Stonehenge because it is an amazing place and I think it is a fascinating architectural feat. Another place I want to go is the British Museum because of all the Egyptian artifacts especially the Rosetta stone. Finally I want to go to Big Ben because it is a famous landmark.

            The reason I choose Europe because I have heard that it is one of the most beautiful countries ever. Also I have always wanted to go out of the country because I want to explore the world. The final reason is I have seen pictures of London and think it is an amazing.

            I cannot wait to go to Europe. It is going to be so fun going to all the great places like the British museum and Big Ben. Unfortunately I have to wait till August to go to Europe. I get more excited every day.

            This is just the start of my adventures. Next year I plan to go to Canada. I am already thinking about what to pack. This is my decision to go to Europe.

By: W.C.

 The day I heard my dad got a job in Del-Rio, Texas and that we had to leave our house was a major Rubicon moment in my life. We had to rent are house to someone we didn’t know and had to leave all of our friends behind. I didn’t like the idea, but it wasn’t my choice. We had to change our phone number that I had already memorized. And that was a major Rubicon in my life.

  First of all I had a horrible education. My brothers teacher was voted the teacher of the year, but she put paper over the door`s window and yelled so loud that I could hear her in the other room. She played a Nintendo DS while the other kids worked on math sheets. She talked on her phone in the middle of teaching. That’s one reason didn’t like it there.

 We also had a tiny one story house. It had one bathroom and four bedrooms. The kitchen was in the TV room and we had a miniscule backyard with a waist high fence. The fence had no lock and we weren’t allowed to dig in our own backyard. That’s the second reason I hated it there.

 Another reason is that insects and misquotes were out 24/7. We couldn’t even walk out of our house without getting bit five hundred times. The misquotes bit us and ignored highly concentrated anti misquote spray. There were also cicadas in the trees making it almost impossible to go to sleep. That’s the third reason I didn’t like it there.

  I didn’t live next to my school or any grocery stores. We hated it so much we eventually moved back to Tacoma. We actually drove back to Tacoma. Now I am happy here and glad I will never move there again. And that was a major Rubicon in my life.