Jack Kelley's Wordpress

It’s 1 AM, and TJ Schnurr has just awoken to his alarm going off on his phone, telling him his blood sugar is low. He reaches over to the side of his bed where he keeps Sunny-D and fruit snacks, eats some fruit snacks and drinks a Sunny-D, then heads back to bed. TJ Schnurr is a freshman at Morningside College, and this has been a staple of his life for as long as he can remember.

“Obviously I hate having to wake up in the middle of the night when I’m low, but it is just something that I have gotten used to by now. I honestly don’t really mind it anymore since I’ve had to do it so many times, I just always feel bad when there are people in the same room as me” says Schnurr.

His roommate, Conner Hill, has also gotten accustomed to the lifestyle of having an alarm go off during the night. “It was definitely different at first and it really scared me but now I am used to it.” says Hill.

Not only does the diabetes affect his sleeping schedule, it also affects his everyday life, and the life of an athlete. TJ Schnurr plays basketball, “One thing that I notice is a lot different for me than it is from other athletes is that while most athletes drink water, I drink Gatorade so I can keep my blood sugar level at a good number.” Says Schnurr. 

One new way Schnurr utilizes technology is by wearing a patch on his skin that can read his blood sugar and insulin levels. This patch connects right to his phone and shows him what kind of medication he needs to take, and what levels he is at.

“Ever since I have gotten this patch it has been so much easier. I always hated pricking my finger a bunch because sometimes it would bother me when I play basketball. This patch makes it super easy to read all of my levels without having to do any of that.” says Schnurr.

When TJ isn’t on the court or in the weight room, he lives a very normal life. his main hobby is playing video games. “TJ seems to always be on videos games or playing basketball” said his mother, Bo Schnurr. “At first I thought he needed to get up and go do something, but I realized how relaxing it is to him when he’s not shooting or lifting weights.” 

Schnurr agrees, adding, “I love playing video games. It is always fun for me to connect with friends back home or friends here through video games. And I love to win, and I do a lot of that.”

That is the attitude that TJ always carries with him. It’s that never quit, refuse to lose attitude that has gotten TJ to where he is today. In high school, TJ was a standout basketball player at Bishop Garrigan, leaving the school second in career points and first in career rebounds.

He also led Bishop Garrigan to the state tournament in basketball and was an all-state tight end and shot-put thrower. TJ realizes he has it a little bit tougher than mot but can use that as a chip on his shoulder and carries that with him wherever he goes in life. Schnurr ended with, “I hate giving up. You will see me fail 100 times before I give up. I think that is important for everyone to have, a never quit attitude.”

Today around 9:53 am, there was an explosion in the Mega City Mall, believed to have taken place in the food court. There were multiple eye witnesses. First responders were there around 9:58.

A Bell Tacos employee was preparing tacos when he looked out to the food court and saw the huge explosion. While he was not sure of the location of where it took place, he had this to say. “I didn’t see where the explosion came from but I have a strong feeling it was a bomb.”

A seasonal worker, working as Santa’s elf was also interviewed. She was in the food court but saw nothing. “I was in the food court when the explosion took place but I did not see where it came from. All I saw were people running so I got out of there.”

Authorities say that the cause of the explosion is unknown. There were over 100 injuries and 2 fatalities that resulted from the explosion.

Mega City Police Captain, Ross Fuglsang, was here to answer questions about the explosions. “The explosion was near the food court and could have been in a store. The structural integrity of the mall is being evaluated.”

Captain Fuglsang also said that the 100 injured people have been placed in different hospitals around the city but the 2 that were found dead cannot be named yet because they are still clearing the building before they can investigate.

“We have begun interviewing all eye witnesses possible, and are in the process of reviewing camera footage from inside the mall. We are proceeding with the idea it was an accident until proven otherwise” said Fuglsang. Fuglsang also said there were no threats or phone call warnings before the explosion happened.

The author of this stories deals with anxiety and it makes it very hard for her to sleep, until she found the weighted blanket. Melissa has tried many different things to help put her to sleep and be less anxious but the weighted blanket is the only one that has worked so far. A weighted blanket is just like any other blanket, but it has pellets sewn inside of it and they range from 10 to 30 pounds. May of these blankets made with recycled materials and the beads on the inside is almost always recycled glass. The heaviness of the blanket is said to have a calming affect, said Randi J. Hagerman, medical director of the UC Davis MIND Institute. While these weighted blankets do come with a steep price, it has been shown to drop anxiety levels for people who can’t sleep.

This article was written in the first person point of view which is the first article that I have written about like that. I thought it was interesting how the author described her own experience and how she could really relate to someone with anxiety who may be reading this. One thing that was hard about the article was that there wasn’t a whole lot of evidence that actually supported her opinion, that’s just what she thought. I think this article has relevance because I know there are a lot more people that ae speaking out about mental illnesses. I know my brother has anxiety and he sleeps with a weighted blanket so I thought it would be cool to see into someone else’s experience with a weighted blanket.

The 16 year-old polar bear at Midland Zoo, was found dead this morning. Homer, who was the oldest polar bear at the zoo, was found floating in his pool a hour after feeding time. The other two polar bears in the exhibit, Yukon and Mckenzie, have been removed from the exhibit and are being monitored by employees.

The zoo will investigate the cause of death. “We will do everything in our power to determine how this bear died” Said Chris P. Bacon. “Animal welfare and the preservation of species are our primary goals here at the zoo.” The results will not be available for several weeks.

“Homer was a very curious and playful polar bear and we will miss him terribly” said zookeeper Sara N. Getty.

Zoo director Chris P. Bacon also confirmed that this is not the first aimal that has died this month. Both a giraffe and a bobcat died this month with the deaths believed to be unrelated.

It’s 1 AM, and TJ Schnurr as just awoken to his alarm going off on his phone, telling him his blood sugar is low. He reaches over to the side of his bed where he keeps Sunny-D and fruit snacks, then heads back to bed. TJ Schnurr is a freshman at Morningside College, and this has been a staple of his life for as long as he can remember.

“Obviously I hate having to wake up in the middle of the night when I’m low but it is just something that I have gotten used to by now. I honestly don’t really mind it anymore since I’ve had to do it so many times I just always feel bad when there are people in the same room as me” says Schnurr. His roomate, Conner Hill, has also gotten accustomed to the lifestyle of having an alarm go off during the night. “It was definitely different at first and it really scared me but now I am used to it” says Hill.

Not only does the diabetes affect his sleeping schedule, it also affects his everyday life, and the life of an athlete. TJ Schnurr plays basketball here at Morningside College. “One thing that I notice is a lot different from me than it is from other athletes is that while most athletes drink water, I drink Gatorade so I can keep my blood sugar level at a good number” Says Schnurr.

One new way Schnurr gets to utilize technology is by wearing a patch on his skin that can read his blood sugar and insulin levels. This patch connects right to his phone and shows him what kind of medication he needs to take, and what levels he is at. “Ever since I have gotten this patch it has been so much easier. I always hated pricking my finger a bunch because sometimes it would bother me when I play basketball. This patch makes it super easy to read all of my levels without having to do any of that” says Schnurr.

When TJ isn’t on the court or in the weight room, he loves a very normal life, his main hobby is playing video games. “TJ seems to always be on videos games or playing basketball” said his mother, Bo Schnurr. “At first I thought he needed to get up and go do something but I realized how relaxing it is to him when he’s not shooting or lifting weights.”

“I love playing video games. It is always fun for me to connect with friends back home or friends here through video games. And I love to win and I do a lot of that.”

That is the attitude that TJ always carries with him. It’s that never quit, refuse to lose attitude that has gotten TJ to where he is today. In high school, TJ was a standout basketball player at Bishop Garrigan, leaving the school 2nd in career points in 1st in career rebounds. He also led Bishop Garrigan to the state tournament in basketball, and was an all state tight end and shot put thrower. TJ realizes he has it a little bit tougher than mot, but can use that as a chip on his shoulder and carries that with him where ever he goes in life.

Schnurr ended with, “I hate giving up. You will see me fail 100 times before I give up. I think that is important for everyone to have, a never quit attitude.”