Allison Patterson
 
March 19, 2010

28-0. A record not many teams have accomplished. Every time the Handsworth Royals walked into the gym, every team hoped that they were the ones to “De-thrown the Royals.” It was a huge burden of pressure on our shoulders but we ended up staying together through close matches, tough games, and unforgettable experiences. The season was truly amazing. The people that saw our team play watched our skills, plays, energy, and passion for the game. Something that many people did not realize was, on the court or off the court we were more than just a team, we were a family. 

Being new at Handsworth this year it was very difficult adjusting to the new ways of things at this school. Without these great girls on the basketball team, I would not have made it through the season this year.  The small things they did at school such as spending time with me during breaks, texting me after tough practices, or just simply being friendly made me feel part of the Handsworth senior team. On the court when I had a mental breakdown they were there comforting and listening to everything I had to say. Whenever I was down I didn’t have one team member trying to console me, the whole team was there trying to cheer me up. These small things add up and are what create real lifelong friendships. 

There was never one time during the season where we wanted to kill each other due to seeing each other too much. Each practice was something I looked forward to everyday as I knew I could see my friends and play the sport I love. We had 7 seniors on the team this year but this did not create any segregation. The seniors were happy to help us out on anything we were unclear of and made practices entertaining no matter what drill. There was never any bickering or arguing on the court as it simply is not part of who we are at Handsworth. If you were upset at a bad play that just happened and came off the court, you had the whole bench waiting there to give you high-fives and supporting you. This team was 13 players, it wouldn’t have been the same results without every player as we all played a valuable role on the team.

As I sit at my computer I look at the “funny” team picture from provincials, I truly believe that this captures our team in a photograph. It is sad to think that it is all over, the provincial banners signed and the talk for next year has already begun. I believe I am most sad over the fact that we are going to lose so many members of my “family” because they made it the best season possible. Even though the players will be all over the place next year, I know that we will stay in contact, what we created this year are strong bonds that go beyond the court. Handsworth’s basketball team was more than just a group of girls who passionately played the game--we are a family.

Jaime Hills
 
March 10, 2010

The last few weeks have been crazy for our basketball team at school because we have been readying ourselves for the ‘Big Dance’, provincials. It has been fun, busy, nerve-wracking and exciting all at the same time. We had to face off against many good teams to make it to where we wanted to be, that provincial final at 7:30 on Saturday, March 6th.

First, we had our North Shore playoffs, where we played Sutherland and Carson Graham, winning both the go into the Lower Mainland tournament. We then played against Point Gray, Carson again and New West. All through this, we were fighting injuries and sickness just to be able to play our game.

Coming out of that tournament we were seeded in first going into the provincials and we later got the draw for the biggest tournament of the year. Our first round game was against Mt. Baker, the number 16 team in BC. After winning that, we had our tightest game of the season in our quarter-final match up, once again playing New West. The score was close through the whole game, not usually more than a 5 point lead for either team and, like many tight games, it came down to the foul shots at the end of the game, shot by Angela and Diana. After going 3/4 with their shots, we had a 2 point lead at the end of the game. Three of my 3D teammates (Kia Van Laare, Rachel Sider and Jenny McCormick) were on the New West team and they put up a great fight. In our semi-final game we played Riverside for the third time this year and managed to come away with a win. The next day, we had the game that we had been waiting for all year, the provincial final. It worked out that we were playing against number 10 seed Oak Bay, who had an amazing tournament all together, beating teams 6 (W.J. Mouat), 3 (Claremont) and 2 (Salmon Arm)to get to the final, where they gave us a good run for the title that we so badly wanted.

Even though I did not get in the game on Saturday it was an incredible experience to be a part of the team and to know that my contribution, along with everyone else’s, helped to get us to that game. I felt like this was the ultimate team experience because we all knew that we had done our part, whether it was in the games, practices or off the court, to get to that final. I can’t even begin to explain how amazing it was to have the score clock at Cap University read 60-51 at the end of that game and to be running onto the court to meet my teammates and celebrate all our hard work. Everything that we have put into our team since November came together to help us defend that provincial title. I loved being a part of this team, getting to know my teammates, learn from them and play with them to achieve our goal of winning provincials. It was an amazing experience and I hope that Allison and I can help lead the team to two more championships!

Jaime Hills

February 4, 2010

Game day! The whole reason I play basketball, to do what I’ve worked so hard to be able to do, with my teammates, to have that thrill of the game. Games are obviously my favourite part of basketball, because I get to show what I can do, I get to forget about anything else going on and just do what I can to help my team get that ‘W’. I don’t have a strict schedule of what I do on my game days but I definitely have things that I make sure to do, including eating the right amount, drinking enough water and getting enough rest. The night before, I have to make sure that I eat a good dinner (usually pasta or something like it), stretch and ice and get to bed at a good time to get about 8 hours sleep. I also like to think a little about the game and, if we’ve played them before, what kinds of things I’m going to have to do to help my team have success. I like to think about all the parts of my game, but especially my shooting and my defense. I visualize to help me think of how I want the game to go, and I always think about myself having success in the game--what’s the point of imagining myself failing? This is just an idea of what I do on game days to get ready...

PRE-GAME

7:45am→ breakfast -- I eat the same thing on game days as any other day, cereal, chocolate milk and a granola bar.

8:30am→ school -- unfortunately, at this point in the day I have to take my mind off the game and think about my classes.

12:35pm→ lunch -- usually for lunch I have one or two pieces of fruit, a bagel or a sandwich, a yogurt and a granola bar.

1:10pm→ leave school for academy -- Ali, Elisa, Abby and I carpool to academy together and we catch up on each other’s days on the way there.

1:30pm→ training at academy -- usually light shooting on game days to get my shot ready but not get tired out. We do a lot of different drills for our shots, a lot of the time working on specific shots that we get often in games. For example, I practice my threes and 15 foot jumpers while Ali practices her shot inside the paint. In between drills, we take a lot of foul shots, so that we can be ready to shoot those in the game. We also do some visualization to start thinking more about what we’re going to do in the game.

3:15pm→ go home to rest before the game -- I do any homework I have from the day to get it out of the way before the game and at the same time ice anything that needs icing and have a small snack as soon as I get home so that my body can refuel without having to eat a super early dinner.

5:00pm→ dinner -- on days where the game is 7:30 or later, I usually eat a bigger dinner because I have enough time to digest it but if we’re playing earlier, I eat something smaller and then have a bigger meal when I get home after the game.

6:15pm→ get into my team tracksuit and leave home to get to the gym 1 hour early.

6:30pm→ get to the gym and meet with my team -- some people like to sit by themselves to get ready but I prefer to sit with other people because sometimes I over think things and make myself more nervous. So I sit with my teammates and talk about almost anything, and I usually listen to my music at the same time to help get me excited but not nervous.

6:45pm→ start dressing for the game -- get my uniform and shoes on.

7:00pm→ team does dynamic warm-up including jogging, skipping and stretching -- this helps us get warm without just running straight away, and it also stops us from doing static stretches without warming up first. I listen to my iPod when I do this, because it helps me get into ‘the zone’ for the game. My favourite song to listen to before our games is ‘Blame it on the Pop’ which is a mash-up of the top 25 pop songs from 2009. I also listen to a bunch of other songs, most with really fast beats to get me pumped up.

7:05pm→ meet in the locker room to discuss what we need to do to be successful and set goals for the game, including how many rebounds we want to get and how many points we want to hold the other team to. When we come out of the locker room I put my water bottle and my mouth guard on the bench so I don’t have to worry about them right before the game starts.

7:15pm→ start team warm-up -- we warm-up our shots, passes, dribbling and defense as hard as we want to play and everything has high fives involved, encouraging and helping our teammates, making sure everyone has a good, solid warm-up so we can play well as a team.

7:16pm→ we do our lay-up drill, where there are three lines around the perimeter, the one on the right with the basketballs. The line at the top and the one on the left side of the floor are passing one ball between them and then the girl at the top cuts through and gets a ball from the girl in the line on the right and does a lay-up. The girl from the left side gets the rebound and everyone rotates positions. Then we run it from the other side of the floor. When I do this drill, I make sure I do my lay-ups fast and I try and do different finishes so I can get ready for anything in the game.

7:19pm→ we do our shooting drill, where there are two lines, one on the baseline on the right side and the other at the top on the left side. Everyone has a ball except for one girl who starts the drill. She cuts to the short corner from the baseline, gets a ball and takes a shot and then the girl who passed to her cuts to the elbow for a shot. This continues and we gradually get further and further from the hoop until our three-point shooters are shooting threes and everyone else is at the extent of their range. Then we do it from the other side of the floor. When I do this drill, I make sure that I’ve hit a shot from a closer spot before moving to behind the three-point line. If I don’t do this, it makes me feel like I’m not going to hit any shots, whether they’re close in or far out, so I have to make sure that I don’t feel like that before a game. I focus on my form, especially my arc and holding my follow-through and make sure I can see the front of the rim before I release the ball, to help me with my accuracy.

7:22pm→ we start 3 on 2, where there are three lines on the baseline and two girls start on defense. The three girls on the baseline do a weave and then they play 3 on 2. The two defenders and whoever takes the shot on offense go off and the other two girls stay on defense for the next group. I really try and focus on my defense when we do this drill because it’s the only time I get to warm up this part of my game and I can control completely how hard I want to work on D. I also try and drive to the hoop when I’m on offense because it creates easier shots, especially when you have a one player advantage on offense.

7:27pm→ we shoot our foul shots and every girl takes one shot. We all go through our unique routines before shooting and relax before taking a shot. I do my simple routine of spinning the ball then taking one light dribble with my right hand and make sure I focus just on the hoop and the one shot that I am about to take.
 
7:29pm→ after our warm-up we have a team huddle to give our own opinions on how we think we need to play...I can’t say exactly what we say though because that’s a Royals’ secret. Then we go to the bench and quickly review with the coaches how we want to play. Right before the game starts, I take off my blue QK wristband and remember to play with ‘No Regrets’.

7:30pm→ tip-off

POST-GAME

8:45pm→ shake hands with our opponent and meet in the locker room to talk about how we played, if we achieved our goals or what we need to do to get them next time. Sometimes, we achieved our goals but think we could have done an even better job at them and so we talk about what we could do to make that happen, whether it’s something for a specific group of people (ex. the guards looking into the post more) or for the whole team (ex. talking more on defense).

9:00pm→ go home and ice anything that needs icing, stretch and eat something small that will refuel my body but that won’t take too long to digest. Shower and watch some TV to relax, then I go to bed.

Allison Patterson

January 28, 2010

On Wednesday, January 27 we had a chance to spend time with the Simon Fraser University Women’s Basketball team. This opportunity was a time to talk to the girls, learn about what they do, and then think about what we want to do in the future.

Leaving school early, we head up to SFU for an adventure we did not know much about. When we arrived we watched a video on the different sports teams at the university. Shortly after, we were assigned with a basketball girl who was to be our “big buddy” for the afternoon. I had Anna Carosfeld as my mentor. The rest of the girls had their mentors including Lisa Tindle, Brittany Fraser, Carly Graham, Katie Miyazaki, and a couple of the other Clan members which were there for a little bit. We then went to the gym to play an “icebreaker” game.  After a couple of rounds of two games called horse and tip we set off to ask questions and explore the campus.

We were all awe-inspired as we walked with these girls around SFU. For a lot of us, they were celebrity names, which we have just watched them play games against other university teams. To have a chance to ask questions about their schedule, university, and other topics of interest was a big deal. We bonded with the team quickly sharing points of interest such as what we like at school, if we plan to play for a university team, and our daily schedules. We told them about our lucky experience to be a part of the academy and they told us how fortunate we are to be able to play out our passion every afternoon.

On the tour we saw many different sections of a university that we have not seen before. We saw lecture rooms, class rooms, science labs, cafeterias, book stores, the library, their locker room, and other highlights of the premise which they were eager to show us. The science lab was filled with all sorts of chemicals, bottles, and machines we would have never dreamed of. It’s such a different atmosphere but definitely one to look forward for in the future.

Of course the highlight of our trip was not what we saw but the time spent with these remarkable players. They were all enthusiastic and interested in what we had to say. I never once had the impression that they wanted to be somewhere else or had something better to do. At the very end of our tour we watched the women’s practice. It was really good to see because the level of play is so much higher, quicker, and stronger than high school. It was really engaging to watch the work ethic and competition within the practice. Everyone was always trying to outwork the player next to them. 

At the end of the day, going to SFU was a great experience. All of the players we got to meet tour with were great!

Allison Patterson

January 18, 2010

It’s finally 2010! The Winter Olympics are around the corner and a hopefully a positive change to our economy. For us academy girls it is yet another year to train hard and develop our basketball skills. It is now that winter session at academy and we are holding it back a notch so we are not too tired for our school teams. We are still doing the regular routine of level ten twice a week and basketball practice three times but it is more relaxed to insure we are at the top of our game for school practice and games.

At academy we have been doing lot’s of shooting trying to get repetitions in so it is second nature. During Christmas break we had optional shooting whenever we would like which kept us in shape. A different concept we have been working on this past couple weeks is visualization and game preparation. Jaime and Thomas have showed us different ways to relax and get prepared for the game. We learned how to imagine different situations in a game, making the two winning free throws, to focusing our images and mind on to what we are about to do in practice. We spend about 5-10 minutes near the end of practice to do this. It allows us to relax and get prepared for the school game we have later that night or further in the week.
           
During practice we have had the opportunity to work on shots on the court where we believe that we shoot the most from. We shoot for a minute with a partner who rebounds for you and then switch. It allows you to get the most shots off to refine that zone on the court.
           
At Level 10 we are still going hard to increase strength and fitness. Glenn has been really busy lately with some of us injured and he has given us exercises to fix what hurts and knows exactly how to stretch a certain spot so the pain will disappear.
           
A couple personal goals I have for myself for 2010 are: to become quicker with my foot speed, keep practicing to be mentally tough, and eating more and finding the right foods before playing a basketball game. I think if I improve these areas in my game, it will help tremendously. I will achieve them through the help and guidance of my coaches and dedication to the game.
           
There is a lot to look forward to in this upcoming year. All of our school basketball teams have a chance to go really far this season in provincials and many tournaments. The Argyle senior team and Handsworth senior team have the Centennial Top Ten Tournament starting on January 14th-16th. The Handsworth Junior team has the Handsworth Junior Top 10 Tournament on the 21-22. We have North Shore Playoffs and league games all coming up with this busy month of basketball. It’s a chance to apply what we have learnt in 3D in a game situation.

2010 looks to be an promising year of great basketball and improvement!

Jaime Hills

January 7, 2010

So far I have enjoyed the academy a lot and I think that it has helped us a lot with our games. What I like the most is that I can spend the afternoons with my friends and still improve my game every day. Another thing that’s great is that we don’t just do basketball practices. We work on other things that are going to directly affect how we play. This includes going to Level 10 twice a week and doing video sessions. When we go to Level 10 we are working with Glenn who helps us with our strength, conditioning and agility. This is something that I think is really helping my game because it helps me play the game at the speed that I want to. We have also started doing video sessions, where we watch one of our previous games and critique our teammates and ourselves so we can know not only what we need to work on but also what we have managed to improve in the last 4 months. It is really great to be able to see ourselves play because we can actually see what it is that our coaches are talking about when they tell us to dribble with our heads up or get better rebounding positioning. Finally, we just recently started doing visualization techniques where we work on relaxing and picturing ourselves playing a game. I think this is a really great thing to learn how to do because it helps to get yourself thinking about what you need to do before a game and also so you can be relaxed before you start your game. Even though we only started this on Thursday it must have worked for Claire seeing as she hit the game-winning three point shot in her game that night.

One of my favorite parts of the academy is what we do to give back to basketball. In the fall we went to the Strathcona Community Centre on the downtown eastside every Saturday morning for an hour to coach kids in grades 1-5. This was an incredible experience because we got to work with these kids who have had a childhood completely different from ours but with one similar aspect: basketball. We got the opportunity to work with amazing people like John Prescott (Rock Basketball) and Ron Suzuki (Strathcona Community Centre) to make that hour the best part of those kids’ weeks. We got to teach the kids simple things like shooting, dribbling and lay-ups and we got to see them improve every week. Words cannot explain how great it feels to see these kids learning things we learnt at their age and knowing that the smiles on their faces are a result of basketball.

Although 3D is the basketball academy, it’s much more than just basketball.

Allison Patterson

December 14, 2009

It’s been about a month since Jaime and I were chosen to be part of the Handsworth Senior Team. It was a big honor and a large change from last year. I fully believe that without the 3D Academy I would not have made the team. After being forced to have two months off this summer due to stress fractures I was not mentally or physically prepared for the upcoming season. The Academy started off slowly, reminding me of the basics and built to a standard and competition that got get me prepared to play with the best at senior.

Our senior team started off strong winning the Byrne Creek tournament. The level of play was high as we played top 10 teams such as Mouat, Maple Ridge, and York House. During the games I noticed some of the things that were repeated over and over at 3D basketball showed up in my game. For example the mid-range jump shot, free throws, keeping the ball high when finishing, and patience all showed up in my game. 3D built a confidence into my routine that allowed me to compete with finesse and assurance.

Every Wednesday night, with coach Shaun McGuiness, and Saturday morning, with Alex Devlin, I got the opportunity to practice with some great senior players. This gave us a time to practice our skills at a game pace level and against tougher, stronger competition. The Level 10 training also helped our development a lot. It gave us that extra strength to keep up with the older girls and to stay injury free!

During the season between 3D Academy and the senior team we are playing a ton of basketball! Sometimes instead of going to the gym to work-out, we have a video session. We watch a game previously recorded and write down notes on what worked well and what didn’t. I found watching this video very important to improve my game. I think it was equivalent to the amount of knowledge I would have learned practicing, as I could visually see what I needed to improve. Not only did I learn that I have terrible posture but I learned different ways to position myself better, to box out stronger, and other small points about my game to make a big difference.

We were in groups of 2 or 3 while watching the video. We watched their videos too so we could learn from their mistakes and try to do what they were really good at. Thomas and Ramin were there to give us guidance on what to improve.

After Ramin, Jamie, and Thomas attended our games at the Byrne Creek tournament they saw different things we needed to work on and included it into our practices at the Academy before our next tournament, HSBC. HSBC is a prestigious tournament which many people come out to watch. It was very exciting to be in it for the first time. Again we played some excellent teams such as Centennial, Elgin Park, and Riverside to earn the gold medal. Not only had the 3D Academy physically prepared us for the battles within the tournaments but mentally too. Our coaches are all very positive and are always willing to help and give advice on what to do. Without their hard work and effort we would of not been able to achieve what we have.

I am so happy to see that the hard work that I have put in to practices is really starting to pay off!

Allison Patterson

November 27, 2009

For the past three months, six girls, including myself, have trained at 3D Basketball’s Elite Development Academy. Every day, we get off school at lunch to go pursue our passion: basketball. It’s something we all look forward to everyday because we know that we will get to compete, work hard and improve our game with the best coaches around. 

On Mondays and Wednesdays we go to Level 10 to do our strength and conditioning workout. Our trainer Glenn works with us on strength, speed, and helps us sort through our injuries. Our session starts with a warm-up consisting of biking, rolling, stretching, and squats. Once we are feeling ready to go, we get started on our program. This program has everything to help us become stronger to compete with older, tougher competition. Glenn goes over what each exercise is beforehand so we can move to each activity without getting confused. Some examples of these include front squats, back squats, medicine ball throws and scoops, box jumps, lunges and so many more! It never gets boring because it varies from each day to week. After completing our exercises there is daily cool down and post work activities.  We have two days that we go as a group to Level 10 and a third time on our own if our schedule allows it.  Glenn is one of the most understanding trainers. As teenage girls, we love to complain about every bump, bruise, scratch, and strain. Glenn has never told us to be quiet and always works with us to find the source of the pain and how to solve it. He is basically a physiotherapist, trainer, and mother all in one!

Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays are the basketball days. We train at a local gym close to our high schools. At the gym Thomas, Jamie, and Ramin coach us. They are all excellent coaches and it’s so great to have them work with us. Since there are only 6 players we tend to get a ton of attention. They give us lots of reminders such as “Keep your eyes up”, “Shot-pocket”, “Hold your follow-through and “Go harder!”
Each practice varies and builds from one to the other. Every practice is about developing our individual skills. We don’t work on team plays but rather work on concepts that will help us with our team. I don’t think we would be as successful if we didn’t have these coaches. All of them spend individual time with us and help us work through our drills.

Early on, most of our time was spent on getting us back into shape and prepping us for our upcoming season. Some of us had been off for a while so we had to work on getting our shot form back as well as our dribbling, and generally getting back into the swing of playing basketball again. My favourite part of practice is playing one on one or sometimes two on two. It’s great to put what we learned in practice and apply it to our actual game. The level of competition in our academy is very high, we all want each other to get better and we all hate losing, even if it is at practice.

Another great experience is when guest coaches come. It gives us a chance to see what they are looking for in players and we can see how other coaches conduct practices. So far we have had Bruce Langford (Simon Fraser University coach) and Deb Huband (University of British Columbia coach) come to the Academy. Langford gave us inspiration, spoke about ways to become mentally tough and how we can take our game to the next level. Huband ran us through a practice and gave us ideas on what to improve on in our individual games. Both coaches gave us valuable points that will help us with our future training.

We went down to Seattle for the Halloween Hoot Tournament in October. It was a great bonding experience and a fun break from the regular routine. We played exceptionally well and it showed how much we had improved in the last month and a half. We ended up second in a hard fought battle in the Championship final.

We love going to the Academy every day for the friendships we have formed. All of us are really good friends and love seeing each other day in and day out! It gives us a chance to advance our game and work towards our aspiration. It’s the BEST imaginable school class ever!

Jaime Hills

November 20, 2009

This September marked the beginning of the 3D Elite Development Academy. It is a program for athletes to practice basketball and participate in strength and conditioning training to help their games. Here is an introduction to the six athletes that are a part of this new program.

ELISA HOMER: Elisa is in grade 9 at Handsworth this year and she is playing for the Gold Junior Team. She started playing basketball when she was in grade 3 and started with 3D in grade 4. As a player her biggest strengths are her shooting and her deceptiveness. She can make her defender believe that she is going one way and then in the blink of an eye she’s gone the other. For a 14-year-old basketball player her shot is something that lots of people wish to have but don’t have the drive and passion to get. She is also a very good communicator on the court; whether it is on defense or offense you can always hear her. She is a great friend; she can listen to problems and not say a word but still be supportive. She can make you laugh on your worst days and she can make fun of you so much that you feel like family. Something that people might not know about Elisa is that she was a competitive figure skater for 8 years.

ABBY DIXON: Abby is in grade 9 at Handsworth and she is playing for the Gold Junior Team. She started playing basketball when she was in grade 5 and started with 3D in grade 6. Abby is a great shooter, has exceptional speed and knows how to run the floor. This is an amazing thing to have in a teammate because as soon as the rebound is in our possession, she is down the other end of the floor for an open lay-up. She has amazing hustle and is very driven to find success. Both of these qualities have helped her to become a very successful player. She is the youngest of us and she loves to eat Nutella and always manages to get some stuck on her teeth. Something that people might not know about Abby is that she likes to paint.

CLAIRE ELLIOTT: Claire is in grade 9 at Argyle and she is playing for the Senior Team. Claire is very good at driving to the hoop and finding different ways to finish when she gets there. Even though she is not the biggest girl on the floor, she plays with them, often having to check posts, and still manages to dominate. She has an amazingly positive attitude and is able to keep her teammates with the same mindset. She has the ability to make any situation a funny one, sometimes by dribbling in practice with her head or making a comment totally out of the blue. Something that people might not know about Claire is that she likes to take ice baths.

ALI PATTERSON: Ali is in grade 10 at Handsworth and she is playing on the Senior Team. Ali is great at using her height to her advantage and she is very strong in the post. Not only that, but she is a great shooter. She can hit 3’s if she has to or she can shoot a hook shot inside the paint for what she makes looks like an easy two points. Until you get to know her she is quiet, but once you get to know her she makes you laugh almost every second you are talking to her. She likes to eat oatmeal and tell us about her experiences climbing into her window when she forgets her key. Something that people might not know about Ali is that she can lick her nose and she has double-jointed elbows.

DIANA LEE: What can I say about Diana Lee? She is in grade 12 this year at Handsworth and has been playing on the senior team since she was in grade 9. She started playing with 3D in grade 6. She is incredibly quick and deceptive, she’s a great shooter, she can drive to the hoop, she can set up her teammates for easy points and she is an amazing defender. She is an all around great player. She has made me feel welcome on her team this year and she is a very helpful leader. Just recently Diana signed to play basketball at Boise State University in 2010. Something that people may not know about Diana is that she has a brother (Derek) that is playing division one hockey at Wisconsin.

JAIME HILLS: I am in grade 10 at Handsworth and I am playing on the Senior Team. I started playing basketball when I was in grade 4 and started with 3D in grade 5. Something that people might not know about me is that when I was little and people asked me my name I answered Mavis.