Midnight Volleyball

Every night at midnight, a group of strangers meet together and play volleyball under the stars.

Brian Wood, a freshman here at Eastern Michigan University, had been asked by his roommate one night to give him and his lady friend some time alone. Not knowing many people, Brian found himself wandering around campus in the cold night air, trying to find something to entertain himself with. As he passed the student center, he heard the sound of laughter and cheering coming from on top of the hill.

As he rounded the crest, he saw a group of 12 individuals all gathered around the net, playing armature volleyball. As he watched he saw a young man, Hemant Persuad, jump up and try to spike the sand-covered ball, only to accidentally hit it into the net on his own side. Rather than being chastised for this though, once he landed his teammates approached him with a "Good try," and "Nice effort".

Later, Persaud would tell Brian "No one remembers who started it, and no one is really the leader or anything like that. We just start to show up and people eventually join us."

The group has started playing with as few as 2 people per side, but it is not uncommon to see eight or nine players on the same team.

Brian recalls the first time he stepped onto the court, feeling the cold sand between his toes and the adrenaline in his blood, and asked, "Do you guys mind of I join?"

"They just pointed at a spot and said, 'You're there. You any good?' I told them I wasn't, and they just smiled and said that was good, because neither were they."

As the weather gets colder, the members say they are looking to find an alternative place to play, since it will be hard to play in the snow.

The group wants to make sure that everyone who wants to play knows that they are welcome, regardless of skill. "The more players," Brian added, "the better."

Welcome to Nick's blog

Hello everyone. My name is Nick, and I want to be the next R. L. Stein. I hope to write a book series for children that get them excited to read, much like the Goosebumps books series did for me when I was a child. I remember waiting each month for the newest book to arrive at my local store. My friends and I would trade for the ones we couldn't find and stay up at night talking about them. Being able to provide that same sense of excitement for the next generation would be incredibility.

Ideally, the series I would like to write would concentrate on a topic that doesn't get much attention in most of the Western society, yet is one of the most popular genres in the Eastern world. The Three Kingdoms, a traumatic period of war and deceit in ancient China, is much like the Oriental version of our King Arthur. Everyone throughout Asia has heard the tales and knows the stories, but extremely few are aware of the historical events. I have done some professional writing on this topic, such as biographies and detailed battle reports, but what I am aspiring to do is to write a monthly publication that goes through the history, but written for children.

I know that becoming a famous fiction writer takes as much luck as it does skill, so I am trying to broaden my net, so to speak. I hope that by getting a degree in Written Communication, I will become qualified for many "real" jobs while I continue to work towards getting my children's books written and published. Journalism jobs, technical writing, academic journals.... I see all of these as potential ways to make money while I am trying to break into the business of fictional writing. I don't feel that a degree in creative writing is necessary. If you can write what people want to read, then they will read it regardless of your title or degree.