About: Taylor

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http://newriveracademy.org
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Hi Everyone, I'm Taylor Cote. I live in Suwanee, Georgia which is really close to a Southeastern creeking favorite, Tallulah Gorge. I have been kayaking for about 6 years now and just started playboating earlier this spring. I really got into paddling after my first kayaking camp with Nantahala Outdoor Center that while ago. I also got started thanks to Anna Levesque and her Girls at Play program. Another strong force in helping my kayaking excel was Juliet Kastorff and her crew at Endless River Adventures. This summer I went to Ottawa Kayak School and got to finally be a Keener on the Ottawa River. I'm sponsored by Wavesport, Werner Paddles, and Kokatat. When I'm not paddling I enjoy mountain biking, road biking, and mountaineering with my dad. I'm excited to be attending New River Academy again this year and I hope you all stay posted for more blog posts to come.

Posts by Taylor Cote:

    Author Archive

    Leading Lines

    Tuesday, May 4th, 2010

    This past photo assignment we were able to choose what we wanted to do. It was hard to pick just one topic. Eventually, I decided to work with leading lines. There were many good examples of this all around us here at Keenerville. It definitely a fun assignment to pick what we wanted to do. It was also super cool to see what others decided to take pictures of and what they had decided their assignment was. Hope you enjoy!

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    Creative Writing Poem

    Tuesday, April 27th, 2010

    In creative writing class, we watched an inspiring video about the Haitian people. After we finished the video Callie proceeded to tell me to write a poem about everything. Of course, after watching something of that magnitude it was easy. So, here’s what I came up with. Enjoy!

    The Haitian people already struggling for a good life, they didn’t need strife and then Mother Nature it seemed out of spite planned to smite this poor island nation who’s freed of plantations,
    The quake planned to break everything in its powerful wake leaving destruction and the crumblings of what used to be, Haitians began to cry for the world to see, they couldn’t even hold their economy,
    The death toll was staggering, women, children, and men their was no exception, I doubt they had any conceptions that a tragedy such as this would squish many hopes and dreams so quick-ily,
    The mass confusion, leading to stores having no more,
    The hospitals packed to the brim trying to save many without any supplies or equipment leaving many to suffer through the pain while they remained,
    The weak government shocked and helpless to do anything but watch as their country cries out in pain but all they can do is hide their face in shame

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    NRA Goes on a Field Trip!

    Tuesday, April 27th, 2010

    The first school day we were here in Canada, we had our first NRA field trip! It was so excited traveling into Ottawa City to visit the science and technology museum there. It was full of many items made in Canada and information about space/ technology in general. They had a section about different sports such as lacrosse and hockey. The hockey exhibit had one of the first hockey masked ever used and it was pretty scary looking. I don’t think I would ever trust my face to be protected by that piece of plastic. A few other exhibits had a bunch of model ships and a life size train created in Canada. My favorite exhibit had to be the space section in the museum because that topic really interests me. In that section they had a life-size Canada-arm which was an amazing sight to see. The Canada-arm is used on space shuttles and International Space Station. They use it to aid in docking, repairing broken items on the exterior, and even astronauts can be strapped to them during repairs of the exterior. They also showed Canada’s first satellite which was only up in space for 4 years. All the other information in the space section told mostly about achievements of the United States and our shuttle missions. Another cool thing we got to experience was a constellation dome. It was an interactive exhibit where all the constellations were shined up on the ceiling of blow-up dome and we were told all about them. We were shown where the Big and Little Dipper was and even more complex constellations such as Orion and his dog. I think that might have been the coolest part of the museum. Another fun thing in the museum we saw in the museum was the room that slanted sideways to show optical illusions. It was really interested reaching the end of the room and walking in a normal hallway again. You wanted to walk like you were still on that slanted plane. So as you can see, we had a pretty awesome day at the science and technology museum.

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    Wave Wrangling at the NOC-Shoot Out

    Thursday, April 22nd, 2010

    This past weekend the school stayed at the Nantahala Outdoor Center, where most people in the southeast begin their boating journey. However, of course, we were there for a different reason. We were there to train our little hearts out and be ready for the competition NOC would be holding. Everyone worked extremely hard and had an amazing week on that fun little wave/hole. The event was really exciting; watching and competing with my friends was pretty awesome. It was fun to cheer them on and watch them nail that cartwheel or spin at the last second. So, here are my pictures of this amazing event we were able to experience. Enjoy~!

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    Abstract: Up Close and Personal

    Wednesday, April 14th, 2010

    For our first photo assignment of the quarter, we were shown a few funny looking photos and told to guess what our next assignment was. At first we were all quite confused, but of course the genius that Matti Hill is, he guessed it, abstract. We needed to take abstract photos consisting of: man-made, light, color, nature, and texture. It was a pretty fun assignment a lot of things involved getting up close and personal to the items or distorting the item all together to get the desired effect. For my nature photo, I even had to set up a bunch of leaves in many rows to get what I wanted. It’s pretty cool how when you actually get up close to many things/items they can look take on a whole different look. All in all I really liked this assignment, It was a really fun one. The best part was seeing what everyone had found and gotten interesting pictures of.

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    Our Trip to Choshuenco

    Friday, February 12th, 2010

    We just arrived back in Pucon from our last destination, Choshuenco. It was a very small town with a lovely little beach and lake we would paddle across after our day of paddling. The days we would run in the mornings were always quite funny you would pass almost everyone at least once because of how few streets there were in it. The people who were hosting us were absolutely delightful. They were so caring and offered us any help we needed. They also cooked us some pretty yummy dishes. They even made everyone’s favorite American dish one night, Pizza!
    The river we had there was amazing, it offered many different types of paddling with varying classes. The Upper Fuy consisted of more waterfalls and boofs. The Middle and Lower Fuy however had amazing playboating and wave filled rapids good for working on downriver moves, such as kickflips and wave wheels. We also had Billy Harris with us this whole time and he was a great wealth of knowledge, everyday he would make sure we were boofing up a storm. He was super helpful with little tips to help improve your boating.

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    A Special Night in the Quincho

    Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

    Listen to the people yelling dinner is ready. Scurry over to the glowing, leafy haven of the quincho. Pick out a good seat next to a friend and some colorful grub. Chat away about the going-on’s of the day. Look out, as Lorena places more scrumptious food on the table. Inhale all the aromas wafting around you. Smell the roasting pork and beef on the crackling fire. Hear the ooh’s and aah’s of the marvelous feast. Hold up the ginormous sphere of bread that is bigger than your face. Munch on the tomato-y mixture of the pico de gallo. Glance around at your big, crazy, smiling family. Comment on something you find absolutely absurd. Let yourself laugh joyfully with everyone else who got the most recent joke. Join the chorus of “thank-you’s” to Dave and Lorena. Watch the embers of the once-large fire sparkle in the coming darkness. Grab your dirty dish to clean off in the sink. Wait in line behind the other five people who decided to do the same. Help out with the rest of the dirty dishes. Walk back to the cabins; chill out and watch the newest downloaded movie. Sigh happily; another amazing day at the best school around.

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    A Journey Through Words-Part 1

    Tuesday, December 1st, 2009

    In Pichilemu, Melina read some of Pablo Neruda’s work. It made us both feel as though we were swimming in the deep blue of words. So as always, we became inspired. This creative writing assignment consists of writing  ”quotes” to correspond to a picture. The “quotes” were trying to bring out as much feeling and emotion as Neruda did. I hope you enjoy this set.

    Innocence

    “The blissfulness in the virgin child’s eyes are the gateways to the heavens themselves, they alone we need to cherish in the darkness” – Taylor Cote

    Freedom

    “As we flee from the notorious and accelerate our mind into the concealed, our embodiment ceases to imprison us down to the bondages of man” – Taylor Cote

    Fearless

    “Then the steam proceeded to rise up and envelop all that was holy and ethical leaving merely the valiant paladin to uncover the way to the revelation” -Taylor Cote

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    Snapshots!

    Friday, November 27th, 2009

    While we have been in the magical place of the Achiebueno, the creative writing class was inspired. The beauty captivated us to do an activity called “snapshots”. This is where for 5 minutes straight you write about a certain topic. All our topics have to do with the things around this location. The focus was more on figurative language and less on complete sentences. Enjoy!

    Essence of Achiebueno

    Perpetual blueness from the icey waters…alive icecubes…the cozy, earthy abode…smell of wood all around…a forest that once was…the long journey from the tahoe to our downy sleeping bags…trying on the mind…surrounded by jungle we become one of the colorful animals within…around the fire we crowd…cavemen once again…

    The River

    The atmosphere on earth…all the blue so teasing with it innocent lightness…nipping at my boat and blade…around the stone giants…hide and seek between them, careful not to get stepped on or flip while dodging…the excitement fleeing from my face replaced with amazement and adoration…the giant bumblebees flapping and cawing wildly above us as we bop down another mine field…

    Fire and Light

    The uncaged beast smoldering, hiding for his next strike on another lifeless log…greed and sloth encompass his existence…the beam of the glow eats away at the darkness only though where a glance may be placed, those few seconds the demons scurry to another ominous corner only to return when the gaze is gone…

    The Sky

    Racing each other to see the next beautiful vista…as if they haven’t seen it a hundred times before but they have the same excitement and love they have had for centuries for their mother…playfully tiptoeing over the mountain peaks then the dash to be the first to the next set…irritating the sun when they cover his proud gleam when people cannot enjoy and adore him any longer…galloping horses without masters, untamed yet know the way and have the keenest sense of direction…to be in Pegasus’ likeness, their aspiring dream…fleeting to our eyes never the same powdery blob…swirling and twirling a snowy ballroom dance…how it can turn angry in seconds and weep its sorrows on its mother, a poor child…

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    Achiebueno Update

    Friday, November 27th, 2009

    “And then they were off again, marching into the distance with the sense of adventure burning in their eyes”

    This holiday week we spent going back to our roots, to the simple things in life. To get to this place we had to travel on the bumpiest road imaginable. I don’t even know how we made it that far by car. The rawr of the motor pushing the van over another large rock, romping down the road until we finally reached the point we couldn’t go any further. We all groggily hopped out of the car and proceeded to hike a mile to reach our new temporary home. Many animals (cows, goats, and sheep) greeting us with their bleating cries as we walked past.

    When we finally got inside it was as if we had stepped back years in time. A fire, and now our spirits keep the place warm. The whole place was constructed by the hands of a determined man. It feels as if you have walked into a wooden palace, with all the round logs for us to marvel at. A few sparse lights come on when the sun goes back into hiding. The murmur of the generator outside will be heard when this happens. Time to charge up those computers!

    Our dinner is almost already for us around this time too, the wonderful aromas spreading throughout the whole lodge. One of the things we all love most about our meals is the fresh bread. It is all prepared by hand and then cooked under a fire, instead of our traditional oven. After dinner we all flop onto the beds around the large fire and play cards, tell stories, and work on our homework. I definitely think being here has brought us closer together. Now we’re even having Thanksgiving together; we’re like a giant family. I think we’re all very thankful for all the gifts and everything we’ve been given, especially the gift of attending a school as cool as this.

    The river here is quite mind blowing, it seems as if everywhere we travel I see a different color blue and each is equally as beautiful. The water color here is a nice minty blue most likely because it was snowmelt only a few hours ago. Which means the water is definitely very cold, but the river is so worth having that nip on your nose for a couple of hours. The Achiebueno has large granite rocks throughout complementing the water color. It’s so fun twisting and turning through the boulder fields, finding new lines each time we run it.

    As you can see, we’re in another spectacular place and this one suites the Thanksgiving holiday. I wish you all a Happy Turkey Day!

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New River Academy
Rt. 2 Box 245
Fayetteville, WV 25484
(304)- 574-0403
Fax: (304) 513-2247
New River Academy

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