INPUT ARTICLE: Article: Laker Girls are expected to have at least eight years of dancing experience. While this is not a requirement, it is recommended by organizers. Try ballet, jazz, modern, and hip hop dance classes. Your dance routines during the Laker Girls audition could include any of these types of dance, so you should know the basic moves in each of these styles. You need to be in good shape to be a Laker Girl, so frequent cardio workouts are necessary to maintain your physical stamina and body shape. Spend at least thirty minutes doing a vigorous activity like running, kickboxing, swimming, or any type of upbeat dance. Aim to workout four or five days a week, then bump it up to six in the weeks leading up to auditions. Try a special workout class like barre, which combines aspects of ballet, yoga, and pilates for a full-body, high-energy workout. Don’t starve yourself. Your body needs some fats and carbs to have the energy to perform, so don’t cut these things out of your diet entirely. Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, but also eat healthy protein like turkey sausage and eggs, healthy carbs like granola and whole wheat pasta, and healthy fats like almonds and avocado.  A dancer's diet should be about 55-60% carbs, 12-15% protein, and 20-30% fat.  Aim for about 50 calories for every 2.2 pounds (1 kilogram) that you weigh. Give your metabolism a boost by eating five small meals or snacks a day rather than two or three large meals. Healthy snack ideas include veggies and hummus, hard-boiled eggs, and Greek yogurt. If you make it past the first few rounds of cuts, you’ll perform a solo for the judges. Have this choreography ready and polished before you arrive. If you’re having trouble coming up with something, listen to several songs and pick the one that inspires you the most. Then just dance along to it several times, letting the music move you. After a while, you’ll begin to associate certain movements with certain parts of the music. Keep your dance choreography down to a few minutes at most. Try to blend dance styles to show that you’re versatile. Include leaps and turns to show off your skills, and try to make it fun and upbeat to match the type of dancing the Laker Girls normally do. Laker Girls know all kinds of dance styles, but most of what you’ll see them do is upbeat jazz. They may perform complicated footwork with quick transitions, leaps, and pirouettes. Watch videos of them performing on Youtube or on the Lakers’ website so you can become familiar with their particular style of dance.

SUMMARY: Attend a variety of dance classes. Do cardio workouts four or five times a week. Eat a balanced diet. Prepare a solo dance. Research the Laker Girls’ dance style.


INPUT ARTICLE: Article: You may feel disappointed, sad, or even rejected. These are all perfectly normal feelings to have. They may last for a little while, but they will fade. Express your sadness in healthy ways. Let yourself be upset and even cry. Let it out, and then promise yourself to let it go.  Don’t tell a bunch of friends, though. For example, don’t text your friends about what your crush said or did today. Kids sometimes tease other kids who have crushes.  Try writing down your thoughts in a journal at home, and/or listening to music. You may want to choose one best friend who you really trust to keep a secret. Whoever you choose to talk to about your crush, when you are done venting, ask that person to stop you if you start talking about your crush after you decided to let it go. Your parents are adults and their judgment is fully developed. You can trust and confide in them more than you can trust your classmates, because your parents are more mature and want you to live well. Help them to relate to what you’re going through.  Try saying, “Can you hear me out and be nonjudgmental? I would like someone to talk to.” Ask something like, “What mistakes did you make as tweens and teenagers?” and “What did you learn?” This will help remind them of what they went through and how they felt at your age. If they can’t think of any mistakes, try asking something else to open up the conversation, like, “How  about any funny stories from when you were my about my age?”  Try asking, “Who was your first crush?” Ask what your limits are when it comes to socializing with guys outside of school hours. It might not matter if your crush doesn’t like you back, if you’re not allowed to date yet. Try not to get mad or defensive at your parents’ answers – remember that are guiding you out of love. Try asking, “Am I allowed to go to the movies with a group of friends that includes a guy? Am I allowed to go on one-on-one dates?” Middle school relationships usually last just a few weeks. Think about this: imagine that he did like you, and you got your hopes up, only to be broken up with twelve days later. That would have be bad for your self-esteem!  You won’t have to deal with peer pressure to do anything you’re not ready for yet.  When you break up with someone in middle school, you still have to see them in class, which can be very uncomfortable.  You aren’t really ready for a relationship yet. Your mind and body are still growing, and so are your classmates. If a guy approaches you and says that he likes you and wants to date you, try saying, “Thanks for thinking of me, but I need to focus on my studies.”

SUMMARY: Realize that your feelings are normal. Vent. Talk to your parents about it. Ask your parents about dating. Be glad it didn’t work out.


INPUT ARTICLE: Article: This is a free tool called Online Convert, which you can use to convert a WordPerfect document (and various other types of files) to the Microsoft Word .docx format. There are many different options for file converters online. If you don't want to use this one, you can search for "WPD to DOCX converter." The steps on other converters should be similar. It's in the green box at the center of the screen. This uploads the file to the converter. It's below the green box. The file will now be converted. Once the process is complete, a download button will appear. Depending on your computer, the Save or Save As window may automatically pop up. It's the green button under the "Your converted file" header.  The converted file will now download to your computer.

SUMMARY:
Go to https://document.online-convert.com/convert-to-docx in a web browser. Click Choose Files. Select the WordPerfect document and click Open. Click Start conversion. Click Download if the Save window didn't appear. Open the folder to which you want to save your file. Click Save.