If one was to see the Cremer family, they would notice an ordinary family that loves to swim for fun and for competition; however, people do not notice the challenges and hardships they have to overcome in their daily lives.
Their family consists of four brothers and two sisters: Alex Cremer, Josie, Cory, Toby, and Ana.
Their whole family loves to swim. Alex swam in high school, and Josie and Cory are following his lead by pursuing the sport as well.
“All together, including summer league and high school league, I have been swimming for about four years,” sophomore Cory said.
Cory swims distance events such as the 200 and the 500 meter.
“My favorite event to swim is the 500. It is also the event I am personally the best at,” Cory said.
The siblings in the Cremer family grew up swimming together and eventually formed close bonds with one another as well as strong passions for the sport.
“My older brother is the one who got me interested in swimming competitively,” Cory said.
Josie loved swimming too, but something was different when she swam versus when her brothers swam. She would get very easily exhausted.
“[Josie] gets exhausted very easily and has trouble keeping up with us sometimes,” Cory said.
The family soon found out Josie had had heart problems. Her brothers helped her throughout her hard times when she was struggling the most, and when she needed someone to boost her morale.
“She has heart problems that sometimes hold her back when she swims, and as a brother, it is hard to watch her struggle like that when you know there isn’t much you can do to help her. I fully support her and am by her side the whole way,” Cory said.
These heart problems were critical and she would need to have multiple surgeries.
“She has had four open-heart surgeries so far, and it is very scary every time she goes into one because she was expected to not make it through them all,” Cory said.
Although times can be hard for Josie and her family, everyone, especially Cory, is still very encouraging and helpful.
“When she gets good times, it makes me excited to know that she is actually doing good. It’s also very heartwarming that the coaches are helping her and pushing her to her full potential, and to get better despite her setbacks,” Cory said.
Her family enjoys seeing her do what she loves and watching her strive to be the best she can be.
“It makes me happy that she is able to push through her challenges and overcome them for herself,” Cory said.
The entire swim team is supportive of Josie and loves watching her succeed. They cheer her on during each of her events and encourage her to do the best she can.
“When she is able to push through her hardships and do better than she has before and even better than she had last year, it’s really great for her and the team. It helps the rest of the team because everyone cheers for her and then everyone gets excited and ready for their own races, so they do better and have more confidence,” Cory said.
Josie loves the family vibe that she gets from all of her friends and coaches, and that is her favorite thing about swimming.
“What I like the most about swimming is when we have pasta parties and can come together like the big family that we are,” junior Josie said.
People who do know Josie and the challenges she has had to overcome are all inspired by her will to strive to the top and not let her problems get in the way of her favorite thing to do: swim.
Cory said, “she has inspired me to always do the very best that I can. She is also a constant reminder that I should never give up no matter how hard things may get.”

     YouTube has been around for over ten years; before it was a format to publish cat videos, but now it is producing stars with millions of fans and followers.

      In the past years, YouTube has been the breakthrough from the Internet into the world of celebrities. Many having endorsers and clothes lines, like beauty guru Bethany Mota. Some even have makeup and beauty lines like Zoella, an English beauty guru. Others are endorsed by different companies that offer free and discounted items for the subscribers.

     YouTube has become so much more than making videos and placing them on the Internet: now, there is an annual convention called Vidcon. Vidcon was first held in 2011 and has grown into one of the biggest media events held in the country. People from all over the world travel to California to attend the event and meet many different internet famous celebrities. This year’s Vidcon is being held in Anaheim, California on June 23-25.

    Vidcon holds many different panels with different Youtubers who have become popular, where they answer questions asked by fans in the crowd and give speeches about various topics. There are also panels in which they perform skits and play games or challenges alongside other Youtubers.

     Youtubers have not only caught attention on social media but have made their way into the publishing industry and even onto the big screen. Recently the Youtubers with millions of subscribers have begun to publish autobiographies, novels and activity books based on their lives and rise to fame. Popular Youtubers including Shane Dawson, Joey Graceffa and Tyler Oakley have published autobiographies about their struggles in life and how they got to where they are today. Many of the books have appeared on the New York Times bestseller list for multiple weeks.

    Others have chosen to write other forms of literature. English Youtuber Joe Sugg published the graphic novel, titled “User Name: Evie,” along with gamer PewDIePie who published “this book loves you,” which is a book filled with inspirational quotes. There are many different books written by dozens of Youtubers. These books are available in stores everywhere.

     Tyler Oakley has also broken a boundary from computer screen to big screen with his very first full length documentary “Snervous.” According to Snervous.com the film follows Tyler on his sold out international tour. “Snervous” gives deeper insight to his world of friends, family and inspiring others to be themselves through his documentary. “Snervous” is available now on iTunes, Vudu, Google play and Vimeo.

      “Team Internet” is breaking its boundaries of a computer screen and spreading into the big world of entertainment. They are spreading into Tv, like the Fine brothers and Grace Helbig, film and even into print. One day there will not be internet celebrities and film/tv stars: there will be one form of fame that spreads through all forms of industry. As long as people are in the public view, there will always be unlikely stars.

Photo courtesy of Flickr