Life

I am officially a San Francisco State Gator. It's pretty intense. I'm going to be living in my own apartment in San Francisco and be studying as a journalism major in only a couple of months. It's really scary and really exciting, but I think I will have alot of fun in the city.

I.
Am.
So.
Excited.
To.
LEAVE.
Rocklin.

I have no time to blog.

I have to finish my print story in like, 15 minutes, pick out my classes for college today, and work, and get all my stuff together for the next week, and i have no time to do anything.


goodbye!

Herro!!

I have been sick for 2 weeks. At first, i got laryngitis which resulted in a bacterial ear infection...yay right? I can't hear! and I've been late pretty much this whole week. Basically, I haven't done much in school lately. AND I'm kinda bummed the senior trip was postponed till next Friday, but boy am i excited for senior ball. All i need to do is find some earrings and I'm pretty much set. I want these last few weeks of school to go by fast, but i realized i should sit back and enjoy them because I'll be missing them later. I kind of regret not going on the choir trip, since I've gone the past 2 years it seemed weird not to go. But I've changed a lot this year and my best friend who i did choir with went on independent study, so i guess it just wasn't the same without her. Oh and who else thinks Kris should have been eliminated rather than Matt on American Idol last night? Sorry had to add that in. Well i have to get to writing now, :/ bye!

CST Testing

I can't wait to be a senior next year. Of course there are many reasons I desire such standing on campus, but this week I have been reminded of just another reason that I am coming down with senioritis. Seniors do not have to take the California State Standards tests. I have never really cared about this testing yet it has still managed to haunt me and stress me out throughout the majority of my memorable life.
Although I am still not a fan of the testing, this year I have found some practical application the test offers juniors. I do not know where I will be going to college, however I know that attending a CSU is an option for me. On the junior year of CST testing something is offered called the EAP, or the Early Assesment Program. By taking an additional essay and two small sections of multiple choice questions I may be exempt from some testing I would otherwise have to take upon my entrance to a CSU for placement in my entry level courses. This could save me some of the hassle and stress I would have otherwise encountered next year. Hmmm...who knew CST testing could be useful?

Whoa

Did not know it was our week to blog.... still don't know that it is. Im just doing it to be safe. Sky High in Sac is better than in Rocklin or in Roseville, so go to Sacramento from now on when your looking to bounce. In the first day of the NFL Draft, Miami got CB Vontae Davis, QB Pat White, and some other biggin at CB. I wanna see how they work White into the Wild Cat offense. Anyway, can't wait until graduation of course. Im thinking of sprinting off of the field when it ends, god Im pumped just thinking about it. I think Im the only senior that is starting college in the Spring semester next year. I don't know what I will do when every one else moves during the Summer, Ima be stuck until January. Im just ready to hoop it up all day at UK with Coach Calipari. Im going to Popeyes chicken right now and I will tell you how it is. 

SENIORS: caps/gowns

That SENIOR CLASS meeting we had on Wed. obviously gave out those and a lot of senior information. In regards to the caps and gowns…ya I didn’t order them. Honestly, I don’t understand why our high school doesn’t just rent them out. Or hold extras for those who just can’t afford to spend the money on something we’re going to wear for like, two hours. I can totally understand buying a college one, but buying our high school cap and gowns…it just costs too much for me. But that’s just my opinion. Unfortunately, my older sister is about five inches taller than me, so I found an alumni around my height to let me borrow theirs which was very nice and convenient. So aside from the fact that senior year is making me broke and I don’t have a dime to my name for college, I’m just looking forward for it to be over so I can get a job, pay for school, jump into my future career and live my life.

I don't know what to blog about!

There's nothing really going on with me this week, yet I'm still busy? During lunches all this week have been our specialty dances for the dance show though, so that probably makes it seem much busier!
I'm so excited. The two specialties I'm doing are a hip hop mix and Free Fallin by John Mayer. They look really good so far and I can't wait for people to see them! All of the dances look good so far actually, or at least from what I've heard from other classes and what our class has done. The dance 2 3 and 4 show is actually seperate from dance 1 for the first time, so it should be interesting to see the difference in turn out for two different shows. And dance 1 actually has a completely different them, "Colors", which is songs with different colors in them, while ours is "Covered", so remade songs, which is really cool because there's so many songs that I had no idea were even remade! Like we're doing Kanye West's "Stronger" and David Cook remade "Billy Jean" and Tina Turner's "Proud Mary". It should be really fun and the songs are totally varied, even a song from Chicago! I hope everyone gets excited for it, I know I am :)

Hello Everyone!

Hi, my name is Shilpa Amalkanti. I'm a Freshmen and next year I'll be in J2 so Mr. Nichols sent those of us who are continuing on in Journalism blog invitations. I just wanted to post this blog to introduce myself (and because Emily really wanted me to start blogging so she could comment). So my introduction is pretty short but I prefer to communicate with people in person, especially if I am meeting them for the first time. I guess I'll just meet you all next year then.

Weather

The weather this week has been so weird. On Monday it was in the 90s and I was in the pool swimming. Now today, Friday, its raining. It has been so hard to choose what to wear this week. Plus with the school dress code so ridiculous and unfair, the days when it has been hot have been even harder to dress for. Anything I wear that is dresscode approved I'm hot in. I wish our dresscode was a little more lenient when it came to the warm weather. I want it to be hot out because then it means it is closer to summer. I love when its hot because I can swim and tan. I guess the rain is a good thing before it gets permanently hot and humid for summertime.

Informal Introduction

Hi everyone!

My name is Emily Brooks. I am a freshman in J1 and I'm going to be in J2 next year. Woohoo!

I used to comment all the time on your blogs so you might have seen me before. I'm also Justin's sister so you might know me through him as well.

I'm super excited to finally be here. I like getting up in the morning and going to RHS, because it is one of the few things that makes me feel like I'm doing something productive. I'm sad summer is coming but I like to have a positive attitude anyway because that makes life so much easier. :)

I am also trying to be more outgoing and not so quiet/mute. So if you know who I am feel free to come up and say hi.

JURY DUTY

So less than a week away from my 19th birthday, I received a letter in the mail. My bank has been sending a lot of junk lately so I assumed it was another offer. My dad started to laugh while he was watching me open it. I didn’t even read the envelope which would have given it away, but my dad decided to because I was taking too long.
"You’ve got jury duty!"
I started to laugh with him, during my first year of being an adult, I actually got jury duty. Honestly I’m really excited. But unfortunately I can’t miss ANY more school or else I won’t graduate…so I’m checking the "90 day postpone".
Oh and I guess you only get paid $15 bucks a day after the first day…I couldn’t imagine taking work off and still paying the bills if I’m only making like 15 a day…terrible.
But aside from that, I’m pretty excited to be an "active citizen" haha.

Tests!Tests!Tests! And More Tests!

The next 2 weeks for me are going to be filled with tests!

All next week we have CST testing. Not that big of a deal but it is still going to be a pain to have to take.

Then on sunday May 3, I am taking the SAT Subject Test. Lots of fun there. I get to spend my sunday in a classroom. At least, i won't have to take a test on math this time but UGH i'm sick of the SAT and ACT.

That Friday May 8, I have one of the most important tests that I will take all year. The APUSH Exam! I get to see if i wasted the entire year doing outlines and studying or if i can pull it off one more time in the big end of the year test. I'm so scared about getting an essay prompt that I have no idea what the subject is about.

After that i'll be sailing pretty smoothly through the rest of the school year. And i'm still ultra-excited about getting my braces off. May 28!

The End

Today is our senior class meeting... which means we get our cap and gown and sign up for walking partners! That's really exciting...but at the same time kinda scary. School seems to be getting more and more stressful. Thank goodness I dont need to be passing stats to go to six flags. Honestly I have no idea why I took that class senior year, it's definitely ruining my last year here.

Rachel Getting Married

"Rachel Getting Married" is a grating film about family issues and discontent. Anne Hathaway was nominated for the Oscars Best Actress for her role as Rachel's sister. Going into the movie, I thought at first that Hathaway played Rachel, because you would think that the main character would be the one getting married.
This was an incorrect assumption however, and one that the script writer wanted the audience to make. Anne Hathaway is atcually Rachel's sister who is getting out of Rehab. for her sister's wedding.
You sence the family discord when she first asks to borrow the car and is turned down by her father. It is then that we can guess that she went to rehab for drunk driving. The rest I will leave for you to watch (I hate Spoilers).
Watching the movie, I concentrated mostly on seeing why the academy would nominate Anne Hathaway for an Oscar for this movie. Normally I'm not a huge3 fan of the actress who go t her start in "Princess Diaries", so I was a skeptic at first.
Her character is sinical and biting. Her one-liners are harsh and hysterical. But more inmportantly she is the protagnoist. As such the movie centers her, to the frustration of her usually calm sister. Rachel's wedding is at times overshadowed by her sister's arrival and old temptations and issues. Anne Hathaway does an excellent job at being once hated by the audience but then pitied and even liked. I found myself identifying with her more and more even though I had never been in her position (which I think is the test of a true actress).
She blended well with the film's hectic-indie feel and the movie shows off a Hathaway that can play someone outside of a teenage princess. Her performance is gritty and difficult to watch but stunning.

The Park Bench

I'm back. For the past two weeks we've been at school (excluding Spring Break in between) my life has been completely dominated by theatre. First, I had the spring play, Appointment with Death, which was my first major role in the production at Rocklin, and then I had my One Person show this past Wednesday.
One Person Shows. This is the cumulative final for every graduating theatre student. It is our chance to put on our own full-blown 30 minute production. We star, write, direct, cast, design every aspect of our show. I never thought I would be able to write my own play, but I managed to do it and even though I went through phases where I hated my show and was stressed about what everyone would think.
We get one dress rehearsal in the afternoon on the day of our show. It was nerve-wracking because during the rehearsal, there were some serious line flubs and pauses. The other person in my cast and I could both feel the unease between the both of us. So after all the rehearsals, we ran through my show, ran through lines.
And then it was time.
I WAS SO HAPPY. I wanted to cry it went so well. Even though there were line mess-ups (as with any show) we each became our characters and just fed off of each other's energy. The audience was laughing and engaged and I got so many compliments. I felt like I couldn't have ended my theatre experience in a better way.
On the flip side, now I have to catch up with everything else in my life....

Welcome back to me... Hah.

Awesome Spring Break

I had an awesome spring break! Yay! For the past two years I've gone to Mexico over spring break (well actually last year I went the week before break) on a mission trip with my church. This year was a little different though. Three weeks before we were going to leave, violence in mexico had escalated to the area where my church was going to be serving and we had to cancel. Turned out a church in Fresno was looking for exactly what my church was going to be doing in Mexico so we ended up going there instead. My team went to a low income housing apartment complex in Fresno and put on a kids camp there. I had an awesome time bonding with the kids and my team and sharing with them how God loves them and his life changing power. My life was changed too, I got to know some awesome people, and i will never forget the experience. I'm so thankful for the way God worked in me and through me and my church there!

Since college seems to be theme for the latest posts, I would really like to talk about my new school BYU-Provo! But, unfortunately, I'm still stuck in the stress of high school with SADIES WEEK.
So...I guess I'll just write about that.
Let me start off by saying that this is my LAST week of responsibilities of ASB while that is totally sad in a sense, I couldn't be more relieved. I can't wait until 2:36 pm on Friday when the rally is over and I can sit back and forget about all of the logistics of a rally, lunctime games, dress up days, etc.
Because of all of the stress it forces me to ask why...why do we do lunchtime games? Why do we ask people to dress up in insane outfits? Why do we pack the entire school into a gym and ask them to scream for solely their class?
I'd like to think it's the memories, the experiences that happen, and the relationships that are formed during this week. Girls will dress up together and have fun on these days, while the boys who do the lunchtime games will never forget the fun they had or their 15 seconds of fame.
The loss of sleep, the stress, the crazy rants; they will all be worth it walking out of the gym on Friday. Can't wait.

Busiest Time of the School Year

This week has been a very busy week for me, and with all the activities going on at RHS. Today we have the ASB elections, tomorrow the rally and Sadies Dance. CSTs are in less than 2 weeks and SATs and AP tests also coming up in May. For me, this time of year just becomes more busy every year, and it is pretty stressful, but I will be so really once it hits June. I will probably have a load of work and studying up until June, with last-minute projects and assignments. High school is going by so fast and before I know it, I will be a senior, and then I will graduate. But for now, I am just trying to make sure I do not get caught up with what will happen in the future and just think more about right now.

this year is winding down.

Today is Thursday April 16th. Already. In one month, I will be done with all my APs and basically the year. This entire year has been really draining, and I'm glad it will be over, but on the downside, all the seniors will be gone :(
It's weird that my class will be the seniors in a couple months, because as a kid seniors seemed soooo old, and I don't feel that old. We're about to be thrown out into the real world, and I'm stressing a little more than usual.
But on the upside, Sadies is tomorrow! I'm excited to see how this "blackout" sadies is going to work, but it's a change that will be fun.
Spring Break was amazing; very busy but still, not going to school can't be bad. I went to a Britney Spears concert. Yeah... I went to a Britney Spears concert. So not my scene at all, mainly because i didn't even want to go, but my sister and her roommates bought me a ticket, so why not? it's a show. And it was a really really good show! The Pussycat Dolls were really good, slutty as usual, but Nicole the lead singer is sooooo gooooood, much better than the radio. And the Circus theme was very entertaining, and Britney made a very good comeback! I was expecting her to be wasted or run off stage like at the VMAs and the rumor of what happened in Canada, but she was consistent the entire time, danced almost the entire time, and changed outfits like 20 times. I really liked the show, which surprises me the most.
6 more weeks! :)

Results

Hello!

I am officially a BRUIN! March was probably the most stressful month for me...and now that I know where I'm heading, it feels great. I'm going to attend a beautiful school, I'm rooming with one of my best friends, and I'm going to have FUN.

The way my college results turned out..well..let's just say that I am still stuck/unsure:

Waitlisted to Stanford, Harvard, Yale, Columbia, and Brown
Denied to Cornell

I had to commit to one school, and I chose UCLA over UC Berkeley. For the next four years of my life, I want to be sure that I could live the full college experience...and I feel that UCLA is the place where I can experience everything.

I'm feeling great! If Stanford, Harvard, or Yale take me off their waitlists..well, I'd have to reconsider my options. At the present moment, I'm just glad that I know I'm going somewhere:)

Visiting my future life.

This past weekend, I had the privilege of giving my possible future life a test run.
I have a friend who is currently a freshman at UC Santa Cruz, and I've dreamt of attending this university since my sophomore year at RHS. I've been accepted, but am still nervous about committing to attend. So my friend, Shira, decided to let me stay with her for a weekend in her dorm, to give me a sample of the college life I would potentially be living.
It was the most liberating experience... I didn't want to leave.
She was so excited for my coming that she planned out several tours of the separate themed colleges, so I would have an easier time choosing. There are 10 very different colleges that a student can be associated with when they go to UC Santa Cruz. The colleges not only determine location and architecture of dormitories, but also what "core" class the freshman student must take their first quarter at UCSC.
So these tours she most carefully planned for me were indispensible when it came to being clear about what I wanted my first year. And they gave me an advantage when it came to the selection process: I got to speak to various students from the different colleges about their experiences... what they liked, hated, or would do differently.
And it succeeded in its purpose.
For a weekend, I forgot about RHS and pretended to be a student at UCSC, like I actually will be in the fall. And I fit in just perfectly.
I'm ecstatic about my choice, and can't wait for this seismic shift in my life to take place.
So now to tackle these last weeks as a Senior...

As Iowa Goes...

Today the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that the law banning same sex marriage was against the equal protection clause within the Iowa State Constitution. The Court therefore legalized gay marriage with a unanimous vote! I was stunned when I saw the story on CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/04/03/iowa.same.sex/index.html.

Love: 1 Hate:0

Anonymous Friend

Lately, I've been running low on money and it has been majorly stressing me out. I had to apply for housing at both San Francisco State and University of Oregon. It cost $90 and left me with $8 left in my bank account. Then, my batteries for my graphing calculator died. I spent $6 on batteries, which is a complete outrage if you ask me. So I was left with $2. Not to mention I had been driving around for days with my gas light on, a constant reminder I might get stranded anywhere I go. It was quite a precarious situation since I had no real options. I mentioned it during break yesterday to a few friends, saying how I was kinda stressed. I didn't really think anything of it. Then after school yesterday, I came home to an envelope on my doorstep. All it said was "Alexis Coopersmith". I opened it and there was $40 in cash in it. No note, no name, nothing. Just $40. I was super shocked, and couldn't believe that someone I know was so thoughtful and selfless to do something like that. I still don't know who left it there, and it's been driving me insane. But to whoever left it there, thank you so much. I wish I knew who you were so I could give you a hug. That was one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me. It wasn't even the money that made me happy, but the idea of someone being so incredible and such a good friend and not even getting credit for it made my entire day. To my mysterious best friend, you're amazing for helping me like that. Thank you. :)

spring is in the air :)

Spring is one of my favorite seasons, besides fall. I love all the pretty colors, the nice weather, the fashion.. :). Everything seems to be going by so slowly right now. Spring is the only thing i can enjoy right now. I'm anxious for graduation and senior ball, i want it to happen already but at the same time i don't. I think everyone is feeling that way right now. I'm ready for the last print issue to be over. I'm tired of homework and studying. Summer is going to be amazing...minus the blazing sun. I wish spring weather was summer weather too, that would be perfect. Spring break will be just what i need, I'm hoping I'll find a senior ball dress sometime during the week, I've been freaking out about getting one. I really want something beautiful and unique. Over spring break i want to go to San Francisco and fly kites and walk along the water..mmmmm! Oh and get a tan too. I need one of those.

I <3 SPRING.

AP study time!

It's only just now starting to occur to me that we only have a month until all those AP tests. All my classes are exiting learning mode and entering review mode. Calc has been done, we've been getting lots of worksheets and review material, the homework in chem is now starting to focus on stuff we learned back in first semester, and we're about to take the final US test, right after break. It's really annoying, because right as the weather gets to be super nice, I have to start working all that much harder. But, at least its almost over, after May 12th I think, I'm pretty much done, and that's definitely a fun thought. Although, I did just realize that my Calc test is on the same day as the premier of the new Star Trek movie, and that makes me sad, I will have to miss epic space combat for not-so-epic related rates. I know I could just go after the test, but given how calc has gone so far this year, there is a decent chance that I will be way to sad to go see a movie.

blahblahblahblah.

I don't really have too much to say.

I mentally checked out of this place a loooooooooooooong time ago.

and now that its nice outside, its even harder to sit through my classes.

spring fever + senioritis = Julie's grades sucking.

That is all.