Bon Voyage.. In a way.

So I've decided to do my final blog after all of the senior send-offs and everything... I just want to say that the last four years that I've had in Journalism have been absolutley amazing. I've gotten to know Mr. Nichols so well (especially since he had my sister before me) and that I've also gotten to make a lot of friends in this class, along with the way to write a news story.

This class has by far been my favorite throughout the year, and I will definitley be visiting Nichols next year. Hopefully I'll see some of you new juniors and seniors! :)

Have a great summer, everyone.

Emotions

In two weeks, we will be alone in our thoughts. There will be no school to entertain us. Or distract us. We will be forced to face whatever we have been pushing in the back of our minds all year. Change. Will it be different? Yes. Will it be hard? Of course. Will there be ways to make things work? If you want to. If something is worth it, there is a way to keep it in your life. Don't run from change. It will fix nothing. Be brave. And do not act irrationally. Face the change. Make it work for you and those that matter the most to you.

Pretty Picture of the Day: A mandarin duck! http://www.rampantscotland.com/colour/supplement080329.htm

Well there's only a few more days of the school year and this is possibly my last blog of the year.

On another note though, I found this cool website called help.com. It is where these people form all around the world can post big or small problems and others try to help them. It is like a forum. I looked over some of the questions, and I can't say that they have the most reliable answers, but it is still pretty interesting, even though it is kind of a waste of time.

Anyway, I've been thinking a lot on how much I love nature. That's why I posted the duck picture. It's so beautiful! We took a walk on the donner trail the other day in aerobic walking and it was so nice and serene. It would be amazing to go to a secluded place where there are no buildings or people. I really would like to go visit the Redwood trees and hike up there this summer. And someday I would like to go to the Amazon and hike down there. : )

18!

Today I turned 18! Of course everyone always wonders if it feels any different to be legal than it did yesterday. This is a typical question everyone seems to be bombarded with no matter what age they are, but 18 seems to be an extra special day. To answer the question I would have to say that it does feel different. I think what makes it feel this way is that I have the mentality that my world was just given the potential to be a whole lot bigger. It's the fact that I KNOW things could change if I chose for them to. What really makes me feel old though is the fact that my sister is going into eighth grade next year and my "little" cousin is going to be a freshman. It has always seemed that I am so much bigger and older than them and that they couldn't realate to things that I was going through, and now that will definitley be a change as they age. Hopefully this year is full of good things, fun, and surprises!
Ps: I was looking through my baby pictures the other night: my dad looks the same! Now that is quite an accomplishment :)

Rubber Band Creativity

I just found this article about a bunch of ways to use a rubber band. I actually might consider doing some of these things sometime. The ideas that I thought were most useful were:

-wrapping the band around the lid of a jar in order to open it more easily
-folding it to create an eraser
-to grip your shampoo and conditioner so that it doesn't slip out of your hands in the shower
-to slow down the browning process of an apple

Here is the article if you want to see all of them:

http://shine.yahoo.com/event/haven/a-dozen-ways-to-stretch-out-a-rubber-band-you-might-not-have-guessed-1425920/

Anyway, kind of random, but useful.

The time has come

It finally has been slowing down to a end for school. This week has been so stressful with all the test but finally its almost over! It doesn't even feel like schools almost over with the weather. Its almost june and its still cloudy and rainy, i want sunshine! Im looking forward for summer so much. Im already planning many trips with my family and friends. I really looking forward to go down to San Diego to visit the colleges and of course the beaches to get a feel what it is like there since im trying to move there next year when i graduate. Hopefully this summer will be a good one and go by sloww!

Blah Blah Blah

No, not the Kesha song. It's the phrase that is going through my mind right now, as I look at this pile of homework in front of me. I really should be doing this, but I'm not. Not yet at least. Is it just me, or did the teachers save all of the most stressful projects to do at the end of the year? I have an essay due, a creative writing piece to start, a math final exam coming up, a science exam, another science exam, a huge history presentation, and a piano recital.....All in the next 11 days. Great. Shoot me now.
The only thing i can think is that "In less than 2 weeks, it'll be over". Thank god. But really. Are the teacher's even going to look at these projects? On top of that, I have club activites, and a super scary interview for an officer position in Multicultural. This weekend, I'm going with 2 other memberse of Multicultural to a party for a major sponsor of ours. They gave us a 1000 for Multicultural week...I think we have to talk about what we did, except I don't think I can remember that far back. It was a couple months ago...Right?
It seems like these last two weeks are going to be 10x more intense than the rest of the year was. On top of that, I haven't got a good 8-hour night's sleep in who knows how long. But there will be plenty of time for sleeping over the summer. But I know that once I get into the routine of sleeping all day, and doing whatever I want whenever, I'm going to miss school. I'll definitely miss my friends, and I probably even miss class.....Well, no point predicting the future, right? It's homework time.

AP TESTS

THEY ARE DONE! I am so glad that AP Tests are done. This year I felt way underprepared... I mean I studied for my tests plenty, but last year for my AP World History test, our class began to study pretty much during Spring Break. This year I started studying the week of the tests so I don't know how that will go.
Something else that is bothering me is the fact that the first day I come back to one of my AP classes, my teacher gave the class 4 projects. 4. That's ridiculous. The point of an AP Class is to prepare one for the AP test, so when that is over shouldn't students already know everything they were supposed to learn that year? What's the point of testing a student's knowledge with 4 projects if their knowledge was just tested on a huge freaking exam. Meanwhile coming back to AP Calc AB wasn't to bad because I understand the new things we are learning are preparing the juniors for Calc BC next year so we might as well start now.
Whatever I'm just glad that the stress that AP exams provide is over... at least for another year.

It's been too long.

Wow it has been forever since I have blogged... and I am blaming the fact that the school bans blogger.com. I mean sure there are other reasons why I havent blogged in forever but that is the main one. The blocks at school are dumb in my opinion. Everyone knows ways around them. I look around in any of my classes that have computers and at least 1 person is on facebook.
I mean don't get me wrong I understand why they are up in the cases of blatently innappropriate websites, but what is wrong with games if the teacher says we can play? Many teachers just don't care if you play games if you are on time with your work or you have finished everything that needs to be done. Plus websites that provide other entertainment are blocked or severely altered such as failblog.org.
I think its the amount of websites blocked is just ridiculous.

It's just a number

"Don't let a number define you." - Mr. O'Donnell.

I won't let a number define me. I stressed for weeks about this test. I've taken it. It's over, and I did the best I could. That's all that matters, but all year, this is what it all came down to. The FINAL EXAM. The AP TEST.

That's what it seems school is all about now - the test. How well a student understands the material from the school board's standards. Yes, tests are important. Yes, it pushes us to learn and apply the information, but after the test, it seems as if you forget everything.

However, for AP world, it's different. I'm now just starting to realize how much I've learned and gained from taking this class. All year I've wished I'd never taken it, and I've complained about what a waste of time outlining and reading a book I couldn't even understand was. But once I stepped out of the testing center, this rush of satisfaction and accomplishment came over me. I know the history of the world.

The radio, newspapers, television, books,etc. Everywhere and everything refrences to what I've learned in that class. I look at the world on a new intellectual level with a new understanding.

So I won't let a number define me. I don't care what College Board tells me. You passed, you failed... Whatever,whatever the outcome, nothing changes the fact that I have 10,000 years of history drilled into my brain, and I'm not planning on forgetting it. Thanks O'D.

Tagged

Ouch. We got hit BAD. Really bad. So did Whitney, apparently, so at least we're not alone in our pain. I mean, who is stupid enough to do this? It's pointless, it's illegal, you will be caught, and everyone will be laughing at your stupidity when you do get caught. How funny will it be when you're paying for the crime? It'll be funny to me for sure, watching you pay for the vandalism that you thought was just so cool. Pathetic.

Advanced Placement. Bleh

So I have my first ever AP test on Thurday: AP World History. I'm pretty nervous but I'm thinking I'll probably pass. The thing is that this whole time that's been my goal, just to pass. But after talking to my older brother I'm realizing that just passing isn't too impressive to colleges, cuz its kinda like getting a C. Oh well, I'll just have to settle for a 3 for now because that's pretty much the score I set myself up for. I'm just really nervous for next year because I signed up for 3 AP classes: Calculus, Spanish, and Chemistry. I can't imagine how much more pressure these couple weeks would be with 2 more tests to stress about. I was considering taking on AP US on top of those, but now im really glad I decided to stick with just 3. Wish me luck for my test on Thursday and rest assured that I'll be cramming every last possible moment until then!

May blues

It seems May is the cruelest month in RHS journalism and publications.

Clearly, Journalism students have lost their drive to blog. No posts in more than a week. The teacher best start cracking down.

Rocklin High is AP HELL. After a week off for testing, seniors are now AWOL because of AP tests. Why not just shut the school down? And sophomores are juniors are getting more into it.

Don't have answers, just venting.

I am excited about next year and even beyond. Journalism in general is such a fascinating field right now. Growing so fast, and so many ways to report. I see big changes coming to the whole Communications Department next year.

Suggest you read the linked article.