Thrilling Thursday

School today was awesome!!

In math, we had a quiz over logarithms -- which I don't particularly love, but the quiz was actually pretty easy! I finished mine early, and got to read until the end of the class.

In language arts, we had a small-group "Socratic seminar". My friends Emilia, Ameena, and Kaci all teamed up with me. We asked each other questions that we had formed about chapters 27-29 of "To Kill A Mockingbird." (I've finished the book already... and it is amazing!!! I can't wait for the sequel -- go Harper Lee!) While we worked, Kaci tried this new hairstyle from Pinterest on me. It looked really pretty, so I left it in. :)

At lunch, my friend Jake (from State Farm) asked me if I wanted to go to Barnes and Noble with him on Saturday! We both love the same books and authors, and I've just recently finished the second book of an AMAZING trilogy that he recommended to me. When I got home from school today, I asked my mom, and she said that I can maybe go... she has to talk to my dad about it. But I'm feeling optimistic!

In chemistry, my class has been reviewing for their Gateway Test all week. I would have been reviewed with them, but there are two problems with that: one, I haven't taken Biology, which is what the Gateway is going to be about this year; and two, I'm only a freshman, so I'm not taking the Gateway! Today, my teacher set up a game to review pretty much every unit of bio: Nutrition, Cell Processes, Genetics, Energy Transformations, and Ecology Changes. At each station, you and the other 3 or 4 members of your team would have exactly seven minutes to write down everything you knew about that particular subject! I asked my teacher, and she said that even though I don't need to review, I could join the review game. I went and joined my friend Lauren's team. I was kind of surprised -- even without taking the course, I knew a lot of the information!! And when we got to the "Cell Processes" station, I started rattling off vocab terms... "mitochondria", "glucose", "ATP", "cellular respiration", etc. Everything that I said was related to the mitochondria (surprise! I know a lot about that!), and I think that we wrote more than any other team!!

In Yearbook, since we've pretty much finished working on the actual yearbook, I just sat in my chair and read a book. I'm currently re-reading "Ender's Game", because it's really good but I've forgotten some of the details/events.

When we got home, I started on my online work. It's not as fun as my on-campus classes, but it's still school! So I can't dislike it, not really.

Yesterday, I actually got ahead in my Health course, so I didn't have to do any work there today. But I did anyways!! Guess who doesn't have to work on Health tomorrow!

In my AP Human Geography class, I've finally caught up on my work. Ever since my last hospital stay, I've been having a little bit of trouble keeping up. But today, I was right on track with the schedule, and only had one assignment! And the one assignment that I had to complete was looking over a PowerPoint about urban development. I finished pretty quickly.

And I didn't have any homework from my on-campus teachers, so I decided to go on and work on my eADAP (electronic Alcohol and Drug Awareness Program) course. This course is required for me to get a driver's license before I turn 18. I got one lesson and a review done in about 20 minutes, and then I was finished with work for today!

So then, I had enough time to log into my blog account and write to you guys while listening to one of my favorite soundtracks. Lindsey Stirling is an incredible musician... I wish I could play violin like her!! If you've never heard of her before, go on YouTube and listen to the song "Shatter Me" (sung by Lindsey Hale). Then, post any thoughts about her musical skills below. I'm counting on you guys!

Did anyone else have a "Thrilling Thursday"? If so, tell me about it in the comments!

Sunny Saturday

Today is the perfect day to go outside!!
My dad has already gone out and washed his car, and now he's working on a construction project. My mom is currently trying to take a nap on the couch, and my sister is away at her "Spanish immersion camp", where she isn't allowed to speak any English for the entire weekend!!
It's all bright and sunny and warm (no more jackets! yay!). My brother and I went outside earlier, and we acted out some of a book that I read the other day. The book is called "Mistborn," and my friend Jake recommended it to me. (And now, I'm recommending it to you!) James and I acted out a lot of the story line... but we gave ourselves different names than in the actual book, and had slightly different personalities. One great thing about us having great imaginations? We were able to make up some really cool -- and weird -- things, and it was a lot of fun!
After we finished pursuing careers as actors, I came inside, while James went and played with his friend.
I'm kind of wishing that it was a little windier outside... the weather would be absolutely perfect for flying a kite!! But hey, at least we got some sun. :)

Free-verse Friday

Hey guys! Today is a "free-verse Friday", so I thought I'd share a poem with you! I initially wrote this one for my Language Arts poetry portfolio. It's about trying to fit in, trying to be "popular". My entire portfolio was school-related; everything I wrote connected to my high school, or school in general. This one just seemed to fit. My teacher's feedback on this poem was, and I quote, "I do not miss being a teenager." That definitely made me laugh -- but yeah, I get what he meant.

Popularity
Popular.

What does that mean?

Is “popularity” simply the number

Of friends? Or does it mean

The brand of clothing

The type of makeup

You wear,

You buy,

The amount of money

You spend?

Is it the grade you make in your classes?

Popular.

What does that mean?

To be “popular”,

Do you have to dress up

Like a Barbie doll:

Pink

And lace

And sparkles?

Is “popularity” how happy you are,

How successful you’ll be,

The number of times that you laugh?

To be popular, must you

Lie, cheat, twist people’s words,

Act kind, but attack as soon as their back is turned?

Is that what we all

Strive for?

Popular.

What does it mean?

Summary Saturday

Hey guys!!
Wow, it's been a while!!!! I have SO much to share with you. Where to begin?

Let's see.... On Feb. 27, I went to the Regional Science Fair! I was totally excited to be there -- it was my first year EVER going to a science fair, and I was at the regionals!!! My project was on handicapped parking, and studying how many people parked there illegally. It was exciting... and nerve-wracking! I was so happy that my friends Ethan, Analisa, and Shelby were also there, because I had no idea what I was doing (neither did they)! Since we were all from the same school, we all had our project displays set up near each other. When the judges came through, I was super nervous, but it went pretty well! At the awards ceremony that night, I was awarded 2nd place for my category, Behavioral and Social Sciences!!!! 2nd wasn't high enough to move on to the state level, but I'm still proud of it. My first science fair, and I got that high of a score from the judges!!
I also made two new friends -- seniors from another school, named Katie and Ryan. Their project display was right next to mine, so we got to chat for three and a half hours while the judging was taking place! They were awesome. :)
We went to these two "breakout sessions" before lunch and the judging started. The first session was actually pretty interesting -- the guest speaker was teaching us about careers that were pharmacy-related. He had actually worked at the CDC, and gone to school for 25 years before that!! (25 years.... that's a long time! I haven't even been alive that long.) The second session was about how to get into good colleges. Did you know that there is only a 5% chance of someone getting into Harvard or Emory? I didn't!
Also, when we were doing this career expo at the fair, I ran into my friend Maddie (short for Madeline), who I met at summer camp! We hadn't seen each other in 2 years, so we had a lot to talk about!!

The other day at school, all the rising sophomores had to pick their electives for next year, and make sure that they were put down for the right core classes, too. I'm going to be taking all gifted classes again. My social studies and science classes are both AP (I only took one AP course this year)!! And I chose, for my electives: newspaper, yearbook, French, and AV Film Tech. I'm super excited!!!

Because I love poetry so much, and I write it all the time at school, one of the LA teachers told me about this poetry contest that was going on. It's called the Poet Laureate Prize. Any highschooler in the state could submit an original poem! The deadline for the contest was yesterday -- and guess when I wrote my poem? Yesterday!! I had been really nervous, and tried to pick the perfect poem that I had written already, but couldn't choose. So instead, I started to write some! It was difficult -- I'd been experiencing some serious writer's block, which is about the worst thing that can happen to a poet! But somehow I managed to start, and finish, my poem so that I could submit it in time. My poem is a free-verse (or spoken-word) poem, so it doesn't really rhyme. It sounds better when you read it out loud, almost just saying it like a paragraph, instead of a poem. I'm pretty proud of this one. It's my first ever spoken-word, and it's called "Hands Wide Open". I'm pasting it right here so you guys can read it!!!!

More often than we know, stars

Fall – fall out of the sky, beautiful streaks

That disappear long before we are ready for them to go.

More often than we know, flowers

Bloom – bloom in the grass, colorful dots

That die and fade long before we are ready for them to go.

Keep this in mind as you travel through life;

Walk through life with your eyes

Wide open – open, looking all around you,

Trying to notice those small occurrences, those examples of

The butterfly effect, shooting stars, blooming flowers.

Walk through life with your arms

Out – arms out, with your hands open,

Trying to catch the fairy dust and glitter that we lose sight of

As we age.

Yes, if you walk through life like that you will

Probably get something in

Your eye, but that’s ok – everyone cries sometimes.

Yes, if you walk through life like that you will

Certainly catch pain, hurt, and blisters, but that’s ok – because

If you don’t reach out in the world, how will anyone else know

That there is someone who cares, someone

Who can help ease their pain?

And if your eyes are closed and your arms tucked in,

You will never see the butterfly effect occurring, you will be invisible to those around you.

Don’t let yourself be the one burning out,

Instead be the one who burns the brightest in

The sky.

Ok, now moving on to another subject. My mom gave me the idea of starting a "vlog" on here, and naming each day. Like, you all know about Throwback Thursday, right? Well, I would do things like Medical Monday, Free-verse Friday, and (like today) Summary Saturday. Whenever anyone comments on my posts, I would respond on a Feedback Friday.

What do you guys think of this? And if you have any ideas for what I can use for some post titles, please post them in the comments!! I would love to hear any of your thoughts/opinions!

Have a great rest of the weekend, guys!!!!