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!!!!