Holy shit, it's been a long time since my last update on my life. Exactly three months since the last full update! So much has happened since then, I can't even remember all of it. I'll try my best, though.
First off, let's talk about school. Overall, it ended on a pretty good note. I ended up passing all of my finals and finished junior year with all As, which puts me in a nice position for senior year. I also led a research project regarding SAT enrollments at my school for the math department, which was a nice way to apply the stuff I learned in AP Stats, one of my favorite classes and possible future major, this year. Only bad thing was that my graphic calculator stolen during a lab final, which sucks because of its price and the fact that I had a ton of programs I wrote on there. However, my sister did give me hers and a friend gave me a TI-92 he got for free, so that makes up for it.
Next is what I've done my senior-year summer. On the day school ended, I hung out with my ex just around town and at a party. We're great friends, and I still love her, but she's going to move out of state and I just don't know how everything will be once she's gone– especially since she's the one who introduced me to all of these great clubs and people that I've had so much fun in. After that, I ended up taking the ACT and going to Santa Barbara to see my sister's graduation, and spent the rest of the week relaxing. In the weeks following that, I've done some volunteering at the county fair, went to forensics camp/class, and hung out with a few people.
As to my summer science internship situation, it looks like that I've been rejected from every program I've applied to this year– which is more than I can count, or care to remember at this point. The only science-y related things I did get accepted to were a summer extension program for my biotechnology class, an environmental science summer camp, and volunteering in science booths at the fair. I guess I'm not too broken up about it; I'm not wealthy enough to afford those $5000+ summer programs on the other side of the nation, and I don't have the skills or experience to get accepted into the <10% acceptance-rate internships– the majority of which are the programs I applied to.
I have learned quite a few things from these rejections, and from the people I've met so far. First thing is that while I can write a college-level research report, I cannot write an essay about myself, which are the types of essays required for internship and college apps. I've been told that I write too casually, which I'm sure you can tell if you're reading this right now.
The second thing is that even without these internships, I'll be just fine. I'm not as rich or privileged as the people I know who are going to Yale or Stanford for pre-college programs, but I still have more than I thought. Talking to the people at my forensics class taught me that; the things that people at my school scoff at– like community colleges and CSUs– are the Harvards and UC Berkeleys of other schools. Now, while I admit that seeing my friends get accepted into prestigious programs and get the internships I wish I had makes me feel a bit jealous and disappointed of myself, meeting these other students makes me grateful for what I have.
Thirdly, teaching people at the county fair has made me see that everyone is capable of learning and accepting new ideas; they just have different ways of understanding it, and you have to be able to accommodate for that. Even though someone doesn't look or sound intelligent, they can still have a deep appreciation for the work others do and the knowledge they can offer. Oh, and also, it's not too hard to meet people and make friends. All you have to do is just talk and listen.
Finally, from my bus driver to the forensics class, Michael, who I met only a week before he had to transfer routes: just be happy, because every day is a blessing. What he said is a bit cliched, I admit, but he's right. Sure, some days are bad, and that's a given, but there's something new every day and that's the beauty in life– you just have to look for it. His words mainly, by the way.
So, what's in store for the future? Well, tomorrow, I'm going to have my last shift volunteering at a science booth at the county fair, and the day after that, I'll be volunteering with the Uhuru/African socialist movement at SF pride. I don't necessarily agree with their beliefs, but it'll be interesting and a nice experience to prepare for African American Literature and another possible major, African American Studies. Then, I continue with my last week of forensics class, and I'll have to figure out what to do in July. Probably more volunteering, along with that summer camp and other classes.
I also have a bit of summer homework to get through, in order to prepare for AP Chem, Comp Civics, and AP Gov/Macro. I think my plan to get through those and improve my own skills is to read 25 pages of any novel, 25 pages of a required book and/or 1 chapter from a textbook, and write 1 thing, either school-related or just one of these posts each day. I'll try to do a lot of the writing by hand so my handwriting is at least legible. My goal is to finish everything before August, so I can spend the few weeks before school studying for tests. Senior year is going to be a pain in terms of amount of work, but who knows? Hopefully it'll be super fun.
Also, since I haven't updated on this yet, here's my almost-finalized schedule for this year. It's not yet sure because I'll need to wait until Registration, but here it is, after 3 revisions:
AP Chemistry, AP Government/Macroeconomics, AP English Literature, Competition Civics, Photography 1, and African American Literature.
It might be a while before my next tea review since I'm a bit poor; all of my money is going to BART and the buses, I'm out of work for now, and I've had a few large expenses recently, so I think I'll be saving for a while. I might have some tea I haven't reviewed yet, but I'll check into that. If not, I'll probably be posting some other filler posts, like recipes or analyses of stuff or creative writing. Thanks for reading.
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