Princeton Interview (Day 136)

So I had my interview today with Greg Conderacci, alumni of Princeton University. It was awesome to be able to talk to someone about the school I have always dreamed of going to and to have the privilege of learning some of the secrets of going to Princeton. It would be incredible to be able to even get accepted into a school that people dream of going to. I learned some tips about college and about the interviewing process. I took a picture of the two of us because Greg was just so funny and personable. It was easy to talk to him and after a couple of minutes, I actually enjoyed myself. So now the waiting process begins and I hope that I have done enough in 4 years to be able to live the American Dream of going to an Ivy League school.  Hopefully, I am going to Princeton because I have decided that if I get accepted, I am going for it. Thank you Mr. Carney and Dona for helping me get through this and AVID 12 for all of their support.

Tests today (Day 135)

I actually get this math stuff ! I am watching American Idol right now and I do not think it can compare to last year’s. Well we had a game today and I still am not sure if we won. I feel like we did because our team is really good this year and we are 3-1 so far. We are 3rd so far in the standings. But hopefully we will be first. I mean I left before I found out whether we actually won. We won the first game and probably the second but I don’t know. I had 3 tests today and I think I did well on all of them except calculus which I am studying now. I hope I can do well because I really need a B second quarter. Really need a B. J

Bowling (Day 134)

I didn’t go to bowling today because my mom is working until like 10 and my Dad has jury duty. I think it would be fun to be on a jury in an actual crime, but my mom keeps saying it isn’t as much fun as it seems. I hardly think that is true and cannot wait until I can go. Anyway, I had to do close to 50 index cards with vocab words on them for Human Geography while watching Criminal Minds in between. Fun fact: Marilyn Monroe’s real name was Norma Jean. I guess that wasn’t sexy enough? I learned it in a song by Elton John called ‘Candle in the wind’ (redone my Lauren Alaina on American Idol).

Free day (Day 133)

Free day! Only not really because I still had to finish my calculus problems (7-75 odd) and research 67 works and define them for Ms. Banister, catch up on my blogs, and memorize the Middle East and African maps and 3 chapters for Human Geography. Oh and study for a final in health, which he told us only like 3 people had ever gotten As on it. I REALLY want to be the fourth. But I am not sure that is going to happen. I have a lot of balls in the air (J) right now and I just need to keep juggling. And hopefully that means getting an A on this dang final. And this is what my shelves look like.

Philly day 2 (Day 132)

"Family"

We went up to Philadelphia for another day of work and we actually worked for like 2 hours today. I was scraping putty off of the floor of this random family’s basement and it was funny because my uncle kept dropping putty and I didn’t realize it until almost 10 minutes. Then, he wiped it on my hand and I had to scrape it off with the metal tool. It was hard work but the place looked much better than when we had gotten there. And speaking of Philly, they have the best Wawa up there. I mean Maryland just got some, but it is always better in Philly. I’m not sure why, but I like it there.

Philly day 1 (Day 131)

This is an old picture...but 5 of the 6 people are the ones that were there today. My dad is gone today on a cruise ship for the John W. Brown and it is just me and my mother until tomorrow. So we are going up to Pennsylvania to help my Uncle Jack do some construction work and hang out with his wife, my Aunt Amanda and my other Uncle Mike while his wife is away at work. It was fun, with the 2 hour car ride through Philly. I mean Philadelphia at night is very pretty but by day it looks like any other large city. I liked today because I cleaned up sawdust for about an hour and then we all went to Applebee’s and had dinner. It is nice to be able to hang out with the family while I am still living with them and not at college yet. I am going to miss that a lot.

Friday the 13th (Day 130)

Happy Friday the 13^th everybody! I hope nobody does anything stupid today or has any major superstition. I don’t. I mean I don’t drop salt because of my OCD problem and I don’t walk under ladders because I am never around any ladders. But still. And I don’t really like cats so I am not around any black ones. But I don’t really know any other superstitions. I also do not go to see scary movies because I don’t like the idea of not being in control of the situation. I always feel like screaming at the poor blonde girl “don’t open that door!” or “turn around!” but unfortunately they never hear me and they always die first. Followed shortly by the one minority in the group as the killer picks off the most vulnerable until there is only one person left when the audience finds out they were somehow involved with the murderer. That is my synopsis of a horror movie and why I don’t leave my house. J

Never Growing up (Day 129)

I need to catch up on my blogs (which I am doing now) and then study for like 4 exams that I have next week. I have a final in health on Tuesday and Thursday and 3 exams on Wednesday all which will determine my grades for the quarter in those classes. So I guess you can say I am now panicking. If I had an exit button right now, I would be repeatedly pushing it. No, I think it would actually be broken. Ugh. Part of me just wants to go to college and forget about high school, but the other part of me knows I will miss everyone desperately. I mean I don’t like change, so that is going to be really hard. I finally got comfortable with my life and now I have to be uprooted and go on to “bigger and better things.” I want to go to Never Never land with Peter Pan. That would be great. Never growing up.

Calculus! (Day 128)

We had a game today at Pikesville and we won. Thankfully. We are actually doing really well this year. It’s good to be winning. During soccer, we actually won, and now we are winning in bowling. If I get to go to regionals again during tennis, this would be the best athletic year in my high school career. That would be awesome. To go out with a bang. We learned about u-substitution in calculus today. I thought since we learned part of it last year in pre-calc, but it is way more daunting in calc. Everything is way more daunting in calculus. We have a quiz next Wednesday and it will determine my grade for the second quarter and I cannot get a C in calculus. I will not get my first C in high school my senior year.

Hunger Games (Day 127)

Unfortunately, I could not go to the Green Turtle today. I really wanted to but there was just so much to do and not enough hours to do them in. Thankfully, I have already finished the Hunger Games and that was an awesome book. I just felt like I could actually see myself in Katniss’ situation and I wouldn’t know what to do. Plus, I actually really like Peeta. I think he would be a great boyfriend for her, but she doesn’t like him like that. So I went to bowling today and I actually did pretty well. We beat both Milford Mill and Hereford. It was nice to win for a change because we lost to Woodlawn yesterday. But they are pretty good. Last year we lost to them during the regular season and then beat them during the Championship game.

Happy Birthday Duker! (Day 126)

Happy 10^th birthday Duke! So today my baby is finally in double digits. So I am going to tell his story. Remember I told Yogi’s story on the first day of the blog? Well its Duke’s turn. We got Duke in 2006 or 2007. Right after our old dog Sidney, a yellow Labrador, died. We had another dog, Buddy, as well and they were the best of friends, but shortly after, Buddy died of cancer and then we got Yogi. Duke was 5 and he had been in the shelter for several months. He was left in the shelter we think because he had seizures and the people who had him before didn’t want to deal with him constantly running away. He is one of the happiest dogs I know. Legit. He would be happy to just go outside with someone throwing the ball all day every day. He has this little OCD thing with the ball, also. He has to have it near him all the time and he gets very upset when his mean sister, Lily, takes it from him. But he is my favorite. I’ve known him the longest and he and I are very alike. Plus, he is always around to cuddle with.

18 inches (Day 125)

“A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the lyrics.” So I just had to catch up on like 27 blogs. Ridiculous. But it is all done and now I am ready for the reaping. I know I am going to get picked because my name is in there I think 11 times. Total. And it would be just my luck if I wasn’t ready. So my name would go in another like 5 times. Which would make it 16 times. I swear my name is in there the most. Which is really sad because I had been doing well on my blogs for so long. Anyway, I didn’t really do anything today other than homework. So I chose a funny picture for today. It made me laugh so I decided it should be shared. Song: Eighteen inches-Lauren Alaina.

Alumni game (Day 124)

“The road to excellence is always under construction.” The alumni game was so boring. As part of the national honor society, I had to sell tickets, work the raffle, deal with the odor of weed as old alumni walked in to see their buddies, and then work the concession stand. And then I didn’t even know who won. And then as we were leaving, there was a huge alumni girl fight. With 6 police officers and an ambulance as 10 girls tried to jump another. When she tried to leave, they smashed her car window…losers. This is why I am never coming back to New Town. I am going to leave all of this drama behind. Song: Don’t forget to remember me-Carrie Underwood

Dancing in the rain (Day 123)

“Whoever said sunshine brings happiness has never danced in the rain.” So over the summer, my best friends Becky and Hannah, and I danced in the rain. It is one of the best things you can do. It was during a terrible thunderstorm in the middle of West Virginia at a random state park with a counselor from Wales (Dragon) and another counselor, Hawk, one of the best counselors I have ever met. It was an awesome experience and made better by the fact that it was one of the last times we will ever do that. Hannah is a year younger than Becky and I and when we are counselors next year, she won’t be. So if anyone ever has the opportunity to dance in the rain, I would totally encourage them to go for it. Song: I hope you dance-LeAnn Womack

Homework (Day 122)

“Procrastination is the grave in which opportunity is buried.” Ugh. I am such a procrastinator that it isn’t even funny. I think everyone is but I am the biggest one. We learned what a sonnet was in English and I was surprised nobody really knew what it meant. But Ms. Banister rushed through it and then gave us our simple homework and that was that. It’s very simple. I mean maybe that’s because I like and understand English. Well I used to like English. Then came Mr. Avara. But then I got to Carney’s class and he made me enjoy it again. And once again, I really don’t like it this year. But I have to just suck it up and deal with it because some things aren’t going to change and I need to be prepared for the real world. I mean we can’t have teachers like Ms. Dauka and Mr. Carney all of our lives. Unfortunately. Song of the day: Breathe (2 am)-Anna Nalick.

Reaping (Day 121)

“Never think that the sky is the limit, when there are footprints on the moon.” That quote sounds like song lyrics. I downloaded these 2 books “100 quotes that make you think.” And then “100 more quotes to make you think.” And I pick out the ones that I really like and share them. Some are really stupid though, and I don’t think they should be there at all. But I really like this nook. A lot. Thankfully my name did not get chosen for the blog reaping. Anyway, I finished the Hunger Games and it is an awesome book. I was so sad at the end though. I can’t wait until I read Catching Fire and then the one after that…I don’t remember the name. Song of the Day: Imagine-The Beatles.

Rain (Day 120)

“The only way to see a rainbow is to look through the rain.” Sometimes even in the worse situations, there is beauty. It was an ok day today but I really prefer being home. I mean who wouldn’t. But every teacher decided to assign homework. And a lot of it. Like so much that it can’t be done in the time that is assigned. But that is senior year. I remember Dona said “Your junior year is what gets you into college and your senior year keeps you there.” Well I wish someone would tell some of the other kids in our grade because they leave school early and some are only taking like 2 classes and I don’t know if colleges really want to see 2 classes. I mean I am taking a full schedule and I have 4 AP classes. Sometimes I feel like it is too much but I know that I will at least be prepared for college. Song of the day: We Are Young-Glee Cast

Candles (day 119)

“A good teacher is like a candle-it consumes itself to light the way for others.” This quote just made me think about the candle lighting in AVID and what Dona does for everyone. Ah…the last day before school starts again. The dreaded last day where you have to rush to finish everything that should have been done like last Monday. It’s hard to stop thinking like I will be off for another week. I wish there was a job where you could make a lot of money sitting around watching NCIS and Rizzoli and Isles and Criminal Minds. But unfortunately there isn’t and I have to go back to school tomorrow and work on Calculus and Chemistry. I hate math and science. Ugh. But it was fun while it lasted. Song of the day: Airplanes-B.o.B.

January 1, 2012 (Day 118)

“Sometimes the best way to figure out who you are is to get to that place where you don’t have to be anything else.” This New Years I resolve to be the best person I can be and figure out who I really am. I don’t want to live for anyone else and I want to be happy. It is nice to finally be in 2012 because I am so close to graduation and being able to work at the stables again with all of my friends and with the horses. I get to be 18 in like 7 months and then I get to go to college and prove that foster adoptive kids can go all of the way and make it to college and make themselves into someone. They don’t have to be another statistic. Nobody does. Song of the day: Concrete Angel-Martina McBride.

Resolutions (Day 117)

“Promise only what you can deliver. Then deliver more than you promise.” It always sucks when people break their promises but we are all responsible and have done that more than once. Probably a lot. So it is new years eve and once again I am coming into a new year where I have made resolutions. But this year I am not going to make any promise that I cannot keep. I am going to either commit to my resolutions or I am going to abandon them and make some that I can actually keep. I am going for making them and committing to them.

Teachers (Day 116)

“The best teachers teach from the heart, not from the book.” I have been blessed in having teachers that actually care about what I have to say and how I am learning. I don’t think I have had more than a handful of teachers here at New Town that have taught me nothing or whose lessons don’t have a meaningful end. I have a relationship with almost all of my teachers, some stronger than others. I think this has really put me above and beyond other students who disregard their teachers as just someone there to talk at them for a year. I think teachers are the most important part of the school system because they are the ones that give children ideas and who tell them that the world is theirs and that they can be anything if they stay in school. Song of the day: The Show goes on-Lupe Fiasco.

Work...(Day 115)

“Any man who knows all of the answers most likely misunderstood the question.” Oh gosh…it’s almost time to go back to school and I don’t ever want to leave my futon and my comfortable bed and my DVD player and my ability to sleep the whole day away even though I never want to. School is fun sometimes but I feel like I never understand perfectly or learn everything that is on the test or read and understand exactly what the teachers want me to. I just feel like sometimes I disappoint everyone and that makes me upset because disappointing people is the worst thing in the world to me. Its way worse than my parents being angry at me for some reason and I don’t have a clue why. But it’s Thursday and I have to finish (ahem…start) reading Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead.

Reading (Day 114)

“Many an opportunity is lost because a man is out looking for a four-leaf clover.” I think that when you search too hard for something you do not have, you lose sight of what you do have and what you have been given. So this Nook is the best thing I have ever been given. I can literally read anything I want and bookmark the page without actually creasing it. Oh and there is a dictionary built inside of it so when I click on a word it defines it and gives it in a sentence. It’s incredible. I now know why America is lazy. I mean we don’t even want to look up words in another dictionary anymore and we are too lazy to carry a book with us anymore. But I also think that this will help Americans by encouraging them to read daily and learn new words.

Hamlet (Day 113)

“Volunteers are not paid-not because they are worthless, but because they are priceless.”  I volunteer because I love seeing the face of those people I can help. I had so many people help me when I was younger that I think that someone needs to do that for others. I want to be able to give what I was given and it makes me feel good knowing I can help and make someone else have an easier life. So I spent the entire day watching NCIS season 2. And reading Hamlet of course. But I think that Hamlet is crazy. Revenge is not that serious. At all. Like he was insane. And I want to know who really talks like that. If I lived during Shakespeare’s time, I would laugh my butt off at everything he said. Because it is just that amusing.

Happiness (Day 112)

“I have learned that when you harbor bitterness, happiness docks elsewhere.” So very true. I have been angry at the world for almost 5 years. Well actually, close to 18. I haven’t been able to be truly happy because I have been worrying about making other people happy and making myself last. Sometimes I feel that I don’t deserve to be happy because that isn’t what I enjoy doing. I am rarely truly happy and my new year’s resolution has a lot to do with that. In 2012, I want to find out who I am and who I can be. There are lots of things that I want to change so anyone who reads this can help me by giving me advice. I want to trust and find myself but I also want to stop caring about what others think of me and be who I am no matter what they think. I want to be happy. J

Christmas (Day 111)

Merry Christmas everyone! “Nobody trips over mountains. It’s the small pebbles that cause you to stumble. Pass all of the pebbles in your path and you will find you have crossed the mountain.” I think that sometimes people focus so much on how small things are the reasons for their problems but once you pass those, you can do anything. Song of the day: So Small, by Carrie Underwood. Anyway, I got a Nook! And the second season of Glee and NCIS. Which is awesome. So now I can read and watch videos and such. It was an amazing Christmas and I hope that everyone had a terrific day.

Christmas Eve (Day 110)

“The greatest oak was once a little nut who held its ground.” It’s finally Christmas Eve! I have all of my Christmas shopping done and the presents are all wrapped and I am just really excited for tomorrow because Christmas is one of my favorite holidays because I like hanging out with my family and not having to worry about anything. Anyway, the Christmas movies are on and we are going to church tonight so it will be fun. At Towson, they have a live nativity scene that people can go see after the service. They have real animals like a donkey, a cow, a goat…etc. It’s always fun.

2 days until Christmas (Day 109)

“Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark. Professionals built the Titanic.” I didn’t go to school today because I wasn’t ready for Christmas at all. I mean I still had to buy presents and stuff. So I just stayed home. Then we went to get our nails done and bought gifts. The day before Christmas Eve is always super duper busy and sometimes we don’t even get the things we need to get done, done. We haven’t even decorated the tree this year because we haven’t had time and we didn’t feel like it. I mean I hope this Christmas is great because it is my last one at home.

Walk 2 moons (Day 108)

“Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you are a mile away and you have their shoes.” I don’t know why but I really like this quote and it somehow reminds me of a book I read in sixth grade in Sacred Heart called “Walk Two Moons” by Sharon Creech. It is about the struggle of 13-year-old Salamanca (Sal) to understand her mother’s disappearance unfolded when she takes a cross-country road trip with her eccentric grandparents and she tells them the story of her friend Phoebe whose mom also left home but in reality, it is her own story. It was an awesome book. I remember my English teacher in 6^th grade was a guy named Mr. Sullivan. He was cool and I remember I learned a lot from him. For some reason, I have always learned better from male English teachers than female teacher. Except Mr. Avara…

Blood drive (Day 107)

“The difference between an optimist and a pessimist is that an optimist thinks this is the best possible world. A pessimist fears this is true.” So during A1 Kennedy, Jordan, and I got to work the blood drive. Nobody really came except for teachers. Well Jason and Hassan were the only students to show up and Ms. Albert, Ms. Suber, Officer Garland, and Mr. Soler I think were the only teachers that gave blood. Well they were the only ones who came first period. And then in AVID, Lindsey Brightful came to talk to us about Hampton and college. Take action, Action to take, Barrier, Benefit. Not doing anything over the summer before college is the action, and I really don’t see a barrier unless I decide to be part of a summer college group or something. A benefit is relaxing and being ready for college in the fall and not being stressed before I get there.  

No title (Day 106)

5 days until Christmas! “It may be that your sole purpose in life is to serve as a warning for others.” Other people can look at you and see someone they do not want to be, so they choose not to be. That is a life wasted in my book. So Ms. Banister decided that it wouldn’t be a real break without books to read. Two of them-Hamlet and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. I don’t understand teachers that assign work over break. It isn’t break if I have to do work. We have to do work all year long, and we can’t have a single week where we don’t have to read two books and write an essay on both of them? This is why I miss Mr. Carney’s class last year. I actually understood what I was doing everyday and he actually cared about his class.

Toilet paper (Day 105)

“May your life be like toilet paper…long and useful.” Lol. It’s true though. My mom always says to live your life as though you could be here today and be gone tomorrow. She always asks me if I died today, would I have a good legacy or a bad one. It would really suck to be remembered for something bad, so I am trying to live a good life and have a good and useful one as well. But I also don’t want to live a boring life so I can die happy. Which is my goal.

Family (Day 104)

“The man who chases two rabbits catches none.” This is important because we can only focus on a couple things at a time. If we put all of our energy into 5 things, none of them will be done well and we are all out of energy. So today, my family went to New Jersey to have lunch with my mom’s side of the family. It was nice because I got to see my Uncle Mike, Aunt Beth, Ben and Dan, Jen, Uncle Jack, and the dogs Rocky and Magic. It was nice to see everyone and watch football with them but unfortunately Aunt Amanda wasn’t there. She is funny and always makes gatherings more fun. It was a good day and we got to see Jen before she goes back up to New Hampshire for training. She goes there for college but has to be up their earlier because she is on the gymnastics team.

Ballet (Day 103)

“Wake up and stop falling prey to the conditioning of the media and society around you. It’s only those people who are awake that live in a state of constant amazement.” I am getting that this quote is about conformity and those that can see the world out of their own eyes and not the lenses of others that can see the world for what it is and truly be amazed. So my mom, my sister, and I went to the Lyric Opera house today and got to see the Moscow Ballet’s Nutcracker. It was pretty good but I only really like the Arabian dancers who were clearly artistic gymnasts. The female would do handstands on the guy’s arm. It was awesome. Everything else was pretty cool too, but those two stood out to me. At the end, there was a Peep truck parked outside and we all got free Christmas Peeps. Oh! And I got my stitches out today, too. Which is awesome.

NHS party (Day 102)

“Opportunities are found by those who look for them. The bee has a sting but honey too…so look at every negative and make a positive out of it.” I added this one because I feel like it is something that I need to work on. I have two teachers that I think negatively of and this isn’t good because it makes the work that I do in their classes bad and not to the best of my ability. I have an opportunity to do well and get As in their classes but I have to look for them and work towards them. Anyway, I had the NHS Christmas party today and it was fun. My secret buddy wasn’t there but Ms. Upshur-Dudley had me and she got me a coffee mug and pink ear phones. Which is awesome because two of my favorite things are coffee and music. I bowled a 112 and a 106. Which isn’t too bad but I wanted higher.

Starting quotes (Day 101)

“Free advice is the kind that costs nothing unless you act upon it.” That is pretty self-explanatory. I don’t know how to dumb that down anymore which is part of the reason I like it. Tomorrow is our National Honor Society Christmas party at Kings Point. We’re going bowling. Have you ever done something fun so many times in a week you no longer think its fun? Yeah, me too. I mean I like bowling but when I have to go 3 times a week already and then another time with someone else, it gets to be a bore. But today was an A day and I love A days. I mean I have Health (easy) then AP Chemistry (easy) then AVID (used to be easy but is kind of fun) then AP Calc (not fun-boring part of day). So it’s all good until like 4^th period where I want to just disappear. But that’s too much to ask isn’t it? Ugh. This is my one of my favorite ponies! Monty! J

100 days (Day 100)

I have officially been blogging for 100 days. That’s exciting I guess. Well what happened today? Let’s see…I went bowling with the CALS kids which is always fun because something funny or new happens every day. I feel like I am always in for a surprise and its quite entertaining getting to know them and what they like. Anyway, Mr. Hopkins has begun assigning homework because like 5 people dropped out of calculus with a bad grade and now the rest of us need to pass. I need a B. So that means I have to start doing all of the homework and studying before tests which is going to be hard because I have so many other things going on right now. I am going to start having a quote-of-the-day that I will add to my blogs and maybe discuss what it means to me. So here goes a tradition. “More gold has been mined from the thoughts of men than has been taken from the earth.” Dust off those cobwebs and use all of those great ideas that all of you have and begin making something of them.

Prometheus (Day 99)

So we had another house meeting today and I just want to say that I am really disappointed in Prometheus. I don’t understand why we only had like 7 kids show up and then at like 9:20, 5 more rolled in. That isn’t ok. I have been getting really frustrated also because it seems that Ericka and I are the only ones willing to run the meetings. None of the other seniors ever want to talk in front of them and several seniors never show up. I have asked them to come and even sent out texts the morning of the meetings but still they “forget”. It also doesn’t work when we have a senior who comes to school second period. I think for Prometheus to really have a chance at winning the house cup that they all need to stop being so shy and step up and be leaders. I think that is why Dona created this thing: partly because she didn’t want to be in charge of it alone and she has stuff going on, but also because we are going to college and we need to be leaders. I don’t know if I really like this idea of houses anymore either because it seems that we aren’t a family anymore and Atlas has become arrogant and obnoxious. We’ll see their faces when we win and they are stuck with all their arrogance and no trophy.

Comcast (Day 98)

So I don’t think I ever said that I finished my Comcast scholarship for New Town. Oh wait…looking back, I did say I finished it. Which is why I was absent. But I had a note that said I was sick…but I think since I am a pretty good child, that nobody really cares that I am absent nor do they think that I was out being bad. Because I wasn’t. And nothing really happened today. It was one of those boring school days right before Christmas where the students can’t wait until break and the teachers give meaningless work to keep the students busy while secretly planning their breaks. I have a list of schools to apply to so far but I am not sure that I am actually going to apply to them. I mean why apply when you know you aren’t going to get in? But I am definitely applying to St. Mary’s, Towson, UMBC, Drexel, and Princeton. My parents want me to apply to Harvard and Yale. L and I am probably not even going to apply to Fairleigh Dickinson and Salisbury because I can’t even remember why I had those written in the first place…