Month: September 2014

Across the Country

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Photo Credit: http://www.telegraph.co.uk

With most of my family living on the East Coast while I’m in Oregon, it’s hard to get everyone together and have time to catch up. My sister and I go to New York every summer for about two weeks, where we stay with my Aunt, Uncle and cousins.

Those two weeks provide endless fun – we go camping, sight-seeing and enjoy each other’s company. It’s also refreshing to escape from my hectic life and relax into a different lifestyle.

However, since my sister and I traveled all the way across the country, we hope to see even more of our family. Through extensive planning, we hold a family reunion, where I see the rest of my Aunts, Uncles and cousins. It gets pretty confusing though, for I have two Uncle Dan’s, two Uncle David’s, two Uncle Jeff’s and two Uncle Johns!

During that time we usually go to a park and have a picnic, with lots of good food and great conversation. My sister and I are the reason for the gathering, so I get asked plenty of questions, often repeated and usually pertaining to this school. It lasts for about 4 hours, when everybody then goes their own way and continues on with their life.

My annual short and sweet gathering, and my trip to New York are always a success – I get a chance to see my extended family and I have a wonderful time!

Unplug

kennyroo
cnn kid with phone
photo credit to: http://www.cnn.com/

When I was younger my brother and I shared a flip phone and we were over the moon thrilled. Our house had one big black computer, and my dad had a laptop for work. Adults had small flip phones to text, call, and take horrible quality photos — but that was it.

Phones weren’t buzzing and beeping 24 hours a day, and we could all get through a meal without even mentioning technology. Today, I have my phone with me most, if not all of the time. I can’t even go into a mall without seeing at least a handful of toddlers playing on tablets, or crying because they don’t get to watch television on their mother’s phone. The kids that are being born today are being born into a generation of technology – a generation that cares more about taking pictures of their lives, rather than actually living them.

Maybe we should all unplug. Take a break from other peoples’ lives and start living your own.

Have You Ever Seen, An ASIT Company

indigoshell

This summer, I spent a grand total of eight weeks at summer camp. Yes, the same summer camp, but this time I was not a lowly camper.

I was an ASIT. 

An ASIT. Animal Specialist in Training. We, 11-25 of us, wake up at 6:45 a.m. to feed, water, and clean the enclosures of over 300 different camp animals. There are four areas; the Barn, the Animal Learning Center (ALC for short), the Jungle, and the Kennels.

Barn people take care of the Inner Barn, the Back Pastures, the Nursery, the Bird Nursery, and the Creepy Crawly Room.

ALC people take care of the Habitats, the Small Animal Room, the Reptile Room, and the Cat Room.

The Jungle and the Kennels are their own areas.

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I worked (I PAID TO WORK) as an ASIT for 6 weeks, meaning I worked in every area at least once. My pride and joy, where I wished I could sleep at night, was the Reptile Room. I memorized the meals of 7 reptile species in under three days. My greatest moment was walking into the ALC Kitchen and the lead Animal Specialist planted herself in front of me and said “just the person I was looking for! I need you to feed the reptiles!”

Chuckwallas, Mali Uromastyx, Green Iguana, Leopard Tortoise, Plated Lizards, Blue-Tongued Skink, Bearded Dragon, Leopard Gecko. For the sake of my own pride, I listed the reptiles (minus the snakes) that we took care of. For the sake of time and space I won’t write down their meals.

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The Habitats was the next area I memorized. Again, under three days.

Given the time, I assure you I would have memorized all the meals for the animals. I didn’t really try anyways until the last week.

Just a Practice Run?

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That 89 percent that could have been a 90 percent is not going to matter to you in five years, believe it or not. I can’t even fathom how often the sentence “but it will look good for college apps,” is heard yearly on a high school campus. Are these four years what define us as humans? I sure hope that’s not the case because I’m so much more than a percentage.

High school is such a small portion of our lives when you really think about it. These four years are all that matter to you right now, but are they all that’s going to matter in ten? What about when our kids go to school? Will that B- you got in geometry matter then? We work so hard to be judged by our performance rather than our person.

What are schools teaching about being a good human? What about how to do our own taxes? Nope, sorry that’s not taught here. I can recite the Pythagorean theorem basically in my sleep, and tell you the difference between an acid and a base; but what about the values of honesty and kindness? Isn’t this all a practice run anyways? Aren’t we being trained for “The Real World”? I’ve only been told that exact statement once or a million times.

Kids these days are on anxiety medications for the amount of stress they’re put under. We run ourselves into the ground for what? To be judged some more? We are expected to put our education before personal health. It is not asked, but expected. We must do whatever it takes to succeed.

Photo from: http://lahaiseslair.com
Photo from: http://lahaiseslair.com

Dress Code Controversy

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nullComing from an art school where one could come to school with bright pink hair and an abundance of fringe on their shorts, Ojai Valley School was quite a culture shock.

Although understandably more conservative than my previous school, I still believe that this school takes the importance of dress code too seriously. The impetus for dress code is often girls having to dress a certain way as to not distract any members of the opposite sex.

The fact that this is a large cause for dress code is the worst part about the rule, for it is shaming. Females shouldn’t have to alter themselves for the convenience of males. All in all, not only are the motives behind our dress code a controversial point, but it prevents everyone from wearing certain articles of clothing they love!

 

My Surprise Visit

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My boyfriend plays water polo, and his tournaments take him all over the state, country, and even the world. Last Saturday, a tournament took him to Santa Barbra, 45 minutes away from Ojai. Because Ojai was on the way home, he got to stop by and visit me.

He coordinated with my roommate, texting her constantly, asking for directions and making sure I was in the optimal position to be surprised. He told me that he couldn’t stop by because his little brother was sick and needed to get home. This was not a lie – his 8-year-old brother was sick, and my boyfriend had to go through a lot to get his mom to let him visit.

I was sitting outside the office when he pulled up. I was in tears as I ran up to hug him. However, as I let myself relax into the familiar embrace, I was wary of my back and surroundings – scared that we would be broken apart because our hug would be deemed “too long,” not obeying the “quick hug hello or goodbye” PDA rule. I pulled away too soon, and warned him of the rule. Confused, he agreed, and handed me a huge box of presents. I thanked his mom and she drove off to get food with his little brother. My boyfriend was now on campus and did not have a way of getting off for at least 2 hours. Of course, this did not register with either of us as a problem.

We headed up to the girl’s dorm lounge – everyone was hanging out there – boys, girls, so I thought it would be a good place to spend time. We entered and I introduced him to my friends. We sat down in the chairs and began to talk about his games that day, until a dorm parent walked in. I could tell from the moment she saw him that something was wrong. I instantly reviewed what we had heard in the handbook review session, and what I had read about visits. The only thing I could remember was “weekday visits are not encouraged.” He wasn’t trying to sign me out, so I decided that there was nothing that could be wrong.

She took me aside and explained that visitors need to be registered by my parents, and approved by the headmaster. I told her that it was a surprise visit, and she told me we would have to stay within her supervision at all times. We stayed in the lounge, clueless of what to do, and followed her to and from dinner, during which we sat quietly and tried to avoid anyone seeing us. The dorm mom had warned us that he could be asked to leave at any point, and he had no way of doing so. At one point, he tried to jokingly pat my back. Terrified someone would see him touch me, I slid over a seat and commanded him not to touch me.

We followed the dorm parent back to the lounge, where we again sat awkwardly and waited for him to leave. Finally, his mom arrived, and the only second I got to show him the school was when I escorted him to the waiting car. After a fast, tentative hug, he was off. That was my magical surprise visit.

I asked why he wasn’t allowed around campus with my friend and I – abiding by the 3 person rule. It was explained to me that they didn’t know who he was, so it was deemed unsafe for him to be let out of a teacher’s sight. Although I do understand this rule, I still don’t think it goes along with the motto of the school, integrity of life. Everyone who goes here was accepted into the school after being carefully reviewed by a committee. It was decided that we would be trusted by the school, and I believe that this goes along with trusting who we are associated with. With all the rules imposed on me during that short visit, I felt as though the school did not trust me to make smart choices as to whom I associate with. And that makes me ask myself, does the school really trust us? Do they believe that we are living with integrity? Do they think we are capable of bringing someone on campus that will be a danger to the community?

After the visit, my boyfriend expressed that he felt like he visited me at a hospital, and this did not surprise me.

Does the school trust me to make the right choices in friends? Or do they not believe I will live with integrity? If not, then there are some serious discussions that need to occur.