As of recent, I have been on my grind. It is not nearly as much as other people, I am aware of, but I have now obtained a 30-day streak on Duolingo learning German. I started this journey in an attempt to be able to communicate with my German friend, as I basically could not talk to her at all due to the language barrier. No I’m kidding, she actually has a slightly better grade in AP English class than I do. I still want to be able to try to talk to her in German, however, just because I think it would be pretty funny and she would probably laugh at me for my pronunciation and grammar. Honestly, after doing a minimum of a lesson a day for an entire 30 days, I should probably know more than I do. I basically can just order in a coffee shop and know very basic phrases and familial vocabulary. I also know random animals like mice and owls, which I’m not sure are a super relevant topic of everyday conversation if I were to be plopped in the middle of the street in Germany right now. The ultimate goal is not fluency, which I’m not sure is even possible through Duolingo alone, but I am hoping I can get somewhat proficient after some time.
I feel like the system of college applications is so interesting. It’s crazy how much time, effort, money, and well-being people put into working towards the standard of what is considered a “solid” application. There are so many aspects of one’s application, too, that require so much of everything listed above. First, of course, are the grades. GPA, AP Test scores, and SAT/ACT scores are all big factors in how a student is portrayed academically, which I think is such a lame system. Basically, even if a student performs well in an in-class environment and puts in a bunch of effort in their homework and learning the material, ultimately, a lot of it depends on whether or not they are a good test taker. If not, because so many of the massive assessments of one’s grade are based on how well they perform on tests, a good student may seem on the outside to be one who barely puts in time and doesn’t care about their academic standing. Next is the college essay. I have heard too many horror stories about how the best writers come out with pretty awful essays that do not represent them well as writers or even as a person, just because of the stress the system puts one under to come out with such a magnificent piece of writing. On top of the grades and essays, you have all of the many extracurriculars. If you weren’t already burnt out trying to put in effort for school as well as lead a normal social life and give yourself time to rest, there are a million other things that “good and successful” students that want to get into a top-notch college should be doing with their time. Some of those include being in Student Council, a part of school programs such as Student Leadership or Dorm Prefects, participating in in-school programs such as Journalism or Yearbook, varsity or club sports, community service hours, and even holding a stable part-time job on top of it all. In my mind, it just seems like so much pressure to put on teenagers, half of them are not even sure what they want to do the rest of their lives. So now, they are putting in everything they have just to get accepted into the best university or college they possibly can. And the thing is, half of those top-notch places are not even worth the hype, at least in my opinion. So many people are striving to get in just because of the name or the reputation that barely holds any weight in the long run. I feel like I could talk about this process for actual hours, but it is something I am passionate about just considering it is such a big part of my and a lot of people’s lives around me.
I am not sure if I have ever been as stressed about school as I am now. The combination of APs and finals is going to kill me in about a week if I do not start feeling better about any of it. My first AP test is next Friday, followed by three more next week, two of which happen to be on the same day. Following that, there is a single week until finals, which makes me want to die. Half of my AP teachers don’t even care that we just took the AP exam and are still going to give out final exams for the class. I want to take extra time to put in extra review for my exams coming up, but I am just so burnt out from all of the regular work my classes are assigning that I do not physically have time to do that if I want to maintain a decent status of my mental well-being. I miss being a freshman. I miss my biggest concern being my humanities reading journals. I miss barely studying for tests and still receiving good grades. Now, school is just about tough exams and how that affects college, which only puts millions of tons of pressure on the students. It’s all so stupid and annoying.
I am literally so excited for summer. I am not even doing anything that exciting, to be honest, but I am just really looking forward to not being in school. I am, of course, going to miss my friends, but I will see my friends back at home that I do not get to see as much anymore with always being at school, which is really nice. It will also be the best because I will be finally getting my much overdue license, so hanging out with people will be ten times easier. My job will probably take up a lot of time, but it is good that I am working because I am very much getting broke after using up all of the money I made last summer and not supplementing it at all with any new income. I might do some traveling to Laguna Beach, considering my grandma has a house down there, but I am not sure yet. I am also going to a TV Girl concert in L.A. during June which will be pretty fun, but that is about it. Mostly, I am just excited to not have classes and work, being a burnt-out junior who is not looking forward to another year of classes before I graduate. Also, the college application process will be really annoying, but we don’t have to think about that right now…
It’s literally so annoying how one second the weather is so hot, and summer feels like it is around the corner, and then the next second it feels like I am in the middle of arctic lands on my way to the North Pole. Day by day, and literally even down to hour by hour, the weather will change to randomly be almost 20 degrees hotter or colder. I guess that is just part of it being spring, but I still do not like it. The springs where I live are kinda nonexistent. It really just transitions from winter right into summer around the time of April or even May some years where it is still snowing. Last year was so fun because it literally still snowed in June, which was crazy. It was the biggest winter we have had in literally so long – I think it was the second biggest winter ever. Anyway, I still think the weather truly needs to make up its mind. Rain and fog are some of my favorite types of weather, and I really hate the heat, but I would honestly rather it be hot every day consistently because then I would know how to dress and what to expect. Thank you for listening to me complain.
I think one of my first ever blogs was on how much I really don’t like them. I talked for a decent-sized paragraph about how they are annoying, a waste of time, and how I wish we did not have to do them. However, recently, I have had a little bit of a relapse of judgment regarding blogs. I still think it is hard sometimes to come up with a prompt. This week is an example of that, as I could think of nothing else to write about but a topic I have done before. It’s not very original also in the sense that I am writing about what I am writing, if that makes sense. Anyway, although I still feel like coming up with prompts is difficult sometimes, I am starting to enjoy the blog-writing process more. More often, ideas will come to me immediately that actually seem fun and interesting to talk about, and I don’t feel like I am forcing anything when writing about them. Additionally, I have started at least brainstorming and, most of the time, writing my blogs a week in advance. That way, they feel like less of a chore and struggle to get them submitted on time before the Friday midnight deadline. I feel like I kinda see the point of them more in the past. They are a creative outlet – a place where we can write without feeling confined to a story idea that we don’t have any interest or passion regarding. In conclusion, I have less hatred than I have had in the past on the subject of blog writing but don’t try to make me admit that out loud.
This year, computer mini-games have had a chokehold on me like I could never imagine. When I get into a period of time where I am obsessed with a certain game, it completely takes over my life. Some of the phases I have had this year have been with Crossy Road, Watermelon Drop, Papa’s Freezeria, Snake, Slither.io, and most importantly, 2048. The 2048 phase was actually absurd. I played an unlimited version of 2048 Cupcake and literally had a score of a million-something. I am glad I have moved on because that literally took way too much time out of my life. It was fully consuming my existence. I also really like the games on the New York Times website. Almost every single day I remember, I play the Wordle, Mini Crossword, Connections, Tiles, and the new Strands game. When I play the NYT games, I feel a little bit more productive than the other ones because, in my mind, they require a little bit more brainpower. Lastly, on my phone, I have absolutely blasted through the game Wordscapes. In about 5 days, I have gotten to level 202, and I do not plan on stopping. It has gotten so bad to the point where I am literally playing the game in my head when I am just sitting there with made-up letters and boxes. We will see in the future what my newest obsessions hold, but I hope they take up a little less of my time than the previous ones. I might relapse, though.
I saw someone say that we are right around the time of the four-year anniversary of the start of quarantine in the U.S., and I was just in shock. The fact that it has been four entire years since the start of it all is actually wild. For me, I was halfway through my 7th-grade year when it all started and we got the notice that we would have to spend two weeks at home. Then, the two weeks turned into two months, and two months turned into the next year, for my school at least. Looking back on who I was during these times, now being almost a senior in high school, is genuinely just wild. I do not think any person changed as much as I did from the start of quarantine to now. Since then, I graduated middle school, moved to a different state, and started high school almost 500 miles away from the house I called home for my entire life beforehand. I have found out so much of who I am through experiences, new faces, and recognition of personal growth. Some of the people I look back on quarantine with talk about how much they miss it and how it was one of the best times of their lives. For me, it could not be more opposite. It was probably one of my lowest if not my lowest point ever. I have never really struggled with depression, and I never got a certain diagnosis, but I do believe I was not in a good place during quarantine. When I was younger, I always hated being alone. It was probably one of the worst things on the planet, which is highly ironic considering my “close family” of parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, and siblings consists of a whopping four people. I don’t have any siblings, and I only live with one adult, considering my dad passed away when I was younger. My mom, however, during quarantine, still had to work – as she was a nurse. Typically, her long work hours and time away from home were no big deal, considering I was always in school and able to see my friends. During quarantine, however, I was subject to being entirely alone from the moment I woke up to about 6pm for the entire work week. Remember how I said I hated being alone? Well, I think you can imagine how that went. Being the only form of connection with the outside world we were offered, I became addicted to screens and calling my friends while goofing off and playing video games. My grades started to slip for the first time in a long time, and I entirely stopped taking care of myself. All I would do throughout the day was lock myself in my room and stare at a screen. As you can imagine, my lack of fresh air and human interaction really took a toll on my mental as well as physical health. To the credit of my mom, she tried to help me out of my insane slump by offering to get outside together and spend time in the house together, too, but I was entirely uncompliant and depressed. Looking back, for the longest time, I always wished I could do it all over again and do things differently. I would have focused my extra time on myself and bettering myself in numerous different senses. However, I am glad I went through that slump because it taught me that behaving like that is not something to be desired and not something even remotely healthy to strive for. Anyway, I highkey just wrote an entire essay on my quarantine experience, but I just thought it would be nice and timely to debrief at the four-year mark.
We are back with Part 2 of my top pet peeves. First off are people who have clearly never worked in the customer service industry. I get having a bad day and being less cooperative than normal and all of that, but some people clearly have had everything done for them their entire lives and treat those who are working for their benefit like dog poop. Secondly, I literally hate minions so much. Their stupid faces and their stupid noises, please stop. I hate every single thing about them, so we don’t need to dwell on this one. Next, it’s so annoying when your nose is so stuffed you can’t breathe without your mouth open. I am not a mouth breather usually, so when I am forced to be because not a single air molecule can pass through my nostrils, it is quite upsetting. Next, I have people who interrupt other people constantly and have zero awareness. There is a difference between interrupting people and doing it without any surrounding awareness. That’s all I need to say there. Elaborating a little on what I was saying earlier about small dogs, and I know they’re not particularly super small, but I can’t stand Shiba Inu dogs. I get that they’re all cute and kawaii and nice, but their faces kinda annoy me. Lastly, rounding out the series, are people who try way too hard when singing in the car. If you’re with a group of people, especially friends like on a drive somewhere and you are playing music, you don’t have to prove yourself or anything like please. This is not American Idol. So please, keep your tone-deaf screaming out of the car and never let it touch my ears again. This one was a bit longer than the last one, but as you can tell, I am very passionate about some of these things. I would be happy to oblige any requests for a Part 3. I’m sure I can find more content to make one.
Today, I’m going to talk about some of my pet peeves. First off, I think the thing that upsets me the most is slow walkers, ESPECIALLY when I cannot get around them. Kinda going along with that are people who scuff their feet on the ground. Like please just pick up your feet it’s not that hard to walk like a normal person and not make my ears bleed every time you unnecessarily scrape your soles on the floor. Next, I absolutely hate burning my tongue on hot drinks. My tongue does not have a high heat capacity, so this happens more than it should probably. I might be a little bit hypocritical for the next one, but people who make such annoying pet voices really upset me. Most times it’s ok, but people just have very specifically horrible ones that also put my ears in pain. Next, when you are making a smoothie and it doesn’t blend seamlessly and it takes way too much effort and stirring and adding of liquids to get it all blended up. Like it doesn’t have to be that hard, please just work the first time. This list is getting a little long, and I can definitely make a part 2 for next week, so I will end here today with small dogs. Don’t get me wrong, I have met some very nice small dogs before who were angels, but the vast majority of small dogs are vicious demons who only have an aptitude for giving me scars and trauma. Big dogs are far superior.
OVS Journalism Blog 
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