Author: godgoldnglory

How My Hate For Black Licorice Ruined My Entire Evening

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One fun fact about me is that I have never liked black licorice. It’s honestly just utterly repulsive. Ever since I was really young, I always had a deep-rooted hatred for everything about it. Don’t get me wrong, red licorice is amazing – a very fine snack. Nevertheless, my opinion on black licorice is that it is absolutely offensive. No person should ever be putting that substance in their mouth. Until that fateful night.

Adele and I like to work on our precalc homework together because doing so alone is basically the same thing as committing suicide. So last night we had just started to do our homework, and this is where the night went downhill. Adele, like a literal crazy person, pulls out a bag of black licorice and starts eating it. She offers me a piece, which was the most fatal moment of my life.

Me, being the naive and stupid person I sometimes am, actually thought that my long-standing disgust for such a horrible thing might actually go away with time. So, I accepted her offer, and it was the kickstart to the worst night of my life. It was still the most disgusting thing that has ever come in contact with my taste buds. I can’t even put it into words how much I hate it. I don’t even want to talk about it.

Anyway, the rest of my night was undoubtedly ruined. My precalc homework took me and Adele an hour and 45 minutes. It was the most awful thing I’ve ever done. I hate trig. But not as much as I hate black licorice. I genuinely believe that the fact it ever came in contact with my mouth is the sole reason for such an awful week. After I took about 5 years off of my life by completing my math, I was so unmotivated that I did absolutely nothing and laid in my bed for the next couple of hours, procrastinating all of my work. My entire mood was thrown off, and it is still a little affected, even a couple days after the incident.

If anyone reading this has one takeaway, I would suggest to never let black licorice within a three-feet radius of you. Also, drop out of precalc if you have the chance.

Kookaburra Black Licorice - Furlong's Candies

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Thoughts on Social Media

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For me personally, I have a lot of social media. I use Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and Pinterest. I stay off Twitter because I think that the new CEO is a little interesting, and I don’t use Facebook because I am under the age of thirty-five. However, I like other social media – to an extent. I think there are many positives to using them, such as staying in touch with friends and family, keeping up on current events, and using them as an outlet for creativity or simply unwinding from your day. The problems arise, however, when phone addiction starts becoming prevalent. Also, there can be issues with the spread of false information, cyberbullying, and overall too much time spent on these apps. So, like everything, there are pros and cons. Personally, I try to limit my interaction with these negatives by one, limiting my screen time; two, not trusting everything I see on TikTok, for example, and doing my own research, and three, blocking accounts and people who only spread negativity. I set a limit of only 30 minutes allowed on TikTok, Instagram, or Pinterest and 40 on Snapchat. I also try to only go on social media during specific times of the day as to not distract myself from staying in the present moment. Why do all this and not just delete the apps off of my phone? I actually really enjoy using Snapchat and Instagram to keep in contact with my friends – both current and old – and see what they are up to. Although social media is obviously not reality, it is nice to see a slice of what and how people I know are doing. For TikTok and Pinterest, I actually really look forward to relaxing on these apps to take away the stress of my busy school life. The information on these apps is not always the most positive, educational, or worthwhile, but I still enjoy unwinding by watching some videos or scrolling through my feed. This is why I set limits for myself because, before I did, I would find myself on these apps for hours a day, wasting my time and my brain power on things that aren’t even a real part of my life. But, when consumed in smaller doses, using social media, for me, comes with a bunch of positives that no adult can convince me to otherwise take out of my life.

Social Media: how to use it safely - NCSC.GOV.UK

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What’s The Purpose?

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Just putting it out there, this is not me trying to be emo. However, recently, I have been thinking about the purpose of a lot of things that we as humans do. Like, what is the point? Why, in my case, am I stressing myself out so much this year by taking hard classes? I can still have a future with a simpler Moodle home page, but I so intensely crave the academic validation I get through seeing a good grade next to a hard class. But, at the same time, there is genuinely no point to a lot of any of it. Such a philosophy can also be applied to other aspects of life. It can even go as far as what is the meaning of life, which is a whole separate rant. I don’t know, I just have been feeling lately, with everything I do, that I theoretically have no reason to be doing it. I guess I always just revert back to “do everything to live my life to the fullest doing things that make me happy.” It’s not a horrible place to be, but I just can’t shake the feeling that there is more for me out there than simply graduating high school, going to college, starting to work for the next 50 years of my life, retiring, and that’s it. I don’t know, I always ask myself why that seems to be the trajectory of life that a lot of people fall into. Just seems a little monotonous to me. But, if not that, then what?

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Dorm Life

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If you were to tell me even a few years ago that I would no longer be living with my family in my childhood house, I would simply not believe you. I never even knew I was going to be attending boarding school until the very start of my eighth-grade year. For the longest time, I had the preconceived notion that I would follow the path of most of the kids my age; make the transition from middle to high school seamlessly by attending the high school in the area. However, as the time came closer and closer for me to make a decision, I had a sudden shift in my mindset. For my entire life, I had been stagnant. I lived in the same house I grew up in my entire childhood in the same small town, attended the same school I had since I was three in Pre-K 3, and pretty much had the same life with the same friends, family, hobbies, etc. Something my eigth grade year clicked in me, and I wanted change.

Now, I am normally the type of person who strongly dislikes change, as it is often uncomfortable for me. This probably has something to do with my childhood before attending OVS. Regardless, I interestingly felt a strong urge nearing the end of my elementary and middle school career to get out. So, I research schools in Southern Califronia, as I had always loved the area from the few vacations my family took when I was younger. You probably know the rest. I applied, got in, and now I am here.

Now this being my third year living on campus, I have overcome some of the major struggles in adjusting to such a drastically different way of life. At the start, it was quite challenging for me to adapt to a lot of what it takes to live in a dorm setting. Everything from my day-to-day interactions to my morning and night routines went through drastic changes. I also don’t constantly have my mom, who is the most important person in my life, physically there to support me. Such circumstances have taught me to be drastically more independent and hold my ground as an individual person.

I’m not saying I have learnt everything, as that is simply impossible being my age. Still, I do believe I have grown as a person in ways I wouldn’t have if I was still at home attending high school in my childhood town. I have learnt how to share my space better (something I needed being an only child), work better with others, respect people’s space, and overall be more independent. I think that will hopefully give me a head start in college, as I am already accustomed to dorm life. Regardless, I am still incredibly grateful for the experience and am excited to see where it can help me in the future.

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I Hate Blogs

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Every week for journalism class, we have to write a blog. It is actually getting a bit annoying, and we are only on Blog #5. I know some other people actually really like the blogs, but I feel like I always have a hard time coming up with the topic of the week. My ideas are either way too broad and boring or way too personal. Also, I always forget about the blogs until around ten or eleven on Friday night. This is really scary because I have to quickly go through the process of writing an entire blog and go through the struggles of choosing a topic in the span of about twenty minutes before it turns twelve. In conclusion, I hate blogs, and I’m going to make this exactly 150 words to spite the word minimum. Thank you for listening to my speech, and have a wonderful night.

A depressed student sitting on a floor with his head down crying. Depressed school boy in side view Stock Photo - Alamy

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Chill Out & Don’t Overthink

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Recently, I have noticed a negative pattern in my personal life. Frequently, events have been occurring that impact me in negative ways. The overall trajectory of the mood has been way more on the adverse side, and I’m not exactly sure why. However, I believe I reacted appropriately and wasn’t completely gloomy. I think if such a pattern were to occur about three or more years ago, I would not react the same as I do to things of the sort today. Back then, I would get upset that the world wasn’t acting in accordance with my overall pleasure, and I would view it as unfair. I mean, every child, to some degree, complains with the phrase, “But that’s not fair!” I think part of that confusion stems from a lack of knowledge and experience, which led me to where I am now with an overall different approach to the situation.

I believe it to be part of my belief system, now in my life, that everything happens for a reason. Such a perspective has changed my life and overall boosted my positivity, even in traditionally negative times. The faith that everything happens for a reason can morph a bad event into something possibly good for the future. It also promotes less overthinking about personal error or the fault of others in your life. Those mindset changes have made me more aware of my response to things in my life, especially when they are negative. I think I have come a long way from my younger self, and I truly believe that it can be partially credited to the switch in my perspective on the occurances of my everyday life.

Everything happens for a reason, probably a good one | by Nabanita Dhar | Medium

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AP Chem, More Like AP Misery

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I know junior year is supposed to be hard and all, but this is really my tipping point. Between three other AP classes, precalc, journalism, and being a yearbook editor, as well as other extracurriculars like being in Student Council, a dorm prefect, and in varsity sports, I have taken on a lot this year. All of these things are in addition to keeping up with my friends and family and also keeping myself in check.

Even though it’s a lot, honestly, I could do it. That is, if it weren’t for the class that could commonly go by the name of the course of satan himself.

Now, I have nothing against Mr. Driscoll; I love him. He’s super sweet, helpful, and knows what he is talking about. However, I don’t think the best teacher in the entire world could get me through that class. Again, this is not due to Mr. Driscoll, but as soon as I walk through the door of the chem lab, I am flooded with an immediate sense of grief. If I hear one more person talk about mass spectroscopy, thermodynamics, or stoichiometry, I don’t think I will make it to next week. I genuinely think everyone still in that class is some sort of superhero.

This past week, I have been pursuing other options for classes to take if I drop out of AP Chem. After much thought, I have decided to transfer to AP Bio. Now, I know AP Bio doesn’t sound all that different from AP Chem, but it is for me. I just have this deep-rooted and indescribable hatred for chemistry that cannot be applied to anything else. I’m not exactly sure what ionic compound demon possessed me when I was choosing my classes last year.

Anyhow, it doesn’t matter anymore, as I am out of that class forever. I will never be haunted by intermolecular forces and chemical reactions again. I am free.

Sad Asian Student Clutching Head After Failed Experiment In Chemistry Class. Disappointed Asian Student Carrying Out Experiment In Chemistry Class. Vector Flat Design Illustration. Square Layout. Royalty Free SVG, Cliparts, Vectors, and
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An Unforeseen Feat

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This past Tuesday, the girl’s Varsity volleyball team emerged with a fortuitous victory in their first game of the season. Such a triumph was overall unexpected, considering the team’s prior readiness. As of Monday morning, a day before the game, the Varsity and JV teams were not specified to us, the players. So, on Monday afternoon practice, we got our jerseys, established our teams, practiced serving, hitting, and setting for the first time this year, and went through the entire lineup and rotation. All the while, our coach was mostly dealing with the JV team and helping them do bumping drills. All considered, the odds were not looking in our favor. Fast forward to the next day during the game, the first set we lost. That one was expected. Then, however, we unexpectedly pulled out a win for the second set. Maybe we were still in it….The following two sets were finished in the same order of which team won. Now it was two sets to two, and a tie-breaker game to fifteen points was ensuing. Compared to how we were acting during the first set, this was serious now. We had put so much effort into winning this game, we weren’t going to walk up our own hill to dinner in defeat. In an exciting final match to fifteen, we ended up winning sixteen to fourteen. We did it, when no one on or off the team thought we could. After a total of three long, strugling hours, we dominated our first match, and hopefully it sets the tone for the many rest of the games to come.

Closeup View Of White Leather Ball On Green Lawn Stock Photo - Download Image Now - Grass, Volleyball - Sport, Sports Ball - iStock
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junior year

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Here I am, middle of summer, joyful that my previous sophomore year has come to a close. AP world history, honors Spanish and English, the works – all complete with passing grades. Looming over my head, however, are the glories of AP summer assignments. From math problems to note-taking, complex foreign novels to essays, the workload sort of makes me want to die.

Here I am, first day of junior year, thinking that all my classes aren’t actually that bad. my teachers seem nice, my classmates seem fun, and the workload seems reasonable so far. not sure what all the intense foreshadowing of the doom of junior year was all about. Maybe the summer workload was only meant to scare us into being ultra-prepared when in reality the year will be way less horrible.

Here I am, end of the first week of junior year, already wishing to be back to the first day still in the mindset of blissful ignorance 🙂

And there will only be more to come…

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