Category: friends

Good Evening OVS Bloggers!

sennymcfly5 Comments

Gosh it’s good to be back in the blog world and the non-alcoholic Thanksgiving after party that is Mr. Alvarez’s Journalism class. Do tell! How is it going so far? I’m sure you are all enjoying it. If I remember correctly Journalism was always like a big birthday party with desks and a big white board. Unfortunately, there was no cake.

What! No cake?

But, who needs cake when you have a teacher like Mr. A? Yeah okay, so he doesn’t have sprinkles and fire cracker candles on his head and he doesn’t walk into the classroom covered in vanilla frosting…he doesn’t right? Anyway, if he were to be covered in frosting it would be chocolate flavored, not vanilla, because everybody knows that a brown guy can’t hide beneath his frosty vanilla coating.

What's Up Vanilla Face?

Okay, okay. I’m done ragging on the teacher. (Evan Cooper, you’re next!) But take what I’m about to say to heart; I don’t know any of the new teachers at OVS, but what I do know is that Mr. A, regardless of how great they are, will always be number one in my eyes. He is absolutely one of the greatest teachers and one of the greatest people (persons?) I have ever had the pleasure to learn from. I’m not even really sure if that was proper grammar. But, thankfully he wasn’t my English teacher so you’re off the hook for any mistakes I make Mr. Alvarez. You all should know that I’m proud to have been his student and so should you. Hope you guys have an amazing year. Enjoy it and take advantage of what they teach you. And absolutely absolutely absolutely ABSOLUTELY do not take it for granted because it’s going to be the best high school experience of your lives. Be well. Have fun. Don’t be late to class.

– Maddie

Worth it.

theycallmedameLeave a comment

Let me start by saying I have great friends at OVS, I really do. I have met fabulous people here that I truly love.

But there are very few people I would drive a total of three hours for just to see them for half of that. Friday night I did just that for two of my very closest friends.

I have known Tucker and Eyad for two years now, all thanks to Power Chord Academy (or as I like to refer it as: Band Camp).

Tucker and Eyad are two people who just seem to understand me. And I realize how horribly cliche that sounds coming from a teenager, but it’s the only way I can describe it. They understand how I work, how I tick, and they love me for it.

I don’t have to watch myself around them. I don’t have to worry about what to say and what not to say, or how big their personal bubble is. I don’t have to think about it at all. I can just throw away all my worries and simply be me.

And that means the world to me.


Tucker

Eyad

I love you guys, I really do, and I don’t know where I’d be without you right now.

Humanity Over Cruelty

theycallmedame1 Comment

Hateful, spiteful, repeating
Underneath a persons very skin
Men and women struggle
And it is then that war begins
New information and cultures appear
Illegal feelings and thoughts
The end of life as we know it
Your battle is one quickly lost

Open ones mind and ones thoughts
Verify every fact
Each life can be worth living
Reaching forward, but never back

Creating a false world
Readily defended lies
Up, and up, and up you build
Eventually puncturing the skies
Leave your ignorance, and hate, and carelessness
Take nothing with you at all
You are only as big as your every fear

And even you will eventually fall.

I’m an adult: this means I’m better than you.

Yourcupatea1 Comment

respect
As an adolescent I find myself continually being treated like a ‘kid.’ I’m 17, I can drive, make my own decisions, and yes I can dress myself. Yet to some adults they still feel that they are entitled to belittle and undermine me, all because of my age.

I’m independently applying for college and planning my life, an important future decision, yet according to some this is just not enough. I’m beginning to wonder when I will be respected as an adult.

In my eyes I reached my adulthood and gained my independence many years ago, but this is not the case in California. In England, at the age of 16 you are seen as an adult being charged higher fares. I guess age means different things in different countries and cultures. It seems that  in America you reach adulthood at the age of 18.

Some people still believe that with age comes great wisdom, but in my eyes I’m pretty wise already. I guess I will only find out these things with age, but for now I shall just enjoy being a teenager and hope for a little more respect.

 

New life

thehungryrunnergirl1 Comment

Moving from New England, this is my first week in California. Man, this place is just so awesome. Palm trees, beaches, mountains, sunny weather… I’m just really lucky to be here.

Compared to California, New England was just not for me. Sixteen-hour flights from home, feeling very far away from my family. In winter, there would be so much snow, and blizzards. I couldn’t go outside and run, and that was the worst part of being there. All I could do was to shut myself up in the room studying. The highest temperature will be 32°F and the lake right by my old school freezes and turns into a skating rink. It was very pretty…

but I prefer palmtrees and beaches.

I’m so lucky to come to Cali, and OVS. I appriciate my parents and teachers, especially (thebrownguy) for bringing me here.

I’m very stoked for this year, and can’t wait to get to know more people.

Beginning of the End

rangerthecat1 Comment


I can picture myself on June 8th, 2012. I’ll be standing on stage, in front of my peers and my family, accepting my high school diploma. And it will officially be over. These four dreaded years we call high school will OFFICIALLY be in my past. I have dreamed about this moment for so long.

I should be feeling happy. Actually, I really should be feeling overjoyed. Completely ecstatic. And a part of me is very excited for that moment to come. A small part.

The bigger part of me is feeling overwhelmed, nervous, and sad.

Ojai Valley School has not been my only high school experience. Public school came first. Back then, I never pictured anything different than walking out with about 500 other students accepting our diplomas on the gigantic front lawn of my public high school. And thank God I was wrong about that.

This school has taught me everything I know about myself, really. I have discovered so much more than I knew existed within myself. I remember the day that I showed up here. I wanted to leave more than anything. I wanted my old life back and I wanted to go home.

Now, this is home. This place is my home. Not just a place that I live, but much more than that. I have made countless friends, some of them who I hope I will know for the rest of my life. I look up to some of the faculty at this school more than I look up to anyone I have met before. They have really pushed me to be my best self. Without them, I would not be who I am today, and I really owe everything to them; they are truly a second family.

With them, I have laughed, I have cried, and I have laughed and cried some more. I have argued, I have slacked off, I have worked hard, I have tried new things. I have sang, I have danced, I have met amazing people, I have been pushed to my limits. But the most important thing that I have done here at OVS is I have found myself.

I know, 9 months seems so far away, but really I know that it will come much too quickly. Time really does fly by, and for once in my high school career, I wish it would just slow down so I could enjoy the amazing moments of my senior year that are to come.

So, with a heavy heart I say to you all, here’s to the beginning of the end. Because before I know it, it will be June 8th, 2012, and I will be standing on stage in front of everyone, saying goodbye, looking back at all the good memories I have of this place. Bitter-sweet is the only way to describe it. And who knows where I will be headed after then? As the saying goes, “when one door closes, another door opens.” As much as I look forward to everything in my future, I just wish this door would never have to close.

Time Flies

weirdjennyLeave a comment

nullIt has been two years since I came to OVS. During these two years, I have only been to Santa Barbara State Street trip twice. The first time is the very first school trip last year, and the second time is the last trip of this year, which today. I remember the first time I went I don’t know anyone yet, and I have never been there, so I was following other Chinese students. However, I got lost. At the end I was all alone by myself, so I just walked around the department stores and got a hamburger from The Habit. However, the second I went there is a totally different situation. After spending two years at OVS, I not only improve my English skill and gain new experience, but also make lots of great friends. Today, I went with few of my good friends. Just sitting next to the street, feeling the wind blowing on our face for few hours, we talked about what happened in these two years. Time flies. We all still remember how we meet each other in the beginning, and then now within 12 days we are all going to different place to start a new journey. One Chinese proverb said that there is no such a party without an ending. However, friends are forever. We will keep in touch.

And yet she comes again.

sennymcflyLeave a comment

It’s been at least one month since Aunt Lela’s funeral. Just last weekend we were at Relay for Life and I was walking in her honor.

It’s been four hours since my great grandmother passed away.

It’s been 20 minutes since I got the phone call from my mom. After the fourth ring I decided to pick up. “Mama, I can’t talk right now.” My roommate was sleeping and I didn’t want to disturb her. “It’s an EMERGENCY.”

This one I was close to. It really hurts this time. All she wanted before she died was to hear me sing. I didn’t do it for her.

I feel guilty, but it’s not about me. It’s about this woman who was so kind and funny. She loved her family, but she especially loved her daughter. The one who took care of her until the very end with very little help.

Now, she’s gone. What is her daughter supposed to do?

We can only pray and give love, right? What else? Why is death such a powerful thing?

I will pray. Not for God or Jesus or whoever. None of them. I will pray for my family. Because with tragedy comes grief and with grief, one never knows what can come of grief. So, I will pray and I hope you will too.

Grammie and Bubba

Are You There God?

sennymcflyLeave a comment

Faith is the journey continued in hopes of finding the end

it is the belief that after years of hard work, finger breaking there will come rest

There is faith in mothers that they will nurture us

there is faith in fathers that they will protect us

there is faith in lovers that they will love us

But, what faith have I in someone else’s religion?

What do you believe?

I believe in love

love can’t be taught or preached

it can’t be written or spoken, not published, or broadcasted

I have faith in love

Not So E-Z Up

sennymcfly2 Comments

Half the field had fallen asleep after 2:30 am. Only a select few were still walking, but luckily there was a free coffee stand open for the whole 24 hours. Even the 6 of us kids were still up and about trying to stay up until at least 4:30. We walked a bit more, but soon we got super tired and decided it was time to take a break. We had all set up camp underneath a green E-Z Up. It was cold and windy, but the warmth of our sleeping bags took care of that. Ryan was posted in a fold out lounge chair, Kai, Lucy, and I were sprawled out on the lime green tarp, Mrs. Davis curled up under the booth table, and Mr. Alvarez was laying just outside of the shelter of the tent.

It was late. Around 3-ish maybe. We had already walked at least a trillion or so laps. 18 hours and 12 cups of coffee later I was disappointingly unable to fall asleep and what I saw would make the night a zillion times more interesting. It started to sprinkle and the sprinkling got heavier. The corners of the E-Z Up began to sink and leak. Nobody thought anything of it at first (mostly because we were either half or fully asleep). When the rain got heavier I started moving all the bags underneath the tent so they wouldn’t get anymore wet. That’s when Mr. Alvarez woke up. The tent kept dripping and eventually it got so bad that it just couldn’t be ignored… maybe it was just the coffee.

We scraped the water off the tent with lacrosse sticks. Frustratingly enough the water just kept building up. At this point everyone was awake trying to fix the problem. The tent frame wouldn’t rise or spread or move pretty much at all. The only thing we could do was get rid of it. Kai was pushing the water. I was holding the covering taught and pulled it down. Kai pushed the fabric up towards the edge and before I could move out of the way a waterfall of rain dumped on my head. I was completely soaked. My shoes were in puddles. My pants were drenched and my hair was dripping. It was awesome.

We all curled up in the middle of the tarp; unorganized and uncomfortable. About two hours later I woke up to a bright and shining sun, took a few walks around the track and when Mr. Alvarez’s run around the track ended we wondered how and why everyone else’s tent kept them dry and ours drooled all over us. The hunt was on. We looked under every tent. The Fire Department’s tent was exactly like ours, but we noticed something different about the frame. We ran to our booth, took off the cover and lowered the frame legs. It turns out the top of the tent extends high, so high that it was supposed to let water roll off the sides. I guess ours wasn’t fully raised.

Oh boy, what a night. But hey, it was so worth it.