This Week

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I think this week has been the worst week of my senior year so far.

Monday was fine; nothing really happened, it was a basic day. I went to my classes, went to sports, and hated that the weekend was so short and that I’m back at school. The homework was acceptably light, which made it better.

On Tuesday, I got up and got ready for the day. Unsurprisingly, an epidemic of sickness is currently occurring within the dorms. Everybody is either sick or getting sick, and not long, I know I’m going to be the next victim. But anyways, I didn’t have to go to all my classes since I had a volleyball gam.

Unfortunately, the volleyball game was in LA. We had to drive about two hours to get to the location, which was kind of annoying. We ended up getting there about thirty minutes early, which was kind of boring. Anyways, the. The team did really well. Although we lost pretty badly in the first and third sets, the second set was by far. The best set we’ve ever played, falling not far behind the rival team, losing only 22-25. I’m very proud of the team.

Wednesday is where it gets wobbly, not horrendous, but also not amazing. Honestly, I can remember most of it. Wait, yes, I do, it was actually pretty good because there was a town trip, which meant no sports. I actually did some work and got to relax. I did tutoring, which was easy because nobody showed up for English and History. I was really tired and was not able to focus on the task I was doing, so I watched a quick YouTube video. It kind of helped, but not really. I still felt really tired. After tutoring I went staright to bed.

Thursday was the worst. I woke up happy, because I was going to start my day with a free block, only to get it ruined by the notification” room check today.” It genuinely dampened my mood because, why out of all the days, is there a room check when I have my free block first? Anyway, I spent my free block in the bathroom because a teacher was checking the rooms ( turned out we could stay in the room while they did a room check). From there, my day spiraled. and progressively got worse.

Finally, Friday the one of the best days of the week. It is the final stretch of the week before the weekend. All my teachers didn’t assign weekend homework, which. I’m grateful for. So now I feel I can relax and fill out some more of my college requirements. Sadly, I know that once I shut my eyes, it will be Monday all over again.

College

College is coming. I have realized that I waited a bit too long to start my extracurriculars. I did some things in my sophomore year, but the colleges that I want to get into need far more than what I have accomplished. Even though it’s a hard process, I think I can do it. My ability to get into the colleges I really want relies solely on my shoulders, and it’s up to me to make my dream come true. People aren’t lying when they say that you need to start doing stuff freshman year. Other people around me seem to not care as much, and I end up thinking that I might be stressing myself out. However, I know what I want to do, and I know what I need to do in order to get into good colleges, and that’s up to me. I need to stop worrying about what everyone else is doing.

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Winning The Ticketmaster War

Word goes around via news or fan mail that your favorite artist is going on tour. Dreading getting tickets due to pricing, you open Ticketmaster and see diabolical resale tickets priced at about a billion dollars for a single ticket. Not really caring in the present tense on how much your bank account is, you decide to buy the tickets..

And be put into a waiting line of 300 others.

You’d most likely groan in this unfortunate situation, coming to the realization (if you hadn’t before) that your favorite band isn’t that… underground anymore. That’s what happened to me this weekend.

My Chemical Romance announced the other leg of the Long Live The Black Parade tour last Friday, where they’re playing in a bunch of different countries, cities, and continents. Having already seen this tour whenever they announced just North America, I begged my parents to go, despite having seen them at Dodger Stadium and at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds.

Knowing that the other superfans were gonna scalp the tickets like men in their 30s buying Pokémon cards (If you don’t know what I’m talking about, look it up, it’s very.. interesting to say the least), and people buying the tickets for a (somewhat) reasonable price and then selling them for thrice the price, I was cooked via ticket prices, and seats were a whole other story.

A day story short later, after convincing my mom, I finally got the tickets for me, my mom, and my brother to see MCR. Maybe, this will end my now three-year hyperfixation? Maybe it won’t. All I know is that I’m gonna see them again in October…

Of 2026.

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I Am Music

Music puts me in a flow state, revives my soul in times of distress, music embodies one’s self. Whenever I listen to music, it puts me in a trance. Especially if I find a song that I love so much and I listen to for 100 times on repeat. When I listen to a sad song, I’m sad, even if it’s for no reason. When I listen to happy music, I’m happy. It’s like music can control my feelings. I have no idea how music has the ability to give me literal goosebumps; it just does. I’ve never really understood the people that don’t constantly listen to music. In the shower, doing chores, lying down, there is always music. When I’m in an argument with a friend or family member, good music makes the situation better. It’s like the tension is released. The right music is like therapy, at least my therapy. It helps me tune everything out and go into my own world.

Iphone Airpods” by Jess Watters/ CC0 1.0

Eugene, Oregon

It was 11:00 am on Thursday, I got the text from my Dad he was at school to pick me up and we were on our way. We picked up our friends, went to the store and hit the Santa Barbara airport. We landed in San Francisco then walked to our gate for Oregon. Then we grabbed dinner and went to bed. When we woke up and drove to PK Park my mind was blown. The size of every sports complex blew my mind, and I had a great first day of my showcase. Hitting my personal best 95 mph exit velocity to becoming friends with 3 kids from Hawaii, today was very blessed.

Tomorrow I play my first game of the weekend at the University of Oregon against my best friends team and I’m very excited. From the soccer field to the baseball field and the football stadium, I fell in love with Eugene, Oregon.

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Blank Mind: A Christmas Tribute

I sat down to write this blog, but absolutely nothing came to mind. Instead, I procrastinated until the last minute… and still had nothing to write about. I tried brainstorming ideas, but everything felt too cliché or uninteresting.

So, I guess this post isn’t exceptionally exciting, but it’s all I’ve got right now.

That said, I’m really excited for Christmas. I love Christmas music—it’s so nostalgic. If I could listen to it all year, I would. (And honestly, sometimes I do.)

Well, now this post has somehow turned into being about Christmas, but I’ve run out of things to say about that, too. Hopefully, I’ll have better luck next week.

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Dorms

Living in the dorms is an entirely new experience for me. I have always enjoyed the privilege of living in the small town where I went to school, but that has all changed for me. My family moved away while I had one last year of high school to complete. I made the decision to finish high school where I started, becoming a dormer to do so.

My first week was a lot of adjusting. Living on a campus in the town where I had grown up was the biggest challenge. Wanting to go out and do what I had always done before left me feeling incredibly bored.

Additionally, I felt lonely. My lifelong friends, family, and others were all gone. I still have people I enjoy talking to, but the dynamic of my life has changed completely.

I have noticed that changing my personal life to adapt to the dorms has become the best help when adjusting. I try to maintain a schedule and focus on both school work and personal growth.

While the changes are challenging, they are temporary and are a good preparation for college and life beyond high school.

Residential Housing | Carolina University

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Routines

I am obsessed with routine. I love having a set schedule and planning everything out. Over the course of my life I have become more and more obsessed with the little details about my life. The way my bed is made, the placement of shoes on the floor and the feeling of my sheets. I am highly compulsive when it comes to my room, cleaning and taking care of myself. Therefore my routine is highly important to me. I get home from work or school and immediately shower and change into a clean comfortable outfit. I go along with the rest of my night doing homework or hanging out with friends and then I prepare myself for bed. I wash my face, brush my teeth and put on my skincare. I then make myself tea or get myself water and gently pull my blankets back so that I dont mess up how it looks. I turn on my show for the night and lay down. After about 30 minutes of that I turn on a podcast or music and fall asleep. I have realized that if I dont follow my own routine perfectly I am unable to go to sleep. I love my routines.

Attention span

I think that scrolling on my phone and watching short videos that I can scroll past, is slowly reducing my attention span in class. Its getting hard to pay attention for a full class. When i’m taking notes I can pay attention well because i’m writing, but when the whole lesson is the teacher talking, I get distracted easily and lose my track of thought. Its not only in class that this happens, its also whenever I should be focusing on something but my mind goes anywhere than what i’m doing. TikTok’s algorithm is endless scrolling that is supposed to keep you hooked and it can make you lose time perception. When my mind wonders, its not just TikTok’s fault because the world has many distractions, but its also made it a way where it requires no mental effort. Ive noticed when I try and read a book or do homework, I cant concentrate and I catch myself reaching for my phone. Going from watching entertaining videos to reading a book is obviously gonna alter your brain to make your mind unable to focus, but it would help to be mindful about using TikTok and not over-watching. I think finding a balance will help to stay connected without losing ourselves in an endless scroll.

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Hollow Immitations: Live-Action Remakes

Within the last 10 years, there has been a trend of live-action remakes of animated classic films or series. The most prominent example of this shift is displayed by The Walt Disney Studios, adapting their beloved works for the modern age with updated technology and real-life actors, but telling virtually the same story. Examples include Aladdin, The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Snow White, Pinocchio, and many more.

Live-action film adaptations of pre-existing animated stories produce exceedingly high box office results, demonstrating undeniable commercial success. However, they are typically not well-received by audiences and critics, with many perceiving these films as a sign of desperation and lack of creativity. And yet, they continue to be produced and continue to make hundreds of millions of dollars, capitalizing on nostalgia for profit rather than telling creative stories.

Conversely, films containing original stories recieve less recognition and tend to flop at the box office, further incentivising the continuation of live action remakes.

While they are lucrative, live-action remakes of animated stories lack the soul and passion of their original counterparts. Most of the stories told, particularly classic Disney films, were told in animated format to enhance the whimsical and expressive nature of their respective narratives and characters. When that core element is stripped away, all that is left is a mere imitation of a beloved story that a live-action adaptation could never recapture, let alone surpass.

Disney Live Action Remakes: Do They Have a Future? - Wright State Guardian

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