Category: potpourri

Tribute

yrreskrap1 Comment

Here it is. June 3rd.
Just five more days until I walk across that stage and receive my diploma.

Who knew high school went by as fast as they said it did?

My five year journey here at Ojai Valley School has been unforgettable.

I started out in 8th grade at the Lower Campus. Although it was a great change from a large school of over 2,000 students, the warm and inviting faculty and friends I met made the adjustment easy.

I had a great year learning how to camp, do my own laundry, and take on the responsibilities of living in a dorm. Not the mention, the close bonds I made with the girls I lived with. It was a different kind of bond than the most of the ones I made in public school. Having lived with these girls, I felt almost as if I was amongst sisters.

So, after graduating, the decision was easy. I knew I wanted to go to Upper for high school.

My freshman year, I roomed with my best friend from Lower, Wendy Lin.

Now let me say something about her. I have been my most vulnerable with Wendy. I opened up to her about things I never really shared with anybody else, and she did the same. So when we roomed together, it was like I was with family. We both knew each other enough not to argue. So when I say, although we had our ups and downs, I am generally talking about the ups when it comes to Wendy. When I think of my freshman year, she is among one of the first people that pop into my mind.

Then there is Lucy Kim. Ah, she is so dear to me. Not only did we click because of our similar humor, she lifted me up when I was down and always was there for me when I needed prayer requests. She also listened to me when I needed her and let me realize that  She even got us transportation to go to church on Sundays so that we could keep our faith, after I told her how hard it was not to go to church.

Cooper, Jeremy, Oussou and Parker. Boy, were they funny people. Of course, when you are that young, seniors seem so much older than they actually are, and these were the people I looked up to. They had close, lasting bonds that were connected by years of laughter. Although they probably had no idea, my senior year was affected so much by the optimism and attitude they brought to the school.

The first half of my sophomore year was spent at Beverly Hills High School. That semester was definitely a learning experience for me. The big public school experience was new to me, having been in a private boarding school of just over 100 students. Regardless, I returned to OVS with a newfound appreciation.

Junior year..was tough. It was full of all nighters and instant food. I was swamped with the workload of 4 AP’s and struggled with balancing time between my studies and my boyfriend of two years. But this is the year that I grew close to Jo Chen and Maddie, two of my best friends today! However, it was also the year that Jo, Maddie, Lucy, and my boyfriend had graduated so the graduation was marked with strong emotions.

This year, graduation means something completely different.

It means five years of going to school in Ojai is coming to a close. It means growth. It means Reika, Sungjin, and Anni. It means Mr. Alvarez’s words of encouragement and Mr. Cooper’s long speeches on integrity. It means Mr. Weidlich running with the lacrosse team and Mrs. Colborn’s team comp announcements. It means Chico’s waffles every Wednesday morning. It means Mrs. Allen’s bake sales and the IOU’s that follow. It means Haldy’s jokes and Eddy’s motorcycle videos and Mr. and Mrs. Boyd’s wonderful singing and camping trips with Mrs. Davis. It is so much.

It kind of makes me want to stay a little longer.

That’s how much I love this place.

Thank you everybody for making this experience what it was. It has been a fabulous 5 years. I loved every minute of it.

Get Out and Vote

therightliberalLeave a comment

This will be the first year that I can vote, and I am very excited for it.

Most of my friends don’t understand why I would be excited and why I care so much, which usually ends with me calling them ignorant.

To set the scene, I have gone over the ballots with my parents for as long as I can remember. They were not trying to brainwash me; they always asked me what I though of a proposition or a candidate before they spoke their mind.

I learned to read the laws and understand them in a greater sense. It was always something I enjoyed and became excited about. I was much more likely to be conversing with my teachers about politics than my peers.

And now I am able to actually vote. It feels like a freedom to me, something that is meant to be cherished. As much as my friends may go on about it not mattering if one person votes, it does. Especially in the primaries, one vote does matter.

I feel that if more children were exposed to politics and encouraged to be informed even though they could not vote, we would have much higher turn outs.

After all, a democracy does not work without voter participation. If we want to keep the freedoms that we hold dear, we must have a voice as a people. That starts, and ends, with have a politically educated youth system.

TUMBLR!

rangerthecat1 Comment

I have had a Tumblr quite a while now. At first, it was a website that I would go on only if I had absolutely nothing else to do and I was just in bed, feeling lazy. Now, it has become a daily part of my life that I am getting more and more addicted to.

Tumblr is a social networking and blogging site. Like Facebook, each member has their own page where they post and share things. Following someone means that all of their posts will show up on your dashboard, which is kind of like a personalized home page different from every other members, because it has a different collection of things.

People write stories and post videos, but Tumblr is mostly filled with a plethora of photos. It is filled with photos of EVERY THING IMAGINABLE. And a lot of GIFs which are a cross between a little video and photo; it’s like a moving picture that has about 5 to 10 frames, generally speaking.

Now, Tumblr is not just somewhere to mindlessly and aimlessly look at photos of cool stuff and read funny little remarks. It’s a place to discover new things. I follow all different kind of blogs, including fan pages to my favorite shows, health blogs, self-improvement blogs, blogs for fashion, blogs for beauty, blogs for cute guys, blogs for bands/artists or music in general, blogs that post photos of animals. I even follow a blog dedicated to cats. But a blog can also just be a compilation of everything that interests the poster. I see a lot of things that I have never seen before and learn cool facts that I had not known about my favorite celebrities, bands, or shows.

One thing I really like about Tumblr is that for me, at least, it is reserved mostly for people that I don’t know. This way, I don’t have to be afraid of posting something people will criticize or annoy me about. Tumblr is sort of like special insight into my mind, and sometimes I would rather the people close to me stay a bit distanced from that.

It is just one of those awesome websites that I can’t live without… No, really, I like it that much. It’s an awesome way to pass the time and find out about cool, new things. If you don’t have one, I really suggest you get one! That is, if you’re not worried about falling into the Tumblr trap like I did and fall in love with it!

Time.

yrreskrapLeave a comment

Wow.

11 days until graduation.
The college process seems so long ago.
Yet freshman year feels like just yesterday…

Time really does play with us in such a chaotic and wonderful way,
such banter and play.
We are so mortal.

And what is truly timeless?

Here is one of my favorite findings from Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida.

Achilles: I do believe it; for they pass’d by me
As misers do by beggars, neither gave to me
Good word nor look: what, are my deeds forgot?

Ulysses: Time hath, my lord, a wallet at his back,
Wherein he puts alms for oblivion,
A great-sized monster of ingratitudes:
Those scraps are good deeds past; which are decoured
As fast as they are made, forgot as soon
As done: perserverance, dear my lord,
Keeps honour bright: to have done is to hang
Quite out of fashion, like a rusty nail
In monumental mockery. Take the instant way;
For honour travels in a strait so narrow…
For time is like a fashionable host
That slightly shakes its parting guest by the hand,
And with arms outstretched, as he would fly,
Grasps in the comer: welcome ever smiles,
And farewell goes out sighing.

Anyways, this passage definitely gives me something to think about.
What I want my legacy to be..
How important something really is…
is it really worth my time?

is time really worth it?

Supercar Sunday

therightliberalLeave a comment

I get excited by cars. Most of my friends would tell you I get too excited by them, like in a dangerous way.

So naturally it was only right for me to indulge myself by visiting this lovely event called Supercar Sunday in Woodland Hills.

Let me start off by saying that most car shows are lame. They are usually just trying to make money by showing off regular cars with some tuning or old relics that most people don’t care about.

Supercar Sunday is different. Supercar Sunday is a bunch of people with veryyyyyyy nice cars that show up and park their cars so dumb teenagers like me can go look at them and get sexually excited.

They don’t charge, they aren’t selling anything, there is actually parking. This is a pure viewing experience of some of the greatest cars ever made.

There was a Ford GT40 (the real one), a real AC Cobra, more Caterham 7’s than you could believe. There was a Lotus Esprit, a Countach, and some Martini Porsches.

Then there were new cars like (every) modern Ferrari (minus the Enzo), tons of lambos, Aston Martins, 911s, Lotus’ (or is it Loti?) and even two Mp4-12C’s.

There were also some tuners and some cool oldies (MGs, a cool old Sprite, and some lovely Datsuns) that were fun to see.

It was incredible to walk among these cars and get to talk to people who have a real passion for them.

Thanks to a good idea from my friend, we decided to go sit at the corner as the cars started to leave. Holy crap was this a good idea.

Despite there being numerous cops watching every street (the drivers waved at them and rev’d their engines to say hello) it was cool to be able to hear all the V8s and V12s (and a couple of V10’s (yay lambo!). I couldn’t help but quiver every time a Ferrari V8 was rev’d and the sounds of clutches slipping filled the air.

This is a great event because it is run by people who love cars, not by people looking to make money. I didn’t pay a dollar and yet I got to have the best car viewing experience of my life. A major hat tip to those people that throw Supercar Sunday!

P.S. The best Sunday to go is the last one of the month, that is when it is really big. If you are anywhere near Woodland Hills and have any interest in cars, go! you won’t regret it.

Jo and The Dictator.

yrreskrapLeave a comment

Today, my good friend Jo came from to visit from Boston!

Jo graduated last year and we rarely get to hangout! But today, Jo, another friend of mine, and I hit Main Street in Ventura to watch The Dictator.

Now let me tell you, this movie is the farthest thing from pc and has humor that can be offensive to some.

But I loved it. I love how bold Sacha Baron Cohen is with all of his movies. Despite having faced lawsuits for his previous movies, he still continues to do what he does best…make hilarious, vulgar movies.

And what’s even better was that I watched it with two of my closest friends.

Overall, tonight was a win.

The Joys of Journalism

therightliberalLeave a comment

I joined the journalism class my junior year of high school, doing it more because I liked the teacher rather than the subject. I was good at writing, or so I believed, so I thought I might as well.

But what I have gained from the class has been immense.

Although I thought I was a good writer, I definitely had room for improvement. I have learned how to be more concise as well as deep in my writing.

I have learned to be less superficial in my writing, using fewer words and finding more meaning.

One of the most important things that I have gained is the ability to get people’s story in a quick and effective way. It is not just interviewing techniques but learning to talk to people in a way in which their story is told most effectively.

I have learned the importance of stories, not just as a form of entertainment or news, but the importance to those who tell them and who are involved with them. I have learned that people like to tell their stories to those who are willing to listen.

Journalism is an art and a science. It is a way to show the world the way you see the world, the way you interpret the things around you, but it can also require a formula of sorts, a strategy.

Journalism is not only a great class to take in high school, it is a great subject to be involved with at any point in life, whether it be reading, writing or participating in some other manner.

Journalism is a key way that we communicate and express ourselves, and I thank everyone that has taught me about it.

Journalism Competition!

rangerthecatLeave a comment

Last Friday, 8 out of 10 students from our journalism class went to Cal Lutheran University (where I’m going to college!!!) to attend the TCJEA event which is a very competitive and large journalism competition. There were 15 schools at the event in total and we were the smallest school there hands down. Many other schools had around 20 or even 30 writers with them to compete in all different categories. It was intimidating, yes, but the experience was so awesome that it hardly mattered how small our group was.

We had writers enter almost every category available, including photography, sports writing, feature writing, news writing, and editorial writing. I was in the feature category, and we had such an interesting speaker named Cyrus Nowrasteh wrote and produced a many films including a mini-series titled “The Path to 9/11”. We listened to his story about the controversy over his series and the attempted sabotage of his career by people trying to cover up their mistakes. Then, we had about an hour to write an article on him and submit to be scored against all other works in that category.

Now, Mr. Alvarez is the best journalism teacher I could ever ask for. He has taught me so much – I was a terrible writer when I first stepped into his classroom. Regardless of his immense encouragement and preparation, I was still not confident that I could compete with others in programs much bigger and more well-known than our little “On The Hill” paper. But I was sure that we were a small but mighty force and had a great change of winning awards.

There were so many awards handed out. Each category had 1st through 3rd places and 2 honorable mentions. There were also awards for online newspapers, print newspapers, and overall best team called “sweepstakes”.

In the feature category, there were over 30 students that wrote an article for submission. My fellow feature writer Emmy Addison took a 2nd place in the feature category, and I received an honorable mention! I couldn’t believe it. I was recognized as a top 5 writer in my category. I was ecstatic. Another writer Jack Marcus also received 2nd place in the news writing category. Our online publication of the newspaper took 4th place overall, with is astounding considering it had only been officially up and running for less than a month. Overall in the competition, we placed 4th, receiving an honorable mention in the sweepstakes category.

It is just amazing to me how such a small group of students was able to go to that competition and practically dominate. We really proved to the other schools that even though we may not seem like much, we have an amazing, dedicated, and hardworking group of writers. I am so proud to be a part of this team, and the event was more amazing than I could have imagined. Congrats, journalism class!

Festival of Talent

rangerthecatLeave a comment

This Friday was my 3rd and last time performing in the annual Festival of Talent for school. My sophomore and junior years I sang a song with my friend Maddie and this year I sang a song with my friend Serry.

This year, we had a hard time choosing which song to sing, because there were so many good ones that we had in mind. We finally came to the decision of singing a song called “Meant to Be” by Melissa Polinar.

Since I first discovered it, it has been one of my favorite songs and thankfully it fit both of our voices well. We only had a few practices, but it came together really quickly. Music teacher Mr. Boyd was amazing at figuring out the guitar on such short notice and with no tabs (THANK YOU!!).

I usually get extremely nervous about singing in front of a crowd, and I was nervous when I went on stage, but for some reason when I started singing this time my nerves died down. I think it’s just the fact that it was such a bittersweet moment, my last talent show and probably the last time I will be singing in front of people.

There were SO MANY other awesome acts in this show. To start us off we had an amazing robot-like dance by Jack Liu that was just phenomenal. It was so entertaining and it was obvious he spent a lot of time perfecting every move and that he has such a natural talent for dancing. There were a lot of other singing acts and a really awesome piano battle with 2 extremely talented pianists. The acting group the Spud Factory had 2 very cute short films, one that was dedicated to the senior class that was very sweet and thoughtful of them. It was so entertaining and I think that everyone there had an awesome time.

I will definitely miss performing in front of people and seeing all the other talent that the school has to offer. Thankfully, I get to perform one last time at the concert before graduation, my very last hurrah at OVS. I can’t wait to sing with chorus and the most amazing voice coach Mrs. Boyd one last time.

Dead Toenails and My Lovely Roommate!

yrreskrap1 Comment

Today, two of my toenails fell off after my final season of track here at Ojai Valley School.

My roommate and I were talking about this to our coach (thebrownguy) and we were discussing how it is almost a badge of honor to have toenails that fall off. It shows our character and dedication in running, that despite the pain that comes with running, we give it our all.

My roommate’s toenail fell off a few days ago.

Now, let me tell you, this girl can run.

She was a new student this year and came to take advantage of the track team at our school. Her previous school did not have track as a sport. Now, for a girl who had no prior official track team training, she did fantastic.

My roommate broke several personal records, brought home multiple first place medals, broke a meet record, and even took the title of Condor League MVP this season. But this is not the crowning point in her high school track career. She ran at the CIF preliminary meet, placed second in her heat, and qualified for finals.

She is one of the most dedicated people I know. And dedication is not something you can fake. When I look at her run, its inspiring. The way she pushes herself to the hardest during practice and the way she takes such tender care of her feet afterwards is just fantastic. There is nobody I know that is as dedicated as her. And all of that dedication stems from her pure love for the sport. She loves running. And that is what makes her good.

Now, my roommate can be hard on herself sometimes but I hope when she reads this, she realizes how great she actually is.

She will only get better as she gets older. College is going to be fantastic for you. I just can’t wait to see how well you do, even in your first year in college. I know you will go on to do such great things!

And so back to the topic of toenails. Now that we have established them to be badges of honor, you deserve to have all of your toenails fall off.

I love you thehungryrunnergirl!