Category: school

Junior-itis

progstenLeave a comment

Sadly, junior year is the most important time of my high school career and the time when I need to get my best grades and have my best academic performance; however, that is extremely difficult.

I’m definitely done with school and everything that comes with it. It is kinda expected that during your hardest time, you get your best grades, but honesty, that has just not happened even with me putting more effort into school than in previous years. I have not been able to get straight As any time in my life, and now that I have the most things going on in my life, I’m expected to get them. Like, come on, that’s not gonna happen.

On top of school, I still have things outside my current life that have a higher priority. However, when I prioritize those other things, my grades start to slip. So I’m not too sure what to do.

I can put my school life ahead of my other life, but that will hinder my mental health. Plus, school just isn’t as important to me as other things, but it’s important for my future (maybe?).

But anyway, back to the topic of the post, I definitely have the junior form of senior-itis, which is slightly different from senior-itis but I just know that my college is riding on this year, so I’m still putting in some work but trying my hardest to put in the least amount of effort and get maximum outcome.

Another way it’s similar to senior itis is that I am very ready to leave OVS. No offense to the school; I just believe I have served my time here and am ready for a little change of pace.

And watching the seniors all get ready to leave to go to college or wherever they plan on going makes it way worse. I feel like I’m picking up their readiness to leave when, in fact, I’m not close to leaving yet.

Although it is all about perspective, because it is unbelievable that I’m already nearing the end of my junior year when I was a freshman not too long ago, so maybe looking at it from another way will help out.

This isn’t something new that people haven’t heard im pretty sure everyone is feeling this. I just needed to write this down somewhere.

PC: https://www.gilbertschools.net/cms/lib/AZ50000423/Centricity/Domain/4/Neely_GOLD.jpg

Fog blog

poofypuffyLeave a comment

Blogging is hard. I am now going to write about the rain because right in front of me is a large window with water droplets on it.

At one moment, I looked out the window and all I saw was white. A wooly white fog settled in the valley, blocking out the hills. It looks cold and damp, but sitting in the journalism room, typing this blog, I am neither.

Now, the fog has disappeared. I’m not sure of the science behind it. Perhaps it was tired of hanging in the air, and it fell deeper into the valley to sit on leaves and grass. Maybe the sun came, and the fog dispersed, thinning but leaving us in a perpetual but indetectable fog.

Nonetheless, the hills are a vibrant green in the absence of the fog. Whenever it rains here in the valley, the skies turn white, and the hills take up the role of vibrancy. The dusty chaparral becomes an unreal green garden, and the clay-like earth blooms into a bright brick red.

Picture Credit: Nick Nice

Baozi Recipe (Steamed pork buns)

poofypuffyLeave a comment

Makes 20 buns

Ingredients:

For the dough: 6 cups All-purpose flour, 1 tbsp Sugar, 2 cups Water, lukewarm, 2 tsp Yeast, ½ tsp oil

For stuffing: 2 lbs Ground pork- (1.5lbs lean), 1 clove garlic, finely chopped, 1 tsp fresh grated ginger, 2 small spring onions (whites), finely chopped, Water, Soy sauce, Sichuan pepper powder, White pepper powder, Salt

Making the dough

  1. Measure out flour into a large bowl.
  2. Mix 2 tsp yeast, 1 tbsp sugar, and 1 cup of lukewarm water into a measuring cup. 
  3. Pour the water into the flour and mix.
  4. Add more lukewarm water gradually if necessary. Generally, the ratio of flour to water is 2:1, but it can vary.
  5. Begin to knead the dough, incorporating the dry flour. If more water is needed to incorporate all the dry flour, add more, but do so sparingly because the dough should not be sticky. The sign of a good dough is a clean bowl and clean hands.
  6. Coat the inside of the big bowl with a small amount of oil, to prevent sticking. Place the dough back in the bowl, cover with a wet towel to preserve moisture, and put the bowl on top of a bowl or pot of hot water. Allow the dough to rise. This may take a few hours, depending on the room’s temperature. (To check if the dough is ready, poke a hole in it with your finger. If the dough bounces back to fill in the hole, it needs to rise more. If the dough deflates, it has risen for too long. If the dough does not move, it is ready.)

Making the stuffing (While waiting for the dough to rise, begin making your stuffing)

  1. Put the ground pork into a bowl.
  2. Put the chopped garlic into 1 cup of warm water to make garlic water. This will distribute the garlic flavor better. Set aside so that the garlic can release more flavor. 
  3. Add the ginger, garlic water (with the garlic), the two pepper powders, salt, soy sauce, and green onion to the pork and stir in one direction.
  4. Add water to the pork and stir.

Wrapping/steaming the baozi

  1. Take the risen dough and knead the air out.
  2. Separate the dough into 20 balls and flatten them slightly by rolling them out with a rolling pin.
  3. Roll the edges thinner. 
  4. Wrap the meat into each one.
  5. Let the baozi rest for around 1 hour, or your baozi will deflate.
  6. Steam the baozi for 15 minutes after steam starts coming out of the steamer. Remove steamer from heat and leave baozi inside the steamer until the initial hot steam is gone. Otherwise, your baozi will also deflate. 
Displaying IMG_9223.jpg
Displaying IMG_9220.jpg
Displaying IMG_9225.jpg
Displaying IMG_9230.jpg

Photo credit: My mom

Writers Block

justthatonegirllLeave a comment

I have probably spent an hour a day this whole week trying to write my blog post. And it is still late… I never realized how bad I get writer’s block until I must turn it in. I am getting writer’s block right now. I deleted everything I wrote periodically throughout the week too. So I could not even turn any of those rough drafts in. Its not that I can’t find a topic. I just don’t know how much of my life I really want to share to anyone who reads what I write. Or if I write something fictional but really depressing I don’t want anyone to think I am actually talking about myself. I have noticed that on the days I don’t feel like talking to people I can write a lot more. But on the days I talk alot I can never seem to fill the blank page staring at me blankly. I also tend to drift to separate topics while I write or repeat myself again and again. At least I can be aware of it. My life has been pretty bland lately. Well anyways there is me trying to write something while having writer’s block. I hope I have enough words.

PC:ME

Coming back to school

pottymouth818Leave a comment

Coming back from Winter Break is always a struggle. Before leaving, you’re in a routine and have got everything nailed down. When you return it feels like starting everything from scratch. It’s hard to get back into school mode. This concept is what makes part of the second semester harder as a whole. Although we get more things to look forward to and more breaks, the academic part is more challenging. All of these beautiful breaks we get make the school part all the harder once the break has ended. In the first semester, despite it feeling like a never-ending marathon of school work, you find a nice rhythm in the consistency.

Additionally, what makes the back hard is having to come and live again by the school’s sleep schedule. Over the breaks, I consistently go to bed at around 3 am and don’t wake up until the afternoon the next day. Bering back at school and having to wake up at 7 am or earlier is a harsh reality check. All I want to do is sleep.

You know what’s interesting? All California high schools are required to have an 8:30 start time now. Go figures it began the year after I left. Anyways, I would much appreciate this enacted at OVS, after all, it is what Gavin Newsom wants and how can we be OK with disappointing him?

“School Background” by Words as Pictures/ CC0 1.0

Waiting

leapingwaterLeave a comment

It is a very human thing for us to always be waiting for something to happen, or to be better. For example, if there is New Years Day coming up, people tend to say that they will change their habits, and become an entirely “new” person, but only once the year starts. We hold off on using that special perfume we were gifted, or wearing that outfit that we are saving for the “right” event. We wait our entire weeks for the days of work or school to end so that we can have those two days of freedom. We repeat this cycle over and over again of waiting for the satisfaction of the next “big thing” because that is what keeps many of us going. Sometimes this is just naturally something that can help motivate us, but there is a line drawn when it consumes your daily life to the point that you are hoping and wishing for a day to end. It is difficult, but its good to remind yourself that you must appreciate every day that you are living even if you are doing something simple. Waiting for the next great thing to celebrate might never come, so celebrate the things that you have in your life in the present moment.

pc:https://t3.ftcdn.net/jpg/02/77/41/26/360_F_277412640_WVE1FmtHzgIiVCMTrTkvZC13dNzLD04Z.jpg

Typing…….

graypenguinLeave a comment

There are many things I would like to write about in this journal, but the reality is that not all of it is the kind of content that I would honestly show to the public. Every Friday comes around and I spend all day trying to wrap my head around what to write about, and the name of the blog. I can honestly say that I feel like I have already written most of it down.

Today I want to write about something I’ve been into lately. Before I came to this school, I had barely touched a computer. The computer I am using now is the first one I got in my life. To be honest, I feel like it is about to reach the end of its useful life, so I would like to get a new computer this winter break. Something that my roommate and I have been into lately is playing typing games. You get points for typing for 5 minutes. Before I came to this school, my highest score on that test was 32. But the other day, after a long time, I got 78 points. I think it is a big improvement for me. This skill will help me in many things in my life, both in my work and in my studies. I am now looking forward to my score going up a little bit at a time. My goal is to be able to do blind touching perfectly by the time I graduate.

ps;https://images.ctfassets.net/p0qf7j048i0q/Ye7XLtAQbu92riigoreTz/300f1f0104786bc5eda435cf8bf4e3e1/G1352603244.png?w=3840&q=75&h=3840&fm=webp

Finals

uwucutiepatootieLeave a comment

I am terrified by the finals that I need to take next week. All year I’ve been talking about how I was going to make an academic comeback but instead, my grades just keep on dropping. This semester, my grades were pretty average and not too bad but I know that all of my grades will drop so far down once I take my finals. In English and ap world, I’m not too nervous because I understand what is happening. I am better at just keeping a summary of what we are doing. In chemistry and in Algebra II, I have no clue what is going on. There is way too much to memorize and since the first week of school, I have given up on these two subjects. Whenever I fail a test, which is a lot, I am always able to help myself by doing corrections. Unfortunately, there are no corrections for finals. I need to get lucky and hope that everyone in my class fails their exams so the grade can have the most insane curve.

“School Books” by Krzysztof%20Puszczy%u0144ski/ CC0 1.0

My week……

graypenguinLeave a comment

Thanksgiving is over and Christmas break is only 2 weeks away. I am amazed at how fast this week has gone by. In this blog, I would like to write about the highlights of this week. The biggest event of the week was the soccer game. To be honest, I wasn’t sure if I would play soccer this year. One of the reasons is that until last year there was no official girl’s team. But having an actual game motivates me and makes soccer more enjoyable. I was only able to score one goal in this game, but I thought it was great to go for one goal with great teammates. The result was 4-2 and I enjoyed the game for the first time in a long time. However, there were many issues in these games, and I thought that I needed to run more and improve my physical strength. Today, on Friday, we are watching our recorded game on the tv. To be honest, when I look at my own game, I am embarrassed because there are many areas where I am not strong enough. If I have a chance in the next game, I would like to score more than two points.
This weekend I want to prepare for the final exams and study so that I don’t choke myself.
I want to get my driver’s license and finish watching a Korean drama that my roommate and I are currently watching. I will be on vacation in two weeks, so I want to give my all to everything I do.

pc:https://www.jfa.jp

Gratitude and Gore

poofypuffyLeave a comment

Recently I’ve been realizing how much I have. I have everything. Right now, I feel like whatever I want to do with my life I have the means to do it. If I want to become an engineer, I can go to school for engineering. If I want to become a doctor, I can go to school and pursue a degree in that, not that I want to because med school sounds too intense and expensive for me. Also, I get really queasy. One time, this facial reconstruction surgeon showed me a bunch of before and after pictures from procedures and they were really disgusting and I passed out. In my defense, he was showing some pretty gross stuff- people with deconstructed eyeballs, two little girls who had their faces mauled by pit bulls, a girl who had a tumor in her head that made her eye stick out of her head, a man that got his scalp pulled off by a machine, a video where he pulled a nail out of a man’s face, etc. That’s a bit of a tangent but I meant that I have the privilege of being able to choose my occupation, my education, etc. I’ll obviously be in debt after college (unless I get a full ride) but I still have the privilege of going to college when so many people don’t even have the luxury of literacy. Wherever I want to go, I feel like I have the means to do it and I kind of feel guilty about how much freedom I have, because I didn’t do anything to deserve any of it. So many suffer so much and work so much harder than I do and never get the opportunities that I get, which feels so wrong. Therefore, my goal is to pay forward everything I’ve been given. 

Picture Credit: Tom Barret