I am going to Colombia with my family this winter break to see my extended family for the week. I am so excited not only to see my family but also tan. Being tan makes me feel so much happier and healthier. Being tan is like its own makeup, a feeling no other can compare to. I love Colombia and seeing my family the food is amazing and it’s always a great trip. This year we are taking a trip to Isla Baru an island off the coast of Cartagena. I love going to all-inclusive resorts and relaxing all day. Tanning is like a sport to me it pushes my limits and feels like a lot of work. I often set timers to take “tanning breaks” where I get food, water and often find some shade. Being tan not only makes me happy but makes me look healthier and less sickly looking.
I just came back from the Death Valley camping trip. It was a backpacking trip that was 4 days and 3 nights. Overall, The trip was fun, except I was sick right before I hopped on the van to start the journey. On the first day, it was mostly travel. On the van ride, we each picked 3 songs and created a playlist; after around 1 hour, everyone was already asleep. We had 1 stop at the gas station throughout the whole ride. We got some snacks and hopped back in the van to continue the journey. The dinner was pasta, but I was sick; I couldn’t taste or smell it, so I couldn’t tell if it was good or bad. It was around 5 degrees Celsius at night, which is around 36 degrees Fahrenheit. On the second day, we hiked with our day packs into this little valley. In the afternoon, we went to this crater from a volcano that had exploded billions of years ago. We played some spike ball inside, which was cool, but the hike back out of the crater was not it. Anyways, the temperature on the second night dropped to -5 degrees Celsius, which is 23 degrees Fahrenheit. On the third day, we backpacked a little without using vans or cars. I had the worst nosebleed on this day; it wouldn’t stop for around 1 hour. I used many tissues and paper towels to stop the blood. With the sickness, it was a terrible experience. However, now that I’m back from the trip. I would have enjoyed the journey more if I wasn’t sick. The views, from the sea salt flats to the rocks, valleys, mountains, and the stars, were unforgettable.
During the one week break, I will leave school early to fly to New York. This morning, I woke up at 6 in the morning to finish packing the rest of clothes. My ride was booked at 7 in the morning. I had to wake up early since I had to finish laundry. Anyways, the main reason I have come to New York is to study for the SAT, since I only got 1000 to 1100 in the PSAT right now. My goal is to be getting at least 1450 by the end of this intensive training program. I met my english tutor when I was in 1st grade. He taught me english until 6th grade. He has started a company just for helping students with the SAT. He invited me last summer to join this program for this week. It is an eight-day program and it will start tomorrow, Saturday 8:50 in the morning. There will be other 7 people joining. Hopefully all goes well and I can get a better score on the SAT. The schedule for the rest of the 8 days is… starting at 9 in the morning the classes start and they end at 6:30 at night. I will be going to the gym after too to stay in shape for the upcoming basketball tournament right after the break.
I actually forgot about blogs. I have been forgetting a lot recently, and I am not really sure why, either. Maybe it’s stress from AP testing or the excitement of summer coming. OMG. Speaking of summer, I just can’t wait any longer. I have so much anticipation. I don’t have any vacations planned, but I will be super busy anyway. I will probably go to some type of amusement park in LA or something. I will probably go shopping a lot too. I really wanted to go on a vacation but now that I am thinking about it I really don’t have any time. I think it will be kind of fun staying home and getting to see friends. I will have time to do things in Ojai I normally wouldn’t do. I think maybe I will emerge myself in the fun aspects of home. Unless my family and I decide to go on a last minute trip I need to make the most of it. It is weird to think I am going into my last year of school here at home. Once I graduate I will live somewhere else. Anyways this whole bridging process is so interesting.
I love fruit so much. I love that after a dip in the pool on a hot summer day, I get to take a bite of the freshest ice, cold piece of fruit. Fruit is just like amazing. You can make fruit into anything basically. You could make fruit a snack, a dessert, a drink, and literally so much more. I don’t think people understand the perfection that comes from one fruit. Fruit is honestly the food of happiness, think, fruit is colorful and juicy with a great taste. The only thing I cant decide on is what kind of fruit is my favorite. I really love watermelon, but then I think about a strawberry, and like OMG mangos at the perfect ripeness is like the best gift a person could ask for. I remember this one time when I was in Mexico, on a vacation, I would eat at least 8 mangos a day. The fact of the matter is fruit is the best and everyone should love it! Also fruit is so healthy for you!
With only six weeks left until summer vacation, this school year seems to be coming to an end in a flash. It is hard to believe that summer is just around the corner, especially this year!This summer vacation is going to be one of the most important and busiest summer vacations I have ever had. There are many things I want to do, but the biggest thing I want to do first is to prepare for my college applications. As part of that, I plan to work as a golf caddy and as a kayaking and snorkeling tour guide in Okinawa, just like I worked last summer. I am really looking forward to earning my own money and buying the things I want. I also need to prepare for the TOEFL test, and in terms of vacations, I am looking forward to going out to Tokyo and Osaka to meet friends and travel with my family. I think this summer will be a good opportunity for me to grow a lot, so I want to spend my time in a meaningful way.
I wish I could… I wish I could… I wish I could… travel the world. I wish I could find what fumes my random breakdowns. I wish I could read what was going on in someone else’s mind. I wish I could live along the coast with my house on the edge of a cliffside overlooking the water with the mountains on the other side of my home towering over. I wish I could know when I do something wrong. I wish I could be alone. What I wish I could do compared to what I realistically can do is far away from one another. On one hand I can possibly travel the world someday. On the other hand I won’t be able to tell myself why I am upset about nothing or read someone else’s mind. All I can do is hope. I can hope one day I won’t have to question a break down. I can hope one day I can talk to someone directly and they can tell me how they are feeling truly. I wish I could change people’s opinion and outlooks on specific situations but I can’t. I am only human. We wish that we could and sometimes we can but only if we think positively. Forgiveness and forgetness is the key to life in my opinion. If you forgive you might find the answer to your question of why? If you forget you can forgive. I wish I could change time. I wish I could eat a feast without feeling full. I wish I could learn to never make a mistake again rather than continuously making mistakes and learning from them. But none of that is realistic. We live. And we learn. We forgive. And we forget. We have love. And we have loss. I wish I could make everyone believe this.
I just realized college is just four more years of school.
Yes, logically I knew that. There are a lot of things that I think you can understand logically, but emotionally it doesn’t hit you for a while.
I kept romanticizing college and finishing high school in my head- going somewhere new (a big city!!), meeting new people, living closer to people I know, participating in cool programs at my college…
But I was just filling in some important dates on my calendar, and when I wrote “First Day of Class” I realized that at the heart of all the shiny new things is the reality that college is still school. I am going to go to wake up and go to class where I will sit and listen to a teacher talk. I will do homework and study and take tests.
But actually writing this I am changing my mind. Yes, it will be school. But it will also be learning more independently. I can shape my class schedule to my personal schedule and not vice versa. I will be living on my own(ish) and taking classes that interest me (and some that are less interesting). Actually, thinking about that I am really excited. Right now I really do like CompSci and I am excited to take classes on that. Living more independently is very exciting to me.
I remember when I was little my dad said to me, “Isn’t it funny how there are all of these people here, and we know nothing about them?”
It’s obvious, I know, but it always comes to my mind whenever I am in an airport, sitting and waiting at my terminal, people-watching. Not specifically airports, but really any crowded place. There are so many others around, and none of their faces I have ever seen before. I do not know their story, or their names, where they are going, or why. Are they traveling to see their family? Are they on a work trip? There is an extremely low chance of me ever seeing them again. It really goes to show how insignificant we are as humans (I know this sounds intense). We are so small in a world so big. Everyone has their own individual stories and future paths. Maybe the person we sit next to on the bus could be having the best day of their life, and maybe the person we were in the elevator with was having the worst day of their life. The thing is, we can’t ever know at first glance.
I could sit for hours and talk about everything I love. When someone sits with me and relates with me it makes me even happier. Finding people who appreciate the same things as me is so refreshing.
Organizing: I find it funny that I love to organize so much. I love coding my assignments and taking everything out of my drawers to put them right back in the same place just slightly neater. I think this is rooted in the feeling of everything being perfect after I am finished. Organizing helps me to focus and concentrate while finding a sense of calmness from the aftermath.
Pinterest: I love love love Pinterest. After a long school day, I can relax with a movie and scroll on Pinterest. There is something about the romanticizing and goal setting that just really connects with me as a person. I can see the aesthetics and blessings I have by posting my own photos and finding things that match my personality. Anyways I love Pinterest.
Music and Movies: Whether the weekend is just beginning or the weekend is ending I always can have music to listen to or a movie to watch. I can listen to music while falling asleep or as something to make me feel less lonely while driving around. I can listen to music with my friends and we can all be having the best time ever or I can listen to music and reconnecting with myself. Movies are just so entertaining. Nothing beats the feeling of watching an amazing movie for the first time. If I could there are so many movies I would watch again and get the same feeling I had the first time I ever watched it. Anyways my favorite movies are so calming to lay down in bed with a snack and watch. Some movies heal my inner child while some teach me things I can really use while growing up.
Matcha, Chai, and Water: There is literally nothing like waking up dehydrated and having a glass of ice-cold water. I really just love matcha and chai. There’s nothing matcha and chai really do for me except taste so good. I also love lemonade. But only if the lemonade is like really good. California has some of the best lemonade compared to other places in my opinion. Same with matcha and chai. Matcha and Chai are my pick me ups throughout my days. I am tried, I can get a matcha or chai. I want something to boost my energy, I can have a matcha or a chai. I really love making my own matchas when I have time. Its honestly therapeutic. And I havent found how to make chai yet but thats something I am really interested in learning.
My future: I am the biggest romanticizer I know. Something I definitely think about on a daily is my future. What college will I end up at? Will I be successful in the career I eventually pursue? Where will I live? I love asking myself these questions. Now tying my future to my obsession with Pinterest, can I make my goal of life on Pinterest a reality? Or will I be someone who has a highschool sweetheart that I can grow old with? I would like to say I will and I want to. So I just love picturing my future life. Something I will work for years on achieving.
Homes: I want to go to college for architecture, interior design, or both. I would really want these topics to relate to homes and houses. Being able to learn how to create something I love so much is my dream. I really want to be able to take what I have in my mind and apply it to something I love. I really love going on long car drives and just looking at homes that are truly someones art piece in a way. I want to be able to have the gift to create and area where people will live together, grow up in, and somewhere a family or a person can travel back to and call home.
Travel: I could probably talk all day about everywhere I want to travel and why. I have been grateful enough to get the chances and opportunities I have to travel. I love seeing different places and how different people live. The beauty of the world is in the most silent places. Listening to the birds sing and the wind blows against my skin or watching the blue waters sway back and forth. I get to go to Mexico in October and help a family build a house and immerse myself in the style they live in. Probably my top place to travel to is switzerland just for the natural beauty. But for the best experience I would want to travel somewhere I can volunteer and make connections to make people happy. I could do this by studying abroad or volunteering for a summer. Another traveling experience I want to emerge myself in is study abroad. Being able to make friends and meet people from other cultures is something I really love about the world.
Anyways that’s what I love and want for my life! PS: I love flowers, friendship, and family too!
OVS Journalism Blog 
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