I went on the Alabama hills trip and it was so beautiful there. Everywhere we went, we were surrounded by boulders, and the horizon line on all sides was made up of either distant blue mountains or interesting rock formations in the shape of cashews, mittens, or huge stone hands.
When I was little, I never really appreciated nature much. Whenever I went hiking to a scenic spot with OVS or my family, I focused my attention more on my tired feet than the beauty in front of me. I never saw what was so great about sunsets or mountains.
However, on this camping trip, I couldn’t stop feeling so grateful to have the opportunity to be out there, and I couldn’t help taking pictures of all the mountains and sunsets and little caves to hopefully take home a little bit of the wonder I felt out there. There was even a pink moment out there, where all the white stone mountains turned pink in the morning. It was so pretty that it was worth unzipping the tent and braving the freezing air to watch the sunrise.
The last couple of days I was on a camping trip at the Salton Sea. I had a good time because everyone on the trip was upperclassmen, primarily seniors. I don’t hate the freshmen, I just don’t want to be around them.
The best part about the trip was destroying myself by falling onto a cement plank and into a pile of thick mud (made up of chemicals and fishbones) that smelled like horse doo-doo. Kate had been filming me on the swing and I was calling her name to try to get her attention to film me jumping off of it when the seat slipped out from under me. I twisted straight off the swing, contorting my back, and landed in the most perfect place. I don’t remember the last time I fell so hard and so out of nowhere; I never saw it coming.
The trip was also good because the weather was nice. At night having the weather be pleasant makes a huge difference. I usually get anxious when I have to stress about bulky layers and staying warm, but this time that wasn’t the case. I wasn’t worrying about when the weather would get to me.
A final contributor to this good time was the fact that it was only two days long. I didn’t feel like I had to hunker down and prepare for war. It was a quick trip that I was just able to simply enjoy.
Camping is also a great time because I always love talking to people on my trip.
Overall it was a great trip and I’m glad I was on it.
I’m excited for Christmas this year because I’m almost guaranteed a white Christmas. My family has recently bought a new house in Mammoth. This house is a house where everyone gets their own room so that means less fighting and everyone getting their own personal space. Since it’s large enough for my parents to be convinced we’ll be able to enjoy it, we’re packing up and spending Christmas in Mammoth; hence the white Christmas. I’m hoping that we’ll all be able to enjoy Christmas and the entirety of winter in Mammoth without stepping on each others’ toes. Everyone could fit into our old place but I have a feeling that the new house will be a much more inviting place for the whole family.
Since we’re going up for both Thanksgiving and part of Christmas break, I’m also hoping that I’ll really be able to improve my snowboarding skills. Last year I randomly decided that I wanted to Snowboard so I went all in and bought all the gear and now it’s too late to go back. So far, I’ve actually liked the process of learning how to snowboard significantly more than skiing. I don’t regret my decision at all.
I’ve never been a pro at anything on the mountain, I’m the type of person who would get in your way. To me it’s never been competitive, the whole thing is a joke in the best way possible. When I want to go fast I do, but I thoroughly enjoy face-planting in the snow by trying tricks I know I will never be able to accomplish and taking my time on the way down. Long story short, I’m looking forward to a fun winter.
I just arrived back at school from our 3-day camping trip to Santa Rosa Island. It was my second time going to Santa Rosa, but this time was even better. The best part for me was that my best friend was on my trip, as well as my mum. We did a lot of hiking, which was a little difficult, but games and stories along the way made the journey easier. I feel like I got closer to a couple of my friends, which I am really happy about. I learned how to play so many card games, which was definitely a highlight of the trip. We also saw many whales and dolphins during both boat rides and saw the whales’ incredible breaching. I also really liked the fact that the camping trip was not too long, I don’t think I could go another day without showering. Overall, it was a beautiful trip, and I highly recommend that you visit Santa Rosa Island if you get the chance to.
This story talks about how I managed to get pulled over after having my license for four days.
On a tranquil night, I departed from my house at about 11 p.m. on the 15th of September. It was another typical night, and I was going to the gym because one of my friends pressured me even though I was already sleepy and wanted to sleep so I decided to go. Now it was normal at the gym that night, some goofing around since we had the whole place to ourselves. Once we were done my friend who had biked to the gym was about to bike back but I decided to offer him a ride back since it was dark and at 2 a.m. So we decided that it would be a good idea if I drove him back. so we put his bike into the back of my Prius, which was harder than expected. Eventually, we departed into the night expecting this ride to be uneventful and quick, god had other plans. As we took a right onto the main road we drove for about 30 seconds where we passed a cop. we passed him with no issues, and I was so confident to even say, “Nothing suspicious to see the officer ” while driving by the cop. Well, Apparently, he must have heard me say that because about three seconds later while looking in my rearview mirror to make sure he doesn’t follow us he whips THE FASTEST U-Turn I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE. He pulls up right behind me getting very close to my car, and just tailgates me and my friend for what feels like 10 minutes but in reality was 1-minute max, regardless that was still a while and I don’t know if he was trying to scare me into doing something illegal but I eventually take a turn towards my friend’s house and the cop follows, it’s at this point I knew I was getting pulled over. Right on cue, he turns on those lights, and I pull over. Eventually, after waiting for about a minute the cop walked up to my window (which was already down since I didn’t want to anger him by asking to roll it down). He leaned in and said, “Hey just wanted to let you know that your headlight was out nothing else was wrong but you should know and get that fixed” This was definitely one of the better things you can get pulled over for and was quite the refile knowing that I wasn’t smuggling drugs or weaving in and out of the road or something along those lines. The cop noticed that my friend in the car was a little nervous so he popped the question,” can I have your license and regressions please” Now this is a normal question; however, the DMV hasn’t sent me a license yet so I had to hand him this rinky dinky piece of paper and he looks at it and says “is this your license?” and I say “yes officer sorry I recently got my license so they haven’t sent me the card yet” he gives a shrug and says he’s going to run it through his system and heads back to the car. so he comes back and say ” So it says that you got your license 4 days ago so here’s what I could do, I could give you two tickets one for driving someone in your car and one for driving at 2 am but sense your still a new driver I don’t want to screw you over and ruin your driving career.” to cut the story a bit short he eventually lets me go after a few more embarrassing questions like ” it says you got your license on 9/11 is that correct” and I didn’t know so I just said yes and hoped it was correct. but we eventually got home say and on my way back from dropping off my friend, I passed by another cop who turned in my direction but didn’t pull me over maybe the other cop told them I already gotten got.
please note all these quotes are from the author’s memory so they just give a rough idea not an exact
I’m writing this blog post early because I’m leaving to go visit my sister in college tomorrow. This post is about the upcoming trip and college and it’s really all over the place 🙂
Not only am I excited to see where my sister goes to school but also because it’s where my mom went to college. My mom has always been my biggest role model so it’s intriguing to see where she lived during such a critical part of her life. I’d like to be able to picture my mom at my own age and the way she lived her life. I’ve always wished that I could meet my mom at the age I am now.
My sister recently told me that she wants me to go to the same college as her. This was an absolute shock. I questioned her reasoning and replied saying that she doesn’t even like me that much. Despite my skepticism, she stood firm backing her statement. Clearly college really does make people miss their family and reminisce about childhood. Whatever her thought process, I’m just happy that she actually wants me around or at least wants me to see a glimpse into her life.
Teachers have always told me how much of a leap up college is from high school but I’m not convinced. Everyone I’ve talked to in college has told me that it’s exponentially better than high school. I completely and full-heartily and possibly naively believe them. My sister’s hardest class is Spanish 4 and that doesn’t have anything to do with the fact that she’s in college. Let’s just say despite my family’s many talents, not one includes being linguistically inclined. I personally feel like everything is easier when you’re doing it on your own terms, and when you are in college, everything is up to you.
In addition to seeing my sister, I get to visit my family in Maryland who I rarely get to see and I also once again get a taste of freedom. It’s crazy to me how before coming to OVS I couldn’t care less about flying across the country but now it’s turned into something highly anticipated. Every day where I feel in control is now a blessing.
I have applied to three schools so far, and I don’t plan on applying to more. One is the school my dad went to. Another one is a school I toured and loved when visiting family. One sends me an admission decision in December, but two of them are rolling decision. I got an acceptance during Spudfest, and I got the acceptance to the second school today! I was tired this morning because I woke up at five, but I was wide awake after I got the acceptance. I was over the moon about it the whole day, because I’ve been imagining myself leaving home and going off to college, and now it seems like so much more of a concrete reality. The fact that one chapter of my life is ending and another will start soon is staring me in the face. That truth is now unquestionable and undeniable. I can’t wait.
I recently got a plane ticket to go home for Christmas break, and I am very excited about it. I spend roughly 1/4 of the year with my family, but I still miss them very much because I have to live away from them for the other 3/4 of the year. Living away from my family in the dorms has made me appreciate them more. I would like to write a little about what I am looking forward to on my next vacation. The first thing I am looking forward to is my family’s annual tradition of visiting a shrine called Fushimi Inari in Kyoto during the year-end and New Year holidays. Also, on January 1st, the whole family gets together for Osechi, a dish that is served as a drop-off from the gods after the Japanese New Year. I like to spend time with the whole family and talk about the events of the year. I also receive New Year’s money from my family. This is one of the joys of the New Year in Japan. I also look forward to watching TV with my family and going to Hatsumode (New Year’s visit to a shrine) when the date changes from December 31 to January 1. The year-end and New Year’s holidays in Japan are a bit busy, but I look forward to spending a lot of time with my family. Secondly, I am looking forward to meeting with friends. One of my friends just got accepted to a university today and is looking forward to spending a few more months in high school. So my friend and I are planning to go on a little trip. I am also in the process of getting my driver’s license, so I am looking forward to going driving with them. Winter break is only two months away. I am most looking forward to seeing my family. I will use the winter break as motivation to study hard.
In my 16 years of life, I have lived in four different states. Florida, California, Louisiana, and Arizona. Living in these places has taught me many things, especially how different environments can affect you. I was born in Boca Raton, Florida, and I had only lived there until I was two and a half. The main things that I remember from living here were the extreme humidity and the really loud toads outside of our house. I know that is not much that I can remember, but I was very young when I lived here. I last visited Florida many years ago, but let’s just say I do not have much of a desire to return.
After living in Florida, I moved to Los Angeles, California. I have lived in California for most of my life, and I definitely know and love it most. Los Angeles is not always as glamorous as it looks in movies, (especially central Hollywood), but I still really have a love for it. There are so many spots in Los Angeles that just spark memories for me. It really is a special place that will always be in my heart no matter where I move to in my future.
I lived in Louisiana for 5 months every year for three years, and I moved there because my brother was cast in a TV show. Although I did make some great memories, I would not want to live there again. There is a lot of fried food there as well. I remember that I had refused to try crawfish the entire time that I lived in Louisiana, but unfortunately, on my last month living there, I realized how good crawfish tasted. I’m still sad about it.
Living in Arizona did not feel real to me at all. I lived in Scottsdale starting in 2017, and oh my gosh was it hot. I can just remember stepping outside and feeling like I was drying up from the heat and sun. There was also a dust storm when I lived there, which I found really cool as a ten-year-old. I do remember living in fear of jumping cacti, though. Whenever I went on a hike, I would try and get as far away from any cactus that I saw, which is really difficult in Arizona because they are everywhere. Arizona is a really beautiful place with great locations to visit, and I am very grateful that I got to live there for nine months.
These are not necessarily in order of which animals I love the most, because they are all amazing.
Giraffe – Giraffes are so silly. When having this conversation the other day with a friend, it was a surprise to them that Giraffes are my favorite animal. They have always been my go to answer to that question for as long as I can remember. My grandma has lived in South Africa for a lot of her lifetime, and every time that she would come back and visit me should would bring me a hand carved wooden giraffe. They started out small but she started to bring even bigger wooden giraffes that literally were a half the size of me. Giraffes look so cute when they run, please go look it up on youtube. Also, what a strange animal, they are kind of like long-necked horse- camels.
2. Capybara – This summer, I got the chance to see two capybaras up close and personal when traveling to Japan. They are a friend of all animals. They are also known to be extremely caring, social, and gentle creatures. Capybaras have gained an insane amount of popularity recently, and are loved by people all over the world. They are the worlds largest rodent, and they can even stay underwater for 5 minutes. Overall, they are amazing creatures that are brilliant to see in real life. I highly recommend going to Moff Animal Cafe in Japan.
pc: Towako Hiramatsu
3. Red Panda– Red Pandas are not actually related to Giant Pandas, but are actually more closely related to the family Mustelidae, which includes otters, wolverines, and weasles. They look like cat-bears. They are adorable and they even sleep in their tail, which they use to warm themselves up. With their sweet faces and lovable personality they are the perfect animal for this list. I hope that one day I can see one in real life again.
OVS Journalism Blog 
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