It has been two years since I came to OVS. During these two years, I have only been to Santa Barbara State Street trip twice. The first time is the very first school trip last year, and the second time is the last trip of this year, which today. I remember the first time I went I don’t know anyone yet, and I have never been there, so I was following other Chinese students. However, I got lost. At the end I was all alone by myself, so I just walked around the department stores and got a hamburger from The Habit. However, the second I went there is a totally different situation. After spending two years at OVS, I not only improve my English skill and gain new experience, but also make lots of great friends. Today, I went with few of my good friends. Just sitting next to the street, feeling the wind blowing on our face for few hours, we talked about what happened in these two years. Time flies. We all still remember how we meet each other in the beginning, and then now within 12 days we are all going to different place to start a new journey. One Chinese proverb said that there is no such a party without an ending. However, friends are forever. We will keep in touch.
The Last Blog
This is my last blog of the year-the last blog as a junior.
So should I write about?
Well, I can write about almost anything. About how my friends are leaving in a eight days, or how maybe I found out that I became president. I could write about how I will be going to Chicago this summer for a medicine forum. Or I could talk about unicorns and how much I ABHOR butterflies. Ick.
But, I feel like my last blog should be more substantial than my usual potpourri. My final blog should be more.
This blog (my last blog) is a tribute to a very special person. A teacher to be more specific.
I have had him teach me in a subject every single year that I have been here at Ojai Valley School Upper Campus.
The greatest thing about this man is that he knows when and how to push me to my greatest potential. I don’t think I have learned more about my own limits than I have when I was learning from this teacher.
He has an interesting way of teaching. History, which is the subject he teaches, happens to be the subject I hate the most. But, when I learned it from him, it was my favorite subject. It was because of his humorous way of teaching that engaged all of his students and made everybody love taking his class. But this teacher is not just jokes but he knows when to be serious and knows motivate his students to do their best.
Mr. Alvarez, you are not only my favorite teacher, but you are my coach and one of the people I look up to. You are great and I am happy that I was fortunate enough to take your classes every year. Thank you for being such an excellent teacher and for motivating me to always do my best. I can’t wait for journalism next year, during my senior year. Haha hopefully, you will be able to put up with my major college stress and senioritis.
It’s Over.
“Like, ohmygodddd, it’s the last day of our sophomore yearrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.”
No, it isn’t. Shut up.
1) It is not the last day. It is the last day of our classes. Our last day of sophomore year will be the day the seniors graduate and not a moment sooner.
2) Stop whining. It’s almost summer! You should be celebrating being able to do absolutely nothing for three whole months. You should be forgetting everything you were taught and letting it melt away into mush at the back of your brain. Goodbye grammar! Goodbye math! Sayonara!
3) Yes, I will admit it is sad, all of our senior friends are graduating and leaving us for bigger and better things. But that does not mean we’re never going to see or talk to them again. It isn’t like they are dropping off the face of the earth. It’ll be okay.
So goodbye sophomore year! It’s neither been extraordinary nor mediocre.
I’ll see you in four years.
Why OVS?
This is a question that hundreds asked me througout my life.
When I was 11, I joined OVS Lower Campus community as a fifth grader. Such early start of boarding life may sound incomprehensible to many people. But, I knew that my education at Lower is guaranteed to provide me with numerous benefits. And, it did. After I completed my elementary and middle school curriculums at Lower, I moved onto another school in Kent, Connecticut. Attendance to this school was not an option. It provided the education that my parents and I desired and a sense of dignity. Having had recently graduated from a small community and moved to a school near NYC where freedom is “freely” given with responsibilities, I thought it was the real world. Then, I wanted to get out of the states. I remember this one day finding my surroundings hackneyed. And, I could not imagine such life for the next three years. So, I shot an email to the admissions of schools in Paris and Lille, both in France since I had an intention of pursuing my French study. The response from the one in Lille was positive and seems to happen until I had learned about Kent’s affiliation to St.Sephen’s in Roma, Italy. However, since American Overseas School of Rome had the curriculum that suits better with my interests than that of St. Stephen School, I spent my sophomore year at American Overseas School of Rome.
At the end of my stay in Rome, however, I was seriously ill and learned that I had cyst near my ovary. To have an operation to remove the cyst, I had to be hospitalized for a while. Since my family was in Korea and my friends were at school I had been given no time to wait for them, I had to go through it by myself. After the surgery, teachers from Ojai Valley School, where I had spent my first four years before moving to Kent high school, contacted me. And, I recalled the lunch with Kara Waycasy, the school secretary/assistant to headmaster at OVS, and her sister in Kent, Connecticut. I immediately knew I missed Ojai and SoCal, my “second home”, very much and thus, decided to transfer back to Ojai Valley School. (Also, I believed the warm weather in CA would definitely help me to recuperate faster!)
Over the summer transitioning from my sophomore year to junior year, my mind was set on Upper and no where else. And, Tracy Wilson, the Director of Admissions and Marketing at OVS, had confirmed my decision. When I returned and joined the community under Mr.Cooper’s “super”-provision, I had an experience that I would never have at any other school. Such proviso was so unique at OVS that I had both moments of dislike and thankfulness. Throughout my two years at Upper, I seized the advantages of this distinctive environment and tried to maximize my potential. It was OVS that allowed me to become who I am now. And, that’s why I choose OVS.
I guess this is goodbye.
So graduation is right around the corner, and I am honestly unsure of what I am feeling.
Last Friday, the seniors at my school attended an alumni luncheon, and I couldn’t help but think of my past two years at OVS, and how I could sadly never get those moments back.
But I guess that is life.
Moments happen. And whether they are good or bad, we cannot fast-forward or rewind.
There are moments when I am so excited about the prospect of college and the long-awaited, stress-free summer.
However, there are times when I am walking by the amphitheater or down by the pool, and I remember moments from Junior year.
I remember the friendships, the laughter, and the inside jokes.
I remember my amazing roommates within the past two years and my best friend Parky (yes, that is her nickname) whom I honestly could not have gotten through these past two years without.
Ojai Valley School has given me so much: life lessons, life-long relationships, and experiences I could have never gotten anywhere else.
And to my journalism teacher, I just wanted to say that you are an absolutely amazing person, and a mentor to all of your students. You push people to do their best, and you have taught me to work hard, strive for the best, and most importantly, to follow what I truly love.
So I guess this is goodbye.
I will be graduating on Thursday, surrounded by my parents, teachers, and friends.
I will be graduating, and will not be coming back next year.
But I hope that every underclassmen will listen to this.
Make every moment worth it, and try not to complain. Because, in the end, you don’t want to have regrets. In the end, you want to be sad, but you want to be happy that those past four years were the best you could make of them.
And yet she comes again.
It’s been at least one month since Aunt Lela’s funeral. Just last weekend we were at Relay for Life and I was walking in her honor.
It’s been four hours since my great grandmother passed away.
It’s been 20 minutes since I got the phone call from my mom. After the fourth ring I decided to pick up. “Mama, I can’t talk right now.” My roommate was sleeping and I didn’t want to disturb her. “It’s an EMERGENCY.”
This one I was close to. It really hurts this time. All she wanted before she died was to hear me sing. I didn’t do it for her.
I feel guilty, but it’s not about me. It’s about this woman who was so kind and funny. She loved her family, but she especially loved her daughter. The one who took care of her until the very end with very little help.
Now, she’s gone. What is her daughter supposed to do?
We can only pray and give love, right? What else? Why is death such a powerful thing?
I will pray. Not for God or Jesus or whoever. None of them. I will pray for my family. Because with tragedy comes grief and with grief, one never knows what can come of grief. So, I will pray and I hope you will too.
Are You There God?
Faith is the journey continued in hopes of finding the end
it is the belief that after years of hard work, finger breaking there will come rest
There is faith in mothers that they will nurture us
there is faith in fathers that they will protect us
there is faith in lovers that they will love us
But, what faith have I in someone else’s religion?
What do you believe?
I believe in love
love can’t be taught or preached
it can’t be written or spoken, not published, or broadcasted
I have faith in love
Finding Joe
Today, I saw the documentary “Finding Joe” at the Ojai Playhouse. The film was all about the teachings of the mythologist and philosopher Joseph Campbell.
Basically, Campbell’s ideas about life come from his ideas about mythology. He says that there is only really one story in all stories of all time. That story is that there is a character that faces a problem, and then changes as a result of that problem. He put this idea into his philosophy.
He said that people will face problems, but eventually overcome them if they are strong enough, or try hard enough. Success, in his words, is obtainable by all.
In my opinion, success is not obtainable by all. Sadly, some people, no matter how hard they try, will never become what they really want to be. Some people are either luckier or just happen to do things at the right time.
Anyway, I got a free ticket to the screening of the movie and to the reception afterwards with the director since I’m part of the Ojai youth film society board. The director was actually pretty cool, and I got a high five from him after I brought up that I was not allowed to show my most recent movie at my school.
“That’s how you know how you know that you are making better films.” He said, “If more people dislike it, then they are probably better. Until a certain point.”
I get the feeling that I’m going to remember those words for a while. I want to become a director and screenwriter when I’m older. Let’s hope I’m as lucky as Mr. Campbell.
I Won
I went home yesterday. The limo driver by the name of Steve Mazalin told me “sometimes you have to do something truly awesome and incredible to get people to notice just how talented you are.”
After being stuck in the wrong stories and getting denied good ones or having prize stories taken away, I finally proved my at times vastly overlooked worth when it came to writing stories that I truly cared about or stories that gathered some interest.
Waking up at 630 in the morning is something few look forward to let alone someone who sees journalism as work and as a class, maybe a hobby at best. I was on the sports writing roster with a classmate, the esteemed and regarded sports writer. We pulled up at Cal Lutheran University for the Tri County Journalist Write-off and I thought “oh joy, let the day begin.”
15 schools, 3 counties, Ojai’s first private boarding school invitation, way to represent right? Time to prove my worth.
While the speaker, an 18 year old world record holder, was giving his piece to us, his press conference, I thought his story was gold for me to work with.
I worked until the 10 minute to go mark to meet the 90 minute deadline, I signed my sport writing piece A8 (my id number) and walked out feeling that I had really written my finest journalism work of the whole year. Better than any blog or assignment I had ever done.
I sat in the auditorium watching the other schools win in every other category. I watched their joyous and appreciative expressions and thought, “my moment’s coming.”
“For second place, Ojai Valley School‘s Ryland Steve…..”
I didn’t even hear my last name being said, I was too excited. I was already walking towards the stage to accept the trophy. It was surprisingly light. (:
I held it and felt so much pride. All my frustrations over the past year, I was finally being recognized, or at least that’s how I felt. Everyone from the other schools clapping for me. I don’t mean to sound arrogant or cocky here but I was just so happy I won that award. Being the only one from school to walk away with a trophy just added to the joy. I guess I’ll never have to write anything about bandwidth ever again. Hooray.
I’m not trying to sound curt, I’m just so excited. It’s still sinking in.
The Wombats.
We all need some good songs to sing and dance along to, on occasion, and The Wombats provide just this.
Formed in Liverpool, England in 2003 the Indie Pop band provides music that is quirky and brilliant. With lyrics that are strong and fun the band really can do no wrong. Each song is easy to relate to as they use everyday things to describe their feelings and emotions.
With lyrics such as, “Carrots help us see much better in the dark. Don’t talk to girls; they’ll break your heart,” there is no way a band like this can go wrong.
Releasing the first album “The Wombats Proudly Present: A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation,” globally in 2007 the album was a great success coming 11th in the UK album charts. The album was full of great songs that individually did very well in the charts.
In 2010 the band were back releasing new singles such as “Tokyo (Vampires & Wolves).” Then in 2011 the group followed on with the album “The Wombats Proudly Present…This Modern Glitch.” The new album has a more grown up sounds in comparison to the first album, involving different sounds. In no way does this make it worse, in fact many argue that it was better coming 3rd in the UK album chart.
So if you feel like you have energy to burn and want to listen to some fun, individual music you should definitely listen to The Wombats.
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