Tag: ojai valley school

A Time for Change.

yrreskrap2 Comments

Change is healthy.

Today, before I left the dorms for the Ojai Farmer’s Market, I made a spur of the moment decision to change my room around. My bed has been rearranged. My dresser once cluttered with various cosmetics and toiletries is now bare, my small pink and white refrigerator brandishing those same perfumes and toothbrushes.

It feels good.

I spent a large part of my day cleaning and reorganizing and reopening and removing. I usually feel a need for this sort of change at the end of the school year in the dormitories.

Today was different though.

As I am beginning to sum up my five years at Ojai Valley School, writing the last pages of my high school days, priming for the next chapter of my life, I am slowly growing more anxious, scared, and unsure.

What is undeniable is my insatiable desire to graduate. 

I don’t know what it is. A part of me does not want to leave, knowing how much I will miss this place, a part has been growing since September. I guess I am scared to leave this small hill that blessed me with so many happy, great memories but, I think I am too scared to leave the people I love so much behind.

But time is surely passing by faster this year…

I only wish that I make sure this year is great. I am happier than I ever was with my friends and the people I surround myself with. And I want to leave feeling elated and proud.

COLLEGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now that is what I cannot get off my mind. Where will I GO!? I find out the results of my Early Evaluation application to Wellesley College. But after that, I have another dreaded MONTH of waiting for results. Goodness gracious. The college process is absolutely dreadful. Hopefully, great news will unfold in the upcoming weeks!!

Wish Me Luck.

 

Dang sports, you scary!!!

backinphillyLeave a comment

Today, as I’m sure the spectators of the OVS girls’ soccer game witnessed, freshman Ali Fortier took a strong kick directly in the face, causing her to have a serious bloody nose. Now, I know this isn’t the usual Worst Person in Sports that I’m sure you readers are accustomed to, and I promise I’ll be back at that later. But I felt like this particular game needed to be addressed.

Not only did the OVS squad play a girl down for the entire game, but the fighting spirit by all of the girls was there from the opening kickoff. Despite the score, it was really a thrilling game to witness.

However, I was appalled to witness that the opposing team, which I will refer to as “Team X” continued to run up the score after Ali Fortier was forced to head to the sideline with that ball to the face that I mentioned earlier.

For about 25 minutes of play, OVS played with 8 position players and a goalie while Team X played with 10 position players and a goalie.

The worst part? Team X was winning by about 4 goals. The game was far out of reach.

So why, might I ask, did the coach even warrant this atrocious mindset? Why was this allowed?

I would love to hear feedback from any readers because this just shocks me.

Anacapa Island

kirbyfullyloadedLeave a comment

I love the Channel Islands.  Just off the coast of California, these 5 little land masses are some of the most incredible spots on Earth.  Made up of  Anacapa, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, San Miguel and Santa Barbara, this archipelago is home to 145 species of animals found nowhere else in the world.

I went on a trip to Anacapa with my Ojai Valley School biology class and took a few pictures and chilled in some tide pools.  It was a lot of fun and very beautiful.  Lucky for me, the sun was out and it was warm.

The pools are deep and clear and kinda freezing. At least in early spring.  But the water sparkled and the waves were great.

The tide rushed in and out quickly, churning foam swirled between the rocks and obscured the pools.

Waves began building and crashing over the rocks in great greenish-white masses, soaking everyone in their vicinity . Including moi.

Me, (and my camera) getting hammered.  Good thing Olympus makes good waterproof gear.

How it looks when I’m not getting hit in the face ^^^  Nice huh?

He braved the splash zone

And got that as a prize.

I guess he was just asking for it that day…

I happen to be immensely fond of sea anemones.  They’re cute and squishy and occasionally colorful.  The green ones are the best and I’ve only ever seen three in my life.  Fortunately, that day was my third sighting:

Pretty isn’t he?  I only call it a he because I named him Zar.

Have you ever looked at obsidian (volcanic glass)?  Sometimes I think the water looks just like it.

I love the way it looks when the water streams off the rocks.

Not paying attention, here I am getting smacked in the face with my own camera.  Gotta love the waves.

White water!

I quite enjoy tide pools…

A purple sea star in the middle of early lunch.

Sea stars push their stomachs out through their mouths and envelop their food, pulling it back inside their bodies.  These echinoderms have no table manners.

As you can see, the tube feet have suctioned on to the mussel and arm bends around the shellfish to better maintain its grip.

All it all it was a good field trip, the best I’ve ever had.  If you ever get the chance, head on out to the Islands, it’ll be well worth your while.

My first triathlon

thehungryrunnergirlLeave a comment

At 6:45 AM on Sunday, 4 of the members of Tri Ojai and I were at the poolside area of the Ojai Valley School getting ready for a practice triathlon. It was very cold outside; everyone was wearing warm jackets and pants. I couldn’t believe that I had to swim in the outside pool… The athletic director was laughing at me shivering with cold and being afraid of swimming in the pool. MEANIE.

Brief course description: 500 yard swim (outdoor OVS pool), 11 mile bike (into the town of Ojai and back up to campus), and 3 mile run (on Pi, which is our home cross country course, BACKWARDS).

The practice race started at 7 AM. I jumped into the pool. My body was freezing and when I started swimming I couldn’t breathe and was just desperately trying to get some air. But after I swam 50 yards, my body got used to the temperature of the water, and I felt warm again.

I got out of the pool and rushed to the transition area to start biking. My body was shivering and wobbling. I got on the bike and it was all down hill for the first 3 or 4 miles. It was a bumpy road; my hands were hurting the whole time, because I had to squeeze the break in order not to crash. The hill on the way back up was a killer, but I liked it anyways. My 11-mile bike ride was quite a journey, but I had a lot of fun.

I set my bike on the rack and started to run. I couldn’t feel my feet at all, my legs felt all weird. I ran down the hill and the worst part started when I hit the bear gate. I ran uphill for 2 miles until I hit the boy’s dorm. But it wasn’t as bad as I’d expected and I liked the feeling of running down hill afterward.


I completed triathlon in 1 hour 19 minutes and 50 seconds. I loved it so much. I think I will get myself into triathlon! I asked my dad if I could get a road bike for Christmas! I would love to bike all winter just to take a break from running and not to burn myself out.

Anyways, I had fun and it was the best way to start my Sunday!

I would like to thank my triathlon coach for letting me have this opportunity.

Why Me?

yrreskrap1 Comment

October 20, 2011, Thursday morning.

The familiar buzz of my alarm shook me from my sleep. A heavy hand reached over, my drowsy fingers searching for the Dismiss button, rather than the usual Snooze.

I had woken up with one thing on my mind.

I sat up, my hands grabbing the computer and placing it on my lap. I refreshed the awaiting Collegeboard page that was already open on Google Chrome. I signed in again and…

I couldn’t believe it.

Could it be true? Was I too tired? Was I seeing things?

Again. My fingers tapped the refresh button. But the same score prevailed my cyber attack.

My SAT score had increased 240 point since the last test. My cumulative 5 months of straight studying had paid off! Immediately, I ran down the hall screaming for my roommate and Sungjin. Then, happy phone calls to my proud mother and father.

October 21, 2011, Friday evening.

With a heavy feeling in my heart, I checked my phone. The email accounts in my phone did not receive any mail but college junk mail.

It should’ve come by now. It should be here. Maybe…

Thousands of thoughts rushed into my head and I brushed them off. Worrying wouldn’t change anything.

Wishfully thinking, I double checked each email account I had on the internet browser. Nothing…

…until I checked my POP/junk mail folder on my hotmail account.

“National College Match Application Status” sent at 12:01 pm. Goodness, it was already halfway past seven, I should have checked earlier.

My fingers pressed the small icon before my heart was ready for the news.

My eyes couldn’t believe it and my heart beat at 9187431938471 miles an hour.

“Dear Serry,We are pleased to inform you that you have been chosen as a finalist for the 2011 QuestBridge National College Match! “

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHH I’M A FINALIST AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” I screamed for joy! My track coach, probably scared out of his wits next to me in the Ojai Valley School Van, said, “No way!”

He had been helping me with these essays before I turned the applications in. Without his help, I don’t believe I would have gotten this far. (Thank you so much!)

Now, my next deadline is November 1. I need to submit all my applications by then and wait until December 1.

But until then, I can’t give up or slow my pace! I just need to try hard and pray even harder. Thank God for how far I’ve come. I can definitely see his hand working in my life, molding the paths I take. Although I know that this is just one step of the way, I am confident that God will lead me to the right direction.

Camels & Ojai Day!

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Saturday. October 15, 2011.

I woke up early to go on a nice run on the Pi course at Ojai Valley School and went to the gym to do some core exercises.

At around 10:30, my good friend Anni walked in and we decided to take the day off and go celebrate Ojai Day.

We got on the bus at noon and arrived to a bustling scene. There were people everywhere and the air smelled of barbecue. Painters, jewelers, vendors, you name it.

The most memorable part of the trip was the camel ride. Anni and I waited for about 15 minutes behind a line of middle schoolers. I felt a little embarrassed knowing that we were both double their age but equally (if not more) excited to get our turn on the camel. Finally, it was our turn.

At first, it was very awkward for the both of us.

But after a while, we got used to it.


Overall, the camel ride was unforgettable. That ended my day on a perfect note. I had never ridden on a camel before (and Anni hadn’t either) so it was a new experience for the both of us. I can only hope to be able to come to next year’s Ojai Day.

What A Month.

yrreskrap1 Comment

October.

And I’m already feeling the symptoms of senioritis.

A stress-packed conglomeration of college applications, standardized testing, school, cross country meets, and more college applications.

The first day of October commenced with a good early morning dosage of standardized testing. Yes, the SAT’s. However, I don’t remember ever sleeping so long (9 hours) during my five-year stay at Ojai Valley School.

I was also assigned four reading journals and an essay this week for AP Literature. How I am going to finish those assignments, I have yet to figure out but I will get it done.

My next big event is this upcoming Wednesday. At Thacher, I am running in a cross country meet. As well as on the Wednesday after that and (surprise surprise) the Wednesday after that. This is my first time running cross country and I am nervous. I don’t know what to expect. All I know is that the course will be three miles but I guess I will find out in three days exactly how it will be.

On October 22, I will be taking the ACT…in Oxnard. Which means that I will be waking up at five o’ clock, getting breakfast somehow, driving down to make it by 7:45 a.m. to register and take the test.

Two days before that, I will have figured out my SAT score from the test I took yesterday.

One day before, October 21, I would have found out whether or not I have become a finalist in the Questbridge National College Match program. This is my most important deadline and I expect myself to be checking every moment of the day for a notification from the program telling me whether or not I have made it. If I do make the program, I will be able to be offered a four-year full scholarship at the schools of my dreams, Williams College and Amherst College. I am anxious. I had been working on my essay for months. With the help of my mentor, Fred Alvarez, and my college counselor, Dave Edwards, I turned in my final product. Hopefully, my work has paid off.

The last weekend of October is also Parent’s Weekend here at OVS. I will be very busy having conferences with my teachers and having a seminar on that Sunday.

The UC Application is also up online as of yesterday. I need to get started on that soon because I will not have the time to work on them on the upcoming weekends.

As overwhelming as this month seems to me, I know that I need to take things one step at a time. If I bombard myself with all of these events at once, I know the quality of my work will be compromised. I just need to pray to the man up above for a break, big or small, so that my college stresses could be relieved soon. My senioritis isn’t helping either. 249 days until graduation!

The Last Blog

yrreskrapLeave a comment

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.

Why OVS?

vabenissimoLeave a comment

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 Won

shredicusmaximusLeave a comment

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.