I love my friends. They are my lifeline in a way. My real friends have been there for me through my ups and downs. We have a group chat name called “famuliegh” and I think that’s funny. Anyways, my friends are the best. We have so much fun, we always go to the beach, hang out, and there aren’t ever any problems between the 4 of us. Friends are people who are there for you no matter what, and that’s why I love my friends. The last thing I’m gonna leave here is that, even through some ups and downs that I’ve had with some of my friends, we’ve worked it out and stayed close; our friendship is reciprocal, and that’s why I love my friends.
I thought it would be nice to write a letter to my future self in four years, when I won’t be a high school senior, but a college senior.
Credit: Google
Dear Future Brownbeans,
Right now, April 15, 2026, I am writing this blog and giving you a snapshot of my day as a high school senior. My day started at 6:45 am. I went to the bathroom and got ready for the day. I skipped breakfast because I had a heavy dinner. After I finished getting ready, I went to Yearbook, and Mr. Schude reminded us that our Yearbook is due in like 2 hours. Next, AP Stats. I have no idea what is going on in that class. Then a snack break! After, I went to English where we watched a movie and did the Wordle. Next, Lunch! I had fajitas with rice, beans, and salad. Then, we had a student council meeting, pretty boring. Later, I went to Psych and started working on this blog. Soon I’ll have sports, with dinner and tutoring coming later tonight.
Now, onto my questions.
How is college? Did you meet a lot more people? Are you still friends with people from high school? How would you rate your happiness on a scale of 1-10? Is college actually a lot easier than high school, or were people lying? Does your room have AC? Was the new building worth having the smaller dorms freshman year? Is the food only good on admitted students day? Are you tired of Acai bowls yet? Are you and Emely still roommates? Are you going to become a lawyer? Starbucks barista? What was it like voting for the first time?
Whatever you are doing, I bet you are really happy and living your best life. See you in four years!
Quentin Tarantino is known for a plethora of films, most famously Kill Bill and Reservoir Dogs. But that’s not to say those are his only good films.
Over break, I was yearning for a movie. A Tarentino movie, to be exact. That’s when I look at my ‘To Watch’ list in my notes app, and I see the movie Death Proof.
I look up what the movie is about. “A stuntman who kills women with a modified car labeled as ‘Death Proof'”. That… doesn’t seem interesting. Well, not to me at least, since I’m not into cars that much.
Well, to my surprise, I really liked this movie. The music, the visuals, the makeup, the comedy, and the actors. Despite being considered a “flop” to Tarentino, this movie is held very close to my heart.
I recommend it to people who are into cars. I didn’t understand half the things that the actors were talking about when they were talking about cars. Whoops.
Now that it’s time to start looking at college, I have realized how much I want to go to a college in California. It is also kinda stressing me out, even though I still have a long time till I have to start applying. It feels crazy how fast these last 3 years have gone by, and even though I’m excited to go to college, I’m still scared to get ready to move away to college. The only other places I would maybe want to apply to are Hawaii, but I don’t think I would ever go. However, this summer, my parents might take me to visit. The top colleges I want to attend are Pepperdine, UCSB, and UCSC. I really want to go somewhere near the beach, and I would never wanna go anywhere other than California because after living here my whole life, I don’t think I could leave and go somewhere else that’s colder or has no ocean.
Recently, on my TikTok for You page, I’ve been getting a lot of videos about the guy called Clavicular, who looks maxes. He seems really scary, but he is kind of valid. He has done tons of injections, and something called bone smashing, where he hits himself in the face with a hammer, and I thought he was just really psychotic, but somehow everything he has done has juristically changed his appearance. The second he reached his “ascension”, which is reaching his prime, he blew up. He was kicked out of college because of his looksmaxing, and even though his life felt ruined in the moment, he became successful for looksmaxing. His career is just based on rating people and trying to get his rating up, but I’m lowkey really invested. His next part of his ascension is his double-jaw surgery, and I hope it goes well and that he doesn’t botch his face.
I thought senior year was going to go by super slow. But we are almost done with the first semester, and I realized that soon I won’t be a high schooler anymore.
College applications have taken up so much of my time, I kind of forgot to slow down and take in the moment. This morning, I caught myself thinking about the future and not focusing on styling my hair. It was probably because I got so little sleep last night, but I keep finding myself thinking about things that are beyond my control. I need to remind myself to take in my surroundings and enjoy the present moment.
I’m scared for the future after high school. I’ll be mostly on my own, living somewhere even farther from home, surrounded by many new people. I shouldn’t be too scared, it is going to be like dorm life times 100. Even the smallest school I am applying to is 10 times bigger than our school. I’ll also learn how to balance a job between all my activities and classes. I’ve had a job before, but those positions have all been temporary and taken place during breaks.
I’m as ready as I can be for college while still remembering to take in the little moments that make up life!
My classes have been intensely harder this year than years in past. My schedule is set up so on my day ones I have every single hard class. I have Government, Business Math, AP environmental science and Journalism. On my day twos I have an easy day, english, art and two free periods. This schedule feels like a blessing and a curse. Every other day all I do is relax and occasionally don’t even have to arrive at school until 11. But on my day ones I struggle. Every class is rough and I have too many tests. I dont understand enviromental science, it is the most confusing class ever, the way things are worded makes it harder to understand. The tests are even worse. They are online which for some reason makes it much harder. Government is also extremely confusing. I dont understand the class at all and I get yelled at for where I sit. I am so exhausted from this. My grades are not even that bad, but it feels like im actually hanging on by such a thin thread. But it’s okay I just need to get through the next few months and things will get easier because I will get college letters back and know what im doing with my future.
I don’t think I’ve written more in my life than in the past few weeks. I had eight college deadlines on November 1st, and I decided to complete my work at the last minute. I just submitted half of my college applications, and I’m honestly done. I feel like the amount of work students do building up to applying to college is enough. Going through a tedious process of reviewing everything I’ve done with my life over the past eighteen years, with a word limit, feels impossible. I’m trying to manifest that I will get into lots of colleges, but I’m also not delusional. I missed one of the best weekends of the year, sick and doing college work, and I just hope that I get good karma from this. On top of all of this college work, I keep forgetting that I actually have school work, but that seems more like a tomorrow problem.
I have already been overwhelmed. The amount of college supplementals and essays on top of my capstone, on top of all my difficult classes, and my busy week at work. I have been overwhelmed, but that’s just what comes with being a senior. Yet every time things start to look up, I’m pushed back down. Last week, my car started flashing lights at me. I called my dad, and after a long inspection, he told me he had to fix a belt on it (I don’t know what that means at all), so I would be unable to drive it. I was annoyed, but it was fine; I could borrow my mom’s car for a day or two. The next day, my dad had still not started on my car. He told me it would take less than an hour to fix, yet he hadn’t started. I was frustrated but moved on. As I pulled into my driveway in my mom’s van, I saw a 3-foot hole dug into my driveway. I was confused, but I walked inside. I was then told that a pipe burst connecting to my pool, so we had to turn the water off. I was again frustrated; I wouldn’t be able to shower, wash my face, or brush my teeth. I went to my friend’s house to do those things, and when I got back, I smelled a putrid smell coming from my dog. I ran inside and was told he had been sprayed by a skunk. The smell was too terrible, so I had to go back to my friend’s house. Since the water was off, my dog was unable to get a bath. This all went on, and I tried to stay positive throughout the week. Eventually, my car, the pipe, and the dog were all fixed. I don’t get why senior year has to be so hard.
Imagine going from the tranquil flows of crystal-clear water, lush towering mountains, and uncultivated lands to a place like Ojai. Look, don’t get me wrong—Ojai has its beauty, tons of it at that—but there is this feeling that the air in Hawai‘i gives me. I’m not just talking about the sticky humidity; I’m talking about the feeling of being so disconnected from the world. Miles and miles of deep blue depth surround you entirely, yet you are safe on a tiny island—and alive, more alive than anywhere else.
I have traveled to many places in the world and seen the serene beauty of each diverse landscape, but nothing will ever compare to my home. I know every pothole in the road and every path to the ocean. Store owners have watched me grow up from behind a register, and first-time introductions are a rare occurrence.
There is always this tugging feeling, like you are never quite comfortable anywhere else, when you are inescapably tethered to an island. It’s hard to explain such a strange feeling to someone who has never lived there, but I believe it’s a feeling that will never fully go away.
OVS Journalism Blog 
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