My week……

Thanksgiving is over and Christmas break is only 2 weeks away. I am amazed at how fast this week has gone by. In this blog, I would like to write about the highlights of this week. The biggest event of the week was the soccer game. To be honest, I wasn’t sure if I would play soccer this year. One of the reasons is that until last year there was no official girl’s team. But having an actual game motivates me and makes soccer more enjoyable. I was only able to score one goal in this game, but I thought it was great to go for one goal with great teammates. The result was 4-2 and I enjoyed the game for the first time in a long time. However, there were many issues in these games, and I thought that I needed to run more and improve my physical strength. Today, on Friday, we are watching our recorded game on the tv. To be honest, when I look at my own game, I am embarrassed because there are many areas where I am not strong enough. If I have a chance in the next game, I would like to score more than two points.
This weekend I want to prepare for the final exams and study so that I don’t choke myself.
I want to get my driver’s license and finish watching a Korean drama that my roommate and I are currently watching. I will be on vacation in two weeks, so I want to give my all to everything I do.

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Teacher Rant

Now, I’m not trying to get canceled nor reported, but I have very strong feelings about the way some teachers teach and I want to express them here. !!Disclaimer!! This is not directed toward any specific teacher or group of teachers affiliated with any particular school. Now that that’s out of the way, let me rant.

First off, one of the most annoying things on earth is when a teacher complains about the amount of work they have to grade and how difficult it is. I have a great suggestion for you! Maybe don’t assign so much work!! How do you think I felt doing it? Probably just as if not more bad than you feel now that you have to grade it. And don’t rebuttal with, “Oh, they have so many other students’ work to grade :(.” Sorry but not my problem maybe think about that when assigning such horrendous amount of work. Also, they act like I don’t have other classes’ work to do on top of the ungodly amount of horrific assignments I’m getting from their class.

Next, one thing I absolutely don’t understand at all is why teachers assign work over weekends and VACATIONS. IT’S CALLED A VACATION FOR A REASON. It’s not called, “Week Of School Where You’re Technically Not In School But Half Of Your Teachers Are Going To Assign Homework Like You Are.” Clearly it’s not called that, so what are we doing here? Also with weekends, like we for real just never get a break from doing work. ALSO, one thing that grinds my gears so so hard is when teachers give you – technically – a whole week and weekend to do something, but it’s an assignment that is entirely impossible to do during the week on top of the regular weekly spread for homework. So obviously I’m going to have to do it over the weekend, but if I complain, I just the same response of, “You had the whole week to do it.” LIKE SHUT UP I OBVIOUSLY DIDN’T.

Anyway, I guess I can end this off by ranting about teachers who don’t know how to teach. Again, not targeted toward any individual in particular, but sitting at your desk making us all watch a video of some random guy on Youtube explain the lesson is not teaching. In order to properly teach, you actually have to teach. It’s a mindblowing concept, I’m aware, but I’m sure you got it. And then, it’s the same teachers that don’t do anything the whole class and just sit there watching us get more and more confused by some random video that have the audacity to assign like 40 pages of reading or like 50 problems or something, all due the next day.

I know this was very aggressive, but I felt the need to really speak my mind in general, especially considering my last blog was so positive. As I’ve said before, thank you for listening to my Ted Talk and have a nice day.

How to Tell If You're a Bad Teacher - Big Think

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Thanks giving break so far

For the first time since I came to the U.S., I am spending Thanksgiving with my friend outside of school. The thing I was looking forward to the most during this vacation was seeing my friend who graduated last year. When the holiday started, I thought it would be a bit long, as if I would have 10 days off, but now that it has started, I am surprised that it is already Friday. Friday is the deadline for this blog, which is a little depressing, but Friday and Saturday are my favorite days of the week, so I’m happy about that. To be honest, not going to school and not seeing my friends are the parts of the vacation I miss a little.
This morning I went to Beverly Hills to see a friend who graduated last year. She was my roommate in my freshman year. She is very kind and has a beautiful heart. I was really looking forward to seeing her again. She usually goes to college about 5 hours away by car, so I can’t see her. We had lunch there. We had a variety of fish dishes, which were very tasty. After that, we walked around the area. There I bought a dog doll that I had been in love with for a while. I am sure I would have regretted not buying it, so I think I made the right decision. After that, we came home and made cabbage rolls. My mother’s cabbage rolls are one of her top 10 favorite homemade dishes. I couldn’t make it as well as my mother, but I was very happy that everyone liked it. After that, we watched a Korean drama while eating gelato, which I had been curious about for a long time.
I was very happy to spend time with them after a long time. I hope to see her again soon.

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Gratitude and Gore

Recently I’ve been realizing how much I have. I have everything. Right now, I feel like whatever I want to do with my life I have the means to do it. If I want to become an engineer, I can go to school for engineering. If I want to become a doctor, I can go to school and pursue a degree in that, not that I want to because med school sounds too intense and expensive for me. Also, I get really queasy. One time, this facial reconstruction surgeon showed me a bunch of before and after pictures from procedures and they were really disgusting and I passed out. In my defense, he was showing some pretty gross stuff- people with deconstructed eyeballs, two little girls who had their faces mauled by pit bulls, a girl who had a tumor in her head that made her eye stick out of her head, a man that got his scalp pulled off by a machine, a video where he pulled a nail out of a man’s face, etc. That’s a bit of a tangent but I meant that I have the privilege of being able to choose my occupation, my education, etc. I’ll obviously be in debt after college (unless I get a full ride) but I still have the privilege of going to college when so many people don’t even have the luxury of literacy. Wherever I want to go, I feel like I have the means to do it and I kind of feel guilty about how much freedom I have, because I didn’t do anything to deserve any of it. So many suffer so much and work so much harder than I do and never get the opportunities that I get, which feels so wrong. Therefore, my goal is to pay forward everything I’ve been given. 

Picture Credit: Tom Barret

Christmas Songs

I have never liked listening to Christmas music until at least after Thanksgiving. I weirdly grew up thinking that it was bad luck and that it just shouldn’t be listened to until the right time. Recently, I have decided that if its at least November, I can enjoy it. I know this sounds ridiculous, because it is. Today I have been singing and listening to Christmas music with my friends and I can’t wait until December. There is something about Christmas music and the holiday season in general that just puts me in a happy mood. While listening to the Christmas music earlier this evening, one of my friends was talking about how they hate Christmas because they aren’t in a relationship, which is really funny to me. Praying they can find that special person.

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Santa Rosa Island

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.

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chem is not for me

I’ve always struggled with science but chemistry is extremely humbling. Last year I did really well in biology getting a 96% on my final and having a 93 in the class. I was very confident going into chemistry but I have yet to succeed in anything so far. I have failed every test or quiz and struggled badly every night on the homework. I have taken time to watch videos explaining the topics but I still need help understanding. Chemistry is a notoriously hard class and I believe I could do it but I truly can’t. I have a test on Monday and I plan on spending my weekend studying although I am certain that I am going to fail. Today I have a review session during class and we are taking a practice test I have a feeling I’m going to fail that as well. I hope this test goes well.

Math Will Be My Downfall

Math will be my downfall. I have never been good at math, but I have always found a way to get an acceptable grade in my classes, even if I have no idea what is going on. This year, I have had three different math teachers which already completely set me back. I am in Algebra 2 this year and I just don’t understand anything at all. The first month of school, I wasn’t listening in class at all because I was distracted by my best friend. On every single quiz or test that I have taken, I have gotten an F and I genuinely don’t know what to do because now that I’m focused in class, I still have no clue what i happening. On my first test of got a 27 percent. It is really upsetting to me that I was so happy when I got back my most recent quiz and saw that I got a 58 percent.

Calculator Math” by Michal Jarmoluk/ CC0 1.0

Girlhood

Girlhood is the best and the worst thing that can happen to anyone. I love girlhood so much, but I really hate girlhood at the same time. Girlhood is getting ready with your friends for something exciting, but girlhood is also not getting invited to things you really want to be at. Girlhood is screaming songs at the top of your lungs living like nothing else is relevant. Girlhood is having your late night hot tub talks with your best friends. What is girlhood? Girlhood is happiness, sadness, and everything else in between all mixed together. I feel as if I have not experienced enough in my life that events and people are stopping me. I want to experience girlhood with a group of friends who I enjoy being around. Sometimes finding the people is hard. As a teenage girl emotions are all over the place. One second you are having the best time of your life and the next you are wondering why you were not invited to something. Finding the best group of friends is the hardest part. Some girls are clicky and there is no way they will welcome anyone into anything they have going on. Others are too opened right from the start. And some you just are so unaware how to approach the situation. As someone who goes to a small private boarding school finding people is hard. There are the day students and the dorming students. Practically separate for me. The dorming students all live together so it is really hard to bond with them. I am also the only girl day student in my entire grade so that separates me off from them a bit. There is absolutely no connection. The senior class has some of the sweetest people you will ever meet but they are super hard to connect with besides a few who I actually have connected with. The connections made with some of the senior girls creates a stone in my path of navigating through girlhood. I went to a concert with 2 of the senior girls and just relating and bonding over music created a core memory in my path along girlhood. The bonds created with people while experiencing girlhood is undescribable. Recently my best friend and I have a fallout which was definitely a hardship through girlhood. After over a month of us on non speaking terms she stepped up and reached out to me. So many people are telling me so many different things. Some are saying “don’t be friends with her again,” some are saying, “you should definitely try to reconnect with her.” So of course I went to dinner with her. Right from the start it was immediately not awkward. We went to dinner and were at the dinner for 3 hours catching up on eachothers lives. Not talking to my best friend of 10 years for a whole month is crazy to think about. That is girlhood. The best friends that last a lifetime. The ones who stay even after the biggest argument and still love each other. That is what girlhood means to me. Everyone gets jealous over someone else’s life at some point in time but why waste time being upset over something that won’t matter later in life and just live in the moment. Some words I saw and will never forget are, “its everyone’s first time living to not just yours.”

PC: Me

Comfort Zone

I have never been that good at getting myself out of my comfort zone. As a child, this was extremely tough for me. My mum would encourage me to do things, but I would shy away from actually trying. Looking back, I really do wish I had pushed myself to try different things. Once I turned 16, I decided that I wanted to try and push myself out of this comfort zone more. Even starting with the little things, such as making myself go on rollercoasters, which I have always been afraid of. I now really love rollercoasters! (Except for the ones that go upside down like whaaat.) My best friend is a huge reason as to why I push myself to do things I am afraid of. She always helps me to have more confidence, which I am forever thankful for. Today I sang for the first time in front of people. I was really nervous, but the support from my friends and family helped me feel so much better. I hope that I can continue to do things that scare me, because so far, I haven’t regretted doing that.

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