Tag: school

Waiting Game

rangerthecatLeave a comment

I finally did it. I submitted my college applications to the Cal State schools and the UCs. It was totally stressful, considering how much I procrastinated – I literally met the deadline by one day.

I am so thankful that I have finished the application process. But I am just SO ANXIOUS to know if I will be accepted to one of the schools that I want to attend the most.

So now that I have finished my applications, all I can do is wait to hear back, and in the mean time, stress out. A lot. And wait.

And wait some more.

And as much as I can try to predict it and hope everything turns out well, I have no idea what the future holds.

All I can do now – besides MORE waiting – is cross my fingers and hope for the best.

FOUR MORE DAYS !!

yrreskrapLeave a comment

OKAY.

I KNOW I SAID I WOULDN’T THINK ABOUT IT UNTIL AFTER I FIND OUT THE RESULTS BUT…

i just cant.

ALKEJFIOSDJFLSEMNFOALDKCM!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHY!?
I feel like these four days are killing me.

On December 1st, I will receive two emails from Williams and Amherst, letting me know whether or not I have been accepted. I don’t know what time the emails will come which makes things worse for me! I will be checking every five minutes on that day! Will it come at noon like the last email? If so will it come at noon Eastern Time? Would that make it arrive in my inbox at nine?

I am scared because Williams and Amherst are one of the nations top colleges. Williams is rated #1 in Forbes Best College List and #1 liberal arts schools in U.S. News and World Report Best College List. Amherst is #4 on Forbes and #2 in U.S. News and World.

Williams College is a small school of just over 2,000 students with an acceptance rate of 20 percent. SDLKFJSDLJF. So 20 out of 100 students that apply get in. 80 get a rejection.

Amherst is even worse. It has an acceptance rate of 16. So in this case, 84 would get the boot.

What I am scared the most about is, like I said in my previous blog, whether or not I will hate the isolation. I am scared that I will hate being in the middle of nowhere (being three and a half hours away from Boston) and find myself hating the weather too!

I think too much.

I am both dreading and waiting for Thursday to come.

God, please choose the right school for me.

Middle Land

Yourcupatea1 Comment

Midland
Midland or Middle Land, a small school that is defined by its name. It is literally a school that is in the middle of nowhere. Built up of rustic buildings and open grassland, the campus is like walking into a time warp with a few unique changes.

It is a campus that defines the school and it’s principles, seen because it’s battered ancient façade but filled with knowledge and wisdom. As they say with age comes great wisdom and this is definitely the case with this school.

Filled with pride, the school is about teaching who you are. With no personal technology accessible to the students they are really taught to explore who they really are and what the world is really about.

Comparable to a Waldolf Steiner School, Midland really is unique. Although not suitable for everyone it is a place of insight and reflection where one can think about their values and lives.

Camels & Ojai Day!

yrreskrapLeave a comment

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.

College already?

rangerthecatLeave a comment

College.


Just hearing that word makes me cringe.

A few years ago, I didn’t even think I would be applying to colleges. I figured I would be attending a community college.

But now, college is so close, and all of my friends are stressing out about it. All I hear is “I’m working on my college essays” or “I had a college interview the other day.”

And I just think Umm, I don’t even know one single school that I’m applying to yet…

I have no idea what I want to study either. I really wish I was one of those people who knew what she wanted to do and went for it. It would make it so much easier!

I have confidence that I will be accepted into a good school, but the first step is figuring out where I am going to apply.

Bring it on, college apps. I will figure it out. It might take me a while, but I’ll figure it out.

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!

Stressed out.

rangerthecat4 Comments

It’s only the 4th week of school. I have been here for less than 30 days.
IT FEELS LIKE I HAVE BEEN HERE FOREVER! AHHHH!

I love this school, and I especially love the people here. I love being here.

That being said, I REALLY wish that I could just take a break.
I know I am speaking for not just myself, but also a lot of my fellow classmates when I say THIS WORKLOAD IS STRESSFUL!

Never in my entire high school career have I worked as hard as I have worked this year. I even dropped a class because I realized that I would not be able to handle it. And still, every night, even on the weekends, I find myself working for hours on end and still not feeling satisfied with some of my work. I thought Friday and Saturday nights were for relaxing… Maybe I’m just crazy.

I know all of the teachers here really care about the students and really want them to learn. I am so thankful for that. I have learned a lot from every teacher I have had at this school. But being a good teacher and helping students learn does not mean assigning homework every night, even on the weekends, and assigning huge essays and projects with minimal time to complete them.

All of these homework assignments just keep building up and I cannot seem to find a way to escape. Even if I am proactive and do my homework days in advance before it is due, thinking this will help me manage my time better, I am always assigned something else.

I will be honest, I do know a lot of students – and even some of my close friends – slack off a lot and procrastinate. And once in a while, I do the same. But it is only because I can never catch a break otherwise. Whenever I have free time, I use it to sleep, catch up with my friends from home, call my parents, or watch a movie. Is it too much to ask to not have a homework overload every once in a while?

I wish teachers could see it from our perspective. Some of them don’t take into consideration that we all have at least 4 or 5 other classes to deal with each day and night. It becomes really overwhelming for us!

I am so stressed out. But, nothing I can do about it… except more homework!

Beginning of the End

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I can picture myself on June 8th, 2012. I’ll be standing on stage, in front of my peers and my family, accepting my high school diploma. And it will officially be over. These four dreaded years we call high school will OFFICIALLY be in my past. I have dreamed about this moment for so long.

I should be feeling happy. Actually, I really should be feeling overjoyed. Completely ecstatic. And a part of me is very excited for that moment to come. A small part.

The bigger part of me is feeling overwhelmed, nervous, and sad.

Ojai Valley School has not been my only high school experience. Public school came first. Back then, I never pictured anything different than walking out with about 500 other students accepting our diplomas on the gigantic front lawn of my public high school. And thank God I was wrong about that.

This school has taught me everything I know about myself, really. I have discovered so much more than I knew existed within myself. I remember the day that I showed up here. I wanted to leave more than anything. I wanted my old life back and I wanted to go home.

Now, this is home. This place is my home. Not just a place that I live, but much more than that. I have made countless friends, some of them who I hope I will know for the rest of my life. I look up to some of the faculty at this school more than I look up to anyone I have met before. They have really pushed me to be my best self. Without them, I would not be who I am today, and I really owe everything to them; they are truly a second family.

With them, I have laughed, I have cried, and I have laughed and cried some more. I have argued, I have slacked off, I have worked hard, I have tried new things. I have sang, I have danced, I have met amazing people, I have been pushed to my limits. But the most important thing that I have done here at OVS is I have found myself.

I know, 9 months seems so far away, but really I know that it will come much too quickly. Time really does fly by, and for once in my high school career, I wish it would just slow down so I could enjoy the amazing moments of my senior year that are to come.

So, with a heavy heart I say to you all, here’s to the beginning of the end. Because before I know it, it will be June 8th, 2012, and I will be standing on stage in front of everyone, saying goodbye, looking back at all the good memories I have of this place. Bitter-sweet is the only way to describe it. And who knows where I will be headed after then? As the saying goes, “when one door closes, another door opens.” As much as I look forward to everything in my future, I just wish this door would never have to close.

Boy’s Romantic Prom Gesture Gets Him Banned From The Dance

Paloma SpencerLeave a comment

Although the talk of prom may not be popular amongst Ojai Valley School students anymore, numerous schools are just getting ready to celebrate theirs.

This means that the excitement over which prom date, which dress to wear, and which place to dine is rampant amongst teenagers everywhere.

And for many guys, there is always one question that needs to be answered: “How should I ask her to prom?”

I’ve seen the classic bouquet of roses and chocolates, the tennis balls perfectly ligned up to spell out prom, and a hand written song accompanied by a guitar.

For James Tate, a student of Shelton High School in Shelton, Connecticut, his plan was already in place.

Tate and two other friends visited their campus and posted a sign saying “Sonali Rodrigues, Will you go to prom with me? HMU Tate” on the top of their school building.

However, that coming Monday, after Sonali had joyfully said “yes” to Tate, James and his two accomplices were requested to the principal’s office.

Rather than asking them to simply take the poster down, the school officials gave all three of the boys a suspension of one day.

In addition, the school felt that the three boys had clearly violated school rules by trespassing after school hours and “vandalizing” school property. Thus, this punishment was expanded in order to ban the boys from attending their school’s prom.

Tate and his friends are not fighting back against their punishment, but simply wish their school officials could recognize that it was a kind way of asking Tate’s date and they never meant to break any rules in the process.

Math Down, The Rest Is History!

yrreskrapLeave a comment

Yesterday was grueling.


My morning began with YouTube videos by khanacademy (who is BRILLIANT by the way) on solids of revolution. My favorite breakfast of waffles and milk didn’t manage to make my morning any better.

I dragged my legs as I forced myself to the Lecture Hall. I sighed as I saw the cold metal door knob and my opaque reflection on the still glass door. Then I went in.

It was torture. Hours and hours of math. I panicked. I think I did horribly.

With a bad mood, I went to the cafeteria to grab lunch before my track meet. With my Princeton Review AP U.S. History Exam book in hand, I trudged to the big, yellow Ojai Valley School bus.

The meet got a lot off my shoulders and I managed to get a lot of studying done. I met my friends at Cate School, Denali and Blake, both friends from 8th grade and that got a lot of stress and grief from my AP exam earlier that day. It helped me realize that I shouldn’t stress but I should try my best for the next test because I can’t change the my previous test score but I can try to get the best score for my next AP test.

Next:

Tomorrow, A.P. U.S. History.

Wish me luck!