Here and there

I really need to spend less time on the computer. I have a faint memory of making some computer rules for myself back when school started but I haven't really been following them at all. But from now on, and I WILL try this time, I'll become an endangered species on AIM and I'm gonna seriously limit my Facebook time. I'm really beginning to think my time has gone to waste and I want it back.

My October SAT scores really disappointed me, to an extent in which I will not elaborate on here (let's just say that I did not take it well at all and I am still rather sensitive if someone brings it up). But my mom and I have had a real heart-to-heart talk and I've come to realize that no matter what, she is always right. She has always known the bigger picture better than I ever have. I want to listen to her and I'm gonna try to listen to her.

I'm losing focus in school. I can't seem to concentrate or summon enough energy to really try anymore and I can't figure out why. I convince myself that I'm doing my best but I know I'm not. My test grades are depressing and I have strong urges to call myself stupid, useless, etc... but in actuality, I know why I don't do well anymore. I've stopped studying, I've stopped actually trying to learn, and because of that, I've lost a lot of my confidence in my abilities. I still want that A more than ever, but I'm not doing as much as I should to actually earn it. In the end, I'm trying to juggle six challenging classes where I have mediocre and unacceptable grades (except French 3, but that doesn't even matter) and I hate myself for even having my grade that low in the first place. It's gonna be an uphill battle to bring my grades back but I have no other choice but to do it.

I am starting to notice that any conversation about the randomest thing in the world always manages to end up turning into a conversation about colleges/college apps/SATs. It's starting to bother me because I don't especially like talking about it on a daily basis, but it always happens. Have you noticed that?

Happy birthday my love Ashleezy. I'm really sorry I couldn't make it to the lunch, but do know that I love you and I sincerely hope you had a wonderful time because you truly do deserve it.

Hi Donkey Kong :)

What swimming and school do to you

The annual and long-awaited Monterey meet was this weekend. I am pooped. I don't think I have been this sore yet in the past.. year. If I sit for 5 minutes, I feel like someone is continually punching my back. And walking is pretty excruciating, I feel like I just ran miles and miles. Even just sitting down feels like someone has been sitting on my lap for quite a long time. Everything hurts, more than usual. So my mom put on 4 of those Asian patches that HURT LIKE HELL when you try to peel them off. It kinda helped. Advil did too. And sleep, yum.

In general, I guess I'm pretty satisfied with my results, although I always have those nagging regrets. I received the 1st place High Point Champion trophy for the girls 15-18 age group.. that made everything worthwhile :D And MTW got the 1st place team trophy for the highest scoring team. But there was an air of sadness cause it was Alex's last meet with us; he will be dearly missed. I hope he liked our card and acoustic rendition of "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz. And I know I could have gotten better times and I know what I need to work on now: faster recovery in free, faster kick in fly and back, IM turns, stop saving my energy for the last lap!!! I absolutely hate the feeling of being out-touched by a few tenths or hundredths of a second. If I lose, I would rest easier knowing I lost by an entire body length than by the length of a fingernail.

I wish I could have camped out with the team.. but my mom doesn't like the Monterey fog and the cold breeze that results from it. I'm glad we didn't though, a hotel is like heaven. My major back and leg pain would not have been very pleasant at all if I slept on the hard dirt floor. But I did visit the campsite around sunset and enjoy the potluck, making the s'mores, climbing the trees, ignoring the "no trespassing sign", touching electric fences, playing mafia, hunting for bambi, stepping on the poison ivy, nonstop laughing with Vincent, and feeding Victor, LOL. I love my team :)

I am not at all pleased with school. My grades so far are putting me in a super bad mood and a few people said that it shows. I feel like I'm settling. I can do better, I know it. School is one of my top priorities and I feel like I'm losing this competition. I CANNOT lose.

1. I know you don't, but try to understand. We have entirely different priorities. I act like it's nothing, but it's more than that to me.
2. I think it's the end, but I do hope it's the beginning.
3. Thanks for not even bothering to try.
4. It bothers me when you act like nothing has happened.

Looking up

My grades are off to a bad start, disappointing pretest results. But it's only up from here, right? Oh I hope. I'm really settling into my classes now. I love the people in most of my classes.. they're a good mix of familiar faces and plenty of new opputunities.

Practice was fun today. Vincent was being crazier and nastier than normal, and that's always fun to experience. Oh man, this boy...! haha.

I think I should stop using a one-shoulder bag. It's really messing up my right shoulder now. I can't even do fly correctly and my shoulders hurt all the time. Maybe it's time to revive my blanc et noir argyle Jansport backpack. Oh, and I can't wait for Monterey! Hopefully we'll get to camp this year.

BeeMcGee = Mr. Colburn's name for our associate principal, Mr. McGarry. Hahaha! Mr. Colburn is awesome, I love him already.

Five days is oh-so-long! Where's the weekend?! I feel like I haven't talked to you in forever! I'm looking forward to it :)

Fourth of July weekend

"Life sucks, then you die." --Jacob, from Breaking Dawn.

That quote makes me (and Joann) laugh everytime. It's probably the most honest quote ever, and that's what makes it hilarious. I can't believe Bella is a vampire now. Still Team Jacob, but we'll see.

So it's official... tomorrow, me and my brother are gonna journey down to Socal for the weekend and meet my mom there and hopefully my dad. It seems everyone is going there for the weekend, like 4 status updates in the last week on facebook were by people saying they were either packing or there already.

I love when grades are curved :D

Halfway done with high school

It certainly didn't feel like the last day of school yesterday, other than the fact that I decided to skip practice for a day to hang out. Today, I spent most of the day making graduation posters with the swim team guys, then off to Sendai to fill our sushi cravings, then practice.

In general, I had an interesting sophomore year. Compared other years in my education, this year was probably the hardest year in terms of difficulty of classes and workload. It was a year when I had quite a few friendships tested, but also when I learned the most about some of my friends. I have gotten close to some seniors, which was great then, but is saddening now when graduation arrives. Looking back on this year, I also feel pride because this year was the first year I made CCS for swimming, maintained captain of Science Olympiad, and was chosen as Vice President of Key Club. I am also very much relieved that I managed to continue my unweighted 4.0 (weighted GPA is 4.5).

I am excited for this weekend, but not really looking forward to my first day of Physics on Monday. Tomorrow: MHS graduation, then HOPEFULLY I get to watch Michael Phelps & Ryan Lochte swim at Santa Clara!!! Sunday: Last day of Chinese school, Allison's BBQ


Classes & Grades-
Period 1: PE with Osbourne (A or A-)
Period 2: Honors Chemistry with Meyer (A-)
Period 3: AP World History with Harrison (A)
Period 4: Precalculus with Leggin (A+)
Period 5: English IIA with Mellera (A or A-)
Period 6: French 2 with Mollot (A-)

People you mostly talked to during -
Period 1: Vy, Steffany, Patricia, Hong
Period 2: Rowena, Dorkatron, Michelle L., Bettina, Maggie
Period 3: Tram, Eddie, Raul
Period 4: Ronald, Thi V., Vincent D.
Period 5: Ashley N., Kevin N., Jonathan P., Eddie
Period 6: Binh, Zach, Nalini, Meera, Michelle N., Hong

Random Questions.
Who was your favorite teacher?
Ms. Meyer

Who annoyed you most during 3rd period?
Eddie! Duh! hahah

Who did you sit with at lunch?
Tram, Ashley, Cecilia, Meera, Victoria, Vy, Courtney, Bettina

Which period was the most boring?
French with Mollot, UGGGGGH.

Where you were most likely to fall asleep or not pay attention?
French, no one ever pays attention.

Which class did you get the most homework?
AP World, usually. Sometimes it was Honors Chem.

Which class were you the most hyper?
Almost never.

What was your favorite class?
PE or English

Do you like going to school?
Depends on how much sleep I got the previous night.

Who sits behind you in Period 3?
Ping! Haha :) a.k.a Raul

How many kids are in your Period 2?
20-25, only 2 guys too haha

What teacher do you dislike the most ?
Madame Mollot -__-

Can you talk in your 3rd period?
Yeah, we usually yell stuff out.

Who sits next to you in 5th period?
Celine to the left, Jonathan to the right.

Who sits in front of you in 6th?
Michael F.

Summarize your year in three words?
Interesting, exhausting, challenging.

What do you hope next year is gonna be like?
More fun with 3 electives, but SATs are probably gonna make it even more stressful.

What do you hope will change next year?
Study harder for tests!

During this past school year have you…

Fallen in love?
Not in love, in like I guess.

Cried over a boy/girl?
Nope.

Gotten in a fight about something stupid?
Yep.

Ruined a friendship?
I don’t think so.

Started new friendships?
Definitely :)

Had a bangin party with just your girls/guys?
Hm, bangin? Hahaha don’t think so.

Been to a costume Party?
Nope.

Played truth or dare?
Yep, quite a few times.

Failed a test?
Yeah -_-

Been to school?
WTF of course.

Gotten yelled at by all your teachers for talking?
Haha, stupid Madame Mollot and her indirect comments.

Argued with a teacher about a grade?
Yeah! Cause my teachers messed up a few times.

Skipped class?
Yeah.

Had a birthday?
Yeah, but not during school.

Changed schools?
Nope.

Highlighted/ dyed your hair?
Nope.

Smooooothie

PE is over! I am pretty sure I have an A in that class, although our team's 2 losses today might lower it to an A-. Today was my last day of PE... EVER! I am all done with those unnecessary credits, BOOYAH. And the Honors Chem final is over!!!! And I don't know my grade on it exactly, but my overall grade is an A-, whoot whoot! Time to celebrate :)

I think I might sleep early today, like at around 11 o'clock. The earliest since... as far back as I remember. Maybe since February break even. Thank god I don't have any hard finals tomorrow. Just AP World (AP testing is over, so we aren't doing anything hard) and Precal (if I get a D on the final, my grade go down to an A-). 2 more days of school!

It was nice catching up today, it's been a while.

1st 6 weeks of last 12 weeks

^ Confusing, no? (;

A <--PE (yay for rugball! yay for osbourne!)
A <--Honors Chemistry (barely... 93.01%. the tests kill me.)
A- <--AP World History (a stupid, useless class)
A <--Precalculus (almost complete flexibility on homework haha)
A- <--English IIA (0.4% away from a solid A, damn)
A <--French II (only half participation points cause of swimming)

Another 6 weeks and sophomore year will be overrrrrr! Almost halfway through high school, hello junior year!