Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Laminin

A camp I once attended showed me this video.
I thought of it again around CHRISTmas.

Watch it.

It's mind-blowing.


Thanks to Tsunkatsemaster.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Happy Holidays? (Part 1: NOT)

As we all know, the holidays are almost here.

The students at my school are already literally buzzing with excitement.
Well, half of that excitement just died today.

I go to a school named Myers Park High. On November the 8th, the Charlotte Mecklenburg Board of Education voted to move the IB (International Baccalaureate) program feeder schools to East Mecklenburg and Harding High schools, which both also have IB programs.

For those of you who don't know what IB is, it's an international program that "is motivated by a mission to create a better world through education." It's divided into three programs-- the Primary Years Program (from ages 3-12), the Middle Years Program (from ages 13-15) and the IB Diploma Program (from ages 16-19). Myers Park had the first Middle Years Program in North America, and the first IB Program in North Carolina.

Our school's IB program helps run the school--we organize fundraisers, events, community service, and most, if not all, students participate on some kind of extracurricular team or club: for example, athletics, musical groups, etc. The IB program attracts hardworking students from all over the school district. Fortunately, I'm in the Myers Park zone, so I don't have as long a commute as many of the others.

Well, today, the CMS Board of Education voted to take the IB program away from those who don't live in the Myers Park zone. Which is most of the IB students--around 500 kids. With a little under 200 (I think around 160), Myers Park is left with a mostly highly endangered IB, which will probably be phased out for inefficiency in the future. To have an IB program of only 160 kids is not a very good idea.

They said that they voted to do so because Myers Park was overcrowded, and because East Meck was under populated. (Myers Park is actually not overcrowded-- it has over 63 acres of land and 13 buildings, which supports our population of around 3,000 students well)

So, while a lot of my friends get moved back to their home schools, or opt to go to East Mecklenburg or Harding IB (I haven't heard of many who are planning to), I get to look forward to the upcoming holidays.

Happy holidays?

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Is YOUR Life Average?

My friends told me about this website, and honestly, it is probably one of the most entertaining websites I have every seen. And one of the most time-killing. Which is why I'm going to try to never go on it again--I'll never stop reading it. Ever.

MLIA.
http://mylifeisaverage.com/

Here's one of my favorites:

"Today, I realised that my bus driver takes us the long way to school when he finds rubbish on the bus the night before. But Mr. bus driver, what you dont know is that kids on the bus leave rubbish intentionally just so we can be late to school on Mondays. MLIA."

Oh, and here's one more:

"Today, my phone beeped that I had a new text. When I opened my inbox, there was no new text. I emptied the inbox and that pesky envelope was still on my screen. I switched my inbox setting from conversational view to standard and finally found it. The sender was Unknown and the message blank. The date? 11/23/2057. Not only that, I found a second message hidden apparently from 08/18/2057. I am convinced someone from the future is trying to contact me. MLIA."

Here's one from me-- "Today I fell UP the stairs. MLIA."

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Racist Jokes, Faulty Calculators, & Bellyflops

Well, we all know that today is Thanksgiving Day.

Where we give thanks. Today.

I have a huge list of things to be thankful for, but there are a couple that surprised even me:

Racist jokes.

When I was younger, I used to think racist jokes were the worst things imaginable. Even worse than 'shut up' or 'stupid'. They irked me, until the 4th grade. In the 4th grade, I met a boy who made racist jokes, things like, "What did you eat for dinner? OH WAIT, you're Asian. Of course, rice and eggrolls." At that time, I thought those were horrible, and I'd come home feeling rotten. But now that I think about it, these racist jokes helped me become a lot more insensitive to words that people use to try and hurt me. And now, this boy is one of my best friends. So I have two things to be thankful for in this category, racist jokes, and one of my best friends.

Faulty Calculators.

I had one of those days. The ones where I want to stay at home and sleep. I woke up at 6:50, and had to get to school by 7:10. I thought it was an A day, when in fact it was a B day. (On A days, I had gym, on B days, I had math.) I forgot about the math test we had, and my Physics teacher gave us a pop quiz. So, while I was taking my math test, I was calculating an integral on my TI-89, when I realized the calculator was giving me the wrong answers. So I had to work out all of my problems by hand. At the time, of course, I felt like running away and never doing math again, but then I realized that I was becoming too dependent on my calculator, and that not using it was a good measure of my knowledge. I'm pretty thankful for that. (By the way, the TI-89 is a HUGE reason why college and high school students are failing math.)

Bellyflops.

Bellyflops hurt. I found that out during my diving practice. I tried to do a forward dive pike for the first time, and I couldn't get out of it fast enough. BAM. It hurt. A lot. But that's okay, because then I felt like getting it right, and got back on the board. I didn't end up doing a forward dive pike, but I did end up doing an inward for the first time. I'm thankful for bellyflops too.

This time of year makes me think of being thankful, when I should really be thankful all year. Unless you're a turkey.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Becoming A Better Person

Lately I've been thinking a lot about what I can do to be better.

I get a lot of stuff from people about what I'm doing wrong, but they never tell me what to do to make myself better. And it doesn't help me at all.

This past Sunday, I rededicated myself to God at my church. I just feel like God pulled me to rededicate myself to Him--I mean, lately I feel like schoolwork or extracurricular activities are becoming more important to me. And that's never good. So, I'm working on becoming a more dedicated Christian.

Honestly, I think I've become a kind of happier person than I was in middle school. Maybe I was going through a phase or something... Because I felt that the world hated me for some reason? But I've also become a little more sarcastic. Like this kid I didn't know was being mean to one of my younger friends. I immediately started being mean. I don't really regret being mean to this kid because he was picking on my little buddy, but I regret that I couldn't resolve it in a nicer way. And, instead of making things better, I ruined MY day by being mean, and that kid's day too. So it's kind of a lose-lose situation now that I think about it.

This song really hits home for some reason. Don't ask why.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5Rgn5W
Russian Roulette, by Rihanna

"As my life flashes before my eyes
I'm wondering will I ever see another sunrise?
So many won't get the chance to say goodbye
But it's too late to think of the value of my life"

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Asheville Cougar Classic (and whatnot)

So, I thought Marvin Ridge High School looked like the school from High School Musical.
Asheville High School kinda looks like a castle. It's really pretty.

Myers Park debate team went there yesterday for the Asheville Cougar Classic debate tournament. We placed 5th in the sweeps, and a lot of people placed individually. I didn't, but that's alright-- I really learned a lot. (I also hit the top two placed debaters. -_-) Anyway. We left at 6:30, and got back around 11:30. I'm starting to feel really really sleep deprived right around now.

I was in Novice LD again, and there were over 40 people in our division only! My friend Lisa got 3rd :) And we took a lot of photos, and I met a lot of people on the team.

I just wish the warm ups were a little less loud and embarrassing.
"I am a mother pheasant plucker." <---Seriously? Who came up with this?

On another note, today was Thanksgiving Sunday. I feel bad for those turkeys-- I bet half the turkey population dies during this week in November every year.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Marvin Ridge Debate Tournament

I went to my first debate tournament last Saturday, on Halloween.
Oh darn, I missed out on all the free candy...
I'll live.

Anyway, it was at Marvin Ridge High School (which looks like that high school from High School Musical, if you ask me... It has a REALLY nice facility.), and it was a Novice/JV Tournament--for first time and generally less experienced debaters.

And for my first time debating...

I really learned a lot and had a lot of fun. Many of my friends from middle school were on other schools' teams and we were able to catch up on what has been going on in our lives. And the debates themselves were exhilarating, but nerve-wracking. I had an adrenaline rush every single time I opened my mouth. AND, I got 3rd place!

The resolution was: "2009 September/October Topic Resolved: Public high school students in the United States ought not be required to pass standardized exit exams to graduate." for my event, which was Lincoln-Douglas. Now I'm working on the the next resolution: "2009 November/December Topic Resolved:Public health concerns justify compulsory immunization." for my next tournament in Asheville: the Asheville Cougar Classic. Wish me luck?

Oh, and by the way, I placed 3rd at Marvin Ridge-- not THAT bad, right? :)

Saturday, October 24, 2009

DIVING.

Is dangerous?

I'm on my school's diving team, and my parents are constantly insisting that diving is dangerous--that people have gone blind and have weird bone structures because of diving. A lot of my friends are also warning me about hitting my head on the board...

But it's so much fun I can't help but look forward to diving season!

And besides, check this article out:

"Decking myths about diving."

I mean, diving can't be half as dangerous as motorcycling or something... Right?

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

The week before Midterms is brutal.

You'd think that because midterm week is next week, teachers would ease up on giving tests and quizzes and other evaluations this week. Oh. Don't forget the projects.

So far this week, I've had:

Monday: a Physics Quiz, a Freshman Seminar public speaking evaluation, a timed 800m run, my informative speech project was due (with the outline, cited sources page, and visual aid).
Tuesday: another Physics Quiz, my World History Greek Alphabet project was due, as well as my World History notebook
Wednesday: a Physics Test (!), a World History public speaking evaluation

And for the rest of the week...

Thursday: SAT List 6 Quiz, World History Greece test
Friday: Into Thin Air Test, Freshman Seminar Midterm (not so sure about this one.), and probably another Physics Quiz, knowing my teacher.

And I thought Midterms were going to be bad.

I just realized how amazingly fun middle school was.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

High schoolers are weird.

So some of the kids at my school decided to have an unofficial scooter day last week. I guess they thought they were pretty cool, zipping around on scooters to class? :)

When my mom was dropping me off at school, she said, "High schoolers are weird."
Take that, high schoolers, my mom thinks you're weird!

Well, turns out that the scooters were illegal on school campus.
There were around a hundred scooters in the confiscation room that day.
HAHA.

Friday, July 10, 2009

Yo Yo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone

I have a CD at home. It's old, and battered. I've listened to it, literally, over a thousand times. I've downloaded its contents down to an equally loved iPod nano,  however for some reason I prefer listening to the music through the speakers of a CD player that has been around since before I was born. 

A former teacher once told me that music is something that is best appreciated with the ears, without the use of other senses, but I think I may have to disagree. When I listen to Yo-Yo Ma playing Ennio Morricone's music, I think I can almost feel the music moving like water--when you try to hold it for too long, it just trickles out of your hands. I can see the colors and images of the music, of the notes, of the melody. 

Watch these videos, and see if you can hear/feel/see what I see. :)


Thanks to zuccherohk for these videos.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Sleeping

Sleeping is good.

But for some reason, instead of waking up in my bed in my room upstairs, I found myself on the floor in the downstairs living room clutching my koala bear.

Just thought you might want to know.

Saturday, June 27, 2009

The Lighter Side of Life

For the last two weeks, I went to a camp where we celebrated the "lighter side of life". Whoopee.
It's called the Betty Stovall Spectrum of the Arts camp. It's sponsored by the CMS school system, and every year, kids from around the 4th grade up to rising 9th graders come to "indulge themselves in the spectrum of the arts!" [--one of the teachers; what a witty pun.]

Anyway, for our final number, all the kids had to sing and dance this one song--a modified version of this song called the "Brighter Side of Life". I think it's from some Broadway musical; it has that exaggerated touch to it. And ever since then, I've had this song stuck in my head.

I think it may not be such a bad thing though.
It's hard to be grumpy when you have such a happy song stuck in your head.

Always look on the lighter side of life!
When you're feeling in the dumps,
Don't be silly chumps!
Just purse your lips and whistle,
thats the thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing, oooooooooooooooooooooooh!
Always look on the lighteer side of liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiife!
Company bow.

Ugh. It's almost too happy.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Field Day

Field Day: an annual day for schools in which students compete in sports and or have fun during recreational activities.

I've always wondered why school systems call this particular day 'Field Day'. I mean, there's no field involved in any shape or form. And what do fields have to do with fun OR sports? During my first Field Day in the 1st grade, I was severely disappointed to see that Field Day consisted of students running around with water balloons and buckets of water, while the teachers watched in the shade.

I also remember lots of crying and chaos. But apparently the crying and chaos on Field Day is evidence of a "successful way to integrate learning and fun nearing the end of the school year", according to one of the teachers. Now that I think about it, 1st graders with water guns and hoses equals utter confusion.

Field Day 2009 was pretty similar. Minus the 1st grade part. Plus basketball courts.
Thank goodness that we children are creative.

We actually make field day fun every year.