I've said time and time again that Jazz Band is my favorite class. It's the class where I walk in and know I'm gonna laugh. I know I'm gonna get a chunk of time where I don't have to worry about derivatives (calculus) the 5 billion types of dirt (AP environmental) or the difference between a spondee and a troche (ap lit). I can just play my saxophone. I love jazz band and think it's been pretty much the only constant in my time at indian creek. I even wrote one of my college essays about it. University of Michigan asked me to write about a community that I'm a part of, and Jazz Band was definitely the first thing that came to mind. I looked at it again, and I agree 100% with everything I wrote. In case you care, It was about how scared and uncomfortable I was with my saxophone ability as a freshman, and how even though I was the only freshman, nobody made fun of me or anything. It was awesome, and now I try to do the same thing for those younger/less experienced than me now.
We had our winter concert last night, and there's a song I'm "featured"on. This basically means that almost the entire song is a solo part for me. When recognizing that before the song, Mrs. Woodward said something about me being a senior. That's insane! I have one concert left before I go to college. That's only 3, maybe 4 songs that I get to learn with everyone else in the band. While playing that song, I was super into it. It was a difficult song, with a style that I often have trouble with. I think I did really well though. The song after was way easier, and I played it almost automatically. I didn't have to think about it. What I did think about was how much I'm going to miss jazz band. I'm almost certainly headed to a huge college (the smallest I applied too was about 14000 students, with most being more than 30000) and I really hope I can find my own niche there like I have here.
As much as it seems kinda dickheadish, I like Jazz Band because I'm good at it. I'm a part of the basketball and lacrosse teams, for example, but I'm not particularly good at either. I feel like there's not much I'm the "best" at. It seems sometimes like I'm the stereotypical jack of all trades, master of none. Except in Jazz Band. It might sound a little egotistical, but I think I'm the best player in Jazz Band. It's great to be the one who everyone knows they can count on, who people go to for help.
It's been a great 3.5 years of jazz band, and honestly some of the jokes and memories I've made are the best things about high school. I don't know what I'm gonna do next year without it.
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Discovery
Ok, the title's a lie. This is more of a post of rediscovery. I went down to the basement last night to find a specific book. It was actually an old biography of my hero, Shaquille O'Neal. But that's not important, what's important are the other books I found. I found "The View From Saturday." I found "From the Mixed up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler." I found my 4th grade self.
I'd always read a lot, but I credit Mr. Watson in 4th grade for really giving me my love of reading, and those are the two first books he told me to read. He gave me a week to read the first one. I thought he was crazy! I was in 4th grade! What he knew, and I didn't, is that I would become so engrossed in that book that I would sneak a flashlight into my room to read after my mom made me turn off the lights. So engrossed that I read it in other classes, so engrossed I took a history test a week early so I could read it in class, so engrossed I intentionally got kicked out of math (back when it was only math, and not calculus) so I could sit on the bench in front of the principal's office and read. Those are the two books that made me realize how incredible reading could be. It made me realize how books can be an escape into a different life. A world of it's own. I have that habit with books to that day. When I find a good book, I literally can't put it down. My dad told me I "devour" books, and that seems pretty accurate to me. I read books in big chunks. I hate lit classes where the teachers tell me to read a chapter a night. I can't do it if it's any good, because I want to know what happens next!
It's been a while since I did any serious reading. I've been crazy with homework, and basketball, and college stuff, so I just haven't found the time. So last night after I found those two books, I sat down and read "The View From Saturday" from cover to cover, just like I used too. I ignored all my pressing responsibilities. I ignored the stress from Ms. Woodward not emailing me back, I ignored the stress from college, I even ignored the email from Wisconsin that told me whether or not I got in. I just read.
I miss it.
I'd always read a lot, but I credit Mr. Watson in 4th grade for really giving me my love of reading, and those are the two first books he told me to read. He gave me a week to read the first one. I thought he was crazy! I was in 4th grade! What he knew, and I didn't, is that I would become so engrossed in that book that I would sneak a flashlight into my room to read after my mom made me turn off the lights. So engrossed that I read it in other classes, so engrossed I took a history test a week early so I could read it in class, so engrossed I intentionally got kicked out of math (back when it was only math, and not calculus) so I could sit on the bench in front of the principal's office and read. Those are the two books that made me realize how incredible reading could be. It made me realize how books can be an escape into a different life. A world of it's own. I have that habit with books to that day. When I find a good book, I literally can't put it down. My dad told me I "devour" books, and that seems pretty accurate to me. I read books in big chunks. I hate lit classes where the teachers tell me to read a chapter a night. I can't do it if it's any good, because I want to know what happens next!
It's been a while since I did any serious reading. I've been crazy with homework, and basketball, and college stuff, so I just haven't found the time. So last night after I found those two books, I sat down and read "The View From Saturday" from cover to cover, just like I used too. I ignored all my pressing responsibilities. I ignored the stress from Ms. Woodward not emailing me back, I ignored the stress from college, I even ignored the email from Wisconsin that told me whether or not I got in. I just read.
I miss it.
Monday, January 7, 2013
Community service
Few things piss me off more than college applications. I don't think a standardized test score is a good indicator of what kind of person you are, and I definitely don't think the fact that your parents forced you to play piano means you deserve to go to Yale. The insane emphasis on test scores infuriates me, but nowhere near the level of community service in regards to college applications.
There's this awful, awful website about college, called collegeconfidential.com. It's where thousands of so-called "high-acheiving" students gather to fret about if they've kissed enough ass to get into one of the 20 or so colleges in the entire country they deem "good enough." A typical post is something like "I have a 4.0 GPA, 2340 SAT, and 200 hours of community service, will I get in to Brown?"
Ignoring the GPA and test score, what a stupid way to measure community service! Hours? Really? Couldn't you measure community service in the number of people you helped, or the good you did? I overheard (eavesdropped on) a kid in the mall talking about community service the other day, and how he need more hours. Why? Why is he not talking about needing to do more good? Help more people, make more of a difference!
So who gets community service hours? The kid who chases soccer balls down during games? Or the girl who organizes a clothing drive in the middle of winter? The sad answer is that often, it's the first. You can quantify the amount of time spent on a soccer field, but not so much in "organizing." It's, for lack of a better word, bullshit.
Back to our Brown hopeful on collegeconfidential. I guarantee this hypothetical person that I totally made up worked hard for those 200 hours of community service, and made a positive difference in their community. She might have worked at a battered women's shelter, or maybe spent time working with the big brother/ big sister program. Maybe she stayed up until 2 A.M. working the graveyard shift on a suicide hotline, or maybe she delivered meals on thanksgiving. Aren't saying all those things a better way of measuring her impact? Wouldn't it be SO much more meaningful to mention the families who got to enjoy thanksgiving because of her, or the ONE person she got to maybe rethink killing themselves.
It's even kinda insulting to think that that kind of impact can be boiled down to a certain number of hours, a specific amount of time in which you decided to be helpful. It doesn't count the effects of your service, which is really the important part. I feel like when deciding how worthwhile or meaningful community service is, the results are way more important than the amount of time put in. Time doesn't even always equal effort.
But I'm getting myself worked up and it's 3:29 in the morning. I gotta get to bed earlier...
There's this awful, awful website about college, called collegeconfidential.com. It's where thousands of so-called "high-acheiving" students gather to fret about if they've kissed enough ass to get into one of the 20 or so colleges in the entire country they deem "good enough." A typical post is something like "I have a 4.0 GPA, 2340 SAT, and 200 hours of community service, will I get in to Brown?"
Ignoring the GPA and test score, what a stupid way to measure community service! Hours? Really? Couldn't you measure community service in the number of people you helped, or the good you did? I overheard (eavesdropped on) a kid in the mall talking about community service the other day, and how he need more hours. Why? Why is he not talking about needing to do more good? Help more people, make more of a difference!
So who gets community service hours? The kid who chases soccer balls down during games? Or the girl who organizes a clothing drive in the middle of winter? The sad answer is that often, it's the first. You can quantify the amount of time spent on a soccer field, but not so much in "organizing." It's, for lack of a better word, bullshit.
Back to our Brown hopeful on collegeconfidential. I guarantee this hypothetical person that I totally made up worked hard for those 200 hours of community service, and made a positive difference in their community. She might have worked at a battered women's shelter, or maybe spent time working with the big brother/ big sister program. Maybe she stayed up until 2 A.M. working the graveyard shift on a suicide hotline, or maybe she delivered meals on thanksgiving. Aren't saying all those things a better way of measuring her impact? Wouldn't it be SO much more meaningful to mention the families who got to enjoy thanksgiving because of her, or the ONE person she got to maybe rethink killing themselves.
It's even kinda insulting to think that that kind of impact can be boiled down to a certain number of hours, a specific amount of time in which you decided to be helpful. It doesn't count the effects of your service, which is really the important part. I feel like when deciding how worthwhile or meaningful community service is, the results are way more important than the amount of time put in. Time doesn't even always equal effort.
But I'm getting myself worked up and it's 3:29 in the morning. I gotta get to bed earlier...
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
The Washington Wizards
The Washington Wizards are not a very good basketball team. They have the fewest wins in the NBA, and in general are a laughingstock. The NBA is a league driven by stars. Teams with the Lebrons and the Kobes and the Durants are the teams that win championships. The Wizards don't have anything close to a star. We have John Wall, who's regarded as a "pretty good" point guard, and even then he's hurt all the time anyway.
The Wizards had the 3rd pick in last year's draft, and they picked Bradley Beal out of Florida. I was joking with my father about how pissed Beal must have been. He's on of the top basketball players in the world, and he's going to lose. A lot.
I don't think Bradley Beal is used to losing. To get to the point where he's a top 3 pick, he had to be one of the top 3 players in the country. He was "The man" in college. To get recruited to play division 1 basketball, especially at a school like Florida, he had to have been a very, very good player in high school. He probably carried his high school basketball team. Before that, he probably lead his middle school team to championship after championship, by far the best player on the court. He was most likely the star of his elementary school rec league team, the kid who got first pick of the oranges at halftime.
Now he's a loser. His team is 4-27, and he's not a star. He's a good player, but not a star. It must be frustrating to be that good and yet not good enough. He's always had enough to be the best at whatever level he plays at. But not this one. It must be so frustrating.
The Wizards had the 3rd pick in last year's draft, and they picked Bradley Beal out of Florida. I was joking with my father about how pissed Beal must have been. He's on of the top basketball players in the world, and he's going to lose. A lot.
I don't think Bradley Beal is used to losing. To get to the point where he's a top 3 pick, he had to be one of the top 3 players in the country. He was "The man" in college. To get recruited to play division 1 basketball, especially at a school like Florida, he had to have been a very, very good player in high school. He probably carried his high school basketball team. Before that, he probably lead his middle school team to championship after championship, by far the best player on the court. He was most likely the star of his elementary school rec league team, the kid who got first pick of the oranges at halftime.
Now he's a loser. His team is 4-27, and he's not a star. He's a good player, but not a star. It must be frustrating to be that good and yet not good enough. He's always had enough to be the best at whatever level he plays at. But not this one. It must be so frustrating.
Hypotheticals
I'm freaking out about this interview tomorrow, and I just KNOW he's gonna ask me what my favorite book is. That might just be the worst question in the world for me to answer. You see, I read everything. I read my calculus textbook on bus rides to basketball games. I read the shampoo ads on the metro into D.C. I read the fine print on the box of crayons, and the entire instruction manual for my playstation. I have a gigantic pile of books on the corner of my desk, stretching almost to the ceiling, and that doesn't even come close to the amount stuffed in the cabinets under my bed or in the corner of my rooms. Then there's the huge amounts of books on the bookshelves in the basement, torn up from years and years of heavy reading. When I went backpacking this summer, it was suggested that everyone should bring a book, for possible downtime. I read my book, my tentmate's books, and everyone else's books. I read every single piece of literature there was to read.
The point is, I've always loved reading. As much as I love playing FIFA all day, I'd often rather be reading. My mom hates snow, but I love snow days because they're reading days. I wake up at the same time I normally would so I don't waste it, and go sledding early in the morning. Then I come inside, shower, and spend all day on the couch reading. I love my little reading marathons.
Because of how much I read, I can do it pretty quickly at this point. I might not be the best mathematician out there, but I can read pretty quickly, and understand pretty quickly. It definitely helps with taking literature classes. I think I might be the only person in the world who doesn't think "Sweet, no homework!" when the teacher says to read in the textbook.
Very few books manage to make their way out of the jumble of text that is my brain. There are a couple that definitely have, but I'm afraid they don't make good answers. Is a book about tiny goblins that put poop under mean adults shoes really the best choice? What about the book that details two 4th graders living in a museum? Can I really not come up with something better than a mixed-up, convoluted story about the holy grail that's filled with ridiculous historical inaccuracies? It's clear that I can't decide what book to call my favorite, but I definitely know some of the worst. Without further ado: THE TOP SEVEN WORST RESPONSES TO "WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE BOOK?"
7. Your Colon: An Illustrated Guide
6. The Beginners Guide to Sex in the Afterlife
5. The Communist Manifesto
4. The State History of South Dakota
3. Zombie Butts from Uranus
2. Miles to Go- A Biography of Miley Cyrus
1. Mein Kampf
The point is, I've always loved reading. As much as I love playing FIFA all day, I'd often rather be reading. My mom hates snow, but I love snow days because they're reading days. I wake up at the same time I normally would so I don't waste it, and go sledding early in the morning. Then I come inside, shower, and spend all day on the couch reading. I love my little reading marathons.
Because of how much I read, I can do it pretty quickly at this point. I might not be the best mathematician out there, but I can read pretty quickly, and understand pretty quickly. It definitely helps with taking literature classes. I think I might be the only person in the world who doesn't think "Sweet, no homework!" when the teacher says to read in the textbook.
Very few books manage to make their way out of the jumble of text that is my brain. There are a couple that definitely have, but I'm afraid they don't make good answers. Is a book about tiny goblins that put poop under mean adults shoes really the best choice? What about the book that details two 4th graders living in a museum? Can I really not come up with something better than a mixed-up, convoluted story about the holy grail that's filled with ridiculous historical inaccuracies? It's clear that I can't decide what book to call my favorite, but I definitely know some of the worst. Without further ado: THE TOP SEVEN WORST RESPONSES TO "WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE BOOK?"
7. Your Colon: An Illustrated Guide
6. The Beginners Guide to Sex in the Afterlife
5. The Communist Manifesto
4. The State History of South Dakota
3. Zombie Butts from Uranus
2. Miles to Go- A Biography of Miley Cyrus
1. Mein Kampf
Nerves
I have an interview tomorrow. Not for a job, but for college. Why? Why does this place feel the need to stress me out and waste this guys time. Will they really let me in because I had a good answer to "What's your favorite book?" NO! They won't. I don't really see the point in this.
College
With acceptances and rejections coming in from colleges, I've started to think about how to pick where to go. Some possible factors (in no real order) include:
I think that about covers it.
- Academic Strength
- Size of school
- Sports
- Club sports
- amount of squirrels on campus
- Climate
- Mascot (really Clemson, you couldn't be more original than TIGERS?)
- Band
- Clubs
- Amount of dining halls that have waffle-makers
- Number of Chipotles on campus
- Study abroad opportunities
- Number of syllables in the name of the school
- Availability of classes in foreign languages such as Urdu or Swahili
- Total number of buildings named after dead people
- Pop-tarts with the school logo on them (They exist)
- Total number of students from the state of Wyoming
- School Spirit
- Proximity to the Mason-Dixon line (doesn't matter which side)
- Sports team uniform manufacturer
- Stupidity/awesomeness of fight song/chant
- Quality of previously mentioned waffle-makers
- Availability of Progresso Italian Wedding Soup (non-negotiable)
- Student friendliness
- Diversity
- Success of the women's water polo team
I think that about covers it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)