As I listen to some nostalgic ZONE music, I feel inspired to write up a little post (or what I -think- will be a “little” post) summing up my feelings as I and the rest of the class of ‘08 head into the final stretch before we can finally graduate and say goodbye to our high school memories.
First, a small list of things I have left to look forward to:
April 5th-7th -> college visit to MIT
April 10th-12th -> ExxonMobil State Science & Engineering Fair
May 10th-17th -> Intel International Science & Engineering Fair
May 17th -> senior prom (maybe? ;D)
June 8th @ 6pm -> GRADUATION
Sometime in July -> road trip with family
August 16th -> 18th birthday (hint hint?)
August 24th -> freshman orientation
September 3rd -> matriculation, aka first day of class at MIT!
I would be lying if I said I -wasn’t- inflicted with senioritis, because I am. Very much, in fact. I’m currently failing French Literature class, but I’m really not that worried. Sure, I don’t want to slack off too much because rankings -still- aren’t frozen like I thought they were, but I’m not as stressed as I used to be. I’ll try my best on the AP tests, of course, but many of them won’t even count for college credit (for example, Calculus AB), so meh.
One thing that I do want to do before I matriculate, however, is to spend ample time with the people in my life that matter. Yes, at times I speak rather not-so-endearingly about my fellow students, but the truth is that when I leave the Frank Erwin Center at 9pm on June 8th of this year, I -will- feel a bit of sorrow as I am separated from all of my friends and acquaintances. Despite the very many things that I have disliked, high school has been a good four years of my life… even if I don’t always want to admit it. I’ve changed, I’ve grown, both online and offline, and I sincerely believe that I’m walking away as a better person.
– Freshman year –
I remember visiting the Mother Symphony forums for the first time during the summer and meeting some people online that truly changed my life. Ekuri, Josephine, and so many others.. some of which I still keep in contact with, such as Kaen and Aisasami. That year I was on an emotional roller coaster - one moment I’d be flaming mad, the next I’m be in tears. Each day dragged by too slowly yet too quickly. I remember the first time I went to State Science Fair, running back and forth between San Antonio and Austin for One-act Play (Blood Wedding <3). I can safely say that was one of the best moments of my entire life. I felt, for the first time, that I truly belonged. Going from playing the smallest part in the play (Girl 2) to one of the most amazing roles (The Moon - I got to recite a huge monologue) made me feel so accomplished. That still remains, to this day, my favourite role ever. No other play can ever replace Blood Wedding in my heart, even though it didn’t place at all and to tell the truth, we didn’t do too well with it, haha. I still remember the room numbers of the hotel I stayed in during State, hehe. Not my best year, but certainly the start of something great.
– Sophomore year –
This year is kind of a blur in my mind. I only remember one thing, and that’s Newspaper class. I remember not liking it very much, but liking the people in it. I remember World History, where we just sat around and talked the entire time. I remember English class and making the Cyrano scrapbook. I remember not understanding Chemistry until the day of the test. I remember performing in Midsummer - now THAT was a hilarious play. I remember being pissed off when Mrs. Eberwine forced our class to stand in the back for the performance at the football game. I remember crying when Mrs. Dye allowed me a role in Wizard of Oz. But this year was pretty bland, I must admit.
The summer between sophomore and junior year though.. I could write a book about my fond memories of that summer, when I woke up at 6am every day without fail to get on a bus and ride for 2 hours to ACC Riverside to take Japanese classes from 9am-12pm, and then catching the bus back and arriving home at 3pm. So many inside jokes, so many laughs, so many happy memories. Sapphi and Ryo and Robbie and I. Definitely, without a doubt, the best summer of my life and an experience that I will never be able to reproduce. It was also the summer I started playing RO and meeting so many of the people that would later have an influence on my life (Kiwtu, Alan, Infi, Johnny, to name a few).
– Junior year –
This was just not my year, I guess. I didn’t like many of my teachers/classes. I remember Spanish I with the little freshmen, haha. I remember Pre-calculus (torture). I remember doing Wings and AP Art and French Language and some other stuff. My fondest memory, though, would be Physics. The one class that I sincerely loved because it was -that- amazing. I remember getting excited when I understood electric forces and no one else did. I remember playing Pokemon Diamond and Centipede on Mike and Brendan’s DS’s. I remember State Scifair for the third year in a row. I remember being all emotional over misunderstandings and crap with Sapphi. Overly sentimental, I suppose. Never again, Miri. Never again.
– Senior year –
The year I started being very much inflicted with not caring; the year I finally stopped being a fake and showed the world who I truly was. I don’t know how well people are taking to that. I know I’ve hurt many people’s feelings. I know I’m kind of lame and not really as special and perfect and innocent as people thought I was. But I think being honest and true to myself, even brutally so, is the best for everyone in the end. I’ve honed my organizational skills, and started being able to focus on what I truly believe matters. I’ve made some amazing new friends and acquaintances and had some pretty awesome “bonding” moments - AP Biology trip down to Port Aransas, Regional Scifair, Sony Online for COOL Week, hanging out with people over spring break, “parties” and “study groups” with Sapphi, and much more. Realizing what a true friendship really means and coming to terms with my own ideologies.
There are some people I sincerely cannot bear to leave behind to move to Massachusetts for college, and they know who they are. One, who has been my friend since we realized our personalities clashed nicely in 2006; another who I met that fateful day in 7th grade when she turned to me and asked if we could be partners for the math activity in pre-algebra; another who I met this year and since January hasn’t seemed like I’ve gone a day without speaking to. There are others (such as my little group of CS friends, my group of Bio friends, etc.), but those three are the ones who stick out most in my mind.
It’s getting late. I’ll make a post when it’s around May to discuss my sentiments about actually leaving.
I’m not usually a sentimental person. I don’t sympathize easily, I don’t cry easily.
But this time, I think when we finally toss our caps and walk out on June 8th of this year… I just might.
