#1.62: AVID Video Reflection

The video "Shift Happens" was very informative. I definitely did not know that information we are learning now gets outdated very fast. I can see how this could change the minds of certain students that have interests in majoring in a topic that is normally updated. Me on the other hand, I don't think that my area of interest will become so outdated that it would be no point of pursuing that career. I think that careers that have to deal with medicine, business, engineering, and education are pretty much stable enough to ensure a good paycheck on the professional level.

#1.61: I do and don't wanna...

My concussion has caused a lot of people to change their regular way of doing things in order to give me extra support. This may sound very difficult, but the things is that most of these people get paid to do their job, such as teachers. Above all of this, as the person that has the concussion, this is not too much to ask of them because I can't escape dealing with this situation just by leaving school. This is why I just can't understand why certain teachers of mine can't give me extra help and or attention unless someone is on their tail about doing what they have been ordered to do. My title is "I do and don't wanna" because I do want to tell an administrator that I am not receiving the amount of assistance I need from my teacher, but I don't want to cause any trouble. I will talk to my parents about what I should do so that I can figure out this situation.

#1.60: 6th College Acceptance!! Most Important!!

Today I received an email from my admissions counselor from Converse College saying that I was accepted and given a $15,000 annually renewable scholarship. This email is what I have been waiting for ever since I applied. Converse College has been my number one college choice ever since I visited the campus during the summer. My acceptance was actually held back because the college was having trouble receiving my official SAT scores from collegeboard. My persistance in communicating my admission counselor is what really got me my acceptance information before I got the acceptance letter. I am clearly making my way through my "Traverse to Converse"! This information really made my day because I was absolutely upset during 4th period today. I now know that I nothing to worry about because I have already made it!

#1.59: 6 months left...Ayyye SENIORS! lol

It comes down to this...only 6 months.
To all AVID seniors, we have come so far. We have been through a lot, and now it is our time to shine! Sleepless nights, countless learning logs, 4 AVID Inductions, 3 AVID farewells, spring break college tours, and 4 Food R.A.G.S. have given us the experiences that show our senority in AVID. No other grade will bring to AVID what we have. Class of 2012, we are the best class so far. I can't wait to see how our AVID Farewell will turn out. I know that we will have a whole lot of scholarship money and college acceptances! The rising seniors next year will have to work their tails off in order to get more scholarship money than us. Teachers will be fighting to be our sponsors. We will continue to shine brighter than our peers that could not handle to mission of AVID. Let's Get 'Er Done!

#1.58: Yumm Thanksgiving

My Thanksgiving weekend was amazing. I had Thankgiving at three different houses. First, I had Thanksgiving breakfast with my sister-in-law's family. Second, I had Thanksgiving dinner at my cousin's house in PA. Third, I had Thanksgiving dinner on Friday night at my sister-in-law's cousin's house. Everywhere that I ate, the food was amazing. This whole weekend was perfect because even though the food was good, the company of my family and friends was just what I needed. I hope that Christmas is just as amazing.

#1.57: 5th College Acceptance!!

My 5th college acceptance is to Washington College in Maryland with a $16,500 annually renewable scholarship. This college was one of the many colleges that gave me the opportunity to apply with a free application and no required essay to write. I applied to this college because Dona stressed the fact that we need to apply to schools in Maryland so that just in case we don't get in to our top college choice, that we have a lower tuition to pay for an in state college. Since I have not yet gotten the acceptance letter from Converse College, I am choosing the best fit college for me out of the ones that I have been accepted to. Out of the 5 college that I have been accepted to, I would choose to go to York College. I made this decision for several reasons. This college is the only one that I have visited out of these 5 schools and the visit made me like the college. But I am still looking forward to getting accepted to Converse! Just saying...

#1.56: Ugh...HEADACHE!!!

On Monday, my alarm clock did not go off, which made me have to rush. While rushing to get ready, I started to feel weird. I went to talk to my mother about staying home because if I went to school and started to feel worse, I did not want to be stuck at school since my father had the car. I stayed home from school and my headache just got worse throughout the day. My headache would only go away when I would go to sleep. In between my naps, I watched a movie called "The Lazarous Project". The was intresting and confusing at the same time. After watching the movie, I went back to sleep. I woke up around 6pm and started to do my homework while watching the shows on TV One. I stayed up til 11:15pm doing my homework and a portion of that time oovooing Nicholas.

#1.55: Sunday & Kamari

On Sunday, my church had a Thanksgiving service. This service consisted of different gifts, such as dance and skits, along with testimonies. I gave a testimony about how my grade situation was being worked out for me. After service, I practiced the bass part to "Come Together" by The Beatles on Kamari's god father's guitar. My family had the pleasure of being able to take Kamari home with us and watch him for the evening. I love spending time with him. He is so cute, especially now that he can respond with his little baby sounds. I can already tell that he likes me because he mostly talks to me when we watch him after church. I am so greatful that I will be able to watch him grow.

#1.54: Grown Folks

On Saturday, I went to several places with some family and friends. The main events of that day were at the Patapsco Flea Market, Old Country Buffet, and the Bowling alley. I really needed this outing because I have to miss a lot of other activities due to the concussion. To be honest, this outing was probably too much for my head to handle in addition to some of the more specific things that took place that day. Nevertheless, I still enjoyed my time out of the house and spending the day with the grown folks. Whenever I hang out with them I never notice that I am significantly younger than them. This is usually a good thing because this means that they also don't notice that I am younger, which allows me to be able top include myself in their activities. But then there are those activities that acknowledge my age difference. For example, if they wanted to go to a club, I would not be able to go because I am only 17. As soon as turn 18...I shall have my fun!

#1.53: Hanging out late

Friday after school I made arrangements with my Aunt for me to drive her car to my brother's house. I have never driven her truck before so I was a little nervous, but it wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be. Once I got to my brother's house, I was hanging out with my sister-in-law and nephew because my brother was not home from work yet. When my brother did get home we watched tv for a little bit while looking up prom dresses. Around 9:30pm, we went to Kamari's god parent's house. While we were at their house, Kamari's god father taught me how to play the bass guitar part to "Come Together" by The Beatles. We were there until 4:30am. I spent the night at my brother's house because the next day we were going to go to several places around town.

#1.52: Last Step...now wait

Last night I sent my SAT scores to Converse College. This is my last step in order to be considered for admission to Converse. I have been keeping in contact with my admission counselor at Converse so that when I am accepted I would have already made myself familiar with her. I am very anxious to find out if I was accepted to Converse. I can't believe that I actually found the college that I want to go to the most out of all the colleges that were on my list. When I visited Converse over the summer, I literally fell in love. The visit was perfect! The southern hospitality, warm weather, soccer team, and campus surroundings had everything I wanted. Knowing that there is a college that I truly love made me want to push myself harder so that I could be there. My intention was to take the SAT one more time to see if I could get 50 points higher, which would allow me to get $3,000 added to my scholarship. Unfortunately, my injury hindered me from taking the SAT. One thing that I am noticing during my healing, is that all my years of school are now paying off. For example, the college acceptances that I have received so far have accepted me based on the work that I put in during my 9th, 10th, and 11th grade years. I am glad that I did what I had to do then because right now my grades are slipping due to my concussion.

#1.51: College Scholarships!

Out of the 4 colleges that I have been accepted to, I have received scholarships from two of them. I have received a $5,500 annually renewale scholarship for all four years from York College. I also received a $14,000 annually renewable scholarship for all four years from Virginia Wesleyan College. I am so greatful that colleges are offering me money even though they aren't sure that I will go to their college. I definitely know that I am not done receiving scholarship money from colleges. I am just getting started...!

#1.50: Good News

I am progressing through my college applications process fairly well. I have so far been accepted to 4 colleges. I thought that by me using the common app my college application process would be easier, but that is the exact opposite of what happened. The common app has slowed down my application process because I was not clear about the fact that they do not send official SAT and ACT scores to the colleges being applied to. This means that I now have to come up with some money to send my scores to the college that I actually want to go to. I have to send them asap so that I can make these early action deadlines. I am really excited about sending my scores to my #1 college choice. I honestly think that I will get accepted to Converse College on multiple scholarships. I can't wait!!

#1.49: Oh NO...no MEDS!!

Ugh...Today was a hard day for me. I ran out of medication yesterday, which means that I was not able to take my medication last night. This medication knocks out my headaches during the day so that I can function properly and do my school work. My head started to hurt on my way to second period. I asked for a pass to go to the nurse and I took a nap until the end of that class, but the thing is that my head started to hurt as soon as I left the health suite! So now I know that I pretty much can't handle a full day of school without my medication. I have no idea how long this will last, but this clearly means that I will no time soon be out on that field. I find myself thinking sometimes about how different my senior year would be going if I never had a concussion. These are the things that I have missed out on so far:
1. The whole soccer season
2. The winter season of indoor track
3. Homecoming dance
4. Spending more time with Kamari
5. College overnight visit
6. Multiple tests in Calc
7. Skating with my Dad
8. Participating in Church
9. Winter indoor soccer practice/games
10. Most AP Chemistry Labs
11. AVID induction
12. Soooo many important days of school!!

These 12 things have really played a dramatic part in my high school life. The thing that comes to my head when I think about this list is that I am going through this for a reason. I am strong enough to get through this period in my life and I may be going through it so that I can assist someone with this heartache that is not strong enough to go through it. You never know...

#1.48: Ravens...Ugh!

On Sunday, I spent the evening with my brother and my sister-in-law's family. We stacked up on food and watched the Raven's game against the Seattle Seahawks. I am not a big football fan, but I was still disappointed in how the Ravens played. That Reed guy kept on dropping the ball and turning it over to the Seahawks. Aside from that tragedy, I enjoyed my time with family. I really enjoyed spending time with Kamari. When I was holding him we would just be talking back and forth and smiling at each other. He would make these cute noises and I would do it back. I love him so much.

#1.47: Me, Myself, and Irene.

On Saturday, I spent the day with my god mother, Irene. I don't see her as often as I used to because she doesn't go to my church anymore. This day was really fun because I was able to drive her car around to everywhere we went except when we went to dinner. I haven't driven a car since before the school year started. This is because my father's car gave up on us and won't work. Her car drove so smooth and looked so brand new. I was driving her car with one hand and felt so cool. I can't wait til I can get my own car and drive where and whenver I want. Hopefully it won't be far from now!

#1.46: Movie Night

On Friday, I went to the movies with Nicholas, Angela, and Larry. The plans were not very clear so we ended up missing about 30 minutes of the first movie, which was Harold and Kumar. I have never watched any of the Harold and Kumar movies so I was a little confused. The movie as a whole was not very entertaining because there were a lot of ridiculousness going on. After that movie was over, we decided to go see another movie because we missed a good portion of Harold and Kumar and the theater was empty anyways. The second movie we saw was Jack and Jill. This movie was hilarious! There was one part of the movie where I could not breath because I was laughing so hard! Angela had to excuse herself to go to the bathroom because the laughter was too much. I was surprised that the movie was better than I thought it would be. I had a great time out with my friends.

#1.45: 4th College Acceptance!!

My 4th college acceptance is to Virginia Wesleyan College. I was surprised to get this one because I was pretty sure that I did not send my transcript there. I have become frustrated with a couple of things recently. First, the common app is really making me angry because I thought that I did not havve to send schools my SAT scores since they have a place where I could type in the scores and the dates I took the test. This means that I have to pay $10.50 for every score sheet that I send to a college because I used up the 4 free score sheets. Second, I am really becoming impatient with teachers that decide that they don't have to help me with my situation. I will not say any names, but why would a teacher make it seem like it's my fault and not give me any assistance? All they have to do is take some time out of their schedule to make sure that I understand the material. Considering that I have to slow my whole life down right now makes it look really bad if a teacher doesn't give me something to work with. I'm just so tired of feeling like they don't give a crap even though it's their job and the law.

#1.44: Science Marshmallows

Today in AP Chemistry we had to calculate the % composition of carbon in a marshamllow. We were able to do this because marshmallow is pretty much all sugar. Sugar is composed of hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon. We were able to seclude the carbon of the marshamllow by charring the marshmallow over a bunsen burner. The fire will remove the hydrogen and oxygen from the marshmallow. Today was also the first time that I ate marshmallows that were roasted over a fire. It would have been perfect if Ms.Upshur would have brought chocolate and graham crackers so that we could make smores. I was disappointed in how the marshmallows tasted, but I did enjoy that fact that I was able to partake of some sugar to keep me awake.

#1.43: T.G.I.M. Reflection

The main points that I felt were important are:
1. See your job as a blessing.
2. Throw away your "toys-r-us card".
3. Be the change that you want to see.
4. A negative times a negative is only a positive in math.

I think that I have done all of these points, but I definitely need to do the first point more often. I need to use point one when it comes to school, house work, leisure time, and sports. The more often that we acknowledge every opportunity and job as a blessing, the more likely that we will be pleased with our lives and circumstances.

#1.42: Thank God!

Even though I can't really talk about it at this time, I thank God for what he is doing for me. He is giving me the support that I need to succeed even though I can't do all the work that I would like to do. I am so greatful that throughout high school he has given me the personality and respect that is liked by teachers and administrators. The reason that I am greatful is because when it comes to academics, teachers and administrators will go that extra mile and put forth that extra effort to make sure that you are taken care of. Due to this support, I don't have to worry about my 1st quarter grades anymore. God knew exactly what was weighing my heart down and stressing me out. He knows it all and takes care of it ALL!!!

#1.41: Sunday Service and Kamari

On Sunday during church service, I babysat my nephew Kamari because his parents were busy. I was so glad that I had the opportunity to watch him all service long. Aside from the fact that I enjoyed spending time with him, I also enjoyed the service. My church is like family because we all love and care about each other. I felt so empowered by the end of the service because I received several different messages from the elders and pastors at my church that kept telling me to not give up. The told me that God knows exactly how I am feeling and how he is going to bring me out of the rough time. I am so greatful that I have a church family and that I was raised in the church. I can't even imagine how hard this time would be if I did not know that I have God by my side at all times. During difficult times such as the one that I am experiencing now, I think about the lyrics to certain gospel songs and how they are so specific that you can find what your going through so easily. The songs speak directly to you...I think that is exactly why God gives the lyrics to those artists.

#1.40: Powder Puff Game

Unfortunately I was not able to play in the powder puff game this year, but the game was still a success. I really enjoyed being able to see every play up close and talking to my friends on the sideline. The senior team definitely showed the juniors what they had coming because of the smack talk that was going aaround the school. If I would have had the opportunity to play, I believe that I would be one of the people that scored. I was so pumped last year that I would have the chance to play on offense instead of defense like last year...Hopefully I will have another chance in college!

#1.39: Halloween-Nerd

On Halloween I dressed up as a nerd with Nicholas. When I was younger I never celebrated Halloween. It made me very upset that I could not participate in the candy gathering fun that my friends knew as normal. I didn't think that it was fair that I could not trick or treat in a costume to get free candy, especially when I don't believe that Halloween is a bad holiday. Now that I am old enough to believe and follow what I want to, I can dress up and go trick or treating. Unfortunately, that did not happen this year. Instead of going trick or treating, me and Nicholas drove to 7 Eleven and bought candy! I got it like that now.lol