WEEK 1:
First week of senior year.
The days felt short, but when I look back on the whole week it seems kind of long, and a lot had happened. I have to admit that I actually am enjoying my classes right now. Weird. But there’s not one teacher I hate. They’re not easy, but they live up to their titles as teachers which is pretty amazing for our education system. They make every class enjoyable and intellectually driving in their own ways. I had a lot of frustrating moments this week because of the lack of efficiency in our school’s administration, making it impossible for me to meet with my counselor. To keep it short, I wanted to drop French 7/8 and add AP Comparative Politics, plus I randomly got my english teacher switched to one of the hardest teachers at our school so I was hoping dropping and adding classes would save me. But of course it didn’t and now I have the hardest AP Calculus and AP Literature teacher. I seroiusly wanted to cry. It seemed like nothing was working out for me, and it’s senior year, AND it’s only week one. Stayed up until 2 AM. Let me just tell you, I’m the type of student that sleeps at 11:30 PM at the latest and needs a minimum of 7 hours of sleep. I’ve never had to stay up that late for school. But there’s a first for everything right?
For a day or two I was pretty devastated with how my senior year started out. It was just that I wanted to do everything but it looked impossible. With school, work, apps, elite(?), and California Rangers, my week is packed. I had a pretty pessimistic outlook on first semester after my schedule change and had one of this teenage tantrum. But after trying out my new teachers today, I kinda mellowed out.
I do that often. When something doesn’t go the way I want it to, I just freak out and immediately start assuming the worst of it all without even trying it out. I admit, senior year is turning out a lot tougher than I thought but I always somehow find a way to balance it all out, right? So I learned to just keep my head up and soldier through it. I’m just glad I didn’t end up with a BAD teacher. At least my hard teachers are GREAT teachers and I will walk out of their class everyday with something new in my brain.
But now to get to the good part, I had one of the best weeks of high school too. We all went out for lunch this week since we all get out at 1 PM now and we didn’t do much, but it was just so much fun. I’m so glad I have such amazing friends. I have to admit, I have my share of annoyances with my peers, but at this point, I’ve just decided that senior year really is not the place and the time to have to worry about petty friendship drama. My friends are all good people, I’m thankful enough to have ended up with them, and we all just want to have fun, right? And I feel like everyone else in our group share my attitude, so now we’re all on the same page making it that much more fun. I just hope it just gets better from this point on. We’ll obviously have our share of pressure because of college apps, grades, school…but we have each other and that’s all the matters. I’ve spent too much of my life not appreciating the ones who really love me; it’s about time I started have my actions reflect my thankfulness for them.
Also the kids at work are just so adorable. One time this week, I was in a pissed mood cause of school, lack of sleep, traffic, and cause I was running late. But once I got to work, the kids’ smiles just melted all that negative energy in my mind. At first, they were kind of awkward with me because they weren’t used to my presence but now that they’re starting to get used to me, they’re starting to joke with me and there’s just a sense of safety and I’m so glad I could work with them. We have our share of difficult students, but in the end, I walk out of there with the satisfaction that I was able to teach these kids something and in turn, they taught me something as well: patience. I was actually thinking about quitting because of my workload and lack of time, but I think this will be a good experience for me and gives me some time to just get away from all the craziness of my personal life, and somehow change the lives of our future generation. I guess this is the sense of accomplishment teachers work for and I have so much more respect for them. It’s pretty amazing how little kids can drain you out.
Now all these words is a rough summary. No words can really express what I felt over this past week but this week was a little adventure of itself. I’ve learned more about myself and the ones around me. From here on out, I’m trying a new thing with life: optimism. I always preach that to my friends, but I never apply it for myself. And it’s about time I started. And I know no matter how hard it gets, I’ve got my friends, family, and, of course, God. He’s the only one who can really know my deepest feelings, the ones that I can’t express to another individual even if I wanted to.
Week 1, you have been by far the most exhausting, mind-awakening, frustrating, exciting, memorable week. Thanks.
Weekend 1, welcome.
To all the other seniors struggling out there: we can do it! Let’s stick together and conquer this semester. I know it feels long, but know that you’re not alone. We’re all here for each other, going through the same things, growing in our own ways. It can only get better from this moment on. CLASS OF 2011!
