I do SO have fun!

Some people say that people like me, who spend 99% of their time in their room, are missing out on life and fun.  However, I am here to tell you today that that is NOT the case.  Sure, so maybe I spent over 90% of my time studying.  And maybe the majority of my free time is spent obsessing over colleges.  And so what if the best part of my week is playing WoW for 6 hours straight/reading novels/reading manga/watching anime?

However, I digress.  The thing is, I am here to tell you that today I, UFOninja, have done something really INTERESTING tonight.  That is correct, I have done something truly amazing!  I have (drum roll, please) CREATED A MOTION PICTURE!!!!!

It may be amateur.  It might be rather ridiculous.  And it might not be my best work.  However, it does give me some media to post on here which will hopefully bring up my stats.  Please comment on what you think : )

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Resistance

Have you ever heard of this thing called resistance?  It's where you have to do something, but every time you think of doing that something you suddenly feel like doing something--anything--else.  For example, every time you think of cleaning your desk you have an irresistible urge to check your email.  Or, in my case, every time I think of doing my AP Stats homework I suddenly get waves of exhaustion and feel the urge to take a nap (lol).

Ugh.  I have AP Stats homework, a computer sci. assignment, a painting, and a paper I have to write.  Frankly I don't really feel like doing ANY of those things.  *Pause* Well, the paper actually sounds like fun because I chose my own topic and everything.  But the paper is the only thing I feel willing to do right now.

Perhaps I would feel more motivated to do my homework if I actually got a break afterwards.  But of course that's not the case.  After I slave for hours finishing AP Stats, then I get to write my supplemental essay for my safety college.  And THEN I have to study for my Japanese final (apparently the teacher is making us actually WRITE kanji on the final, which is completely absurd since we didn't even study that.  All we practiced was RECOGNIZING kanji...we literally practiced writing them a full 20 minutes this semester.  That's including homework.  And we're supposed to memorize each 12-16 specific strokes for 50 different kanji in less than 2 weeks?  Seriously?  No offense but why wasn't I told this earlier so I could have been STUDYING in advance and not having to cram for the next two weeks?)  And after I finish studying kanji, then I have to write two more essay supplements, come up with a song that describes me (why is that even a question on the college application?  Does my admission decision depend on the song?  I seriously think that it might.), wash my clothes, send in fee waiver requests, complete some college forms, work on my flute music for my art supplement, etc.  Frankly I am not looking forward to any of this.

Actually I find it rather odd.  I mean, on a normal basis I totally thrive on work.  I'm pretty much an ergomaniac.  If I'm not working constantly I feel depressed.  So why don't I want to do any of this stuff?  I think it might be because, after I finish my homework, I have to get around to the college stuff.

It's weird; anytime I do something concerning my college application I either:
(a) Don't want to
(b) Feel depressed after I complete it
(c) Experience resistance
(d) All of the above

Do you know after I submitted my first college app I felt depressed?  That's right, depressed!  I submitted my college app and supplements, and then I decided to play games the rest of the night in order to distract myself from my futile existence.  Is that weird of what?  You'd think I'd be feeling a sense of accomplishment, like, "Yay!  I finally submitted it!"  But instead I just get an overwhelming feeling of depressment.

Is it a fear of rejection?  Probably.  You see, my nightmares used to consist of being brutally murdered or chased down a never ending hallway.  Now my nightmares consist of me not getting accepted at any colleges.  Despite how much effort I put into my application, in the end it is completely out of my hands.  It's terrifying; my life, future, and entire fate lie in the hands of a total stranger who crushes people's dreams for a living.  If that's not scary, nothing is.

*Ahem*  But...despite this...I WILL OVERCOME!!!  You heard correctly, I will heroically OVERCOME the fear and resistance that comes with college apps!!!  Bah, I refuse, REFUSE to be defeated by a mere piece of electronic paper.  No longer will I let this college app loom over my head like a dark cloud.  No more will I let the dark cloud of nothingness (aka the fear of college rejection) swallow me and feed off my fear like a parasite.  Bwahahaha this college stuff doesn't stand a chance against my unwavering motivation to persevere!  Yep, that's my moto: HARD WORK!  PERSEVERANCE!  DILIGENCE!  *does an anime spin while saying this*

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Halloween 2011

So, I decided that in honor of Halloween I'd take a change of pace.  That's right, everyone; instead of talking obsessively about college and applications and all that jazz right now I am going to talk about how my Halloween went.

This year I went trick-or-treating with my little sister and her friend (I know, I really need a better social life.  Or at least some social life.)  I dressed up as a sleepwalker.  Oddly enough no one knew what I was supposed to be; one person guessed a blanket, and another person thought I was a desperate housewife (don't know where that one came from, lol).

For all those people that think I'm way to old to be trick-or-treating...NO ONE KNOWS THAT!!!  That's right, Halloween is the one night when looking like I'm still in 8th (9th grade at most) totally pays off!

Ha ha, sometimes it's kind of funny.  I see all my sister's friends from middle school and they tower above me.  I don't know if anyone reading has seen middle schoolers nowadays, but they are so tall and developed.  Considerably more so than the 5' 2" A-cup senior writing this, ha ha.  Middle school is the new high school in terms of physical development and maturity.  Maybe it's because my sister and I look young for our age, but when my sister introduced me to her friends I thought she was hanging out with high schoolers.

Bleh.  I feel really sick right now.  I don't even know why; I only had about 12 pieces of chocolate.  When I was 13 I could totally eat an entire jumbo bag of mini chocolate bars from Walmart before I felt even a little sick.  >:)  Lol, I would finish around half my candy Halloween night.

Tonight I didn't even eat 1/4 and I feel like someone tore out my insides.  I keep getting sharp stomach pangs and waves of nausea.  It's probably the milk.  Every time I have any dairy products anymore--milk, butter, whipped cream--I feel deathly ill.  I'm not sure if I'm lactose intolerant or allergic or just can't handle the animal fat or what.  (I should probably go to the doctor and get that tested.)  Whatever the case, it totally sucks!  I can't eat cookies or chocolate anymore without feeling deathly ill all night and waking up due to sharp stomach cramps.  Ugh.  : P

Well, that's how my Halloween went.  Please put in the comments what you did this year for Halloween!  Tomorrow (I guess today, since it's 6:24 AM right now) I'll post some pictures!  : )

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The Rough Draft is DONE!

I have finally done it!  Today I wrote the rough draft of my college essay :)  It's true: my fate, my future, and possibly the world lie in the hands of my 478 word essay.

Lol, just kidding.  At least about the world part.  I tried not to focus on that while I was writing my essay; the thought was quite nervewracking and distracting.

In case I haven't mentioned it yet, I am submitting all my application materials via the Common App.  (Whoot!  Almost no application fees!)  I found that their selection of prompts was stifling the flow of my creative vibes, so I decided to choose "Topic of Your Choice" and create my own prompt.  Unfortunately I do not want to share it with anyone quite yet because I don't want anyone to go stealing my idea >:(  After the hectic application season is over and I get my acceptance letters, THEN I will be posting everything online as an example.  But not until then.

Despite my griping, writing the essay was probably the best part of the application process.  I was an opportunity to demonstrate my creativity and have a little fun while I was at it.  Once I had settled on my idea, it was actually pretty fun.

So, you're probably wondering how long it took me to write the essay.  It took me...a day.  Well, at least technically.  On a more abstract scale I've kind of been "writing" it for a couple months.  For me, the majority of the writing process consists of coming up with an idea and bringing that idea into full form.  It isn't until AFTER those two steps that the writing writing begins.  You know, the part where you type and put those ideas into words.  That's the easier part.  That's the part that took me a day.

Of course, I'm sure my essay will undergo some revisions.  I'm definitely sending it to my teachers and counselors to look over.  And then I still have to write all the supplementary, "Why" essays.  (You know, the "Why do you want to go to our college" and "What can our college do for you" or "What can you bring to our college"...that sort of thing.)  However, I know I am definitely sticking to my idea and the basic form of my essay.  So, all things considered, today I feel like I have crossed a big mile stone.  Wow...finally I have completed the first draft of my essay.  :)

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The Superhuman Applicant Pool

After studying obsessively about college essays and the stats of college applicants, I have come to a ground-breaking conclusion: today's college applicants are nothing short of superhuman.  Don't believe me?  Okay then, let's take a look at the following applicants*:

Jamie, who played soccer and ran track for four years.  She was passionate about music and performed in many ensembles.  It all earned her national recognition and allowed her to travel cross-country.

Audrey, who won first place in the Texas Music Teachers Association's High School Division Piano Concerto Contest (that's certainly a mouthful) her senior year.  She placed at state level the three previous year and she's performed with tons of orchestras.  Audrey was captain of her high school's Academic Challenge BTeam, salutatorian of her graduating class (GPA of 6.62/6.00), and a National AP Scholar.  She conducted scientific research the summer following her junior year of high school on the gold-labeling of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor and cervical cancer detection using fluorescence spetroscopy.  (I have no idea what half the things in the sentence mean, but it sounds really impressive.  Apparently Harvard had even more qualified applicants because for some reason they rejected her.  That shocks me and makes me seriously wonder how qualified their accepted applicants are...)

Adam created and maintained many advanced websites, including some at no charge for nonprofit organizations.  He won several school and regional awards for computer science.

Robyn was twice named Orange Country Impromptu Speech champion.  She held leadership positions in the French and Drama Clubs, as well as in the Aspiring Authors Society and a humor magazine, The W.C.--both of which she founded.  Robyn was also varsity team mascot and house manager for school plays.  outside of school, she donated more than 1,000 books to children's homes, served as a volunteer library storyteller, and wrote an advice column for the local newspaper.  Before sending out her transfer applications, Robyn signed a book deal with Random House to publish a young adult novel, created a website based on her search for a literary agent, and worked on an anthology of humorous short stories.

The list goes on.  It seems that every applicant in this book (please see asterisk) did something incredible!  They either founded a big charity, owned a business, helped children in Crotia with war trauma, taught autistic children to communicate, made ground-breaking scientific discoveries, won national awards, or did something else equally amazing.  Not to mention that they all have unbelievably high GPA's and test scores (the girl I'm looking at now had a 4.63 weighted GPA).  These applicants have done just about everything short of winning the Noble Peace Prize.

Now, before I go any further, I just want to applaud these hardworking applicants.  I admire their hard work and amazing credentials.  On the other hand...

HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO COMPETE WITH THAT KIND OF COMPETITION!?!?!?  Giving kids prizes for reading holds nothing against teaching autistic children to read!  Having a lead part in a community theater play is boring and mediocre compared to performing plays around the world!  I've never gotten anything published, never made a scientific discovery, haven't traveled the world yet and have yet to be leader of anything!  How am I supposed to compete with these superhumans?!?!?!  (Also, please note that I am referring to these applicants as "superhumans" in the best of ways.  Really, they are truly incredible and I mean it as a compliment.)

Hmmm...perhaps I'm just a late bloomer and that's why I haven't accomplished anything this awesome yet.  Or at least I'm hoping that's how the colleges will see it.

Yeah, I know that Princeton Review obviously picked the cream of the crop for its book, but still...I go to school with people like this!  People with jaw-dropping GPA's, who take an unbelievable number of AP classes, who are vigorously training to become professional ballet dancers and soccer players...

I have to think of some way to make myself stand out.  To give me a competitive edge.  Hmmm...

Okay, when I come up with something I will make sure to post it on here.

 

 

 

*All of the information about the applicants has been taken directly from the Princeton Review's College Essays that Made a Difference 4th edition.  So all rights go to Princeton Review!

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A Midsummer Night's Dream

Tonight, I saw a wonderful showing of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" at Mesa Ridge High School.

This has always been my favorite of Shakespeare's work.  However, this was the first time I have ever seen the performance live.  Mesa Ridge did a really great job on it!

The set was beautiful.  The choreography was awesome.  Everyone did a really good job with bringing out their character's humor.  I love love LOVED it!  If anyone from Mesa Ridge is reading this, congratulations!   You guys did a great job!

I love plays.  Reading plays, watching plays, being in plays...plays are just so awesome!  When I'm an English major, I hope to read a lot of plays.

My favorite character in a Midsummer's Night's Dream has got to be Puck.  Puck is so funny!  It's cute how he messes everything up between the lovers and has to fix it.  His mistakes and their outcomes are rather comical.

Anyway, in short I am very happy that I went to this performance tonight.  Social outings can be somewhat...uncomfortable for me, to say the least.  However, it was definitely worth it to get out there and see this.  It was a great break from studying and brainstorming for my college essay <3

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Utterly Random Post!

Yeah, in case I haven't mentioned it already, I'm kind of a night owl.  I usually go to bed about now, but tonight I decided to write a completely and utterly random post before that!

It seems like I spent the entire night doing school.  I think it's because...surprise!...I was doing school.  (Since I do school online, I totally have the freedom to stay up all hours of the night working on my homework.  Which is pretty nice for me, right?)  It honestly took me FOREVER.  I didn't finish until a little after 3:00AM, I believe (it usually doesn't take me that long, but I kind of got really caught up in my Computer Sci. assignment, heh heh...)

Anyway, by the time I finished I decided to play WoW for a little while.  I didn't even realize it was 4:00AM until they began the countdown.  You know, the, "We're updating the game now and starting a countdown.  So here's your chance to get to a safe place so you don't get killed by monsters when we automatically disconnect you from the server at the end of the countdown."

I wonder if they specifically hire people to do the countdown?  Do you think they pay people to do that and that only?  Because I could definitely do something like that.  I'm up at this time anyway, right?

Nevermind, I bet you have to be 18 or older.

It seems like all jobs anymore require you to be 18 or older.  Even jobs with the most menial task require you to be 18 or older!  Want to work at a game store?  Sorry, you need to be 18+.  Want to be one of those people in movies walking in the background?  (And yes, I did once see a job for that.)  Sorry, even though you've known how to walk since you were 1, you can't do that unless you're 18+.  How about shelving books at a library?  Nope, because even if you've been obsessively alphabetizing your books since you were 8, you're still not qualified for the job unless you're 18 or older.  I mean, WTF?!  It's totally not fair!!!

I want a job!  I want to be able to get a laptop so I can play WoW and actually see the graphics!  I want a PS3 so I can play all the video new games!  I want to have the money to pre-order the LIMITED EDITION of Sims 3 Pets!  Not to mention that I want to special order one of those umbrella-sword-canes, because they're just cool...

Anyway, in short, how am I supposed to buy cool stuff when 90%+ jobs out there require a minimal age of 18?!  Grrr...it's just not fair!

I wonder if I could file a lawsuit for age discrimination?  *Pause* Nah, you probably have to be 18 or older for that...

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Applying to College Should Be a Horror Movie

They should make a movie on the horrors of applying to college.  Trust me, "Halloween" would hold nothing against a movie on a senior about to apply to college.

Why do I say that?  Because, more often than not, very troubling thoughts race through my head.  In fact, right now I'm thinking:

• Oh my GODDDDD I only got a 32 on the grammar portion of the ACT!!!  Not once, not twice, but THREE TIMES...IN A ROW!!!  Seriously, is this divine intervention or something?!?!?!  What are the chances of me getting EXACTLY 5 QUESTIONS WRONG ON THREE DIFFERENT PRACTICE TESTS?!?!?!  IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?!?!?!  (Evidently so.)  Not to mention that grammar is my best subject!!!  How am I supposed to get a 34+ on the ACT when I am getting only 32 on my best subject?!  Math is my worst subject...so if I'm only getting 32 on my best subject, what am I going to get on math?!?!?  *Mournful moan*


• THIS AP STATS HOMEWORK IS KILLING ME!!!  My college Japanese class is actually LESS WORK than my AP Stats class!  Arrrrgh!


• I have a painting due for art...AND I CAN'T PAINT!!!!!!


• I'll only be graduating with a 3.5 WEIGHTED GPA.  How am I supposed to get accepted at the best all-girl's school in the country with only a 3.5 GPA?!?!?!  And the fact that I'm only getting a 32 on my best ACT subject certainly isn't helping the matter...well, I guess a lot is going to depend on my college essay...


• OH NOOOOOOOOO I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'M GOING TO WRITE FOR MY COLLEGE ESSAY!!!!!  I have absolutely no significant experiences whatsoever!!!  My most significant experience was when my boyfriend dumped me, and that's not even good significant!  Seriously, I rarely even leave my house, so how am I supposed to even HAVE a significant life experience?  Are those things common by age 17?

After coming to terms with all these troubling facts, I often end up kneeling on the floor with the word "DOOM" over my head, as a hollow "bong" rings once in the background.

Not really.  But figuratively speaking, it certainly does feel like that sometimes.

You know, I once went to this poetry reading at my boyfriend's high school.  When he was in high school.  This one guy of Asian descent (a senior, I believe) wrote a poem about the torture of writing his college essay.  At the time, I was young and innocent and had never heard of this dreaded thing called a "college essay" (God, I long for those carefree days).  However, I now understand his pain.  There is nothing...NOTHING...more painful than the brainstorming and writing of the dreaded COLLEGE ESSAY *da da dum*

*Pause*  Well, except for maybe when your boyfriend is sleeping with your only other friend in the world besides for him, and then he proceeds to dump you on the most important day of the year after brutally insulting you and telling you that you will never accomplish anything worthwhile in life...but let's not even go there, shall we?

Anyway, back to my college essay.  I have been racking and racking my brain, and so far I still have no ideas.  Significant experiences?  None.  Things that I'm passionate about?  Well, I'm not really hardcore PASSIONATE about anything.  What makes me different from other applicants?  Well, for starters, they've probably all had significant life-changing experiences by now.

Hey, do you think colleges would accept me if I wrote an essay about my complete LACK of significant life-changing experiences?  Yeah, it'd definitely be unique.  On the other hand, I'm not quite sure if the college admission people would see significance in an essay about someone with a complete lack of significant experiences.

I suppose I could still always write about how my boyfriend dumped me, if worse comes to worst.  At least I learned something from that experience: as a general statement, guys are egocentric cretins unless proven to be otherwise.  (No offense intended.)  *Pause* Somehow, I'm not sure colleges will go for my conclusion.  Especially if it's a guy that is reading my essay.

DAMN IT IT'S SO HARRRRRRRRRRRD!!!!!!!!!!   Coming up with an essay idea sucks!  I have problems just coming up with ideas for personal narratives for school!  And now my fate hangs in the balance of a personal narrative!  It will make or break me!  It will change my life for better or for worse!  (But no pressure, right?)

Anyway, I guess I should probably get back to brainstorming.  Geez, I should write my college essay about how HARD it is to write a college essay.  Surely this counts as a significant challenge in life , grrrr...

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3-Day Weekends Aren't for Relaxing...

...they're for finishing the stuff you haven't gotten around to doing yet.  For example, if you've been busy with school (like me), now would be the time to start writing that college essay or start studying for the ACT.  Playing World of Warcraft or watching anime all day in your bunny slippers can wait.

Perhaps you think I'm an ergomaniac.  However, I prefer the term "high achiever."

Think about it.  No one ever got anywhere by sitting around having fun all day.  If you want to be successful, you have to WORK towards it.  Did Thomas Edison invent the lightbulb by playing video games?  (I'm fairly sure he would not have been doing this, even if video games did exist back then.)  Did Einstein discover that E=MC^2 by watching football?  No, they did not.  Success comes to those who work towards it, not those who sit around waiting for a genius revelation to hit them.

I'm not saying that you should never take time off.  If you have been incredibly overworked it's probably NOT  good idea to do extra work over the 3-day weekend.  The last thing you want is to crack under pressure during the week.  I'm just saying that, if at all possible, it's probably a good idea to use a 3-day weekend to do all that stuff you've been meaning to do.  Not only do you get that stuff out of the way, but you can also start the week with a feeling of accomplishment.

You're probably wondering what I achieved Labor Day Weekend.  Well, for starters, I leveled up my Night Elf Druid to 15.  Only I had to do it twice because the first time I accidentally chose the wrong animal blessing for The Ritual Bond quest.

JUST KIDDING!!!  Although that really did happen, I waited until I got other, more pressing matters finished before I logged on to WoW.  I finished my AP Stats homework, started studying for the ACT, straightened up my room and desk, started filling out my brag sheet, neatly organized all my email for the past 2 years into folders, etc.

Yeah, I actually made a to-do list for the things I wanted to get done on Labor Day Weekend, haha.  But now I can enter the coming week with a sense of SUCCESS and ACCOMPLISHMENT.  (Totally picturing myself on a golden pedestal with colorful streamers going off on either side of me, lol.)

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The "Brag Sheet"

It's Labor Day weekend and I am filling out what is commonly known as the "brag sheet".  In layman's terms, it's the "answer-all-these-bizarre-and-surprisingly-hard-questions-so-that-we-can-write-you-a-really-good-recommendation-letter" form.

I understand the point of this form, but I don't even know what I'm supposed to put on some of these questions.  For example, "Which of your activities (including hobbies, clubs, work experience, community service, family commitments, athletics or any special interests) have meant the most to you?  Why?"  If you recall, I mentioned on my very first blog post that I have belonged to zip, zero, zilch extracurriculars throughout my entire high school life (except the gaming club which I have very very VERY recently joined).  So exactly what am I supposed to put for that?

And here's another one, "Describe a challenge you have faced in your life.  How has this experience impacted you?  (This could very well be a college essay question you will soon see!)"  Okay, I totally get what they're talking about with the college essay thing.  All the winning college essays I have seen have all been about this.  But the thing is, if I actually KNEW of a worthwhile challenge in my life, I would know what I'm going to write about on my college essay (which, by the way, I am greatly struggling with).  The biggest challenge I have ever faced was getting on with my life after my boyfriend dumped me, but I highly doubt that anyone is going to see the worthwhile-ness in THAT (not to mention that I don't really want the college admissions office knowing personal issues like that).

Oh, and what about this one?  "How will you set yourself apart from all other applicants?  What talents, characteristics, and/or traits do you have that will impress a college and make you UNIQUE?"  Again, if I knew that, I would be furiously writing my college essay right now instead of updating my blog content.

I'm not going to bore you with the rest of these questions, but let's just say that they are all pretty hard.  Perhaps I'll take a break and come back to this form later.

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Follow up on Senior Year

Well, school has been in session for about a week and a half, and I have to say that it is going surprisingly well.  I changed a couple of my classes (the one was AP Bio because I wasn't understanding it, and the other was an elective), I have some AP Stats and Japanese homework this weekend, and I do have to find an idea for my college essay...not to mention that I still have the big, black cloud of college gloom hanging over my head.  But besides for those few things, my senior year is great.

I'm finding out about all the clubs.  The school is having a club fair not this week but next, which I am definitely going to.  I have already decided on the following clubs:

• Anime Club


• Gaming Club (already doing this)


• Asian Culture Club


• Peer Mentor Club (very recently joined)


• Book Club (maybe)

And I also plan to start a Korean drama club.  And the school is starting a school newspaper, so I'm volunteering to be editor-in-chief for that.  I have to kind of "try out" for that by submitting a piece of my nonfiction writing.  Considering that I've never really written anything COMPLETELY nonfiction (well, except this blog), I will probably be working on that this weekend.  (Although I have never written anything completely nonfiction, I did once write a slightly exaggerated story of how my boyfriend was cheating on me.  At the end he was vaporized by aliens.  In fact, I tried to get it published back in February.  Rather unfortunate that I didn't win that contest...)

It would be really great if I could get on the school newspaper.  It would be really REALLY great if I could be editor-in-chief.  Considering that I want to be an English major, not only would being editor-in-chief be good experience for that but it would also look really good on my college app.

So yeah, my senior year of high school sounds like it's going to be very eventful and fun.  (Remember that I'm trying to get every last bit of fun I can out of my senior year.  I'm striving for the true senior experience!)

But most probably the best part of my senior year so far is THE TIME!!!  It's so nice!  Instead of cramming ALL THE TIME for classes that I don't understand, I can actually do other things!  I actually have time to take showers regularly, eat 2+ meals a day, AND get over 6 hours of sleep on the weekend.  How cool is that?

And not only do I have time for life necessities (which I was kind of skipping during my junior year due to physics), I also have time for fun.  Yes, I can do real, actual fun activities during the school year!  Do you know that I actually had time to watch anime last night?  That's right, I could actually watch anime during the school year!  I haven't been able to do that since my sophomore year!  Awesome awesome awesome!

I have time to play computer games, video games, watch anime, read...it's so incredibly AWESOME!!!  I would also have time to play WoW, if only I had renewed my subscription time (soooo scatterbrained...I'm always forgetting when my pre-paid time cards expire, lol).

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Retest

Based on the many suggestions I have received from numerous people, I have decided to retake the ACT.  Why am I retaking the ACT instead of the SAT?  Because the SAT is HELL.  Not to say that the ACT is pleasurable to take, but it's a whole lot better than the SAT.  Why?

Well, for starters the SAT is a whole lot longer.  Seriously, I took it and got, like, 3 breaks. It just goes on and on FOREVER.  You know when you have those nightmares where you're doing school, then you wake up and you go to school, and then the entire day just seems to last forever?  That's what the SAT feels like, only at least 3 times worse.

And then there is no predictability with the SAT.  All the sections are completely randomized.  How can you mentally prepare yourself for the next section when you don't even know what that is?

But perhaps the worst aspect of the SAT is the confusing wording.  Seriously, I read the math problems and rarely do I even know what they're asking.  It's like, "WTF?  Can you re-word that in English?"

It takes a certain person to be able to take the SAT and do well on it.  Unfortunately, I am not that person.

My ACT scores where a lot better than my SAT scores.  Even still, I'm still not very satisfied with them.  I scored a 26, which isn't necessarily BAD, but it's probably not good enough to get me into some of the top schools in the country.  All the schools I'm applying for are very  selective, except my safety schools.  Considering that I will only be graduating with a 3.55 weighted GPA because I slacked off my freshman year, I need all the help I can get.

So, this time around I am aiming for at least a 30 (but I would really like a 34+, so I'm obviously going to study my brains out...again!)  These were the scores I got my first time:

ACT Score: Round 1
ENGLISH: 31
MATHEMATICS: 19
READING: 27
SCIENCE: 26
COMPOSITE SCORE: 26

Yeah, I really need to improve my math score.  I'm two years ahead in math, but for the life of me I can't wrap my head around word problems (so unfortunately I could not do AP Calc).  So I self-studied word problems for an entire month before the test.  *Pause* Come to think of it, that's really the only thing I studied (I brushed up on my English too, but I spent literally 1 hour studying for reading and science.  That is, 1 hour total, not separately.)  Oddly enough, despite my obsessive studying and cramming the night before, my lowest score was in math.

I probably could have received a lot better score if I only had more self-confidence in myself and my answers.  Not to blame anyone, but perhaps if my boyfriend (now EX) hadn't insisted that I would fail at the ACT despite my efforts, then maybe I wouldn't be retaking the ACT right now. *Irritated irritated irritated*

*Ahem* Anyway, enough with analyzing my past scores.  This time I plan to:
1. Brush up slightly on English (can definitely get a higher score on that)
2. Have my math teacher tutor me with word problems
3. Focus on first mastering the subject and THEN working with time (wasn't doing this first time around!)
4. Actually STUDY this time for reading and science.  If I got a 27 and 26 with only studying a half hour for each, imagine how high a score I could get if I seriously studied for them.

My goal is 34.  Of course, I would also be happy with a 32.  But anything below a 30 will greatly irritate me.  (Remember that I'm applying to some of the best schools in the country!)

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Warriors, the Power of Three: 3 Shocking Revelations Revealed!

WARNING!!! SPOILERS!!!

I stayed up really late last night finishing the third Warriors series.  Consequently, I was dead tired today.  Was it worth it?  Definitely!  All these shocking truths were finally revealed!

1. Hollyleaf killed Ashfur!
2. Hollyleaf was never one of the chosen three!
3. Leafpool was really Jayfeather, Lionblaze, and Hollyleaf's mother! ..........wait...what?

THAT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE!  Okay, I kind of saw that one coming.  There were a lot of subtle hints leading up to that.  But still, it just doesn't make sense that no one would realize that Leafpool was about to have kits.  I mean, think about it.  Squirrelflight's expecting kits and isn't getting bigger at all.  Leafpool is not expecting kits and she is getting bigger.  One day, Squirrelflight and Leafpool come home with kits and somehow Leafpool has lost all that weight in record time.  And then, Squirrelflight's milk doesn't come.  HONESTLY, HOW OBVIOUS CAN YOU GET!?  No cat in the Clan would be stupid enough to fall for it!  It just doesn't make sense that they were able to keep it secret for so long.

Besides for that mega hole in the entire plot, I was impressed.  I enjoyed the series immensely, perhaps even more so than the first series.  I'll definitely be reading the next series, Omen of the Stars, so look forward to me writing my thoughts on that!

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The Gloom of the College App

I forgot to order my pre-paid game card for WoW and now I am bored out of my mind, lol.

School is going well.  I had to switch out of my AP Biology class because, let's face it, science is NOT my strongest subject and I wasn't understanding the curriculum.  So now I'm in Earth Science instead, which is a whole lot simpler that AP Bio.  Next week we're going to be simulating the erosion of rock, which is pretty cool.

Anyway, considering that I'm going to be an English and East Asian Studies major, it's not really necessary for me to take an AP Science class, right?  I'm just hoping it doesn't affect my transcript...

I heard that colleges want high school students to have at least 5 AP classes on their transcript.  That's right, 5 AP classes!  At the minimum!  Is that a joke?  Seriously, how are high school students supposed to manage 5 AP classes, tons of extracurriculars, and volunteer work all at the same time?  Forget that; how is a high school student supposed to manage 5 AP classes period?  If you can, well, I am deeply impressed and wish I was you.  It took all I had just to make an A in my one AP class last year; there's no way I could make A's in 5+!

*Sigh* It's hard to make yourself look good on the college app when you're not quite sure what you're up against.  I really can't imagine the average high school student taking 5+ AP classes and acing all of them (and if they were, wouldn't the college get a little suspicious?  If all their applicants are getting A's in 5+ AP classes, chances are the AP classes are incredibly easy.)  I also can't imagine applicants having tons of volunteer experience under their belt and being part of 5+ extracurriculars (is 5 the magic number for colleges or something?) on top of acing all their AP classes.  Oh yeah, and having "special talents" on top of that.  And let's not forget that anything below a 3.6 GPA is complete and utter failure, unless you're trying to get accepted at a party school.

It seems like I'm always hearing and reading so much about what you have to do to get into a good college.  It just seems so...unrealistic.  I can't imagine the average college candidate being that perfect.  On the other hand, I feel that if I don't strive for that absolute perfection, there's no way I can get accepted into my first choice college.

Rrrrrrgh...this college stuff is such a pain.  It consumes my every thought.  It's like this big, black cloud of darkness hanging over my head, sucking the life out of me.  <--Over-dramatization of the matter, lol, but sometimes it kind of feels like that.

My first application needs to be submitted by November 15, which is only a couple of months from now.  Usually that's the deadline for Early Decision, but apparently the deadline for applicants applying for the merit scholarship is then, too.  So now I am getting books on the College Application Letter.  I heard that THAT'S what will make or break you.  Even if you have a flawless GPA, if your essay sucks you still might not get in!  So if it can influence you for the worst, perhaps it can influence me for the better.

Anyway, this is my first choice college that I will be applying for, so I want to do really awesome on my application letter.  Wish me luck!

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Senior Year

Tomorrow (I guess today, since it's after midnight now) is the start of my senior year of high school.  Personally, I'm quite glad to be going back to school.  Summer break lasted like, 3 months this year.  I couldn't wait for school to start so I could have something to do!  On the other hand, I suppose I kind of needed that long break, what with my hectic junior year.  Seriously, between studying for three different standardized tests, memorizing dozens of psychological terms in my AP class, and spending FOREVER trying to understand physics techniques when I had literally no grasp of trig or word problems, it would be an underestimate to say that I was worn out.  Thank God that's over; I do NOT want to relive that nightmare again.  Honestly, junior year was a living hell.

Hopefully senior year is better (fingers crossed!)

I'm taking a lot of honors and AP classes this year.  Let me amend that: all my core classes are AP or honors.  The only classes that are not AP or honors are my electives, and that's only because they didn't offer AP or honors for that.  I'm taking AP science, AP math, and honors grammar.  And (drum roll, please) I am also taking a class at the college through Concurrent Enrollment!  I'm taking Japanese Language I.  I've wanted to learn Japanese for a long time, so I'm very excited.  On top of being my top ranked elective, it's also supposed to look good on my transcript (which is also why I'm taking so many AP and honors classes).  Considering my low/average GPA and the fact that I had to drop out of physics after the first semester, I need all the help I can get.

I've heard that colleges put the most emphasize on your junior grades.  I'm really hoping that that's true, because despite my lousy grades from my freshman year, I got all A's my entire junior year (except for physics, in which I got a C despite the fact that I studied 3+ hours every day...and 4+ hours on weekends!)  I also heard they like to see improving grades.  My grades have improved tremendously over the past couple years, so hopefully they'll be looking at that, too!

But enough about grades.  This year I plan to get involved in lots of extracurriculars.  I hear colleges really want students who are "involved".  Unfortunately, for 3/4 of my high school career I was way too busy building my life around my stupid egocentric boyfriend to care about things like extracurriculars.  (Ultimately he dumped me, which caused me to enter a state of deep depression for longer than I'd like to admit.  On the bright side, at least now I can focus on more productive endeavors and don't have to worry about satisfying his every whim, so I guess all's well that ends well.)

Anyway, because I basically wasted my high school life on He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named, I feel like I totally missed out on high school!  I go to high school online, but we still have social events and stuff (all of which I MISSED!!!)  I managed to go to two events after my idiot ex dumped me, but that's it.  This year I plan on squeezing every last drop of excitement I can out of my senior year.  I want the true...SENIOR EXPERIENCE!  *da da dum*

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Introduction

Hello everyone, my name's Katie.  This is my first post.  It is about me in general and what this blog will be about.

So about me.  I'm a senior in high school.  I enjoy anime, gaming, manga, Korean dramas, Japanese culture, movies, books, the Beatles, and all sorts of other things.  I'm a high achiever.  I spend the majority of my time studying because I really messed up my GPA my freshman year.  I've been trying ever since to bring it up and managed to get all A's last semester (yay!)  My biggest desire in life is to be a successful person.  Currently my #1 goal is to get accepted at my first choice college, so I'm working super hard towards that!  When I go to college, I want to do a double major in English and East Asian Studies.

Because I want to be an English major, I have been trying to extend my vocabulary, which explains why my blog has a rather unusual name.  For those of you who are curious, "inaniloquent" is an adjective meaning "to speak nonsense profusely".  It comes from the words "inane", meaning "meaningless", and "loquacious", which means "to talk a lot".  That's exactly what this blog is going to be about!  Basically, I'm just going to talk about things I like, school, college, random observations, etc.  Hopefully it'll have things that every high school student can relate to.

On that note, I hope you enjoy.  Happy reading!

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