"More Time" -Needtobreathe

Today at school, my class had our last scheduling assembly ever for high school!!! I knew we would be making our schedules soon, but I didn't think it would be this soon. I have no idea what classes to take next year. ughh. Part of me wants to have a really easy schedule, but the only math and science classes I have left to take at the school are more AP classes. The only math class that I haven't taken yet is AP Calculus, which I really really don't want to take considering I'm in Honors Pre Calc now, and I hate it. So, I might not be taking a math next year. Then there's science... I can take AP Chemistry or AP Physics. My friends say AP Chem is hard. They say AP Physics is easy just the actual AP test is impossible. I just hate making decisions. Usually I love making my schedule, but this year I just have so many options. I talked to my Honors Chem teacher from last year about doing a Forensics Chem independent study with her next year. She was really excited and is going to call and see if she can order anything for it. If not, I might do an independent study with my AP Bio teacher that I have now on fetal and maternal health. Decisions, Decisions, Decisions! I guess we just have to wait and see what happens =)

"Over My Head" -The Fray

So, today was the start of a new semester, which means I started brand new classes. This semester is going to be rough, but hopefully I can hang in there. I start my day with AP Biology, then History of the Classical Worlds, College Prep., Lunch, Study Hall and then Honors Pre Calculus. Every Wednesday I have AP Stats seminar instead of study hall to review what I learned last semester so I don't forget everything for the AP test in the spring. In November, my AP Biology class met to do the whole intro thing so we could get started on the first day, and we were assigned 6 chapters of reading from our textbook and a ton of problems in our workbook. Fortunately, I got all of that done over winter break for the most part unlike all of my friends taking the class who were up until 3 a.m. working on it, and our teacher isn't collecting any of the work. They were pissed, but I didn't care because I read the book to actually learn something and to prepare for the class, not just because I was expecting it to be turned in and graded. It was a long intro day today, but we already jumped into things. And YES I do have homework in 3 of my 4 classes and I have a test tomorrow in AP Bio. I'm excited though because I'm finally at the point where I can start choosing classes based on what I'm interested in and not just what's required. I can't believe I will be scheduling my senior year classes here in the next month or so!!! It blows my mind that I'm so close to being done! On the flip side, I have to get a move on my college search and start making some decisions... uh oh. 

"Hell on the Heart" -Eric Church

             For those of you that don't know, over the summer my dog's life changed forever. It was a very emotional time for my whole family, and it's still a touchy subject. It's definitely easier to write about that it is to talk about. 

            As a thirteen year old, I adopted my very own puppy from the Animal Protective League. With joy and determination, I took on the huge responsibility of caring and paying for my tiny, brown, anorexic dog that I named Shep. I wanted to prove to my parents that I could completely care for my own dog, which included paying for all of his vet bills, training, and food. After a year, Shep began to fill out and his bones could no longer be seen poking against this skin. His coat came in gold and clean. I took him through training classes; he was quick and extremely smart. Because of all of the time I spent with him, Shep became my best friend.

            The summer after I adopted Shep I started noticing that he was afraid of everything, including thunder, laughter, and television. Seeing my seventy-five pound, German shepherd mix shake like a leaf and pant so hard just because kids outside were playing basketball, broke my heart. Shep was so innocent, lovable, and playful, I felt so bad that he feared the world. The third summer after I adopted Shep a horrible incident occurred. My dad had Shep outside while he was packing our boat for our vacation scheduled for the next day, when a young man and his father walked ran by. The father was known to be very mean and hard headed, and he had even yelled at Shep a few times for barking. Shep ended up running through three electric fences and he bit the young man’s leg. As the police showed up, I arrived home from the grocery store not knowing what was happening. I got out of the car and heard words screamed by the father such as “the dog needs to be destroyed” and “we need an ambulance.” Fortunately, the police were on our side and said an ambulance was not necessary since the bite didn’t break the skin, and my dog was not put to sleep. I was devastated. I felt like a failure because it was my dog that caused that man pain. He had the right to be upset, but the father went overboard.

            The consequence is that Shep must always wear a muzzle and he must be on a leash that is no longer than four feet anytime he goes outside. We have to have a sign in our window saying “DANGEROUS DOG ON PREMISES.” I have to see it every single day and it took me about a month not to cry every time I saw it. Although the sign is bad, the thought of Shep never running free in a field, catching a ball outside for the rest of his life, is even worse. I don’t think I will ever stop crying at the thought of that. I understand my dog did wrong, but I don’t think it is fair that one afternoon has to affect the rest of his life. He is a dog; natural instinct comes with the package of owning any animal.

"The Lucky Ones" -Brendan James

I got to celebrate my birthday over the weekend with my parents. We went to Mongolian BBQ, and it was very yummy! For my birthday, my parents bought me a professional massage. I was so excited because I'm always giving people massages, but usually don't get one myself, and I got to cross it off of my bucket list. It was perfect timing too, because I got to relax before finals. The guy that massaged me was no older than 25 so it was kind of awkward, but I just closed my eyes and enjoyed it. I had the day off of school on Monday and I had finals today and I have two more tomorrow. I had one for Spanish and I had a presentation for English that we have been working on for the whole second half of the semester. My group did our presentation on paraplegics. I'm not going to lie we did really well. Then tomorrow, I have my anatomy final and my AP statistics final. Of course the hardest tests are on the same day. I'm not looking forward to it. Since we had finals today, I only had to be at school until 11:07 instead of 3:11 (hah our schedule is so weird). Since I was home early, I was able to skype with my cousin Michelle who is doing a gap year program in Switzerland. I'm lucky to be so close with all of my cousins, especially since I don't have siblings. Not many families are like mine. So far it has been a good week, but we'll see how tomorrow goes! 

"Dream Big" -Ryan Shupe

I have narrowed my career choices down to three options as of now. Here they are in no particular order...


Neonatal Nurse
A neonatal nurse takes care of newborn babies. I have always loved babies ever since I was really little. Working in a hospital setting with infants would be really cool and they make good money. This job has a good outlook for the future, because babies are born everyday and that isn't likely to change. 


Forensic Scientist
If I were to become a forensic scientist, I think I would go into criminalistics and do crime lab analysis. I love working in the science lab. This career would have less schooling than the other two options, but it has the lowest salary. Not only would I be analyzing evidence in the lab, but I would also get to testify in court. For those of you that don't already know this, I love speaking in front of a crowd. Forensic science has a good job outlook for the future. People will always be committing crimes.


Obstetrician/Gynecologist 
An OB/GYN is a general name for a variety of different doctor's specialties. One could specialize in treating cancer of the female productive system, health maintenance during pregnancy, delivering babies, infertility, routine examinations, and much more. I don't know quite what I would choose if I decide to go this route, probably something with pregnancy. I think this would be a fun job because I would get to be a doctor, but also perform surgery. This is definitely the highest paying job out of the three, but it has the most extensive schooling. 


Right now I have no idea of what I will end up doing. I'm almost positive that it will be one of these though. I'm taking AP Biology this coming semester, and I'm hoping to find some sort of direction while I'm in that class. I guess that's all for now!

"All the Small Things" -Blink 182

So, today is my birthday, and I received a card from my grandpa Pok that really made me think. I usually enjoy the funny cards or the singing cards. I'm not going to lie this was kind of mushy, the kind of cards I normally don't buy. For some reason though, this deep, meaningful (well, more deep and meaningful then a card that keeps it simple like "happy birthday") card touched me, so I thought I would share it with you...


"As I think of you today,
I wish you more than a happy birthday,
more even than a happy life.
I wish you a beautiful life.
A life rich in all the things that matter. 
And I want to share
a little something I've learned 
down though my years of living...
Having a beautiful life isn't so much 
about getting that one big thing 
or reaching that one great goal.
Having a beautiful life is more about seeing the wonder in the little things,
the everyday things that life washes onto your shore.
Gathering them like pearls,
stringing them together,
and realizing what a treasure you've collected.
Do that, and you cannot help 
but to have a beautiful life...
the one you are meant to live."


Since I am thinking about all of these big decisions that I am going to be making, this card made me realize that as I go about this, I must not miss what is going on in my life now. I only live once, and if I'm only focusing only on the future, I'm missing a lot of what life has to offer. I have decided to post little things that are going on in my life along with all of the big decisions, so I don't get lost in thinking about the future.

"For the First Time" - The Script

I have come to a point in my life where I have to start making some big decisions. I have to start thinking about careers and colleges. I have been asked several times what I want to do with my life, but I hesitate to tell people, because I don't want their thoughts to have any affect on what I truly want to do. This is hard because I hate making decisions without getting other people's opinion, but I will only be happy if I listen to my heart instead of other people. This blog is a way of letting other people understand my thought process and to know kind of where I'm going, without me having my opinions swayed by theirs. It is also to help me lay everything out to help me make some decisions.