French Toast

Hi, y'all!

As Laura can confirm, my parents loathe the fact that I enjoy eating three meals a day and don't like cooking. When I woke up at 1:00 PM this afternoon, my dad, who did not want to get out his chair, shouted french toast instructions at me while I made it. It was very good, especially with a side of bacon, dare I say better than St. Martin's. So, I thought I'd share the recipe:

1. Mix an egg, about a 1/3 cup of milk, and a dash of vanilla extract.

2. Soak the bread in the mixture and sear it on a buttered pan for 1-2 minutes on each side.

3. Serve with powdered sugar and syrup.

That's it. Pretty easy and very delicious with bacon and a glass of milk. Try it out and let me know what y'all think.

Yours truly,
Hunter

Weddings

This weekend, my brother Nate is getting married to a girl he’s been in a relationship with for 6 years. They get three weddings: one small one with immediate family (because of COVID), one huge celebration this summer, and a giant reception in India (since Priyanka is Indian). This has made me think about what I want my own wedding to be like. Part of me wants to elope because a wedding sounds excessive. On the other hand, you get more gifts for a big celebration. So basically I’m weighing my two worst traits: laziness and greed. I guess we’ll see which wins out. What do y’all want your weddings to be like (if you want to get married at all)?

Cute fun facts I learned

Cute fun facts:

 Rats and mice are ticklish, and they laugh. 

Crows have been observed playing pranks on one another 

Honeybees communicate through dance 

Every cow has a best friend and they hang out everyday.

Most penguins only have one mate for life. Gentoo is penguins propose to their life mates with a pebble. 

A group of pugs is called a grumble. 

Otters have a pocket in their skin to keep their favorite rock in. Using it, they break shellfish on their bellies to eat. 

Squirrels will adopt other squirrel’s babies that are abandoned.

Sweden has a rabbit show- jumping competition called Kaninhoppning.

Dolphins have names for each other.

Just felt like sharing. I have lots more to post for the future if y’all like this. 

College Bound!

Hi, everyone! So if y’all didn’t know, I’ve been freaking out this whole week waiting for college decisions. And, I got in! I got my first acceptances today, and it feels so good knowing that I’m actually going to college. I knew that I would to college, but it was quite stressful not being admitted yet (I did have this horrifying fear a few times that I wouldn't get in anywhere, though). University of Michigan came out at 2pm and University of Maryland around 4pm, but I decided to wait until I got home around 5:30pm to open them. I had Life Skills and study hall last period, so I was trying to distract myself by doing homework. I knew decisions were out though, so for practice, I was like, “Alright we’re going to do this super quick so I can race home.” (I went the speed limit, though). I'm really excited about Michigan. It's a great school, but I also think it has a really good balance with sports and school spirit. A bit of stress has definitely been lifted. Hopefully with my other decisions I won't be so worried knowing that I have two great schools already. (If any of you saw me around lunch, that was a realistic portray of me going out of my mind—couldn't even finish my food, and I usually get way more and eat it all). Well anyways, I hope everyone has a great weekend!

I’m not really sure what to blog about...

 Hi guys, 

I’m not really sure what to blog about this week, so I would like to ask you guys a question: What’s one thing that has made you really happy recently? 

I Freaking Love Freaks & Geeks

So, as some of you may already know, the cult classic show Freaks & Geeks has been added to Hulu earlier this week and I am so happy about it. I first watched this show the summer before my freshman year and ever since I've become obsessed. A quick rundown for those who have not seen it, it follows a girl named Lindsay who tries to break away from her goody-two-shoes image and starts hanging out with the school "freaks," while her younger brother (the "geek") tries to navigate his way through his freshman year. I know, it sounds super cheesy, but I SWEAR it's good. It's also really, really funny. You know, it was actually created by Paul Feig, who also helped make another hit show, The Office, but that's beside the point. Everything from the music to the clothes, to the dialog, is perfect. Even the cast is insane! There's Linda Cardellini (who I think Rikki looks like), James Franco, Jason Segel, Busy Philipps, and Seth freaking Rogan. And although I was not alive during the 80s, which is when this show was set, I still think that this show is the most realistic portrayal of High School I have ever seen on a TV show. What's disappointing, however, is the fact only ONE season was made. Do you want to know why that is? It's because the president of NBC didn't go to a public high school and didn't "understand it." Like I'm sorry, but what? Another disappointing factor is the lack of diversity in their cast. Literally not one POC. But overall, I really do enjoy this show and I hope you guys check it out sometime. I highly recommend it. Also, I'm sorry if this blog was really all over the place. That is kind of how I get whenever I talk about something I enjoy!

(Also, in episode 3 they talk about Existentialism and Crime & Punishment by Dostoevsky in their English class and I was like, "Wait! I'm learning about that too!!")

Oh! One more thing, but the guidance counselor in the show eerily resembles Mr. Van Young. They act, talk, and even look very similar (if Mr. Van Young had long, Shaggy from Scooby-Doo looking hair). I'll leave a photo of the guidance counselor under this. 

Nick's Pick of What I Blog About

"Howdy y'all"- Nick, the Canadian trying to use southern slang, 

So this week, I couldn't really think of anything particular that I wanted to blog about. Naturally, this was brought up in a conversation with my boyfriend. He doesn't go to our school (obviously), so I asked him what I should blog about this week since I kind of need a distraction right now. 

His topic is: How Queen Elizabeth I and William Shakespeare probably did it. :) 

We were having a conversation about history maybe a week ago, specifically how a lot of kings had infertility problems caused by incest. Yes, we really were just having a casual conversation about incest...as one does. King Henry VIII was mentioned and the entire history of his 6 wives (also how one of his wives was about our age when she married him). His son, Edward, died very young and his daughter, Mary, was kind of insane and killed like 600 people for being Protestant. This got us on the topic of Queen Elizabeth I, one of the most influential and prosperous monarchs of England. It was weird that she and Shakespeare lived at the same time! Well, we have come to the conclusion that since both of them were known for having many lovers, that they totally did it at some point. Maybe...so here is the problem, Shakespeare was born 5 years into Elizabeth's reign and he was also a big Catholic sympathizer BUT they were both so invested in the arts that I think they could have looked past this for a one night stand, or more. Elizabeth was known for liking her younger men, and Shakespeare definitely fits this category, as he is 24 years younger than her. Nick thinks that one of the reasons he might not have liked the Queen was because he was forced into a relationship of sorts with her, because who can deny the Queen. This could also explain why he never properly eulogized her after her death. 

So, in conclusion, we think they did it. We are glad that we live in a world where Shakespeare and the Queen might have done it; it's what keeps us going. What are your thoughts? I know some of you have taken AP European History, so please enjoy our theory. Yeah, we know it's just hypotheticals but there is no proof that we are completely wrong...just saying...

His other idea was: the pros and cons of pros and cons. I said no, but if anyone would like to hear his argument, comment below. 

From, 

Nikki 

Ryn’s Netflix Pick 🍿

The Trial of the Chicago Seven. I want to begin with that this is only good if you are into history and major social justice trials. This is definitely one I would suggest however if that is your type of film. Although I wouldn't consider myself a history buff I do find myself watching these types of movies a lot with my family. The trial was really interesting however and made me actually want to rewatch it. The movie is based on the 1969 trial where seven defendants were charged by the federal government for numerous things, mostly due to an attempt to quell arising countercultural protests, after the 1968 Democratic National Convention. It should be noted however there were actually eight defendants one of which was not mentioned because he was a black panther member who was wrongly accused of murder.

Virtues of the Past

 

As an only child, I often entertained myself by watching television, if not reading, not particularly enjoying playing with toys. I especially loved watching shows from the 90’s, namely Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Boy Meets World, and Scooby Doo. I would sit in front of the television for hours engrossed in the goofy dilemmas the main characters put themselves in watching as they miraculously found a solution, all within the thirty minute time slot of the show. Recently, Disney Plus has allowed me to watch my nostalgic favorites without having to worry about switching out DVDs to find the show I want to watch next. As I watched these I began to think of how much of an influence these movies have had on my life. As dramatic as it may sound. These shows were a part of me in many ways as a young kid. I remember thinking that I would find my own soulmate like Cory and Topanga did , that I would be able to accomplish any obstacle in my way like Sabrina, or that I would grow to look fear in the eye as Velma did, constantly proving there are bigger things in the world to fear than those who hide behind scary costumes. All these shows taught me genuine life lessons that I still hold with me to this day. I was in such awe of how much I enjoyed my children's shows that I began to wonder what shows were like now. I hadn’t turned the channel to Disney in such a long time that I had to satisfy my tiny curiosity and watch a few of the new shows. I was shocked however by how different they were from the shows we watched as children. Although the moral of the show may have arguably been there, the show itself was filled with silly forms of entertainment and left me baffled by what any child may have learned. I assumed maybe I had outgrown the children’s shows I once enjoyed, which is always possible, but could not grasp how different they were from my Disney favorites like Hannah Montana. In many ways it was upsetting. The thought that I have grown out of the children shows that I once enjoyed it. Or worse, the shows have grown with me.

Most Likely To!

 Hey y'all! So, the other day, Leven sent me and a couple of our friends a poll asking which of us was most likely to do all this crazy stuff. I thought it would be fun to make one for our class, though it was difficult to come up with questions that were both funny and that would be appropriate for school, haha. I tried, though, so please take it! I thought it would be fun :)

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSedrFftPOiRfofGIs9sKVHQT63-tjMMAmG3GNyTTAx9QJC7Fw/viewform?usp=sf_link

Fre-shavaca-do Toast

 My new obsession: Avocado toast. 

Before you ask: yes, I do have to finish an article for the halo, do my French assignments, and complete my math homework that was technically due today, but I think I can get away with waiting until tomorrow to submit. Will I end up doing maybe only one of these things? Yes. Is it also a possibility that I will ignore every single one of these assignments altogether? Also yes. 

Back to the original plot of the movie: toast. First of all, toast itself is amazing. I like butter and orange marmalade on it, but that's not the point. I made avocado toast this morning, and I put 1/4 of an avocado in a bowl and mixed it with salt, pepper, garlic powder, lemon juice, and hot sauce, and put it on my toast. It's so good y'all. I was actually a little late this morning because I made myself a piece of avocado toast and put it for my reason for being late in the sign-in sheet. 10/10 would do again, I regret nothing.

P.S. - Do not fret Adriana, Rikki, and Izzy. I will have the article in by Wednesday. 

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk. Any suggestions for next time?

Quiz Bowl Guys ;)

 Hey y'all, 

           On Saturday, Grace, Justin Hall, Tristan Karno, and I participated in the ESA Cade Classic virtual Quiz Bowl tournament. It was really fun, and yesterday I found out that I placed 4th overall! (I'm not sure how many competitors there were, but I think there were around 30 teams, so I was very proud to be in the top 6!) In a previous tournament, I had a really good match where I answered a lot of questions and a (cute) guy sent me a "private message" in the Zoom meeting that said, "Hey, you're really smart!" I was so flattered because it was the most genuine compliment I'd ever received from a guy (rather than the comparatively superficial "you're so pretty"). He asked for my Instagram and we started DMing. He lives in Shreveport, but I actually got to meet him because my state swim meet was in Shreveport! We met for coffee on the most awkward "date"' you could possibly imagine. I say "awkward" because the coffee shop was closed by the time we both got there (I arrived directly from the swim meet with my hair dripping wet haha), so we just sat outside and weren't able to order anything. Additionally, my dad was sitting in the car, so I knew nothing was going to happen, but it was still great to get to meet him. He was super smart and sweet, and we still keep in touch. (Recently, I played him Happy Birthday on my mini French horn.)

             Then at the most recent tournament, a different Quiz Bowl guy was lowkey flirting with me during our match! He was really fast and kept out-buzzing me, but he didn't know a lot of his team's bonuses that I knew. (Only the team who answers the tossup question correctly gets to answer the bonuses.) I guess he could tell that I knew the bonuses, because when he didn't know, he would say, "Clara knows this one, but I don't." The first time, I thought I imagined it, but he said it multiple times and I was getting super flirty vibes from him. So after the match I requested him on Instagram and he slid into my DMs haha. We just started talking and it seems like we have a lot in common! (Time will tell haha.) If y'all are curious, I referred to him on my story because he got 2nd place in the tournament (I'll beat him next time haha; we love us a smart guy!) 

            Anyway, I just wanted to update y'all about the Quiz Bowl guys in my life. I hope y'all were entertained by this post, and hopefully I'll get to do a few more Quiz Bowl tournaments before the end of the year. Quiz Bowl is one of my favorite activities (and the flirting practice doesn't hurt, either). Feel free to leave y'all's thoughts in the comments (nothing about my taste in men please haha). 

Love from 

Clara

           

Advice I’ve found for college

 Hey lovelies,

I’ve been looking at a bunch of college advice videos and have collected several tips that I found super helpful. Here some of them are:

Create a routine for when you work on schoolwork —> if you’re used to working at a certain time, it makes it easier to stay responsible. Even for people who have trouble making themselves work, if they have a routine, it’ll become instinctive. It’s like brushing your teeth; it’s not really optional (unless you’re gross) so you do it every morning because it’s just what you do. Do your homework in the library, not your room. Also, studying in groups often helps at the beginning because it helps you see if there are alternate, better ways to study before you break off and study on your own. 

Make friends within the first few months—> you’ll be really tired the first couple of months since the adjustment to college is really hard. People often try to isolate themselves during that time. However, that is the best time to meet people because it’s when other people are in need of a friend group the most. One person suggested joining three clubs in your first month (one centered around something you like to do for fun, one concentrating on something you’ve participated in since you were a child like a sport, and one that explores something new to you that you think is interesting or meaningful). 

Be in communication with your teacher —> go to office hours when they are available. It’ll help you keep on top of things, and increase your grade. A good relationship with your teacher really helps you enjoy your classes and get the most out of the experience. 

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Senioritis doesn’t end in high school  —> you don’t have to attend class; you don’t have to study; your parents won’t get mad at you if you sleep in. You can do basically whatever you want. You have more freedom, like when you were a senior in high school, but without the accountability. If you don’t want to do something, you won’t do it. It’s up to you now. One way to help this, is to find something you are actually interested in learning/knowing. Remind yourself what you want to learn from your classes. Try to find something that actually makes you passionate or gives you purpose. Find something to drive you forward. 

That’s it for now, but I have more coming later. 💜💜

Interview Day

 Hey guys! So today I just wanted to update yall on what I have done this weekend. I am in Birmingham to take my brother back to school, and I also had an interview today for the University of Alabama! Its in interview for a program within the Honors College. I was pretty stressed, lol. At first, I couldn't find the Zoom link for the interview, so they needed to send me a new one. Then, the actual interview was with 11 other students and it was an open conversation. It was pretty fun talking with other students, and they didn't ask normal interview questions. The interviewer asked about climate change, specifically what we know ab it and what we can do to help. It was really nice discussing such an important topic that can really affect us. I talked about Louisiana being part- under water and talked about my environmental class.

    Anyway, that was what I did today. I hope I did well, and I would like to get into the program. Alabama is one of my top choices, so it would be great to get in. Wish me good luck guys!

Music Recommendations?

 Hey guys!

So, I just wanted to ask you guys for any music recommendations because I have gotten so bored of my current playlist right now. Not that any of my music in the playlist is bad, I just listen to those same songs all the time and I thought it would be nice to ask you guys for some suggestions! I really like any kind of music (besides country), but more specifically I like alternative rock, indie pop, and alternative R&B (like Frank Ocean/Tyler the Creator). So if you guys wanna share any songs you like, that would be really appreciated! 

Thanks guys!

here's another poem thing

 So here's the second thing I wrote for creative writing. Again, honest feedback is very welcomed, please give me opinions.

The Ballad of the Phoenix Man

This story, though it may be called a ballad, will not be written as such. The typical structure of ballads are not favorable for long, intricate stories, and while I would love for this to be a long, intricate story, that would be rather difficult, as not many details are known about the Phoenix Man. I, myself, do not know a single thing about the Phoenix Man other than his name, and what little my grandmother could tell me from when she saw him that day when she was nothing but a young girl walking to the grocery store at night to buy her mother cigarettes. What a strange era, where a girl no older than seven could walk unattended down an unlit street and buy nicotine.

My grandmother told me that the Phoenix Man was standing in the dark and narrow alleyway between Mike’s Candy Shop and Hal’s Convenience Store. There was nothing in that alleyway besides dumpsters and a stray black cat living under the pieces of a rain ruined cardboard box, but my grandmother would swear up and down until the day she died that she saw him there. Him, the Phoenix Man. She walked by the alleyway and caught sight of him standing in between the buildings, swaying side to side like he was drunk. He was not drunk, though, because just as my grandmother was about to ask if he needed help, the Phoenix Man burst into flames, blindingly bright and so scorching that my grandmother could feel their heat on her face all the way from the entrance to the alleyway.

My grandmother told me that she went into shock. She couldn’t believe what had just occurred, and it stunned her so badly that she found herself unable to move, unable to run for help and alert someone of what she had seen in the alleyway between the candy shop and convenience store. She was glad for this shock, though, because had she not stayed, had she run away in fear of what she did not understand, she would not have been able to watch as the man rose up from the ashes of his own body. She remembers the pile as too large, more dark ashes scattered in the alleyway than there should have been. It was as though his entire being, all eight feet of him (I used to believe that her recollection of such extreme height was simply the imagination of a short, scared little girl) had simply converted into ashes, the fire acting as a gateway for every inch of him to transform into the little gray grains. And from that pile he emerged, fully human once more.

My grandmother told me that nobody believed her. Not one person in her small hometown took any worth in the word of a young girl known to have a wild imagination. Nobody thought for even a second that she was telling the truth about how after the man rose from his own ashes, he simply dusted himself off and walked out of the alleyway, giving my grandmother a wink as he passed by. When she recovered from her shock, she ran back into the street to catch sight of where he was headed, but the Phoenix Man was nowhere to be seen; not by my grandmother, not by the other citizens in her hometown, not by any one living person since that night in the alleyway. I believed her, though.

My grandmother told me that I would be lucky to ever lay eyes on the Phoenix Man. It took thirty years before I did, although my experience was slightly different than hers. I did not see the Phoenix Man in an alleyway, nor anywhere near a candy shop or a convenience store. I saw him at my grandmother’s funeral. As we gathered around the hole her casket was being lowered into, I saw the man my grandmother had described to me so many times standing behind the crowd. He did, as she had told me and I had not fully believed, stand around eight feet tall, his head towering over those of the grieving funeral goers. As the others around me focused their eyes on the casket, I watched as a woman who looked just like the body in that very casket stepped forward and stood next to the Phoenix Man. They looked at each other, then at me, before smiling softly and bursting into flames. I paid no attention as the people around me began to shovel dirt into the hole where my grandmother was to lay to rest, but rather stood fixed as I watched the piles of ashes. It took only a moment or two before the forms of my grandmother and the Phoenix Man rose from the piles and stood together again, my grandmother looking younger and happier than I had ever seen her be in life. They walked away toward the trees lining the other graves, and that was the last time I saw my grandmother.

here's a poem I wrote

Hey y'all, gonna be honest here, I'm not having a particularly good week, and I forgot to blog until Saturday. So because I don't have the energy to come up with anything to talk about in length, here's a poem I wrote. My second post for this week will be another creative writing piece I did. Honest feedback would be much appreciated, if y'all have any critiques.

Grand Goat

There is a solemn looking goat

Sitting next to you in the field where you lie.

You think that if goats were humans,

This goat would be a frail old man,

Tired and weathered but with kind eyes.

This goat would look like the grandfather you never had

Because your mother kept yours away from you.

There is another goat coming to sleep next to you.

This one is young, full of life and energy,

But he feels the lure of sleep from playing so hard.

He pours more into what he does than you ever have,

Even though he is a goat and you are a human.

A big black bird perches on the grass near your left shoe.

A big black bird is not a goat,

A big black bird is not what you came to the field to see,

But you do not shoo it away.

You let it sit by your left shoe,

And you let it peck the grass in search of worms.

It is night now, and the young goat is long gone.

He left hours ago to find his mother,

To annoy her and romp with her

And do all of the things your own mother would never do with you.

Ask yourself:

How does it feel,

Knowing that this field of goats appreciate their family

More than yours will ever appreciate you?

The young goat may be gone,

But the grandfather goat has stayed by your side.

You watch as he lets out a low, sad bleat,

Then lays down his head and goes to sleep.

You don’t think he’ll wake up.

You’ll stay with him in case he does.

Zodiac signs result

 I’m going to list the results of what you guys thought each other’s signs were. I’ll list the ones with the top percentage (if two tied, I’ll list both. 

Adriana— Aquarius, Aries 

Camila— Cancer 

Catherine — Libra, Gemini

Clara— Pisces 

Ryn— Scorpio 

Erica— Cancer

Hunter— Taurus, Scorpio

Izzy— Leo

Laura— Libra 

Renee — Aries 

Rikki— Pisces, Taurus 

Sofia— Virgo

Ms. King— Virgo, Taurus 

Abbie— Pisces

Turns out, we guessed everyone’s sign correctly except for Abbie’s (me) and Renee’s.

Here’s everyone’s actual sign:

Adriana— Aquarius; Camila— Cancer, Catherine— Gemini, Clara— Pisces; Ryn— Scorpio; Erica— Cancer; Hunter— Taurus; Izzy— Leo; Laura— Libra; Renee— Pisces; Rikki— Pisces; Sofia— Virgo; Ms. King— Taurus; Abbie— Aries 

If you tied with another sign or got another sign besides your own, here’s a refresher on the signs ( maybe you’ll learn more about yourself :) )

Aries

Positive Traits~ Adventurous, Courageous, Creative, Versatile, Lively, Positive, Passionate, Motivated, Leaders.

Negative Traits~ Arrogant, Stubborn, Impulsive, Undisciplined, Confrontational. 

Taurus

Positive Traits~ Generous, Dependable, Down to earth, Patient, Independent (Financially and emotionally), Persistent.

Negative Traits~ Stubborn, they tend to be rude and ignorant of others’ emotions, Lazy, Materialistic, Possessive. 

Gemini

Positive Traits~ Adjustable and flexible, Versatile, Enthusiastic, Soft-Spoken, great communication skills, Witty and very humorous, Intellectual, Clever. 

Negative Traits~ Lack of Consistency, Superficial, Lack Decision Making Ability, Lack of direction, they easily get bored, Anxious. Gemini-born people tend to bite off more than they can chew and this results in anxiousness.

Cancer

Positive traits~ Creative, Spontaneous, Faithful, Loving and protective, Emotional, Intuitive, Caring. 

Negative Traits~ Moody, Pessimistic, Willing to abandon everything if they experience a failure, Clingy, Overemotional, Suspicious. 

Leo

Positive Traits~ Kind and helpful, Energetic, Optimistic, Straightforward, Honest, Loyal. 

Negative Traits~ Headstrong, Egoistic, Possessive, Jealous, Dominating, Impatient, Arrogant, Self-centered.

Virgo

Positive Traits~  Watchful, Attention to detail, Intelligent, Practical, Analytical, Reliable and trustworthy, Modest perfectionists.

Negative Traits~ Overcritical, Fussy, Fastidious, Harsh, Conservative, Judgmental. 

Libra

Positive Traits~ Tactful, good at getting things done, Romantic, Charming, Fair, Diplomatic, will listen to other points of view 

Negative Traits~ Superficial, Detached, Unreliable, Lazy, Indecisive. 

Scorpio

Positive Trait~ Focused, Brave, Balanced, Passionate, Faithful, Ambitious, What motivates them best are power, position and money, Intuitive.

Negative Traits~ Jealous, Possessive, Secretive, Resentful, Distrustful, easily hurt by negative treatment, Manipulative. They love to dominate.

Sagittarius

Positive Traits~ Straightforward, Intellectual, Philosophical, Strong sense of right and wrong,

Large-hearted, Generous.

Negative Traits~ Careless, Tactless, Impatient, they often push the things too hard, Inconsistent, Over Confident.

Capricorn

Positive Traits~ Practical, Ambitious, Wise, Mature and sensible, Disciplined, Patient, Cautious.

Negative Traits~ Pessimistic, Stubborn, Shy. They enjoy only the company of their best friends.

Aquarius

Positive Traits~ Friendly, Humanitarian, Intelligent, Creative, Independent (both emotionally and financially), Loyal. If an Aquarius gives his word, he will fulfil it for sure.

Negative Traits~ Unpredictable, Inconsistent, mood determines actions, Detached (Live and let live!), Stubborn, Aloof, Extremist (All or nothing!)

Pisces

Positive Traits~ Imaginative, Kind, Compassionate, Intuitive, Affectionate and gentle, Selfless. 

Negative Traits~ Escapist (uses scapegoats), Idealistic, Over-sensitive, 

Pessimistic, Lazy for things that don’t matter to them.

Thank you to everyone who took the quiz!! I think it’s kind of cool how we guessed the majority of our classmates’ signs. If you tied with another sign, is there something you learned about yourself? Do you think the other one makes sense?

Senioritis In Music

 Has anyone else felt like they are dragging their feet about school work? I know that I probably should not write this where our teacher is able to see it, but the difficulty of getting through homework especially seems to be 100x harder! I've gotten into two colleges and have applied to every college that I am going to. I feel like the rest of this year is not as important, even though my mind is saying that the end of the year is close, and I just have to maintain my grades.  

The real problem, however, is not the school stuff because we will all muddle through that. The problem is that the music that I listen to seems to remind me of high school being over! I know that that sounds weird (I have accepted that I am, in fact, eccentric {which is a nice way of saying weird}), but the song Rivers and Roads reminds me that we are almost done. The first line is "a year from now we'll all be gone, all my friends will move away," which reminds me of college. Another song that I have recently heard is Castle on the Hill by Ed Sheeran, which is a song about coming home (at least to me). I also have heard Yesterday by the Beatles recently, which Clara and I jokingly talked about singing at our senior chapel. Y'all, it's getting to me. If you have any "Senioritis Songs," please post them!   

I'm a French Horn Mom!

 Hey y'all, 

       Many of you probably already know that I got a mini French horn for Christmas, but if not, now you know! I absolutely love my "pocket French horn", as it was called on the website. It's sooooooo cute, and it actually plays! (The harmonics are a little different from the regular French horn, probably because it has 3 valves instead of 4, but I'm still its doting mother.) I first saw a mini French horn at AllState three years ago. AllState is a statewide music competition with two auditions that you have to get through in order to be accepted. Then you go up to Baton Rouge for a weekend and rehearse with your ensemble (symphonic band, orchestra, concert band, choir, and I think they also have a jazz band). It was always a super fun experience, not only because of the amazing pieces I got to play but because of the incredible people I met and the unforgettable experiences I had. (Lol two years ago, this chauvinistic French horn guy - not the one many of you know about; don't worry! - was rude to me the entire weekend, and then on the day of the concert when I was wearing my dress, he had the audacity to say,  "Somebody cleans up nice." Seriously?? He offered me his hand as I was walking down the risers, to deliver me from the certain doom that awaited if I dared traverse them without a man to protect me, but I refused it. I don't think I've ever felt so petty/spiteful in my life, but he deserved it. Anyway...) During our free time, there were exhibitions of cool band/orchestra products, and one of them was a mini French horn. I fell head over heels in love with it. 

       This year, even though AllState's been cancelled, I feel that I still got part of the AllState experience, since I have my mini French horn. I like to call myself a French horn mom, because I feel a deep connection to my French horn and my mini horn. The other day, my mini French horn's valves stopped moving, and I freaked out. I spent 30 minutes pouring an absurd amount of valve oil onto the rotors and into the slides before the valves started moving again, and it felt like I was nursing my own child back to health. I know, y'all think I'm crazy, which is quite possibly true, but what can I say? French horn runs in my blood. 

       I hope y'all enjoyed this weird rant about my "family." Please feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments. :) 

Love from 

Clara

Surprise...

Hey everyone, 

So I finished the surprise...it's a tiktok.

I mentioned it was a trend a while back. I'm not even sure if you can see it, but I didn't want to post it online without permission. If you can't see it, I might have to post it for like a week so everyone can watch it. It spent like an hour doing this, so even though it isn't the best, I tried. 

Anyway...here is the results of the "It Girl Song Poll."

 

I'm Done with My College Applications!

 Hey y'all, 

On Friday I submitted my last of 20 college applications. Yes, you read that right. I applied to 20 colleges, not including one conservatory. The process was exhausting. So many of the essays were similar to essays I had already written, but they either had a different word limit or a slightly different angle so that I had to rewrite a lot of my work. The annoying thing was that a lot of the prompts were something along the lines of "talk about an intellectual idea that interests you." My CommonApp essay was about the paradox of Schrodinger's Cat and how I apply that to my life every day, which is about as intellectual as you can get. Since I couldn't write the same essay twice, I got creative and wrote about epistasis (a non-Mendelian inheritance pattern), relativity, and time dilation. (Yep, it was a lot.) All of those topics are indeed interesting to me, but those essays took a lot of effort. Additionally, can I just mention the exorbitant fees that these colleges charge? They ranged from $70 to $125! Multiply the average of those (97.5) by 20 and you get a whopping $1,950. And that's not even including the fees of sending test scores! 

    I also had to upload several arts portfolios, which was a royal pain in the rear because the file size of my five-minute videos was invariably too long and I had to convert them or buy other software to upload them successfully. 

    I'll keep y'all posted if and when I get accepted. (So far I've been accepted to Colorado School of Mines.) I find out the majority of my admissions decisions on the same day, which should be interesting. Anyway, sorry for this long rant, but I hope y'all's application processes weren't as tedious as mine. I wish y'all the best of luck with y'all's college admissions. Feel free to commiserate or share y'all's experiences in the comments! 

Love from 

Clara

Ryn’s Netflix Pick 🍿

Dolly Parton Heartstrings: Jolene. First I would like to mention that I am a huge stand for all things Dolly Parton. If you feel the same then definitely watch Dumplin if you have an already it is one of the cutest films I’ve ever seen. Anyways Dolly Parton’s heartstrings is about an hour and a half each and it is a series based off of all of her songs. The most iconic being Jolene, and in my opinion also the best show so far. I have watched it four times already and it is almost as good as the song itself. If you haven’t listened to the song then I demand you watch it right now even if you don’t watch this show I will literally not speak to you if you do not listen to the song. I feel like I don’t need to explain the show as well because it is like I said based off of the song. I really like how she created an entire story out of the lyrics which if you did not know before were based on her own experiences with her husband. Not only is it a really good and addictive show but I feel like it is easy to relate with DollyAnd the characters within the show as it really displays a lot of the internal struggles women have with their self-respect and relationships. It is more empowering than I think you’d expect to end it really exemplifies the importance of feminism in the society we live in.

 

College Farewells

 

One thing but I've taken upon myself for my last year, is to write Journal logs for every single day of my senior year. I began in the middle of the summer and hope to finish the same day. Please Journal logs are not for me however as I write them or my parents. I love reading and watching videos about college life and one thing that I always noticed was they never spoke about home, which led me to wonder if I would think about home.  I was terrified that I would forget about it and I would become one of those college students who never contacted their parents or family just completely forgot about the entire place they were raised. I know now that they weren't talking about home because it would have been a weird thing to talk about to strangers on YouTube blogs but at the time I did not know that. So in order to make myself feel better and first force myself to always contact my parents once a day, I began writing Arby's journal entries for them. I figured I would give it to them when I left and every day if they wanted to they could read what happened to me that day. I know that it would be a year old source of news about what was going on in my life but I always loved the fact that every day I would get to tell my parents about what went on in my life and did not want to end that when I went off to college. Journal entries sometimes go as long as 5 paragraphs about my day and existential crisis that I sometimes have during them to a sentence about how I watch Netflix all day. I know they sound extremely boring and probably like the last thing my parents want to read about, but I like the thought that even if I do forget to call my parents one day because I am swamped with midterms; they can still look at my journal entry for that day and almost have a sense of familiarity. but who knows. My parents might not miss me at all. They may turn my room into a craft room and be okay with just one call week.  and I might be okay with calling my parents when day a week and not missing them or experiencing any form of homesickness imaginable. I'm not sure if that's the best outcome or the worst but either way it could happen. But right now I like the thought of writing out my day for my parents and having them be a part of my life even when I'm not with them. It's like the easiest way of saying goodbye knowing that I'm not really leaving them in any way shape or form except my physical being.

College college college college

 Hey lovelies,

All I’ve been talking about for the past three months is college. I mention it about five times every day and I’m worried that I’ve kind of been slacking in school because it feels like it’s almost over. I’ve been thinking about my roommate, how I’ll decorate my dorm, how I’ll make new friends, if I’ll like my teacher, and if it will live up to the hype. 

I just started buying things to decorate my dorm :). 

Here a link that I found really helpful that lists some unknown things you’ll need in your dorm (I had no idea):

https://www.collegeraptor.com/find-colleges/articles/tips-tools-advice/30-must-haves-for-surviving-college/

Here are some things I’m using to decorate my dorm :): 

How’re y’all decorating your dorms? Let me know!! 

Penguins of Madagascar Poll

(Heads up, I wrote this intro before we had the week online) So, I have kind of unofficially been adopted into the Hill advisory since mine is incredibly boring and half of the people are in quarantine. I don't know if I'm technically allowed to be in there, but I'm COVID free, I swear. Anyway, I was sitting in there and we got on the topic of the Penguins of Madagascar, arguably one of the best children's (it's good for adults too tbh) series out there. We began asking everyone we saw who their favorite penguin was, which got me thinking that I should write a poll for English to see not who everyone's favorite penguin is, but which penguin we think all of our classmates fit with personality wise. If you have not seen this show, 1) I feel sorry for you, you missed out, and 2) I will give you short descriptions of each penguin so you can have something to go off of when deciding. Poll is at the bottom.

Also, you may have seen that Hayes posted a poll about this to the whole school. I am not copying, this idea was formed together, I just wanted to do it here and in more detail instead of to the whole school.

Skipper

Skipper is the leader of the group. He is the one who comes up with all of the baselines for the plans, but doesn’t think too far ahead in terms of details or repercussions. He is the one that everyone looks up to, especially Private, the youngest penguin, so he holds a commanding presence and a personality that people naturally want to follow. He can be strict/stern, but this is only out of concern for his friends and wanting the best for them.

Kowalski

Kowalski is the brains, and fills in the details of the plan where Skipper can’t. He’s much more on the cautious side than his friends are, and is more hesitant to engage in their risky plans. He is very technologically inclined, and creates all of the gadgets needed for their adventures. Overall, Kowalski is very level headed, and the voice of reason within his group. Like Skipper, he wants the best for his friends, but instead of showing it by treating them like soldiers, he does his best to remove them from any dangerous situations and stop things before they go too far. Basically, the mom friend.

Rico

I… don’t really know what to say about this one. Kind of crazy, doesn’t talk much at all. Trigger happy, loves violence, and oh, can vomit out nuclear weapons at a second’s notice. I would say he is loyal, though. He may be a little insane, but he would do anything for his friends, and is always down for a crazy plan involving risks.

Private

The youngest and most naive of the bunch. Don’t mistake his nativity for stupidity, though; he just sees the best in people and wants the best for everyone, even if they’re not a very good person. He’s kind of the opposite of Kowalski; rather than the mom friend, Private is like the younger sibling that everyone feels the need to protect and shelter from life’s hardships. In Penguins of Madagascar: The Movie from 2014, Private is found by Skipper and the others when he is still in his egg, and they adopt him and raise him. Private is the one that everyone loves and has a natural instinct to protect. Also, he’s British for some reason.

Poll:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScBMB5cMyGjthZg3GVjZS7NUPdH25-mah3z10uiwWgtV1DjIQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

What are you planning on majoring in?

 Hi everyone!

I hope you guys are doing ok :) I was reading Abby’s post from Saturday where she was talking about how much she loves architecture, which I found pretty interesting because I wasn’t expecting that, but now that I think about it, it seems really fitting. I’m planning on majoring in Management, maybe minor in Finance. I want to get my MBA and then eventually work towards getting my executive MBA. What are y’all’s plans? 

Musical Musings (Courtesy of Leonard Berstein)

 Hey y'all! Over the weekend I participated in the virtual All-National Honor Ensembles (ANHE) Symphony Orchestra, and a trailblazing Texas band director gave a presentation in which she shared the following quote by Leonard Bernstein: "This will be our response to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before." This quote really resonated with me given everything that's happened recently. In this world filled with anger, strife, and hate, music is the only language in which you can only spread love. Music transcends all the tribulations and injustices that we are faced with in this life and helps us release our soul-crushing sadness or raging anger (or whichever negative emotion we'd like to relinquish). So I will continue practicing French horn until 3 am, not just for my own enjoyment, but to honor Leonard Bernstein's quote and hopefully bring some light into the world during this time of darkness. 

An Update

This blog might be long, so I'm apologizing in advance.

So much has happened in the past week. A week ago today, we went back to classes after 2 short weeks of Christmas Break, and had a basketball game with East Jeff, who gave us COVID. They were so aggressive. One girl was physically shoving my teammates around and knocking them to the floor, and the ref called nothing. It was ridiculous. On Tuesday, we went to basketball practice, and coach let us know that someone on their team tested positive for COVID, and played in the game. Because I missed practice the day before, I wasn't allowed to play in the game, and consequently didn't have to quarantine. But, Lydia had to quarantine, along with the rest of the team, and so since Tuesday, she's been at my mom's house and I have been at my dads, so as you can imagine, I miss her a lot. We haven't really called each other, so the only time we see each other is in French Class, and I feel so bad for Madame. We couldn't stop laughing the entire time. Lydia would say something funny, or do something stupid, and I would fall out of my chair laughing, which would make her laugh, which made me laugh even harder, which made her laugh even harder. 

Bentley and I are also starting a club focused towards educating people about women and our history, as well as giving girls at StM confidence as a group. The name is a work in progress but the faculty sponsor is none other than your's truly, Ms. King! I'm so excited to start this club. 

Two of my teachers are out sick with rona, Ms. Richards and Mr. Bahat. I miss my daily conversations with Ms. Richards! She accidentally slept through our class today (which, obviously, is forgivable). But because they're out, I'm having to teach myself calculus (I'll admit, I've not been paying attention in class, so that's on me.) and I'm worried I might have to teach myself bio, which, again, I really hope Ms. Richards can take the week off, because from what I've heard, she looked like she wanted to do anything else but teach today. 

Wednesday felt surreal. With the Capitol invasion and New Orleans announcing it will be moving into a modified Phase 1, I had a lot to get off my chest, so I ranted to Mrs. O'Flynn. 

Thursday and Friday were normal, I had basketball practice with 3 other people for an hour, so that was fun. 

I also hear back from my top school on Friday. I'm so nervous to see if I get in. It's Rhodes College, in Memphis, so my hopes aren't exactly high. While I really want to get in, I'm trying not to keep my hopes up so they don't shatter if I don't get in. 

I don't want to alarm anyone when I say this, but on top of everything, I'm not feeling 100%. I've been so tired since 8 pm, and when I looked at the time I thought "It must be 11!" I also have a runny nose and sore throat, and I've been ache-y from the shoulders up all day. I better not be sick, haha. 

Ask and You Shall Receive

 Hi there, 

Under my most recent post to this blog, Renee suggested that I give some detail on my new ~somebody~. I will be using this post to give a rundown of the basic information about him. I'll start of with some scientific style classifications...

Name: Nick (ironic, no?)

Age: 17 

Height: 6"0' 

Nationality: Canadian (where he currently lives...yeah this is long distance, oops) 

Region: Ontario 

Dogs: Murphy and Beau (ironic, again, no?)

That's really the only information I could put like that, so I'll type some other stuff out. He's vegetarian, like me, meaning we wouldn't have to worry about getting food at different places. He plays the guitar and draws (maybe I'll post one of his drawings of me? idk up to you guys). He wants to go into film studies; I'd like to add that watching him talk about it makes my day a little bit better just because of how passionate and excited he gets. He has two older sibling, also just like me. He's two days older than me (meaning he is also a Pisces) and has decided we now have the joint birthday of March 16th; he actually wants to come to New Orleans for the week of March 13-20th but COVID will more than likely keep that from happening. His other plan is to fly down for graduation, which sounds more realistic because of how things currently are. He's also very sweet and calm, which is exactly what I needed. 

Now, you may be asking yourself, "Rikki, how on earth did you meet this guy if he's all the way in Canada?!" The answer: Tiktok. I was scrolling through the app and he came on my page, so I followed him. I happened to be on the app once while he was live-streaming, and we started talking through the comments. He followed me back soon after that. He currently has 36.8k followers because, funnily enough, people think he looks like Draco Malfoy (although I don't see it much now). Because of this, he had a "Virtual Yule Ball" and asked me to be his date. I said yes because...how could I say no? After that night, we started talking to each other on Snapchat outside of the group chat that was created that night, and now we stay up all night Facetiming each other. Last night we went to bed at 3:30 am, which is 4:30 for him because of time zones. 

SOME of you on here have already found his account and commented under his posts (*cough cough Deryn, Adriana, Hunter, Catherine, Leven cough cough*). Don't worry, I'm not getting my hopes up because 1. he's 2,000 miles away and 2. we've only known each other for about a month, but so far, things are going really really well. Last night, we had our first really serious conversation about our families, our high school experiences, and specifics about our future plans. It was honestly nice explaining my past in my own words and not having someone that makes assumptions about me like here. It's refreshing. 

I'll keep you guys updated as much as you want, but I'd get if my renewed love life isn't very interesting. I'm just a little happy. 

And that's some of the basics. If you have any specific questions, maybe I can make a post answering them? I don't know, I know this is really odd to post about and not academic at ALL (sorry Ms King), but it's what the people asked for. 

Until then, 

The New Local Hopeless Romantic 

Drivers License

 Is it just me or is anyone else heavily invested in the love triangle between Olivia Rodrigo, Joshua Basset, and Sabrina Carpenter? Because it is all I am getting all the tea on tik tok and I am beginning to feel like I am supposed to be keeping up with all the drama. Like I didn't even know who these people were last week and now I have watched all of High School Musical the Musical The Show, followed all three people in Insta, and listened to drivers license on Apple Music like twenty times. 

Also for those of yall that don't know...

Olivia Rodrigo and Joshua Basset are the leads of the Disney show High School Musical the Musical The Show which is about this high school, that was the set of the first High School Musical series, having a High School Musical play to commemorate the movie series's anniversary. The two leads Olivia and Joshua never publically dated but there are tons of photos and evidence that they dated or were at least romantic with each other. After their suspected breakup earlier in 2020, however, Joshua has been spending all his time with Sabrina Carpenter, another Disney channel actress, and was even found going out on a date in LA. Olivia posts on Instagram with a shirt that says 'dumb him' during their date. Also, Joshua had posted a song called Anyone Else during this time which was suspected to be about Olivia, but when the music video came out people, believed the girl in the video was Sabrina Carpenter.  

Fast Forward

Olivia posts drivers license and the lyrics which have the words, "you're with that blonde girl that always made me doubt," causes everyone to go in a frenzy because it made fans assume it was referring to Sabrina Carpenter. This was also a big deal because that means that Joshua may have been involved with Sabrina while he was with Olivia. The song itself is also a major heartbreak tune that Olivia confesses is about her own personal experience on the day of getting her drivers license.

Then Olivia reposted all of her costars shoutouts from the song other than Joshua's (I don't know why he gave a shoutout in the first place tbh). Then Sabrina Carpenter's ex-boyfriend also gave the song a shoutout which leads fans to affirm their beliefs that Josh and Sabrina may have been together while both of them were still in their old relationships. 

That is all I know for now but I am now heavily invested in their drama and I don't even know if I care about any of the people involved. lmk what y'all think...

Ryn’s Netflix Pick 🍿

 Kim’s convenience. Very fast watch and easy to bing over three days After Schitts Creek, I found a show to be a close rebound. It is thoroughly entertaining at first but over time as you fall in love with the characters and get to know them better you will truly find yourself laughing. It describes a Korean Canadian family that owns a convenience store in Toronto and follows their lives as they deal with every day mundane struggles. Mr. Kim owns the show and his family are merely props. So good. So funny. Also lowkey had the tea...and did not see that coming.

Pretending to be passionate

 Hey lovelies,

I’ve been writing a lot of applications for financial aid over the break. My biggest problem is that they want me to talk about myself and my interests. I’m interested in a lot of things, but I’m not particularly passionate about any of them. I love music, so I’ve tried to talk about that with playing my different instruments, but I’m always making everything sound really dramatic. Music doesn’t exactly give me a sense of purpose in this cold cruel world but eh, sure iT dEfiNeS mE. I’m also, according to my applications, OBSESSED with architecture. It’s ALL I want to do with my life. My architectural style is particularly influenced by the designs of A. Hays Town (who I definitely didn’t just research the day the essay was due). A whole paragraph in that essay is just me flexing the new information I learned about him until I realized it sounded too research paper-y. Anyways, so apparently I’m well-rounded AND focused on a singular skill. Honestly I kind of wish I was more like essay-Abbie. She sounds like she’s got her shit together. 

Peace out my dudes,

Abbie 

Let me Explain this Reference...

Make America Great Again?

 Hey guys, 

I have already posted twice for this week, but I really would like to take the time to talk about the RIOTS (not protests) that took place on the 6th. What occurred that day was AN ATTACK on our country's democracy by so-called "patriots." This event was a blatant showcase of our nation's deep-rooted systematic racism, when only capitol police was put in place to protect these rioters, while at the peaceful BLM protest, there were national guards in full-gear attacking these protestors (keep in mind these protests only got violent when the police showed up and brought violence with them). What makes me the most angry is the response our "president" gave to these people... calling them "special people" and "true patriots." It wasn't til the next day, when Trump released a video on his twitter condemning the riots, while still calling them "fine people." These rioters are terrorists, who crave the need for a "revolution." Now it makes sense why these same people are still SO OBSESSED with the Civil War and to this day are carrying around confederate flags (like are you not embarrassed they literally lost). Also can we just talk about HOW CRAZY THESE RIOTERS LOOK?!?!? One guy who showed up at the capitol was literally wearing a shirt that said "6MWE", which means "6 million wasn't enough," referring to the Holocaust. These people are literal neo-nazis, who are so devout to Trump solely because he makes their beliefs (racism, sexism, homophobia) normalized! 

It is only the first week of 2021 and already I want this year to be over. Sometimes I feel like I'm living in an eternal reality show, and I am so goddamn tired of it. 

Hope you guys are staying safe.

Best,

Erica Ricci

Christmas Break/College Rant

 Hello my dears, 

I still have to make my surprise for you all that I promised before break. I procrastinated (so someone should get on me to actually do that). Sorry about that. 

I wanted to come here today to talk about college. I applied ED to Duke because it was a place I wanted to be for YEARS. Well, I didn't get in. I'll be honest, deep down I always told myself I wouldn't, but it obviously still hurt. I didn't cry for the first 15 minutes or so, simply just stating "I didn't get in" to my mom and going back to the video I was watching before. Then I sobbed and ate some creamed spinach that Hunter made for me while I watched some ghost show to distract myself. I felt numb for the rest of the night after eating, and honestly stayed that way for the majority of break. That's how I started off my break. 

I didn't get out of the house really. I stayed in bed, doing absolutely nothing. It honestly felt nice, like a good recharge. Looking back, not the best way to cope, but it's what I did. I was forced out of the house a few times but other than that I just sat around, convinced I failed my family. That was really what got me; I didn't disappoint myself, but them. I obviously have other choices for college, but it would've been so simple if I got into Duke. No worrying about arguing with my parents about California, no planning trips to Florida to visit the schools I was accepted to, none of that would have to happened. Now, it's something I'll have to deal with. I'm pushing it back for now since I won't get any more acceptance letters until March, and I'm glad for that because it's not something I want to deal with just yet (maybe just me continuing to procrastinate). 

In other, more personal news, I did have some good things happen over break. I met someone! Yeah, I know, not super important but it is for me and I'll tell you why. This is monumental. After my last relationship and train wreck that the breakup was, I was ready to be single for the rest of my youth because I simply couldn't deal with those emotions again. It caused me to push away a lot of people, even if they would've been good matches; I just wasn't ready. I needed to work on myself a lot and I was convinced that I would never would be done on the interior work. I didn't even find anyone attractive for a long time. Suddenly, over break, I found this guy and my first thought was "wow he's cute, I'll follow him." I was honestly surprised because it had been so long. I won't make you readers suffer through all of the details of the guy. I'll just say that I'm happy for now. 

Writing this out felt good, but now I'll turn it to you guys. How was everyones break? Relaxing? Did you get any good gifts for the holidays that stood out? Anything you wanna share (I'm making this a therapy group almost with this post)? 

Sincerely yours, 

the Princess of New Orleans (or at least that's what he calls me) 

i got into college!

Hi guys! I hope everyone had such a good break. I know we all needed that. I know for the past few months I have been seeing a lot of you post about your college acceptances and I'm so, so excited about all of them. I've never actually made my own blog post. I always just add on to what everyone says because I think I'm a little too shy for that. However, I wanted to make an exception and let you guys know that I'm going to NYU! NYU has seriously been my dream from the beginning. I hate to say this, but I just wasn't the most confident in myself that I'd get in, but maybe the manifestation and countless hours spent on my essay payed off. I don't know why, but I've always felt called to NYC. I would visit there routinely my sophomore year of high school and it was one of the only places that made me feel safe. I know that doesn't make a lot of sense considering it's a place filled with bright lights and busy streets, but I always felt like I belonged amongst the chaos. I still am not quite sure what I want to do with my life and I think that's okay. I just know I want to immerse myself in the arts and I think NYU is seemingly perfect for that. I'm sorry, I'm just so excited. My life has been a little crazy recently, but this gives me so much hope. I feel really grateful. I can't wait to be in a city filled with dreamers as dreaming is all I ever seem to do. Anyway, I really hope all of you get into your dream schools or a place you know you'll be so happy in. I don't really know how to end these, so I'm just going to say bye and have the best weekend. Oh, and Taylor Swift's new album Evermore is really, really great if any of you want to check it out:) Ok, I'm sorry, this is really me leaving now. 

        Love, Catherine