A Time for Reflection

This year in AP Lang has been one like no other. This class has changed the way many of us will look at everything in the future. It has also forced us to think about our futures. To look forward. To think about where you want to be in 5, 10, 15, even 50 years. I've no doubt that we're a mixed group: some may end up as doctors, or politicians, or mechanics, or in the military, or teaching, or running a small business, or researchers and scientists, or even selling cars. We'll see some of us travel overseas and explore the world, while others may choose to stay close to home. We all have our different paths, and we all must go our separate ways.

We've got one year left before the huge proverbial fork in the road. And for me, that's a bit overwhelming. We're just about three-quarters done with high school. Three quarters. It's gone by really fast.

Just remember, in 5 or 10 or 15 or even 50 years, remember this class. Remember each other. What we choose to do now, and how we act, will affect our memories of Westmont forever. 

Remember the ones who were always prepared for everything. Who read everything, and I mean everything. The ones who you could count on to do any extra credit opportunity offered. Those who ate up the words like they were free samples at Costco.

Don't ever forget those who were unprepared. I for one was 'unprepared' on numerous occasions, and it's safe to say that a lot of my classmates were, too. 

In the beginning, I was uncertain as to whether or not this class would be right for me, or for anyone, really.

I can honestly say that this class is right for anyone. The material is not too difficult, once you understand it. And Pinza was excellent at making it interesting enough to make me want to understand. Unfortunately, those teachers that make the students actually want to learn if they didn't already are few and far between. 

Take AP Lang. You won't regret it. 

Spring Break

It's almost 11:00 on the first Friday night of Spring Break, and a blog is due within the hour. I have absolutely no idea what to write about. All I have right now is a headache, a chili dog, and an extra large glass of milk. Here goes.

Last weekend, my beloved mother crashed her brand new bike the second time riding it. She managed to fracture her collarbone. While most people who break this bone snap it in the middle, not her: She somehow broke it towards the very end of the bone. As such, it was not healing naturally: One part of her shoulder was pulling the broken piece down, while another ligament or tendon or something was pulling the other piece up. 

She left the hospital after surgery at about 5:00 and has been just kind of sitting in the living room watching TV since. I mean, what else is there for her to do? She got two pins and a screw put in to keep it in place. 

This whole ordeal has served to remind me that I am not invincible. Nobody is. People who treat their bodies as if they are tend to be on the more severe side of the idiot/asshat spectrum. (I see that a lot riding my bike to school every day - idiots darting in and out of traffic on their 'fixies'. If the cars don't harm them, their knees will sure regret all of this in another thirty years. Fixed gear bikes are just terrible for knees.)

Anyways, mortality.

"We are like butterflies who flutter for a day and think it's forever." -Carl Sagan, 'Cosmos'

We each only have a limited amount of time on this planet. That's kind of been an underlying theme of this blog for the past few weeks. People often forget this, so spend your time wisely. Have a good time. Go for a walk in the rain. Stop and smell the roses. Jump off of the high dive. Enjoy yourself and be yourself, because you are literally the only one in the universe that can do that. 

And don't forget to smile at anyone who tells you these things are not as equally important as a career. I find it interesting that we have a career project, yet few teachers ever tell us to smile and enjoy ourselves. 

Westmont Swimming and Diving 2013

I've been swimming for most of my life, and for the past two years I worked over the summer at Westgate Cabana Club as a lifeguard and swim instructor. In a perfect world, I would be able to support myself entirely in the future on just this simple pair of jobs. But the world is not perfect: We find our values in how much we earn. We are told to get a degree that will pay well. Unfortunately, these fields that make a lot of money are, naturally, very competitive.

What I want is a line of study that I honestly enjoy - one that I can apply to the real world. People always say "Get a business degree!", but that does not interest me. What interests me is language. Communication is the basis of conscious; it is what makes humans so unique. I want to be able to communicate with as many people as possible, and to travel to foreign homelands just so that I may understand what it means to be a human, and not just the Californian Gringo I was raised as. I want to learn as many languages as possible. I've made a promise to myself: I want to be able to speak five more languages besides English by the time I'm 30. I've started on Spanish. This leads to the other Latin-based French and Italian. Additionally, I would love to hold a conversation in both Russian and German.

I have to go to a school that emphasizes communication. Without communication we are alone.

Sans Title

Swim season has begun, which has put quite a limit on my amount of free time. I come home from school at around 5:15 and am left with no inclination to do anything. Perhaps that is why I missed last blog cycle.

Regardless, this post is supposed to make up for it.

Last week, I was chosen to be the captain of the swim team, along with a fellow swimmer I've known and swam with for the greater majority of my life.

Looking at my history involved in endurance and performance sports, it only seems logical to do some thinking about sports in my future. Another subject I've taken an interest in is exercise physiology and kinesiology (that is, the study of motion in the body, as well as chemical processes that are necessary for motion.). I was lucky enough to visit San Jose State University's Exercise Physiology department with a number of other students from Westmont as part of our AP Biology class.

One of our students put on numerous sensors and ran as hard and as fast as she could in accordance to the protocol used for a VO2 Max test, or Volume of Oxygen gas in the lungs. Essentially, it is a precise way to measure lung capacity and to evaluate how efficient the body is at absorbing the oxygen.

I wish to develop a further understanding of how the body works from day to day. Because hey, that's what life is: motion.