6. Zebras 2024

The pavement is scorching. I step out of my mom’s beat-up Honda, the one we spent all spring repairing. I look around the dystopian nightmare of a gas station we’ve just stopped at.  As one does on these road trip stops, I start analyzing my surroundings. I wander across bathroom graffiti. I wonder, "Why did someone click off a Sharpie cap just to write,  '*Insert name* wuz here'? At least be creative!" It’s the same reason why I collected bottle caps, and why I kept clothes I’ve outgrown.  I think part of that was because I moved around a lot. Sometimes we cling to a semblance of something to feel like it is still there. I suppose that’s why we write stories as well.     I mean, isn't all of art a reason to say, to prove, “I was here.” As we near the end of this school year, I realized it’s not a bad thing to be sentimental. Looking at everyone’s collages, I see pieces of lives lining Mrs. Smith’s classroom like books lining a shelf—stories in guitar picks...

I can’t wait for this school year to end. Can you? All I’ve ever associated with this school year is agony and misery. Every day I fought for my life in each of my classes, hoping that it would come to an end. But every time I found some solace, whether it be during winter break or spring break, I missed that energy. The adrenaline-inducing rush I felt every time I came to class became an addiction. I think I’ll probably miss this class the most. While it was arguably the most difficult class I’ve ever taken, it was fun. The version of me writing three timed essays a week at the beginning of school would say otherwise, but who can blame him? The more time I spent in English, the more I realized how important the class was. When essays and tests weren’t thrown in my face, I had genuine laughs and made several memories I’ll never forget. One thing that hit me while I wrote this was the fact that this is my last blog post. When I first started this class, I’m sure like others, I saw this ...

  We’ve made it. The end of the school year. There are a little less than two weeks left in the  school year. It is crazy to me that the school year is ending, Winter Break felt like it was only a month ago.  From the beginning of the school year to now I have made a ton of memories, good and bad. I still vividly remember the first day of school, how it was really hot, and how weird it felt to be an upperclassmen. I remember the first few assignments for this class, the poem and the getting to you know flipgrid. I remember thinking “this is not so bad, maybe this class is not as hard as people make it out to be,” (boy was I wrong).   I also made a lot more memories this year than previous years. I remember going back to Bakersfield after years, and remembering all the things little three year old me used to do. I remember my trip to Washington over spring break, marking the first time I traveled outside of California in over ten years. I remember the first thing...

Dear blogmates, So we're finally at the last blog. It's kind of sad, isn't it?  It makes me think about how so many things are coming to an end for me.  Not to be excessively sappy, but I realized how quickly time slips out of our hands without us even realizing it. I think that song from Mamma Mia is right. “Slipping through my fingers, all the time.”  It’s never hit me as hard as right now mostly because this is the year where everything changes for me. It’s the last year that I perform in theatre with my friends who are seniors. It’s my last year at American. It’s my last year in high school.  You’re wondering what I mean but really I’ll just be at Ohlone next year, which isn’t too far. And yes I’ll still return to carry out my commitment to the theatre (not that anyone was wondering) so I’ll still be around but it’s that feeling that I think I’m afraid of losing.  Instead, I’m being pulled into limbo by a feeling that I’ll no longer have any time to be sill...

 Let's End It Off With a Bang! Well, guys. Looks like we made it.  As of the time that I am writing this, there are 15 school days left of school and only 2 days left till we finally finish our Apeng exam that we have been building toward for the past year. Are you excited? We are going to be seniors! I am excited because I have always thought I would make a great older sister-type character to our underclassmen. But other than junior year what else is ending? This is also our last blog post. This is also the last year we have before we apply to colleges. This is also the last year before most of us will be adults. This is also the last year that we will all probably be in the same class. I’m already feeling the nostalgia that comes with the end of the year and while I am excited, I am also a bit sad to see it all go. Going in, I was so nervous for junior year because of all of the horror stories that I heard from other seniors and juniors and I must say that junior year was d...

It was a rainy day. Saturday, May 4th, 2024. Most of you probably remember what you did that day seeing how it was about four days ago. Or eleven since you'll be reading this a week after I wrote this. Maybe you may have even forgotten what you did on that day. But not me. That day will be with me for the rest of my high school life at the very least. Now the weather wasn't notable besides it being windy and rainy and freezing cold. I went to my friends' track meet, not really expecting much but still looking forward to it. I should have been studying for my AP Chemistry exam that was in two days on Monday. Most of you guys were probably studying for your respective exams. But I decided not to, electing to go some track meet that I wasn't even part of. Not the best decision. Or so I thought initially. But spending that day, under a tent, practically freezing to death, but still laughing and having fun with my friends as we all fended off the rain will be a core memory o...

39,998,160 minutes starting. 8,409,600 have already been used. Say you have 24 chips. Let us take away 6 from sleep. Now you have 18. It is a weekday. Take away 8 chips from school. 10 chips left over. 10 hours of doing what you want to do. Oh, wait, you sacrifice those chips eating, showing, doing chorus, studying. How many do you have left? Time is limited. A roll of film. It flows like a ribbon in the wind. Every image is a moment from your life. Some images are as clear as the reflections from the ocean that project the beauty of the sky. Some have never got any maintenance. Those films are blurry at best. And a few are completely cut off. Holes in your memory. This roll of film seems to extend to an infinite space. Seems . But this roll of film has a beginning and an end. It is not forever. In your hand, you hold a digital camera. Storage: 39,998,160 pictures - 8,409,600 pictures used. You bring the camera everywhere. Your best friends’ smiles, laughs, antics are all captured. Ev...

Over the weekend, I went to prom. As we took pictures outside Lake Chalet, my phone storage displayed a message stating that my storage was full. I have about 10,000 photos on my phone, and each represents a different memory or phase of my life. As I sat down on Sunday to clear my photos which I no longer needed, I was reminded of all of my past memories, from the places I have been to the people I was with. As I scrolled through my camera roll, each photo triggered a flood of memories, taking me back in time to moments I had nearly forgotten. There were photos of family vacations, childhood birthdays, and late night adventures with my friends. Each image was a piece of my personal history, a visual diary documenting the evolution of my life. Some photos brought tears to my eyes, like the one with my grandmother when my brother was born. Others made me smile, like the silly selfies and 0.5 photos taken of my best friend. But amidst the nostalgia, there were also moments of reflecti...

  The Tosses That Matter The time has finally arrived for the final blog. I feel like this should focus on something that is important to me. Something that has truly impacted me throughout the school year. If you have known me for a while, you would be aware that I do color guard. I even mentioned it in my introduction video during the beginning of the year. For my final blog, I want to focus on my memories with guard since I only have one more year to enjoy it in high school .  As you are reading this, you either have or have no idea what color guard is. Color guard, during fall season or first semester of a school year, is a section of the marching band that provides visuals like the pretty pops of colors. In guard, you are able to toss 6ft flags, rifles, and sabres. These are obviously dangerous to toss but with guard we were able to learn the safeties needed to be able to deal with such equipment.  "Discovery Bay Studios." Throughout my junior year, I was so worried ...