Hafta/Wanna

Two Articles Being Discussed:
My High School Hoax
Committing to Play for a College, Then Starting 9th Grade

I believe that life during high school is pretty darn easy. I mean sure it may be stressful, wondering where you will end up and trying to get plans locked down, but it is easy. You're dependent on your parents now, even if you have your own job, I doubt you are paying all of your bills. I don't think there will be a time in my life where I have to work less hard than I do now. This doesn't scare me, this excites me, I can't wait for the time when my normal efforts aren't good enough and I am challenged. I think one of the things that makes college difficult is the fact that you are not being forced to go to class or study. The curriculum is definitely more difficult, but I believe many people struggle when they get the freedom to do what they want. I believe most people will continue their habits after they graduate, but it all depends on the person and what they want in life. Many people will get a wake up call when they realize that they are not going down the path they want to be on. This changes people fairly quickly. I for one have a difficult time balancing the things I want to do against the things I have to do. As you will see by the time I post this blog entry, I have procrastinated my homework severely. I'd much rather go play tennis, hang out with a friend or play video games after school. Before I know it, it is 10:30 at night. I believe this has become habitual and I do need to change it before the end of high school. I will be living unsupervised next year and need to be able to bring it upon myself to get my work done early and have fun later. I WILL WORK ON IT!!!

Spring Vocabulary #3

apostate- person who renounces a religious or political belief.

effusive- expressing feelings of pleasure or approval in a heartfelt manner.

impasse- a situation in which no progress is possible.
euphoria- feeling or state of intense excitement and happiness.
lugubrious- looking/sounding sad or dismal.
bravado- show of boldness intended to intimidate.
consensus- general agreement.
dichotomy- contrast between two things that are opposed or entirely different.
constrict- to make narrower.
gothic- belonging to the Dark Ages, potentially gloom or horrifying.
punctilio- fine/petty point of conduct or procedure.
metamorphosis- process of transformation, immature->mature.
raconteur- person who tells anecdotes in a skillful way.
sine qua non- an essential condition.
quixotic- exceedingly idealistic.
vendetta- seeking of vengeance.
non sequitur- a statement that does not logically follow the prior statement.
mystique- fascinating aura of mystery, awe, and power surrounding someone or something.
quagmire- soft, boggy area of land.
parlous- full of danger or uncertainty. 

Senior Project

As discussed in class today, Dr. Preston plans to allow us to decide what we want to do for the rest of the year. This will all accumulate and form our senior project. He wants us to work on something we are passionate about, but it is hard to find passion. I mean I know where I want to go in life, but at this point I don't know how much I could do to help me get there. I'd like to prepare for my college major, Computer Science. I could learn different coding languages, but I don't know how helpful it would be to sporadically learn these things. But, my attitude is to not knock it before you try it. If there is a way that I can incorporate my plans for the future into my senior English course, then I am all for it. How could I "hack" the rest of my year to help me form a better knowledge of coding/programming before I get slammed in the face by it at college?

Spring Vocabulary #2

Accoutrements- equips/outfits
Apogee- the point in the orbit of a satellite furthest from the earth
Apropos- with reference to
Bicker- to engage in petty squabbling
Coalesce- to grow or come together
Contretemps- inopportune or embarrassing occurrence
Convolution- a tortuous winding or twisting together
Cull- to gather
Disparate- completely distinct
Dogmatic- marked by an authoritarian, arrogant assertion of principles
Licentious- immoral
Mete- to deal out
Noxious- injurious to health/morals
Polemic- a controversy, argument, or refutation
Populous- populated heavily
Probity- integrity
Repartee- swift, witty reply
Supervene- to occur as something unexpected
Truncate- to shorten by cutting off end or top
Unimpeachable- beyond doubt or question

Vocabulary # 1 Performance Review

We had our first vocabulary quiz of the semester today and I received a 9/10 on it. The one question I did miss was just a silly mistake that I should not have made. I like the vocab that we are learning this semester more than the vocab we learned last semester. I still knew most of the words prior to getting the list, but the words were definitely more challenging and it was a step in the right direction.

A Choice

At the end of freshman year, I had to make an important choice. I was playing freshman baseball at the time and I love playing that sport. My grades were slipping right out from under me, however. I made the decision at the end of the season that I would not continue to play the sport anymore as it was too time consuming and I needed to focus on school. I believe if I was more mature at the time I would have been able to balance the sport and school but I was not. This was an emotional choice. It was one of the sports that I had grown up playing and watching. I always saw myself playing it in high school, but it just didn't end up working out. I look back at it now and realize that I made the correct choice, but man was it a tough decision. I do really miss playing baseball, but I think that the negative of playing outweighs the positive for me.  

Spring Vocabulary #1

adumbrate- to report or represent in an outline
apotheosis- highest point in the development of something
ascetic- characterized or alluding to the practice of severe self-discipline
bauble- a small, showy trinket
beguile- to charm or enchant
burgeon- begin to grow or increase rapidly
complement- something that completes or makes a whole of something else
contumacious- stubbornly or willfully disobedient 
curmudgeon- bad tempered or surly person
didactic- intended to teach

Hacking My Education

As I grow closer and closer to the end of the semester and the end of my high school career, I yearn to be prepared for what may lie ahead. I plan on going straight into a 4 year college in August 2014 and I want to be ready when and if that time comes. As a former professor and P.H.D. recipient, you (Dr. Preston) know what it takes to succeed at the next level. If it would be possible, this is what I want to focus the rest of my senior year on. Some people may be wanting to relax and ride the rest of the year out easy, but I know that if I work harder at preparing for college now, college will be easier. I'd like suggestions on how I could make this work on a blog. Anyway, I LOVE to learn about anything so whatever we as a class do for the rest of the semester I will be cool with.

2nd Semester

"The rest of our lives starts right... NOW"

LET'S MAKE THIS SEMESTER MUCH BETTER THAN LAST!!!