Senior Reflection #3

I think the craziest thing in the last few months that's taken place has been my desperate search to find a roommate.  After making the decision to go to UVA, which was done pretty early in terms of most people deciding where to go, I posted on the UVA female roommate page in hopes of finding a completely normal girl who was also willing to room with me despite my tv show addiction haha.  Lemme tell ya, it's not that easy! I was talking to two girls at once and they ended up both getting roommates before I had a chance to even ask them! As I kept discussing my options with my friends, the whole process kept sounding more and more like a dating website than finding a roommate.  Finding a roommate that actually ends up being exactly as they say they are is also the constant struggle.  I've heard so many roommate horror stories...in addition to hearing the recent story about the heart/brain eating roommate and watching the movie The Roomate that I am now completely terrified of what I'll get.  But never fear, with all the luck in the world, my girl Jackie will hopefully be completely normal! Can't wait to see! Wish me luck!

Senior Reflection #2

  I think the absolute most memorable part of this year was the entire college process.  When this year began, I was dead set on getting into UNC Chapel Hill.  I worked my butt off and tried really hard and I really believed I had a chance to make it.  I ended up applying to UNC, UVA, Tech, JMU, Villanova, Notre Dame, and University of Pennsylvania.  It was definitely a process I do not want to go through again.  I think if I handed my dad one more essay to look over he never would have talked to me again.  I think all the schools must conspire against us diligent applicants, because I tell you not one single prompt was the same for any of my applications.  Go figure.  Not to say some of them weren't fun to write - because they were, my personal favorite being what's your favorite word and why, courtesy of UVA. However, I'm not going to lie, I personally was not a huge fan of UVA when the whole process began.  I really didn't want to end up there and I was dreading it a little bit.  Oh, but how the tides changed.  One day, I took a day trip down to UVA with Kaija for Days on the Lawn, and it was there that I realized the true potential of UVA.  Being a particularly superstitious person...the signs were all laid out for me.  We passed a Chik fil A and got free coffee and chicken biscuits on the way down.  There was no traffic along the way.  The campus was in full bloom, especially the Rotunda.  The sky was a bright clear blue and the leaves were waving in an almost-welcoming fashion.  The second we started walking on campus, I saw an Australian Shepherd puppy, coincidentally, the same type of dog I was looking into buying just a few measly days beforehand.  We happened to be there on the same day as one of my best friends from middle school who I hadn't seen in ages.  But, what really did it for me was the second I stepped into the commerce school seminar.  I had never in my life felt that a place was so perfect for me until that moment.  It was then and there that I made my decision, despite my pending UNC decision and despite everything else.  It was clear then and even clearer now, and I can't wait!

Senior Reflection #1

This weekend really just made me realize how quickly this year is all coming to a close.  I hosted my grad party on Saturday, and sitting, surrounded by all my family and friends, it really made me appreciate how much I have and have to be grateful for.  I'm so blessed to have gotten the opportunity to go to school at Herndon High School.  Ive had some of the best teachers I could ever ask for and an excellent academic experience.  I feel satisfied that I've done as well as I could these last four years and it's on to college with the only regret being leaving all the great times and people behind.  Not only have I had an excellent academic experience herrrrr at Herndon but I've also met the greatest people! I love my friends, and I'm so glad to be able to say that three of my closest friends will be coming with me next year! It's been a crazy year, but I'm pretty glad to say the work part at least is coming to a close. Shoutout to all the teachers, friends, parents and all others who've been there to support me these last four years.  Endless appreciation to you!

Current Event #4

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/06/03/passenger-plane-crashes-in-nigeria-largest-city/

A commercial airliner crashed into a three-story apartment building in Nigeria this week.  Claiming to the tower to have engine troubles about five minutes before landing, the plane crashed and killed all 153 passengers and completely destroyed the apartment building.  The police couldn't stop the thousands of people from getting near the crash site, and fire trucks, few as there were, weren't able to get into the area in order to the put out the fire.  The fire continued to burn for over three hours after the crash.  President Goodluck Jonathan has declared three days of national mourning.  This crash is the worst that Nigeria has seen thus far. It became very apparent how poor Nigeria's infrastructure is by the poor rescue efforts.  The true cause of the accident still remains unknown.

I picked this article because I thought the relation to one of our countries that we studied this year was cool and also because disasters like that are horrible and I wanted to know why it happened.  I thought the article was very well-written.  It was very informative and I learned a lot about the event.  I didn't enjoy hearing about the terrible accident, so no I didn't enjoy the article very much, but I did appreciate the ties to our curriculum this year.

Current Event #3

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-naked-face-eating-attack-20120529,0,2974308.story

Last week in Miami, a naked man, apparently hopped up on LSD made with bath salts, was found eating the face off of another man.  After the policemen who found the man told him to stop repeatedly, the man, Rudy Eugene, turned and growled at the officer.  In order to save the life of Eugene's victim, a 65 year old homeless man, the policeman shot Eugene.  It took at least four shots to bring him down.  People all over the country are calling this the beginning of the Zombie Apocalypse as several stories of cannibalistic behavior have been surfacing across the country, apparently due to this particular type of LSD.  People are still in shock at the events that have passed, and Eugene's family continues to claim that he was a nice boy and must have been drugged to make him commit this type of act. 

I picked this article because I've been hearing about the story for several days now from friends and I wanted to learn more about what happened and why.  The story kind of freaks me out.  The article was decently well-written and one of the most descriptive articles I read on the topic.  I didn't particularly enjoy the article because the idea of cannibilism freaks me out, but reading about psychotic people makes me appreciate my own life so much more.