A letter? To my future self? Oh no. Okay, let's see what I come up with.
Dear 30-Year Old Self,
Hi. Nice to meet you (does that even make sense?). So I'm currently in a classroom typing up a blog post for English class. Mostly wondering what on Earth I'll even be doing in thirty years. A lot of things I guess, but I'm mostly wondering about what I'll be doing job wise. When I was kid (But you probably already know this right? Doesn't matter, I'll say it anyway.) I wanted to be a lawyer, an author, or a scientist. Not sure what I what to do at this point, honestly. But I digress.
Currently I'm in ninth grade. I just moved to Park City this summer after finishing the six (five?) month long trip. It's only December, and we came back in August, but I'm already getting the travel bug again. At the moment I really want to go to Bhutan (and manyyyyyyy other places). I saw it on an episode of a travel show (Expedition Unknown) a month or so ago, and now I reallllllllllllllllllllly want to go. It's got the cultural factors of Laos and the nature of Nepal (some of my favorite countries in Asia). Oh, look, I'm digressing again (I notice a theme).
Okay, what else do I have to tell you...um...well it's Christmas in a couple days. I asked for mostly stuff to redo my room with, like cute wall hangings and a new comforter for my bed. And...um....I also asked for candy....
Well, here's something. I still in Junior High (!!!!!). Apparently here ninth grade is part of junior high, or at least it's on that campus. STILL bitter.
I feel really stupid now. I've spent a while trying to come up with something interesting to write about, THEN I REALIZED THAT I HAVE SPENT HALF THE YEAR TRAVELING THE WORLD SO YEAH I THINK I PROBABLY HAVE AN INTERESTING STORY THERE SOMEWHERE.
Hmm.............what stressful story should I write about? Oh, I know. So about halfway through the trip, we were flying back to America for one week in order to attend my uncle's wedding. Our plan was to fly from Grenada (a town in Spain) to Paris one afternoon, and the following day to fly from Paris to Salt Lake City. Great. Well we walked into the Grenada airport and immediately saw that our Paris flight had been canceled (great).
Our parents were running around trying to find a way to get to America in time, while my brother, sister and I sat down on the airport floor (which was suspiciously wet) next to the plugs (you learn to appreciate any power charge when you are traveling 24/7--also we are spoiled twenty first century children).
In the end the five of us squeezed into a small (and I mean small) rental car and drove to Madrid. We had to wake up the next morning and catch a flight to New York. From New York we had a plane to Salt Lake City. Our travel was somewhat complicated by all the security issues we encountered though. I was flagged for extra security (apparently I'm super suspicious--unclear why) which meant I had to take the longer line, and also wait for twenty minutes while they looked through all of my possessions (when I say all, I really do mean all--remember our trip was about six months long).
More information about this little mishap can be found here. At the time, all any of us wanted was to get to America, but honestly, part of me is glad it happened. It's a fun story :)
So anyway, it's been an eventful year for me, probably one of my favorite years of my life. So yeah. Bye thirty year old me.
~Kate (age 14)
Thursday, December 20, 2018
Wednesday, December 5, 2018
The Magic of Rants (And Writing...Again)
I don't hate school as much as I could. That's not to say that I'm skipping to school every morning, but most of the time I have mostly positive feelings toward it. Of course, that changes when I have a huge project coming or something. I tend to get stressed out easily.
And there is one thing that I really hate about school. For most of my life, I've had standards based grading. If you don't know, that's a grading system some schools use instead of the traditional ABC grades. A one is the lowest grade, and a four the highest. But four is "above and beyond," while a three is grade level. For all of my schooling years, except fifth grade, I've had standards based grading.
Now when I say I hate standards based grading, I mean that one hundred percent.
Everyone acts like it's some magic remedy or something, but it's insane. I have grown up with it, so I'm not just saying this because I'm ignorant or I don't like the change. I simply find the system ridiculous and counterproductive. For one thing, it's so subjective. A four to one teacher is a three to another. Most of the students get mixed messages as to what a three even means. Is it supposed to be a good thing or a bad thing? And in the system my school uses, they translate our number grades into a percentage letter grade. So a three (which is supposed to be grade level) is a 75%, or a B. Are you telling us that grade level is 75%?? That we can only get full credit if we do more than you told us to do? It's ridiculous.
Once I got a 3.5 on a test, which is technically above grade level. One would think I'd get at least 100% for that. But no, I got an 88%, which actually brought my grade down. What?
I honestly don't understand why people think this method is so important. How is it helping? It makes me more stressed about school, rather than the other way around.
Okay, so maybe I've ranted more than strictly necessary. If you know me well at all, you know I'm a big person for rants. I rant over text, in person, and now, apparently, on a blog.
I think that's part of the reason I like writing so much. It's like a ranting canvas. Even if I'm not the one saying the words, a character I've made is. I've noticed over the years that things that annoy me tend to become themes in my stories.
The thing I'm realizing as I write this blog, is that I have very few hobbies (well, at least it's an eye opener, right?). I read and write, but what about when I'm really stressed out? I play with my dog, Rugby. Or try to get my family to play a board game or something. I talk to my friends. I listen to music, maybe go for a run.
I think maybe the thing I really take refuge in is writing after all. It's not like my stories are going anywhere, and very few people have ever read them. But it's kind of a great feeling, having a world in your head. I get to make up events, characters, whatever. I know I talk about writing a lot, but I guess that's because it's pretty much my only hobby. Whenever someone gives me an opportunity to talk about them I launch in, talking non-stop. I suppose I take pride in them after all. There's satisfaction in pulling everything together, weaving storylines and finishing a story or series. When I'm not in a very good mood, I'll admit that I pull one of my stories up on my phone and start to read.
Is that silly? Maybe. Probably. I don't know. But I like it. Even though sometimes a poorly written line makes me groan, there's always pride in knowing that I typed every word. I crafted every person and line of dialogue.
And there is one thing that I really hate about school. For most of my life, I've had standards based grading. If you don't know, that's a grading system some schools use instead of the traditional ABC grades. A one is the lowest grade, and a four the highest. But four is "above and beyond," while a three is grade level. For all of my schooling years, except fifth grade, I've had standards based grading.
Now when I say I hate standards based grading, I mean that one hundred percent.
Everyone acts like it's some magic remedy or something, but it's insane. I have grown up with it, so I'm not just saying this because I'm ignorant or I don't like the change. I simply find the system ridiculous and counterproductive. For one thing, it's so subjective. A four to one teacher is a three to another. Most of the students get mixed messages as to what a three even means. Is it supposed to be a good thing or a bad thing? And in the system my school uses, they translate our number grades into a percentage letter grade. So a three (which is supposed to be grade level) is a 75%, or a B. Are you telling us that grade level is 75%?? That we can only get full credit if we do more than you told us to do? It's ridiculous.
Once I got a 3.5 on a test, which is technically above grade level. One would think I'd get at least 100% for that. But no, I got an 88%, which actually brought my grade down. What?
I honestly don't understand why people think this method is so important. How is it helping? It makes me more stressed about school, rather than the other way around.
Okay, so maybe I've ranted more than strictly necessary. If you know me well at all, you know I'm a big person for rants. I rant over text, in person, and now, apparently, on a blog.
I think that's part of the reason I like writing so much. It's like a ranting canvas. Even if I'm not the one saying the words, a character I've made is. I've noticed over the years that things that annoy me tend to become themes in my stories.
The thing I'm realizing as I write this blog, is that I have very few hobbies (well, at least it's an eye opener, right?). I read and write, but what about when I'm really stressed out? I play with my dog, Rugby. Or try to get my family to play a board game or something. I talk to my friends. I listen to music, maybe go for a run.
I think maybe the thing I really take refuge in is writing after all. It's not like my stories are going anywhere, and very few people have ever read them. But it's kind of a great feeling, having a world in your head. I get to make up events, characters, whatever. I know I talk about writing a lot, but I guess that's because it's pretty much my only hobby. Whenever someone gives me an opportunity to talk about them I launch in, talking non-stop. I suppose I take pride in them after all. There's satisfaction in pulling everything together, weaving storylines and finishing a story or series. When I'm not in a very good mood, I'll admit that I pull one of my stories up on my phone and start to read.
Is that silly? Maybe. Probably. I don't know. But I like it. Even though sometimes a poorly written line makes me groan, there's always pride in knowing that I typed every word. I crafted every person and line of dialogue.
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