(Pictured above: me, the first day of my freshman year, 2019)

        As this is my final blog post, I struggled to find an idea that felt good enough. As much as I am excited to graduate, there are a lot of things I’ll miss- the writing center being a big one. So, as my parting gift, I will be writing down the things I wish I had learned four years ago.

• The noodles and rice stand in the cafeteria? Way better than anything else in the cafeteria, and it always has the shortest line. On the topic of the cafeteria- bring your idea. As silly as it may seem, it makes the line a little faster for those behind you.
• Fashion is a construct. The people who seem the most fashionable and stylish are the ones who wear it with confidence. High school is the time to wear crazy outfits!
• Just because you’re struggling in a class does not make you a bad student. We all have different learning styles. It’s okay to make mistakes. It’s okay to fail.
• Try new things. Things that scare the shit out of you. Things you will never want to do again afterwards. But things that you will never wonder again if you should try them.
• BE LOUD. Stop toning yourself down to be palatable to your classmates. But unfiltered and truly yourself. Advocate for your voice to be heard, and for you to be respected. Never back down.
• You’re probably not going to keep your friend group from freshman year. And that is not a bad thing. It is okay to drift apart and change.
• It’s also okay to have barely any friends. Being alone is underrated. You are the best friend you could ever have.
• “This too shall pass” – Everything will change in due time. Everything will be okay. Do your best. That is all that matters.

It has been a strange four years. But I could not be happier with my time. I am so proud of the time I shaved my head, or when I auditioned for a play even though I was scared, or when I made a mistake. And then another mistake. And another after that. I have screwed up thousands of times. And I can’t wait to screw up even more next year.

Like many other writing center interns, I am entering my last month of high school. To me, this is crazy and I am unable to wrap my head around this. However, the part of my brain that wants to complete any schoolwork at all, has completely disappeared. So instead of writing the blog I was planning to write, I decided that I would try to help myself and others by brainstorming ways to get work done during this last month of school.

1. Timelapse yourself doing work: Time lapses are a method I used  all the time when I was younger, because there is nothing more satisfying than watching a time lapse of somebody writing down aesthetic looking notes. Also, when filming a time lapse I was forced to get off of my phone so I could film the video. When filming this time lapse, I am also not able to find other stupid ways to get distracted by as then it will make my time lapse look bad.
2. Make a pretend Youtube video about your productivity: Similar to the time lapse idea, it is always easier to be productive when you have an audience (real or fake) that you have to constantly update about your progress. When you don’t want to disappoint someone it can be a good motivator to be productive. When I am not working with someone else, I’ll sometimes pretend that I am in a Youtube video as a way to force myself to continue to have work so that I can update my imaginary viewers.
3. Make doing work aesthetic: When I think of studying, I think of Rory Gilmore. Gilmore Girls has been a comfort show for me for years, and I always wanted to be Rory Gilmore. While I no longer want to be her, I would like to have her study habits. Sometimes when I need to study I will put on a Rory Gilmore study music playlist, grab a drink, and try to put myself in her mindset.
4. Making studying a game: While I don’t suggest this method to be used often, the one time I did use it I found it very successful. As a competitive person I used my competitiveness against myself. I chose one night, where I didn’t have anything super important for the next day, and challenged myself to see how much homework I could get done in one night. I drank tons of caffeine and stayed up as long as I could, in a battle to get my work done. I prepared for this by going to sleep early the night before too. While one might say that I could do my homework and go to bed earlier if I spread it out between the days, my senioritis refused to listen to reason. When I challenged myself to get as much work done as possible, I was actually much more productive than I thought I would be. However, this challenge does come with added exhaustion the next day.

Even if you aren’t a huge Taylor Swift fan, everyone knows that she just kicked off her new tour, the Eras Tour. 

Not only does Taylor do a mini set for each of her ten albums, except for her debut self-titled album, every show she performs two songs acoustically, one playing guitar and one playing piano. Each time she sings a surprise song, she will never perform it again on this tour… unless she makes a mistake during that song.

Some of the songs I would do anything to hear have sadly already been played, but here are my top five songs left that I NEED to hear! Disclaimer: I will be extremely happy no matter what songs I hear, and even though I would love to hear these five, I would go so hard to any song!

“Sparks Fly” from “Speak Now” 

Sadly, Taylor only plays one song, “Enchanted,” from that album, and it is by far the most nostalgic album to me. The Speak Now Tour was my first concert ever, at the ripe age of 6 with my mom in 2011. This song opened that tour, and I still clearly remember her coming up from under the stage in that gold, sparkly dress, so I would immediately start sobbing if I heard it come on.

“You Are in Love” from “1989” 

I love, love, love the 1989 album, and every person I meet agrees that I give off 1989 vibes the most. This song is just super dreamy and beautiful, and to hear it live seems like it would be an out of body experience. Especially on the echo-y part in the chorus. I need to hear this song.

“Paris” from “Midnights” 

This song is just so fun, and I am already imagining hearing her play it without the production and just a guitar. It just sounds like an incredible song to dance and sing my heart out to, and I would love to hear it.

“Cornelia Street” from “Lover”

New York City is my favorite place of all time, and every time I end up there for whatever reason, I make it a big deal to visit her old apartment on Cornelia St. that inspired this song! The song is so emotional, and I live for the live version from her Lover Paris concert where she played the song acoustically. 

And last but certainly not least, “Picture to Burn” from “Taylor Swift”

I would love to hear a song from her debut album so, so, so much! I have heard a few from the two times I have seen her before on the Speak Now Tour and the Reputation Stadium Tour, but this album is just so special and nostalgic to me, and to every Swiftie everywhere! And this song is hilarious and such a banger, especially if she plays the original version (iykyk [winky face emoji])

 

As a senior with approximately 20 days left of school, summer is one of the next big things to look forward to. My workload is becoming lighter, the days are becoming longer, and the overall temperature is becoming warmer. To be quite honest, I don’t think I have ever been so excited for a summer before. I won’t have any school work to do, and I get to spend this last summer at home doing whatever I want with my friends and family. I’m a little afraid that my expectations are way too high for this summer, and that is why I have come up with a list of things I have to do this summer in order to ensure I have at least a little bit of fun. Without any further ado, here are some of the things that I am planning on doing in order to make the most of summer 2023.

1. Spending time with friends – It breaks my heart to think that some of the faces I’ve seen everyday for, well, the last two years I might never seen again. So this summer, I intend to spend as much time as I can with all of my friends from high school.
2. Spending time with family – I’m leaving my sister behind next year, and I owe it to her to make sure she has an awesome summer too. (OK, I promise only these first two were sad, now onto the fun stuff!)
3. Reading – I’ve always enjoyed reading and these past couple of months, with the lighter workload, I’ve had the opportunity to read a lot more! If you have any book recommendations, I would love to hear them!
4. Picking Strawberries – I don’t think I have picked strawberries since I was eight, which is such a shame, because strawberries are my favorite fruit! Fresh strawberries taste so good. I also really want to go blueberry picking but strawberry picking takes first priority!
5. Baking – Using my freshly picked berries, I hope to bake all kinds of pies and cakes. I used to bake a lot and I honestly find it so relaxing to just pipe frosting on cupcakes for hours.
6. French Horn – Over two years ago I stopped playing the french horn. I had started playing the french horn immediately after 4th grade and LOVED it. I miss searching for the perfect solo piece, mastering note after note, and affixing my embouchure to play in impossibly high keys.
7. Painting – This isn’t really something that I ever stopped doing, but rather something that I stopped enjoying so much. With all the pressure I felt in art class, I didn’t quite have the same artistic inspiration that I’ve had in the past. Hopefully, with all of the freedom that comes with summer, I will be able to paint whatever I want, whenever I want!
8. Roller blading – I’ve always liked roller blading, and I think its time for another go. I also want to go biking a lot this summer!
9. Packing for college – Unlike my older sister, I plan to start my packing BEFORE the night before I leave for college.
10. Enjoying boredom – I haven’t been bored in sooo long. With all the work I always feel I have to do, I never have a chance to become bored. This summer I want to kick back, relax, and revel in the consuming, numb irritation of boredom.

This is my current bucket list, and I would love more ideas, so let me know if you have any fun summer activities that I should add to it!