For most of us, it's still hard to believe we're seniors. It's the biggest cliche, but high school really does fly by. We're just beginning this last year at Dunbar, and I figured I'd share my thoughts about the college search, the new rules, and senior year.
The changes we (or at least I) have gone through in the past four years are unbelieveable. At first, high school seemed huge and scary, and now it feels like I might as well live here. The teachers, students, and coaches that have been with me along the way have affected me in ways I couldn't imagine. I've learned how to think for myself, how to do math that used to seem impossible, and to not be afraid to speak in front of people.
Senior year is way different than my first three years at Dunbar. For one thing, almost all my friends have graduated, and while I knew most of the upperclassmen, now I know almost no one in the grades below me. It's a weird feeling to see all my friends growing up and living on their own, making their own choices. Also, now that I know a lot of the teachers at Dunbar I understand them better, and they're less intimidating. Being a senior on the volleyball team is also amazing because not only do I love my team, I get to play with the other four amazing seniors and bond with them on and off the court. Also, I have a lighter schedule this year than I have before, so I don't feel overwhelmed with AP classes and homework and can enjoy myself outside of school instead of stressing out.
We just had a meeting with Ms. Long about the college search, and it's very intimidating. I still feel too young to be making such important decisions about my life. The scariest thing is, nobody can make this decision for me. I'm applying to about 10 schools, and assuming I get in to at least 7 or 8 of them, I'll have a lot of choices to make. The schools I'm looking at range from mid-sized to huge, and from ten minutes away to 12 hours. Most of them are good schools, but a few are ridiculously hard to get in to.
No matter where I end up next year, college is just the next adventure. I can't wait to live on my own and make my own decisions, but I'm in no hurry.
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Literary/Commercial Fiction
So, first post: We've set up this blog for AP english, and we're supposed to talk about what we've been doing in class. Right now we're still getting used to things, but one thing we read about was the difference between literary and commercial fiction.
Normally what I would have split those two categories into is "boring" and "actually good books" because even though I used to read all the time when I was little, I never cared about anything we read in English. But I think I'm starting to see the merit of literary fiction after doing my summer reading. The Art of Fielding was seriously a great book, and part of what made it great was its connection to life.
The book is about a baseball player who is underrated because of his size, but he works so hard and finally gets to play for some terrible D3 school in the middle of nowhere. And he loves it. Now, the main reason I'm not playing volleyball in college is because I refuse to go somewhere where sports don't matter. So I really respect him for wanting to succeed so badly he'll go anywhere, not that it was a bad choice. It's just different from what I would have done.
After he builds up some bulk and trains really hard, this baseball player ends up literally smashing up his friend's face with a throw, and it messes up his game pretty badly. He psychs himself out and begins to play horribly, right when he's starting to get noticed by scouts and coaches. The struggle he goes through is just painful to watch (you know... read) but it makes you cheer that much harder for him.
So even though this book was really good and had a great plot, I can also see that it has more value. The author didn't just write this book because he felt like telling a good story --- it took him nine years. He had a lot more planned out.
The moral of the story is: Literary fiction doesn't have to be boring (even though it sometimes is)
Normally what I would have split those two categories into is "boring" and "actually good books" because even though I used to read all the time when I was little, I never cared about anything we read in English. But I think I'm starting to see the merit of literary fiction after doing my summer reading. The Art of Fielding was seriously a great book, and part of what made it great was its connection to life.
The book is about a baseball player who is underrated because of his size, but he works so hard and finally gets to play for some terrible D3 school in the middle of nowhere. And he loves it. Now, the main reason I'm not playing volleyball in college is because I refuse to go somewhere where sports don't matter. So I really respect him for wanting to succeed so badly he'll go anywhere, not that it was a bad choice. It's just different from what I would have done.
After he builds up some bulk and trains really hard, this baseball player ends up literally smashing up his friend's face with a throw, and it messes up his game pretty badly. He psychs himself out and begins to play horribly, right when he's starting to get noticed by scouts and coaches. The struggle he goes through is just painful to watch (you know... read) but it makes you cheer that much harder for him.
So even though this book was really good and had a great plot, I can also see that it has more value. The author didn't just write this book because he felt like telling a good story --- it took him nine years. He had a lot more planned out.
The moral of the story is: Literary fiction doesn't have to be boring (even though it sometimes is)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)