Now let's roll around in mud

Have you ever wanted to see the world through someone else's eyes?

Would you settle for seeing my eye dissection lab instructions through the lens from a pig eye?

Close enough, right? 

Summer for a day

It was so nice out today-80 degrees! Funny to remember that it is still technically winter. But the weather was awesome for spring break. My sister and I were outside tanning today and my aunt walked by and was like, "What are you guys pretending it's Florida or something?" Lol. I do have a slight tan, which is good. No more of that pasty, sickly winter look. I'm ready for summer weather, though not ready for summer. I got to get my grades up for this second half of the semester and I intend to try really hard to do that. Also, even though I only made a couple friends at school, I'm going to miss them this summer. Plus this summer I'm going to have to spend more time preparing fecal floats and less time swimming in the lake. #PreVetProblems #HashtagsonBlogger

Are we there yet?

I recall a conversation from last year with a guy I know, Ryan, where I was like, "What's finals week like at real college? Because at Harper it's awesome because you're hardly in class and you get to sleep in." And Ryan was like, "Yeah, no, it's not like that at all." Then he walked away without telling me what it's like.  Well, now I'm finding out what it's like.

I think the final gods are cashing in on their karma on me because not only do I have 5 finals to take, but I also have 2 make-up tests from when I was sick (should have two-can't get a hold of one professor-only adding to my stress!). Not to mention, I'm still catching up on new material from when I was sick. In other words, I have no choice but to study ALL THE TIME.  It's funny because this whole semester I attributed my less-than-perfect first-semester-of-real-college grades to the fact that I don't really know how to study on a count of never really having to study before, but still was able to get good grades with my eyes closed and my hands tied behind my back. A problem that was only made worse by most of my Harper classes (with the exception of general chem 2 which may be the only class I despise more than my current physics class, measured by the amount it kills me and my brain). But as of a few days ago, I have been studying probably more than I have the whole semester. I definitely know how to study now. Speaking of which, I must get back to.  I can do this, right? 

PS. Is it ok to put off studying for physics by studying for other classes? It's still studying. 

Chicken troubles

Went to the poultry farm today in class. We got to hold baby chicks. They had just hatched this morning. They were soooo cute and so soft. After picking that little guy up, all I could do was smile because he was just so adorable and it made my day. I was so happy, I had to tone down my smile lest my classmates think I'm uncool. But then my little chick started to be a little frustrating. He started pecking at me. Then he kept of turning around. He buried his head in my hand, then pecked at it some more. Then he was chirping really loudly. Then he kept trying to get away. I was the only person in my group who couldn't keep control of their chick. How embarrassing! And as all this was going on, I was supposed to be listening to a guy who was teaching us about the baby chicks, but I was too busy trying to keep mine from jumping out of my hands! Meanwhile the kid behind me said his chick fell asleep in his hand. How fricken cute is that?! Too cute too handle! Mine pooped on my hand.

The dead deer is staring at me

When I walked into the zoology classroom on Tuesday, I expected most of my classmates to be there already because I was running a little late, but I wasn't expecting the fine displays of taxidermy stuck on the walls. The only reasons I could think of, of why they were there were 1. The professor thought some decorative touches would spruce the place up and get us in the mood to learn about animals 2. They are there to teach us about animals or 3. They are there to teach us what happens when you don't do your homework.

There are also some live permanent members of the class consisting of fish, frogs, snakes, and tarantulas.They must not be very good students to have been there for all these years. It's like that Spanish-speaking girl who was in my Spanish class, but failed.

We also learned some interesting facts about animals that day. Like there is a kind of millipede that when it gets old can wrap itself in a cocoon and come out young again.  And that most animals spend most of their time inactive and conserving energy. Proving once more how well I fit in with all my animal friends.

If all that weren't enough to convince the students how interesting the class was going to be then the various videos such as the one of the six male frogs all jumping on one female frog, the one of the male seal protecting his harem, or the one of the female praying mantis eating the male during coitus, sure were. Well, I'm hooked anyway (insert fish reference?).

Harper and I spend too much time together

I had a speech today. It was really bad. It got to a point where I was willing to take the grade cut just to end it even though I was probably under the time limit, but it had to be stopped. Afterwards, I was still trying to be optimisstic because after all it was over and that was my last speech. Unitl I got to math and realized I left all my math stuff at home. Including the homework that I had spent a majority of the day before doing. I probably forgot it because I was more concerned this morning about having the stuff for my speech. The speech which, by the way, I didn't have time to practice because I was doing math homework!
I can't believe I still have another two weeks of this school shit.

PS. I gave up on that whole "how to get good grades while being lazy" stuff. It was a bad idea for blogging. If you really want more advice on that... too bad.

You should take notes on this

1.The best time to study for tests is 5-10 minutes before the actual test. You don't want to spend hours and hours the night before to learn something you only need to know for one more hour of your life. So, you study a few minutes before and it will all be fresh in your mind. And if you forget it afterward, who cares, because it is probably something you are never going to need to know again. Except maybe for the final.

2. Be original. This is the easiest way to an "A" paper. All you have to do is have an original/creative point to argue. This allows you to write about whatever the hell you want, even if there's a prompt. It also makes it more interesting for the teacher to read and it will stand out more in his or her mind so he or she will automatically be more inclined to score it higher. All of which  add up to give you more flexibility in the minimum page requirement. You could spend that time you would have spent writing that final page doing something more important, like watching that episode of House you missed two weeks ago. The only catch is that you can't write like a dumbass. Know what you're talking about- is all I'm saying.

Kicking school's ass while you sit on yours

You have two options with school: work hard and get good grades or slack off and get average or bad grades. The only way around this is if you are smart. But even if you are not smart, you can still slack off and get good grades if you know how, because lets face it, school is important to you, but you have better things to do.

I look at school like a game. While you can't cheat (well, you can but it's frowned upon), you can use some tricks that I have learned. I am actually amazed how well these have worked out for me. Just recently I got back my lit midterm paper. I wrote this paper the night before it was due, on a piece of literature I found hard to understand (Chaucer), and it was only 3 1/2 pages despite the minimum requirement being 5. My professor liked it and I got an A. It doesn't get any better than that.

So, my next few posts I will be sharing these with you (they require explanation) so you can be as awesomely lazy as I am.

*Disclaimer: Does not guarantee success. May not be suitable for all classes such as honors or AP. Not recommended for overachievers.

A box of rocks

Kidnapped. Hands tied, duct taped mouth, thrown into a locked basement in some remote location. Who? The nerd in me. That's right, Harper abducted the side of  me who wanted to do well in school. Oh sure, sometimes I would hear the screams, but they just got ignored.

It's amusing to me because I'm pretty sure my lit professor thinks I'm an idiot. She said something about her honor's English class today and I thought she would probably laugh if she knew an honor's program application was sitting in my dresser right now.

Of course, that could prove I'm actually not that smart after all, seeing as the application has not been filled out yet.

Maybe that will change. Someone let the nerd out (on a leash) and now Saturday is my designated homework day. I plan to spend the whole day working on school stuff (admittedly most of which was put off from before). Perhaps my lit paper will be so good that it will change my professor's mind. Yeah, probably not. But I'm past the point of wanting to impress people. I can be dumb if I want to.

Hell week

My brother used to refer to band camp week as "hell week." It was the week before school started and it was dedicated to sweating in the hot sun learning music and formations. It was hard at times, but it was also fun, so I never thought "hell week" was appropriate.

This week, however; is the week before finals at school. I have about a million and one things to do. If something causes me to go crazy; it's going to be this week. I'm going to actually have to put forth effort and do homework because everything is due this week or the beginning of next week.

Don't get me wrong though, I'm still gonna be on Facebook and MLIA. If there's one thing I learned in high school it was how to be lazy and productive at the same time.

The death and resurrection of senior year

Today, I finally decided to go through that big stack of papers from last school year. I do this every year to separate the garbage, papers I want to keep, and things that can be recycled (because I'm so green- that's the thing now to be "green").

Going through these papers was like going through last year again. It was kind of teary for me. Last year, was actually a fun year school-wise. Yes, I had to wake-up early for bio, but I learned so much and I found it interesting (most of the time- I did fall asleep once). Talked to my friends even when the teacher was talking, my lab table somehow managed to mess-up every single lab, drank(/drowned) in the fire hydrant of knowledge, got called a "bio hero" on a quiz I did well on- I'm gonna miss this. And psych too- never a dull moment, there was always some random conversation going on, sometimes psych related sometimes not. Calc was a piece of pi (ha), and now that I think about it there was always some random conversation going on here too except the teacher was in it. Even the not-so-great classes were memorable- I will never forget how freezing my survey classroom was, or my lit teacher when discussing the paternity of two characters saying, "she did 'em both!" AP Spanish was kind of hellish, but I'm such a good student I managed to kick ass in that class too.

I'm gonna miss high school.

Senioritis can be a good thing

I can totally feel the senioritis trying to overtake me. Last year, I totally did not believe it. I just thought the seniors were being lazy and stupid, but all of a sudden- bam! It's second semester and it hits you. First semester, it was there, but it was weak. I was able to overpower it. Now it's stronger than ever. It's harder to resist, but I have something to help me- a little fact called, "you need to get good grades because you have to send your transcript to your college at the end of the school year." That motivator is what kept me going. Others though, did not have that motivation because my class rank percentage went from 12.4 to 11- so- boo ya! So, you see, senioritis can be a good thing- as long as it's not happening to you.

Things I'm going to fail tomorrow...

bio quiz, english paper, survey test, and math quiz

This is what I get from not studying and spending the whole evening wasting time on the computer. Maybe I should just give up on school. It's not for me. Well, at least homework isn't. I think school would be a lot better if it wasn't for homework. I think it would make school about 1000 times more enjoyable if we didn't have any homework ever. If we do that and get rid of quizzes (because having quizzes and tests is just a waste of time), kids might actually enjoy learning.

Essays, enzymes, and makeovers

So nothing all that exciting has happened recently which is bad because 1. nothing exciting has happened and 2. it gives me nothing to blog about. I could tell the story of how my dad set the church parking lot on fire, but even that's getting old. Pretty much, I've just been sleeping, doing homework, and studying (go head, ask me about enzymes).

My English teacher read my paper out loud to the class on Friday. It was kind of embarrassing, but it was the first time I got a A plus on a paper in years. I would find a way to attach to my blog so you could read it, but the final draft is only saved on my other computer and it would take way too much effort to go get it.

So the other day, I was researching hair and make-up tips on the Internet. I found a video, "How to blow dry naturally wavy hair" and I've tried twice to get my hair to look like the girl on the video, but no matter what I do, my hair does whatever it wants-then looks like crap. I also watched "How to look older:Make-up" because I'm sick of people thinking I'm 13 years old. So, if I come to school tomorrow with freaky make-up it's because I did it wrong. Just warning you.

I hate school already

My school messed up my schedule! It doesn't even start for another week and I'm already mad at them. Not that I wouldn't mind not taking a math class, but it's kind of important. I was supposed to be in a different science class too- one with my friends. I don't have any good teachers either! UGH!

Does anyone share my feelings?

I am soooooooooooo dreading school.

I can't think of a stupid title. Get over it.

I have just read the first chapter to one of three books I have to read for school, and with only one real week of summer left, I'd say I'm doing pretty good. Nah, that's a bunch of crap. How am I supposed to read these books when all I want to do is play stupid games on the Internet? I have a problem. I really do. I want someone to take this computer away from me, but I think if they did I would die(or go crazy). Or I might just be able to get my life back just in time for school. Nah. I'd die.

It's pretty messed up how my summer has been. I've done absolutely nothing except complain about how boring it is, but now I don't want it to end. I may not have a life, but staying up til 3 am watching dumb TV shows, sleeping in til 1, then going on the computer for the rest of the day- is boring. But it's a hell of a lot more fun than school.

I'm just going to try to enjoy my last week while practicing my flute and reading two (long) books. And between the Internet and the TV I just don't think I can handle it all! See? I need help. Ugh.

My expert fashion advice-#1

Sometimes I like to consider myself somewhat of a fashion expert. I really have no support to back that up except the fact that I've been a huge What Not To Wear fan since junior high. If you look at me you probably wouldn't think I know a lot about fashion. Lucky for me you can't see the Mickey Mouse necklace I'm wearing right now. Just because I don't implement the latest fashion trends on myself however, does not mean I lack fashion sense. I have learned much from Stacy and Clinton.

The reason I bring this up is because next year my school is requiring us to wear our IDs around our necks. We are getting school-issued lanyards to do so. The problem I have with this is it will totally clash with every outfit. Kids won't even have a reason to get dressed anymore. What's the point in buying awesome school clothes to show off to everybody if a white card with your ugly face is in the way, distracting the attention from your outfit.

This is why I'd like to propose ID wristbands. I understand they would have to be pretty think wristbands in order to accommodate the ID, which is not suitable for all body types, but overall, I think we will be better off. The wristbands would consist of clear, flexible plastic with fabric on both ends. There could be different fabrics, in different colors so there would be one to match with every outfit. There could even be blank ones that students could decorate themselves which would promote individuality.

It's true that we could just make different colored lanyards, but the distraction factor would still be there. The lanyard would also not be flattering for every kind of shirt. Whether the shirt be a scoop-neck, v-neck, wrap, halter, or even sweatshirt- the lanyard will not go with it. The wristband is a more subtle way to help with the safety of the school. Plus, it could be quite the money-making scheme if carried out correctly.

Oh That Place We Call School...

So last week at my school, there was a rumor of a bomb threat. It wasn't a real a bomb threat, just a rumor, but in light of all the violence that has been happening recently in schools, my school took it pretty seriously. 3rd period the principal announced a lock down, but my friends and I were in the cafeteria so we couldn't hear it. So my friends left halfway through the period to go to the band room like they always do. So they left the cafeteria, despite the lock down, to find a swarm of police officers, and they quickly returned. At this point, we had no idea what was going on. Like two seconds after they returned to our table, the assistant principal and some other important looking dude read us the announcement that the principal said. It pretty much said, "There's an unsubstantiated bomb threat. We're going in lock down. Go back to your second period class." So we trudged back to our second period class- for me it was Spanish. On our way teachers were yelling at us to get to our classes cuz we were a little late since we were in the cafeteria. A few minutes later the principal gets on the intercom again to announce that the police will be searching our school with bomb-sniffing dogs and that we'll have to remain in lock down for two hours. Two hours in Spanish class! Now that's cruel and unusual punishment. Two hours and I had to go to the bathroom.

In the end it turned out ok. My class watched You-Tube videos. Afterwards I ran to the bathroom, but there was a line! OMG!

That was last week. On Wednesday, about 10 minutes before the end of the school day the principal comes on the intercom with a lovely announcement. "A threat has been found...blah blah blah...school will not be closed...police will be present... no off-campus...everyone can only enter through one door...this message is online" Well I was kind of relieved because I thought he was going to say we were going to have a lock down which would mean I'd be stuck in math class for who knows how long. I thought the one-door thing was stupid, but no big deal. That afternoon, my brother goes online to read my mom the announcement and I hear him saying that the school is going to be searching backpacks tomorrow. How unfair! He didn't say that before. It made me mad that they were keeping information from us.

The next day as everyone enters the building we were greeted by police and administrators. They stared us down and we walked past and I said loudly to my sister(so they could hear) "Well, this is creepy." Now, I was already pissed, but during my first period class, my teacher informs us that all except for the corner bathrooms are locked and we are not allowed to leave the classroom at all. In my next class, I find out from the teacher that teachers going to start to have to wear ID all the time and eventually the students will too. I also find out that the threat which was written in a boy's bathroom, was not actually until tomorrow. Oh Joy. During lunch, they were only letting people go to the bathroom one at a time, through one door, while teachers guarded the other doors. My friends had to ask a teacher to escort them to the band room. This other girl I know was in the auditorium for fashion show practice and they wouldn't let her go to the cafeteria to eat lunch. My dance teacher said she let a girl get a drink from a water fountain, which is right next to the dance room, and they were like freaking out calling the police on her. It was such a great day with police all around the school and not being allowed to go to the bathroom.

So this today, everything was the same. As me, a friend, and my driver's teacher were walking out to drive, I was telling my teacher how much this whole thing sucked. We walked right past a group of like six police officers and I hope they heard me.

This whole thing really sucks. I hate not being able to go to the bathroom. I hate not being able to leave the cafeteria to go to the library. I hate having the police watching us as we go about our day. But most of all I hate this fear I have now that I'm going to get killed in school. My school has always been so awesome, but now I hate it. Every Friday, we have spirit day where you're supposed to wear red and/or school shirts- well I saw hardly any red clothing today, but I was seeing red.