Cross that off my list

Do you have any clue how expensive hair is? I paid, well, my mom gave me most of the money, but I paid $80 for hair that will only be in for a month tops. I was going to just get clip in hair extensions, but believe it or not, they cost more than the stuff you glue in.
So, on Sunday May 24th, I will be going to Taylor and having my cousin dye my hair and glue the extensions in. She said they will stay in close to a month, but I don't know if I want them in for graduation. I am very picky about pictures, and I think that if I look back, I wont like that my appearance was altered so much.
Anyways, I am not really telling anyone in my prom group about them, or many people at school in general. So when I show up that Next Monday, I think some people's mouths will drop.
Not that many people from school read my blog, so I think it's safe to leak a picture of what they are going to look like. They wont be so thick though.

So all I have left to buy is a $50 ticket, a flower thing for my date. I also have to have $20 for my cousin, and $15 for my aunt when she does my hair on the day of prom.
As for nails, they're just a waste.

With only 24 days of high school left, things like mock elections, announcement pickups, and many other things are starting to happen. After spending well over an hour counting today, I know that I am in the running for Worst Ride. These two things will be my legacy at Franklin. I am starting to see this graduation process as a bitter sweet thing.
I will have a great summer with friends, but many of them are moving away for college next year. And it's weird to think that I wont be seeing these same people on a daily basis, even the orange girls with white blonde hair. I will sort of miss laughing at them.
Anyways, college is becoming more of a realistic thing, and less of a fantasy. I got my placement scores in for math, and got placed in pre-calculus. I have decided to dodge that bullet and take intermediate algebra. Should be fun.
When it comes to my money issues, they are becoming, well, less of an issue. Due to five A's and one B on my latest report cards, mother has agreed to purchase my hair extensions. Woo.

Lets Talk Money

Expenses of senior year:
In the next two months I will need to save up well over $200 for these senior year essentials:

1. Prom ticket
2. Prom hairstyling
   
3. ^Hair extensions ^
   
4. Senior all night party ticket
5. Perhaps a Cedar Point ticket
6. Car insurance...

So, I'm kind of screwed. Luckily, if I don't bring up money issues with the mother, she wont remember I owe her car insurance. Woo!

A Month and Some Change

Top picture: What we do in class... instead of work.

Bottom picture: Where we go when we skip class, Hines!

Let's see. One month, and two weeks? A month and a half. 33 days of school. One card marking.

Who knew this part of the year would come so fast? Our teachers did. They told us on the first day of classes in September. "All you seniors, this year is going to fly by." Of course we didn't believe them. This year was sure to drag on, even slower than the previous 3.

Now, our teachers are sending the same message, only adding a few extra notes to the end. "A month and a half left, then you are done. I know it's going to be hard, but you have to keep going, keep trying, till the very end." They tell us this, because, at Franklin seniors are notorious for coming back from spring break and going crazy. Senioritis kicks in.

The main symptoms of senioritis include procrastination, lack of motivation, a drop in academic performance, and "coasting". I experienced these symptoms already, but unlike many seniors, it was in the beginning of the year. My class schedule was 4 ridiculously easy classes, and 2 challenging ones. The easy ones; Community service, LMC work, student leadership, and debate, I had no problem keeping A's and high B's in those classes, but the hard ones; physics, and pre calculus were a struggle to maintain a C average.

Getting a high B first marking period in physics, I believed that trying wasn't something I needed to do anymore. Instead, I would talk to my friends, read, text, and joke around with my teacher all hour. I also didn't pass a single test with higher than a 69% during the second card marking. And I ended up failing my final also.

My teacher, Mr. Britton, didn't have much to say about it other than, "Well you always look happy in class." So I promised I would do better second semester, and I have. I have kept an A in the class for this whole marking period. Therefore proving; senioritis may have it's affects, but only if you let it.

Pre calculus was a different story. I did decent first marking period, scraping by with a low B on the report card, and actually doing better than most my friends. Then we started unit circles. I even recently found a journal entry I had written on day in student leadership, the hour before pre calculus. It read:

"5th hour is the easiest. Run passes, sit around doing homework,
or taking a nap on the couch. Today I attempted to teach myself
about unit circles. And by attempted, I mean I opened my book
and screamed out in fear.
Pre Calc, 6th hour, is the downfall of my day. I do work hard, I
can hardly maintain a C. But senior year has taken over, and I
only want to skip classes. And that my friend is why I am teaching
myself about the unit circle. Because I have skipped the past 3
days of calc.
Back to the scary unit circle."

In all truth, I did skip a lot of pre calc. The fact that it was 6th hour didn't help any. Once I started doing bad, I decided I'd rather drive around and skip class than sit and be told things, told, not taught. My head refused to absorb anything further when it came to calculus. So in the end I failed that card marking, and truly believe that Mr. Mills only gave me a 60% on the final so I would still get credit for taking his class.

This semester has been easy, although I would say my courses are a bit more challenging. Literature appreciation, keeps me reading. Research techniques, keeps my writing. Statistics, keeps me thinking. Physics, makes me apply all my math skills I have acquired in high school. Sociology, I am always doing some kind of project. And Community service, keeps me helping others, which I love to do.

I am hoping the 5 A's and high B I earned on this card marking will bring my GPA back up to a 3.1. But yesterday, I could feel the senioritis kicking back into my system. All hour in research, me and some of my friends talked about the most random things. So I really need to focus. I have 5 finals this semester, assuming I will be exempt from my statistics final because I meet the senior requirements needed to excuse yourself from any math final. 2 of the 5, I could do them now if I wanted. And I think I might get started on one today. Community service. Make a portfolio, considering I still have last semesters, it shouldn't be that hard.

But, I think senioritis is in me to stay. Because, as they say: The only cure for senioritis, is graduation.


Important Dates (in my life at least):
April 28th - Blocking dance rehearsal.
May 27th - Prom!
June 2nd - Last day of classes/ physics, research, and lit. appreciation finals.
June 3rd - Senior breakfast, cap and gown pick up, commencement rehearsal, and senior's "Final walk" (basically, we all walk through the halls, following Big Willy, our fearless leader. He sees it as the seniors saying goodbye to Franklin's halls. We see it as our chance to laugh at the underclassmen, because they are stuck there for at least another year).
June 5th - Commencements and senior all night party.
June 6th - My cousins baby shower, where I will be eating and sleeping due to the lack of.
June 10th - Freshman orientation /: uh oh.
June 12th - Dance recital.
June 19th - Mothers graduation party.
June 26th - Fathers graduation party.

Then I get to rest.
Now, it isn't often that I actually stay on topic and go so in depth in a single blog. So enjoy.

Personal Goals

Over break, as I said, I went through many of my older pieces of writing.
I have come to realize one thing, I get distracted easily if I don't set a reasonable goal for myself.
I've been telling myself that I need to write a full on novel before even entering a college scene, well that thought is rather intimidating. So, I decided to start a new project. One with a more realistic finish line.
I don't know why, but something in my mind keeps telling me that I should try to write something that could be published, and that people deserve to read.

Five short stories, a solid goal.
Five short stories, from one page, to 50, it doesn't really matter.
Five short stories, each inspired by a picture my sister has taken during her last three years of college.
Ready. Set. Write.

Florida

Florida was great, warm and all. I would go into detail, but I think it would be rude to describe the wonderfulness of it all. I will say one thing, it was an awfully long week, and I missed home after the first few days.
Never being to the ocean before made our first day at the beach an amazing experience. Too bad every day after that there were jelly fish all over the shore line. I guess one even washed over my shoulder when I was swimming.
Me and Alex played a ton of rummy, well over 100 games. We also watched many movies, and stole the minivan once to go to the grocery store. But there were a few points where boredom took over, so I finally took on the task of reading, and organizing the random documents in the folder on my desktop labeled "Writings". It was easy to see that my writing has gone up in maturity and skill.
Anyways, there were about 100 pieces. Over half of which were poems. I also found a folder of songs that I have recorded.
All in all, it was a great vacation. I'd say the only downside to the whole trip was the long ride home, and the fact that I missed so many Tigers games in a single week.
I will put up a couple pictures. But most are up on Facebook.