District Chorus

District Chorus Audititons were yesterday. Lets just say its interesting, even moreso than counties. What happens at these auditions is there are between 150-300 people in each of 8 voice parts. These people all have two songs to sing for four judges and once that process is over, each voice part is narrowed to 30 people who go on to the finals. The judges accept 25 people for each part, so once you make the finals, all you need to do is beat 5 other people to go on to districts and regionals. From our school, Ryan Wise, Alex Bailor, Becky Guldin, and myself made it to finals. This was a really big accomplishment considering we typically only take one or two. When it all came down to it, Alex and Becky felt really good about their auditions and Ryan and I did not. Alex made it with flying colors; he actually got 5th in the district. Becky made it too, as well as Ryan. I did not. I was so upset! I made it through the prelims which was so much harder than only having to beat 5 people and I got so nervous I don't even think they could understand what I was trying to say. What a day. grrrrr

Flavor Volcano

I just ate a Flavor Volcano. It consisted of habanero sauce, soy sauce, two green olives, a bummy bear, and sweet southern blue tea. It was absolutely nauseating and I wanted to vomit. In fact I was doubled over above a trash can. That's pretty bad. It was supposed to teach me about the parts of my tongue and what types of foods they relate to, but it just taught me to hate all of the above foods. This isnt really an entry, I already have more than enough. Bye!!

Psychology Class

I enjoy the topics we study in my psychology class. I am a people person and a leader so it is good to think about why people do the things they do. However, the class is very difficult. If you pay attention and do your work, you will get a good grade. But many students slack off and don't do their work and then complain to me. You might ask "why?" My dad is my teacher. This makes things very awkward. For example, we have a project due today and I procrastinate. Last night when our family got home, my dad told me to go to bed. I couldn't do that though because I had yet to do his project. He then proceeded to tell me how I shouldn't wait till the last minute etc.. Also people text or call me and ask questions about the assignments. That's weird.

psych paper

This hypothesis was created:
Given a random class of 4th graders, 7th graders, and high school students, the experimented will observe bullying and then pull the students to determine to what degree they are affected by bullying. The surveyor predicts that middle school students will admit to being the most affected by bullying because elementary kids are not yet at that level, and high school students are generally past that point. The surveyor also predicts that boys are more affected by bullying than girls.
My initial plan intended to simply observe bullying, but later I added a correlation study in the form of a survey. By talking to some of the teachers, I found that an observation would not serve my purposes because students act differently when there is a visitor watching their class.
I feel that this survey was effective and served the purposes I had intended it to.
My experiment was conducted on Thursday, October 16th at Jonestown Elementary school and Northern Lebanon Middle school as well as Friday, October 17th at Northern Lebanon High School. I observed a random 4th grade classroom at Jonestown and watched the way the students interacted with each other. I then proceeded to give them a written; four question survey pertaining to my topic. I did the same at a random 7th grade classroom. Since I surveyed a class and not a specific number of boys and girls, there are a few more middle school results that elementary results. I also observed high school students in the cafeteria and surveyed random students in period 6 lunch.
After asking the age and gender of the subjects, I chose four questions with which to survey the students. These questions were as follows:
How often do you see bullying at school? (Circle One)
Never Rarely Frequently Everyday
Would you stand up for yourself or a friend to a bully?
Yes No
To what degree do you agree with this statement; “I am never around bullying”?
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree
What kind of bullying do you see most?
______Verbal
______Physical
______Racial

Post-Hype Depression?

Today is the first day back to school since Homecoming. Everyone looks really tired and is falling asleep in class. Now that the game and dance are over, there is not much to look forward to between now and Thanksgiving break. Therefore, people are depressed. School is about to get a little tougher before finals.

an end to the madness

homecoming week is finally over and this entry is gonna describe the way i feel. im not gonna use proper grammar and im okay with that! i am so exhausted and just need to be lazy for a little. the week of festivities ended with the football game which we won and then the dance. i spent much time in the hall attending to the punch table and the coat check room and other student council duties and very little time dancing but i am perfectly okay with that. this is how i describe high school dances: everything i hate about high school thrown into one night. yeah. good times. anyway, once i got to the school after running around all day (at the school at 7 am to set up until 1. then home to do 3 ppls hair getting done at 345 and starting my hair and makeup.. i had to leave my house by 445 to drop off clothes for some people from my church and get to my first picture destination at 5. i arrived to meet some friends and had to leave early to meet my escort but not date at 6 and be at the school at 620 for court pictures) i was able to relax a little more. i put the batteries in the candles and added the final decorations that we had realized we still needed that morning. the dance began at 7 and things went on as usual. i got plenty of pictures and not soon enough it was time for the crowning. i could go into detail about all of that but since no one wants to hear it anyway, i wont! kara crowned me and bama and me danced on the stage, fearing it would collapse under our feet with every step. the rest of the night was spent with people i dont know asking for pictures with me and asking if i was suprised. i was. so i told them that. after the dance i stayed to clean up and was the second last student to leave (yay magen rosinski, thank you!!) i went to a friends house and ate lots of unhealthy food until about 3 when i went to bed. i had to be at chruch at 8 today. life goes on!

Self-Confidence essay

Concept Essay: Self-Confidence
Self-Confident can be defined as being content with who you are. Confident people are highly esteemed and assured in their identity. This way of viewing oneself can play a big role in the overall happiness of one’s life, and more specifically the teenage years. When one hears the term “self-confident”, they may think of its antonym: insecurity or timidity.
To a teenager, being able to convey an air of confidence and boldness is quite a task. During these years, one may be presented with many different challenges and obstacles. Teenagers are frequently compared to other people whether it is by others or by their own thought process. This makes self-confidence seem more like a goal that one can strive for, but never quite achieve.
The main reason for eating disorders and suicidal thoughts and feelings is a lack of self-confidence. People who experience these obstacles think they don’t and won’t measure up to the standards of the world. Although everyone may have this feeling from time to time, only those who believe it and base their identity in trying to change it actually develop the illnesses. While eating disorders are more prevalent in teenage girls, anyone could be a victim. The same goes for suicide and severe depression.
When applied to the work force, a person’s self-confidence can be life-altering. It affects the way people interact with others. If someone lacks this sense of worth and doesn’t think highly of themselves, it is much more difficult to love and accept other people. It is often said, “To love others, you must first love yourself.” Insecure people tend to be more reserved and, in a work setting, may isolate from others and not be a team player. When a person walks into a room and feels intimidated or threatened, they will not walk boldly and you can instantly tell that they lack self-confidence, at least for the time being. Some people may be more confident in some settings than others.
While it is considered a good attribute to be content with your identity and sure of yourself in character, it is a negative quality to be arrogant. Intriguingly enough, people are typically classified into two general categories, whether it is done subconsciously or not. If the relationship between two people isn’t intimate and personable, they may write others off as either being insecure or arrogant. This judgment is based on their perception of the person’s self-confidence.
There is a fine line between arrogance and self-assurance. Being overly confident will not get you far. “Pride comes before the fall.” However, when people are brave and bold and believe in themselves, they can do things they never imagined. When someone decides they can do something and puts their mind to it, promising not to quit until they succeed, they have the ability to far supersede their expectations. In the same way, thinking that something is way out of reach and classifying it as impossible leads to failure. Self-confident has a strong impact on our daily interactions, relationships, and emotions. While a person may feel that there is no reason to love them self, there is always a few positive attributes in everyone. This simply calls for a change of perspective. So is having self-confidence a choice? Yes, to a degree. It is a combination of nature and nurture. Being confident is an attitude that is altered by personality types.

Beach!!

My family went to the beach this past weekend for the long weekend since we had a day off of school. We left Saturday morning and arrived to our home around noon. This was our first vacation with a) my sister's boyfriend and b) the dog. This made for a very entertaining weekend, as you may have guessed. Overall the 7 of us got along pretty well. Just like any other family we had our quarrels here and there but in the end we made out happily! We spent most of Saturday laying around and recovering from the last few weeks of sanity. (I, however, spent the time worrying about the upcoming week and the things back home that I was missing.) Saturday night we threw some football on the beach and I went for a nice, leisurely run. Its interesting the way I have to be practically forced to run at home, but at the beach I love it! We all slept well that night and absolutely loved sleeping in Sunday morning with no deadlines and no church obligations(a rarity in and of itself). The majority of that day was spent on the beach; the weather was amazing for October! I even got some sunburn. I was more happy about that than I should have been once I figure in all of the threats about skin cancer etc. Monday morning we went to breakfast at a pancake house in Ocean City where we all enjoyed our food imensely. After a few last pictures on the beach and saying goodbye to the Atlantic until summer, we packed back up and headed home to dive back into the stresses of everyday life. We felt slightly more prepared to do so now!

High School

High school is like a big competition
Beauty contests, prom court is the mission
There can only be one queen, one king
Everyone voting, everyone competing
But these are the rule, the way of high school
If someone puts you down
That's so high school
Someone talks behind your back
That's so high school and when you you have to get them back
That's also high school
I know I'll be graduating early

Cuz, high school
Could be
A mini me of the rest of society
There's always
A prom queen
There'll always be, always be seroritys
Sadly
Some will be
Eternally keeping score of popularity
And just 'cause
They all do
Doesn't mean we have to act like we're in high school

High school is like the state of the nation
Some people never change after graduation
Believing any light you shine makes their's lesser
They have to prove to everyone that their's is better
These are the rules, the ways of high school
If someone puts you down
That's so high school
Believing they're too cool for you
That's so high school and you believe it too
That's also high school
I know I'll be graduating early

Annville's Homecoming

I used to go to Annville. Now I go to NL. These two school happen to hate each other. A lot. Tonight our school plays football away at Lancaster Catholic and, although we have an almost perfect record, it will be a close game. Last year we beat Catholic and it was an amazing upset. So this year they are out to get us. I hope we can pull through but we'll have to wait and see! Anyway, I am going to Annville's game instead of ours. Tonite is their homecoming game so it should be exciting plus my cousin is on their court so I want to support her. Annville announces their queen at the game too (which I like and wish we would do too). I am excited to see who wins. I know all of the girls on court and though I shouldn't have an opinion, I do! I hope Annville and NL both win our games this week!!

homecoming week!!!!

Hall decorating is tomorrow after school. I just got done cutting out lots of shapes to represent the sports played by each senior athlete. Every year, each class is assigned a hallway and given two hours to decorate it for homecoming week. And, also every year, the Sophomores win. The class officers from each class are responsible to get the tools with wich to decorate. Therefore the freshmen never have much to brag about. (none of them can drive, and really don't even have the motivation to ask their parents to get them supplies). The juniors frequently come in third place, just after the seniors who give their all at everything since its their last shot. Who do the sophomores always win you may ask? Simple. THE STODDARDS. They are the advisors for the Sophomores every year and are very organized. They buy supplies to make crafts weeks ahead of time and rally the troops to start painting and making signs. Every year the sophomores come in expecting to win. Well not this year!! The seniors are here with a vengeance and we plan on taking first. I guess you could say we have some pretty cool class officers =)

Revelation

My life has led me down the road that is so uncertain
And now, I am left alone and I am broken
Trying to find my way
Trying to find the faith that's gone

This time I know that you are holding all the answers
And I'm tired of losing hope and taking chances
On roads that never seem
To be the ones that bring me home

Give me a revelation
Show me what to do
Cause I've been trying
To find my way
I haven't got a clue

Tell me should I stay here
Or do I need to move?
Give me a revelation
I've got nothing without you
I've got nothing without you

Homecoming in the High School

Homecoming is an interesting time of year. Generally speaking, students either love or hate it. This time is filled with many social activities including car painting, hall decorating, powder puff, a bonfire, pep rallies, musical chairs, football games, a dance and so much more. The students who are "involved" tend to enjoy these opportunities. The people who you can find at the above celebrations are also the ones on the sports field and in all of the clubs. Therefore, these students get particularly stressed. As we approach the end of a marking period, they struggle to juggle (haha) keeping up their grades, getting their PR in their last XC meet, winning a soccer game, writing their speech for senior night, making powder puff tee shirts, learning the spirit team dance, learning the district chorus music, and finishing those final projects and papers. Oh yeah, did I mention getting a dress!?! These are a few things running through my mind as I try to blog.. As well as the fact that I should stop running 2 miles with my neighbor every morning during XC season beacuse I have to run 6 more later anyway. I'm a freak.

Weddings

Weddings are fun, but too long. People feel the need to have the longest weddings ever and torture their guests. All their lives they probably complained about how long other weddings were, yet when it comes time for theirs, they want it to be "the best ever". I was at my cousin's wedding yesterday and it was a happy wedding. They are perfect together and he just glowed the whole time. Their lives seem pretty much set, which is awesome for them, but kind of discouraging for the rest of us.
Last night, after the wedding, my mother and aunt and myself went dress shopping. I happen to hate shopping. With a passion. I think I tried on about 37 dresses in 3 hours and left empty handed. Dances are overrated. Girls spend days and lots of money caring about what they will look like, but no one even remembers other people because they are too consumed in their own appearance. I just want to wear soccer shorts and a tee shirt, but I don't think that's acceptable on court. Bummer.

Political Debates

Tonight is a Thursday, which means that a new episode of The Office should be on. However, the vice president debate for the upcoming election is on basically every channel. For some messed up reason this takes precedent over The Office. Some could argue that the priorities are in all the right places here. But honestly, come on. When weighing the knowledge that is attainable from watching this epic show versus a debate where we argue about the same things that we have been debating for months, I think the answer is clear. Granted this may have some affect on the nation for the next four years, but I can't vote anyway! That's all I have to say.