The Final Stretch

After a long week (that for some reason included homework,) yesterday seemed to be the beginning of the end as far as my high school career is concerned. The day began with graduation practice which, in spite of its excessive length, reminded me that I will be graduating from high school next Wednesday.

As silly as it may sound, I know that I'll be graduated by this time next week, but I don't feel as though I'll be graduated. It hasn't hit me. There has been no paradigm shift in which I realize that my life will soon move beyond high school. Still, this reality is quickly becoming more and more apparent as high school comes to a close.

Tonight is Senior Dinner Dance, the last dance I'll have with the Hillcrest Class of 2010, an amazing group of people. It's going to be the first of many "last _____ I'll have with the Hillcrest Class of 2010." That is such a bizarre thought.

I've spent so much time with my classmates over the years, some since preschool or elementary school. Soon and literally for the first time in my life, I won't be surrounded by these people at all. I'll be 2,000 miles away at college, reminiscing about the last eighteen years of my life and the strong friendships I've formed in that time. My life as I have known it will soon be over. I won't live at home, not even in my hometown, and will be thrust into a life which I'm sure will be very different than the one I'm living now.

This may come across negatively, and I don't mean it to. Yes, my life will be different, that much is sure, but it won't be bad. In many ways, I look forward to this chapter of my life. I know that I will make new friendships, learn a variety of lessons, and take this opportunity to reinvent myself to a degree, all good things, but I will certainly miss the people and the life that I leave behind.

I think all of the graduating seniors have similar emotions. Emotions that border on excitement and trepidation with a sense of surrealism attached. None of us can fully comprehend what being graduated will be like or feel like or what lies in store for us in our future life path.

Luckily, neither I, nor any of my classmates, have to worry about coping with such emotions directly until this Wednesday evening. Until then, I'm going to fully enjoy every end-of-high school activity on this final stretch, beginning with Senior Dinner Dance tonight.

Can You Say Double Post?

Yes, I'm posting twice within an hour. I told you I was in the mood to blog!

You may notice some differences in the musical selection gracing your presence on my blog today. I've made a playlist of one of my favorite songs from some of my favorite bands and artists. In no particular order, they are:

Taylor Swift

Relient K

Juanes

Owl City

The All-American Rejects

Coldplay

Fall Out Boy

The Fray

Good Charlotte

Yellowcard

I hope you enjoy this unique blend as you search my blog!

I Just Wanna Blog!

Sitting at my computer with a good friend, checking out my friends' wonderful blog, I was struck with the inspiration. You all know what I'm talking about- the inspiration to write, even if you don't know yet exactly what you'll write about.

Well, that's me. Inspired with a desire to write, but lacking an inspired topic. In this spirit, I'll turn to the happenings of the week.

Tomorrow is the National Honor Society Officers' Luncheon. After school, the five outgoing NHS officers get to be treated to some wonderful cuisine provided by Chile's. I am so stoked! The officers this year are really great people, it's been such a pleasure getting to interact as a team. We have a fun, but focused dynamic- a truly enjoyable attitude. And really, where better is there to toast a great year in NHS than Chile's?

One contender is Cafe Rio, which is catering the NHS end-of-year social on Wednesday! Yum :). That will be yet another great gathering! As I continue, I realize that much of my week will be characterized by the food I eat. On Thursday's menu:

Breakfast: Academic Letter Breakfast

Lunch: La Puente with 7th Period Spanish

Dinner: IB Senior Dinner and Awards Night

YES!

I really love food. Thursday will be an excellent day.

Then, there's Saturday. Senior Dinner Dance. Probably the most important and most-anticipated meal of them all. Wow. That will be, along with next week, really... I don't even know the word to describe it.

A blog regarding my up-and-coming graduation is sure to follow soon.

It's Been a Long Time...

I have finally decided that, no, I will not study, I will update my blog because it has been, quite frankly, too long. I've started to feel progressively worse about the neglect I've demonstrated to the poor fellow and decided tonight that it was time.

I am, along with my fellow classmates, finally on the outward end of what has been a long AP/IB testing season. At the beginning of the year, scheduling my senior year, I knew somewhere in the back of my mind that I would be regretting my jam-packed schedule eight months later. Well, maybe I don't regret it so much as recognize that it has definitely challenged me academically. The last three weeks have been, for lack of better word, insane. Test after test after test and on and on it goes. Funnily enough, I'm posting this blog as though all of this is in the past tense! Ha! I have Biology AP tomorrow.

I'm glad that most of my fellow bloggers (also being my readers) can understand the stress of the past few weeks. Keeping this in mind, I'm sure that you can understand my absence from the blogging universe.

Well, as you can see, testing has been a large portion of my life since... oh, April 1st, but certainly not all of it. As I will soon have much more spare time on my hands, I expect to be retroactively blogging rather frequently over the next few days, sometimes even more than once a day! Topics to look forward to: Work, Summer, 30 Days to a Better Man, Graduation, and Prom :).

I've had some good ideas for blogs lately, so I hope you'll bear with me as I make up for lost time!

Spring Break 2010

Home - 7:45 AM 4/1/2010

St. George, UT - Taken from Weather Webcam at 7:46 AM 4/1/2010

I can't wait.

A Fleeting Feeling

We all have experiences- wonderful, amazing experiences that we wish we could replay over and over and over. Instead, all that remains is a shadow of a state of mind that, for a period of time, you were living. The resulting emotion is a mixture of happiness at the good times and sadness at their passage with just a hint of longing for them to return. Words can't quite convey the feeling. It takes a uniquely special experience for me to feel it, but here I am and boy do I feel it. Ah well. I had a great weekend with a family that I'm blessed to have and I know there are many more of those to come.

The Opening of the Season

As I sit in history class, I gaze thoughtfully out the window to a bright day outside. It's a beautiful day and I can't wait to fully experience it after a hard day of testing and note-taking.

Today is the first tennis match of the season and I can't wait. It's been just under a year since I had the chance to experience the high school season. The particular emotions that have historically accompanied this time rush through my body. High school tennis has offered its share of mixed feelings. There have been things that frustrated me and made me, at times, hate the entire concept. On the other hand, I've had great times with good friends on the team and have had many memorable experiences. In my senior and final year on the team, I'm hoping for more of the latter.

The year mark also brings to mind the changes of the past year- as such anniversaries do. I'm reminded of the great things that happened last March through May, both in regards to tennis and otherwise. Today, nothing can be done to change the aspects that fall within the "otherwise" category, but it will signal the beginning of a brand-new tennis season. One that I am determined to make successful.