The school year is almost over and that means FINALS. Thankfully for me that also means that dark week is on its way; dark week is a week were no new lessons are thought and no homework is given instead we are hammered with review sessions that prepare us for the intense testing we are about to embark on. Ideally for me I sought out every opportunity I could to improve my skills but that does not mean that for this week to come I plan on taking a break  quite the opposite I plan on studying as much as possible.

Luckily for me finals aren’t the only thing going on at Pacifica we have recently wrapped up I. Sight. I. Sight to other people may just seem like a talent show at first glance but it actually is much more. I. Sight is the creative juices of all the students combined to make one beautiful experience for the audience. I had the honor to be a part of it on and behind stage. I helped construct the stage as well as the gallery for the paintings. The best part of I. Sight however was when I had the opportunity to model a dress I had made in mixed media out of paper, wire and chess pieces. I don’t know how many people can say that they themselves have modeled a paper dress.

My classes have been going well.  Geometry has made me a stronger artist as crazy as that seems but it’s true I can now sketch out the ideal measurements for a building this comes in handy considering I’m trying to be an architect. English has been an action packed adventure we are on the last book of The Odyssey, what I can say is I never imagined I would be on a ship making my way back home to Ithaca with Odysseus and the rest of my English honors class. We also just finished our research paper and although some people cringe at the idea of writing a 10 page paper I was overjoyed our topic was on any person we considered to be a survivor. I recently took my oral exam for history. Public speaking has never been my strong point but I did the best I could and I’m proud to say it went a lot better than it did the last time I took an oral exam. I also hit my first home run. This semester at Pacifica has been nothing short of amazing I can’t wait to see what my other three years have in store for me but for now I'm just craving some summer time. 

February Blog

I have just started my second semester at Crossroads and I am proud to be here. A couple of weeks ago, I had finals. Most were very difficult but I did very well on each one. Semester grades already came out and I’m proud to say I have straight A’s. This week I took a voluntary math test called the American Mathematics Competition (AMC). The test was 25 questions and we had 75 minutes to do it. The test was very difficult and tested me to my top reasoning and math skills. The next big thing, here at Crossroads, is placement tests. I plan on being in Chemistry Honors and Algebra 2 Honors. I already took the Chemistry placement test and it was difficult. I’m not sure how I did but I also am relying on my teacher recommendation. I don’t take my Algebra 2 Honors placement test until next week but I’m preparing by reviewing my algebra 1 notebooks. My world Civ. 1 class is a 1 year requirement and I’m going to replace it next year with, hopefully, Spanish 3 Honors. Although I am fluent in speaking Spanish, I still need to learn how to write it. A Spanish teacher is going to be helping me with my writing every Thursday during my free period that was replaced with my community awareness class (which was a semester class). If I show progress, she said she will place me in Spanish 3 Honors, but if I don’t she will place me in Spanish 2. In my classes I’m learning much new material. In English, we are reading Romeo and Juliet and we are going to take a field trip to UCLA and watch a Moth where anyone in the audience could go up and give their life story .In biology, we are learning about evolution. In World Civ., we are learning about the history of the Jewish people both ethnic and religious wise. In French 1, we just learned future tense and we are still learning more verbs. In Geometry Accelerated, we are wrapping up similar polygons and are moving into a new unit. I’m still using my free periods wisely and getting my homework done. In Film Studies, we just finished lighting and are now moving into sound and how it shows depth and space on screen. In life skills (or connections), we have just moved out of depression and are now moving into sex ed. My P.E. class has giving me the best experiences. Before winter break, we took spinning classes, which was a great experience. We just finished rock climbing which was really fun, great experience. Now in P.E., we are learning self-defense, both verbally and physically. I love Crossroads and I am happy to say that I am a Crossroads student. Crossroads has brought me many experiences and I can’t wait for the future.

The clock is ticking and I am now only a month and a half away from my first day at Crossroads. I get more and more excited each day. A couple of days ago I had a meeting with the dean for incoming ninth graders, Mitch Kohn, and he helped me set up my new schedule for Crossroads. My new classes are French 1, English 1, World Civilizations 1,  Geometry or Geometry Honors (Depending on how I did on the placement test), regular P.E., Biology 1, Film Studies, Community Awareness, Connections, and three free periods. My schedule might be changed later into my year because community awareness is a semester class on how to get students started on community service. I look forward to French 1 because it is a new language and gives me the chance to become tri-lingual. I also look forward to connections because connections a class where students speak about their lives and open up and I hope this will help me make my voice heard more. Every day I at Crossroads I learn more about it. In my meeting with Mitch, Mitch taught me the crazy schedule at Crossroads. Crossroads has alligator, bear, and cow days. Each day the periods switch around except for the periods after lunch, which are depending on what day it is. The more I learn about Crossroads, the more I look forward to going to my new school and my new environment.