Spring Term

So basically, spring term of senior year is going awesome so far.

My classes have been, erm, less than challenging, which is actually quite nice. I don't get much homework, and I haven't learned much. In AP French, we're reviewing for the AP exam- our homework is (usually) exercises in the AP book (I do the exercises, but the answers are like on the next page), which we go over in class.

My English class this term is Children's Literature, and we've been reading fairy tales. We've had two quizzes so far- one on "Hansel & Gretel" and "Rumpelstiltskin", and one on "The King of the Golden River" (sidenote- you've probably never read "The King of the Golden River", but you should... it's really, really good). And I got a perfect score on both of them. I also wrote a paper on Harry Potter. Thursday, we drew pictures with crayons (I drew a picture of the maiden in "Rumpelstiltskin" offering Rumpelstiltskin her necklace in exchange for spinning the straw into gold).

In Research & Experimental Design (the class I have now since Biotechnology was only 2 terms), we're designing our own experiments- mine is having to do with swimming speeds.

In IB Art, we're preparing for the IB Art exam, which is actually intense, but the hard stuff is basically done now. I also put up my senior exhibit in the art gallery at school.

In AP Calculus, we're done learning new stuff, so we're basically reviewing for the AP exam.

In AP Physics, we're also reviewing. Last week, the teacher said to the class, "I don't know how I'm going to give you guys grades. I don't think there's any reason to have a test." No test, but now we've had a few graded AP practice problems (which aren't too hard, since a lot of them are problems we've done before).

Health class isn't too bad. One of the assignments is to demonstrate a "life skill", and mine is ironing. I don't have to actually bring in an iron (that would be... awkward?), it's mostly about teaching the steps.

Last weekend, I visited Washington University in St. Louis, and it rocked! The first organized activity we (the engineering students) had was a design challenge- we were given a bunch of materials (plastic bag, duct tape, balloon, paper bowls and plate, Play Dough, aluminum foil, foam, felt, construction paper, rubber band, ribbon, straw) and a pint of Haagen-Daz vanilla ice cream, and we had to use the materials to keep the ice cream cold (without putting it in a refridgerator). My group's design actually worked- wrapped in various materials, with a balloon taped on top, the ice cream barely melted, even after being left out for almost an hour.

I visited a biology class, which was pretty cool. I also got to see five labs- an electrical and systems engineering lab, a mechanical engineering lab, a mechanical engineering/ fluid mechanics lab, a classical chemical engineering lab, and a chemical/environmental engineering lab. I bought a sweatshirt and some stickers at the bookstore (and got 15% off, thanks to being a pre-frosh). The Wash U campus is really, really nice. I think the style of buildings is called "collegiate gothic". The architecture is very college-ish. No ivy-covered buildings, though.

While at Wash U, I also met a lot of really cool people. I liked getting to meet other pre-frosh, and the current Wash U students I met there were really nice, and seemed to really like it.

I did like Wash U a lot, but I'm still considering Carnegie Mellon, USC, Lehigh, and Case Western (and I've never even been to Case Western).

So basically, I have like 15 days left of high school. It's actually kind of awesome. I am so incredibly excited to graduate. I can't wait to go to college.