Month: March 2020

10 Pastimes If Your School Has Closed & You’re Stuck at Home

BrookeLeave a comment

Hello everyone!

If you’ve read my last few posts, you would know that I have been off this entire week due to school closures in fear of the coronavirus spreading throughout my area. If you’re in a similar situation or have completely switched to online classes for the rest of the semester, you might have a lot more free time on your hands right now that you’re not sure what to do with, especially if you’re not supposed to be leaving the house at all/for unnecessary things. Keep on reading if you want some ideas for what to do at home while you’re bored!

  1. Read for fun! I know, I know, it sounds like something an adult would suggest. But what can you expect from a girl who loves to read and write? If you don’t have a book or some other material you’re interested in reading at home, find some material online- I know a lot of libraries are physically closed, but some have online options so you can check books out from there!
  2. Do your schoolwork. Yeah, this one’s probably a last resort (just kidding, teachers!) but it’s important. I haven’t been switched to online school yet at the time of writing this so I don’t really have any work to do, but when I was really bored I decided to get ahead on some of my work for English and AP Euro. If you actually have online classes, then it’s even more important to get your work done. Similarly, you could study for your AP tests since those will definitely be a little hectic with the uncertainty of school right now. You can also study for the SAT/ACT if you haven’t taken it yet or if yours got postponed.
  3. Bake/cook something. This kind of depends on your current situation; if grocery stores near you are wiped out, you probably don’t want to waste ingredients/food on a whim. However, if you have plenty of food around to spare, try out a recipe and have a nice family dinner. I know things get hectic during the school year and often having everyone together for a meal becomes rare during the busy weeks.
  4. Write a nice note to someone. Check in on your extended family and your friends, particularly if you haven’t talked to them since the virus madness started. Send an email, text, DM, Snapchat, whatever. It helps if you’re feeling lonely- this is one of those times where we can really see the benefits of social media. You can be FaceTiming your friends and digitally hanging out even though you can’t see each other at school!
  5. Catch up on TV/movies/videos. I finally got to watch some movies I’d been wanting to watch, and I watched all the videos in my YouTube subscription box that I hadn’t yet. Yes, it’s a more mindless activity, but it can be enjoyable and take your mind off things if you’re particularly stressed about the situation at hand, since I know a lot of people get anxious about getting sick.
  6. Learn something new. Practice a new language on Duolingo, do some random research on a topic you’ve always wanted to read more about, ask your family members at home with you to tell you a story from their childhood you’ve never heard before. Just do something different, or something that will stimulate your brain in the absence of being in a normal classroom.
  7. Do something creative. If you like to write, work on a new story or write some poems. If you’re an artist, draw or paint a new piece. Find some way to express your creativity. I feel like time alone at home is the perfect environment to do this- just enough boredom to inspire something great out of it.
  8. Clean your house. This is the perfect time to clean out a closet or drawer that you haven’t had time to. Sanitation-wise, it’s also a good idea to make sure your house is actually clean; you can vacuum/clean the floors, dust, scrub the bathtubs, etc. I cleaned out my desk the first day of the week that I didn’t have school, and it felt really nice to have a clean space, especially since I was going to be spending so much time there throughout the week.
  9. Make plans for the future, when everything’s back to normal. Plan a trip you can go on once it’s safe to travel again. Talk with friends about what you want to do once you can all hang out in public places normally again. If you have specific plans, it’ll give you something to look forward to and remind you that this situation is only temporary.
  10. Practice extra self-care. Now you have an excuse to pamper yourself at home- you finally have the time! Take a hot bath, relax with a face mask, light candles. You might as well, if you’re going to have so much me-time. It’ll also help calm you in these stressful and strange times, which is very important.

I hope these ideas help you out if you’re bored or going stir-crazy within your house. I hope you are all safe and healthy, and wishing for our return to normalcy as soon as possible. Let me know if you have any more ideas you think should be on this list, or if you need someone to talk to 🙂

Brooke

COVID-19 In My Community

BrookeLeave a comment

Welcome back everyone!

After my post about coronavirus yesterday, I figured I could add a little personal update. If you haven’t read my post from yesterday, you should go check it out- it was just some information about how the virus is affecting high schools in my area and elsewhere, and all the indirect consequences it’s having on education around the country and world. Although I included a lot of information specific to my school, I didn’t talk about my feelings and situation regarding coronavirus specifically. Since I have the spare time and have just started my week off from school while writing this, I figured I could give you a more personal perspective on how the virus is affecting me and my community, aside from school closures.

At the time of writing this, there are just around 10 confirmed cases of the virus in my county. Nonetheless, stores are completely wiped out of frozen foods, wipes, water, and toilet paper- my mother said the line at Costco was about a half hour long just to get in the store, so she gave up on going. We’re not sure how things are going to play out. A lot of people have continued their lives as usual, with some of my friends hanging out because of school being out for the week, and everyone in my neighborhood being out and about. My parents are making me be a lot more careful as my elderly grandmother is still residing in our house for the time being (and will most likely be for a lot longer time now that she can’t be out house hunting) and we have to make sure none of us get sick and spread anything to her.

I’m normally a fairly paranoid person when it comes to disease and sickness as I have a horrible immune system and get sick about every four to six weeks, but I’m lucky and blessed enough not to have any major health issues or complications. I’m not too worried about the virus since I’ll probably just be chilling at home and occasionally running errands until school gets back in session unless things get more severe in my area. That being said, it’s still scary to know how fast things are changing and the developments of the virus elsewhere.

My friend has a club soccer teammate who caught the virus and is in the hospital, and someone from a high school in my school district is currently awaiting test results. It continues to hit close to home, and it’s also alarming to watch the news as updates come in about the situation in Italy and other countries where they are in complete lockdown mode. I’m not sure if that will be next for us, but because of the aforementioned situation with my grandma my parents want me to stay at home for the most part anyways. It’s also alarming to see how much it’s affected the economy, with the stock market hitting lows (my college money is tied up in there…) and the tourism industry lowering prices all around.

I was supposed to go on a mini-road trip to San Fransisco with my mom over spring break, but she cancelled it as soon as we heard about the compromised cruise ship docking there and how it was a breakout spot of the virus. I don’t want to come off as bratty because I know I was lucky enough to have had the trip planned with my mom in the first place, but it was really disappointing to have to cancel it as it’s been the thing motivating me in school throughout this semester so far. We were planning to stop in San Luis Obispo and visit Cal Poly SLO, and then make our way up to San Fransisco and visit UC Berkeley and other schools around the city. I guess the trip will be postponed to a later time since luckily we do live in California and only a long car ride away from these places, but it’s still sad to cancel plans. I can’t imagine how other people with more elaborate spring break plans felt about having to cancel them and possibly lose out on money- luckily all we had booked were hotels so far since we were driving up, and my mom was able to get all her money back.

All my extracurriculars and various activities/meetings have gotten cancelled for this month as well, as they should be. The only thing on my calendar for the rest of March that hasn’t gotten cancelled is my driver’s lesson, funnily enough. I guess if it’s just me and an instructor in a car, we’re safe from the virus as long as they’re keeping the car clean. It’s quite chaotic for yearbook though, as our final deadline was supposed to be this week. I believe the editors stayed late on our last day of school and the weekend before closure to finish up things as best as possible before submitting the pages, so hopefully it all works out. I’m just thankful it was only one deadline and we have basically already finished the book. In general, most of my main extracurriculars from this year are over, so luckily not too much was disturbed in that regard- I feel for any of you spring athletes out there. All of the spring sports at our school have had their seasons completely postponed, and I know some other clubs/activities have cancelled spring events.

The bottom line is, even though my community isn’t completely infected/endangered yet, everything is still in disarray. I sincerely hope you all are well and staying healthy. Let’s hope a better solution for this horrible situation comes soon. Remember to keep washing your hands 🙂

Brooke

How COVID-19 Is Affecting High Schoolers

BrookeLeave a comment

Hello everyone!

I know I’m a little late to the game on discussing coronavirus, but if you’ve been reading my blog for a while you might know that I pre-write and schedule my posts about a week/week and a half in advance, so that’s why this post is going up now. I am definitely not the most knowledgable person on the subject (although I have been obsessively checking Twitter for news) so I won’t bore you with a bad interpretation of the statistics- if you are looking for news, please read articles from a reputable news source or look at the CDC or WHO’s websites. As you are reading this, I am currently at home, with school out for the week. I just wanted to make a post explaining how different high schools are dealing with this issue differently, and the huge impact it’s having on our education.

Before I go more into depth, I just want to say that I am so privileged and blessed to be safe and healthy right now. I am not trying to complain in this post, just inform others on what’s going on in my area with school right now. I hope you are all staying healthy and safe as well. I live in Southern California in a county that has around 10 cases of the virus as I write this, probably more by the time you’re reading it, but we are not in lockdown/quarantine or anything at the moment. However, many private schools around my school district started shutting down last week, at the time that colleges nationwide were beginning to close. There was talk of my school district shutting down, but nothing was set until a sudden announcement on Thursday, March 12th that we would have school the next day (Friday), but school would be out the entire next week.

They were planning to reevaluate during the week off and decide if we would have to remain out of school, and what lesson plans would look like in that case. The most obvious choice would be virtual learning, but in a public school district there are some issues with that since some low-income kids don’t necessarily have access to computers or Internet, and places such as libraries where they could normally gain access are closed in this quarantine/public emergency situation. I’m not exactly sure how they plan to work around it if we have to stay out of school, but I’m assuming we won’t be going back so soon since one week won’t change much about the virus. During this first week of being off, teachers aren’t allowed to give us anything to work on- instead, they’re supposed to be developing their lesson plans for if we have to miss even more school.

Some of my teachers had speculated we’d be out until after our spring break (mid-April) was supposed to end, and my chemistry teacher even said she thought we might be out of class until May 1st. My AP Euro teacher (the only AP class I’m in this year) has no clue what he’s going to do for lesson plans and what will happen with the AP test. I know the March SAT got cancelled in my area, so a lot of juniors were upset about that after months of preparing. As far as AP testing, a lot of my teachers were saying it might get pushed back into summer, and that we might even get days of school extended into our summer break if we miss too much and we aren’t getting sufficient lesson plans.

I’m so confused on how everything is going to work and how there can be so many different predictions/expectations within just my school about what the rest of our semester is going to look like, but it varied a lot. Some of my teachers said they’re consider just cutting our grades off for the semester now and ending it there, some said we might have to extend the semester into summer once the virus dies off, some said we should be fine to do virtual learning, some said AP tests will be cancelled but we won’t get our money back, some said they’ll just be postponed. At this point, there’s no real point in predicting what’s going to happen as the situation is changing too often; my school switched plans 4 times in 48 hours, and now we don’t even know what we’re doing.

I was supposed to have class registration during this week that we’re missing (the juniors/rising seniors already did theirs, but freshmen and sophomores haven’t), and so I’ve missed that as well. That’s kind of a big deal, as junior year schedules are so important. However, other than that, I’m thankful to be a sophomore (for once!) rather than a junior or senior. I can’t imagine the stress of having SAT dates in limbo and so many AP tests in question (at least I only have 2 with 1 in class) as well as not being able to do college tours and not knowing how your second semester junior year grades will finish out. And for seniors, the possibility of all the second semester activities you look forward to for so long is so disappointing, as well as not being able to go to admitted student days for colleges to help pick where you want to go. I wish you juniors and seniors the best of luck; I know it’s stressful, but at least find comfort in that the whole world is dealing with this and colleges/schools/whoever will have to be understanding.

There’s also the fact that even though it’s a “break” from school, this is not fun or exciting! Not only is it boring to be cooped up in the house and discouraged from hanging out with friends, it’s nerve-wracking knowing that new developments related to the virus are constantly being released on the news, and the consequences and closures of public places are only spiraling even more out of control. I have no idea if I’ll be back at school next week, next month, or even longer. I don’t know how I’m supposed to learn and get a good foundation before taking super hard classes junior year, and I don’t even know how I’ll be registering for my junior year!

If anything, at least I have some time to reflect. I’ve been super go-go-go and busy lately, and something like this puts it into perspective what really matters. Remember to stay safe, wash your hands, and be smart in this strange time. I know as young people we’re not in imminent danger, but we do all probably have older relatives who are. Best of luck to any people displaced, quarantined, or affected in any way by this horrible pandemic.

Brooke

My Summer Writing Program Application Process

BrookeLeave a comment

Hello everyone!

I haven’t discussed this topic on my blog in a while, but I applied for two summer programs. I haven’t heard back from either one yet, but the decisions should be coming back by the end of this month! It’s the first “major” application process I’ve ever had to go through for anything, and I learned a lot from it since I navigated it myself. I’ll definitely do an update once I get my decisions back, but I just wanted to give an overview of the process I went through.

At first, I wasn’t even sure what type of program I wanted to go to. I was looking at a lot of creative writing ones, but they all seemed so competitive, and I was just looking at lots of different types of programs since I knew I wanted the experience in general. However, as I went down the rabbit hole of research on various blogs, forums, and college advice websites, it became clear I was most interested in a writing program. Even though most are super competitive, I wanted to shoot my shot so that if I ended up paying to go to a program, it was going to be worth the money.

I ended up applying to the Kenyon Review Young Writers Workshop and the Sewanee Young Writers Conference, both prestigious and competitive writing programs. However, I did not only apply to them for prestige- I’ve been obsessed with Kenyon for a while, and I fell in love with Sewanee’s program after reading about it on multiple sites. Both are in such beautiful locations that I know would be great environments for writing, and both schools are strong in creative writing. I did not apply to Iowa Young Writer’s Studio as I figured it was too competitive and I only wanted to apply to two programs.

I was able to narrow it down to these two programs by making tons of lists. First, I made a master list of programs. I then realized I wanted to go to a writing program and made a master list of only writing programs. I started to individually research each program, and made a smaller list based on fit, price, and length/dates. Then after doing even more research and seeing what the applications consisted of, I went with my gut and decided to apply to Sewanee and Kenyon- go big or go home.

The Kenyon application was super simple. I had to write a 300-word essay about a specific moment when words were meaningful to me. I chose a moment from preschool where I would read to my classmates and I felt in control and powerful from my ability to tell stories. The only other requirements were to fill out a basic information form (including a transcript) and get a letter of recommendation from a teacher, so I filled the form out and asked my current English teacher for a recommendation later, which she thankfully wrote super fast! I might share the essay on here if I end up getting in (fingers crossed!).

The Sewanee application was much more complicated. I had to submit an eight to ten page sample of creative writing in my choice of genres (which we had to select) as well as a statement of purpose that was suggested to be between 500-750 words. They gave a list of things to discuss in the statement of purpose so I used that as a guideline and kind of went all over the place with it, but I spent a long time choosing what to send for my sample. I only sent poetry, so I just sent off all the poems I was most proud of. You also had to fill out another standard information form including a transcript (they accept unofficial ones, so I just took a screenshot of my student portal), and get a letter of recommendation, so my teacher used the same one from the Kenyon application.

I submitted both applications in the second week of February, as soon as my teacher finished the recommendation letter. Sewanee has a rolling deadline and starting reviewing applications about a week and a half ago as I’m writing this, and Kenyon’s application was due March 1st but they release decisions in late March. I’m not expecting anything since I know I’m not the most polished or experienced writer and these are both competitive programs, but I would be so blessed and ecstatic to get in and to attend either one. I’m hoping for the best and I’ll update you soon- wish me luck!

Brooke

Away from Here – Poem by Me

Brooke4 Comments

Welcome back everyone!

I’m hoping I figured out how to format my poems so the lines are split as I intended them on here, so bear with me as I switch back to the “normal” formatting. Per usual, I have another poem to share with you all! The topic for this one kind of came to me out of nowhere; it was one of those poems where I just felt like writing and the words started to write themselves. I sincerely hope you enjoy.

growing up where the grass is greener only makes
the rest of the world feel grey. it's easy to get used 
to smelling the roses, but it's hard to leave. except 
maybe it's not. because i don't like this type of
perfection and i'm dying to get out of here but it's
hard because everyone looks at you like you're crazy
when you want to leave such a beautiful place

but all this place has taught me is to see the ugly
because no matter how amazing my home is
supposed to be, i can't let myself like it. that
would be acceptance, and i refuse to accept a life
here. i'm going to go far, far away. it's not an if, 
it's a when, how, and where

I believe the formatting worked out since I used the “verse” option- how perfect for poetry! If not, I’ll be trying something else out next time I post a poem. I would appreciate it so much if you wouldn’t mind leaving me a comment to give me some feedback on this poem, or thinking of a writing challenge for me to use in a future post! Thank you in advance 🙂

Brooke

Send Me A Writing Challenge!

BrookeLeave a comment

Hello everyone!

Forgive me, but today I have more of a request for you guys than a new post. If you’ve been reading for a while, you would know I’ve been sharing a lot of poems on here recently, as I love to write and I write poetry more often than any other form of writing. However, I’m looking to expand my horizons and challenge myself to write in different genres and different forms; of course I’ll still be posting mainly poetry on here, but I want to try some fiction and creative nonfiction as well.

That’s where you guys come in! I would appreciate it if any of you that have been reading my writing (and hopefully enjoying it) would leave me comments with some writing challenges. One blog similar to mine that I read had people give her challenges to write a poem or story including certain words in it, but I’m open to more than that. It can be as vague or specific as you want, as long as it’s appropriate and reasonable (an example of something unreasonable would be challenging me to write a novel or 20,000 words about a specific topic, for reference).

I think this would also be a great opportunity for me to interact with any fellow writers on here. I don’t have a lot of friends who write, and this is a cool way to share my writing with others, so I would love to get some responses from you guys on how you feel about my work. Additionally, I include this with most of my poems that I post, but I would love to hear some feedback or critiques on my writing if you have any. All of the poems I post on here haven’t been read or edited by anyone else besides me and whoever my blog readers are, so I would appreciate to hear your thoughts. I have gotten work critiqued online before, but not the poems I post here, so it could be an interesting new source of constructive criticism.

Thank you so much for being so supportive and sticking around to read my poems on this blog. I know I’m not the most experienced or polished blogger, but I love to write and I hope that shines through in my poetry, if nothing else.

Brooke

Eyes on You – Poem by Me

Brooke4 Comments

Hello everyone!

I have another poem to share with you all today. After I realized the formatting issues my previous poems had been having on here, I decided to try something new. I took a screenshot of a Word document with my poem on it, so I apologize if it’s weird to read the poem as if it’s a picture that you’re looking at. I’m trying to figure out what the best way is to share my poetry on here, so I’ll be experimenting with posting solutions for the next few poems I share. Thank you all for understanding!

I apologize for the awkward formatting again, and I hope you enjoy this poem. The idea of it came to me when I was in class- yes, when my chair squeaked as I moved around. I’m a squirmy person, and it’s something I’ve only realized in the quiet, working hours of school 🙂

Brooke

How to Select Your Class Schedule for Next Year

BrookeLeave a comment

Welcome back everyone!

It’s that time of year again- second semester is flying by, the longing for spring break and eventually summer intensifies, and registration for next year’s classes is upon us. For some of you, it may have even happened already, but for me it’s in the next couple weeks. If you’ve been conflicted and aren’t sure on how to choose your classes for next year, you’re in the right place! Keep on reading to hear my tips. A quick disclaimer beforehand- different things work for different people, so don’t be pressured into taking classes that might not be the best for you. Think of your mental health and don’t bite off more than you can chew, but also make sure that you will still be challenged.

  1. Make sure you have your core four/five subjects. This is English, history, foreign language, math, and science. If you were ahead in one or more of these subjects and have aged out of the sequence at your school, make sure you have other classes to take, whether electives or doubling up in another subject. You could also take dual enrollment classes at a local community college or through your school if that’s offered, or do a class online if necessary.
  2. Consider the level of classes. Whether it’s CP, Honors, AP, or IB, consider how much of a workload you’re willing to take on. This might depend on what activities you’re involved in, and how you did in this/last year’s classes. If you’re having trouble deciding what level of certain classes to take, ask your counselor and/or parents for advice. If you’re up to take 5+ APs and have your heart set on competitive colleges, go for it! Just keep in mind what that workload will look like.
  3. Make sure you like your electives. There are soooo many options at my school that it’s overwhelming to choose- if you’re in the same boat, make the most of this! If you need/want a GPA boost, choose an honors elective. If you’re into the arts, take an art class. Take advantage of the options available to you- it’ll be fun and feel less like another class full of work.
  4. Check that you’re fulfilling graduation requirements and A-G requirements if you plan to apply to UC schools. Since I live in California, my high school basically makes us fulfill the A-G requirements to graduate, but I know that out-of-staters might not be aware of this. You can easily look them up or ask your counselor, but they might be different than your normal graduation requirements. Either way, make sure your schedule is putting you on track to graduate on time.
  5. If you’re leaning towards a certain career path, check that your classes align with that as much as possible. For example, my school has a really cool cadaver-based advanced anatomy class that you have to apply to get into, so people who are interested in going into the medical field are encouraged to try and get into that class senior year. In general, my class has a lot more STEM/science class options whereas other subjects have a set class you take each year, so people interested in STEM often double up on science classes junior/senior year to take advantage of this. Since I’m not super interested in STEM, I have less options and am not interested in taking all the science classes available, so it all depends.
  6. Have an idea of what you’ll take the year after next, if possible. Is the class schedule you’re choosing for next year going to set you up to take classes you want the year after that? This is a huge thing to think about if you’re going into junior year like me, since not only are your junior year classes super important, but your senior year classes are as well. Therefore, you’re setting a trajectory for the rest of high school.
  7. Consider getting ahead in certain subjects/self-studying/taking online classes if you don’t have room in your schedule for everything you want. There are many different reasons you might consider doing each of these things. If you want to finish your foreign language credit faster, consider taking the last year online. If you want more college credits or your school doesn’t offer a lot of AP classes, consider self-studying for a subject you’re interested in, or taking an AP class online. If you’re looking for a GPA boost or to take an AP class that will be slightly easier, take one of the APs with a reputation of being “easier” online, such as AP Psych or AP Environmental Science.

I hope these tips help you create the perfect class schedule for the upcoming school year. I know it’s intimidating to think about the possible impact of your choices on college and the future in general, but you can always request a schedule change/change your mind. Trust me, I’m definitely freaking out too thinking about how I’m going to be a junior, but it’s also exciting! Also, as soon as you make your class choices, it’s actually a relief since the decision is behind you and you no longer have to worry, as it is what is and we’re moving closer to a new year.

Brooke

How to Succeed in an AP History Class

BrookeLeave a comment

Hello everyone!

If you’ve been struggling in an AP history class this year or are currently deciding whether to take one in your class schedule next year, you’ve come to the right place! I’m going to be providing a few tips that have helped me get through AP European History this year and AP Human Geography (I know it’s not really a core AP history class, but it fits more into the history category than anything else) last year. Each AP class is a different level of difficulty at every school, but at may school the history APs are definitely some of the hardest/most complained about, so keep that in mind and keep on reading if you want to hear my tips!

  • Understanding the writing format is key. My AP Human Geography teacher was super clear with us on how to write an FRQ from the get-go, and we did two as a part of every unit test. In AP Euro, writing has been a lot less clear; we didn’t fully go over LEQs, DBQs, and SAQs until the start of second semester. Practice using old AP test questions found on the College Board website, and study the rubrics. It’s easier if you do this towards the beginning of the year, but it’s possible to cram and sort of fake your way through as long as you know the actual historical information.
  • Do the reading. Depending on the way your class is structured, this may be less useful, but for me it’s a great way to refresh on the information. You have a textbook for a reason, and it’s also helpful in cramming for the AP test if you want a slightly more in-depth review of everything.
  • Get a prep book at the beginning of the year. If you’re ever confused on a certain historical event or concept, or you’re just unsure how well-versed you need to be in it for the AP test, you can always refer to a prep book to explain it in simpler terms/a condensed format. I’m partial to The Princeton Review books because I love that they include practice tests, but I’ve heard the AMSCO prep books are really good for the history APs- my Euro teacher has a set and I’ve looked over them from time to time.
  • Take detailed notes, and revise them later. This is another thing that’s helped me a lot. My Euro teacher has structured the class so our main way of learning is his lectures where we take notes- I try to write down basically every fact or detail he says, but then I make my own typed notes for each unit as a study guide for the test, only including key events and people with a timeline. In the end, you have a neat version of your notes, and you’ve already reviewed the information.
  • Use your resources! This is key for any AP class, but I think there’s often a lot more resources and opportunities for the history classes. Watch Crash Course videos on YouTube/any review videos, find Quizlets that review key terms, and ask older friends how they succeeded in your particular class, since every teacher/class is slightly different. For example, my teacher offers 5 points of extra credit each unit if we make flashcards for around 50 key terms from the unit- it’s a ton of work, but I do it since the extra credit builds up and it’s another way to study.
  • Make the connections. As I’ve learned, pretty much every concept and event can be connected to others, especially because of the cause and effect relationships that occur in history. Remember that you can’t forget the earlier dates/events, but try to break things up into more general/larger categories and the major things to make it more manageable.
  • Practice, practice, practice! I mentioned this in my How To Get a 5 On AP Human Geography post (go check it out if you haven’t!), but it’s honestly the best way to do well. Even if you haven’t been doing well in the class at school, you can still turn things around and do well on the AP test if you put the work in. For me, practice tests were the most helpful.

I hope these tips help you finish the semester strong in whatever history class you’re in, and do well on the corresponding AP test! History is one of my favorite subjects, but I’ve definitely still had my struggles with keeping up with the workload of AP Euro this year. Let me know what history class you’re currently in, and what history you’ll be taking next year (APUSH for me :))!

Brooke

Clarification About My Poetry

BrookeLeave a comment

Hello everyone!

This is sort of an apology, sort of a question, sort of just me acknowledging something I didn’t realize before. If you’ve been reading my blog for a little while, you’d know I’ve been posting a lot of poetry and creative writing lately. If you’ve been thinking my poems seemed oddly formatted, you’re probably not alone, and this was something I just became aware of.

Earlier today I was looking at my blog page as if I was a viewer, and I realized that my poems have been posting weirdly/in a different format than I intended. I guess it’s because the width of the paragraphs and text is different once published than it is in the WordPress block editor, but it definitely made the structure of my poems look different and divided the lines at weird spots.

If any of you guys know how to fix this or have any suggestions on how to fix it, please let me know. I’m considering just typing my poems into Word docs and then screenshotting it and posting it as an image into my post. I’m not sure if that would be a good solution or not, but I’ll figure it out before my next poetry post. I apologize for this oversight in the past, and now I’m even more thankful for the support I’ve received from my creative writing posts so far considering the formatting of my poems was off. Thank you all for being so supportive and kind as always!

Also, I would just like to say that I would LOVE your guys’ feedback on my writing. If you’ve been wanting to leave a comment or give me some suggestions on future topics to incorporate into my poetry, please let me know! I am always looking for suggestions from others and I also want to interact with the people reading my work. I’d also like to know if you guys actually liked the way my poetry has been formatted thus far- I haven’t really purposefully experimented with different formats for poems, but now it’s something I might look into.

Thank you all as always! Please let me know your thoughts on the issues I’ve brought up here, as it would be much appreciated 🙂

Brooke