This is going to be a shorter post since I don’t have too much to say on the topic, but I thought it would be something different and interesting. If you’ve read my last couple posts (if you haven’t, go check them out!), you’d know that I visited Seattle last week over Thanksgiving break. Throughout the trip, I had the goal of making a video of everything I did- not exactly a vlog since I wasn’t filming vlog-style, but I was recording lots of little clips wherever we went.
It’s funny because I live in Southern California relatively close to Los Angeles, where it’s considered fairly “normal” to vlog and lots of YouTubers are known to live. I’m definitely not a YouTuber or vlogger and I was literally just using my phone camera, but it was funny making the effort to record everything I was doing in an unfamiliar city when I live so close to the hub of YouTubers.
I didn’t get any weird looks, probably because Seattle is still a big city where it’s common for tourists to visit and be taking lots of pictures all the time. That being said, I still felt a little odd pulling my phone out at every meal or in front of every landmark/attraction I visited. I’m not sure if I’ll end up actually putting the video together, but if I do, I’ll definitely share it on here somehow- maybe even post it on YouTube.
As I mentioned in yesterday’s post about my tour of the University of Washington, I was in Seattle for the bulk of last week over my Thanksgiving break. I absolutely LOVED the city- however, my mom and I covered so much ground in so little time that I didn’t have the time to dedicate a blog post to each day of the trip as I have with my other travels and adventures. I sincerely apologize for dropping the ball with this one, but I figured this type of post will be more helpful to you guys anyways.
I am going to be going over the highlights of my trip just to talk about the most exciting parts and to help any of you that may want to visit Seattle in the future out. It’s a beautiful city and it’s supposed to be even more beautiful in the spring and summer seasons, so I hope to go back someday during that time of year.
Space Needle – Yes, it’s a very touristy destination, but it’s still a must-see. The Seattle Center in general (the park area where the Space Needle and some museums are located) is a cool place to walk around, and it was only a mile walk from the hotel I stayed in. I didn’t go up in the elevator since I’m afraid of heights, but if you’re into that it would give you an amazing view.
Museum of Pop Culture – This was even more interesting than I thought it would be. It’s honestly not that big of a museum and you only need a couple of hours at the very most to go through it, but I found it unique and super cool; I think it’s a great museum for people who aren’t super into typical art museums but still want to see something related to the history of Seattle.
Dahlia Bakery – This bakery was across the street from my hotel. Not only do they give free refills on coffee all day, they also have DELICIOUS cookies and treats. Their adorable yellow storefront with tables to sit at only enhanced the experience.
Pike Place Market – Another touristy destination but must see, the market has any and all type of food you could want. There are a lot of good bakeries here as well, places for fresh pasta, good seafood restaurants, and stands with the best produce and veggies. I recommend trying the apples, since Washington is known for having delicious apples and I absolutely loved them. Also, make sure to watch the guys throwing fish (I forget what the name of the place is but it’s visible when you walk up); they’re local celebrities for their job and you’d know what I mean when you see it. Also, check out the first Starbucks while you’re there; there’s usually a line but you can take pictures whenever and then head to a different Starbucks to actually get drinks.
Beecher’s Handmade Cheese – Technically, this place is in the market, but it deserves its own mention. I personally am not the biggest fan of cheese as I’m kind of sensitive to dairy, but I made an exception to eat a grilled cheese from here. Their signature cheese is mild and DELICIOUS, and you can watch them make it.
Serious Pie – Again making an exception with dairy, this pizza place was a block down from our hotel and my mom and I knew we needed to stop in. We had dinner there one night and had the best margherita pizza ever along with their signature pepperoni. It’s amazing, you can split a pizza with someone because they’re honestly big enough, or if you want it all to yourself that works too!
Day trip to Victoria on the Victoria Clipper – We took a three hour ferry ride one day to Victoria, British Columbia (yup, a day trip to Canada!), and it was such a cool experience. It was a long day, but it was a really beautiful city and we got to see the famous Fairmont Empress hotel and the famous Bouchart Gardens. Now I can say I’ve been to Canada!
Lola – This Greek-inspired restaurant was attached to our hotel; we went there once for lunch and once for breakfast, and it was amazing both times. It’s a little pricey, but not anymore than any other restaurant in the city. Everything was super fresh and the portions were larger than I expected.
Enchant Christmas – This Christmas light show maze thing was super festive! It’s obviously a seasonal thing, but I really enjoyed it- especially the ice skating trail where you could skate around some lights. It’s definitely the most elaborate light set-up I’ve seen.
Gum Wall – I would honestly go here just to take a picture if you’re visiting, it’s kinda gross but definitely a famous spot. It’s right around Pike Place Market. It’s fascinating to see how much gum you can have on a wall…
I absolutely loved Seattle and I hope I can return someday. It’s a pretty clean city and there’s so many amazing things to see as well as delicious restaurants and bakeries. In case you’re wondering why I didn’t list any coffee places when Seattle’s known for coffee, I don’t actually drink coffee so I didn’t experience that part. It’s a wonderful place to visit whether you enjoy coffee or not, so I highly suggest you go!
-Brooke
The lovely Space NeedleMuseum of Pop Culture- it even looks cool on the outside!Just a small portion of the Gum Wall!The first Starbucks from the outside
Last week over my Thanksgiving break, I visited Seattle, Washington with my mom. I will be writing a few more posts about the trip (I’ve really been behind on that and I apologize!) that you’ll be seeing soon, but first I wanted to talk about the tour we took of the University of Washington. Touring UW was one of our main reasons for visiting Seattle, plus the fact that my mom and I have always wanted to visit the city. We registered for the full 75 minute walking tour and admissions session – the real deal. I’ve been around college campuses in the past, but never for the purpose of touring.
I don’t know why, but I’d always been drawn towards UW in the past. I’d always wanted to visit Seattle, I’d seen pictures of the beautiful campus, and we had a couple family friends who had gone there- I just felt like I would fall in love. I have no other connection to it; I don’t live in Washington, I don’t have any family members who went there, etc. I knew it was a good school in a cool-seeming city with a gorgeous looking campus, and that was enough to get me interested.
We toured the college on our third day in Seattle, and I had already fallen in absolute, complete love with the city; this made me think going to UW would evoke the same feelings. My mom and I took the light rail which has a stop where you walk out straight onto the campus (I believe the school is 20-30 minutes away from downtown Seattle if you drive or use other transportation such as buses), so it took us less than ten minutes to get there. We actually left super early since we hadn’t used the light rail before and we knew we would need time to find our way around campus, so we had about an hour to grab breakfast and walk around.
Sadly, the day we went was actually the worst day of our trip weather-wise and the only day it rained, so we didn’t get to see campus in its full beauty or effect. That being said, it’s probably a more realistic perspective on what it would look like, since Seattle is known for being quite rainy. The campus was also a bit abandoned since a decent amount of students had already gone home for Thanksgiving, so it wasn’t the most accurate perception of everything. My mom and I headed to the HUB (Husky Union Building) to sign in, and as soon as our tour guide introduced themselves, we got started on the walking tour.
I must say the campus was absolutely gorgeous (it’s even more gorgeous when the cherry blossom trees bloom in spring) and the architecture was amazing, but I could tell the school was too big for me as soon as we started walking. I don’t know how to explain it, but it just wasn’t the vibe I was looking for/that I thought it would have. All of the buildings were beautiful and we got to peek in on some classes; we also walked through the Suzzalo library which is famous for looking like something out of Harry Potter.
Our tour guide was super sweet and she gave us tons of information about the school I wouldn’t have known otherwise- I was honestly really disappointed that I didn’t automatically like the school and feel at home, because I thought I would. After the tour was over, there was an admissions session with an admissions counselor who was also very kind and helpful. He gave us some insight into what a typical admitted student is like and although I knew most of the basic stats from my own research, it was still informative because of the insider’s perspective.
After the admissions session, it was lunchtime and my mom and I were hungry. The tour guide had talked about the main street that students go to, dubbed “The Ave” (I forget what the actual street name is) that had all the restaurants, so my mom and I walked through some parts of campus we hadn’t seen on the tour as we made our way over there. It started to rain heavily and as we walked the street, we were disappointed to find a lack of cute little restaurants and cafés. We stopped at the university bookstore and I got a hoodie, and then we ate at Chipotle.
I know that being in a city, UW isn’t going to have the cutest “college town” vibe, but I still figured there would be a cuter university district type area around the school. My mom and I walked back across campus the way we came and took the light rail back to downtown/where we were staying after we ate. It was an eye-opening experience and I’m definitely glad I visited, but I’m sad to say that UW is definitely not the school for me. It’s a wonderful school though, so I encourage you to visit if you’re interested! It just proves that visiting a school and seeing it in person is super important if you’re able to do so.
-Brooke
The beautiful Suzzalo library (hoping I spelled that right!)
A few days ago, I submitted a poem to the (now closed) Kenyon Review Patricia Grodd Poetry Prize for Young Writers contest. I hadn’t written a poem with the contest specifically in mind, but I knew I wanted to throw my hat into the ring and enter something. It took quite a bit of deliberation (along with me procrastinating until the second-to-last day to submit) to decide which of my poems I thought would have the best chance in the contest.
I am by no means a poetry judge or expert, but I figured I would try to help you fellow writers out by making a list of a few criteria to consider when choosing a poem or multiple poems for submission. I did my own research and read a few similar articles, so not all of these ideas are fully my own.
Consider whether it’s your most thought-provoking or powerful piece. If you want yourself and your writing abilities represented in a single (most likely short) poem, it has to be a showstopper. If you’re reading through your poems to choose one, go with your gut- the one that evokes the most feelings in you should usually be the one you choose.
Compare the lengths of your poems. In a lot of the articles I read online, it was mentioned that shorter poems often get chosen for publishing or contests. I’m not exactly sure why- maybe because they take up less space when being published? Either way, this is something to keep in the back of your mind.
Make sure your poem adheres to the rules and guidelines of the contest!! This is so important just because no matter how amazing your poem is, you won’t be able to win a contest if you don’t follow the rules. Make sure it fits any length requirements and it’s formatted appropriately for submission.
Weed out your cliché pieces from the mix. Unless you’ve put an interesting new twist on a cliché, your poem probably won’t stand out- there’s a reason why clichés are, well, clichés. You can look up lists of common clichés in poetry; that’s what I did, so you can use this one I found here if you want.
Some contests don’t give you a lot of background/information to go off of when submitting, but for ones that do, do your research. With the Kenyon contest I entered, I read past winners’ pieces and also read other pieces that are featured in the Kenyon Review unrelated to the contest. This gives you a clue on what kind of topics/subjects they like, and which of your poems would be the best fit for the contest.
Again, I want to clarify that I am not a poetry expert or contest judge, but I figured these tips could help you since they helped me in my own selection for a poetry contest. If you are planning on submitting to any poetry contests, let me know down below. I would love to chat with fellow writers and read some of your work.
December is upon us and the holiday season is in full swing. If you’re in need of a gift idea for a teen girl, look no further! I pulled ideas from my own personal list as well as things I have/love, in addition to research about this year’s hottest gifts and trendy items. As a teen girl myself, I feel this is a pretty vast list with something for every type of teenager on it. If you’re a teenager yourself, this can give you some inspiration if you’re not sure what to ask for. There’s also a variety of different price ranges on here, so hopefully that makes this more realistic.
Since I have so many ideas for you, I’m going to keep this relatively short and sweet- if you need me to provide further explanation or a link for a specific item/idea, just let me know! However, since there are so many gift ideas on here, I won’t be providing links/in-depth descriptions for each idea unless I feel it’s absolutely necessary.
Fjallraven Kanken backpack (mini or normal size)
Weighted blanket to help with sleep
Kendra Scott Elisa pendant (this is the classic Kendra Scott necklace)
Pajama sets- Victoria’s Secret and VS Pink are popular for these
Robe – also popular from VS and VS Pink
Nike Air Force 1s – if they already have the original/plain white, custom ones from dripcreationz.com are also super cool
Hoodies – popular brands are Champion, Shadow Hill, Brandy Melville, merch of different colleges/musicians/YouTubers
Hydro Flask
Stickers to decorate a laptop case or Hydro Flask – look on Redbubble for cute, cheap ones
Phone case – look at Wildflower Cases or Casetify for pricier/trendy ones, or Amazon for cheaper
Airpods or the new Airpods Pro for a splurge
iPhone 11/iPhone 11 Pro
A laptop
Apple Watch or other smart watch (Fitbit, etc.)
Google Home or Alexa
Running shoes
A gym membership
Workout clothes (Lululemon and Nike are popular but pricey, Target also has nice ones)
Leggings (same brands as workout clothes)
Laneige lip mask
Mario Badescu skincare products (facial mist, drying lotion)
Bluelight glasses to protect eyes from screen/blue UV rays
Facial jade roller
Bath bombs (LUSH is a great spot for gift sets)
Candles (Bath and Body Works and Yankee Candle are good brands, Homegoods has cheaper candles and sometimes Yankee Candles on sale)
Slippers – UGG slippers are trendy but expensive, any will do
Fuzzy socks
Bath tray to place food/books/etc. on when taking a bath
Diffuser with essential oils for their room
Makeup mirror – there are fancy vanity mirrors on Impressions Vanity’s website, but you can also get them a smaller one at Target or somewhere else
Pandora princess ring
A new wallet
Electric toothbrush
Electric face brush – Clarisonic has good but expensive ones
Tile so they won’t lose their phone/keys/purse/etc.
Hairdryer, hair straightener, or curling wand
Calvin Klein bra and underwear set
Laptop case or Airpods case if they have either of those electronics
Perfume (if they already have a favorite, get them a travel size or rollerball for on the go)
Nice pens/stationary (Zebra mildliners and Muji pens are popular at my school)
Planner – I’ve heard Day Designers are good, but there are tons of cheaper ones at Target
Calligraphy set
A “Comfy” – it’s a hoodie blanket thing, somewhat similar to the Snuggie movement
LED color-changing/remote control lights for their room
Color changing lightbulbs for their room
Neon sign for their room
Bluetooth speaker
Glossier makeup products – Balm.com is a favorite
Books – poetry books like Milk and Honey are popular, self-help or astrology related books are also trendy
Doc Martens
Crocs
UGG boots
Vans or Converse sneakers
Birkenstocks
A new purse – Target on the cheaper side all the way to designer brands like Louis Vuitton and Gucci for the ultimate splurge
A keychain/lanyard/card holder for a girl who drives’ keys – the Louis Vuitton coin pouch is popular but EXPENSIVE
Candy
Scrunchies – huge packs on Amazon are cheap
Framed photos of you with them
Disposable/film cameras
Polaroid/polaroid film
Digital phone printer that connects through Bluetooth to print your phone’s pictures
Metal straws / other reusable straws – save the turtles!
Gift cards to their favorite store
Disney +, Hulu, Netflix, Spotify, or Apple Music subscriptions
iPad and Apple Pencil
Smart/reusable notebook that connects to your phone to upload your notes
Jewelry box/holder – for a more all-out approach, there are mirrors that open up to hold jewelry
Patagonia fleece or jacket
North Face vest or jacket
Portable charger
New suitcase/duffle for someone who travels a lot
Nameplate or initial necklace
Hoop earrings
Jewelry that includes their birthstone
Teeth whitening products
Gift cards to food places or services like nail salons/massage places/spas/movie theaters/Uber
Money
New comforter/bedding
Throw pillows (Target and Homegoods have cute ones)
Posters or photo collage sets for their room
TV for their room
Desk organizers
Face masks/nice skincare
Packing cubes or toiletry organizers for travel
Drybar hair products
Nintendo Switch for gamer girls
Concert tickets (you can actually find great deals depending on the artist)
Makeup – whether drugstore or high-end, there are good finds everywhere
Milk makeup sets/products
Victoria’s Secret/VS Pink underwear and bras
VS/VS Pink perfumes and body lotions – usually you can get deals
Puravida bracelets, anklets, and rings
Custom necklaces from themjewelers
Bralettes from Urban Outfitters or Free People
Graphic tees – Urban Outfitters and Brandy Melville are popular for them, but you can get them at Target or even thrift stores
Fluffy jackets – you know the ones
Dainty earrings – look at Urban Outfitters, less popular jewelry sites, Francesca’s, and even Target/Amazon
Turbie Twist – random but I think it’s a nice thing for your hair?
Shower speaker
Eyeshadow palettes – Jeffree Star x Shane Dawson’s Conspiracy palette is popular right now
Some sort of little day trip/experience with them, can be bigger (theme park/Disneyland, going away for the weekend) or smaller (movies, beach, lunch)
Writing them a long and sentimental card
I hope these ideas inspired you if you’re a teen unsure of what to ask for, or if you’re any other type of person struggling to find a teen girl a gift. I think I’m going to be posting a few other mini gift guides/holiday related content, but this will definitely be my longest one since it’s the one I have the most experience with.
Playing a sport and partaking in other “typical” high school pastimes can be fun, but is there some other advantage to participating in extracurriculars? The short answer is yes: if you want to find out why, keep on reading.
In elementary school and middle school, I was never deeply involved in anything outside of school. I did lots of after-school enrichment classes and dabbled in sports as well as dance and gymnastics, but nothing ever stuck. Once the session my mom had signed me up for ended, I wouldn’t ask to continue. That all changed at the end of middle school/going into high school; once I realized all of my friends had at least one activity they were passionate about outside of the normal school routine, I knew it was time for me to find my own hobbies.
If you’re a late bloomer with exploring your interests like I was, that’s perfectly fine! Better late than never, and there’s still plenty of time to find something you enjoy. Before you get started, here’s a few reasons why it’s so important that you participate in these types of activities.
They relieve stress and provide an escape from schoolwork. We all know how busy life gets, and having an activity to look forward to can keep you motivated and make it easier to go through the school day. Do what you love, and it will bring joy into your day.
It’s important for college admissions down the line. Colleges want to see that you care about things outside of school and have taken initiative to pursue these interests. Get involved for the right reasons (not just to put another activity on your application) but still keep in mind that this is a way your extracurriculars can reward you in the long run.
You can input your extracurricular activities into RaiseMe to earn scholarship money for college. The more activities you have, the more earnings you can potentially get! Make sure to update your RaiseMe profile whenever you start something new- colleges love to see that you’re immersing yourself in different things, as I stated previously.
Activities can connect you with people you wouldn’t have met otherwise. Joining clubs or playing sports is a great way to meet new people and make friends. The more of a commitment an activity is, the more of a tight-knit group it will be (usually). If you’re spending a lot of time with a group of people that share the same interests as you, you’re bound to make fast friends.
You learn soft skills such as communication from extracurricular activities since you’re collaborating with other people in a new way. Depending on the activity, there are numerous skills you can gain and different ways you can be pushed out of your comfort zone. If you join debate, you’ll improve your public speaking; if you join a sport, you’ll improve your teamwork skills.
The activities you participate in now can lead to an interest you’ll want to study in college or a potential career when you’re older. Using debate as an example again, you may discover you want to study law. If you do an internship, you may fall in love with that career field. Trying something new can open your eyes to something you never thought you would be interested in before.
They enrich your high school experience overall and will give you fond memories to look back on. Everyone experiences the ups and downs of high school, but it’s up to you to make the most out of it. Partaking in extracurriculars will make you a more well-rounded student and teach you life skills that you can’t learn inside a classroom.
I hope this makes the significance of extracurriculars a lot clearer. Regardless of the various benefits I listed, the most important component of an extracurricular is that you enjoy it. Life is too short to spend time doing something you don’t like, so keep digging until you find an activity you’re passionate about. Once you do, the sky’s the limit!
**This article was written as part of my RaiseMe internship. I am currently awaiting approval, but I hope they will be using it in some way on their site/as part of their platform. If you want to find out more about my internship or RaiseMe and what they do, I posted about it in early October when I found out I was accepted to their internship program.
Are you struggling to find a pastime to look forward to after school? Are you unsure of what you actually enjoy doing? Are you lacking in your extracurricular resumé? If any of these apply, keep on reading to find out what you should do!
There’s an activity out there to suit everyone’s interests and needs- you just have to be open to trying new things and do a little digging within yourself to find it. I know that I’ve personally tried so many different activities; some of them I liked, some I loved, and some I didn’t like at all. Here are five ways to make this search easier and root through the numerous options.
Tag along to clubs/activities that your friends participate in. I would advise making it clear to the friend you go with that you’re just trying it out and that you might not end up committing to it, just so there’s not a misunderstanding. That being said, this is a great way to get involved in something new while still feeling comfortable! Trying new things is scary, but everything is better with a friend- especially if that friend can show you the ropes. If you have friends that are super passionate about certain activities, see what it’s all about. You may fall in love with it too.
Ask your school counselor or teachers that you’re close with what activities they’ve heard of and think you might enjoy. Any school staff member probably has a pretty good idea of a lot of the things going on around campus that you may have not heard of before. They can also direct you to resources such as school newsletters or email listings (which you can/should totally seek out on your own as well!) and point you in the right direction. This works best if the adult you’re asking knows you well, as they can give the most personalized recommendations that way.
Think about what you gravitate towards doing in your current free time. Yes, even watching TV or playing video games counts. There’s a way to turn anything into a valuable pastime- for the examples I provided, you could stage your own TV shows as plays or create a YouTube channel with video game reviews. Look at what you do when you can be doing anything you want, and pursue that further.
Look outside of school for community opportunities. School sports and clubs aren’t for everyone, and that’s okay! They’re not the only activities out there by any means. Check local bulletin boards, the newspaper, or your city’s website (specifically the youth section if they have one) to see what else is going on around you locally, or ask your parents if they know of anything. Some examples would be volunteer opportunities/groups since most of those take place outside of school, or clubs and organizations that accept a wide range of ages (both adults and kids).
If you can’t find a group that enjoys the same activity as you, start your own. If you’ve realized there’s something you enjoy doing but there’s no group or organization around you dedicated to that, making one is a great way to dive deeper into your passion. You never know who else might be interested and was feeling the same way, so be the person to get out there and make those connections with others. This can be even more rewarding, as you will most likely be the person in charge, meaning you can take it as far as you want.
Hopefully these five steps will aid you in your journey to finding a hobby you love. I also wanted to address that it’s okay if your interests fluctuate- just do what you enjoy and stay open to trying new things even when you think you’re set on a certain activity.
**This was written as an article for my RaiseMe internship. I’m currently waiting for approval, but I’m hoping it will be used by them in some way! If you want to know more about RaiseMe and what they do, I posted about that at the beginning of October when I got the internship.
If you’ve been reading this blog for a little bit, you would know that I’ve posted daily for the past few months pretty consistently. I know it’s been less than a week since my last post, but that’s still a significant amount of time offline considering my usual daily posting schedule. I wanted to address what’s been going on in my life and what’s taken me away from posting this past week.
First of all, I usually write all of my posts on weekends and schedule them to go up throughout the week. Last weekend, I was busy from the moment I got out of school to the moment I got into bed on Monday night. After school I had to cheer at the varsity football playoff game (all levels of cheer had to) and then I was out of town for my first official Youth and Government conference in Fresno. It was an amazing experience, I met so many inspiring kids, and I’m absolutely in love with the program, but the long days at the conference tired me out.
I thought I could squeeze some writing time in, but it just didn’t happen- I had to do homework and such as well. I planned to write some posts during the week as I went since I didn’t think I would be too busy, but I was very run-down and exhausted each day that I would plan to get things done. On Thursday after school, I felt so overexhausted and ache-y that my mom took me to the doctor; I had a fever and some sort of virus (not the flu or anything serious). I took a bunch of naps and stayed home from school on Friday.
I’ve been trying to make a speedy recovery since this upcoming week is the last week before Thanksgiving break and my trip to Seattle. I hate missing school because there’s always so much work to be made up, so I’ve tried to do as much of my makeup work from Friday while I’ve been resting. Also, the Post Malone concert that I had been waiting to go to since my birthday (my parents’ birthday present to me was tickets) was yesterday (Saturday). I didn’t have a fever anymore/I was feeling better and we didn’t want to waste the tickets, so my mom agreed we could still go. We ended up leaving early since I got really tired and was having trouble breathing in the smokey arena, but I’m still really grateful to have gotten to see him perform a few of my favorite songs.
This sudden sickness coming on is a sign that I really need to slow down. There’s a lot of things that I can’t change about my busy schedule so I’m not sure how I can make it a little bit easier on myself, but I’m in desperate need of a break. I’m hoping to be 100% healthy for my Seattle trip and I think that will be a nice change of pace, but I’m trying to figure out what lifestyle changes I can make to reduce the stress of my daily life. I think the reason I got so sick was just because of being overtired and stressed; then, not wanting to miss school because of missing work made me more stressed and more sick in turn.
I also just want to add that I have a fairly poor immune system in general. I get sick almost every month, even though I get plenty of sleep, eat decently healthy (not really healthy, but nothing horrible), and exercise. I think my constant stress is what makes it so easy for me to get sick so often, which is why I need to combat my stress first and foremost. Getting sick all the time just makes it harder on me anyways, since I either have to miss school and deal with the stress of makeup work, or go to school and risk becoming sicker.
For these reasons and more, I’m going to be changing up my posting schedule on here. I’m not sure what it’s going to look like, but don’t be surprised if I’m slightly less present on this blog for the time being. I definitely want to get back to daily posting, but I have to figure out how to work that into my schedule without it turning into a source of stress. Hope you all are healthy and relaxed, ready for the holidays!
Before you keep reading, this is a continuation of my recent “Coping With Perfectionism” post, so go check that out if you haven’t already- it’s almost like a little series, except I’m not sure if I will continue it beyond this post. I’ve established that I struggle with being a perfectionist and not wanting to do things if I know I’m not skilled at them/can’t do it well, so that has led to a long history of me struggling to commit to things.
When you hear “commitment issues,” you might think of relationships or flaky people. I’m not talking about either of these things. I often start things with full intent of staying committed to them, and I’m usually very excited about starting a new activity/whatever it is. Once I get into it, if I don’t see myself progressing (of course somewhat reasonably, relative to the amount of time/work I put in), I become frustrated and the activity or discipline becomes less intriguing and fun.
The first couple instances of this I can remember are gymnastics, dance, and art. When I was younger, I was super into drawing. I wasn’t particularly talented; I was just a little kid who liked to make arts and crafts. I begged my mom to sign me up for art classes at a real art studio, even though I wasn’t very good. I went to a couple, and saw the amazing art the people around me (some only a few years older than me) were creating. I was intimidated, and quickly lost interest.
I then joined gymnastics, as my parents encouraged me to join a sport/something active. I actually stuck with it for about four years; my parents could already see my struggle with perfectionism, so they signed me up at a recreational gym that was pretty much classes-only so there wouldn’t be any pressure for me to get better and/or compete. It was super fun, but once I got a little older and realized I had just been in the kiddie-classes and not actually learning any gymnastics, I asked my mom if I could switch gyms. I tried going to the local competitive gym (still for classes only) and ended up hating it since they paid no attention to anyone besides the girls on the competition teams. I switched to another recreational gym that had classes geared towards slightly older girls, and took there for a while. It was fun, but I outgrew it by the end of that year. My gymnastics “career” was over.
Around the time I was phasing out of gymnastics, I went through another phase lots of young girls go through: the dance phase. My mom signed me up for classes at a competitive studio, and it was a similar thing to the competitive gym I had gone to- all the classes were a joke unless you were on the company team. Lots of my friends were also dabbling in dance classes at the time, so I signed up with a friend to go to a year-long class at a different studio. I honestly wasn’t the biggest fan of it, but I definitely learned a lot more than I had at the other studio. My friend and I went to the summer camp there together, and we finished out the year-long class by performing at the recital. I knew I wasn’t very good and had pretty much gotten all the dance experience I needed to, so my dance “career” had now ended as well.
I kind of feel similar with cheer at the moment- I’ve mentioned in a lot of my posts that I’m a high school cheerleader planning on dropping the sport next year. I just feel like I’ve progressed as much as I’m going to within the activity and I’m ready to allocate my time to something new. It takes up a ton of time, and I don’t enjoy it anymore, so why do it? I feel guilty that I’ve started and stopped so many different activities over the course of my life, but I don’t see a better way to do things. I’m not a super flakey person; I’ve consistently worked hard in advanced classes in school and I’ve never lost motivation with that. I’ve been writing for a while… but that’s kind of it. Everything else that I do I’ve started within the past year or two.
In some ways I’m thankful that my parents never pushed me to stick with something because I wouldn’t have wanted to spend so much time doing something I didn’t truly like, but sometimes I wish they had nudged me in a certain direction. I’m aware that it takes time to cultivate true talent and become better at a specific skill, but now that I’m almost halfway through high school I don’t have much time to spend on any one thing. I struggle a lot with knowing that I don’t have a stand-out talent or skill; I don’t have a ‘thing.’
A lot of this is closely connected to my perfectionism; if I wasn’t such a perfectionist, I wouldn’t care that I don’t have a ‘thing.’ Obviously I try not to get down on myself too much about it because that wouldn’t be productive, but my perfectionism is a big part of my personality and motivation, so the feelings are still there. The main affirmation that lifts my spirits is knowing that there’s still so much of my life ahead of me, so it’s almost better that I haven’t confined myself to one discipline yet. I can only hope I’ll find it in the near future (and so will you!).
Unfortuntately, fire season has taken over California again due to the high winds and dry heat. I’m writing this a few days after the fires were actually close/threatening to me, but by the time you’ll be reading this it will have been over a week. I’m not going to be too specific about the details of my location and the fire for privacy purposes, but I could see the fire from my window on the hills across from my neighborhood. It was never threatening to my house/neighborhood because a big road separates us from those hills, but it was enough to close the roads nearby and give everyone a scare.
Last year, the fires weren’t near my town, but they greatly affected the neighboring town that I go to school in. We had a two week break attached to our Thanksgiving break because of air quality and assessing possible damage to school property, so the whole thing was very serious and very scary. This year, there was no threat to my school (besides bad air quality) since the fire was closer to where I live, but luckily my neighborhood was still safe. My school still closed for a couple of a days, so I ended up having a five-day weekend over Halloween weekend.
I don’t have anything more specific to say about the fires or my experience; luckily my family, friends, and I have all been fine after the events of both years. Watching a helicopter drop the red stuff (forgive me for not knowing the name of it) over the scorched hills from my window just made me realize how sad it is that this is a normalized thing. Every year when the winds get stronger and the last remnants of fall’s heat remain, us Californians have to brace ourselves for fires and tragedy. I know there’s not much we can do since it’s an issue of nature, but it scares me. If any of you live near the fires and if any are still going when I post this, I hope all of you are safe.
adventures of a typical high school student 