Christmas Break

So I'm on Christmas break now which means I won't have any more posts for a while. In the last week we finished all of the rough drafts of our psych IAs and finished our history IA. I also had a private party in French with the TA it was so fun!

Happy Christmas!

-Emily

PSAT Scores, but Mostly Nike.

My overall PSAT score was in the 90th percentile, which I think is pretty good for not studying at all. And my bio test got pushed back to Thursday! Yay!

Nike stuff now! (This is my favorite part of the blog.) I emailed a teacher I had freshman year and asked if Nike cares what you major in. She, like my mom (I have to give her credit too haha.), said I should "Concentrate on what I am passionate about and the rest will fall into place." I'm hitting my head against a wall now. I still don't know what to major in, but I think after the drawing classes I will know (hopefully).

-Emily

I'm in Psychology, shhhhh!

So I got a B on the math test I was not really studying for, so it's okay. I'm finished with my history IA and I'm close to done with my psych IA. I get to pick up my PSAT scores tomorrow and then I will know if I'm smart! Haha :) I also have a bio test tomorrow that I should probably be studying for now, so bye.

-Emily

I CAN'T STOP THINKING ABOUT COLLEGE I'M GOING TO GO CRAZY

OH MY GOD. SERIOUSLY, BRAIN, SHUT UP. I can't stop obsessing over what I'm going to major in and if Nike wants majors specific to the job you want. I don't even know if I'll like apparel design so I'm going to take drawing classes. If they want a specific major I might have to do some business major though if I don't like apparel design and that sounds SO BORING, which is not a good sign. I also can't stop thinking about their internship which I also want very badly, but I'm pretty sure it's only for college students, I can wait til then, but hat if I don't get it and then I can't work there and I'm stuck doing a stupid boring job for the rest of my life. I want a job that I love to do.

To top that off I have a math test tomorrow on a chapter that I don't fully understand. And I'm doing horribly at the psych IA and I don't understand a lot of it now.

Main point: MY BRAIN WON'T SHUT UP AND IT'S DRIVING ME CRAZY.

-Emily

Math IA

IA, test, IA, test, IA test. I swear that's all we do in school. Today I got my last IA of the year I think, unless I have to do a French IA, which I might, but I might get to do that next year. So the IA I got was for math, it's due in March, but I already know what I'm doing mine on. It's basically like the psych IA but with numbers and it's a million times easier to understand, so I think it's going to be pretty easy except we have to do Chi-squared and that's the Bio test I got a C on, I'm sure my math teacher will explain it much better than my bio teacher did... I hope.

-Emily

The Pshychology IA Continues!

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy. The psych IA is actually quite fun, we preformed our experiment on Thursday and now we have two weeks to finish analyzing the data and actually typing our IA's, so it's going pretty well so far. I did yell at some of my group members though, but they were messing with the documents on Google Docs! I yelled quite loudly, I think it was pretty scary, but we weren't in the library, so it was okay.

I've been researching my top three colleges more closely, so far I've only done OSU, but I'm going to work on UO next. I've decided I really want to work at Nike after college, I think that would be so cool. So if I went to OSU I would probably double major in Apparel Design and Marketing or something. That sounds so boring though, maybe I'll double major in a science and Apparel Design, that sounds more fun. My mom wants me to go to the Honors College too, but I don't know if I want to.

Oh, I almost forgot, I'm almost done with my history IA, so far I've only missed three points, so I think that guarantees me an A on the IA! Woooo! But I have a B in the class, so I have to get A's on all of the rest of the tests I think, which shouldn't be too hard because I've only gotten a grade lower than an A on one test.

Meanwhile, things like CAS have been floating around in the back of my head. I've already completed the 50 hours I need for "action," but I still need to do the write up and I have no idea what to do. I think I might use this blog for my "creativity." It takes me about 15 minutes to do each post I'm guessing, so that can add up. I just need to figure out which of the ten requirements it meets. Maybe I'll do the write ups over winter break because I shouldn't have any major homework. Sounds like a plan.

-Emily

Psychology IA

Can you say "stress"?! Because this project has it written all over it. First of all, it's a group project. I don't like group projects. I like working with my friends and blah blah, but I like to be in charge, and my friend, who also likes to be in charge, is in my group. Great. We chose our groups, so I guess it's up to me, but he's smart, so it's worth it I guess.

I registered for college credit for history and psych! Does this mean I'm a college student now? Hmmm. Probably not. Oh well, I won't have to take the classes in college now though.

...I just looked on the website that has my grades. How did I get a C on my bio test? I still have an 89.something in the class though, but still... What? I even studied for that test!

I'm in shock... Bye.

-Emily

End of First Quarter!

The end of the quarter means I get grades that go on my permanent record! WOOOOO. Just kidding, I'm actually not that excited. Only two of my classes have grades that go on my permanent record this quarter: French and psych. I got a 100% in French! But I got a B in psych, which is okay, I guess. I kind of accepted it a while back after taking the second test. My teacher says this next quarter will have a lot more points, so I might be able to get an A.

All my grades are A's now, except history (I have a high B), but hey, pobody's nerfect. (Hehe Office joke.)

I took my second bio test today, I only forgot one thing that was on the test and it made me feel really stupid. Hopefully I'll get an A, but I think I'll get a high B at least.

Wow, I'm a little out of it now. How will I ever survive this brutal five day week? On the plus side, we get a whole week off for Thanksgiving this year! That means I probably won't post for a while.

I have no more homework tonight! Yes!

- Emily

National College Fair.

So I went to the national college fair with my boyfriend today. There were a lot of colleges there, it was a bit overwhelming. I noticed that a lot of the state schools are very similar, so that pretty much narrowed my choices down to west coast schools. Which is okay as long as they're not too close to home. When I got home, I looked at the brochures I collected (All of the brochures are such a waste of paper!) and I narrowed my choices down to OSU, UO, and UW. I'm not worried about not being accepted, I'm just worried about not being able to choose! I'm glad I've started searching early so it gives me more time to find my number one choice.

If there are any typos it's because I'm writing this from my iPod, sorry!

-Emily

Oops...

So, I got my second IB psych test back and.... I got a C. It's a high C, but still. The quarter ends next Wednesday and now I'm pretty much guaranteed a B out of psych, even with the 5 point curve we get on the test which will raise my test grade to an 82% ish. So that's something I'm not very happy about.

We took our third history test this week too. I know I missed 11 points at least, but on one question about the Virginia Plan I missed seven points I don't know if it is because my teacher said he gave us the wrong notes in the lecture and switched it with the New Jersey plan, so then I switched them but then my switching them I made it wrong? Does that even make sense? Well even if it doesn't, the point is I'm suck with a B on that test too. But the quarter grade isn't put on my permanent record, so I'm okay with my history grade for now.

 I feel so focused on grades even though the IB coordinator and some other teachers say they don't matter as much if you have the diploma. My dad said he wouldn't care either, but before conferences he was nagging me about having a B in history even though it's not permanent! Ugh. #highschoolerproblems (Did I really just use a bad meme hashtag on my blog? Oh no. I really am losing it. At least I still know the difference between losing and loosing.)

This post is very negative, so I'll share some good things! My french teacher has been feeding the TA and me her leftover Halloween candy, probably only so she doesn't eat it. which I'm perfectly okay with.

Well, I'm going to go on Tumblr and look at pictures of pretty dresses and cats now... Bye!

-Emily

Update

Hi, so I just went to conferences and Mr. Carlisle said I need to post more.

Last week was homecoming week and this week was only a three day school week! So on my first day off I watched Harry Potter and finished rereading the Hunger Games series. I figure homework can wait for a bit.

At conferences all my teachers said good things about me, except I need to talk more. I found out I got a 94% on my math test that was on Wednesday! This is exciting because I usually suck at math tests.

Oh! Speaking of tests, Mr. Caro (my psych teacher) finally got our tests graded after a long long time. I got an 80%, but he let us talk to him about what we would fix and gave us extra points if we did. So he raised my test grade to an 88%. That was helpful, but I think he only did it because it was the first test, so that means I have to do well the first time on the next test which is on Monday.

My IA for history is halfway done! We turned in the first two parts this and last week. I hope I did well, I think I did. I guess I'll see when I get my grade.

I lied, Mr. Carlisle, I guess I did have stuff to write about.

-Emily

CAS

CAS is "creativity, action, service." It's this thing we have to do to get the diploma. Basically, we need to do 50 hours of creative things, 50 hours of sports, and 50 hours of volunteering. Then we have to write reflections and stuff about each activity we do. There's a whole bunch of other requirements and blah blah blah, but I don't really feel like explaining them now. I'll probably explain them in future blog posts.

I'm writing this because today I went to a meeting where the IB coordinator explained it all to us, I think I still have some questions, but I don't know exactly what they are. That sounds really stupid, but yeah...

-Emily

Fisrt Psych and Math Tests and IB Meeting

On Wednesday there was an IB meeting for all of the parents and students doing IB. It was kind of lame because I knew pretty much all the stuff, but we got forms to register for the exams we want to take this year. I'm taking Math Studies SL and Psychology SL. It's like $400 for fees. And it will be more next year because I'll be taking four tests. Ouch.

I also had a math test, but I wasn't that stressed about it. I got a B. Oops. Maybe if I stress out over everything I'll get really good grades. That's how it works, right?

I had my first Psych test today, I think I did okay. I was really freaking out because we had four possible essay questions and I was only really ready to write one of them. My teacher gave us a choice of two of them though, luckily one of the choices was the one I was ready for. Phew.

I have another history test next week. I finished all of the required homework for this weekend already, now I'm going to finish the study guide for Bio and write an outline for one of the history questions.

One last thing that isn't really relevant, my boyfriend asked me to homecoming today. :) It was cute. We both turned really red because he did it in front of our whole history class. kind of. Well, he wrote it on the board. Yeah, thanks Mr. Carlisle. Even though it might have been a little awkward.

-Emily

I AM SO RELIEVED.

I got an A on my history test! 93%! I thought I would only get a B, but an A is way better! Yay!

I don't have very much homework this week, only a small math project due on Friday, a psych project due on Monday, and probably some history reading. So that means I'll have a lot of time to study... I guess I can type up my Bio notes to prepare for that test that is probably next week. I also have a math test on Wednesday and a psych test on Friday.

I'm nervous for the psych test because we have to write an essay and analyze stuff and I'm bad at analyzing. My teacher gave us six possible essay questions. SIX. That is so many. I guess I have to write six outlines now... Ew.

I'm also pretty bummed because my hip is hurt so my coach said I can't run all week even though we have a home meet and I'm not even on varsity. At least I'll have time to study extra for stuff.

-Emily

Hey, Mr. Carlisle, Want to Tell Me My Test Grade?

My first test of the year was today! I don't know why I put an exclamation point after that, it's not exciting. It was a history test on colonial America. We had to write an essay on one out of three questions that we received a week ago. Luckily, our class got the easy one! Well it might not have been the easiest, but it was the one I had the best outline for... It was probably the easiest. But now my dilemma is that I don't get to know my grade until Monday... Boo.

Also, I'm making a brain out of pasta for psychology and I get to write stories about inappropriate things in French with the help of the T.A. Those are the only things I'm excited for so far.

Going to go watch our school kick another school's butt at football! WOOOOOOO HIGH SCHOOL!!!!

-Emily

The First Full Week of School

I got the IA subject I wanted! ("Assess the role of women on the Oregon trail.") Yay! That makes the project seem way more bearable if I'm actually interested in the subject. I also had to write an essay on the "deeper meaning" of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. I don't think I did very well. I also forgot to sign up for a spot so my teacher can look at my outlines for the essay test that's next Friday. Ugh.

In IB bio 2 we took so many notes I didn't even learn anything, I was too busy trying to keep up with writing the notes. We also got a study guide with a lot of things covered on it. A LOT.

Math is still pretty easy because it's mostly review.

I think Psych is going to get much easier now that we're over the philosophical questions. I did learn that I do not want to be a philosopher when I grow up.

Now I'm going to an XC dinner! Yumyumyum. Bye!

-Emily

History IA

Today in history we got the overview of the biggest project of the year (I think). It's called the Internal Assessment, basically it is a giant research paper. I guess I really have no opinion on it yet, except it seems a lot easier when you break it down. I just wanted to write this so you (whoever you are) know what I'm talking about when I say, "IA."

*Edit: I have started looking up sources I could use for many of the possible topic and I found one that sounds the most interesting to me. I really hope I get it, but my teacher said we're drawing names out of a bucket... It seems really interesting though, I don't know how many other people want it though. I'll ask before class tomorrow!

-Emily

I Made it Through the Week!

One note before I start talking about classes: Don't excpect me to post every day. I'm in IB and I do cross country. We have homework. So, here we go!

History:
Yesterday we had a really good class discussion. We also had a reading quiz (which I got 10/10 on) but my teacher said it was a super easy quiz compared to the ones that will come in the future. For homework we had five pages of reading from our unnecessarily heavy textbook. Today we reviewed what we read about and then we all talked about ourselves and asked the teacher questions about himself. He has a blog on here for the class and I'm following it, but I didn't remember my profile is public so he found my blog. Then he asked me about it in front of the whole class, so, hi Mr. Carlisle (and anyone in my history class)! This weekend for homework we have more reading out of the textbook.

IB Pre-Calc:
I had math yesterday, but I thought I should mention it at least. I really love my math teacher, but I hate math and I can already tell this class will be hard. It won't be hard because I'm bad at math but I think the things we will be learning will be complicated and difficult. We got assigned a packet for homework, but we only have to do the evens and it's some stuff we learned last year in algebra 2.

IB Bio 2:
We did pretty much nothing today. We checked out textbooks and got lab drawers to put them in, then we took notes and we watched a video. What we're learning about now (Charles Darwin) is something I learned last year, so it's a little boring. I think this might be my least favorite class because there are so many people and they're all so loud the teacher has to stop every three minutes to shut them up.

French 6:
I had to work in French both yesterday and today. It's not hard, it's just building grammar details onto things I already know. The teacher gives me a folder with all of my work for the week in it and I can do it however I want to. It's pretty nice, but also lonely, I wish I had something to distract me, like people. There's a French 1 class in her classroom and I know one boy, but there are so many I usually have to go into the teacher's classroom next door while she has her prep.

Psychology:
I like psychology and I find it interesting, but I can't seem to focus and I don't know why. It might be because the teacher's voice is really loud so I try to block it out? Haha I don't think that's it. Today we got our readers and got assigned our first reading. That's the thing about IB your homework is all reading. Well, I don't know if that's completely true, but that's what it seems like now. We also did this thing called "question Friday." Every day of the week we all pick up a blue card that we can write a question on and submit anonymously if we want (I haven't yet). Then, on every Friday, the teacher reads all of the questions from all of the periods from the whole week and answers them. I actually like it a lot.

There's a home football game tonight and I'm going, we better win! :)

-Emily

First Day of School!

I've decided I like all of my teachers. I've also decided there are way too many kids in all of my classes, the average number of students is around 40. In one classroom. A classroom designed for 28. I really learn better when I can actually hear the teacher talking. Want to have an overview of my day?! Yes.

1st Period (IB U.S. History):
We went over the syllabus and got five papers for our parents and ourselves to sign. For homework we were assigned eleven pages of reading out of our "reader" (the readers are supplements that go along with our textbooks, we haven't gotten textbooks yet.) I'm a little scared because this class has a lot of essay tests and essays are definitely NOT my strong point. Last year I got good grades on my history essays, but it wasn't an advanced class and I think the teacher graded kind of easy. My new history teacher says it's a college class (which it is), but I don't know if I'll be able to handle college grading.

2nd Period (IB Bio 2):
SO MANY NOTES. We (kind of) went over the syllabus, then we took three pages of notes. On the first day. After having avoided writing for two months. My hand hurt so bad. The teacher is pretty cool though, I've heard some bad things about her, but she seems alright to me. There are a lot of seniors in this class and they don't stop talking. Ugh.

3rd Period (French 6):
Since this class is an independent study the teacher has to fill out paperwork and write up a syllabus. I feel kind of bad for making her do that along with all of the crazy French 1 classes she has to keep control of. Today I didn't have anything to do though, so I did my history homework and then went to the other French teacher's class because it was her prep. We just hung out and talked about summer, she also gave me a Harry Potter Poster! Woot woot!

4th Period (IB Psychology):
Yet another syllabus, but hey, it's the first day, I didn't expect more. This is probably my most crowded class and the school's air conditioning turns off half way through the day so it was super hot, but the teacher is super awesome. I was having such a hard time concentrating because of all the people and the heat was lulling everyone into a sleepy stupor. We watched our first case study about a girl who had been tied to a potty chair for eleven years and the only thing I could think was, "What is wrong with her parents?!?!" The tests in this class are essays too, I'm also scared for that. I. Hate. Essays. (Because I suck at them.)

After school I went to XC and now I'm off to get my dad to sign all of the syllabi.

-Emily

Thoughts I Need to Get Out Before School Starts.

So, before I go to school tomorrow and get buried in homework and cross country practices, I'm going to sum up my plans for this year. By plans I mean things I'm testing in, classes I'm taking, etc.

Classes I'm taking:

• IB Junior English
• IB Biology 2
• IB US History/History of the Americas
• IB Pre-Calulus
• IB French 5
• IB French 6 (Independent study, my school only offers up to French 5.)
• IB Psychology 1

Tests I'm planning on taking:

• PSAT (Practice SAT)
• SAT
• ACT
• Standard level IB math test
• Standard level IB psych test

IB tests come in two levels (standard and higher). For most higher level tests you have to take two IB classes of that subject. Since I'm a junior I'm not allowed to take higher level IB tests (which I think is dumb). I'm also not allowed to take more than two IB tests this year (which I think is also dumb). If I could take more than one IB test on either level I would take math, bio, and French. That way I could take Psych 2 next year and test HL in that. But I can't, so whatever. I'm not as worried about the ACT and SAT tests.

-Emily

Hello there!

School starts in three days and I'm going to be a junior, so I decided to create this masterpiece of a blog (masterpiece? Haha, right.) On this blog I'm going to be recording my progress to my IB (International Baccalaureate) diploma and through all of the application processes for college. Even if no one reads this I still want to be able to look back and see how far I got.

Anyway, right now I have a few worries for junior year. Everyone says it's the hardest year of high school and I can understand how that would be true, but that's  not really what worries me. I'm more worried about specific classes than about the year as a whole. My biggest fears are IB junior English, IB pre-calc, and IB biology 2.

All of the upperclassmen that I've talked to have told me that IB jr. English is the hardest class at my school. I like reading the books, but I suck at writing essays and most of your grade for English classes are essays. I also got the "hard" teacher, which doesn't worry me as much, but it's still a little scary. But I have it second semester, so I have a little time to ease myself back into school.

I'm worried about pre-calc because math is not at all my strong point. I'm excited about the class because I got (in my opinion) the best math teacher in the school (I had her for geometry my freshman year), and a lot of my friends are in it. But I truly am awful at taking math tests and then retaining the information from the previous unit. It's like my brain holds on to the information until the test and then it says "I don't need this crap anymore!" and throws it all out. I'm also worried what my friends will think when they see how much I suck at math.

And last but not least, IB biology 2! Okay, I really love biology and I'm pretty good at it, but last year I only took regular biology. What I mean to say is, I'm skipping IB biology 1. I'm worried that by skipping IB bio 1 I won't know a lot of the stuff that we need to know. I know that IB bio 1 class has a unit on viruses and I don't know anything about them. I think IB bio 2 is the class I will have to try the hardest to understand in.

-Emily