Thoughts of a Dumb Blonde

     It’s been a long school year. This is my 76th blog. Who would’ve thought my 11th grade Honors English class would start this craziness. While doing these blogs I’ve learned that it’s hard to write about things other people will care about. I’ve learned that I actually like writing. I’ve learned that writing about myself can be easy but most people reading my blog care more about the bigger issues. I’ve learned that I’m really not that good at managing my time but what teenager actually is. I’ve learned that this blog was good for me. This blog has given me motivation to do things I want. It has given me a chance to learn more about myself and how I work. I know most of my classmates would probably say that they hated blogging but I have learned to like it. I do think I’ll like blogging more when it’s on my own terms. It’s been a crazy time but here we are: ending the school year with blog number 76.

     My finals start tomorrow and I’m already dreading it. Over two days I have five finals. I also have two essay finals due tomorrow. I have so much to do and I’m kinda freaking out. I’m so ready for it to be Friday afternoon so I can be done with them all. It’s been a long school year and I’m finally getting to the very end. After Friday I only have three and a half days left and I’m finally a senior. I’m so glad junior year is almost over. This year has definitely been the hardest year of all. I can’t wait for summer and being able to hang out with my friends and do thinks like go swimming and shopping. But before then I still have to get through all these finals. Wish me luck.

     The second season of 13 Reasons Why came out yesterday and I already finished watching it. This season was so good. I’ll try not to spoil anything but I am going to go into some detail; so if you haven’t watched yet and do not want to know what will happen I suggest you don’t read any further. Many people judge the show itself for being graphic, triggering, or inaccurate. I think that the show is  a great way to talk about real issues that often aren’t addressed in the media. Yes the show is graphic but it is that way in order to display the real pain and suffering people go through.      I understand that the episodes may be triggering to people that struggle with depression, ptsd, and other metal health issues. However, the people at the show understand that too. This season, every episode started off with a trigger warning. Every episode also ended with a member of the cast reminding viewers that if they ever need help they can reach out or g...

      I’ve liked fishing since I was a little girl. I’ve always had a lot of fun going out with my family and spending time at the lake. However, my family stopped going when I was still young. I still like to fish, but I didn’t really have anyone to take me. Today my boyfriend bought me a fishing license and took me fishing with his family. I had a lot of fun. Fishing is one of his favorite things so it was nice to be able to go with him. I’m hoping that since he got me a license we will be able to go more often over the summer. I think it’ll be a good chance for us to do something together that he really enjoys.

     This morning was my boyfriend’s “senior night” for baseball. Tonight was also my junior (my boyfriend’s senior) prom. I went to the game at 10:30 to watch the senior ceremony. I got to see my boyfriend walk the field with his dad and teammates. I was kinda okay; I didn’t cry a lot like I thought I would. In high school baseball they usually play 7 innings. The boys game today went into 10. I stayed till the top of the ninth but I ended up having to leave to get ready for prom. I got ready with my friend (my boyfriend’s sister.) my cousin did my hair and my aunt did hers. The boys didn’t get done till late so we decided not to go to dinner. Instead we ended up hanging out in our clothes and ordering a pizza so that when my boyfriend showed up we just hung out and ate. We didn’t change until the last possible minute and then left for prom. Of course nothing can ever go perfectly smooth and we ended up forgetting the tickets at my house. Luckily I live close enough that...

     This Sunday is mother’s day. I’ve been so busy lately that I haven’t had much time to get my mom anything myself. I got lucky because my boyfriend’s class at school is selling flowers for mother’s day. He got her flowers both from me and from himself. I’m glad that he got my mom something and that he thought of her. I hope my mom appreciates what he’s doing as much as I do.

     Tonight I babysat my little cousin at my cousin’s house. My cousins decided to go out with my parents so they asked me to babysit their 8 month old. I also was in charge of watching their three dogs and a puppy that they were watching. I actually had a lot of fun. My little cousin is adorable and she loves zooming around in her walker. She loves Moana so I left it on for her. I even rocked her to sleep watching it. After I put her to bed I went back out and watched movies. While I waited for them to get home the puppy cuddles up on my lap and slept. I’m starting to figure out how much I actually love babysitting. Babysitting makes me genuinely happy and I’m glad I’m planning on working with kids.

       I got called into the guidance office today to fix my schedule. Because of this I have a pretty good idea of what my schedule is going to look like. My schedule at the moment should look like the picture above. I’m actually happy with how it looks at the moment. Things are always subject to change but I like having an idea of what next year will look like. Knowing my classes is making me excited for next year. I’m ready to be done with this year and this is just making me even more anxious.

     Here’s a little update on each one of my New Years Resolutions. I haven’t been going to church more but I’m planning on starting in the summer I’ve been crazy with softball season since the end of February so I have been kind of working out but I haven’t had time to workout on my own I’ve been a little more organized lately with my school work and I’m planning on rearranging my bedroom soon so that it will help my organizing I’ve been doing art for my class at school but I’m hoping to do even more on my own over the summer School isn’t out yet but I’m still hoping to continue my blogs after I finish the year I’ve had to read so many school books that I haven’t had time for personal reading but I hope to read at least most of the books over the summer I’m going back to gymnastics soon I’m almost done with high school softball and I’m planning to play in the fall I’m planning on saving some of the money I make this summer for college I’m starting to narrow...

     I’ve been researching the Disney College Program a lot lately. I’ve been looking up information and watching YouTube videos from participants. I’ve been watching videos about how people got accepted. I’ve also watched videos of people who have already auditioned for characters. I think it’s interesting to see the information that only the people that already participated would know. Watching these videos make me excited to be able to apply when I get to college. This makes me excited for my future but I’m not in much of a hurry.

     I’m going back to gymnastics soon. As soon as softball is over I need to get back and start working on my skills for next year. I’ve been gone for three months so I’m very behind on the things I need to work on. I want to go back and do everything I can to have a good senior year. I want to make next season the best one yet. I can’t wait to get back out there and get working.

     I work at the YMCA coaching gymnastics two nights a week and I’ll be starting again in May. I’m also going to start babysitting regularly in June. I’ll be babysitting two mornings a week. Between these two things I won’t get much money. This summer I want to be able to do fun things. I’m probably going to have to pay for my gas to do those things. I also need to save money for college. I don’t know if I’ll have enough time for an actual job and I don’t want working to consume my summer. I just feel like I should get a job if I can. I don’t know what I’m gonna do but I have to decide soon.

     So I’ve had my permit since July. So that’s 10 months and still no license. I wasn’t allowed to drive all winter because of the snowy, icy roads. Because of this I’m very behind on my driving. I’m kinda worried that I won’t be ready to take my test soon enough. I don’t want to have to renew my permit. I’m also not allowed to get my license until after I take my schools driver’s training class. The problem is I can’t take the class until softball season is over which isn’t until at least May 12th. I just hope I’ll be ready for my test soon.

     Tonight was my school’s induction ceremony for NHS. Twenty-three of us got accepted. For one night we got to be honored in front of our friends and families. I got to walk up on stage and accept my certificate with twenty-two of my classmates. It was nice to get acknowledged for our hard work. Also this will help us all with college which is awesome. I’m excited to keep moving.

     I’ve always been someone who says they don’t have any friends. I know this sounds like an exaggeration and it is. Usually I’d consider myself to have like one or two good friends plus my boyfriend. Now I’m starting to realize I have people in my life that actually want to be my friends. Just recently I got some bad news about one of my relatives. I was talking to my friend about it and she surprised me the next day with bath bombs that her mom had made. It’s nice to know that I have people I can rely on and that I don’t have to deal with everything alone.

     Today is Easter! I hope everyone reading this had a good day. I started my day going to church. I don’t go to church nearly as often as I should but I do go sometimes. When I do go I always love seeing everyone and I actually like listening to our pastor talk. My church is pretty small so we’re just like a big family. Everyone cares for everyone else and even though there aren’t many other kids I enjoy talking to the older people there.      So after church I went to my grandmas house for Easter dinner. Every holiday everyone goes to my grandmas, which now includes my boyfriend. I love spending time with my family on holidays. Now that we have so many babies in my family I almost always am holding a baby which honestly just makes my day ten times better. Plus the food is always great so that’s a plus. Also I got concert tickets for Easter so I’m really excited about going to the concert in June. More updates to come.

     I got the letter today saying that I got accepted into my school’s chapter of the National Honor Society. I turned in my application several weeks ago and my friends and I have been anxiously awaiting our letters. Even though there’s really no reason for any of us not to be accepted, I think we were all still worried that we wouldn’t get in. It’s honestly a relief because now that I know I’m accepted I don’t have to stress anymore. Now the next step is the induction ceremony later on. Even though I’m accepted and I’m no longer required to get volunteer hours I do not plan on stopping with my volunteer work. Volunteering is something that is very important to me. I’m gonna try and make sure I help out a lot this summer when I can.

     Both nights of broadcast went really well! As far as I know, no one messed up the dance. We also didn’t mess up any stunts. We hit everything and put on a good show for everyone. I had a lot of fun performing with my friends and watching everyone else perform. Broadcast is always cool because it’s fun to see what everyone can do. Being the first act, I got to watch the whole show from the background which was great. Even though it was fun I’m glad that it’s over now so we can stop worrying about it.

Tonight was the final dress rehearsal before Broadcast. Broadcast is my schools “talent show” but it consists only singers, musicians, and dancers. This will be my second Broadcast; my first was as a freshman. Last year I was in Myrtle Beach for softball durning Broadcast week so I couldn’t participate. I do a routine in Broadcast with my wrestling cheer squad. We perform a dance with stunts. Tonight was the last practice run in costume so tomorrow when that curtain opens it’s do or die. My squad is actually the opening act which is really cool. A lot of people say it’s stressful because we’re “setting the tone for the whole show,” but I like the spot because we get to perform quickly and then relax and watch the show on a TV set up in a nearby classroom. I think Broadcast is really cool because the people at our school are really talented so it’s fun to watch. The one kid in my grade plays electric guitar in a band, accompanied singers with an acoustic guitar and piano, and plays trom...

     I feel like I have so much stuff going on this week. NHS acceptance letters are going out this week. SAT scores come out Friday. The end of the third quarter is Thursday. I have a bunch of tests. And Broadcast is this weekend. Everything is just lining up together and I feel like I can't keep up with everything. I already have softball practice six days this week. I feel like this week is gonna be exhausting and I'm stressing so much.

     Today was my first day babysitting the two little girls I'll be babysitting a couple times a week over the summer. The older girl is seven and the younger is four or five. They're pretty self sufficient so the only thing I actually have to do it make their food, make sure they follow their daily routine, and make sure they don't hurt themselves or each other. I met the girls through my gymnastics coaching job at the YMCA. They're really sweet and both love gymnastics. Today they wanted to "play gymnastics" two different times so we went downstairs so I could help them. I job was actually really easy and I had a lot of fun. The family is so nice and I like them a lot. Plus this will help with gas money for the summer and saving for college so that's a plus.

     Today is National School Walkout Day! Students across the country  walked out of their classes at 10:00 A.M. to protest in whatever way they chose. I, as well as two other students, organized and planned our schools walkout. We got the permission of our school administrators to assure that no students that wanted to participate would get in trouble for leaving class. This also allowed us to have teachers and a couple of police officers watch over the protest. Our walkout met in the school’s auditorium. For our demonstration we created a slideshow of all 17 victims of the Parkland school shooting; giving one minute for each student.  I was honestly amazed that so many students participated and stayed quiet and respectful for all 17 minutes of the presentation. Many of today’s protests were focused on gun control, but that was not our goal. Our goal was to honor the victims of Parkland and to bring attention to the safety of our schools. I strongly believe th...

     Today I took the SATs at my school. I already took the PSATs in October so I kind of had an idea of what to expect. The test was a little harder than I thought it would be, but I still think I did okay. Sitting through a test for four hours that has an impact on your future can be pretty intimidating. I just try not to second guess myself and not take too much time on any one question. After the test I got to meet up with my boyfriend and go out for a late breakfast. Then we went back to my house to play games and joke around which honestly helped my stress a lot. I think anyone who’s planning on taking a test like this the best thing to do afterwards is to hang out with friends or family and have fun. The test is over so what’s the point in stressing over it even more?

     Today was the first day of this high school softball season. We had practice in the gym at my school because the weather wasn’t good. It was nice to start getting back into practice with old and new teammates. Practice was hard and I’m definitely not in the shape I need to be for the season. With all the drills we did I can tell I’m gonna be sore tomorrow, but it’ll be worth the work when we start playing games at the end of the month. Softball season is definitely my favorite and I’m excited to get started.

     I know I've said it a thousand times, but I'm so confused! I had to pick which college I wanted Collegeboard to send my SATs too and I kinda just picked a couple. I'm not sure if I'll even go there, but at least now they'll look at me. I still have no clue where I want to go and I feel like I really need to start figuring it out soon. A lot of people know a general area atletas of where they want to go. I thought I wanted to be within three hours of home, but I realized that a lot of colleges that have what I want to study are farther away. I want to be able to see my family, but the value of my education is really important so I don't know what to do. Why is this such a hard decision?

     Its February 28th. Tomorrow is already the first day of March. This year feels like it's going by fast. Usually the first couple of months drag on, but it's already going into the third month of the year. Even though the months are moving fast, school seems to last forever. Everything I have to do keeps piling up and junior year seems to have no end. I'm so ready for summer. I'm ready to be free and have fun with my friends and family. I just want all of my work to disappear. I want to be able to relax.

   The school shooting in Parkland, Florida is a tragedy. It’s a tragedy because so many innocent teenagers lost their lives. It’s a tragedy because it shouldn’t have happened. As a country we have had several school shootings over the last couple decades. Students, parents, faculty, and many others are trying to make sure that the shooting on February 14th, 2018 is not forgotten like so many others have been. Some people question whether or not high school students should be able to voice their opinions towards national issues, but why shouldn’t they? These students were the victims. They witnessed their friends and teachers getting shot; many of which were killed. So they, as well as the rest of us, have to show that this should not have to be our reality. We should not have to be afraid to go to school. The people that are running our country and making our laws did not have to suffer through these kinds of tragedies. The school shootings that occur today did not happen whe...

     Yesterday I went to a softball clinic hosted by Leah Amico and the Penn State Behrend softball team. Leah Amico is a three-time Olympic softball gold medalist. For the first half of the clinic we went through hitting drills. During the  second half we worked on throwing and defensive skills. Overall, we got some really good coaching and I got to work on a lot of good skills. It was nice to work a little before the season starts on March. Plus at the end we got to take pictures with Leah Amico and I got to wear all of her gold medals! Now I have new skills and a great story. How many people get to see, let alone wear, Olympic gold medals in their life time? Not very many and I’m now one of them.

     I'm so happy that my boyfriend and I got to celebrate our first Valentines Day as well as his eighteenth birthday! I haven't really posted about my boyfriend because I usually keep him out of this kind of stuff, but I decided he deserved some appreciation. We've been together for eleven months and honestly I'm really lucky to have him in my life. He's always there for me and makes me smile no matter how I feel. He is so supportive of everything I do and try's his best to come to all of my events. It's hard to believe my boy is eighteen today. He'll be graduating in a few months and I'm excited to see where he goes with his life. I hope he stays by my side for a long time.

     The first thing I would tell high school students trying to start their college search is to utilize the resources available. There are so many tools, like websites, that can help with your college search. Sign up with raise.me to get started. Rise.me gives students access to micro-scholarships for their achievements in high school. Their site is actually set up to benefit students that start early. Students will want to fill out every applicable section of their site and keep them update as the go through their high school career. Raise.me is also a good place to keep track of things like hours. Another website I use often is https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org . This website is a good way to find colleges that match what you may be looking for. They also have seasonal challenges for each grade throughout high school. These challenges help you to complete tasks working towards college. Having a college board account will also come in handy later when it is time for ...

     Today I went to a college fair in Pittsburgh. There were over 370 college there. This was my first college fair so I was a little overwhelmed by how many schools were there. Every time I’d stop at a booth I’d get a bunch of papers. I ended up with an entire bag filled with brochures and papers. I have no clue when or how I’m going to get through looking at them all. I was hoping the fair would help me, but honestly I think I’m even more confused than I was before.

     I officially started my internship with raise.me today! I’ll be working with about 190 other students from across the country. We will be writing posts to be published on their blog: blog.raise.me . I’m really excited to start working with everyone. I’ve already started talking to a lot of people and it’s so cool getting to see how different yet similar everyone is. We all have so many different talents. The most common are writing, photography, and artistic things such as drawing, painting, or even performing. I will be receiving weekly challenges with prompts to complete. These are short answer prompts and will usually have to be 100-150 words. Because of this, I will be sharing motified (longer) versions of these prompts on this blog. I will also share my bigger works along the way. I’m looking forward to getting started soon.

     So I've been looking into the Disney College Program for like three years now. I just found out one of my friends got accepted and is going down to Orlando for the program soon. I'm really excited for her and I can't wait to hear all about it. It's nice to be able to get an opinion about the program from someone I know who actually got to go. I love the idea of working at the place I love so much. Honestly being accepted to the Disney College Program would be a dream. Hopefully I can get a lot of advice that will help me get accepted in the future.

     I've only been home for a few hours, but I miss Florida so much. I knew going into this weekend that I wouldn't get to be there long. I've never been in Florida for that short of time before. Usually I have time to accept that I'm leaving, but this time I was just there and gone. I've said it a million times: I love Florida so much. It's honestly one of my favorite places ever. I love the atmosphere and the weather and everything there. I have family there that I don't get to see often enough. Part of me is there. I've gone there so many times in my life that it's just normal. I'm so lucky to have the opportunity to have gone there so many times. I wish everyone had the opportunities I have had in my life.

     The first day of the Celebration of Harry Potter 2018 was awesome! I got to see exhibits of props and other things that were super cool. There were these amazing chalk sidewalk drawings that had so much detail. Plus I got to ride all of my favorite rides. It was a really fun day at Universal. I got a shirt just for the event. I love Harry Potter and it was fun to see some of the things that went into making the movies. There were so many people there because they love Harry Potter. I saw people in amazing and elaborate costumes that looked like they could be real. I got to watch special shows. The whole thing was really cool and I'm glad I got the opportunity to see it.

     Tomorrow morning we leave for a long weekend trip to Florida! The trip is my Christmas present and I'm so excited. We fly out tomorrow morning and I get to go see my family and go out to dinner. I'm can't wait because we're going to the celebration of Harry Potter Friday at Universal. Then on Saturday we're going to Disney. We fly back Sunday morning. I already know that the times gonna fly, but I'm really looking forward to it. I love Florida so much and I'm so ready to go back.

     We got an early dismissal from school today because we’re expecting an ice storm along with 4-6 inches of snow. It’s been raining all day And there’s barely any snow to be found, but by tomorrow everything will be covered. It’s nice to get out early and end this week a little early. We have Next Monday off for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. It’ll be a nice long weekend and I’ll be able to ~hopefully~ catch up on all the work I owe. The end of the nine weeks is Thursday the 18th, so I’ll have basically two school days to make everything up. I need to get back in track because applications for Nation Honors Society start soon. It would help a lot if I could make it in. But for now I think I’m going to take a nap and relax a little.

     I competed in Warren yesterday. I had a pretty good meet. I got an 8.9 on both floor and vault, a 8.8 on bars, and a 8.85 on beam. I managed to get all of my skills and not fall. This gave me an all around of 36.45. I beat the girl on my team by about 1 point. Usually she is my main competition so it seemed as though I was in the lead. What I didn’t know was that Corey had added an excel silver to their team; bumping the total of excel silvers up to seven. The new girl, who I had never competed against, was good and got first place on everything except beam. I walked away with solid second places and first on beam. I was kind of blindsided by having a new girl there, but I’m excited for the new competition. It looks like I’ll have to step up my game.

We had a snow day today, not because of snow, but because the windchill was -20 F. All week the temperatures in the morning have been 0 F or below with windchill of around -16 F. This makes this week a three day week. Everyone is happy about not having to go, but now we lose our only off day in February. It’d be a lot better if we didn’t have to make up our snow days until they got to a certain amount. What’s one day out of 180? It does come at a good time for me because I can catch up on work and just take a break. I feel like I talk about wanting a break a lot but it seems like right now most of us are just floating from one break to the next. People were not lying when they told us junior year would be the worst. I’m stressed and stretched thin trying to get by. I honestly just can’t wait to get through this year and know that it’s over. But right now, I’m only half way there.

     Okay so I know every year everyone always says they’re gonna follow their New Years revolutions for them to follow them for a week or two and then go back to the same way they were before. I usually don’t make revolutions for that very reason. Honestly I always thought they were kinda pointless. But this year I want to try to actually accomplish at least some of the things I want for 2018. So I’m gonna share a list of revolutions and hopefully if I remember I’ll update my blog with how I’m doing with my revolutions later. Resolutions for 2018 Go to church more often Workout more  Be more organized Draw/paint/do anything with art more  Keep blogging (even after school is out) Read even more books (finish the Harry Potter series) Stick with gymnastics Go to more softball practices/games Save money for college Make college decisions  This list is what I’ve come up with for now. I might edit and add some later but for now these are my goal...