Yesterday was a fairly good day. The bus was on time, and we had a decidedly less offensive sub for Ms. Comerford. We wrote an in-class AP essay for Ms. Sim, followed by a long discussion. The question was interesting, but I'm so used to writing Language essays, I may have screwed up. I don't think mine was all that great; I totally missed the allegory of the male character's name (Mr. Allworthy). I came home, and worked steadily on my homework. My mom insisted I submit my College Park application online, so I did. If it gets lost in cyberspace, it's her fault and I don't know if I'll be able to forgive her. I went to bed late (after midnight), but somehow I wasn't all that tired today. Weird.
My mom left for San Diego this morning. NIH does a lot of presentations at job fairs around the country, and they just started a new program where they take additional people to the presentations, people that don't usually get to go. My mom's the guinea pig. I was still irritated at her about last night (I still am, I guess), and then she insisted that she put my fee waiver in a different mailbox this morning so it'd "get there faster." Since when do we not put our mail in the mailbox on our curb? We spent years without a curbside mailbox; now that we've got one, I like to use it. It's convenient.
Pop quiz in PreCal this morning. We're doing trig identities now. For me, it's re-learning them. I think I understood the questions, though (all three of them), so I should be good. The half- and double-angle identities always threw me, though. Too many combinations and square roots and crap like that.
Mr. Witko has issues. We were doing a "lab" today, and he pursued a totally unrelated "experiment." You remember that one from middle school where you mix cornstarch and water together, and it makes this weird gooey substance? The scientific part is that it's the fourth state of matter, plasma. The diversionary part is that it's kinda cool to play with. Anyway, while he was mixing the... mixture, he seemed to be enjoying it. I mean, the man was mixing and moaning, "Oh, oh, yes, yes!" We were all trying not to laugh, but come on. Who wouldn't? It was as bad as an Herbal Essences commercial, only with a short, bald, white guy.
Today is my self-appointed NHS tutoring day. I have yet to actually tutor anyone, but not showing up is grounds for probation, and I really don't need that right now. It was just me and two of the South African teachers in Mr. Belanger's room until Mykella, Iyen, and Anthony showed up. Apparently, Mr. Ware kicked them all out, so they wandered down there. Then a teacher got hurt, so Mr. Belanger closed up and we moved to the Cyber Lab with Mr. Creveling. There were a bunch of juniors from my AP US History class cramming in there, so I sat and talked and studied with them. It was one of the best lunches I've had in a long time, though I did miss talking to Hope.
The test itself was not as atrocious as I feared. It was a whopper: 50 multiple choice, four questions of varying point value from the
Marbury v. Madison video, and an essay. Last year, it would have been a two-day test. As it was, it took both periods today. I only had about twenty minutes to spare. I feel generally good about it, though I may have destroyed my essay. I'm so thankful for partial credit.
We're just about finished with
The Canterbury Tales now, and moving on to
Hamlet next week. (Thanks to the Renaissance Festival's "Leave it to Hamlet", I have an outline of the plot stuck in my head. Crazy Ophelia singing "Big Spender".... You had to be there.) One more quiz on The Knight's Tale, and that's it. (That's "the", Megan, not "a".
A Knight's Tale, according to the
IMDb, is inspired by
The Canterbury Tales, but the stories aren't the same.) I hear Ms. Soraci's class is being taught by Ms. Gregory now, and they're reading
Their Eyes Were Watching God. That's fabulous news. Now they won't complain, and Ms. Sim won't complain. I read that sophomore year. Once you get used to the language, it's pretty good.
Mr. T is mysteriously absent again. Choosing the lesser of two evils, I hope he's just depressed again. Or sick. Sick is better. Nothing terminal. I just hope he didn't get in an accident or something. We need him. Mrs. Anderson is great, but for It's Ac, Mr. T is better.
I have a lot of stuff to do, and not enough time to do it. Maybe not even the strength to last through it all. I have a lot of support though, very little of it parental. Someday I'll understand why my junior- and senior-year stresses are being combined and thrust at me all at once. Like why the freshmen are fighting so much, there's a rumor that they'll cancel Homecoming. Or why I'm blogging now instead of working on writing for my UMD application. For now, I guess I just have to wonder and slog through it all. I hope I make it.
