Kirkwood

I just enrolled at Kirkwood, where I will be taking a Calculus I class. The description of the class is "Includes limits, derivative, differentiation, the differential elementary applications of calculus and introduction to integration." The first time I looked at this, it seemed like a foreign language, but then I realized that I already do most of these things in my pre-calc class right now.

I then decided to compare and contrast the descriptions of my current class and this one.

"TRIGONOMETRIC FUNCTIONS is the study of trigonometry of right angles
and the unit circle, proof of trigonometric identities, inverse functions,
derivations of trigonometric formulas, solutions of trigonometric equations;
ANALYSIS 1 is the study of elementary functions with an introduction to limit,
continuity, the derivative and application of maximum and minimum, with respect
to polynomial functions; integration and anti-differentiation are also
introduced; ANALYSIS 2 is a continuation of ANALYSIS 1, with emphasis on
applying differential calculus techniques to trigonometric, logarithmic, and
exponential functions"

The only differences I see is that pre-calc has more trigonometry and Calculus has more in-depth content. I will have to see if this class really is easy, though.

Location, Location, Location

Everything I do on Sunday afternoons are in the same mile-radius.

Sometimes I have to work. I work at an ice cream parlor just a few blocks down from my school. I love my job and have fun working there.

If I'm not working, or before I go to work, I play sports. These are all done at my high-school. I play volleyball in the gym with my team and sometimes other teams that practice there. Usually after, but sometimes before volleyball, I also play two other sports.

Sometimes I get people to play ultimate. This is usually a bunch of kids in my grade, some freshman, and some college students. All the high-schoolers are from Kennedy, and most of the college students usually come from Iowa State University. We play on the Kennedy soccer field, where end-zones are marked as goalie-boxes, or sometimes if it is a smaller game, we use the large light-poles on the east side of the field. Also, the field is often a little bit muddy, which makes it easy to fall down in some places. I like this, because it makes the game have more variables, and people can't win off of plain skill and athletic abilities. Finally, the mud makes your shirt look awesome when you slide in it, after diving for a pass.

Phanic is the final sport I play in that area. We play it also on the Kennedy soccer field. We haven't had any trouble with multiple sports at the same time and place, mainly because the schedules of ultimate, phanic, and volleyball revolve around each other. A large chunk of people who play volleyball also play phanic, and ultimate.

Though there are about 5 people who play all three sports, most people who play each one of the sports play only the one sport. This makes sense with the college students, who wouldn't be allowed to play volleyball. But playing ultimate and phanic should be interchangeable. I will work on trying to make all these people who can play multiple sports play all three.

Muscles

Today is Sunday, which means it was my exercise day. Sunday is the day when I play all of the following: Phanic, Volleyball, and Ultimate (frisbee). Unfortunately, I couldn't play volleyball, because I wasn't in town during practice time. Also, I couldn't play phanic, because the phanic group didn't play today. I did, however, get to play Ultimate.

I was on my way back from Indianola. We stopped at a Pizza Ranch, when Chris (my best friend's brother) called me. he asked if I wanted to play ultimate, and I told him that I would be home by 4. He told me that that would be fine if I got some high-schoolers to come play (he is a freshman in college). I agreed, and started a mass text, which proved to be difficult, because my phone only allows me to send a message to ten people, but that is an issue for a later time.

I got 2 "yes, I will come"'s. These were from a freshman and a sophomore, both of which are good and dedicated.

I got to Kennedy about five minutes early. Chris was there playing tennis with a very attractive girl. I remember thinking good job, Chris! But as soon as I got there, she left and Chris challenged me to a game.

Usually with Chris, whatever sport he plays, he is great at. This is true, according to me, because he only plays one sport, as far as I know, which is Ultimate. I expected him to destroy me at tennis, but would give it a shot anyways.

He asked me if I would like to serve, and I said yes. I knew the lingo (love=0, scoring goes love, 15, 30, 40, game, etc.) from when I was very little. Also I have played with my good friend, Alex, a few times. Alex always said that I should join the tennis team, because I am better than half the people there. I was going to, too, but it would take up lots of time and I wanted to work, so I decided against it.

I served it hard, and it was nowhere close to the in-bounds-box. I tried again, lighter, and I missed again. He got the first point. After this, the tides turned in my favor. Once, he accidentally lobbed a ball right in front of me. I took this chance, and hit the ball as hard as I could and with as much top spin as I could right back at him. It was cool that I could see how much the spin affected the ball's path.

After I won that game, someone else showed up. We put the rackets away and started throwing the frisbee around. When there was about twelve people, we started.

The first two games were the worst. The first game I was, as always, not on Chris's team. I played hard, but after a sprint down-field, I wouldn't run for a little while. My calves hurt very bad. They had hurt since last Friday, when I played a different game of ultimate.

After the second game of ultimate, my calves started to hurt less. I didn't know why, and I still don't know why. I joked that maybe they hurt so badly, they just went numb. I really don't think this was the case, however. But after the second game, I started running harder too. I ran like a sprinter; I ran on my toes. This, I think, uses more calf muscle, but didn't hurt as bad. For some reason, it seems like running om my heels and then on through to my toes is hurting my calves.

Last year at about the same time, this happened to me really bad. My coach was convinced that I had shin splints, but I wasn't so sure. My shins hurt a little, but that wasn't where I felt the pain. I saw the school physical therapist, and she said that it seemed to be the place where my calf muscle attaches to the tendon. She said to just work my calf muscle out by stretching it a lot and doing calf raises.

Maybe I have a bad connection there. Maybe I am just over-thinking this pain. Either way, I'm not going to do anything about it. As baseball season went on, my legs hurt less and less. This will probably happen the same way this year, but I'll try to keep track of it better.

Finances

I got a job about a month and a half ago. I work about three times a week. With the job, came money.

Luckily for me, my parents pay for my car insurance and gas. Also, when I need something (shoes, food...), they will buy it for me. It is just as if I didn't have a job. This lets me save all of my money, if I choose.

And to save is my choice. I put my money in the bank immediately after I get my check. Sometimes I use my debit card, but only when I have to.

This money adds up quickly. I am saving up for a reason. I figure that after college, I will make much more money than I am currently. For this reason, I am not saving for college. Instead, partly because my car is dying, I am planning to buy a vehicle.

I have three main areas of interest. Firstly, a motorcycle. I am going to take the motorcycle class at Kirkwood to learn how to drive as soon as I get a free weekend. I guess I won't know for sure if I like riding a motorcycle until I take that class, but I figure I probably will. I always loved riding my bicycle, and my dad had a motorcycle.

Secondly, I could get a limousine. There was a limo for sale a few months back. I loved it, but my dad wasn't so thrilled. I knew I would have to earn money to buy it for myself, if I chose to pursue that option. This limo is cheap, but old. Also it isn't a stretch, so I wouldn't have to get a special license or anything to drive it. It would just be that cool thing that I have and drive around every once in a while, much like the motorcycle.

My third choice would be a pick-up. Pick-ups are plain cool. They can haul things (like the ping-pong table that I recently had to get a friend to pick up for me), they can haul around people in the back, and they don't get stuck in the mud, like my current car. A down-side is that there is no trunk. Currently, I have my trunk packed full of junk that I use, though rarely.

Kirkwood

This summer, I am planning on taking a Kirkwood class. Kirkwood is the local community college, and offers a Calculus I class. I want to take this class to get ahead in math. I will be done with Calc I before my classmates even start it. I can then take Calc II and Calc III while they are taking Calc I.

Last week, I had a conference with my counselor. I figured out a few things. I could still take German next year. Also, I know how to enroll in Kirkwood. My counselor wrote me up a letter to Kirkwood, which stated that I could take this Calculus class and get high school credit as well as college credit. Also, I learned that I am not yet a Kirkwood student.

I thought I was a Kirkwood student, because I got a letter in the mail with my log-in number and was told that I was accepted. This, I later found out, actually meant that I was an "applicant". This means that I can apply to one of Kirkwood's colleges. I still couldn't take Calculus, because I wasn't a student of the college of Mathematics.

So to become a Mathematics student, I need to bring in my transcript (which has my ACT and AP scores on it) and the letter from my counselor.

Also, the summer Calc I class starts on May 24th. This is about two weeks before the end of school for me. I will have to miss about 2 hours of school time for two weeks. I would miss half of 0 hour, 1st hour, and half of 2nd hour.

0 hour is US History. For me, it is a pretty easy class. I feel like it wouldn't be too hard to miss a few days. As my counselor said, a bunch of people have missed lots more than two weeks of class. Also, I could go early to get caught up on anything that I miss.

First hour isn't too hard, either. I have band first hour. After today (Large Group Contest), we don't really have anything to do. We had our last concert a week ago, and I guess I don't know what we will do.

Second hour is AP Lang. This is harder. Since it is an AP class, it is a whole lot harder than US History. The days I will miss, however, are after the AP test. After the AP test, we are making video essays. Missing time in this class will make it hard to keep a good grade.

One solution I though of is switching classes around. The problem with this is that AP Lang is only 0 and 2nd hour, and US History with my current teacher is only 0 hour. There is no way I can rearrange my schedule to miss out on less challenging classes.

I went to the attendance facilitator and asked him what I should do. He told me that he would be happy to excuse me from the three classes I need, as long as I can work something out with the teachers who teach the classes I miss.

Finally, there is the option of not taking this class at all. I really don't want to go this route. Not only will I be a half-year (or even a whole year) behind on where I would have been in my classes, I also would have a boring, non-productive summer.

Leaving

Last year, when all the seniors left school, I was happy. Soon, I would be able to leave school myself (for summer break). Also, the lunchroom and hallways would be much less crowded with a fourth of the school's population gone. One I noticed, though, is that I wasn't sad.

Most people were sad when the seniors left. They had friends that they might not ever see again. Also, if they did see them again, it wouldn't be the same. Moving on from high school is a big step, and people were scared (for others and themselves).

But why wasn't I? I didn't have many senior friends. This is a big reason. There wasn't anyone who I would really miss after they were gone. But still, there were some people who I would never get to see again. Shouldn't I have some emotion?

This brings me back to yesterday, when I was working. Elizabeth, one of my co-workers, was quitting her job. She said that yesterday would be her last day working with me. We might not be friends, but we were always friendly to each other. I play volleyball and sometimes scrimmage the 15 year old kids that she coaches, so we always trash-talked each other a lot. Also, when she was in the back at work, I called that we needed cheddar nuggets (one of the better food items we sell). We did not need cheddar nuggets. I ate the cheddar nuggets she gave me. While I don't think this makes us friends, I think I should still miss her a little. But I don't.

But why don't I? Maybe I miss them just as much as anyone else would in my position, but I just don't react to it as strongly. Or maybe I just ignore that they are leaving, without thinking about it. Does my "missing someone" emotion not work as well, or do I just not get as attached to people as others?

1pm

20 April 2010.

I was sitting in band. Mr. Bird was saying the announcements. One announcement was that Aaron (percussion player) should pick people to play for orchestra. Orchestra is a bunch of string players, and the best few trumpets, trombones, tuba, percussion, and some woodwind players. After a few performances, people started disliking orchestra, and now nobody wants to do it. This is why Aaron was told to pick people, instead of just taking the best 4 or 5 players. Immediately after Mr. Bird asked Aaron to do this, I turn around and whisper to Aaron, "can I play?!"


23 April 2010.

First orchestra practice. I played the suspended cymbal. All I had to do was hit the opposite sides and get louder and louder. People kept walking through the band room to get their instruments, and I would flinch every time they opened a door. I was scared that Mr. Bird might see me playing percussion (I am a trumpet player), and make someone else do it, instead.


1 May 2010.

I was working at Parlor City, a local ice cream parlor. Mr. Bird came through the drive-through. This was the second time I saw him. Last time, he saw two of his students (Hailee and me), and asked how many Kenned Band students worked here (at the time it was just us two). Because of that, I told him that another of his students just got hired ten minutes ago (which was very true). He said that that was pretty cool, and then asked me if I was going to be at the orchestra rehearsal tomorrow. I told him that I had practice, but would probably be there. He said cool, and that he would see me there. I guess he's playing the bass guitar like last year.


2 May 2010

Volleyball is at 1. Orchestra is at 1.

AP Tests

Recently I've noticed that there is a big test coming fast. The AP test was scheduled for next week a few months (at least) ago. I never realized just how close they were until a couple days ago. I'm only in one AP class, so I'm not too worried. I heard that the AP Lang test wasn't extremely hard to get a passing grade on, but I'm still a little worried.

This is the kind of thing that I don't like: a huge test that makes or breaks it for the students. I could so all the AP Lang projects and homework and work very hard all year to get all As, but if I don't do well on the test, I don't get the credit.

My solution to this problem is to not take AP classes, or at least not many. Next year I will take from 0-3 AP classes. I may or may not go into any of them.

One is AP German. My plan is to go to Drake, where I don't need any foreign language requirement at all. Why, then would I waste my time with German? Also, getting college credit in foreign language has never been a goal for me. The most language I would ever have to take to graduate any college (that I am considering) is four years of high school. I am only considering AP German at all because it is easier than German 4. The way this works is that there are so few German students that German 4 and AP German is one class. Therefore, the tests are the same. The only difference is that AP German students get a little more homework. But when the AP student gets a B on the test, it counts like an A. When the German 4 student gets a B, it is still a B. Also, all homework in German is completion points, so every assignment that AP students do raise their grades. But German, in any form, is still not needed for me, and a waste of time (in regards to requirements).

The next AP class I am considering taking is AP Economics. I haven't taken the high level AP social studies classes (Human Geography, World History, European History, and US History) since freshman year, when I took Human Geography. I hated it, but hear that it only got worse from there. I am glad that I didn't continue, and am hesitant to get into AP Econ. It is more of a math class (I think), so it should be easier for me than a class like AP Government. A downside is that I would not only have to take 3 terms of AP Econ, but also one term of government. As it is, I am trying to take fewer classes, not more. Also, I can take econ in college faster.

The final AP class I was considering taking, but highly doubt I will pursue, is AP Calculus. Instead of taking this class in 3 terms, I am going to take it over the summer at Kirkwood (only Calc I, not AP Calc). I like this idea because I will be done with the class before my classmates have even started it. Also, I don't have to take an AP Test that makes or breaks me, depending on how well I think in a certain couple hours on a certain day. By taking this summer class, I will be able to take Calc II and Calc III during school. This is why I wanted to take fewer classes: to allow me time to get to Kirkwood and back. By the time I get to college, I will be two classes closer to taking the actuary tests, which will show companies that they should hire me. Also, my field is harder than many, so 2 fewer classes can only help the course-load.

Author Study

I joined forces with John to do our author study. MY plan of not researching worked very well. Not only did I not do any work, but I didn't have to argue with John about who we should pick. It turned out that the guy he found is very, very interesting.

Augusten Burroughs lived a very rough childhood, which became the inspiration for his writing. Almost all of his books are memoirs, so his early life would have had to be very important. His parents were both writers, but split up while Burroughs was just a child. Burrough's parent's psychiatrist adopted and took care of Burroughs. His reflections on life became his main theme, but he didn't present it in a horrible, feeling-sorry-for-himself way. Burroughs makes his literature funny. In one instanse, he tells about how sometimes, though his parents weren't religious, they would use Jesus' full name: Jesus Fucking Christ. That night, he prayed to Jesus Fucking Christ. Things like this made Burroughs considered the 15th out of 25 of the funniest writers on earth.

I was talking to a friend of mine, who knew who Augusten Burroughs was. She said, "Yeah! That's the guy who wrote Running With Scissors!" She told me that it was a really funny book, and movie. Since this is one of Burroughs' most famous books (possibly because it is also a movie), both John and I are going to read it. I will borrow it from this friend, who has and likes it.

Post-Physics Rocks!

If you noticed, I talked about light when I talked about the bell, or pepper of my trumpet. This is because it had nothing to do with sound. The chapter we just went through was sound, but the bell didn't make sound. I looked ahead a chapter and found some details that I could put into my paper. After all, he said that the paper had to explain the physics of the instrument, not the "sound" elements.

Physics Rocks! Paper

Physics Rocks!

For my Physics Rocks! Project, I decided to make a trumpet out of food. There are three parts, including mouthpiece, base, and bell. Holes in the top help to change the notes, but it is a brass instrument, in the sense that the player must buzz their lips like they are playing a brass instrument.

The first part of the trumpet is the mouthpiece. The mouthpiece is made of a vegetable that is dense throughout the middle (I couldn’t figure out what the vegetable actually was, but it’s carrot-ish). This makes the place where the player contacts their lips to the instrument more easily carved. I created the mouthpiece by cutting the vegetable at 5.0 cm. I then drilled a hole through it and carved the larger end on the inside to make the hole wider. The mouthpiece is important, because it helps the player create vibrations, or sound. Sound made by the mouthpiece is both crude and high because of the short length and narrow tube. Since the length of the mouthpiece is .05 m, and the speed of sound is 340 m/s in air, the frequency of this sound would be 3400 Hz. Because of the poor quality of sound, more parts are needed on the instrument.

The base of the trumpet is a cucumber. This part lowers the pitch of the instrument greatly, and makes a better, nicer sounding tone. The different sound is created by the greater length and radius of the tube, which creates a lower frequency when played. The length of the cucumber is 21.0 cm, so the frequency alone is 809.5 Hz. However, when connected to the mouthpiece, the length is not the two added together, or 26 cm. The mouthpiece is fitted into the cucumber, so the length of the two combined is 23.3 cm. The frequency of the two together is 729.6 Hz. Also, because of the variation of shape, the instrument’s harmonic series changes. The shape is changed because the hole is larger in the cucumber than the mouthpiece. I did this by using a larger sized drill bit when drilling the hole. To make the holes, I drilled into the cucumber from the side with an even smaller bit, and then cared around them to make it look good.

Finally, the bell of the trumpet is made out of half a pepper. This addition was added for visual appeal. It is seen, because its electromagnetic frequency is between 4.3x10¹⁴ and 7.5x10¹⁴. Also, since it is orange, it has a wavelength of around 590-620nm. There is no difference in the sound my trumpet makes because of this pepper, however, because it does not increase the length of the tube.

When the instrument is played, as it is closest to a brass instrument, more than one pitch can be made with the same fingering. This is because the 3400 Hz measurement is based on if the trumpet was producing a first harmonic sound. A second harmonic would make a higher frequency. In this case, second harmonic would be 6800 Hz. The third, fourth, and more harmonics can also be made; very many notes can be played.

Physics Rocks! Assignment

In my physics class, we have a student teacher. Like some student teachers I have been with, he tried to to-do what he had to. I suppose it is a good thing, but it only makes it hard on students. This is because he makes big projects that have no specific details that are needed in such a project, because he is new at it and hasn't done it before.

For a physics project, he assigned us to make an instrument. Specifications included making a paper, and explaining how it was physics. I had a fun time with that vagueness.

Denver Phanic

Sunday was a nice day. First, we had family at our house. It was good to see them. Also, we got to play a big game of volleyball, which was a blast. Finally, my cousins from Denver came, and we got to show them phanic.

Only six people (aside form my cousins) came to play, so it was a good thing the two of my cousins did come. We played a half-court game. This was because we only had four people, and also because there was a softball game. The softball game was probably not going to interfere with phanic, but playing full-court would have made it possibility of interference greater.

We didn't give my cousins much instruction before we began play. I gave them a quick run-down of some rules on the way over, but nothing about strategy or technique. We just got on the field, picked teams, and played.

I had Mike on my team, and the other team had Matt. I am always surprised by Mike. He got some really good plays in, despite his 5 year age difference from the rest of us.

This should probably be credited to baseball, which both Matt and Mike play.

So now Matt will go back home and start phanic with his friends. Hopefully, he can make a team that it comparable to ours, so that we can maybe have some away games against each other. This will make the game of phanic much more fun and exciting.

Author Study

The search for my author to study is on. The short list contains many contemporary authors, all of which I don't know. I'm not sure if I want to research them, though. I really don't think it would be worth it, for me.

I could find an author that has written many popular essays and books, or even movies. But why would I do this? Because one day, when I see a book of his on a shelf somewhere, I can say, "Hey! I know that guy...?" Firstly, I doubt I'll ever find myself in that particular situation, and even if I do, it won't make a huge impact on my life.

I think I picked my previous author study author in a good way. I said to myself, "Clifford! That's a cool name!" He ended up being one of the boringest authors on the list. He wrote one good essay, and put a bunch of bad essays with that essay into a book. He used a method of writing. I forget the name he called the method, but it is basically the "blabber on as much as you can about what you're trying to say, so that the reader can understand your point of view better" method. This made his essays very, very long, and very, very boring.

The good part about Clifford Geertz was that he wrote about a fun topic. However boring his essay was, I could still say that I did a presentation about cock-fighting. Also, I understood his method well enough to explain it to the class, and that made the presentation work well.

I doubt I could have found out how boring Geertz was, just by researching him quickly, and might have still picked him if I did research. So this author study, I will be picking my author at random, or just joining someone else who picked an author that they seem to like.

Phanic

Tomorrow is the start of this year's Phanic season! I am very excited. I will be buying a cheap, but heavy-duty racket from Walmart today so that can p[lay better, and my cousins are coming over (for Easter), so they can play. Also, my cousins (from Denver, Iowa) are starting a team, but don't know how to play very well yet, so they can learn.

I'll get back to you on how it goes.

Blood

Today I was hanging out with a few friends at Godfathers (the hangout spot) when I told them I had to go. It was 5:45, and I was supposed to pick my dad up from giving blood. It wasn't that he couldn't drive after giving blood, it was just that he had been using a rental car, but returned it just before giving blood.

I got to the church and found the place. It was in a gym/worship center. There were about 15 people in the room. Since my dad had just started not too long ago, I asked if I could give. The lady told me that I could, so I filled out some information.

I had given once before, but this time I had a much better time. The first time I gave was in an RV remolded for blood donation. The nurse told me to go into a tiny room and take a survey. The computer asked me questions very slowly, and then I answered them. Unfortunately, I had to tell them that I didn't have sex with some with HIV, AIDs, gonorrhea, etc. in around 10 questions, and then in 10 more questions had to tell them that I had never been in Africa, in Europe from 1950-1970 (when I wasn't alive), or taken any tattoos. I respect that these questions need to be answered, but by me saying that I have never been out of the country or had sex, I wouldn't have had to answer about 30 questions (in theory). But this time, I just answered those questions on a quick box-checking paper form.

Also, I was in a practically empty gym, not a cramped RV.

One of the best parts was that I knew someone there. Calvin had gotten there just before me. He is a body-building type of guy. He is very fit, so when the nurse told him he might not be able to donate blood, he was very surprised. The bottom number of Calvin's blood pressure was 30. This means, according to a chart I found in many places on the internet, Calvin was in a coma. After taking his blood pressure manually (with the pump), they figured it out.

I got my information approved, and then went to the cool chairs. The nurse was cleaning my arm at the injection site, when I got a phone call. I answered. It was Alex. He asked if I wanted to go play volleyball, but I told him that I better not. Also, it was way too cold for sand volleyball.

During my quick talk with Alex, the nurse must have put the big needle in my arm, because I looked back and sure enough, I was getting blood pumped. The nurse told me to squeeze the ball continually. The way I heard it (both times I gave blood), I was supposed to squeeze as often and as quickly as I could. Apparently this is not what I was supposed to do. As I was squeezing, I would feel a warm sensation in my arm at the injection spot. I thought it was weird, but didn't pay too much attention to it. About a half-minute later, I noticed my arm feeling very warm. I looked, and dark-red liquid was flowing off either side of my arm.

I very calmly said "I'm bleeding." The nurse later informed me that he was thinking "duh, you're donating blood," but then saw what had happened. He covered the injection site with an inch thick of gauze, and then started cleaning my arm and the chair. He then lifted the gauze and noticed that the needle was securely in my vein.

I had been squeezing the ball too much, and I bled too much for the tube to suck. The excess blood seeped out of my arm and onto the chair.

Afterward, I felt fine. I drove my dad to his car, and we went shopping for some things, and then home. Despite this donation, I will continue to donate as much as I can.

My ACT Preparation

Many people believe in different ways to prepare for the ACT. Some say that there is no way, and that any studying you do is insignificant. I personally think that with studying, a higher ACT score can be achieved, but not by much.

For around a year, I have been getting daily SAT prep questions from the College Board website. These are past SAT questions that have been used before. I get an email, and usually ignore it. Every once in a while, though, I click on it to test myself.

Sometimes they are easy, sometimes hard. I click on my favorite answer, and another web page pops up. This tells me if I got the answer right, or wrong. Also, it provides an explanation to the answer. This is where I learn from.

Whether or not these SAT prep questions actually help me with my ACT scores, I don't know, but they can't hurt. Also, I might learn something that I can use in college, like the difference between "affect" and "effect", or "who" and "whom".

I took the ACT just the other day, and am waiting for the results. I have no idea when they will be coming in, but I don't want to know. The less I know, the quicker I will forget, and then the less time I will worry about it. Depending on if I raise my score, I may be taking more steps to raising it than just taking daily questions.

My goal is to get at least 30 total. I suppose it is possible for me to have gotten it the other day, but I'm not sure. I didn't feel great about my reading and writing tests, but I didn't have a great score last time either. My science is where I am worrying about, also. I felt okay about parts of it, but that's all. I got a 28 on that section on my last test, and I don't think I will match that score this time. I felt good about my math, though. I remember one question that I couldn't get for sure on my first test, but on the one last weekend, I only missed questions for stupid mistakes (if I missed any at all). My hope is that my math is higher than last time, and that it will raise my total score.

If I don't get a higher score, I will go to Sylvan. Sylvan is a place where struggling students go to get tutored. I am struggling, but not to get into college. I am just struggling to get a better scholarship. Sylvan also has ACT test prep, which is what I am going to go there for. The Assistant Dean of students at Drake University advised me to do this. He said that it is recommended and actually works.

One factor is cost. Sylvan isn't free, but I think I will benefit from going both financially and brainically. Not only will I be smarter (or at least know more random facts), but I will also get more money from a scholarship when my test score raises. This is because of how Drake's scholarship works. Almost everyone gets a standard scholarship, but the amount they get depends on GPA, ACT, and some other scores.

ACTs (good side)

This morning I took the ACT test. It wasn't a great experience, but I think I did okay.

My strength is math. I truly would not be surprised if I got a 36 on my math portion of the test. I don't feel like I didn't know how to do anything, and the few questions I circled (to come back to) I went back to and re-answered correctly. I doubt I will get a 36, however, because of a not-so-rare occurrence commonly known as a stupid mistake. Aside from that section, I don't feel so good.

Science is my next best section. Basically, all you do is look at tables and answer questions about them. It takes very little actual knowledge of science. Knowing what the prompt is talking about is helpful, though. I remember that every science test I have ever taken has had 4 major parts. Firstly, an easy part. This could be understood by anyone. It's like a graph that says when Sally sells more lemonade, she makes more money. According to diagram 3, how much money will Sally make if she sells 35 glasses of lemonade? Next, there is a biology question. This could be genomes, animals, or plants. This is a little more complicated, because you might actually have to read the experiment to see what the people in the problem are doing. After doing this, though, it is pretty easy to figure out what the questions are asking. The third section is usually chemistry (it's nice, because it goes in the order that I took the classes). These could be mixing chemicals or even viscosity questions. Chemistry may be the only subject that you need to know something about to do well on. Then, the physics questions are also very simple, but sometimes they can trip you up with weird lingo and lots of jargon.

College Applications

A week or so ago, I applied at the local community college, Kirkwood. I am going to take some math classes during high school, and needed to apply to take them.

I went online and filled out a form. It was a very generic type form that anyone can recognize, including name, date, address, SS number, etc. I felt kind of like I was applying for a job somewhere. In no place did I put my current GPA or ACT test scores.

Just a few days ago, I got a letter from Kirkwood admissions. My mom gave it to me, and I decided to go on facebook before opening it, because I figured that doing nothing on facebook would be more exciting than reading a letter that said I was accepted into a college. Eventually, though, I read the letter. I was right in that I got accepted. In the letter, the only important thing that was mentioned was my Kirwood number, which is their version of an identification number.

The next day, my dad came into my room and told me that he heard I got a letter from Kirkwood. He asked what it was about, and I told him that I was accepted. He asked if I had to give my GPA or something, and I told him no, just my name. We had a chuckle out of that.

Hopefully Kirkwood will be a positive experience for me. From visiting and talking with Drake's Dean of students, I learned that getting ahead in math will make my time at Drake very much less packed full, and also that Kirkwood does a good job at teaching. I am thankful for this opportunity, and I look forward to taking Calculus this summer....

Grad parties

Lately, I have been getting a lot of facebook invitations to come to graduation parties. I always write them down in my planner, but don't respond to the invitation. I think that multiple people might ask me to go on the same day at the same time. Also, I think I should assess who I know and how close we are, rather than just the first person to invite me at a certain time.

So far, I have 5 invitations. I don't think this is very much, but I do predict a large increase in invitations. I'm not saying that I know a lot of seniors, and that I'm good friends with them, it's just that the people who sent e invitations aren't all too close. I do think I know a lot more seniors better than the seniors who invited me.

Part of the problem is facebook. Too many people can invite too many other people. One example is that I got an invitation to go to someone's party, lets call him Greg Dimagio. Of course, I knew who he was. Obviously this is true, because he is a friend of mine on facebook. Also, I imagine that he remembers me. This may not be true, however. Greg could have just invited everyone on his friend's list and not looked. Perhaps he only accepted my friend request because he was tired and didn't want to make sure he knew me. I know him because he goes to my church, but not very often at all. I took confirmation with him for one year, but never talked to him much. That was at least 4 years ago. Also, since the little amount of time I talked to him in confirmation, I may never have talked to him. But Greg still invited me to his party.

Other 'friends' who invited me are the girl who trained me at work (I worked with her twice so far), the girl that sits by me in one class (but this might actually be okay, because we have lots of discussion and group work in this class), the one guy who I see in band every once in a while, and the kid I hung out with around 2nd grade.

Now my problem is deciding where to go. I could go to Greg's party, or I could go to the girl at work's party. They are kind of far away, so I wouldn't want to try to go to both. But should I even go to one? They invited me, but it might have been on accident. But perhaps it wasn't an accident. Also, who doesn't want tons of guests at their graduation parties? Even if they don't remember my name, at least I showed up to support them. And still the question remains, whose party should I go to? I've known Greg for years, kind of. But I will continue to see the girl at work in the future, whereas I may not see Greg.

I have come up with an answer to my question. It is simple. I will not decide, not yet at least. Perhaps someone that I am good friends with will invite me to their party at the same time as these two, then I would be forced to ditch both of these people who I barely know. Also, if I respond that I will be attending Greg or the girl's part, I will feel more obligated to go to their party, instead of my true friend's.

I will stick with this answer until around May 1st, when the graduates need more help on the numbers of who is going to attend. Also, all invitations should be given by then. Hopefully this will be a good, but unfortunately not final, solution to my problem.