Photo: Sharp Focus (Vote Please)

My Favorite Photo (I've Ever Taken) 3 Brickfish

Most Recently Self-Made Videos: Feb 2011

More Relief, But Not All Relief (for seniors)

Haven't written an article in FOREVER. This is an editorial I wrote. Hope it isn't too crappy... Final Published Article: http://www.baronbanner.com/2011/02/02/more-relief-but-not-all-relief-for-seniors/

- - - - -

First semester has finally passed and for seniors here at Fountain Valley High School, it means one thing: relief.

My first semester of my senior year was like a slap in the face; sudden, and, of course, stressful.

Senior year is supposed to be the year to kick back and relax. That’s what everybody says. Sure, the year may be relaxing for those who stick with the average class schedule and limit themselves to three to five classes, ensuring their leave after fourth period for an off-campus lunch and a decent amount of time for themselves for the rest of the day. But for the rest of us, it’s nothing like that.

My fall semester involved applying colleges and frantically attempting to balance my classes and keep my grades up, which was harder than I expected. I applied to only private schools—University of Southern California (USC), New York University (NYU), Chapman University, and California Institute of the Arts—with an exception to CalState, Long Beach, intending to major in film production. And since my junior year was almost a complete bore with a minimized schedule I should have given myself this year instead, I decided to add in a few more classes I should have taken the previous; a foreign language class and a science class. I remember during the second semester of my junior year, I harassed my senior role models consistently. What classes should I take? Is this class to stressful? Too hard? A given? How much time does this activity take? I wanted the perfect schedule that would be appealing on my college resumes, and, at the same time, wasn’t too overwhelming or too dull. But I also wanted a zero period and a 7th, theater. So I set my schedule officially and I was satisfied with the following for the rest of the summer:

0 – Baron Banner

1 – Algebra 2B; TrigonometryA

2 – Physics

3 – AP English 4

4 – AP Government; (regular) Economics

5 – Baron Broadcast News

However, procrastination and lack of time-management tortured me. To my underclassmen out there, there is one simple rule you must follow—start your essays in the summer. Every year, seniors are told that advice by their respected alumni friends, yet most end up working on their essays last minute or too late into the school year. And the fact that no one prepares you for the college application process, unless you’re a lucky younger child of the family, puts a lot more pressure on you, the applicant, and your family, than truly needed.

In “brief”, this is my college application experience: I turned in all my online applications, whether for Common App or a different online host, all on the day of the deadline. I turned almost all of my film portfolios the day of or late (at least post-marked). I sent in the wrong portfolio for one of my colleges (I sent in a portfolio for screenwriting versus film production) and had to make another one and send it in after the scholarship deadline; however, it was sent on the day of the regular deadline. But luckily the essays for the incorrect major proved beneficial for other college applications and scholarships. I failed to talk to Ms. Michaela Wakeman regularly and turn in the teacher reports for her letter of recommendations for me—and have up to this day, become too intimidated and ashamed of myself to approach her again. I also ended up asking my teachers for my letters of recommendation on the last week before my first college application was due (Chapman) for early decision.

Let’s just say my college application experience wasn’t pretty…

Worst of all, I didn’t realize how much work I would have in Baron Banner and Baron Broadcast News as a senior versus as an underclassman, whether I had high positions already or not. That promoted lack of time-management and dedication to a lot of negativities; punctuality for deadlines was a big demerit, which I am ashamed of.

Luckily, now that the stress of keeping my grades up and college applications are now over, I can breathe once more. I can’t get relax completely like the rest of my senior class, some of who have started dropping their classes or transferring out to an easier course (AP to regular). And as tempting as that might seem, (utter relaxation for the last semester of my senior year), I have to resist. I did make some adjustments, however.

I switched from AP Government into regular Economics as planned and transferred to a different, but easier-to-understand physics teacher, which should prove more beneficial to me for my second semester report card.

All there’s left to truly worry about is scholarship applications and anticipation for those college acceptance or rejection letters pouring in slowly through April. Chapman should be my first to hear from, as I heard they recently started sending out their letters. Luckily for one of my friends already in Baron Broadcast News, he got accepted; which created a more intense anxiety for me every time I rummage through the mail or encounter him at school.

My goal for this semester is punctuality, motivation, and responsibility in keeping up my grades, keeping up with financial aid deadlines, extra curricular deadlines, and building up my artistic resume with film, design, and writing, especially with film festivals coming up.

Overall the pattern that was and I predict will be my senior year as a whole is as follows: fall to winter, a climatic stress pattern; winter to spring, cooling down; spring to summer, freedom.

I can’t cool down too much just yet. But one thing is true: more relief.