Aspiration.

Today, I was elected as one of the two co-editors-in-chief of my high school's 2009-2010 newspaper staff!!! And the person who I wanted to be co-editor with was also elected!

I could write a really long post on this, but I am absolutely exhausted...It's been a long year.

And I take the SAT tomorrow and haven't studied one bit :(

Oh well, being elected editor makes up for whatever torturous things my teachers decide to throw at me ... and ... I've learned to be careful about what I post on blogs, so I'll just leave it at that for now.

Anyway, I'm excited. I've dreamed of being editor-in-chief all this year and now it's finally going to happen!

Editor-in-chief tryouts for my high school newspaper are tomorrow, and I am absolutely freaking out!

There are five people running and two will be elected by the staff. We have to give a speech and spend the rest of the class period being interviewed by the entire staff. Public speaking is NOT my thing...my voice usually shakes and my words stop making sense.

I think I have a pretty good chance though. I'm a section editor this year, so my experience should give me an advantage.

Anyway, keep your fingers crossed that I'll be posting something tomorrow saying that next year, I'll be co-editor-in-chief!!!

Today, I begin my search to earn $200,000 in scholarship money so I can attend college in Washington DC (either American University, George Washington University or Georgetown University).

Any suggestions aside from FAFSA, essay contests, robbing banks, etc.?

I have a year and four months before I begin college, and I take the SATs in two weeks and will apply to schools in fall/winter of this year.

$200,000 seems like a VERY unrealistic goal, but if I want to go to school in DC, I have to find it somehow.

Wow, it's been awhile. A lot's happened and a lot's changed, but I figure it was about time to post another blog entry, so here goes (it's just an update on my life, nothing too exciting):

I looked at my grades two nights ago and freaked out. Don't get me wrong, I know 3 As, 1 A- and 2 B+ are good grades, but I'm a 4.0 student. This is my LAST semester of high school that colleges look at and I just have to hold it together to maintain that 4.0, which isn't looking likely at this point. I don't know what's happened. Lately I skip and/or BS homework and don't study for tests. I remember telling my mom in seventh grade about the majority of students who don't care about their homework and how I could NEVER allow myself to become one of them, but all the sudden, that's exactly who I am. I've worked soooooooooo incredibly hard for 16 years and always been perfect. I feel like if I don't get a 4.0 my last semester, all of this work will have been for nothing. That may sound completely irrational, but I don't care. It makes sense in my mind.

So I've done a lot of thinking the past few days. I'm going to take a trip to my elementary school and visit my fifth grade teacher. She's probably going to retire soon and I want to thank her. I would give almost anything to be in her class again, but obviously that's impossible. I've realized that I'm a completely different person now than when I was ten years old. In fifth grade, I was shy, soft-spoken, innocent, naive. I still posess all those qualities, but a lot's happened and I'm not entirely happy with the person I've become. I wish I could go back to being a kid again, but I'll just have to make do with my experiences and learn from them.

On a second note, I spent all of today researching colleges. For awhile, it's been between the University of Washington and the University of Montana. But today, I discovered American University. It's in Washington DC and full of politically aware students and amazing journalism, political science, government and international relations programs. It's the perfect size, about 6000 undergraduates, and has a gymnastics club!!! And there are a ton of internship and job opportunties associated with major corporations as well as the government...Only catch is that it's $47,000 a year, which ABSOLUTELY SUCKS.

I take the SAT in two weeks and haven't studied a bit for it. My room's a complete disaster and must be cleaned. I have about 20 hours of homework to do tomorrow. But other than that, life's good at the moment.

I signed up for Twitter yesterday and am a follower of several CNN feeds. Here are a just a few examples of the Tweets I've received on my cell phone so far:

politicalticker: Biden's mother admitted to hospital after fall.

cnn: Austrian to plead guilty to rape and incest, lawyer says.

cnni: 4 tourists killed, 3 injured in Yemen bombing...

cnn: Greene: We owe oldest Americans an apology.

cnn: Cheney says Obama risks new terror attacks.

cnn: Taliban threaten to kill aid workers as spies.

cnn: Five die in Miami murder-suicide, police say.

cnn: Widow of entertainer Sammy Davis Jr. dies.

cnni: More arrests in N. Ireland over killings...

cnni: 6 hurt as reality show audition ends in chaos: Three people were arrested Satuday after chaos broke out...

cnni: 2 dead in Afghanistan suicide blast...

and

politicalticker: Bernanke: Recovery to begin next year.

Out of the 50 Tweets I've received in the past 24 hours, only two have been somewhat positive:

cnn: Space shuttle Discovery launches.

and

politicalticker: Obama to announce plan to boost lending to small businesses.

Despite the attraction of Tweeting 24/7 with anyone in the world, my attempt to better connect with the people around me has made my day a little more depressing. Please, media, report on something that will make us flash a quick smile. I'm not sure how much longer my phone will survive if I'm having to slam it shut 48 times a day.

Lately, I've been asking myself if journalism is really in my future. A variety of things have contributed to my lack of confidence in my writing, but I don't want to go into them here.

Today, I went to the state high school journalism competition, where I competed in news writing (I'm the news section editor of my school's newspaper). I had absolutely no idea what to expect and prepared very little beforehand.

It turns out, I had to write an article about the content of a 45 minute presentation that the news, opinion and editorial cartooning contestants all listened to. Well, guess who the speaker was? Washington State Superintendent of Public Schools Randy Dorn!!! It was the coolest thing ever, kind of like listening to a celebrity. I had a lot of respect for him before the competition and it was unbelievable to actually hear him in person! I felt like I was sitting in a real news conference as an actual journalist as I frantically scribbled on six pages of notes. Unfortuantely, there was only time for three people to ask questions, so didn't get the chance to talk to him. Nevertheless, it was an amazing experience!

Then came 70 minutes to write my article. I got off to a rough start because everything I wrote sounded feature-y and not news-y. Dorn talked about his policies and changes he planned to make regarding the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL - it's EVIL!!!), our state's response to the No Child Left Behind Act. I still don't understand why the news contestants covered his speech because it had little to do with news, but whatever. I finished my article at the very last second and I was a little disappointed because I knew it wasn't my best work. I was really rushed on time.

The rest of the day was spent attending seminars on various media topics. Then came awards.

News writing was the first awards category. Three contestants received "honorable mention." Then came the "excellent" awards...and they called my name! I was soooooooooooooooooo shocked because I was certain that my article sucked, but I was ecstatic at the same time. My entire news staff erupted in applause and jumped out of their seats. One other competitor received "excellent" status and two or three others received "superior" (first place). So basically, I came in third or fourth place out of about 40 people!

For having only been on my newspaper's staff for one year, I think this is a pretty big accomplishment. I received feedback on my article - generally good comments and a little constructive criticism. One judge said, "Student shows real promise by way of a strong lead and great use of attribution." I definitely feel 300% more confident in pursuing a career in journalism. Now I can't wait to run for one of next year's co-editor-in-chief positions!

My best friend was forced to listen to my long list of complaints about high school and growing up. So now that that's off my chest, I thought I'd make a list of the good things about growing up:

• I've learned to connect with people on a much deeper level. A few years ago, my relationships with people were very surface-level, especially with my friends.
• I've found role models other than my parents who I aspire to live my life in a similar way. I am aware that these people may have flaws, but I've learned to accept that no one is perfect.
• I'm no longer the same shy, reserved, goody-two shoes girl with big glasses. Let me explain this one. Only the people that know me very well can see the difference - others would still say I am that same girl. I think the fact that I had a comfortable half-hour long conversation with three principals today proves that I am not as shy and reserved as I used to be. I've cheated on homework and no longer try 110 percent on every assignment. And I have much, much better fashion sense now than a few years ago (and I wear contacts for the most part).
• I've learned who to respect and who is worth my time. Sometimes I forget and I still give second chances too often, but I'm not as naive and guillible as I used to be.
• I've developed passions (okay, obsessions) in gymnastics and journalism and learned how to gain motivation through these passions.
• I've taken an interest in the things going on around me. I think I've found a somewhat decent balance between thoughts of myself, my family and friends, and the world as a whole.
• I've become very good at reflecting on past events and thinking about the future, although sometimes I dwell on these things too often.
• I'm finally one year away from college. I remember being in elementary school, thinking juniors in high school are SOOOOOOOO old and that I'll never be old enough to be seriously thinking about college. But here I am. I've had my regrets about the end of my childhood (it's basically over!), but now I'm excited about the opportunities ahead.
• I can drive! I can almost see R-rated movies! I can almost vote!
• I have a job that I love!
• And as cheesy as it sounds, my high school years have helped me discover who I really am. I told my friend this, adding that as much as I appreciate defining myself and my values, the process in getting there has sucked. But I'm confident that all of this suffering will be worth it soon. It's already paid off in some ways.

I'm sure that there are many things I have forgotten, but I think that's a pretty good list for now :D

You know what I think they should teach us about in schools? Current events.

We take history every year...which is great. I believe that history is a very important subject. You have to learn about past mistakes in order to avoid them in the future.

But seriously, teenagers in general are uninformed about the world around them. I don't think that many realize the severity of this recession. I bet that over half the students at my school are unaware that Congress has just passed an almost-$800 billion stimulus package.

Obviously, I love the news. My hompage is cnn.com and my radio is always on NPR. I read the paper when I can, but I'm usually rushing in the mornings and don't have time.

I'm actually enjoying my history class at the moment. We are learning about the Great Depression and FDR and the New Deal. I love following along as my teacher relates the 1930s economy to today. Whenever she asks a question comparing the two times, my hand shoots up in the air. I probably come off as a nerd, but I don't really care. I love being informed. In my opinion, knowing about current events going on in the world, nation and locally is just as important as learning about past events.

On a side note, my school is offering an AP government/politics class next year, which I REALLY want to take. As long as it works out with my schedule, I'm taking it next year. I think I'll be well-prepared to begin work on my major in journalism and minor in political science come high school graduation  :D