Poetry Anthology
The poetry anthology done for Lynn’s English class was another work I learned from. I choose procrastination as the theme of my project; I wanted to tell a story based on an experience I had that would highlight the pitfalls of procrastinating and how one can learn from his or her mistakes. Ironically, this is one of the few projects I didn’t procrastinate on. I started about a week before it was due and made use of the majority of time I had to spend on it; it was strange yet awesome to not have a sense of urgency and stress with an upcoming deadline. In fact, I had fun working on every aspect of the project and the final result was something I take a lot of pride in.
You might look at it and wonder what I could possibly like about my project… it’s poorly designed; it’s covered in stains, white-out, tape and glue; and the pages are poorly cut and assembled; I used construction paper, printer paper, binder paper, grid paper, pencils, pens, sharpies, highlighters – one page looks like I used my teeth! It’s hideous but its beauty lies in the idea; is a project about procrastination supposed to look professionally done? Of course not and that’s how we procrastinators like it.
I represented procrastinators everywhere rather well but my favorite part is the story I told through the poems. The anthology consists of 7 poems, written by me, that depict a chronic procrastinator who slips into the clutches of Procrastination (I often times personified it and made it seem more like it had total influence over the main character’s life). Towards the end, the main character fails FLI and lets everyone down. He realizes it could have been prevented if he had just stayed clear of Procrastination and although he cannot undo his mistakes, he takes the lesson to heart and moves on.
I created this anthology because I was sick and tired of coming off as a loser; I believe I have all the ability to do well but I squander it off more times than not. I wanted to give myself something that I can always look back on to motivate myself, and to never wind up feeling like a failure.
You might look at it and wonder what I could possibly like about my project… it’s poorly designed; it’s covered in stains, white-out, tape and glue; and the pages are poorly cut and assembled; I used construction paper, printer paper, binder paper, grid paper, pencils, pens, sharpies, highlighters – one page looks like I used my teeth! It’s hideous but its beauty lies in the idea; is a project about procrastination supposed to look professionally done? Of course not and that’s how we procrastinators like it.
I represented procrastinators everywhere rather well but my favorite part is the story I told through the poems. The anthology consists of 7 poems, written by me, that depict a chronic procrastinator who slips into the clutches of Procrastination (I often times personified it and made it seem more like it had total influence over the main character’s life). Towards the end, the main character fails FLI and lets everyone down. He realizes it could have been prevented if he had just stayed clear of Procrastination and although he cannot undo his mistakes, he takes the lesson to heart and moves on.
I created this anthology because I was sick and tired of coming off as a loser; I believe I have all the ability to do well but I squander it off more times than not. I wanted to give myself something that I can always look back on to motivate myself, and to never wind up feeling like a failure.
Notebooks
My AP Euro notebooks are the best examples of busy work I’ve ever completed. Over my sophomore year, I compiled every single European history fact in those two notebooks and it shows; each one is three-to-four times as thick as a regular notebook and ten times as heavy. They were so inconvenient to lug around but the bewildered looks on the faces of my fellow learners when I’d pull them out made it all worth it; “Woah, what class is THAT for?”
The notebooks were ultimately supposed to be the ultimate study guide. However, they failed at that and for me, just became a storage closet for all the work I had saved up. I’ve never been so meticulous in arranging storage closets though; I had to keep the notebook updated and organized for the hundreds of the points it was worth. Pages had to numbered, important facts had to be highlighted, doodles had to be drawn, work had to be organized by a very vague left / right side system, there was always a need for more color, extra credit was mandatory, table of contents had to be written up and small mistakes could wind up being huge. Keep in mind that the notebooks were 200-400 pages each and all writing had to be done in pen. I don’t think I’ve ever used as much white-out or scratched out as many things as I did that year.
Often times, I was asked “what’s the point? Those notebooks seem like a waste of time” but they’ve built a piece of my character. I persevere when schoolwork becomes repetitive or draining. I have shown to myself that I can dedicate myself to getting good grades. The trait with the most real world application is that I feel like I’ve developed a tolerance to bull… things I deem to be malarkey. Frankly, there are times in life where we all have to deal with things we’d rather not; the notebooks taught me to keep my eyes on the prize and push through to the end. I don’t have to dig deep to get things done; the quote is ever present: “Well, you managed to do those notebooks; this is nothing compared to that.”
The notebooks were ultimately supposed to be the ultimate study guide. However, they failed at that and for me, just became a storage closet for all the work I had saved up. I’ve never been so meticulous in arranging storage closets though; I had to keep the notebook updated and organized for the hundreds of the points it was worth. Pages had to numbered, important facts had to be highlighted, doodles had to be drawn, work had to be organized by a very vague left / right side system, there was always a need for more color, extra credit was mandatory, table of contents had to be written up and small mistakes could wind up being huge. Keep in mind that the notebooks were 200-400 pages each and all writing had to be done in pen. I don’t think I’ve ever used as much white-out or scratched out as many things as I did that year.
Often times, I was asked “what’s the point? Those notebooks seem like a waste of time” but they’ve built a piece of my character. I persevere when schoolwork becomes repetitive or draining. I have shown to myself that I can dedicate myself to getting good grades. The trait with the most real world application is that I feel like I’ve developed a tolerance to bull… things I deem to be malarkey. Frankly, there are times in life where we all have to deal with things we’d rather not; the notebooks taught me to keep my eyes on the prize and push through to the end. I don’t have to dig deep to get things done; the quote is ever present: “Well, you managed to do those notebooks; this is nothing compared to that.”
Roller Coaster
The rollercoaster was one of the most fun projects I’ve ever done, ever. It was my first year here and I had on my team the three people who took me in from day one: Jesse, Fran and Christina. That project felt like it took forever to finally complete and I’m honestly glad it did. We were in the art room everyday or every other day for hours on end, sometimes even after school. Our friends would be there every day with us, talking to us, encouraging us and even helping us. The other teams, made up of mostly seniors and juniors, always seemed so jealous that we were not only having tons of fun but that coaster was coming along smoothly; perhaps they were just irritated by flood of 9th graders packed into the room at all times. The roller coaster was a big part of why I was able to consolidate many of the bonds I began in the year with the majority of the people I call my best friends today.
The lighthearted mood our friends helped provide was essential to our morale because it took a hit every time we put our hands on the coaster. The track we used was ridiculously inconsistent and it was frustrating trying to figure out how to alter the track to get it to run. A day before the showdown at Great America, we still couldn’t get it to work 1 out of 3 times. Stressed out, we managed to lose our test ball. Luckily, we randomly found a much larger one that worked perfectly and then we went on to get 2nd place. I learned that if you’ve got friends supporting you and a bit of luck, things will usually work out in your favor.
The lighthearted mood our friends helped provide was essential to our morale because it took a hit every time we put our hands on the coaster. The track we used was ridiculously inconsistent and it was frustrating trying to figure out how to alter the track to get it to run. A day before the showdown at Great America, we still couldn’t get it to work 1 out of 3 times. Stressed out, we managed to lose our test ball. Luckily, we randomly found a much larger one that worked perfectly and then we went on to get 2nd place. I learned that if you’ve got friends supporting you and a bit of luck, things will usually work out in your favor.
