Being friends with me

Hello Everyone,

So sometimes I get bored. Correction, most of the time I get bored. But some of those times I start to think about what it is like to be friends with me and my many sides.

I thought that would make a great series.  Me. Dealing with myself, and my many different interests. 

I am very excited about this.  I already have a few in mind.  I will be getting Alyssa's help to help give examples of things I say and ways I act. 

I will be making lists and talking about the quirky things that I do. For example, her are just some things that happen when being friends with me:

1. I really like to correct peoples grammar.  I do it enough, that even I call myself a grammar Nazi.  Which is probably something I should not do sense my lineage is actually  German on one side.... But not only do I correct other people's grammar, but I correct my own.  Mid sentence, during a texting conversation, receiving papers back from teachers.  You name it, I will correct it.  And on that note, I hate when other people correct my grammar. Yes, that is very hypocritical. I also hate hypocrites. The irony.
2. I refuse to get my finger prints done just in case one day I commit a crime and get away with it.  I have no plans of being a criminal, but I am very paranoid.  To the point, if I ever need to steal something valuable to save someone I love, I will not allow my finger prints in the system.  Now that I am 18 volunteering is difficult.
3. I have lost my phone in the fridge.  I went to get food, and set it down so I could use both hands.  Then the fridge closed and I prepared the food, completely forgetting about the phone.  About an hour later I heard vibrating coming from the fridge and was very confused.

So this is the stuff I am planning.  But with more purpose.  I would change the titles to "Being friends with an introvert" and just list some quick stories about me being an introvert.  Or an artist. Or an IB student.  Or many more things that I am.

I hope you all like this idea.
Amanda

Timing is Everything

Hello everyone,
I have a great story to tell all of you.  Something that I am all too familiar with, and I probably should not be. And this is lightening the mood.

Don't get me wrong, when you meet a new person, being able to say the perfect thing to make them feel comfortable is great.  But saying something at the beginning of a presentation, well you be the judge of this one.

I was partnered up with a girl to do a debate today.  We had practiced and studied and new exactly what to say when.  We were going against another team, one that we knew would not be difficult to challenge.

The class started and we had a few minutes, so we waited. Both of us were nervous. The tension was rising.  Neither of us was saying anything.  Millions of thoughts ran through my head.

I don't get nervous talking in front of people.  But as I looked over I saw my partners hands were shaking.  I told her." oh I'm nervous too." thinking it would calm her down a little. 

But it didn't.

So my mind started racing.  We only had a few seconds before the presentation started, and my partner looked like she was freaking out.

10 seconds. Come on Amanda think.

5 seconds. I can see our opponents about to start.

2 seconds. I tap my partners shoulder.

1 second.  She looks me in the eye.

time.  My teacher tell the other team to start.

1 second in. I lean into my partner and whisper the first thing that comes to mind.

"I have to poop."

We both laughed obnoxiously for a good minute while everyone else in the classroom stared.  They, fortunately, hadn't heard me.  After they got us to settle down, telling us we were very rude, I noticed my partner wasn't shaking anymore.

So my plan worked.  My weird strange, don't try this at home last minute resource worked.

But does that make it great?

Just remember to laugh sometimes.
-Amanda

Spending Time Like an Introvert: College Apps

College . Oh how I shudder at the word. Writing it, reading it, saying it, thinking about it, it makes me extremely apprehensive, yet it still has the power to intrigue me and make me excited about my future as well. You would think that I'd be afraid of socializing and leaving home, and that's partly true, but the main reason why I feel so anxious about college is the potential rejection. For me, I've thought of college application season as a sadistic, twisted love game. You spend four years of your life prepping yourself for your future suitor until it becomes you're sole motivation to do anything in school. It gets worse because colleges simply lead you on with their elaborate but annoying stalker-esque brochures and pamphlets, but even if you apply that doesn't mean you'll get in. College apps are the equivalent of being stood up in that sense. Oh, and don't forget that you have to pay for those apps without a fee! (And no, there is no refund if you aren't accepted).

So what's a person like me to do? My response: hide under the covers and avoid it all. I's so tempting to sit back and put it off, but eventually it's a tremendous weight that will begin to take a toll on your shoulders until you're reduced to Atlas carrying the world on shoulders (but maybe less dramatic). As an introvert, I don't like talking about it and that is not good to say the least. I think I have this weird avoidance switch in my brain that prevents me from doing anything proactive. I would also wager that it's the reason for my expert procrastinator skills.

For those who haven't done college apps, it's not so hard as it is tedious and technical and that's why you need to do it early. I won't drill into you what every other adult is going to tell you and advise you to do your college apps early, (even though you should). Instead I want to advise you guys to bite the bullet and do it. It's easier said than done because every time college apps cross my mind, my brain shuts down and I quickly repress any thought of doing it. So, I just try to have fun with it and keep myself organized. Every time I start a new account for a college, I write down my login info and any other questions I have about the apps. Part of my apprehension is the fact that I feel this lack of control; I feel so lost because it seems like everyone else knows what they're doing and I'm just floating around without a buoy. I would like to call it a necessary evil.

I feel like this blog post is lacking inspirational words of wisdom, but the honest truth is, I don't have much to say. I'm in the midst of it all myself, and I'm still learning too. So this post is more about venting in the hopes that maybe any of you potential college students can relate and commiserate with me. And that is comforting in and of itself.

-Alyssa

November

Hello Everyone,
wow have the months been getting faster or am I just building up a tolerance to time?

I cant believe it is November already.  I remember it was just my birthday in September, just letting out for summer in June, just starting the new year in January.  Hell, it was just my first day of school in third grade.  I remember walking up with my backpack and lunch box.  I accidentally walked into the second grade classroom and was all embarrassed. 

But everyone feels this way.  And no matter what we do time will always be flying past, much quicker than we want.  Being a senior in high school, it is a constant that I am trying to get school work done, do my college applications, and make memories that everyone says I should have this year. 

I feel like the quicker time flies, the more I try to hold onto it.  Now that I'm in my last year, I have started realizing that I can easily make a B and spend time with friends.  I am doing do much more with people, things I will never be able to do again.  Both because we won't be here much long and I'm in the only time of my life I can be truly reckless.

Now that I'm having such a great time, I'm wishing I could have done this from the start.  Because time flies when you're having fun, and when you're having fun you don't want time to fly.  I'm watching as all my friends plan to move far away to other places, and thinking I will never see them again.

So I grasp.  I'd rather have a few great hours with you to remember you by, then to let them pass because I was to nervous to miss you.

Food for thought.
Love,
Amanda