Reflection

When my friends that are younger ask me about my opinions in certain classes, I usually know exactly what to say. My mom joked that I should start a business in helping mothers of 8th grade students decide what classes to take for their freshman year. When sophomores ask me about APUSH, I tell them that Matthew Crooks will become their greatest nemesis next year. AP Lang, however, gets a different response. Yes, there is a lot of writing and in class work, there is no denying it. Nonetheless, the overall impact that this course has played on my writing abilities is monumental. After getting a pathetic 2 on "The Poisonwood Bible" Essay test, I knew that something needed to change. I thought my narrative at the beginning of the year  about my trip to Israel  was one of the greatest things I have written. I was "lucky" enough to be selected as the class guinea pig and have my essay edited and revised by my peers. My face turned bright red as I was so embarrassed by my naive style compared to the other geniuses in my class. I realized my mistakes and how I could make it better. I have finally learned how to write- Show, not tell; strong verbs; and an overall newly found passion for writing. 

There are some assignments that have truly helped me with my writing skills. The first journal project from last semester taught me how to express my feelings in a clear way onto paper with a limited amount of time. It was a great stress reliever and helped me to think quickly about writing, rather than over-analyzing everything. Another activity that benefited me was working with my classmates on "fire drill" essays. Learning how they would write an essay helped me think about my own style and how I could improve it. I am still very shaky on the rhetorical analysis, but I'm sure with all of the practice we are doing this week in class, I will be ready for the AP  Exam next week.

APLang has been a fun and memorable class. I will always remember "The Crucible" adaptation from the beginning of the year when I won "Best Actress" for climbing on top of a desk and being the unfortunate, rumored class slut. Of course, another one of my favorite projects was the satire project. On the internet, there is a satirical website about teenage pregnancy advice. Let's hope no one finds it. In five years, I will be able to go back onto Facebook and see my Crucible video or search the web for "If the Stork came too early..." and see my website.

Thank you Mrs. Smith for an amazing year! <3

Nothing like Family

Blog Journal Project- Entry 6
"Nothing like Family"

Today, I attended my cousin Michael's graduation party. He is graduating next week from Woodward Academy and is most likely attending University of Miami (fingers crossed he gets off the UGA wait list soon). Being exactly a year and a month apart, we are the closest in age out of all eight cousins that I have on my dad's side. I am the third to youngest, so even though Michael and I are not babies, we are very young in the family. There are high expectations in this family as well, that's why the UGA wait list is such a big deal right now. For my final blog post for this project, I'm going to write about my cousins and our relationship.

Let's introduce the family. Rachel graduated from the Honors Program at UGA and is currently in medical school, studying to be a gynecologist. She is starting her residency next year at the University of South Florida. She just turned 26. Russell graduated from George Washington University and is currently working in New York City. He is 24. Next is Greg; he graduated from the Honors Program at UGA and is getting his master's degree there. He is 23. Leo turned 21 yesterday. He is a junior at UGA. Then, we have Michael- 18 years old and graduating! I'm next, and I turn 17 in one week! My brother, Ross, is 14 and going to the Weber School for high school. Finally, my cousin Emily is 13 and goes to St. Francis. Rachel and Greg are my dad's sister's children. Russel, Leo, Michael, and Emily are my dad's brother's kids. That is the brief intro of everyone (for when I start name dropping).

Rachel and Emily are 13 years apart. Because of the wide age ranges in my family, we are lucky if we see each other two to three times a year. The strangest part is that each family is based in Atlanta. Despite the many in and out of college, we all have extremely busy lives. I wish I could be closer to my cousins. Whenever we are together, we always get along and have a good time. The picture below is all of us at our annual "Day before Thanksgiving" dinner. As I am getting older, I can finally carry decent conversation with my cousins that are nine years older than me. Most of them took AP Lang and a variety of other AP classes, so their advice becomes very useful (especially because I aspire to go to UGA like half of them did/do). At this certain family dinner, I stood with Rachel and her boyfriend, Michael Chang (aspiring pathologist), and complained about my physics class. Rachel gave me great tips: "You don't want to be a doctor. You have no interest in science. Keep a B in physics and As in all of your other classes with your AP/Honors points, and I promise, you will be fine." Never were words so true. Family is irreplaceable, and that is a key.

#MyThoughtsAtSchool

Blog Journal Project- Entry 5
"#MyThoughtsAtSchool"

I'm sitting in my living room trying to figure out what to write for this post. My parents are in the kitchen next to me arguing about where my brother is going to high school. Because this week is EOCT testing and I am stuck in two and a half hour blocks all day, I have been thinking about all of the things that run through my head during the school day. It just so happens that #mythoughtsatschool is a trending topic on twitter, so this is the perfect opportunity to share my thoughts. Rather than a formal blog post, I will be making a list.

Zoe Falkenstein's Thoughts During School

• "Holy hell, what time is it?" *checks clock* "Good G-d, my life is over."
• "If this kid in my math class burps one more time, I'm going to pull his disgusting red hair off of his head so hard that his body will never make another sound again."
• "So, when are you going to start teaching us?"
• "Coach Crooks is my best friend...too bad he hates me."
•  "No, Madame Sirot, I do not remember vocab from the 4th Grade."
• "If d=3 and the sum=360, what is the rule of....oh my gosh, WHO CARES"
• "LaaaaaaaAcrymosa, diiiiiiiiIesila" (this is supposed to be singing Lacrymosa)
• "I really miss Tae Wan. I wonder what teacher he is bothering right now."
• "Ok, you should really stop staring at my chest...I see you pervert."
• "I'M SO HUNGRY."
• "I wonder if I can hold my water bottle like..." *bottle hits desk* "Oh, that was really uncomfortably loud. Let me pick this up. Go back to what you were doing everyone."
• "I really hope he texts me, or communicates with me, or thinks about me, or something."
• "I wonder what my brother is doing right now."
• "How late will I be staying up tonight? What homework do I have?"
• "Oh, so I have math homework. That's not happening until homeroom tomorrow."
• "I would kill for a cupcake right now."
• *During a Physics test* "Why do you torture me like this Mrs. Murray? Why?"
• "I need to go to the bathroom, but I shouldn't ask the teacher now. I'll just wait."

Daddy's Little Girl

Blog Journal Project- Entry #4

"Daddy's Little Girl"

I have the typical American family. A dad who works all day, a mom that strives to make her family happy, a daughter (me) that complains and works her ass off in school, and a son that is only 14 and could care less about school. For the next two days, my mom and my brother are away on work and school trips; My mom is in Indianapolis and my brother is in Savannah for his 8th Grade Trip. So, it is just my dad and me until Friday night. My dad and I are very close. With a common love of history, Bruce Springsteen, The Georgia Bulldawgs, and Judaism, we have an inseparable bond.

My parents thought they were going to have a first born son. As written in my baby memorabilia book, they were prepared to name me "Joseph Robert" with a nickname of "Joe Bob". So either way, I would have been Joey or Zoe. I was my dad's sweet little angel with dark brown curly hair and big green eyes who always wanted to watch "The Lion King". One of my favorite home videos that I have ever watched was of my dad and I on top of Stone Mountain when I was about two years old.
"Zoe, what are we going to do when we get home?", he said.
"Watch the Lion King, Daddy!"
"But we've seen it so many times. How about The Hunchback of Notre Dame?"
"How about just a little bit of Lion King?", I asked as I held up two fingers, imitating something small.
The conversation continued that way, and I kept asking for just a "wittle" bit of Lion King. I was just as demanding as I am today. Now, however, my dad freely tells me that I have a wicked, sarcastic tongue. It's okay though, because by the end of the day, I know he loves me and he is my favorite boy the the entire world.

There is that classic story of fathers hating any boy that their daughters date. My dad, standing at 6'0 and around 200lbs, could be considered intimidating to boys that have never met him before. He will give a strong handshake, and say "Hey, Steve Falkenstein, nice to meet you." He really isn't that scary-unless the topic of driving is brought up. Being in charge of insurance at Classic Collision body shops in Atlanta, he has seen every sort of accident and car totals. From Hurricane Katrina destruction to an overturned ambulance, driving is his number one concern when I go out anywhere. He is my protector and is always the first person I call when anything goes wrong. I have many friends who have lost their fathers due to cancer or other illnesses. This just makes me realized how fortunate I am to have him with me.
I'm excited for these next two days with my dad. No matter what, he is the only boy that will always be there for me.

My dad and I at my brother's bar mitzvah party in Jerusalem.

The Wonderful Weekend.

Blog Journal Project- Entry 3
"The Wonderful Weekend"

I woke up on Friday really excited to start my weekend. I had a chorus trip all day, then a date with one of the most perfect boys on the face of the Earth. I got to school around 7:40 to go on our trip. We went all the way out to middle-of-nowhere Clayton County to sing in a competition called "Fiesta-Val". First of all, nobody knew where this competition came from. Second, we were in the middle of nowhere. Third, the name was just weird. After listening to random choirs from Maryland and West Virginia, we listened to Advanced Women sing. They did really well. It was finally our turn. Warm up went well, but I was nervous. We get up on stage and the friendly Master of Ceremony came up to us and said "Welcome to Atlanta!" As awkward as it was that we live closer to Atlanta than he does, we thanked him with large smiles on our faces. Both of our songs went very well, and I could tell that Blevins was pleased. After we preformed, we returned to Johns Creek, but the rest will remain a secret! As for the date, I couldn't have asked for a better night. He was charming, intelligent, attractive, polite, and any other word I wouldn't normally use to describe a boy. Oh how wonderful a night.

On Saturday, the choruses went to Six Flags as an add on to "Fiesta-Val" (still so humorous). My group consisted of five other juniors: four of them being Asian boys and the other a white female like myself. It was quite the adventure. After riding The Georgia Scorcher, Goliath, and the Cyclone, one of the boys named Tae Wan decided that he had enough of the roller costars and did not ride another one. The lines began to grow as the day went on, but we continued to have fun. Bumper cars, games, and simply being together kept us entertained until I had to leave at 3:30. The awards ceremony happened right after I left. We won 1st in our division and champion. It was a great feeling, and I'm finally so proud to be with such talented people. That night, I attended a BBYO 70s themed dance, where I was awarded with the honor of being "sweetheart" of a wonderful boys group in East Cobb. They gave me a flower, and I was ecstatic.

I woke up Sunday morning after a great weekend, and I realized how little I had done the whole weekend. I had APUSH, Math, and AP Lang to do. I also had an interview for a TAG Internship the next day during homeroom that I had completely forgot about. I got everything done (but I definitely bombed that "The Old Man and the Sea" quiz). I stayed up way past my estimated bed time and was completely shot the next day. The whole weekend was worth the exhaustion though!

Yom HaShoah

Blog Journal Project- Entry 2

"Yom HaShoah"

Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day, takes place every year on the 27th of Nissan. Woops, that was the Hebrew calendar. Because the Hebrew calendar and the Gregorian calendar are very different, Yom HaShoah falls on a different day every year. It can be as early as the first week of April or as late as the first week of May. Today, April 19th, 2012, is the 27th of Nissan in the year 5772. It is not recognized in the United States except some of the Jewish population. Being an active member of a Jewish youth organization, my Facebook timeline was filled with people making statuses about Yom HaShoah, never forgetting, and honoring those who died. But, I kept wondering, is this really sufficient? Is a Facebook status going to make the world suddenly think hard and long about the horrors of the Holocaust? As it certainly doesn't hurt the cause, it is just not enough.

For summer break, I took a family trip to Israel. I already wrote an actual narrative on my trip, so I will not go into immense detail. While in Jerusalem for five days, we visited Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust Memorial Museum. In Hebrew, Yad Vashem means "a place and a name". In the museum, I felt a great whirlwind of emotion come over me. I was standing in a building commemorating the dead, in a country that was founded for those fleeing Europe after the Holocaust. It is too powerful of a feeling not to comment on. Because the tour company only gave us one hour in the museum, we all walked out sad, but frustrated because we did not have time to finish. A lovely old woman on my trip turned to my dad and I (the history nerds of the family), and said, "Go to the one in Washington DC. It might not be Israel, but the museum is just as spectacular." So, guess where I went for Spring Break 2012? That old lady was so right; I should thank her. This museum was amazing and will leave a monumental impact on my life. I can not wait for the day that I can bring my children there.

My favorite way that the Holocaust is commemorated is not visiting museums, making Facebook statuses, or writing a silly blog post on it (No offense). Every Yom HaShoah, Israel honors the dead in the most meaningful way. I will briefly summarize (see video below). People are having a normal day. Then, a siren goes off around the country. From the bustling streets of Tel Aviv to the Western Wall of Jerusalem, it is heard. Everyone stops what they are doing. The siren goes off for two minutes. In that two minutes, nobody moves or says a word. After the siren stops, everyone goes back to their normal day. Just think: over 7 million people have stopped. How can this even slightly compare to a simple Facebook status? The answer is: it can't. We all need to be made aware of the horrors of the Holocaust. It is time that those who deny this complete annihilation of a human race are told how wrong they are. The Jewish people are not the only ones who suffered through this genocide:  the mentally ill and handicapped, the Gypsies, the Poles, and those who could not stand up for themselves were a part of this horrible and disgusting crime against humanity and deserve to be recognized. I cried watching this video, and I hope that I can be in Israel for this day before my life is over. My dad said it the best: "The Yom HaShoah siren is the one thing left that bonds every Israeli." 

“Only guard yourself and guard your soul carefully. Lest you forget the things your eyes saw. And lest these things depart your heart all the days of your life. And you will make them known to your children and to your children’s children.”

Deuteronomy 4:9

(a quote posted in the Memorial Hall at the Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington DC)

     

                                                             

Nostalgia at its finest

Blog Journal Project- Entry 1
"Nostalgia at its finest"

As I walked out of the chorus room after my last high school placement audition, all of my high school memories hit me like a bullet from a gun. Musicals, BBYO (for future reference- it is my youth group that takes over my life), Chorus, School, all of my friends, all of my accomplishments, and all of my losses. It became so surreal. I am entering my final year of high school, but what do I have to be proud of and to remember for the rest of my life? Ms. Blevins asked me before my audition, "How excited are you for next year?" This entry might be really cliche, Mrs. Smith, but you are letting us write about anything we want, so here we go.

I entered high school as a shy freshman without many friends. I was in almost all honors classes and one of four freshmen in the Advanced Women's Chorale. I was completely shocked at the lack of talent in that class. With over 30 people, we could not produce a good sound. With my disappointment in chorus, I fell in love with BBYO, and if you ask anyone I know, they will tell you how quickly it became a major part of my life. I then found another love: High School Musical Theater. I was so lucky to have been one of two freshmen girls in the Brigadoon 2010 cast. It was an indescribable experience. With a small cast of less than 40, we became a very close family, and I made amazing friends who were all mostly older than me. After Brigadoon ended, I knew that I wanted to be in chorus with these people for my sophomore year. Chamber Singers was my goal and what I wanted more than anything. When I didn't make it at first, I was upset. But Blevins guaranteed me a "leadership role" in Advanced Women's to turn the choir around. By 7th period that day, she changed her mind and put me in Chamber. It was a dream come true, and sophomore year couldn't come fast enough.

Sophomore year flew by after attending camp, which I can easily call the best 12 days I have experienced in my life so far. I was so excited to go back to school and be in Chamber with tons of talented people that were excited to work. Unfortunately, it was the opposite. Throughout the entire year, this choir was not motivated nor positive about anything we did. It drove me insane. I did not want another year of disappointment in chorus. When CHICAGO was announced as the spring musical, all I knew was that it was a major dance show. Being a dancer for 12 years, I was really excited for this show. During my audition, however, my voice cracked and I was unhappy with my performance. I came out crying and was nervous that I would not make it into a program that had impacted me so much the year before. All of my nervs were settled after I was given a part as a "Merry Murderous". It was a dream part, and this show became a part of my heart as I developed my friendships with so many people and could call many of them my best friends. Everyone thought I was a senior because those were the people I was friends with. Sure, I wasn't happy with name I received due to my former best friend's psychotic actions, but sophomore year is a memorable one.

And now, I am finishing my junior year. Some highlights: 2 AP Classes, ACT and SAT Classes, Chamber again, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet.....Street, losing my first BBYO election, going to Woodward Prom, and finally understanding the concept of "hell year". I still have AP Exams and finals of course. But I only have one more year of high school. One more year of Chamber, one more year of Musicals, one more year of BBYO, one more year of my friends. A new chapter of my life is approaching. To answer Ms. Blevins's question: Yes Blevs, I am. Not only for Chamber again but for everything that lies ahead.

Here's to the past, Here's to the present, and here's to the future. Let's go Seniors 2013.