Before I went on break for Thanksgiving, I spent an extra night at school. This is what I got up to.
Tag: boarding school
Christmas is here!
Sorry again for the long pause in my blog. It gets a bit tricky to manage school, sports, and a blog all at the same time. Putting that aside, its almost Christmas! My favorite time of year!
Last week I was home for Thanksgiving break and let me tell you, it was nice to be home. I got to see my family and friends for the first time in three months. I had a pretty relaxing break and didn’t do anything extraordinarily out of the ordinary. On Monday, I went and visited my old school and saw all my friends and teachers. It was nice to be back wandering the halls with everyone giving me that “Wait, why are you back?” look. I also did a lot of baking while I was home. I helped my sister make cookies for the neighbors and her roommates, made banana bread, and cookies by request of my father. Turns out, I haven’t lost my baking ability! My sister came back home late Monday night after driving all the way from Wilmington. Tuesday was my dad’s birthday and he insisted that we treat him like a king for his birthday (not like we don’t do that everyday)! On Wednesday my brother got out of school for a few millimeters of snow. It was nice to have the whole family at home though. On Thursday all the women in the house (my mother, sister, and I) cooked the traditional Thanksgiving meal. We had turkey, stuffing, green beans, brussel sprouts, twice baked potatoes, and my most delicious pecan pie!
On Friday morning I went to get a tetanus shot which was a little aggravating but needed to be done. My brother, sister, and dad went to pick out a Christmas tree while I was getting my shot. After everyone was back home, we went to go see the new Hunger Games movie, Catching Fire. Oh, my, goodness. If you have not seen it yet, you need to get on over to the movie theater and watch it. It is absolutely amazing. If you thought the first movie was good, this one blows the first movie out of the water. I give it 5 stars! On Saturday, my best friend (BFFFF) Corbin came over for a few hours. It was good fun. We had a sword fight (won by Corbin) played H.O.R.S.E. (won by Corbin) and he helped me out of a cave (on Pokemon). Not to brag on myself too much, but while playing H.O.R.S.E. I felt like being experimental and I tried to headball the basketball into the net. Well, being the incredibly awesome person that I am, I GOT IT IN THE NET! But, unfortunately I forgot to call it a headball so Corbin did not get a letter :(. On Saturday night after Corbin had left we decided to pull out the old Christmas decorations and decorate both the tree and make the house all festive and stuff! On Sunday I spent almost the whole day baking with my sister which was nice. Sister time is always a good thing! After we were finished baking, my sister, mother, and I all played cards until my sister had to leave to go back to college. After she left I played cards with my mom for a while longer and then relaxed afterwards. I had such a great time on break!
Now, I have two more weeks of school until I am back home again for Winter break! I really do apologize for the choppiness of this blog recently. I’m still trying to figure out a balance in my busy schedule. I will hopefully talk to you soon, but if not, I hope you have a wonderful holiday season and a terrific new year!
I’ll let you go with the wonderful words of Louis Cole… “Peace out, enjoy life, and live the adventure! BOOOOM!”
Happy (Late) Halloween!
Last week was spirit week at Miss Halls. It was exciting and fun-filled and the spirit of Miss Hall’s was definitely shown! Well, let me get to it I guess!
Monday was pajama day. It was sheer bliss to be able to go to school in your pajamas. The only bummer is that if I wasn’t already tired enough from the fact that it was Monday, wearing my pajamas made me want to go to sleep. zzz. It was all together a pretty good day though.
Tuesday was Twin day. I didn’t dress up with a twin because I don’t have a lot of classes with most of my friends, and what would be the point of twinning with someone that don’t have any of the same classes with you.
Wednesday was Sports day. JV soccer had a game that day so I wore my uniform and sweatpants. This was another great day. We lost our game but we played really hard. We only lost by one goal (3-2) and fought for the whole time.
Thursday was Preppy vs. Hipster day. I was a little bit of both because I have some preppy clothes and some hipster clothes so I mixed them together and became a preppy hipster or a hipster prep. Either way you decide to look at it. Now, I know that Thursday is the actual day of Halloween, but since it is easier to do all those Halloween-ey things on the weekend, we celebrated Halloween on Friday!!!
Friday was obviously Costume day. I decided to dress up like my childhood idol, Pippy Longstockings. She was the bomb diggity when I was growing up and I wanted to be just like her. Friday, JV soccer had another game. We played a really good, really fast team and we lost. We played well, but it wasn’t our best game. We only have one game left this season though… It has gone by so fast!!!!!
Friday night was the Senior Spook Walk. Miss Hall’s turned into a haunted insane asylum with screams around every corner. It was quite freaky but I can honestly say that I did not scream!!! After the Spook Walk there was a halloween costume dance just for Miss Hall’s girls. It was a lot of fun but I saw quite a few things that I would rather not see again. It seems like girls dance dirtier when there aren’t any boys to watch :/.
So that was my past week. Only three more to go and I will be back home! I am so excited to go back home and see my family. Its been a long time!
Well, I’ll catch up with you later and as FunforLouis says “Peace out, enjoy life, and live the adventure!”
Crazy Weekend!
So, another week down and only one week away from Fall Family Weekend!!! WOOO!
This weekend was crazy and I actually got off campus both Saturday AND Sunday! Lets start with Friday though, because all good things start with Friday. Okay, so on Friday Andy Suzuki & The Method came to Miss Hall’s and had a special performance just for us. Now, I had never heard of this band before Friday night, and I now proudly have every single song of theirs on my iTunes. They were great. If you want to check them out (which I strongly encourage) here is their website: http://andysuzukimusic.com/.
So, that was Friday. Now onto Saturday. Saturday morning was very much a chill day. I got some of my homework done, watched YouTube videos, and listened to music (mostly Andy Suzuki & The Method). Saturday night I went to the town of Great Barrington and saw Pilobolus perform. They were amazing. For anyone who doesn’t know, Pilobolus is a modern dance company who perform all over the world. One interesting thing about them is that Pilobolus is named after a phototropic fungus. The second half of their performance was some of the original company’s pieces. I don’t have many pictures of this just because “photography is strictly prohibited during the performance,” but you can google them or look on their website: http://www.pilobolus.com/home.jsp.
Sunday… Today… I went apple picking! Now, I didn’t actually pick apples, because why go to an apple orchard and actually pick apples! Nope. I got out my camera and my new macro lens and shot until I dropped (not literally of course). I got tons of pictures and why not. I’ll share them with you 😛
Hancock Shaker Village
This Thursday was the first day of Horizons at Miss Hall’s. As the Miss Hall’s website states, “Horizons is our experiential, off-campus learning program. Part of the academic program, Horizons gives Miss Hall’s students opportunities to volunteer and intern each week at social service and cultural organizations, businesses, and professional offices.” I was placed at Hancock Shaker village for Horizons this year. I was a little bit skeptical about what it would be like, but after the first day on Thursday, I can tell that I am going to have a lot of fun.
Hancock Shaker Village is a living museum that continues the life of the Shakers Village. There are people dressed in Shaker costume who demonstrate the crafts that the Shakers performed while they lived there. They give tours of the restored dwellings and buildings, display the history of the Shakers, and if you visit, you can even learn a Shaker song or dance.
Now, I’ve told you all this about the “Shakers,” and just now realized that you probably have no idea who the Shakers are. The Shakers were originally a radical sect of the Quaker religion that became known in the 1760’s as Shaking Quakers due to their ecstatic worship practices. The name was later shortened to Shakers. Both music and dance play a large role in the Shaker worship services. They believe that participation in the worship service involves one’s whole body rather than just their voice.
For more information, check out Hancock Shaker Village’s website: http://hancockshakervillage.org/
Another big part of Hancock Shaker Village is their livestock, which is where I come in. I am volunteering with two other girls in the farms and fields of Hancock Shaker Village. So, we get to help take care of the animals for the whole school year. When we got there on Thursday, we were given a tour around the grounds and shown where we were going to be working. As soon as the quick orientation tour was given, we were put to work. The first thing we did was we cleaned out a chicken coop. Now, my brother had chickens for a few years, so cleaning out a chicken coop was nothing new for me. When the chicken coop was cleaned out and new sawdust was put down, we went on to collect the chicken’s eggs. There were some beautiful dark brown eggs with spots, and some light brown eggs too. We cleaned off the eggs that were dirty and put them away in the fridge. By this time we only had about thirty minutes left until the bus came and picked us up, so we were allowed to take out the baby chicks. They got to run around in the sun and grass until we had to leave. We got to pick them up and play with them and watch them play with each other. It truly made my day! 🙂
I had forgotten my camera, so the other girls that I am with took some pictures and sent them to me. Here are some pictures of the cute little chicks.
I Am So Grateful!!!
So, a few days ago we had a diversity meeting with everyone in the school. When I first heard about it, I was thinking “Wow, two hours of sitting and talking about things I am already pretty familiar with.” After leaving that meeting, I realized that there are so many things in life that I have taken for granted. I left that meeting with a completely different view on life, and how I want to live mine.
We did this one activity, that was optional, called the privilege walk. In this activity, one of the staff members asked us questions and if they applied to you, you either took one step forward or one step backwards. They were questions like “Were you raised in a supportive family?” Yes, one step forward. “Were you expected at a young age to go to college?” Yes, one step forward. “Do you have more than 50 books in your house?” Yes, one step forward. “Were you raised in a safe neighborhood?” It was at this question that I realized that not everyone was stepping forward. We were not in a straight line anymore. It hit me hard to know how privileged I am. Why do I deserve all of the things that I have; don’t other people deserve them more than I do? I have never come home not knowing if the lights would be turned on for me, or if we would have something to eat that night for dinner. As more questions were asked, everyone in the line moved farther and farther apart. What had once been a line, was now more a blob of people, all spread out.
After this activity, we had a discussion. People very courageously stood up and told their story to everyone in the school. All of the stories and comments were so touching. I realized that I am not alone in this. I am not the only one who is far away from the people that I love. I am not the only one who takes for granted everything that my parents do for me. It also made me realize how much support I have in this school. The fact that we could sit down for two hours and just let all of our opinions out without anyone judging us meant a lot to me.
We also spent quite a bit of time on religion, and respecting other people’s religion. We talked about stereotypes that applied to our religions and stereotypes that we knew about other religions. Everyone was so respectful when other people were speaking. Religion is a very touchy subject, and the fact that so many people felt comfortable to stand up and talk about their religion showed me how much I can trust this community. Religion is never really discussed in my hometown. It is assumed that everyone is a southern baptist, but that is not true in my case. I realized that I am not the only one who is confused about religion and what I believe in. As teenagers, we shouldn’t be influenced by what our parents believe in. Thankfully, my parents have let me discover my own beliefs.
This whole experience really opened my eyes. I now know that I am not the only one out there who has certain beliefs about things. I know that I am living in such a supportive community who is willing to listen to other people’s opinions. We know that we don’t all see eye to eye on things, but we respect each others beliefs. I am so lucky to have this opportunity to be here.
I would like to dedicate this blog post to anyone who helped me get where I am today. My family, my teachers, my sponsors, and my friends. These people have done so much for me throughout my life, but one of the most important of those is that they let me be myself. They never tried to change who I was or questioned why I act the way I do. *For anyone who doesn’t know me, I am a very eccentric human. I am not afraid to by myself.* All of these people believe in me and it makes me glow to know just how much support I have around me. I love you all and thank you so much for making this journey of mine possible.
CHASING BIG DREAMS 
