Right... I Have a Blog

Well, I've been really bad about posting lately. The school play is finally over, so maybe I'll have a bit more time for a few weeks or so before the dance show really picks up. I can't remember if I'm mentioned it before, but the play was "The Crucible" and the dance show is "Alice in Wonderland". I video switched the Crucible, which was incredibly time consuming but ultimately worked out alright. In Alice I'm the dormouse (the mouse in the teapot), which has turned out to be a lot of dancing because I can join random dances without being recognised. In the introduction I dance as one of the Alices, and I do so later when she grows and shrinks. It's kind of cool.

School has been a whirlwind. I'm trying to finish up my AP European History paper for the Concord Review, which I've been trying to do for the past year... quite literally. Then there's the darn Common App, which apparently hasn't been working for anyone. I feel like submitting on the 26th might be cutting it close, but I haven't finished my essays yet. They are mostly done, but I just want to keep tweaking.

I'm also nervous about my SAT score, which will be released on the 24th. It could be a real determining factor for if I can get into the honours college at BU, which would be a neat experience if I got in. Can't get my hopes up too much about anything really, since it all depends on the other people who apply as well! College applications is royally exhausting. After I get in, I am going to bake myself cookies. It doesn't matter where I get in... the cookies will be baked!

Busy Bee Me

Oops, it's been a while since I've last posted. Sorry about that. I've just been so busy trying to balance school, college, tech, dance and having a life (the last bit is largely imaginary). Senior year of high school is a busy time for everyone- there's more work on our plates than ever before. I'm taking 3 AP classes (though one isn't very hard), Dance Performance (which I love, but is a real time-eater), English and Chinese (another time eater). Thankfully I have 2 free periods this semester to allow me to get my college apps done, or just get a moment to chat with friends and rest.

I know high school is nowhere near as busy as college is going to be, though. I've made  a bunch of decisions in that regard that I'm generally pleased with. I'm pretty certain I'm only looking at US schools at this point, which is a mixed bag. I really liked the UK, but the US gives me more options and opportunities to work for the US government (shocker, I know). At least, that's the theory behind my choice. Maybe I'll go to the UK for my Master's or something, that would be pretty cool.

My dad's birthday was on Tuesday and I made him minion cupcakes.

Almost too cute to eat!

Heartbroken

There are awesome parts about being an expat here in Singapore. I've explored that pretty well here on this blog- the food, the places, the school, the people. There are also things that are a lot harder here than they are elsewhere. See, I'm from a small town in Massachusetts. There are definitely exceptions to this, but for the most part, most kids go to university somewhere in New England. Even though they are "on their own", family and friends are never more than a couple of hours away. 

However, kids here in Singapore don't have that luxury. While some kids go back to Korea or India of wherever they are from, most go to the United States. That's 18 hours away by plane, and halfway around the world for general purposes. It's really exciting to go "back to America". Some kids haven't been back in years. We go from one bubble to another- the Singapore bubble to the privileged youth able to attend top universities in the United States bubble. It's pretty darn cool, when you think about it.

However, Nick flies out on Monday. Today was the last time I get to see him in a long while. 

I have concluded that I have never known heartbreak prior to today. 

The Laziest Larceny

Something pretty strange happened tonight, and I'm going to call it "funny" purely because I'm not sure how to handle it. We drove to Western Massachusetts today (I slept the whole way there), and this evening we went to a diner. The food was awesome and the portion sizes were huge. However, when we got back to the (rented) car, my dad realised the gas tank cover was open. When he checked the gas amount in the car, it was definitely lower than before. Someone nicked some gas from our car, and was too freaking lazy to close the cover! I mean, come on.

If you're going to steal something, at least try to be subtle about it.

My family is viewing this as weird but slightly funny. The person didn't take very much gas (or we just have a huge tank), but I really think they could have been better about it. It's actually the first time my parents have had gas stolen, and they have started recounting stories of "back in the day we had locked covers" during the gasoline wars.

Other interesting things happened too, unrelated to the stolen gasoline. I've seen a total of four colleges so far out of five, and I already wrote about one of them (Wheaton). All of these were seen on different days, but I'll list them quickly here. First, I saw University of WI, Madison which was a really big school. Then, I saw Beloit College and was very impressed by the campus and staff. They really made sure I learned a lot about campus and what it is like to be a student there. After flying back to Boston, I saw Boston University. I actually saw this school last year when I did a college tour down the Northeast, and decided to bring my parents back. After talking to some students and staff, I can also firmly say I like BU. Picking a college is going to be really hard!

SO MANY UNIVERSITIES!

Today has become a college search day, which is the strangest mix of fun, exhausting, relaxing, stressful and altogether time consuming. 

Though I'm considering both the US and the UK, I found researching UK schools to be much easier. They've got this great site called UCAS that's actually practical and easy to use, unlike the multitude of US websites (primarily the College Board). Anyways, today I've found about 9 universities I'm interested in, the top ones apparently being Leeds, Lancaster, Bristol and York. However, there are still loads of universities there, and the more I research the more I find. UK universities cost about as much as an out-of-state tuition per year, though it ranges considerably. Much cheaper than places like Sarah Lawrence that charges $60,000 in tuition alone!

US schools offer a lot of opportunities to take many different classes not tied to your major. However, it takes 4 years to get your degree at a fairly high cost, which is no fun. Then getting your Master's takes another two years....

Hard call, really.


Stupid universities. Why must there be so many of you? Can't you all get together, throw your best qualities in, and make Super University?

The Future... Perhaps

The amount of questions Juniors get about where we want to go to college, what we want to study, what we want to do when we grow up (interesting people never grow up at all, anyways), and where we want to live is driving me crazy.


So now I'm going to write down what I'm thinking about at the moment, and redirect people to this blog post when they ask me.

At the moment, I'm interested in studying in the United Kingdom. I cango for University of Westminster, or shoot for the stars with Cambridge. Either way, I don't know if I'm interested in an American liberal arts education. Seems like a lot of wasted time studying things you don't care about, unlike the UK when one jumps into the subject of interest on day one.

What I want to study: sociology, international relations. Why? Because I've loved history since I was a small child, but I don't want to be a straight-up history person. I like trends and blending cultures too much. History is very political, while sociology is a little bit of everything.

What I want to do when I grow up: Not leave academia.  Either teach, get my PhD and become a professor, make documentaries, write books or textbooks, tutor, whatever. No business for me!

Where I want to live as an adult: Probably not in the United States. Many European and Asian countries seem pretty cool. So does Canada.


Mkay? That should end the noise for the time being.