The Most Valuable Zero

 I originally started this blog as a way to extra credit in my Psychology class. My posts started to veer away from psychology specific  topics and started to focus more on the things that occur in my crazy beautiful life. I waited 2 months to find out what I scored on the extra credit. I look on the grade book and I see a zero with a comment from my teacher. My teacher has left a note that says "I'm proud of you". This is the most valuable zero or F that I have ever received on an assignment. I naturally want to do well in every aspect of my lie, especially academically, however, out of all the grades I have earned, this zero meant the most to me. I took what supposed to be a temporary online project and made it something of my own. I even told my teacher when I turned in the assignment that I am so happy that this extra credit provided incentive for me to have my own blog. This extra credit has turned into more than a project for any class, it has turned into an empowering learning experience. I am learning about myself as I am reviewing my thoughts. I'm learning about boundaries and what should/shouldn't be released to the public. I am learning about promotion and marketing to increase blog views and popularity. This is the most valuable F that I have ever earned. I proudly flaunt my zero, for even the person who designed this extra credit said that they were proud of me. More importantly, I am proud of myself.

The Breakfast Club

Last night, I felt inspired to watch the Breakfast Club. This movie is very popular and has been referenced in many aspects of current pop culture.

My Movie Review: The Breakfast Club
This movie makes detention and the 80's seem cool. The cinematography was excellent. It was both simple and complex. The scenes were only in the library, the hallway, and the cars where the teens were dropped off. Clearly, this movie was not that of which had a very high budget. This movie also had frequent pauses of silence. I'm not sure if that was to emphasize the last thing that was said or if there wasn't any solid background music that would properly fit it those spaces. Yet, the movie had this beautiful complexity to it There are 5 different types of people who seem to have nothing in common, yet they all end up having that experience with each other to share. The movie definitely reflected 80's values and 80's insensitivities. All in all, the movie was very good, especially when considering the technology they had at that time.

Think Before You Speak

STORYTIME:
There's this one kid whose involved with one of my clubs. For the sake of the story we will call him Person X. So Person X is typically very annoying and tends to speak whatever comes to mind whatever it comes to mind. So throughout the year, I have maintained a distant and emotionally safe with Person X. I have even ignored all foolish and rude comments he's made this year and even about me. However, today was the last straw... on that camel's back... that broke that camel's back. He calls me and asks me to help him with an assignment that he will read in front various large audiences. I decide to help him. Then, he says to me," I'm sorry, but I'm going to jab you a little bit". I respond with "what does that mean?" He replies with "I'm going to say 'unlike this year's treasurer [me], I'm actually going to raise money'". I am befuddled and offended for multiple reasons. Person X has not been present for any fundraisers that I have spearheaded, nor has he approached me personally before blatantly insulting me. I simply tell him how rude that was and say "Goodnight Person X" before I hang up the phone.

ANALYSIS
I don't have to help anyone I don't want to help. I am a generous and genuine person who is typically willing to help. However, if I, in anyway, feel that. I am being abused or mistreated, I will not allow the abuser to take up any more of my time. Time is very valuable to me because I tend to stay busy, so for Person X to take up my time just so he can insult me is a clear sign of disrespect. I understand that a person won't know how appreciate something that is just given to them so he will no longer be given anymore of my time. Person X did attempt call and text me afterwards, but as I said, the abuser will not be allowed to take up any more of my time.

Furious 7

Furious 7 has overwhelmed me with a series of emotions. I watched it on IMAX and I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. There were things exploding and beautiful cars everywhere. The movie had no best part because the entire thing was dripping with amazing-ness. I noticed all the tiny nuances and previous movie references. At the very end, when they played back Paul Walker's main clips as a tribute, I was overcome with a feeling of nostalgia. The Fast & Furious movies are really important to me. The Fast and the Furious was my first action movie. I have watched the whole collection several times and felt a connection to the movies and all the people in it. They were and they are my familia and this movie is a great addition to the collection.
 I think it's really interesting that something so seemingly small like a movie can have so much value to an individual.

All of my Fast & Furious Family

A Devil in Disguise

STORYTIME
Beware of the devil in disguise. This can occur few times in life, but the best well known occurrence  is open book tests. Students know that this inspires teachers to make the test significantly harder than it would have been closed book. I really don't know why my classmates were cheering today when my AP World History told us we could use books on the 70 question test that had to be completed within 60 minutes. As one can infer, the key to this test is speed. HOWEVER, people are so enthralled with this perceived blanket of comfort, they don't realize that it's actually suffocating their personal confidence in their AP World skills as well as killing their chances of actually completing the entire test. Even I can't say that I wasn't tempted by the blanket of comfort, I actually had a book under my desk just in case I wanted to use it during the test. However, since there was one person who wanted the book more than myself, I gave it to them. I thank that person for most likely saving me from this very tempting poison.

ANALYSIS
The reason this type of testing is really inconvenient is because we don't ever use the method of testing with a book. It also provides the person a false sense of security that they have a high accuracy. Even in the event that the accuracy is high, the use of the book searching for the answers is extremely time consuming, forcing you to guess on the last 20 questions. Thus, compromising the final score of the test, and eliminating any data that could be used to find out how much you actually know. Although I wasn't 100% on half the questions, I still scored a 76 (translates to a 4 on the AP exam) without the book which means I knew more than I thought I did. Yay :)

No More Trouble In Winning...Or Is There?

STORYTIME
I went to the abstract adviser again and asked him if he had talked to the principal yet. After more than a week, he finally gives me the answer I want. He uttered his first straightforward words by telling me "we're good". Before I completely remove my poker face, I want to clarify that I can FOR SURE go to California for nationals. He replies with "yes".  He has lost our game of mental chess and I walk away feeling like a winner.  That is, until I receive an email with some pretty cryptic language from the BPA Board of Trustees about issues with my registration, however, I am still going to go. I will be registered and I will win. After all, I am the mental chess champion.

500 Views (☆_☆) \(^-^)/

Today, the blog has reached 500 views! \(^-^)/
You have got to see into my mind and understand how crazy I truly am. You have got to experience getting in trouble with a national organization, playing mental chess with an abstract adviser, and fighting off creepers. Thank You For The 500 Views!!!

 

The END of the Overly Sexual Salsa Partner

So we last left off with me swerving the sexual attempt made by the overly sexual salsa partner referred to as red shirt. I was really hoping red shirt would not come to class today to save me the hassle of trying to pull the instructor aside and report m discomfort with the suspected pedophile. However, I arrived to class a couple minutes late so I didn't have the chance to alert the instructor and red shirt showed up at the same time I did. He's one of my first partners during the basic step (plenty of room between dance partners) so I ensure not to smile at him and I avoid all eye contact. When he attempts to add flair to his steps, I keep my steps bland as possible. We rotate and I notice him looking at me and my new partner so I make sure to smile and add flair to the dance with the new partner so he is aware that it's only him that is being treated in such a manner. Then, we start practicing the fundamental of the week and he's at the girl before me. I notice he had his hand right above her butt like he did to me last class. Fortunately, the instructor noticed to and made a point to remind all the gentlemen to keep their right hand on the SHOULDER BLADE. Unfortunately, red shirt completely ignored the instructions and did not move his hand from its original position on the girl's hip bone right above her butt. We switch partners and now he is with me. He tries to end with the hand on the hip bone, right above my butt again, but I say to him "You need to move your hand higher". He moves his hand into my central mid-back and says "Here". I said "No, no, no , no", moving his right hand up to my shoulder blade and responded with "Here". He looks at me very befuddled and says "Oh, okay". Putting all his attention towards avoiding eye contact with me, he cowers away to the next girl.

ANALYSIS
I am almost drunk with power because I had the courage to tell someone I didn't know that they couldn't do something and I did it with class. I didn't hide behind the studio owners or the instructor, I said it to his face. I ensured that he knew that I was not the one to try to play with. I stood up for myself and for that reason, I am very proud of myself. I noticed that this man pays for the class, yet ignores the instructor and does whatever he chooses. My observations combined with my personal uncomfortable experience with him makes me think that he only comes to touch the females. That is a disgusting thought, but it makes sense because he comes to every class, never attempts to pick up the choreography, and puts his hands way too low on all the other female dancers. Red shirt is the definition of a creep and I'm happy that I put him in his place and let him know that he couldn't creep on me.

The Overly Sexual Salsa Partner

I can totally do this move.

STORYTIME:

I am a person who enjoys sports and fun activities involving exercise.  I am a master at all the choreography in the Just Dance collection and I am a relatively good salsa dancer. In the dance studio I am in right now, you partner with whoever else is in the room and you rotate when the instructor says so. Due to the fact that I am typically the youngest in the class, I  originally only danced with my best friend. This is very difficult because we are both females and to properly dance the salsa you need a strong partner who can lead which is (usually) a male counterpart. So we both decided to join the group rotation with the rest of the (adult) dancers. Usually, it's fun and there aren't any problems. However, today I had to deal with the overly sexual dance partner. This is an older Spanish guy, most likely in his 60's. For the sake of story time, we are going to call him red shirt. Red shirt is a terrible dancer because he ignores the steps and has no rhythm. When the person supposed to lead doesn't lead well, it can ruin the dance. The first half of the class wasn't a problem because rotations were fairly even and every couple had large gaps of space (like old school middle school slow dance type space) between  them. Then, we had to learn the fundamental of the week which required the guys to do most of the work and ended with the girl's left hand on the guy's shoulder, girl's right hand in the girls left (less intense version of the picture in the upper right corner).  This is where he started making me nervous. For everytime we rotate his hand would creep further and further down my back until he was about half an inch from touching my butt. Once he reached half an inch I threw up my hands and did a solo cha cha which forced him  into a solo cha  cha. Then right before we rotate,  he makes creepy kissy faces at me which made me feel high levels of discomfort. 

This isn't creepy enough as his version of kissy face.

ANALYSIS:
This is not the first time I have a an old guy try to hit on me, but the fact that he was so bold about it makes me nervous. I am not fearful and I know how to handle myself, but it would be much more convenient if older guys didn't act like pedophiles trying to touch me or hit on me. I recognize that since I am very friendly, mature, and tall (compared to that of the US national height average for women), older guys may think that I'm 18 or 19, when I'm only 16. I  also recognize that they may mistake my friendliness for flirting. However, when  they see my discomfort and my lack of response to their disgusting futile attempts, they should know to stop because they are bordering harassment charges or as in the case of red shirt, possible charges of child molestation. I understand a dance like the salsa can get people excited and really into the rhythm, however I will be reporting red shirt guy to the studio owners. That way they can remind everyone to keep their hands on safe areas like the shoulder blade and away from dangerous areas that can get you sent to prison for sexual harassment and molestation such as the buttocks.

Burned Out

I am feeling really burned out and it's only Monday. Balancing academics, future endeavor, sports, hospital work, a social life and sanity can be really tiring. It's most likely because school is over in less than 8 weeks and I'm really excited for freedom. Plus, my online dual enrollment class is ending which means I'll have just 7 classes to worry about rather than 8. Although, it may seem like I'm complaining, I actually  love being busy. I thrive on a packed schedule full of various self-appointed obligations. I usually do well with said schedules as long outside stress is not inflicted upon me and I don't inflict mental anxiety upon myself. No worries, I have a game plan. First, go to sleep early tonight. Despite the fact that I may have homework, it's unnecessary for me to strain myself by sleepily trying to retain difficult information. I know it would be smarter for me to go to sleep and try again tomorrow. The second step is for me to avoid stress.  I do live a very hectic life which can become stressful so the goal is to stay away from things or people that can cause me anxiety. The only case that I am willing to keep that is sort of stressing me out is the mental chess game I am playing with my BPA adviser. I'm still battling the BPA adviser, but I will stay strong because I can't let him stop me from achieving my goals and reaching my full potential. I won't let him take away opportunities from me without putting up a fight.  And with that being said, my third step is to relieve the pressure that I put on myself. The pressures of being a professional, top of the class student. The pressures of being an intelligent, nice teenager who declines offers to part take in potentially illegal activity. Simply the pressure of being the best. In this day of being burned out, I realize that I don't have to be the best (compared to others) all the time in everything. I just have to be the best version of me.

Trouble in Winning Part 3

STORYTIME:

So I get to school 10 minutes early so I could talk to the principal. When I do find him, he's in deep conversation with an English teacher, and there's already two girls there waiting for the conversation to end. About three minutes before the bell rings for class, the principal and the English teacher stop talking and fortunately for me, the two girls ahead of me were waiting for the English teacher. I run up to the principal and tell him a basic summary of my dilemma and he asks "did the ever call you?" and I reply with no and explain how I was so under the radar that I assumed the school let it slide. Apparently there was an investigation, however, since not all people involved were asked anything then that displays an incomplete job or simple negligence. Then I realized that my adviser can't embargo me based off his own personal discomfort, and since my principal told me "the time for that punishment has passed", that means on paper I am not in trouble and I have every right to go nationals as any other person. So my principal tells me he will clear it up and take care of it. The rest of my day ends up being fantastic with the highlights of an easy math test, an excellent presentation in English, and getting asked to military ball. Naturally, after school I follow up by finding the principal. His secretary tries to stop me and question me, but I make it through the magical threshold. I just looked at the principal and he says to me "if anyone has any problems send them to me". Though that may be comforting, I felt that was a little to cryptic so I provide breather room for another serious question by adding in a few fluffy statements about his nice office and my transference to a different school. A few laughs and pieces of advice later, I tell him what's really bothering me. I tell him how abstract my adviser is acting and how I feel confused on how to proceed. I tell him how my adviser is basically trying to stop me from going to nationals based off his own personal feelings of discomfort in his presence. My principal responds with "well, what does it say on your referral?" Alarmed I say "what referral?" He smiles at me and says "Exactly."  By flying under the radar for a month, I allowed the time period for BPA punishments to be carried out to close. Since I was not punished in person nor on paper, I have every right to go to nationals. So even though my adviser thought he could steer me away from my dreams with his verbal warning of how I most likely couldn't go to nationals, if it doesn't exist on paper, then it doesn't exist. According to the paper work, I wasn't relevant enough in the mess and as a result,  I technically wasn't there. If I wasn't there(according to the paper work) , then I can't be punished in any shape or form. Thus, the reason my principal promised that he would "have a talk" with my BPA adviser. I just have one word for my BPA adviser; checkmate♜ ♛

Trouble in Winning Part 2

STORYTIME:

So BPA nationals is coming up and since the incident, I have not since then been reprimanded, investigated, or even given one disapproving look from authority. In fact, everything was going so normal that I just figured laying low until nationals would be great. However, the story continues. So today the president says to me "Can you go for sure because today is the last day for registration?" Naturally, I say I'm not sure because I knew that I wasn't all clear, but nothing had happened to me. So I said I would talk to behavioral administration afterschool since the principle did give me an invitation to do so anytime and it was the end of 6th period. However, in the last 5 minutes of 7th period, I get a text from the president saying "you should talk to the BPA adviser and administration". So then I go to the most riddle speaking abstract person in the world, aka, my adviser. When I ask him if he has any personal problems with me going to nationals, he literally replies with "I don't know because I already said to a couple people that I wasn't going to let anyone involved go", and I responded with "so what do you want me to do?" and he's replies "I don't know, maybe you could go with another group without me because I'm who I have to deal with" and I confusedly answered "Okay..." . I then went down to find the principal, but of course he had an emergency dentist visit so he wasn't able to help me. I went to find the behavioral administrators and they had meetings until 6 pm so I chose to go home and follow up tomorrow.