Senior Reflections

#2. What, would you say, is your most valuable possession? How did you acquire this possession? Why is it so meaningful?

My most valuable possession would by German Shepherd puppy I had a year ago. When I was in 8th grade and my younger sister was in 5th grade, we both agreed that we should talk to our parents about getting a German Shepherd since my sister and I thought and agreed that the German Shepherd was the most beautiful breed out of all dogs. After several months of continuous begging, our parents finally gave in and we got a beautiful female puppy. Having a cute pet was one of the most wonderful moments of my life. Taking care of the dog, however, was another story. She was quite mischievous, troublesome dog. To make matters worse, Ruby, our German Shepherd, was quite smart but she used her intelligence on her troublesome nature. During her puppy years, Ruby loved to crazily bark and sprint after squirrels in my backyard everyday. Unfortunately, our neighbors did not find such barking to be cute and amusing. Our neighbors were roughly in their mid 80s and hated the noise. As a result, they sent a city ordinance ordering that if my precious dog keeps barking, my dog would be impounded and my family will also get sent a hefty fine. Thus, my sense of happiness with Ruby short-lived. Luckily, one of my family friends was interested in taking care of Ruby. They also live a five minute drive from our home and we were allowed to see her anytime when we wanted to. From this major moment of my life, I learned that losing someone or something precious can be quite demoralizing but to endure and to continue to live on is what makes us strong and powerful.

#3. What is the single most important in-class lesson you learned in high school? What was your greatest academic challenge?  Did this experience shape you in any way?

The greatest in-class lesson I learned in high school was from Lord of the Flies that humans without society and order are truly animals. In the Lord of the Flies, a plane crashes which kills the pilot but leaves several innocent young boys left on an island in the middle of nowhere. During their survival, these boys face a variety of tasks and decisions that ultimately leave a few boys to their deaths. Society where laws and order are present was never established and was frequently left to different radical leaders. Unfortunately, I ignored this important lesson about law and order. Clearly, this lesson is still very prevalent in society. Like the Baltimore riots crisis America is currently experiencing, order and law are obviously not present. Police have no control and the National Guard are even trying to fix the issue. Rampant looters are destroying millions of dollars of infrastructure while robbing. Innocent policemen who are trying to bring law and order are constantly being in danger and there have been some police officers even murdered to death. This is only just from one incident. With an unpredictable future, many similar events like the Baltimore riots will happen again. Without law and order, humans can become very crazy animals.

#6. Describe your day, yesterday for example, or any other ordinary day. What is your usual routine these days? Is it different from a year ago, or mostly the same? Are you happy with your typical day? Reflect on your ideas about happiness.

My usual day has changed quite a bit compared to my usual days in freshmen year. I usually now hang out with friends and have a great time. In addition, there is considerably less amount of homework than those of previous years. Senior life is truly comfortable and days go by much quicker than those of the past 3 years. There is no more of the ridiculous SAT and ACT practice and real tests as well as worrying about low GPA because of colleges. Once I had been accepted to my dream college, an ordinary day is a peaceful and comfortable day. All in all, I am quite happy with current life as of now. But to look back particularly last year or junior year, I hated my typical day. Everyday after school, I had to take a quick hour-long nap to make sure I can at least stay awake past midnight. After the hour nap, I had to go to basketball practice for two hours long. Even though two hours may seem long, game days are even longer and usually varsity games take even longer. Once I am at home after basketball, I have to work on homework and study for tests until around 2 AM in the pitch black night. Afterwards, the whole cycle restarts and begins by waking up at 5 AM to finish any unfinished homework and study more for tests. This typical day was much worse than my senior year’s typical day.