This past week I have been dedicated to completing my original work, which is definitely taking longer than I expected. Though, I do love a challenge. I went on a mentor visit on Friday and Karen assigned me an article to write about ISM for the Chamber website which is so cool! I am nervous, however, because she did not really give me any specific details on how to write it, so I am currently stuck between two angles of writing it and will probably just write two drafts for her to pick from. I have only been getting busier as the end of the semester nears, and it is hard to believe that my original work is due at the end of next week. While it has been a challenge to put my ideas onto paper I think it is finally starting to come along, and it is a strange feeling comparing my writing from six years ago to my writing now. Even with having to balance my independent study assignments, FEF, the final touches on my college applications, and studying for all of my finals, I feel a calming confidence that I have never felt before. I know what I am capable of doing, and I know that completing all of my responsibilities is well within my reach. I am proud of who I have become!
This past week has been relatively calm, which is nice. Every now and then I need a break from how hectic things have been getting. I am on Thanksgiving Break now currently, and am working on my original work which is awesome! I have been able to listen to speeches from my classmates and see what others are researching for their independent studies this year, and I have learned a lot of new information. Aside from that, I have slowly been getting other assessments and work for my classes taken care of. One of my greatest challenges last week was time management, solely because I was running on around 15 hours of sleep the entire week. As a result, I turned in both my weekly blog and research assessment late, both because I feel asleep and did not wake up until after the deadline had passed. This week, I am looking forward to getting some good rest so that I can overcome this challenge and really channel productivity, specifically when finishing my original work. I am especially looking forward to writing my short story and finishing it! I have not finished a piece of my own writing for so long, and I cannot wait to have a final copy to love and cherish and show off at research showcase! I could not be more excited.
This past week has been fairly exciting because not only did I get to go to a business panel sponsored by Bank of America and Merrill Lynch at the Star on Tuesday, but I also got accepted into two colleges! A challenge that presented itself to me, however, were my wisdom teeth, which are hurting really bad, which means I will probably have to get them out over Thanksgiving break, ultimately giving me less time to work on my original work. I am not worried about not finishing or anything like that, but I would have liked to have the entire break to focus on ISM. My original work is coming along nicely so far too. I decided I am going to do more than just the experiment and also complete one short story! Other than that, one of the professionals I emailed to interview with who works at the Star responded and said he would love to meet! It is really exciting that there are so many professionals in Frisco who work in communications because I have really been able to meet so many new people this year. My study is going so well and I could not be more excited for what other amazing things are to come!
This past week I had the opportunity to go on my first mentor visit for the year which was so exciting! The fact that I was able to start my mentorship earlier this year makes me very excite for what is to come because I basically have an entire school year of possibility ahead of me. Ms. Karen is so nice and I knew from the moment I interviewed her that I wanted her to be my mentor, so getting to learn from her this year is going to be amazing. On my mentor visit last week I got to meet some of the staff at the Chamber of Commerce and talk about what the mentorship would become, and tomorrow I am going to a panel event at the Dallas Cowboys World Headquarters because of her invitation! I could not be more excited. Other than my mentorship, another great accomplishment of mine was getting a 98 average in all of my classes this six weeks, which means I have gotten better at balancing all of the things on my plate and all of my work is paying off! I have been writing more recently as well, since my college essays only seem to multiply as I submit my initial applications. I know I'll conquer that battle soon too though!
This past week I was able to schedule my first mentor visit which will be this Thursday during my ISM period! I am so excited to officially start the mentorship part of this program, especially since it is so early and I did not get that advantage last year because of all the paperwork. My plan is to speak with Coach Goff tomorrow and get prepared for the most epic first mentor visit of all time! Other than that, I also managed to update my digital portfolio which makes me feel really on top of things, especially my research. I am officially on track to start my original work too! It is kind of crazy to think it is already almost time for research showcase. This year is really going by so fast, but I think it is also quite exciting to try and keep up with the pace. Between college applications (which have only gotten even more monstrous) balancing my job, volunteering, and my AP classes has been trickier than I first envisioned, but I feel mature handling it all the way that I have. I feel like ISM has really taught me how to stay on top of all of my stuff, and I know I am prepared to go out into the professional world.
This past week I have been diligently working on my research. Unlike the past few weeks, it has been fairly uneventful, but if every week is exciting then technically no week is exciting so that is okay! I needed a tranquil week i ISM since I have had some crazy life circumstances lately! Some of my greatest challenges this week have been my car and computer breaking down, so I have had to make do with one of the world’s slowest desktop computers for my research. Fortunately, my laptop is getting fixed, and I will have my precious original work and notes returned to me by next week! I am waiting to schedule a mentor visit with Ms. Kim before I do anymore work on my original work since I want her input, so for now I am focused on completing my college essays. Slowly, but steadily, and am working my way back into the rhythm of ISM. I am glad that things have been going so smoothly, however. It feels like I have truly found my niche, and I am excited to see how my original work will develop from here. Hopefully I finalize my idea soon! I am hoping to begin working on it by the start of November.
This past week has been full of excitement! I completed my third informational interview with Sarah Hepola who was so nice and our over hour-long conversation was so insightful and helped me learn so much! After our interview, I emailed Ms. Karen Kim inquiring if she could mentor me this year, and she amazingly said yes! Now I officially have a mentor for this year and I could not be more excited! This is definitely an accomplishment, and I am proud of myself for being on top of my stuff this year. Since I knew what to expect curriculum-wise I was able to get myself ahead this year so I can have more time with my mentor. I am especially excited because there will not be extensive paperwork and review processes like there was last year, so I will have the opportunity to have more mentor visits! I am still planning to interview with professionals and explore the field of communications, however. Also, since Ms. Kim is a professional in communications I will be altering my study to communications/creative writing because I really want to spend the year studying under her! I am looking forward to the coming week and progressing with the mentorship set-up!
This past week has definitely been exciting. I had the opportunity to attend my second business symposium of the two years that I have been a part of ISM! It was a lot more fun this time, since I was less focused on nerves and more focused on meeting with professionals and utilizing my time properly. Knowing what to expect definitely served to my advantage. Something that stuck out to me this year was my interview with an electrical engineer who told me I should explore business is I ever get the chance, because he saw an administrative side to me. I found this interesting and have been thinking about it ever since. Maybe one day I will be working in business thanks to this one professional I met with for fifteen minutes. For now, however, I am focusing on my third informational interview which is scheduled for this Thursday at 3pm! I am excited to finally have another interview, and hope that I can learn a lot from who I am meeting with. I will also hopefully have the opportunity to meet with someone from the Cowboys administration! I had no idea they had someone in creative writing but I think it is really neat and am looking forward to what is to come. I am also excited to officially start on my original work! I still need to figure out some logistics, but otherwise, this experiment is going to get rolling and I cannot wait to see the results.
This past week I have been struggling to find a third person to interview! I am not sure why I am having so much trouble this year as opposed to last year, but I am sure that my searching will pay off in the coming months. I am going to submit my official proposal for my original work at the end of this week, and I am super excited because I am really curious about the outcome of my experiment and what I will be able to learn through testing myself in different conditions. Hopefully I find the perfect and most productive environment for me to practice writing! As I plan my original work and search for a third professional to interview with, I am getting ready for the business symposium this year which is on Wednesday! I loved it last year, and I cannot wait for all of the professionals I will get to meet this year. Since I know what to expect, I will be able to focus more on networking and less on trying to shake of my nerves! Ultimately, while I focus on research in class, I am practicing writing outside of class via college applications. I actually finished the first complete rough draft of my essay today! After around 50 partial drafts, I can finally say this one will be the one I tweak to submit. Now I just have to figure out how to cut 211 words!
This past week has definitely been interesting. I have surprisingly been extremely on top of things by finalizing my resume, keeping up with my digital portfolio (which was a challenge for me last year), and corresponding with professionals. I have already conducted two interviews and it is only the middle of September! Something I have been thinking about lately is changing my original work to something that has to do with stream of consciousness, and making my final product the three short stories I have been working on, because those will take an extremely long amount of time to finish. I am definitely having an interesting brainstorm! Mostly, however, I am just proud of myself for giving myself the opportunity to have some fun senior year. Forcing myself to write through ISM is going to help me stop making excuses and just do it! I am looking forward to having a few more interviews, since even though my interview Sunday was not able to happen, I am still going to try and reschedule so I can hopefully get some more advice about writing and my pieces specifically. Lately I have been having this feeling that I am not cut out to be a writer and should just quit, but there is another part of me that refuses to, because something fantastic could be waiting for me if I just take the opportunity to earn it. Hopefully I can stop feeling so unsure by the end of my study!
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