and I’m super excited about everything right now. I don’t think there are many things which could put me in a bad mood today. I’m going to a friend’s graduation party later tonight, and I plan on partying (not like drugs or alcohol, but hanging out with friends type of thing).

We had the event outside, and everything was perfect, even though the grass was a bit wet. They march out by height, so I was like the 2nd person marching. Lots of friends and family were there, and I loved it. One of my dear friends was Valedictorian, and her speech made me cry a little. Getting that diploma in my hands was the perfect moment. We had golf tees in our hands, so when we shook hand with the superintendent, he would get it (we have a state championship winning golf team).Getting the praise from my family and teachers was amazing. I feel amazing right now. I’m a bit sad because I know there are many people I won’t ever see again.

Now, college…months away.

I really just felt like posting something for the sake of posting something. Nothing really interesting is going on with my life, so here it is. I’m definitely going to Agnes Scott. I love it. I’m taking the AP English test this Thursday and the AP World History Test next Thursday. I plan on living out the rest of my life as a beach bum in SoCal. No responsibilities or worries or anything really, just the simple life.

I got a flat tire today, and all I could think is my parents are going to be pissed. We saw the car, pulled the tire off, and saw the rim inside the tire was dented. It is dented because I went over the railroad tracks wrong. I can’t really explain it any other way than that. I told my mom, and I think she’s just glad no one got hurt. My dad’s pissed because it’s almost time for dinner, and this is one more thing he has to take care of. He’s probably also pissed because it’s going to cost him money to fix it. I’m just upset because it’s just another thing for my parents to get upset over. Just another reason for them not to fully trust me.

Last night, I was up late just surfing the net. I heard the police outside, but I did not think anything of it because we do own a motel. A sleazy motel with unsavory characters. My parents were up, and the police came in and talked to my parents. This was like 2:30 or something. That’s unusual. I didn’t think anything of it though.  The next morning, my mom comes into my room to tell me the handle on the door of the passenger side of my car has been torn off. SOMEONE TRIED TO STEAL MY CAR!!! WHAT THE F***?!?!?!

 We lost at region mock trial. We got gipped though. We did spectacularly, I thought anyway. I don’t know.

I got third at region literary. I wrote not the greatest essay. I got too confident in my skills, and it messed me up. The comments and critiques I received though were totally off-base. The judges did not know what they were doing.

It has been a year of goods and bads.  Even with the academic team. We got second in a our region, and something like 8th maybe in state. I don’t know.

I’m really disappointed in myself when it comes to stuff like that. I wish I was better at stuff like that. I don’t know. I’m perpetually confused.

Mock trial competition this Saturday, and I’m terrified and so excited. I really feel like this will be my year.

I feel that because my brother does not understand American society, he may experience a lot of trouble. He’s made friends and stuff, but when he’s attempted to participate in sports, it hasn’t worked out well. He doesn’t understand the stigma of violence. I don’t know if I’m saying that correctly, but he doesn’t understand that supporting violent behavior is bad. I understand this to an extent from an experience I had in India. My sister and her husband have a 2-3 year old boy. While we were traveling around India, they bought him a toy gun which I thought was really inappropriate. I, of course, did not say anything, but they way they played with him and gun told me, violence was not that big of a deal to them. They did not really care they were simulating death to this child. I don’t know. Stuff like that really bothers me.

My college decision making process has become more difficult. I don’t know what I want to do. Oglethorpe’s accreditation is iffy now. I don’t want to do what my parents want. I want to do what I want. I’m not totally sure what I want anymore though.

For AP Lit/Comp we had to read Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. I don’t really like the book all that much right now because our teacher gave us 25-30 wksts to do about the book. One the first questions is Why do you think Ellison left of the article an or the from the title. Most of the questions are ones you must bs your way through. It is marring my enjoyment of the book. I’m frustrated with that.

I have to memorize 2 Shakespearean monologues for tomorrow when I shall be critiqued by 2 drama coaches. I’m auditioning for a scholarship Fri. Jan 25th. I have to have an essay written by Monday about a service project which has affected my life.

I have AP World History homework but I have no idea what it is because I lost the calender my teacher gave us.

I met with my dad’s accountant about FAFSA and basically since she is so close to my dad, she is making decisions about what college I should go to. My family and their friends have taken it upon themselves to keep in GA, keep me close to my family. If it is financially feasible, I want to go out of state. I need to get away from all I know and immerse myself into the unfamiliar and new. I need to make my life my own, and I don’t think they’ll let me.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

It’s snowing!!!! It’s snowing!!!! It’s snowing!!!! It’s snowing!!!! It’s snowing!!!! It’s snowing!!!! It’s snowing!!!! It’s snowing!!!! It’s snowing!!!! It’s snowing!!!! It’s snowing!!!! It’s snowing!!!! It’s snowing!!!! It’s snowing!!!! It’s snowing!!!! It’s snowing!!!! It’s snowing!!!! It’s snowing!!!! It’s snowing!!!! It’s snowing!!!! It’s snowing!!!! It’s snowing!!!! It’s snowing!!!! It’s snowing!!!!

It’s snowing and I’m incredibly happy because of it. It’s beautiful, but it’s melting as soon as it touches the ground. That makes me sad. I hope it sticks!

I’m leaving for India on the 16th. I’ll be back on January 8th. I’m super excited. I’ll tell you all about it when I get back.
The following account is just my biased view of what happened last week in Comp. Rel.

Last week, in my comparative religions class, we had an Anglican preacher(pastor, minister, or whatever they are called) come speak to our class. We had just started Christianity the a couple of weeks ago, and we are reading Mere Christianity. I am not a Christian. I would say I practice many of the traditions of Hinduism, but I was raised a Hindu. I’m a pluralist more than anything. My comp rel. teacher has me and another student escort him to her classroom, and we talked. I really liked him, because he seemed like a really intelligent person. For his lecture, he’s doing great, talking about his background, his church, and all of that stuff. Then, the question and answer part of class. I ask him a question about Mere Christianity. CS Lewis says something like he believes there is some truth in all religions. I asked the pastor what he thought of that. He says something along the lines of “there may be some truth in all religions, but the Truth(big T) is in Christianity.” I’m okay with what he says. It’s what he believes, and I did ask him. Then he goes on to say that “there are some pretty moral people who will go to Hell because they have not accepted Christ into their hearts.” This bothered me. He was looking straight at me when he said that, and I was hurt. I tried to let it go, but I needed to express how I felt about it.

A couple of days later, we start off talking about Mere Christianity, then we get off on a tangent about separation of church and state. Let me give you some background, so will understand all that happens next. I live in the middle of nowhere, GA. 90% of the school is white and conservative. I’m part of the 10% that is a minority. I’m also an outspoken liberal. Many of my friends are extremely conservative and religious. In my comparative religions class, we are about oh so close to having an actual fight. There are only about 10 people talking, but 3 of us are outspoken liberals, and the rest are extremely conservative. So close to a fight, and many times the conservatives would not let us get a complete thought out before jumping down our throats to say what they want to say. My teacher stopped us before we actually got physical, and we all calmed down. We were all friends again and everything forgotten. I really care a great deal about my conservative friends; we have a lot in common except for our political views. It bothers me though that whenever their is a debate, they don’t let us “the liberals” express our views. This is largely because we are the minority.

Earlier today, I was talking to my friends, conservative and liberal in the halls. I said “I do not believe in Jesus.” Those are just my beliefs. Than one of my friends says “Be careful what you say in these halls. You might get beat up.” This from one of my most conservative friends.

I hate that so many people in my school are closed-minded. My conservative friends, they may disagree with me, but they’re open and accepting of my beliefs. They don’t try to change me or convert me or anything like that. They accept me. Right after we had that heated debate, everything went back to normal. We might have been a bit pissed off, but we were cool with each other.

I got 4 shots Sat. My aunt is a doctor, and my mother took advantage of this fact while I spent my Thanksgiving break with her. I still feel a lot of pain in both of my arms. I feel a little sick right now. I’m doing my AP English work right now, 16 note cards done, 9 more to go. I’m not well, and I’m having issues getting comfortable enough to take a little cat nap before I finish my note cards. I can’t lay on my sides because my arms are so sore right now. Please feel sympathy for me and make me feel better right now! (joking)

Other than that, I had a great time in Nashville. We went shopping, got my nails done, ate out, and did all sorts of stuff I do not normally get to do. My nails look cute now. My finger nails are pink. My toenails are dark red and they have little flowers on them. My aunt did that for me because she felt bad about me getting 4 shots. Have a great day everybody!!!