Thoughts and Opinions Archives

The Dump: A Stinky but Surprisingly Fun Field Trip

November 6, 2019

For my Junior year, I ended up taking AP Environmental Science! Although the class was originally an alternative, I am so excited I had the opportunity to be in the class. Not only did I get to focus on my love for the environment, but I also learned about the threats facing the earth and probable solutions.

One of our units in the fall focused on municipal solid waste management (aka trash). Instead of just looking at images and taking notes from slides, we got a first hand look at the amount of trash thrown away in our community. Our teacher organized a field trip to the Placer County Waste Management Authority (WPWMA).

7 Tips For Time Management

June 26, 2019

Everyone knows that snow melts. Whether you have some fun, build a snowman, and have a snowball fight, or you just sit by and watch, the snow will always melt. This same idea applies to time. You can use it to accomplish your tasks and create something awesome, or you can watch it tick by. Similar to snow, no matter how you use it, or if you even use it at all, time melts away. Might as well figure out how to use it to your advantage, right?

This first half of navigating high school and getting into the swing of things has given me the opportunity to develop ways to succeed and dominate the next two years using all I have learned! So, as the new school year draws closer and closer, I wanted to start sharing some helpful tips I’ve learned throughout my first two years of high school such as time management, study strategies, reducing stress, and more.

What A Busy Schedule Has Taught Me

February 5, 2019

So, I haven’t really worked on my blog since August…. and it’s February. That’s crazy! But also necessary. This is my sophomore year and I had no idea what the workload would look like or how much I would have to do. I’ve been jam packed with school, dance, friends, and family and I haven’t had much time for “me time” or blogging.

Handling any busy schedule can be extremely stressful and you may cry a little or be disappointed that you haven’t had that “me time.” I needed to find balance and make time for what I enjoy. That “me time” makes a huge difference in my mood, potential burn out, work effort, and overall happiness. I’m not perfect, but I’m trying to figure out how to maintain some balance. Here’s what I’ve figured out myself so far.

You sort of start thinking anything’s possible if you’ve got enough nerve

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

The School Year In Review: My First Year At Whitney

June 17, 2018

Starting high school last year, and getting to finally be a high school student with my friends, has been an incredible experience. Freshman year was awesome! High school is a lot different than I imagined, considering I got all of my ideas of high school from High School Musical and Bring It On. It was not like those movies at all! Nevertheless, it was a fun year full of memories, ups and downs, and a lot of “first time” things.

After the first few days, my friends and I even found an “our spot” where we eat lunch every single day together!

Speaking At Word Camp San Diego 2018

April 25, 2018

In April, I had the incredible opportunity to speak at my first WordCamp in San Diego, California. In case you don’t know, WordCamps happen all over the country, organized by locals. WordCamps are conferences where people can to go to attend different sessions about web design, developement, blogging, advanced and beginner techniques, and everything WordPress (publishing software for websites). Each one is unique with different speakers, themes, venues, attendees, and more. Anyone can go to a WordCamp whether your new to WordPress or a long term professional.

The theme for WordCamp San Diego was “A Salute to Our Troops” because the city has plenty of military history. The tracks were named accordingly, the signage, the, website, and the awesome swag matched the theme perfectly! My talk obviously didn’t match and neither did everyone’s, but mine was awesome either way!

Starting A WordPress Blog And Finding Your Blogging Groove

April 12, 2018

I’m extremely excited to be speaking at WordCamp San Diego about starting my blog and finding my groove, my frustrations and hurdles, how I overcame them, the many tips I’ve learned along the way, and the tools I use.

I started blogging when I was ten years old, almost five years ago. I thought it would be fun and I wanted to share the fun things that my family and I were doing. Also, my mom blogs a lot for fun and for work and she encouraged me to get started.

When I first started blogging, I used tons of adjectives—I mean A LOT of them— in every post and it sounded a bit silly. My early posts also had exclamation points after every single sentence, sometimes two, three, and four of them because I was I was only ten and I thought everything was AWESOME!! Fabulous!! So cool! and Totally amazing!

Starting Video and Getting Comfortable

March 5, 2018

Right now, “vlogs” are starting to become popular in movies and television, on YouTube, and just for fun. They’re short, or long, videos about what you did that day, an interesting place you’re at, where you’re exploring, and a lot more topics. Basically, a blog but with videos instead of words and pictures. Before starting our road trip to Death Valley National Park, I decided I wanted to start a video blog on YouTube.

Inspiration

Trying Something New; School Rally Performance

February 3, 2018

This year I started high school. I knew before I even started I wanted to be in the Whitney Dance Program, so I auditioned and made it into a higher leveled class. Typically, the only way to dance at a rally is if you’re on the dance team, but new this year was the VAPA Rally where most of the art classes on campus get to perform. Since I’m in an advanced dance class, my class had to showcase a routine. I knew that signing up for an upper level class I would probably end up doing things like that, but I thought it would just be the dance show.

As a freshman, I was insanely nervous when I heard I would be performing in front of my whole school, which is roughly 2000 people. Before this, I had never done anything in front of my peers at this new school. All of the other older girls in my class had been in the school dance shows and things like that, but I had never experienced it. I’ve done countless dance productions at my studio in front of parents and a whole bunch of other people, but performing in front of your classmates and people you see everyday is scary to think about.

Overcome the notion that you must be regular. It robs you of the chance to be extraordinary

Uta Hagen