A Year Over Three

So I've got one final left then I'll officially be a junior. Alright, maybe not until the end of the week when they tally GPA and all that jazz, but I will be mentally and functionally finished with this year.  It really is a big deal, to move on, to go to a state of higher status, respect, and power when I can still remember those first few Freshman days so vividly. To think, only one more graduation and then my own. Wow. 

Every freshman now has to go through this little mentoring program called S.H.I.F.T., which means something along the lines of Students Helping Incoming Freshmen Transition, but don't quote me on that. Basically each kid gets a mentor for the first semester that helps them learn the ropes of high school, how to manage time, help with homework, and generally get acquainted. To become a mentor you have to be going into Junior or Senior year and go through a fairly selective application process.  The day before school starts, the mentees meet with their mentors for what we call "Time Trials," and the mentors show the freshmen their classes, the way around the school, how to sign in and out, where the restrooms are, etc.  As a freshman, I asked my mentor, who was a senior that year, "So, does it go by fast?" referring to high school. She replied, "Yeah, it really does, I can't believe I'm already a senior! You've just gotta enjoy it while it lasts." At the time I didn't really believe her, but I'm starting to see the truth in her words. Next year I'll get my own mentees.

Each year seems to be shorter than the last.  I'll be out of here in no time, so it would be foolish to cry about the annoying pricks that come from walking through the field of adolescence barefooted. Not when there are those flowers, few and sickly, but still there, beautiful, deserving a thoughtful glance. You have to walk, no matter your pace, no matter where your eyes are set, so you may as well be seeing something more pleasant than not.


I just signed up to take a biology course at our local community college this summer.  Hopefully I'll do well and be able to take Biology II next summer, completing a whole year of biology before I even go off to that dreamy land. I won't need to take AP Bio at school because I'll already have its equivalent in college credits, without having to score high on the AP test. I'll be taking a college course every fall and spring semester until I graduate high school, and maybe, if I do well on my AP tests and in those classes, I'll be able to go to college, fall of 2013, as a sophomore. Of course it's only a theory, a small chance, but what I really like is the idea of being a 25 year old doctor.

This is the correlation of salvation and love
Don't drop your arms
I'll guard your heart
With quiet words I'll lead you in