Per aspera ad astra

34 days until graduation! From my numerous boba and waffle academic projects to my Fitbit showing "fat burn" after an in-class essay, I will not forget all of the memorable moments that characterize my high school life. Reflecting from freshman year to senior year, I love how we have begun to find our interests and what keeps us going—rather than building ourselves similar to each other due to peer pressure and competition. During my college app research, I found that many claimed college was much more collaborative, and quite simply that is probably from our grown maturity and ability to work together without underlying intentions. 

As the class of 2021, we've gone through quite a lot, and this specific school year was one unlike any other. But I name this blog post "per aspera ad astra," as it translates to "through hardships to the stars".  Albeit all of these challenges that the pandemic presented, we continued to strive and do our best, fully committing to college now and opening up a new book. With this year, I will not forget all of the Zoom mishaps and the jokes we made online—whether it's voice calling to study or playing more games together (backyard.co!). With regards to the more sentimental perspectives, I will always value the close discussions fostered, including the heated Oedipus debate. I love how we always try to extend our works to something of greater value, universally: truths we shall hold in our life. What I do miss is the absence of ~connection~ built within an in-person setting, such as getting to know each other and our teachers; however, I do feel that this English class was my best class of the 2020-21 year in getting to know everyone. By learning about author's voice and blogging almost weekly, I felt that I was able to "hear" from everyone and have those short conversations we'd normally have during the minutes before the bell rings.

Some topics from high school that I'll carry with me include the interdisciplinary bent of many courses and the Becoming unit from this year. Reading TEWWG and watching Dead Poets Society compelled me to reflect on self-discovery (as well as Oedipus) and realize how finding self-transcendence is a journey. Although the work was fiction, I felt so happy watching both Janie's pear tree and voice come to fruition; perhaps that's what makes me excited for the future. In elementary and middle school, each class was separate: math, history, science. etc. However, in high school, subjects began to merge. In AP Research, I studied marketing, tech, and psychology; in AP English, I merged psychology with literature (and food); in Color Guard, I saw the physics in flagging... and the list goes on. With this being said, I've learned that my interests lie along a spectrum; thus, in college, I'm excited to further this journey of interdisciplinary studies initiated in high school. I'm also super stoked to meet new people and get to know others more - so to anyone who's going...Go Blue! 〽️💙