A Few Words

This blog is pretty blank. I think I chose the most unexciting, unoriginal background; it probably won't catch eyes, but I'm okay with that. As I was looking at the different templates and thinking of the possibility of creating my own, I thought: Why strive for so much extravagance? Isn't it the words, the thoughts, the ideas that really matter? So I hope that the very few that chance by can look past the appearance and soak in the color of words.

I think that, if I were to create a list of some of my favorite things, words (literally) would be somewhere at the top of my list. I love it when people say, "A picture's worth a thousand words." And, though I agree, I would argue that a word is worth a thousand pictures, for how is it that one could not picture blue waves calmly kissing the sand, flip-flops, children chasing seagulls and those in-love holding hands, when I say the word beach? The thing that is nice about words is that the pictures they paint vary from one mind to the next; if one were to see a picture of a beach, the next person would see the exact same picture and the exact same beach. Words are far more subjective and individual, although a photographer would probably disagree with me.

It's going to be interesting to see if I'm able to get back into the habit of writing in a blog. I remember doing it fairly consistently years and years ago, but that was when all I cared about was communicating: my social life was my most prized possession. I guess I still care about "having a social life" to some extent even now, but, in so many cases, I find it extremely superficial and a waste of time; it's the same old small talk and the same old drama and it's rare that I find anything refreshingly new. There are some exceptions, though, of which I am grateful. Moreover, no matter how old a person is, self-expression, especially in writing, is something we should all strive for, for it lets people peek over walls and look back into the portal of what once was.

So, for starters, graduation is up and coming--a little over a month to be more exact. It's scarcely real to me, although I feel like I've looked forward to graduating ever since I first started high school. Do most people think that it feels so surreal, too? It's strange, because, though I haven't had any scarring or damaging things happen to me within those walls, I hate high school; I've had friends, good grades and fairly nice classes, yet I'm so excited for this portion of my life to be over. Yes, I'm excited for the obvious reasons, like not having homework, but it's more than that. I've felt so constrained these past few years, as if I was a little puppet to do the school's bidding. I understand all the rules to an extent, why students have to write papers a certain way and why students must do worksheets, but I felt that each individual and his or her talents, desires and personality got lost when all students were required to do everything the same way, required to take the same classes. I guess I didn't like the robotic, mechanical feeling of having to learn a specific way; I like to think of gaining knowledge as a highly personal matter, where people are allowed to flow and dance to wherever their hearts take them. Even today, during my AP Government final, we were told: "You can't have your jackets on your chairs. You either have to put it on or keep it under your chair." and "Don't take your stuff out from under your chair until all the packets are picked up." Why does everything need to be so rigid? I'm sure they have some "good" reason from some idiot doing something really stupid, but it really made me wonder why so many school officials feel the need to micromanage every little thing, consequently causing people to not be able to live for themselves and, often times, killing people's imagination. I put my jacket on anyway. I didn't care that all the packets hadn't been picked up yet. I know it may seem like a stretch, saying that I feel constrained from people telling me to "put my jacket under that chair", but it's just one of the many examples where I feel like school, to put it generally, was constraining me in the most unnecessary manner. So yes, I'm excited to not have to be micromanaged for six hours of the day anymore and to live for myself a little more.

However, on a lighter, more appreciative note, there have been many things about school, both good and bad, that have made me a better person. Just thinking about it now, I'm amazed at the goodness of many of my teachers who have spent extra time after school to work with me or to write letters of recommendation when they really didn't need to. I'm really thankful to everyone who has helped me grow and did it without thought for themselves.