April Showers

It feels like it has been such a long time since I have blogged.  A lot can happen in two weeks.  The most important thing that happened was that I visited the two schools I was deciding between, and have finally made my choice!  I am so excited that I paid my deposit, signed up for orientation, booked plane tickets, and submitted my housing application.  I honestly cannot believe the entire college process is over, and I am happy with the result.  I am attending one of my top choices, and I was accepted into their honors program!  

While I am happy that college is all settled, these two weeks have honestly been pretty rough.  First of all, I am very stressed about all of my AP exams.  These exams are so important to me because if I get certain scores, I will be able to take more advanced classes and not have to repeat much of the course material I learned this year in math, science, and French.  I have a lot of studying to do before the exams, but the worst part is that even after the exams, I will not know my scores until July, which feels eons away.

Another random disappointment is regarding my favorite TV show, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.  Way back in January, I wrote that “Now that I am 18 I am old enough to enter the “lottery” to try and get tickets to see the show taped live in New York!”.  It is extremely difficult to get tickets.  You can enter at 3pm every Wednesday and by 3:01pm, the show will be sold out.  Even if you manage to enter, you are still not guaranteed to get tickets.  Well, I finally had a free Sunday (when the show is taped), so I entered the lottery.  I managed to submit a request at 3pm.  There was a certain day they said I would be notified by if I won tickets, but I never heard back.  Then, Saturday night, the day before the show taped, I received an email that they had an extra pair of tickets available if I wanted them.  I was so excited, but by then my dad who was going to take me had a commitment, and we could not go.  I was so bummed out.  When I watched the episode I would have attended on TV, I was even more sad because Lin Manuel Miranda (the writer/star of Hamilton) made a guest appearance!

However, my sadness over not being able to attend a show taping quickly faded that day when we received a call that my Godfather unexpectedly passed away.  I am extremely close with my Godparents.  They are basically family.  We get together for Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, and for many other events all throughout the year.  They come to see me skate and perform in drama shows.  I had just seen him when he came to see me perform my solo in the skating show this year.  I am still in shock that he is gone.  

It has only been two weeks, but so much has changed.  I feel like this is the beginning of a new chapter in my life.  Hopefully these April showers will bring me some May flowers.

Concerts

For the past few weeks I have been talking all about college.  While there is less than a month until I make my final decision (yikes!), I have decided this week I want to talk about something fun.

Many people look forward to vacations, sports games, and movie premieres.  I however, get the most excited about concerts.  I adore going to concerts.  I love music, and watching someone perform the song I have been listening and dancing to in my room live is always so surreal.

I also enjoy trying to get the best seats/tickets possible.  I cannot afford $1000 tickets or anything like that, but I always try to get the best tickets I can afford.

One of the fun things about concerts is going to all different types; ones with different genres, different audiences, and different venues.  I have see everything from Justin Bieber to Josh Groban, and I have been at every kind of venue from small places like the Paradise Rock Club to large stadiums like Gillette.  Each is fun and special for different reasons.

This Tuesday I went to the Charlie Puth concert; one I had been particularly looking forward to.  For those who do not know him by name, he wrote and sang the hit song See You Again from the latest Fast and Furious movie.  This concert was at a small venue similar to the Paradise Rock Club with general admission for about 400 people.  I was really excited and nervous because I had purchased a VIP package.  I have only once before bought a VIP package and this one was even more special than last one.  Myself, my friend, and four other people were brought into a small room to meet Charlie and listen to him sing an acoustic version of his hit “One Call Away”.  We were all so quiet and nervous.  I was the first one to walk into the room, and I could not believe he was just sitting there on a small couch, right there in front of me.  He sang the song beautifully.  Then we all had the opportunity to take selfies with him.  Again I panicked for a moment because I could not find my phone!  Once I finally found it, I handed it to him so he would take the pictures.  I am pretty sure that if I had had to hold the phone, my hand would have been shaking.  Then I gave him my little gift I made him.  Again, I froze I could not find the words to explain my gift, but he asked if it was a coaster and I told him “No, it’s a magnet”.  He told me he would put it on his fridge which was sweet.  

After this intimate experience, we lined up to take the regular professional meet and greet photos.  Again, I went first and I asked him if we could do a pose where we hug each other.  He said yes but we were off center so we had to shuffle (while in our pose) to move to the center.  Then, for some reason, they threw us all back outside in the freezing cold for an hour.  Once I could no longer feel my toes, they let us back inside, and I was able to secure a spot front row and center.  The entire experience was surreal, and will go down as one of my favorite concert experiences ever.

Decisions, Decisions...

Last week I wrote about how I was accepted to another school but that I was waiting for the financial aid package.  The package has since arrived, and it is pretty good.  The cost of my two top choices are very similarly priced so it really comes down to where I would prefer to spend the next four years living and learning.  As of right now, I honestly have no idea where I want to go.  I always thought that despite applying to many schools, there would be one clear winner that would emerge in the end.  Unfortunately that is not the case.  I have narrowed down my list of acceptances and am currently trying to decide between two schools.

Everyone keeps asking me which school I am leaning towards, and I honestly I am not leaning toward either school.  Each school has its strengths and its weaknesses.  Even though the two schools are in many ways completely different, I could see myself melding into the culture of either school.  One school is huge (and I do mean HUGE!).  It is a large public university with great sports teams and a lot of school spirit.  The other school is much smaller.  It is a private university without impressive sports teams or parties.  The lack of parties, which some may see as a drawback, is actually a positive for me as I am a pretty socially reserved person.  However, the school spirit at the other school in of itself is very enticing.  The school has one of the largest living alumni networks in the world which can be very beneficial when applying for jobs.

What makes the decision truly tough is that both schools have the same quality of academics.  Both have excellent statistics programs, and both schools would allow me to study biology in some capacity.

I have signed up to go back and revisit each school again before I make a decision.  When I visited these schools over the summer, the focus of the info sessions and tours were how to gain admission.  Now that I have been admitted, I will be attending what are known as “Accepted Students Days” where I will find out more about the classes and what it is like to be a student at the schools.

I am excited to visit these schools next month, but I am also nervous because by May 1st I have to make a decision!

The End Is In Sight

Last week I was super upset about college decisions, but this week I fared a little better as the last of my college decisions trickled in.  Was it a fabulous week?  No; but it was MUCH better than last week.  I received two waitlists to two of my favorite public universities I applied to.  First of all, I am proud to even be waitlisted because it can be hard for in-staters to get in, never mind out-of-staters.  These schools are required to take a majority of in-staters, making it extremely difficult to get in when you are out of state.  While many schools waitlist thousands of kids just to accept ten kids off the waitlist, these schools often take many students off their waitlists which gives me hope.  One school accepted 20% of the students on the waitlist last year, and the other school last year accepted over 400 students off the waitlist.  Obviously it varies year to year, but I am hopeful of my chances.  On top of that, I was accepted to another amazing school this week.  After all the rejections from the previous week and even the waitlists this week, the surprise acceptance Friday night at midnight (Saturday morning) was incredible.  Now I am actually faced with a tough decision to make.  I have no idea which school I will pick.  Part of my decision will ultimately be made when I receive my financial aid package from the school I was just accepted to.

Even though I was accepted, on Friday I thought I had been rejected at first.  The school sent out acceptance packages to students who were accepted, and waitlist letters to students who were waitlisted on Wednesday.  They did not send out any rejection letters.  During school on Friday, I found out students across the country from California to Wisconsin to Massachusetts had received acceptance letters that day.  I went home and nervously opened my mailbox and was devastated when I found that there was no acceptance package and no waitlist letter inside.  I assumed I had been rejected.  Friday night, I opened my decision on my online portal anyways, and was shocked to see I had actually been accepted.  I started screaming and shook my mom who had fallen asleep on the couch.  

While I still have a couple decisions left to receive, all the important decisions are over and now I have two wonderful schools to choose from.  Early on in this blog I said I wanted to get into just one great school to vindicate my years of hard work.  I have been accepted to two schools, and waitlisted at two schools that I consider great, and I definitely feel like my hard work has finally paid off.

March Sadness

This week has been one of the worst weeks of my life.  I know that sounds really melodramatic but it is how I feel.  I received three college rejection letters this week.  I knew that getting into all three of these schools would be impossible, but I was hopeful I would get into one of these schools.  While I have more decisions to receive, they are from schools harder to get into than the three schools I was just rejected from, so I am feeling very hopeless about the rest of the decisions I will be receiving.  Last time I talked about how excited I was about the one college I got into, but I just received the financial aid package and they offered me no aid, so if I choose to attend my favorite college out of the colleges I have been accepted to, I will be in a lot of debt.  I know I will have debt no matter which college I choose, but the amount of debt I would have to take on to go to this school is astronomical.  I feel as though all my hard work in school has not really paid off.  It is very frustrating and upsetting.

On top of these college decisions, this week has brought other problems.  My grandmother who lives with us always goes to Florida during the winter.  The other night though we received a call that she passed out and fell and was at the hospital.  I am extremely close to my grandmother and was devastated to hear that she had broken her shoulder, was in excruciating pain, and may need to have surgery.  My mom decided to fly out the next day to be with her and bring her home so she can receive further help from Boston doctors.  So in addition to worrying about my grandmother, my mom was not here to comfort me during all the crushing college rejections this week.

Overall I am just feeling blue, and I hope that everything works out; college wise and family wise.

Excitement Everywhere

I am overwhelmed by all the excitement March and April have brought and will continue to bring.  In regards to college, as I have said many times, by the end of March I will know all my options for college and will finally be making a decision in regards to where I will be spending the next four years of my life.  I have received my first regular decision back and am so excited to have been accepted.  (I was accepted very early on to a safety school with rolling admissions and do not count that as my first acceptance).  This school however is one of my top choices, and I literally started screaming when I unexpectedly received an email letting me know I was “in”.  Most schools have firm decision dates, but this school has been sending out batches of decisions each week.  I am eagerly awaiting my admittance package in the mail.  I will not make a firm decision until I hear back from every school and look over each school’s financial aid package, but even if every single school after this rejects me, I know I will be happy for the next four years.

In addition to college craziness, there is a presidential election that I do not think could be more exciting.  Not only are both the Republicans and Democrats having elections to decide their nominee (unlike 2012 where Obama was up for re-election), but the candidates themselves are extremely interesting.  Donald Trump, while in my opinion is a horrible candidate, has undoubtedly made the election much more fascinating, as he is dominating the primaries so far and crushing the establishment candidates.  On the Democratic side, what originally seemed like a non-contest with Clinton as the party’s nominee, has quickly changed with Bernie Sanders picking up steam.  While Clinton is still on track to become the nominee, she now has to work much harder to stay on track.  She is also being challenged on her connections to Wall Street and other issues by Sanders and moderators during debates, which without Sanders, would be nonexistent.  If he had not run, others may have run, but no one (except maybe Elizabeth Warren) would be challenging her on Wall Street issues as much as Sanders.

And while not important by any stretch of the imagination, I am excited for new episodes of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver as well as the return of his podcast, The Bugle, with fellow British satirist Andy Zaltzman.  What was once a weekly podcast, had, until now, become a non-existent podcast.  It has been on hiatus for over 9 months due to John Oliver’s TV show as well as the birth of his first son, and I cannot believe it is actually returning this Friday.

There is an unprecedented amount of excitement, and I am going to ride this wave for as long as it lasts.

Super Tuesday and Donald Trump

This week was Super Tuesday, though I would argue it was less of a “super” day and more of a really scary and depressing day.  I was very excited I was able to vote for the first time, but my excitement quickly turned to disgust once the results started coming in.

Donald Trump won seven states including our state of Massachusetts.  Last year everyone thought that the Republican base would come to its senses and that the polls showing Trump way in the lead would prove to be inaccurate.  But despite, controversy after controversy, Trump is now on his way to be the nominee.  Even after refusing on national television to disavow David Duke and the KKK, Trump is still going strong.  Later in the day he finally did disavow, but only after being pressured.  It seems that he is well aware that the majority of white supremacists support him and that he does not want to alienate his base.  It is seriously terrifying that someone who is openly racist may win the Republican party nomination and even the presidency.

Many think that Trump stands no chance in a general election, but I think that he does if Hillary Clinton becomes the democratic nominee (which currently seems likely).  In head to head polls, Clinton only beats Trump by one percentage point.  The reason I believe he could beat Clinton is because he is “not establishment” and because Clinton is hated by many Democrats and Republicans.  This is the year of anti-establishment candidates and Clinton is the epitome of establishment.  Cruz, the other anti-establishment candidate on the Republican side is currently doing better than Rubio and the other Republican establishment candidates.  On the left, while not currently leading the race, Bernie Sanders is keeping Hillary Clinton on her toes, by winning many states and virtually tieing her in other states (like Iowa and Massachusetts).  Clinton was always viewed as the inevitable nominee but Sanders, another anti-establishment candidate, is making her really work for the nomination.  Sanders in head to head match ups with Trump does better than Clinton, and I think this is because Sanders, like Trump, is anti-establishment.  He also has less “baggage” than Clinton.  People on the left dislike her because they feel she is not truly liberal, has flip-flopped on many issues, and represents wall-street and big money interests.  People on the right do not like her because they feel she would be like another eight years of Obama and that she is a liar.  While this is anecdotal, I have heard many people who currently support Sanders say that if the general election is Trump versus Clinton, that they will switch over and vote for Trump.

While I understand the appeal of an outsider, who speaks “the truth”, in reality Donald Trump often does not speak the truth but relies on playing on people’s fears.  He points towards minorities, blaming them for America’s problems and promises to return America to greatness.  If this sounds familiar, well it should.  Hitler used the anger Germans justifiably felt after WWI and directed it towards a particular group (Jews), promising to restore his nation to greatness.  People often wonder how someone like Hitler could come into power: “How could someone so terrible and clearly evil receive the support of so many?  I would never let myself be brainwashed!”.  I now point to Trump as to how this can happen.  Hitler originally wanted to deport the Jews, the people he blamed for Germany’s decline, but when that became impossible he resorted to concentration camps.  Trump wants to deport millions of people, but what will happen when he realizes that that is not feasible?  

Someone found a snippet from the first article mentioning Hitler from the New York Times.  The first paragraph is extremely troubling.

People believed that Hitler’s antisemitism was disingenuous and that he was just using it to gain support.  Many currently believe Trump’s anti-Muslim and anti-Mexican remarks were also not as “violent as it sounded”.  

I have mentioned on this blog before that my favorite show in the whole world is Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.  While he had been saying for months that he did not want to talk about Trump, he finally did.  He originally felt that Trump was just a fun and in the end meaningless and inconsequential distraction.  He did not want to give him the attention he craved but did not deserve.  While comedians have been making funny jabs for months, this segment (over 20 minutes long) is brilliant because it actually treats Trump like the serious candidate he is, breaking down every reason why his supporters like him and why many of those reasons and beliefs are wrong or misplaced.  He also gets to the root of the problem.  He explains that people are enchanted by the brand of Trump, and that it is important now that he is a serious candidate for president to separate the brand from the actual man himself.  This video has gone viral, but if you have not seen it yet, please watch and enjoy/cry.