As I was mindlessly browsing Facebook for the
zillionth time and creepily Facebook stalking people—*cough* I mean scrolling
through people’s profiles—*cough*, I came across “year in review” where you can
review your 20 biggest moments of the past year. Since 12:00 a.m. on January 1st
marked the time where we can finally swap our calendars for new ones, I thought
it appropriate to do a flashback and review some of my most monumental events
that have occurred throughout the year of 2013.
Here are my biggest moments of 2013 in list form (I’m
a bit obsessed with neatly organized lists):
January:
January was just an all-around good month. I got my driver’s permit—late, I know—and hit
the roads for my very first time (and I didn’t cause any serious accidents!). I also started pointe which, for those of you
who don’t know, is when ballerinas go up on their toes in special, padded
shoes. Although watching ballerinas en
pointe is stunning, beautiful, and graceful, I discovered that this was not for
me. My two big toenails turned black and
blue after I started pointe and it became really painful to go up in my
shoes. After a couple months, my
toenails finally fell off (gross, I know); however, they have since then fully
recovered and now I can look down at my feet and not be disgusted by my uneven
and calloused nail beds.
February:
Florida!
February was a wonderful month. I
was invited by my friend to go on a vacation with her and her family to
Florida. I spent over a week basking in
warm sunshine on Florida beaches, drinking butter beer at Hogwarts in Universal’s
Harry Potter World, shopping in the
beautiful city of St. Augustine, touring one of Thomas Edison and Henry Fords’
many houses, eating delicious ocean cuisine, and just simply enjoying not being
in freezing cold, snow-laden Western New York.
Highlight of the trip: we spent a night outside of
St. Augustine at a slightly-shady hotel, and there was a shooting during the
night (calm your horsies, no one died).
Police came knocking on our hotel room door the next morning asking if we had
heard anything, and we found out that there was this armed car hijacker (If I
am remembering correctly) and that a cop had luckily shot him first in either the
arm or leg before the criminal could hurt anyone.
A very thrilling experience that made for some good,
if not slightly-exaggerated stories to tell when I got home.
March: March was an
emotionally mixed up month. This was the
month where I received a letter from SUNY Geneseo, the college I planned on
attending, that said that I had been accepted for the spring semester but not
for the fall semester, and I was put on a waitlist. The big reason why I was waitlisted was
because of my not-so-great SAT scores.
Just to rant a little bit…I believe SAT scores,
although a somewhat accurate standard to see how most students will later perform in college, are not accurate for all people. According to my SAT scores, I would be doing
rather poorly in college with C’s and probably some D’s. However, in actuality, I made it on the
Dean’s List with two A’s and two A-‘s.
I am not good
at taking standardized tests. My hands
sweat and my heart begins to race just thinking about them—I mean, it is
basically crammed down your throat since ninth grade that SATs are these
all-powerful, 5-hour long examinations that ultimately decide whether you get
to go to a prestigious university, or if you have to settle for a college with
a lower reputation.
That is
scary.
Especially since many colleges and universities like
SUNY Geneseo put a huge emphasis on SAT scores and do not put as much of an
emphasis on the other four years you have been in high school. I mean, really? How is that fair? I have a good work ethic and involve myself
in extracurricular activities, and I get waitlisted because I do poorly on a
freaking five-hour test? Uhggg…our
education system is so frustrating sometimes!
Ok, my rant is over.
On a more positive note, my eighteenth birthday was
this month!
One last thing that happened this month was that I
got to travel to Washington, D.C. for my very first time on a school
fieldtrip. Although the cherry-blossomed
city was absolutely beautiful and all the monuments, museums, and Smithsonians were
super interesting—I discovered that I have developed a loathing for the Capital
Building.
Why?
BECAUSE THEY MADE ME THROW AWAY MY UNOPENED PACKAGES
OF GRANOLA BARS AND MY SIX PACK OF JUICE BOXES!!!
…I won’t rant anymore about this because, if I do, I
am afraid I might chuck my laptop across the room and turn into a screaming
banshee….
April:
I headed to Washington D.C. again this month on my
senior trip! This was a total
blast. Not only did I get to go tour
D.C. with its multitude of museums and monuments, take a cruise on Baltimore
harbor, and hang out at the Great Wolf Lodge, but I got to do this with all my
friends. Fun times, fun times.
May:
April showers bring…prom corsages! (Isn’t that clever? I thought of that all by myself!)
My second and final senior prom was a lot of fun,
and I rocked a blue Cinderella-esque ball gown (that I got for free btw…not to
brag or anything). However, there were
no Prince Charmings or glass slippers for me, but I still had a blast with all my
girls.
May was also the month I found out I got accepted to
SUNY Geneseo for the fall semester!
The end of May was when I had my final spring dance
showcase. I got my first
lyrical/contemporary solo that I choreographed myself (I danced to “Shake It
Out” by Florence and the Machine). That
was an exciting/scary/thrilling/I’m-surprised-I-didn’t-fall-of-the-stage-and-break-my-face
moment.
June:
A very bitter-sweet month. This was the month when I graduated high
school. Although I am glad I don’t have
to eat suspicious cafeteria food anymore, I don’t ever have to take a class
with Hitler *cough* I mean one of my old, evil teachers who-shall-not-be-named *cough* again, and I don’t
have to ride an ugly, yellow school bus with screaming, satanic children, I do
miss many things about high school.
Going to Fillmore in tenth grade was one of the best
decisions (if not the best) of my life.
If it wasn’t for Fillmore, I would not have been able to go on all the
wonderful trips I have went on, done all the extracurricular activities I did,
gotten the scholarships I have received, be going to SUNY Geneseo (and I wonder
if I would be attending college at all), and, most importantly, I would not
have met all the amazing people I have.
The teachers and faculty at Fillmore are so compassionate, caring,
intelligent, and just all around wonderful human beings. I also am lucky to have been surrounded by a
great group of classmates.
In conclusion: Fillmore School is where I made some
of my best memories; rock on Eagles!
July: So, instead of
taking an epic road trip or doing other cool things the summer before college
started, I took a summer college General Psychology class with one of my best
friends. As lame as taking college classes
during the summer sounds, I actually really enjoyed it. Our professor was really laidback and
awesome, and I just personally find the subject of the human psyche highly
fascinating.
July is also the month when I decided to stop eating
meat and become an herbivore. I’m really
glad I made this decision, and I am thus far sticking with it. Surprisingly, being a vegetarian is a lot easier
than I would have imagined.
August: College
starts! AHHH! This is when I officially became a
responsible, mature, and respectable adult.
Haha.
Yeah, no…
But it doesn’t mean I turned into a crazy,
up-all-night, party-hardy-er either.
In actuality, I spent many of my Friday nights at home
snuggled in bed with my cat while watching Netflix with a cup of green tea and
a jar full of Nutella.
Don’t judge.
September: This month was basically about getting used
to college life and all the changes that come with it. I got heavily addicted to caffeine this
month. I have always been a tea drinker,
but college life often requires a heavier dosage of that addicting little
substance than tea can offer, and, with a Starbucks on campus, it’s hard not to
get a cup of Joe at least once a day…or twice…or thrice.
Thrice is such a fun word.
Another thing that happened was that I got my hair
cut this month and swapped my side-swept bangs for some fringe. I like them, and I have gotten compliments on
my cut, but I’m still suspicious that I might look a bit like a toothbrush…hmmm….
October:
Midterms.
Eww.
In all seriousness, I don’t actually remember much
of what happened this month. All that I
can think of is that I had my first experience with college examinations this
month and the rest is a total blur.
November: I went to my first club this month.
I’m so BA, I know.
Although I did expect the club to be a bit shady (I
mean, it is a club/bar after all), it was a little more scandalous than I
thought it would be. All that I can
think of to best describe the club’s atmosphere is the pool/weird-looking-floaty/orgy
scene from the film Titus which is based
off of a tragedy by Shakespeare called Titus Andronicus.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about…don’t
worry, you really don’t want to.
Perhaps I’m just really oblivious/naïve/innocent,
but I’m really hoping that the next time I decide to go out dancing, I will
find clubs that will be a little more classy (if it is even possible for a club
to be deemed “classy”).
Thanksgiving was this month! Which, kind of sucked in a lot of ways since
almost every Thanksgiving dish consists of some type of animal flesh—stuffing,
gravy, the freaking turkey—however, I surprisingly didn’t starve and managed to
actually eat a very delicious, vegetarian-friendly Thanksgiving meal.
December: I’m done!
I seriously don’t know how I managed to survive my
first semester of college with as little mishaps as I did.
But I did it!
And I finished off the semester with a 3.85
GPA. Not too shabby.
And Christmas was this month!
Which…do I even have to say any more?
Okay, that basically sums up 2013 for me.
*Please excuse my long rant for the month of March.
