Keep Going, Keep Growing!

Happy Saturday! Here are some of the thoughts and writing I have gathered this week.

Monday, May 4:

I have made the choice to deeply enjoy quarantine. I can relax, I can take time for myself, and it has been extremely nice. You might be wondering, "how long can someone relax for?" but relaxing doesn't mean laying on the couch and doing the same thing each day. Instead, I think it is best to take care of yourself and grow! Growing and improving is a part of life, whether you are at home or not. I started the quarantine by growing with my blog, then I began to grow my strength by working out every day, now I am growing my creativity by bullet journaling and writing songs. Each one of us has a journey, no matter how monotonous it may seem. I am such a different person than I was before quarantine. I have worked on improving myself, which has changed forms, but I have continued to work at growing.

Tuesday, May 5:

“Catch on fire if you must, sometimes everything needs to burn to the ground so that we may grow.” A. J. Lawless

This quote is important and ironically makes me think about the technique of slash-and-burn agriculture which I studied in Human Geography last semester. When farmers burn their fields at the end of a growing season, the fields grow back stronger, with the nutrients to flourish. The same goes for people. Sometimes, actually most of the time, hard times are okay and they only make us stronger and better.

Wednesday, May 6:

May is my favorite month. It continues to amaze me and if I had to pick one month to last all year it would be May... with June coming in second.

1. Everything is so ALIVE! The grass is at its brightest and plants so vibrant in the month of May.

2. You can finally take off your jacket which is incredibly exciting since it has been on since October.

3. There are so many new beginning in May, not just with nature but also people. Families are planning their summers and people are getting ready for gatherings and fun.

4. This year in Colorado, almost every day of May has been sunny. Each morning I am greeted by the bright sun and a cloudless sky and this has gone on for more than a week.

6. There aren't too many holidays in May except for Mother's Day which makes it pretty easy and consistent for getting into a routine.

Thursday, May 7: It has been a pretty stressful week because of finals. Since it doesn't seem right to send a student a test (worth 20% of their grade) to do at home, we have a few large projects. This is a struggle for me because in world history, we are making a timeline with 35 ancient civilizations on a poster. I have started over 3 times so far, because of small mistakes that bothered me. When it comes to art, I am definitely a perfectionist and if one line isn't straight, I have to start over.

In some classes, we just have regular assignments that are worth a lot of points and very weighted, which I also do not enjoy. It is the same warm-up prompt or activity but if you miss one point, your entire grade is affected.

In math we have an optional final exam. Most students are taking the AP Calculus exam on Tuesday, including me, but our teacher has added a twist. For students that feel like an extra exam would help their grade, they can take it to try to score some extra points. It is kind of a lose-lose situation. This is a lot of pressure because you have to make the right decision! On the other hand, the AP exam is now online and very strict. Administered by College Board, you have to download a lock-down browser that acts like a virus and blocks your computer from going to any window except for the test. It is very intense, but I can't wait for the end of next week, when I will be done! :) 😅

I hope everyone is doing well. Happy Mother's Day to all of the moms and grandmas! :)