General update and VIT (Very Important Thoughts)

Told you I would put up another post soon.

Even though it took... more than 2 days?  Sorry about that.  It's just that there's SO MUCH going on at this school pretty much 24/7.  Between classes and seminars, athletic events, homework, SuperStudy, hall activities, and all the other unexpected bits of a day, there's also stuff like: clean your room, wash your dishes, make sure you're not attracting fruit flies to your pigsty - I mean, uh, dorm...  (I hate to say, room upkeep sometimes goes neglected; I've caused my parents a lot of grief because sometimes I wash my sheets and then go, "heck, who needs sheets?" and sleep on the mattress.  Oh well.)

That's not even counting just, you know, hanging out with friends and relaxing.  Or sleeping.  Sleep is a valuable commodity at this place, and I've transitioned (mostly) from using my free periods for homework to using them for quick, 50-minute naps.  Trying to do everything listed above in one day, and do it well, often means that I'm up till 12 or 1 a.m., or sometimes later (if I have a paper due or a test the next day).  Of course, most mornings I'm not getting up until 7:30, but still - that's not 8-10 hours of sleep.  No way.  So I try to make up for it during any free time I have during the school day.

Besides, napping doesn't just help me stay awake through the rest of my (looooong) day, it helps me de-stress a little bit.  I love NCSSM, don't get me wrong; I wouldn't trade my slot here for - um, a lot of things, like... well... um.  *This is what happens when Emmalee tries to think at 3:15 a.m.  At least it's a weekend.*  My point is, though, that I love the school, but my stress levels have gone up.  A lot.  The classes are harder, the tests are more difficult and comprehensive, the homework takes at least two hours most nights... and I still have to remember to, you know, eat, and not look like walking death in the mornings, and actually be a social, friendly human being.  You can see how that would lead to stress.  But I still manage to have fun.  (Rollerblading through the 2nd Reynolds breezeway, anyone?)  And I feel like I've had to become more independent and responsible because of the various stressors in my life, which can't be all that bad, right?

Right.

That sort of leads me into the second issue that I want to discuss right now.  It's not funny inside jokes or overheard conversations that make you double-take; it's not a lament on the cafeteria food or a complete listing of every possible location on campus with adequate Wi-Fi.  In fact, it's something I think is kind of serious, and very important, hence the designation of VIT (Very Important Thoughts).

See, today was Family Day here at NCSSM, which basically means that parents (and siblings, if they could be convinced to get out of bed before 8:00 a.m.) could come visit each of their student's classes, learn about the curriculum, and ask questions of the teachers.  I enjoyed Family Day, for the most part, but there was one thing in particular that really got under my skin - the attitudes and behaviors of some of the parents of students in my classes.  (This eventually got me to thinking about a different situation, but that's the paragraph after this next one.)

I'm all for parents that are interested in their kids' education.  However, when you start asking rapid-fire questions of your kids' teachers, on every subject from "will they be fluent after this language course?" to "and how will this help with college admissions?  how does it look on a transcript?" to "where did you do your dissertation?  what was it on?" to "I'm not sure I understand why they need to learn that in this course", it just seems like a flat-out interrogation, which the teachers here don't deserve at all.  Every teacher I've come across at this school is brilliant, knowledgeable in and enthusiastic about their subject, and more than competent for the courses they teach.  When parents demand to know this-and-this reasoning or that-and-that grading scale in an almost accusatory fashion, they sound like they don't trust their children's teachers to give them a quality education.  Not only that, but they almost seem more determined for their kid to do well (and get all A's even if it kills them, GOSH DARN IT) than the kids themselves.  *Note: I'm not saying the kids aren't motivated, but some of the parents are scary intense.*  Please, guys, tone it down a notch!  It's your student that's in high school, not you.

That, in turn, leads to another related problem.  I have multiple friends and acquaintances who are amazing, likable, smart people - and whose parents are "incredibly disappointed" in them because they don't have all A's.  And I have to say, this makes me beyond angry.  Because, quite frankly, this school is as challenging as many colleges.  Not only that, but NCSSM students are incredibly well-rounded, not just in academics, but in athletics, arts, music, clubs, community service... you name it (not to mention that the vast majority have plenty of healthy relationships with their fellow students, and actually manage to dig themselves out of the schoolwork quagmire long enough to have some fun).  And, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the vast majority of NCSSM parents haven't walked in their kid's school shoes for a week, let alone a day, or even more than an hour or so.  So, parents, I say to you: If the most important thing, in your mind, is that your kid make straight A's at NCSSM, not only will you probably remain disappointed, but you'll be missing out on all the other incredible things your student is involved in, and all the accomplishments they've been working so hard for.  Today, for example, I talked to a senior who reminisced fondly about the day she got a B on an American Studies test last year.  She had been getting C's all trimester and it was a huge accomplishment for her.  She wasn't crushed because she didn't get an A - she was excited because she improved.  That's important to keep in mind.  Heck, my parents both went here, and they can tell you that, in many classes, a passing grade on a paper or assessment is something worth celebrating.  Not only that, but maybe your kid scored the winning goal in an IM soccer game the other night, or helped out at a local elementary school during one of their free periods today, or made friends with that one lonely kid who always sits alone at lunch, or understood a tough math concept they couldn't grasp before.  Grades reflect in an extremely limited way what your student is accomplishing here, and they shouldn't be the standard by which you judge your child.  All of us want to be recognized for all the hard work we do each and every day (which is a lot).  Please don't be so quick to condemn and lecture because your kid doesn't have a perfect GPA.  I guarantee, if you look for (and rejoice in) the non-academic milestones and achievements, you'll have a much better picture of your student, and a much better relationship with them to boot.

</soapbox>

Until next time :)

I'm not dead, haven't dropped off the face of the earth, and haven't been consumed by some ungodly disease.  

Unless, that is, you count "not-enough-hours-in-the-day-itis" as a disease.  Which would be understandable.

Anyway, this is a super-short update, which I plan to follow with a lengthier one later... you know, when I don't have to be at Super Study in 10 minutes.  But I'm still alive and haven't forgotten about my blog, and I figured you guys (someone?  anyone?) would appreciate a reminder of that fact.  

Yeah?  Yeah.  Now, go eat some ice cream or something.

Free periods FTW.

Ah, free periods.  That miraculous part of the day where you just sigh with happiness because you have time to do ANYTHING.

Which, of course, mostly means do homework, wash dishes, take out trash, vacuum your floor, etc.

But free periods are still pretty amazing.  Getting a major chunk of my homework knocked out before the afternoon/evening rolls around is awesome, because it means I get to have some semblance of a social life.  Possibly.  Maybe?  ... yeah.  I still don't know that many people.  I gotta work on that.  But I'm not friendless by any means.  Besides Ena, my roomie, and a lot of the people on my hall, I've gotten to know some of my classmates at least moderately well.  So I'm getting there.

Which reminds me: school officially started on Tuesday.  And I, being the amazing person that I am, accidentally looked at my Monday schedule instead of my Tuesday one.  Sweet!  I don't have any classes till 8:55.  

So, in a leisurely fashion, I got dressed and headed down to the PFM (read: cafeteria) to have myself a nice bowl of Corn Pops and watch people.  Funny, I thought.  There are a lot less people here than I thought there would be.  I guess they're all in 8:00 class... like I have tomorrow... wait.

A horrible thought struck me.  Oh god.  It's not Monday.

I looked at my watch: it was 8:15.  I was 15 minutes late for American Studies.  Oh god.  Oh god, oh god, oh GOD.  Abandoning my barely-touched bowl of cereal, I sprinted out of the PFM and back to the elevator to go upstairs and get my bookbag, cursing under my breath and wondering why on earth the elevator had to stop at every floor before coming to mine.

As I gathered my stuff and sprinted down the stairs (the elevator just wasn't worth it for only 5 floors... wait, what?), I felt dread creeping into the pit of my stomach.  In trepidation, I walked slowly down the hallway, my haste pushed aside by the realization that I would be walking into a classroom filled with strangers and having to explain to an as-yet-unknown teacher why I was 20 minutes late.

Classroom 005... 004... 003.  Well, I thought as I stood in front of the door, here goes nothing.  Taking a deep breath, I pushed the door open...

... to find the friendly face of none other than one of my mom's favorite teachers, Dr. Miller, smiling back at me.  I felt a surge of relief.  He's met me before, so maybe he'll be sympathetic...


"I'm so sorry," I said in a rush.  "I looked at the wrong day of my schedule and-"

"Don't worry about it," Dr. Miller said kindly.  "Happens to a lot of people on their first day.  We have a seat for you over there.  It's alphabetical," he added wryly, "so don't get the idea that sitting in the back is a punishment."

I looked around carefully.  The other students and Dr. Miller's teaching partner, Dr. Fenn, looked at me with understanding, not with annoyance or hostility, and I began to relax.

The rest of the class was uneventful.  In fact, pretty much the only thing that happened was that we got our syllabi and went over what would be happening throughout the year.  All my classes on Tuesday were some sort of variation on that basic theme.  Of course, they were different - in Chorale, I learned that we would be singing with Eric Whitacre in the Duke Chapel in October.  (Needless to say, my mind was blown.  If you don't know who Eric Whitacre is, look him up!)  In AP Chemistry, we had to determine which of two substances was sodium chloride and which was p-dichloryl benzene by their properties, such as solubility, pretty much as soon as we walked into the classroom.  (In case you were wondering, p-dichloryl benzene is really similar to the stuff that goes in toilet bowl air fresheners, and it smells exactly the same.  Bleeeeagh.)  And in AP Calculus BC (with topics!  oh joy), we learned about derivatives and how to use them to find instantaneous speed at any given point on a curve.  But basically all we did in each class was get an intro to the subject material we'd probably be covering during the year.

And, of course, I had free periods.  Three of them, as a matter of fact.  In fact, I have three free periods every day except Monday and Wednesday (and sort of Tuesday), when I only have two because of work service.  So I guess you could say I have 3 free periods twice a week, and two the rest of the week.  Why didn't I just say that to begin with?  The world may never know.

Speaking of work service: I work in the mailroom 3 hours a week, on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays.  I didn't know what to expect, but when I walked into the mailroom for the first time yesterday, I was pleasantly surprised.  My supervisor (whose name I can't remember at the moment) seemed incredibly friendly and understood that a lot of what she was showing us was overwhelming.  She promised us we'd have it down within two weeks, but I'm not so sure.  Not only do we have to sort incoming packages and mail, we also have to deliver said mail to its proper location, and give packages to students and teachers who come to pick them up.  Of course, we need to get interdepartmental transfer mail as well, and take care of outgoing mail and packages, and deliver incoming office supplies to the teachers who need them, and... well, you get the idea.  It's a lot to remember.  But I get the feeling it's going to be fun, and who knows?  Maybe by the end of the trimester I'll actually know my way around campus.

I think the next few weeks are going to be challenging, but also awesome.  I'm signed up for intramural soccer, I plan to head over to Ninth Street as often as I can, and my dad's going to bring me my rollerblades today so I have a fun way to get around/get exercise.  My classes seem like they're going to be much more interactive and hands-on than anything I've taken before.  (Of course, they also seem like they're going to be seriously difficult.)  I'm starting to get used to dorm life and *gasp* actual responsibility, like doing homework before the last minute, and making sure my room doesn't turn into a pigsty.  And I'm having a lot of fun.

In other words, things are looking good.

This is probably the only time I'll ever update twice in one day.

Yeah, that was a really long title.

Anyway, I had said earlier that I'd try to sum up the past two days at some point.  However, I'd like to extend that to the past four days, because that's when a lot of the important stuff happened.  So.... yeah.

*clears throat awkwardly* Moving on.  So.  Let's start with Thursday.  I was feeling pretty down because, as you may or may not know, I didn't get accepted straight into NCSSM - I was waitlisted.  And though my spirits had been pretty high at the beginning of the summer, by Thursday I was starting to be pretty bummed.  It had finally sunk in that move-in was in two days, and despite the fact that I jumped every time the phone rang, it was never NCSSM on the other end.  I had begun to realize that even though my chances of getting in off the waitlist were pretty good, my chances of actually getting the phone call before move-in were, well, slim.  Besides,  I was sick of trying to live two lives at once - one for Leesville, my regular school (which is amazing, by the way), and one for NCSSM.  I had spent my summer doing work for both schools and it was getting to me.  Thursday was pretty much rock bottom.  Despite the fact that it was my dad's birthday (which meant I got to bake a cake - yay!), I spent most of the day just moping.

I was upstairs folding laundry when the phone rang.  I kind of dismissed it automatically because I knew it couldn't be NCSSM.  However, I became interested when my dad picked it up:

"Hello?  ... yes, this is him.  *pause*  Well, I'd be fine with that, but you might want to ask her..."

By this time I was at the top of the stairs, hardly daring to hope, but hoping anyway.  My heart kind of got stuck in my throat when I ran down the stairs and saw my dad trying (and failing) to contain this absolutely ginormous grin.

"Emmalee," he said, "it's NCSSM and I think they've got something to ask you."

You can guess, I'm sure, what the phone call was.  I accepted (of course!), freaked out for about 10 minutes, posted some stuff on Facebook, texted some people, called my mom and my brother, la la la.  And then it kind of hit me what I was actually doing.  I had just agreed to leave home two years early.  And I would be moving into my new home in two days.  A vague feeling of terror crept over me.  Am I making the right decision?


However, Thursday night and Friday were so hectic that I really didn't have much time to think or be terrified.  The next 36 hours were a whirlwind of packing, last-minute shopping, and standing in the middle of my closet wondering which 'Canes posters to bring; I also attended an amazing party thrown by some of my friends.  There was cake and fireworks and PIZZA!  :D  It was wonderful.  It was also really nice to see all (or at least most) of my friends again one last time before I left, because I realized I probably wouldn't be seeing much of them from there on out.  I guess you could say it was bittersweet.

I went to bed Friday night feeling apprehensive, but also excited.  I was also saddened to realize that it would be the last night for a long time that I spent in my own bed, with my cat trying to knead my face at 4 a.m.  (Yeah.  She does that.)  Surprisingly, I slept pretty well, and woke up the next morning to blueberry pancakes and sausage.  Last-minute packing then ensued, and we left for NCSSM at about 9 a.m.

When we got there at 9:30, the rain was ridiculous, but it started clearing up by the time we actually unloaded.  Mom had to go park the car, and Dad decided to be altruistic and actually help other people get their stuff out of their cars, so I just stood there for a while.  Eventually, though, we hiked up 4 flights of stairs to 4th Bryan and began the process of moving in.  Furniture was shifted, things were packed, smelly closets were wiped down with Clorox wipes.  Good times.  I also got to meet my roommate, Ena, and her family.  My first impressions were positive, so I was relieved; I had been worried that I would somehow end up having a roommate I couldn't stand.  Later, deciding to avoid the cafeteria food for as long as we could, my parents and I trekked down Ninth Street to Chubby's Tacos.  (Om nom nom.)  There were some information sessions when we got back, and then we said our goodbyes.

I was sad to see my mom and dad leave.  In fact, I had to hold back a few tears.  But as I walked back into Bryan, I vowed to jump wholeheartedly into this next phase of my life, as unknown (and kind of frightening) as it seemed to be at the beginning.

The rest of the day was pretty crazy.  I sorted out my room (kind of), met some awesome people, and started learning my way around campus.  There was a picnic, an ice cream social, and a dance at which very few people actually knew how to dance.  But there was a flying afro, crowd surfing, and some people that actually could dance like nobody's business, so it made it worthwhile.  Hyped up on sugar and adrenaline, I watched some Star Trek after I finally got back to my dorm and ready for bed, and ended up not getting to sleep until about 1 a.m.

Woke up at 7:30 this morning feeling absolutely exhausted.  But I got dressed and staggered down to breakfast, only to find that there were no forks or spoons.  I had to eat my scrambled eggs and Rice Krispies with a knife.  (Try it sometime if you want to become extremely frustrated in less than 20 seconds.)

For the rest of the morning (and part of the afternoon), we heard lectures about getting adjusted, online safety (bizarre costumes!!!  BIZARRE COSTUMES!!!), and other lovely topics.  Then we did a massive scavenger hunt with our sibling halls.  4th Bryan's brother hall ended up being 1st Hunt, and they seemed pretty chill.  In fact, our combined awesomeness earned us first place.  (S'more party as a prize!  woot woot)

Then we had free time and ate dinner and did icebreaking activities with our sibling halls, and then more free time and a lecture about Housekeeping.  We had Happy Half, but it got cut to Happy Five Minutes because of lightning.  (Just so you know, Happy Half is a half hour of pure socialization outside by the big bench in front of Hill, one of the dorms.)

So here I am, writing this blog (which is probably nowhere near my normal standards of writing owing to exhaustion), trying not to think about how bloodshot my eyes are going to be when I go to take my contacts out... I should get to bed earlier.  Or sleep later.  Or not spend forty minutes trying to write a blog... hmmmm.  Yeah.

Intro!

Before I left for NCSSM, I was asked by several people to "keep them posted" on my life at "Smath" (as the school is affectionately known by its students).  I've been thinking about the best way to do that because Facebook feels too public, email too difficult (I don't know everyone's email addresses by heart), and other methods of communication too unwieldy to update and send.  Therefore, I give you: *cue drumroll* my new blog!  :D

Welcome to Blogging NCSSM!  My name's Emmalee (if you didn't already know).  If you're someone I know, yay; you can read these posts (whenever I post them) to get a basic idea of what my life is like these days since I won't be seeing most of you nearly as often as I have been in the past.  If you're a random stranger or you've just been living under a rock for the past year, I'm writing this blog to (attempt to) chronicle my experiences as a student (currently a junior) at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, a two-year residential secondary school in Durham, North Carolina.

I don't guarantee that these experiences will always be worth writing about, that I'll even write about them often, or that my posts will always be hilarious or make perfect sense.  My goal here is just to provide a basic (and probably not regularly scheduled) description of/update on this crazy thing I'm doing.

That's it for now!  Later today/tonight, I'm going to try to sum up the past two days in a way that isn't tedious/overly lengthy, and that's actually understandable.  (Yeah, right.)