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Wednesday, January 30, 2019

"Untitled, 2019 " by Angelina L



Everyone changes, it’s only natural for this to occur. From the growth of maturity to just liking something different we have seen it all. The experiences we have dealing with change can be frightening but can also lead us to a new chapter in our lives. In the span of four short high school years, each year being different, I have evolved into a newer version of myself. But I can’t say that each version is good.
The start of high school, freshman year proved to be the year that I had a bubbly personality and was also naive and lazy. Not the best version of myself I’d say. Coming out of middle school with straight A’s left me a bit arrogant. With the idea that I was “too good” for prep classes I took on the challenge of all honors classes. This is where the naivete kicks in. I thought that I could get by just paying attention in class and not practicing and doing the homework, gosh I was wrong. My laziness crept in like a ghost when it came to academics. During this time I had no care in the world.
Sophomore year was not much a change from the previous year except that I now knew that school was a priority. One year older and one year wiser this is where fifteen-year-old Angelina became a more diligent worker. Compared to the previous year it was an obvious change in work ethic and determination that led me to earn a 4.0 GPA at the end of the second semester of sophomore year.
Junior year was the year of change. I became a realist and a hypocrite. I became a hypocrite by starting to play the game called League of Legends, which I used to call “League of Losers.” Not my finest moment in life but hey it’s actually a fun game. The past two years I felt like I was still a kid but the realization of college coming soon hit me like a wrecking ball. As opposed to the earlier years, my overall outlooks on life changed drastically. Here I acted like an adult, thinking “What would mom and dad do?” instead of jumping the gun which I normally would have done. Maturity sprouted from this year. 2018 was the start of a year that left an emotional mark on my heart. February two of my closest friends were hit by a car and in June my great grandfather passed away. This caused me to close myself off from the world. I was not as opened as I used to be and I kept to myself most of the time. Faking a smile became easier and lying was just another pastime.
Oh, senior year... This I’d say has been quite an experience so far. For starters, I never in a million years would have thought that I would get into KPOP but the world has a way of surprising you. Once more I am a hypocrite because I made fun of it only a few months ago. My obsession with KPOP got to the point where I learned how to read the language... And again not my finest moment but what can you do. I still have the maturity I developed junior year and I also still keep to myself. Despite being around many friends I still don’t have the ability to talk about how I’m feeling. At this point, it’s easier to keep quiet and listen as opposed to expressing how I feel. What new changes that aren’t so new that I have developed is senioritis, which is basically my laziness coming back to bite me. I find it hard to pay attention in class these days and give up when something is at the level of “good enough.”
One thing that still hasn’t changed from freshman year is my bubbly personality. I’m pretty sure this will stick with me for the rest of my life knowing that I’m a person who enjoys being happy and making others happy. I want to say that for the most part, I think I’ve developed into a mesh of both good and bad traits. I guess this just leaves room for more growth.

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

I can really relate to your narrative Angie! I feel the same way that I have changed so much from four years ago. The ups and downs that have happened are the reasons we change. The ups gave us confidence and assured ourselves while the downs are usually followed by a good cry and fake smiles we put up for others around us, and that's totally fine because that's part of being a human being! I am glad that you are able to learn from your experiences!

-Xiaoqing Zhong p.4

Ashley Sierra-Tillery said...

Angelina, this piece was personal, comedic, and relatable. Your writing engages the reader as you remained focused on the point you were making without losing the lightness and intrigue of your retelling. This is a difficult skill to master- Great Job!
-Ashley Sierra-Tillery

Anonymous said...

What a great story, I basically related to you during your freshman year because I also was 4.0 student and got a little too cocky when I came to high school asking for honors classes. I love the use of high vocabulary only because it makes feel smart where I need improvement. - Joshua Perez

Sandra Mae Samin said...

Angelina, you did an amazing job detailing your development as both a student and a person overall over the past four years. You included a great amount of detail and imagery that made it easy to visualize the changes you went through. Much of your narrative is very relatable as well, especially in regards to feelings of laziness and fatigue with senior year. Awesome job with your piece, I truly enjoyed reading it! :)

Taylor Archuletta said...

Hi Angelina, I really loved your blog piece!! I definitely found many things in common with how you went through these past years and especially the senioritis, it's been kicking my butt. But I just wanted to say that I'm really glad you kept a bubbly personality through everything :)

Unknown said...

I liked your piece, detailed fully talking about your experiences, your personality, and your changes each year in High School sequentially. I am sure most of us can relate to you on many levels especially since High School is a time of typical changes in our lives and those around us.

Johnny De La Cruz said...

Angelina, I loved your peice and I can relate to it on so many levels. I one hundred percent agree with you about how we all change over time especially in high school. I look back to four years ago and cringe at who I used to be and who I associated myself with. Thank you for reminding us to look back and see how far we have come.

Anonymous said...

This was such a great piece Angelina, and it's true I never thought that I would experience so much change in a span of four years. It's so crazy that I had so much change yet I feel like I truly know the person that I want to be. I'm so glad that these four years changed me for the better even when some of those changes weren't the happiest moments of my life. This was such a great story that I related to so much great job!
- Ivan Mejia (Per.5)

Unknown said...

Angelina, you did an amazing job in your piece about your personal growth and development over the course of your high school career. I liked how you mentioned that despite the fact that you had initially looked down on things like LoL and KPOP, but how over time you grew to enjoy those things. Overall, this was very interesting to read and very insightful for learning about you as a person.

-Lance Anthony Aquino

Kayla Evans said...

Great job at writing this! I love how relatable it is because I too was a 4.0 GPA student and decided to take all honor classes freshman year. It’s also very descriptive and kept me interested the whole time because it was so relatable. I enjoyed how you described your experiences and personality and how you changed over the years. Also, I can really relate to the part about senioritis and how it’s hard to pay attention in class and complete work to your best ability, as I’m sure most seniors relate to this part.

Daniel Rodriguez said...

Thank you for sharing your story. I found it so interesting how you talked about your changes during the transition of each school year. I can understand and relate to when you say laziness is like a ghost. It can be difficult at times to keep working hard.

Jacob Lopez said...

After I read this I felt that this realization of development that you found when you looked back was great. I agree that time allows most to develop either into better or worse people. It’s great that even though you made fun of something beforehand you gave new things a try like KPOP. I can relate to your feeling of senioritis but it’s great that you realize you know that there’s still time to improve.

Mackenzie Tipple said...

It takes a lot to self reflect and share it with the rest of us, I'm proud of you. I can surely relate to overestimating the difficulty of multiple honors classes, giving up and of course senioritis! It's a real struggle haha. Your piece ended with resolution, which I always appreciate. You accepting that you have room for growth is a great start. Good job.
-Mackenzie Tipple

Valarie Ly said...

I loved your blog Angie! I liked how you developed the story with inspiration from your real life. It showed a lot of growth from people you knew and the way you dealt with the negativity in your life. I liked how the story was relatable in the sense that it stayed in the perspective of a high schooler while also being fiction.

Simran said...

I loved your blod Angelina! I relate to the part where you described the ways you have changed in the seemingly short span of four years! Your growth is amazing and you will only grow and flourish more. :) Thanks for sharing this!

Aaron Salazar said...

I absolutely guarantee that several parts of your entry resonated with many people. You brought to light the cold hard truth that many people can agree with. Yet you showed that there is hope for many. That there is always room to improve and that people must strive to better themselves. Your piece was frank yet inspirational and entertaining.

Unknown said...

Wow Angelina I loved your blog it was amazing! You are such a talented writer and I loved being able to see snippets of your four years in highschool. - Sofia Canseco

Unknown said...

We became friends around last year and I have seen you change so much in such a short period of time, your blog just reminds me of how different things were back last year and kinda reminds me of my own changes throughout the year. I'm so sorry I got you into League of Legends but I swear it's healthy for you, let's play. You did amazing on your blog Angie.

Unknown said...

Angelina, I like how you described your high school life with many up's and down's such as how you went from being naive and lazy, to a very diligent worker. I know many people can relate to this and its all part of life; there's always room left for growth.
-Mayur Chhitu

Rauhl Morrisey said...

Angelina, I really enjoyed your story and have to agree that a lot of things change about us throughout high school. I like how you use to call people who played League of Legends "League of Losers" and I still don't know why I find that so funny(lol). Overall, your story is as awesome as your personality! Great Job!

Tanner Antonucci said...

Hey Angelina! I loved the way you were able to tell us about your personal encounters all throughout highschool. Change is always different for everyone and being able to see it through someone else’s eyes was great! I really relate to you when you said even though you are around many friends you couldn’t bring the words out of your mouth to tell them how you feel. Opening up is not easy but overtime it gets better and you showed that in your writing. Great job!
~ Tanner Antonucci

Tanner Antonucci said...

Hey Angelina! I loved the way you were able to tell us about your personal encounters all throughout highschool. Change is always different for everyone and being able to see it through someone else’s eyes was great! I really relate to you when you said even though you are around many friends you couldn’t bring the words out of your mouth to tell them how you feel. Opening up is not easy but overtime it gets better and you showed that in your writing. Great job!
~ Tanner Antonucci