Senior Year Day 3 – Everything Happens For A Reason

We started the day off with a bang as we had our first general assembly of the year where we met our new school director, Father Ari Dy. His message to us was quite simple. He wants to help improve our Xavier experience by improving the way we learn and helping us appreciate our Chinese culture even more.

The talk that stood out though was the talk of our school principal about working hard this school year. She emphasized the importance of hard work and the fact that there is no substitute for it. If one wants to excel and get high grades, one must work hard. Actually, in everything we do, we need to work hard in order to succeed. Aside from that, she also told us to “just do it” when it comes to our homework and other non-graded things. I actually believe in this for these non-graded things are there for a reason. They are there to help us succeed in the long run.

Following the general assembly, we finally got to meet our teachers. I’m really happy that all of our teachers so far seem really good at teaching and are able to make the class very unique and interesting. As our teachers showed us the course outline for the year, I couldn’t help but feel excited for most of the topics were really interesting topics that have direct applications to real life.

I especially enjoyed our last subject, economics. Economics is something I’m really interested in and something I want to learn more about. Right now, to me, economics explains why certain things happen in our world. Who wouldn’t want to know why some countries are richer than the other? This subject seems to be really exciting and our teacher is also very vibrant and passionate about education.

It was a really hectic day though for after the bell rang, I headed to debate. Joining the debate team is probably one of the best things that could happen to me. In the 3 sessions I’ve attended, I’ve already learned so much about the world. To be honest, I actually learn so much more from Debate than from my actual subjects in school. I’m really glad that I decided to join Debate and hopefully, I can continue to improve as a speaker and more importantly as a person.

What happened next though was something that I didn’t expect. Today was the day that the SAT results would be released and as I prepared to call my driver when debate ended, I got a text from my dad of my score. I was a bit disappointed as I saw my score. To be honest, my score isn’t that bad but I was simply expecting to get higher.

The problem with my score is that it’s in the safe range and is good enough for certain schools but if I would like to pursue my dream schools, I’d probably have to retake. Right now, I feel a bit down because I got really low in the Critical Reading section. However, it’s just a test. I still have the opportunity to take it a second time but I can also opt not to. My score is good enough to pass in a lot of top schools but I guess it’s not enough for Ivy league level schools like Harvard, Yale and Stanford.

Right now, I’m leaning towards retaking the test for I know that I could still do better. The fact that the gap of my scores are quite far means that there is a lot of room for improvement especially in the Critical Reading section. Everything happens for a reason and maybe this was a wake up call for me to study even harder.

To end, I’d like to share the quote of the day from my Physics teacher about discipline, “Discipline is doing what you’re suppose to do and not doing what you’re not suppose to do whether you like it or not.”

This year will definitely be a jam packed year and how much discipline I can muster will definitely play an integral role on how far I can go!

-DOitChoco

The Road to June 1 – An Uphill Climb To That 2400 Peak!

It’s been a few days since I’ve last posted here because of the fact that I’ve been really immersing my self in review material and trying to do my best as I prepare for the SAT the I will be taking in June 1.

The last few days, I’ve been really spending time reviewing for arguably the biggest test in my life, the SAT. It’s quite absurd how one test can be so abstruse, challenging and at the same time be so universal. The Scholastic Aptitude Test is suppose to be able to measure our reasoning and analytic skills in the three core subjects of Critical Reading, Math and Writing.

It’s mind blowing how fast time flies! It seemed just like yesterday when I was telling my dad,”Relax, I still have X number of months to review before the test,” but in a blink of an eye, I have 10 days left to buckle up, put on my nerd glasses and give it everything I’ve got. In all honesty though, I didn’t expect it to come this soon; actually, I’m quite astonished that SUMMER is about to end. This summer has honestly been just one roller coaster ride full of extreme highs and lows. I’ll save my senti feelings and reflection about what a summer it has been for another time for this post is all about conquering that Blue book and the test it represents!!

Preparing for the SAT has been a really tedious and taxing process. I really only started seriously reviewing for it during April and that was only on weekends because I had Chem Camp and Basketball Training everyday. It’s also actually the first time in my life that I’ve gone to a tutor to help me out in preparing for the English part of the test. This was only on weekends though and I was still having a hard time mustering up enough discipline to do serious review on weekdays because of the tiring everyday basketball practices.

But you know how the story goes, I ended up tearing my ACL two weeks ago and these last two weeks, I’ve been really ambivalent but at the same time, I’ve decided to really give it my best and review and prepare myself for June 1 as much as I can. During the last week, I’ve been really hitting the books hard and trying grasp all the concepts and lessons that I’ll be needing to get my desired score in the test.

The road has been really daunting and there have been times when I don’t even know if what I’m doing is worth it. The past few days I’ve been taking practice tests and my score seems to be stuck in the 2000 range. This may seem like a good enough score to some but it’s not good enough for me. It’s really a dream of mine to study in Stanford and based on my research, I’d need to get at least a 2200 to give me a fair chance at getting in. Being Asian also doesn’t help for we all know how Asians are stereotyped as “nerds” and “brainiacs.”

I’m different though. Although I’ve always been in the top percentile of my batch when it comes to grades, the last time that I really studied for something was probably when I was a 4th grader and my parents were still really strict about my grades. Ever since then though, I’ve been winging it and just doing enough to be in the honor roll. I’ve honestly studied harder than ever before these past few days. Although I know this is not the best way to get a high score, I have no other choice but to just pour everything out and give my 10000% in these next days leading up to the exam.

There have definitely been moments when I question myself and whether or not I’m doing the right thing, shutting myself from all the distractions (I deleted my twitter and instagram app on my phone to avoid distractions) is worth it. There are times when getting a 2400, no even just a 2200, seems so impossible. Aside from that, getting the aforementioned scores don’t guarantee anything. It seems as though the chances are 1 in a million.

During these moments though, I just tell myself,”Damn it David, you know you have lots of potential, you’re a smart man, you just have to learn how to stick it out, persevere! Don’t give up!!” Yes!! I guess I just have to believe in myself, use the remaining days I have before the test wisely and just simply, do my best! If I do these, I’ll definitely have no regrets!

It may be an uphill battle but anything is possible! I’m just looking at this as a challenge that I have to face head on!! I definitely won’t back down and lose to a test! No way! NEVER!

-DOitChoco

 

 

What time is it? SUMMER TIME!!!!

It’s every student’s most anticipated time of the year, Summer time! This something every student looks forward to especially after going through a grueling school year filled with school work and other extra-curricular activities. A lot of students are looking forward to being able to stay up really late playing video games, going on movie marathons and waking up past noon. That has been the routine of countless of students.

Years back, I’d be part of that cluster who would just bum around and really just “chill” and “relax” during the summer, but this year, in line with the phantasmagoric Junior Year I just had, I plan to make this Summer a Summer like no other, and I will make sure that I’m able to document all the surreal but evanescent moments that will take place.

The first few days of Summer 2013 has really been a roller coaster ride and I’m just glad that I was able to survive it. Summer just started and yet I’ve already gone through myriad activities that have really kept me on my feet figuratively and literally. I won’t beat around the bush anymore, and I’ll go straight to the point for there have been several bi-polar experiences and different highlights from my first 3 days of Summer Vacation already.

Here is the a rundown of the profuse experiences of my first two days of Summer:

1. Prom Attire Shopping

2. Basketball Tryouts (2 days straight)

3. DWTL Grand Mass

4. Xavier Lip Dub Orientation and actual Shooting Day

5. Study Abroad Seminar and Talk

It really is shocking how I’ve been even busier during these first two days of summer than when I still had school. During the past two days, I actually came home at 8 and 8:30 pm respectively, and immediately just ate dinner and couldn’t help but hit the sack and recharge. It has really been a whirlwind of a summer already, but I wouldn’t have it any other way! Although because of this really busy schedule, I haven’t been able to blog as often, I’ve truly learned a lot of new things from all these experiences already. Don’t worry, I will definitely find time to write about most if not all of these awe-inspiring events.

I am on a roll right now and you can carve it on stone, SUMMER 2013 will be LEGEN – wait for it – DARY!!! This is just the start, and I know there will still be plethora of new experiences and roller coaster rides waiting for me this Summer! Gone are the days where I spend my summer bumming around and just being a coach potato. I will make this summer count for life is what you make it!

-DOitChoco