Week Beginning 6/18/02
The FINAL week
Monday's Profile and More:
Only one more day left! I can't believe it. It feels like just yesterday I was sitting in
my desk in Mrs. Holmes' room thinking "Why do I feel so small, and how on earth can one
woman have that much energy at 8am?!" Well, it's not the beginning of the year anymore,
I still haven't grown any taller, and thanks to coffee, I can now feign enthusiasm as
early as 6:30! Aside of that, it's all over. I mean... there's no more Calc, no
more History. There's a gaping void in my life! I know in a week I might
regret saying this, but I almost wish I were Tania so I could do a summer packet!
(I can now see Chris rolling her eyes-"Oh, my God, we've lost her!")
And yeah, I've lost my mind, and somewhere along
the line I picked up a random new one that must have been engineered by the likes of all my
teachers. Holmes has got me using vocab in normal sentences, Fossum and Watkins have
messed with my mind so much that I don't even know where my individuality ends and the
brainwashed math/history lover begins, Joo has got me liking a whole new genre of
music and movies, and
Hughes has got me using romantic words in conjunction with math (I guess with a lack of
guys it doesn't really matter though)!
But really, the year has been a total blast. Who ever thought? I mean, I'll be the first
to admit that it started off badly, but some key people helped me ditch my problems and
truly enjoy the year. There's
just so much that's happened that I don't even know where to start! Key Club, Winter Formal,
tennis season, work, history final(s), essays, APs, too many trips to the Coffee Bean,
Knightlife, getting my driver's license, getting a car (learning to drive stick), crashing
my car, non-prom party, THE SECRET SIX!, watching Requiem, painting the chair, eating lunch
at Ruby's, making this website, tons of Barnes & Noble study
sessions, and of course, the amazing sense of independence and friendship that
came with all of this. Yes, studying was hard, and the long nights hurt sometimes, but
gosh-darn-it, this has been the best year of my life thanks to everyone who has at some
point made me smile. And even though I probably can't name all of you here, know that I'm
thinking of you all the time and thanking God that you've touched my life in a way that
I'll never forget.
And as I notice that this entire message is really random, and has no flow, I suppose I'll
leave you all with some parting words and the things I've learned this year:
Life is good when you can get a parking spot at Barnes & Noble on a Sunday night.
The mocha's at Barnes & Noble are stronger than the mocha's at the Coffee Bean, but lattes
anywhere... that's good for a 3am study night!
Never let one of my homemade mochas stay in the cup for more than 4 days, because if it
spills in the car... the stench stays there for two weeks.
If you're going to do something wrong, don't get caught.
Never steal Kate's Diet Coke.
Never tease Margaret about a boy unless you want your entire life and all your indescretions
exposed to the world at her convenience.
Always study at least 6 hours for a history test that you plan on passing.
Never neglect neatness on Calc homework.
Jumping jacks are a good substitute for caffeine, but as time passes, more frequent and
stronger dosages are required.
Caffeine addiction aggravates PMS to the extreme.
Life is a lot better if you share it with other people. And by sharing, I mean giving
everything you can: time, effort, smiles, compliments, even work. I know that I enjoyed
sharing my time and work with anyone who was online after midnight, and I hope that in
some small way, I have been able to help them either get a better grade on something or
just feel more confident going into a test or situation. (And in conjunction with this,
I would like to add, that members of the Secret Six (for some reason) were among the
highest scoring on the second semester History final...)
Never work so hard or become so busy that you find yourself piled with all your homework
at 10pm, and only 3 hours of sleep from the previous two nights combined. It'll do a number
on your emotional composure the next morning when you wake up to find all your homework
still unfinished.
Stress gives you zits. Since stress seems inevitable, make sure to see a dermatologist when
you actually can find room in your schedule.
Without History or Math... your brain turns to mush. Never let a day go by where you don't
try to think of something relating to one or the other.
It's been great knowing you all, and if we survive the next year, I hope I'll have had an
equally good time. Have a great summer!
Final Teacher Comments
Coulter- Journalism was fun this year, and I'm glad we got to do the April Fool's edition.
I'm looking forward to next year. Thanks for picking a great editorial board, hopefully
we'll put together a successful paper.
Holmes- Well, as much as I was against sexism at the start of the year, your class
discussions and projects on theme have now reinforced my crusade against female oppression
and male dominance. Ok, so it's not as bad as that sounds (I'm still making shallow comments
to Eric and actually believing the advice I give him regarding that), but hopefully
everything you've ingrained in me will make me drive to succeed. Anyway, thanks for all
the good grades on the essays. For as much as I never got a 6 in Ryan's class, you made up
for it this year. Thanks! And get some sleep!
Fossum- gosh, what can I say to an amazing teacher such as you? Not only have you always
been there to explain Calculus and to reinforce my drive to understand it, you were a great
friend, and I am so glad that I was priviledged to know you and have you as my teacher. You
were always there to talk to and to bounce ideas off of. You have truly made this a
memorable year, and I hope that we will continue emailing each other even after you've gone.
Just thanks for everything, you always could make me laugh, and you always had the best
advice, whether concerning my parents, adults, friends, life, and I'm sure somewhere, about
guys. =) I will miss you very much next year, but I'm sure you'll visit, and so I can't wait
until those days! Have a great time at UCSD!
Watkins- like with Fossum... what can I say? You have truly made this year what it was. You
made history fun, and you definitely challenged me. You really did a great job helping me
prepare for the AP, and hopefully when scores get back, I'll have made you proud. (And
hopefully, the rest of the Secret Six will have done the same!) You were an amazing teacher,
and there's no other quite like you. Hopefully I'll have the chance to drop by now and again
next year (I'll have to- I still owe you a lifetime's supply of mocha!- Thanks for saying
you like them, btw. I just sorta like experimenting with coffee and you usually drank what
I gave you.) But of course, the year won't be the same without your class. I think I'll just
have to redo junior year! You need anything ever, drop me a line. You know I'd love to help!
Joo- hey... the preserver of my sanity! Hurray for you! Hot dog! Haha. =) Well, I like your
policy of 20 min. of homework per night... that really helped balance out the
workload from my other teachers. You were an awesome teacher, and I'm glad you came to
Foothill. We certainly have some good memories- plenty of Joopardy (We still want to take
on Team F in a rematch!), drug movies, Quizbowl, Key Club Convention... it was a blast!
Hopefully next year will be as fun, and we'll take that kid down @ Quizbowl... you know
which one! (Well, all of them actually!) Yay for Mr. Joo's first year!
Hughes- one of the most amazing women I have ever met! You were always so friendly and so
excited to see me each day (don't know why, but it sure as heck made me feel good!). Thanks
for always smiling and being so enthusiastic. You really taught me to love math last year,
and this year you kept me loving it! I had a great time aiding for you, and thank you
very much for always letting me do whatever I wanted in terms of going to Fossum's room, etc.
Thanks for another great year in Pre Calculus H!
Hayden- tennis season was a total blast. Thanks for always believing in me, even when I
walked off the court crying or what not. If by any chance I get to play on your team
again next year, I'll beat Tracy (VP) for you! Thanks for always believing that I could,
even though I never did, your support was helpful. Thank you for making JV so fun that
the other juniors and I didn't care anymore that we didn't make Varsity. We had a blast!
Home