christina's english blog

 One time, I paused to appreciate the beauty of nature was during a quiet evening after it had rained. I was walking my dogs around the neighborhood, and everything felt calm. The streets were shiny from the rain, and the air smelled fresh. The sky had a nice pink glow because the sun was about to set. In that moment, I just breathed in the fresh air and admired the beauty of the earth that I'm blessed to live in. It reminded me that even when life feels busy or stressful, there's still beauty around, and I  just have to take the time to stop and notice it. Today in class, we began working on our Robert Frost one-pager. 

 One time, I had to set a boundary with a friend who kept copying my homework. I didn't want to seem mean, but I told them I couldn't let them anymore because we both need to learn on our own. At first, things were a little awkward between us, but later they understood and stopped asking. It actually helped our friendship in the end because it made things more honest and respectful. Today in class, we completed a common lit assignment on the poem, "Mending Wall" by Robert Frost.

 A time when something changed in my life more quickly than I expected was when I moved schools. I thought things would be the same, but they were not. My friends, class, and routine all changed fast. It reminded me that good moments don't always last forever, just like in the Robert Frost poem, "Nothing Gold Can Stay." The poem shows that beautiful things, like leaves or moments, fade with time. My experience connects to that idea because it taught me to appreciate the good times while they last and understand that change is a natural part of life.

 My favorite word right now is "serenity." It's my favorite word because it means calmness and peace. I like how it sounds soft but also powerful at the same time. I do not use it that often, but I think about it a lot whenever I talk about relaxing or finding peace. 

 Imagination helps me cope with challenges, boredom, and stress by inspiring me to be better. Whenever I imagine my future, I imagine myself living a successful life, which motivates me to work hard right now. Also, sometimes when life gets sad or lonely, I imagine an alternate life if certain things didn't happen or if things were overall different, and it gives me a sense of comfort. Today in class, we read and analyzed a poem by Robert Frost called "Birches," and then we began a project where we "climb back to our childhood."

A time when I faced a high-pressure situation that demanded my complete focus was driving for the first time. I didn't know what I was doing, and the roads were pretty busy. Luckily, my mom was in the car with me, guiding me on where to go next. I had really bad anxiety driving that by the time I got to where I was going, it felt like my heart was going to explode out of my chest, but I was literally just driving to a McDonald's that wasn't even a mile down the street. Despite that, I had to focus on the road and pay attention to where I was going and what I was doing. Today, in class, we read a poem called "Out Out" by Robert Frost. We analyzed the poem, then answered some questions about it afterward.

 Over fall break, I decided to take some time to get some rest, but I also tried to be productive. I picked up a few extra shifts at work, and I also did some SAT prep since I'm taking the SAT test in November. Today in class, we created a comic strip using our vocabulary words from the week.

 A time someone's words had a lasting impact on me is  I was stressing out about a huge final project, feeling completely overwhelmed and panicked. My mom saw me pacing, stopped me, and said, 'Worrying about it won't earn you a single point. Do the next small thing.' It was so simple, but it clicked. She wasn't telling me to stop feeling stressed, just to stop letting it paralyze me. Now, whenever I feel overwhelmed by a big task, I break it down and just focus on doing that 'next small thing,' and it always helps me start.

 I find time to enjoy my day, even when I have a lot going on by first taking time to get ready in the morning. I usually do my makeup in the morning and watch TV which helps me relax and have a peaceful moment before my day. Also, whenever I have a chance I like to listen to music throughout the day. It helps me relax especially when I'm having a hard day. The last thing I do to enjoy my day is I usually go on Tiktok. Sometimes its good just to relax your mind and watch silly videos.

 A time I had to come out of my comfort zone was when I joined the track team. At first, I didn't know anyone and was nervous because most of the runners already seemed very close. I also wasn't confident in my speed or ability. but I pushed myself to keep showing up to practice and tried my best even when I didn't feel like it. Over time, I started improving, meeting new people, and feeling proud of myself for doing something that once scared me. Today in class, we read a story titled, Ambush and then we wrote an argument paragraph on whether we believed their was such thing as a good kill or not.

 One time I had a dream that I was with my grandmother and we were going to the gas station to get some snacks. Then as we were leaving a huge black hole began to form in the middle of the road, sucking everything up from the buildings, trees, and surrounding bystanders. As more things went into the hole, the bigger it grew. Soon, the hole started to approach me and my grandma and we tried to run away and as we were running she got sucked into the hole and then the hole closed up. Then I woke up, the dream felt so intense and real. I was so scared. This is when I was younger and my grandma used to live with us. I ran downstairs to make sure she was alright. Today in class we completed a common lit article on cancel culture and we also began our college bound vocabulary week 3.

 Something I've always been curious about is the future. Especially right now with everything that is going on in the world, I wonder what life would look like for me when I am older. I wonder how much A.I. models would have advanced and how prevalent they would be in society. I feel like they are already really integrated today in 2025, so I can't imagine how advanced they would be in 2085. Also, I wonder what the environment will be like. Many studies show that certain AI model centers pollute the air and water, making them unclean. Also, regular manufacturing companies and oil buildings cause a lot a pollution in the air. So I wonder what the state of the environment will be like in the future. Also, my family, and if I'm married and have kids, it's crazy to think about, and I wonder what the future holds for me. 

 The best gift I've ever received was my German Shepherd named Dulche. It was my eleventh birthday, and I was at my uncle's house, and I was opening up my gifts. Then he told me he had a surprise for me, and showed me something on his phone. It was a picture of two adorable German Shepherd puppies! At first, I was confused, but then he told me that we could go pick them up after their mother nursed them for a couple of weeks. The other puppy would be named Milo, and he belonged to my cousin. Now Dulche and Milo are both 5 years old, and although they've grown up to be very big, they will always be my babies. Today, in class, we learned about formal and informal writing and began brainstorming our unpopular opinions.