Waffles Part 3

Yesterday, we made breakfast again in AP Physics. We did it because we had physics in the morning due to MCAS and it was also our last day of class. This time was even better than the past two times we have made breakfast in school (as featured in Waffles Parts 1 and 2). This time we went all out. We had waffles again and we had chocolate chips and strawberries to put in them. We even had a Mickey Mouse-shaped waffle iron, so some waffles were Mickey Mouse. However, we forgot the syrup this time, so we had to make due without. We didn’t just stick to waffles this time, we also brought in an electric griddle and used it to make bacon (thick cut of course) and eggs. We also had munchkins to eat. Everything was very good and was a nice way to both start off the morning. It was also a nice way to end the year and to say goodbye. What higher note is there to end on than waffles and bacon?

One Week Left in High School

The time is finally almost here. We only have one week left in senior year and in all of high school. The past few weeks have been crazy with all of the AP tests, but now they are all over and I find myself doing almost nothing in most of my classes. It is very weird to think about how close we really are to the end. For 4 years, I have spent the majority of my waking hours at the school and pretty soon I will leave for good (or mostly for good at least).

I am actually sort of looking forwards to going to school next week for the first time in a long time. I am done with AP tests and doing anything in those classes, so most of my days will be spent just hanging out. There are also different things happening next week like theme days and, possibly, people are going to bring dogs in one day. Overall, I don’t know if I am happy or sad to have high school end; it just feels kind of odd. Either way, in 5 short days I will be done with classes and in three short weeks I will be getting my diploma at graduation, so I guess I better just make the most of the little time I have left.

Senior Assassin

This week the our class started the annual game of Senior Assassin. In Assassin, everyone is assigned a target and is a target. The goal is to assassinate your target, by spraying them with water, while not getting killed by your assassin. The assassins are assigned in a circle and as you kill your targets, you get their targets until there is only one assassin left standing.

Despite what other people might say, I was awesome at Assassin (not really). It is a very difficult game. The hardest part is just tracking down your target. When I tried to find my target, I went to his house and staked it out. It didn’t go very well and eventually I listened to some very bad advice and rang my targets doorbell. I then awkwardly walked away when his mom answered the door. Sadly, before I could try again to get my target, I was tricked and assassinated. While the game didn’t last very long for me, it was fun while it lasted.

Robotics World Championships

Last week, I was in St. Louis because the robotics team qualified for the world championships. It was an amazing experience and it was absolutely enormous. Over 600 teams and 40,000 people convened on St. Louis for 4 days. The event filled the St. Louis NFL stadium, the Edward Jones Dome and the giant convention center connected to it as well as some nearby hotels. It took 30 minutes to walk from one side of the event to the other. Teams were there from all over the country and the world, including many from China, Australia, and Israel. It was very cool to be able to walk around and see so many amazing robots and talk to so many interesting teams. It was especially cool to watch the final rounds of the playoffs and see the world champions crowned. The other thing that amazed me is that the competition was not just contained to the arena. For the four days it was going on it was the focus of most of St. Louis. Everyone in the city from taxi drivers to security guards at the arch knew it was going on and everywhere we went, we saw tons of other teams. Overall, it was an amazing experience.

Senior Year is Almost Over

Over the past few days, I have come to realize how close we are to the end of senior year. We only have 26 days of school left! Not only that, but we only have ONE, that’s right ONE, full, real week left. Next week is a short week because of Blue Ribbon and then it is already April Vacation. After that, it’s our last real week. Then, it is two weeks of AP tests and school starts to wind down as I take tests and we begin to officially do nothing in AP classes. It is also really fragmented those weeks because of the tests. After that, we have one week in which almost nothing will happen. I have four and a half blocks of AP classes and all of those will basically be studies after the tests are complete. Then, for some reason we have to go to school for like two hours the next Monday, but that’s it. School is over. I can’t believe how close we are to the end.

Google is a Cool Place

On Thursday, I got to miss half of a day of school because I went to a robotics conference at Google. Let me say, Google offices are exactly as cool as you would expect. The whole office is themed like the T with each building being a different line and different floors being different stops. One of the floors we walked by was themed like the New England Aquarium and had fish tanks everywhere. The elevator doors were also decorated to look like train doors and the building maps were made to look like T maps.

There were also all sorts of fancy amenities in the building. The conference we were at was right next to a full coffee bar and a giant lounge. The building also had not one, but two massage parlors according to the map, though I didn’t get to see that. It also had a game room and all sorts of other cool stuff. We were also next to a giant roof garden which was basically a full park on the roof. I also saw an employee just riding a scooter down the hall, which is like the exact stereotype of google employees. Overall, it was a very cool space.

Being Sick Sucks

The past two weeks I have been very sick. I have been out sick 3 days out of the past 2 weeks which is very rare for me because I am rarely sick for long. However, I have now been sick nearly constantly for about a week and a half. It is robotics competition season which has really taken a toll on my health. Two weeks ago we had a competition which was fun, but really wore me down because I spent over 40 hours at the school that weekend and had many late nights leading up to it. The week after the competition, my exhaustion finally caught up with me and I started to get a cold. However, I tried to fight through it and basically ignored it for 2 days which really backfired because I woke up at 2 am the next day and basically felt like I was dying. So, I then spent the next 4 days gradually recovering and by the middle of last week, I started to feel better. However, this only lasted about a day and a half because there was another robotics competition this weekend. Between the long hours and being surrounded by 2 thousand other people and their germs, my cold came back and, so, I have spent the last 2 days recovering from that. Hopefully, I am actually recovering this time. Through all of this, I remembered how much being sick really sucks. It has reached the point where, as a second semester senior, I am actually looking forward to being back in school. If that doesn’t show how bad I have felt, I don’t know what does.