Happy New Year!

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I can't believe 2011 is over already! I'm so excited to start fresh in 2012, starting with these resolutions:

1. Get Fit: I know, so cliché. But this year, I'm really going to do it. I've got a set routine (Poms Practice Monday-Friday, Dance Classes Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, extra conditioning on Wednesday and Saturday, and extra cardio Saturday and Sunday) and will be sticking to it! I'm also going to stick to eating vegetarian, but cut back on sweets. I'd also like to eventually work myself into a vegan diet.

2. Dance More: In addition to Poms and my regular classes at my studio, I want to go to more open classes, workshops, and conventions. Taking class from more teachers and exposing myself to new styles will make me a much more versatile and well-rounded dancer.

3. Study More Effectively: I'm a procrastinator by nature, but this will be the year that I get really on top of my schoolwork. In the past, I've always been able to get really good grades just by sitting back and letting it come to me. With my classes getting harder, however, I'm going to be more proactive with my approach to studying and completing my schoolwork and projects. With the study hall that I worked into my schedule this coming semester, I'll have no excuse.

What are your resolutions?

XO

North Shore Prep

being busy.

This weekend is capital-C crazy.

First tonight, we had a Boot Camp class for Poms that ran late, a team pasta party, and then a football game to dance at. I ended up leaving the game shortly after halftime because I was freezing and it was starting to rain. (And I was exhausted!)

Tomorrow, we're dancing at a charity soccer game for cystic fibrosis, have a four hour practice with our choreographer, and then a team fundraiser at a local Italian restaurant.

Sunday, we have an all-day competition at Six Flags Great America.

This weekend is so busy, I can't even begin to imagine how I'll end up doing the loads of homework my teachers think it's okay to pile on us this particular weekend.

Sometimes, I just want to let it all go, like a bunch of balloons into the sky.

Sometimes I look at my heavy course load and full academic schedule, the source of most of my problems and think, "For what?" Why am I taking mostly honors classes that I'm not even interested in? Why did I get myself stuck in the hardest science course offered at my school, that I'm not allowed (by the school) to drop? I know that I don't want to go into math or science. I already know what I want to do with my life. I know that I want to go into broadcasting, preferably in sports and entertainment reporting, and do some professional dancing on the side. Shouldn't I be focusing on that? Shouldn't I be taking all the dance classes I possibly can, focusing on Poms and my broadcasting and English and social studies courses?

Sometimes I wonder what it would have been like if I sat down before my freshman year began and asked myself what I really wanted to do, instead of what my peers and teachers thought I should be doing. If I had done that, I would never have taken Chem/Phys Honors. I would have taken regular, maybe Honors, biology like every normal student. I wouldn't have taken Honors World History to begin with. If my only Honors courses freshman year had been in English, Spanish, and math, I think my high school career would have been on a much better path. But now that I've started like this, and am already a year in, I feel like I might as well finish it off. It's disappointing though, knowing that I started this just to look good to colleges, before realizing that I'd much rather have my sanity and go to a less academically prestigious college rather than overwhelm myself and suffer four more years at an Ivy. It just isn't for me.

And I wish I would have realized that earlier.

So from now on, here's my plan:

1. Finish all my homework early and as quickly as possible. Do science and math assignments first since they require the most concentration and discipline.

2. Since I'll have finished my homework, I'll be able to go to whatever dance classes are going on that night. The reason I'm not registered for more than pointe this year is because I was scared I wouldn't be able to handle it. But my studio director told me to feel free to come whenever I could, so I intend to take her up on her offer.

3. Take time for myself! Whether it's taking a dance class just for fun or reading a chapter of a book that hasn't been assigned to me, I'm going to take at least half an hour a day just for myself, just to relax and recharge.

It's still early in the school year, and I've realized that this may very well be the perfect time for a major change in my life. I'm so very ready for it.

XO

North Shore Prep

Back to School Musings

Firstly, my sincere apologies for my little disappearance this past week. I took off a little time from blogging just to get back in the swing of things, but I'm back! My first week (well, week and a half, really) of school has been great. I especially love my Broadcasting and Latin American History classes, and I love the way my schedule worked out, with my lighter classes (Latin American History, Broadcasting, and PreCalc) in the morning, followed by Lunch and P.E., and then my hardest classes (Spanish, English, and Chem/Phys) in the afternoon. Having Lunch and P.E. together is such a great break in the middle of the day, and it leaves me totally energized for the rest of the day.

The first home football game was fantastic! My school won against the odds, and my team danced a great halftime show, if I do say so myself. I'm so happy and excited for the upcoming season. Last Friday, I also went with some friends to an away game at a school half an hour away, which was a ton of fun. We ended up losing, but the atmosphere in the student section was great and we had a good time anyway.

And now, the real reason I started this post. Yesterday, as I was doing my homework, "Four Years" by Jon McLaughlin came on my Pandora station.

If you've never heard the song, it's so worth a listen, especially if you're still in high school.

He talks about how high school is really just four short years of your life, saying not to worry too much about it, but rather to enjoy it. Last year, as a freshman, my year was really hard. It was the first time I was really challenged academically, especially in Science, which I learned is so not my subject. I took five honors classes, two electives, only had half a lunch period, had poms practices for two hours a day after school, plus four dance classes a week, and seemingly endless amounts of homework on top of it all. I'm not gonna lie, I was totally miserable. I was aiming for New York University and the Ivy Leagues for the prestige I knew they possessed, without really knowing much about the schools themselves and what they could offer me. 

(Coates Hall at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, LA, one of my new top three prospective schools. It offers a great mass communications and broadcast journalism program, a fantastic dance team and athletics, and warm weather year round.)

It wasn't until this summer that I really sat down and thought long and hard about what I really wanted to do with my life. I wrote down a list of what I really wanted in a college (a good dance team, strong athletics and academics, and warm weather) in addition to academics, and came up with a whole new list of schools, that I really do believe I can do well at, and realistically get into without being miserable in the process. And when it came time to register for my classes, I was able to go in with a clear head and a much clearer idea of what I wanted, both now and in the future.

I've set some new goals, that are a bit more realistic than my old ones (making a living solely as a dancer is near impossible!). I'd like to be a sports reporter or talk show host, that bit is currently undecided.

Erin Andrews of ESPN

I'd also like to keep dance a part of my life, and dance for an NBA or NFL dance team.

 Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders

Knicks City Dancers

XO

North Shore Prep

Setting Goals on a Sunday Night

Late August always gets me refreshed and refocused, almost more than January of a new year. So I figured, why not set a few goals for this coming year?

In the next year, I'd like to:

1. Be cast in my school district's musical

2. Get my driver's license (July 2, 2012!)

3. Get a more solid idea of where I want to go to college

4. Become a stronger, more consistent dancer

5. Have 100 followers on my blog

6. Be a contributor for a local magazine

7. Get on air on my school's TV station

8. Buy my first pair of Frye boots

9. Hold a consistent B (or better!) in Chem/Phys (my hardest class)

10. Watch all the seasons of Friday Night Lights

11. Get a summer job as a dancer at Six Flags

What do you want to accomplish this year?

XO

North Shore Prep