Oh Senior year... how I... hm.

Senior year. Senior year. The year all of your teachers gush about you getting to eventually. Kindergarten - "You have a long time until you're a senior in high school!" 5th grade - "Onto middle school.. you're almost there!" 8th grade - "Before you know it, you'll be seniors!" Now - "Here are 56156451 different things you have to pay for, as well as worrying about the new senior project, anatomy, online classes and getting into colleges! Good luck!"
Yikes.

Ok, here's the run down. Right now I have.. (in order of the time I have them)
Anatomy & Physiology Honors
English IV Honors
Health Science II Honors
Latin II Online

Here's how I feel about each as of today:

Anatomy: I currently have four chapters of short answer and critical thinking questions due after Thanksgiving. Awesome! The catch? If we turn all of it in before Thanksgiving break (Tuesday) we get 10 extra points on EACH chapter. UGH. Last grading period, a couple of weeks ago, I was making a 94, so I don't really think I need extra credit.. but who would miss out on that?
We haven't worked on the cats in a while either. We are dissecting cats, as their anatomy is somewhat similar to ours and there are an abundance of them, but we haven't in a while. I don't think it's gross, since they're dried out with latex and preserving fluids. Blood freaks me out, but not dried up tissue.
Right now we're reviewing the brain and nervous system, which I find fascinating. I've always had an interest in psychology. The anatomy, however? An ocean of confusion and hopeless short-term memorization. Speaking of which, I had a test in there Tuesday on the 12 pairs of cranial nerves and the specific regions of the brain. Fun stuff!

English: We have read Lord of the Flies, Beowulf, Macbeth, and A Midsummer Night's Dream. I made a C- on my first paper about Lord of the Flies (which is devastating to me.. I pride myself on writing skills) but made a B on the re-write. The latest paper we did regarding Macbeth was a B-, which is an improvement, but still confusing to me. I'm a lengthy, wordy, descriptive writer, since I'm used to fictional pieces, so it's hard for me to switch over and stick to writing strictly on the prompt of the paper. Rome wasn't built in a day.
Right now we're working on our argument research paper for senior English, which is also doubling as my paper for the new and "improved" senior project that is required of me. I decided to do a vegetarian diet vs. an omnivorous diet. My product is myself keeping a journal regarding my experiences being a vegetarian for a month, and also making brochures to display at the local YMCA that I go to.

Health Science II: I'm partially disappointed with this class. Health Science I was filled with facts about the human body (in which helped me tremendously with anatomy) and things I find interesting. This class is focused on the actual health care career and things such as ethics, teamwork, and the general welfare of the patient. Don't get me wrong, I realize these things are just as important as knowing how to treat the patient, I just prefer hands-on learning. Luckily, I will be CPR certified by the end of the class, and my Nursing Fundamentals/CNA class begins next semester! Knowing that, I think I'll be able to get through it alright.

Latin II Online: Ohhhh lordy. The one academic class I do poorly in is Latin. You make a 97 in Latin I and an 80 in Latin II?! Tesia, what gives?! No hands-on learning, that's what! I don't know why I decided an online language course would be a good idea, especially since I barely remember anything from Latin I, but I took it anyway. Now I'm making an 80, acing the culture parts and failing at the grammar stuff. I have Latin III honors next semester with my Latin I teacher, so hopefully she can cram some information I missed back into my head. I just don't like knowing my grade could potential plop into the 70's before I know it.. yikes.

So my current standing within my class is this:
4.4 weighted GPA
3.6 unweighted GPA
15 out of approx. 277 students - top 6%

I feel pretty darn proud.
On top of school, I am applying for a really great program through Lenoir-Rhyne and Mitchell CC. It's called RIBN (regionally increasing bachelor nurses.. I think) and is a four-year bachelor program for nursing. I would take most of my classes at Mitchell and go to Lenoir for a few for the first three years. The entire fourth year is an Lenoir, but it's for $10,000 instead of it's normal $30-some,000. WOAH. Great deal? I think so.
I just (literally today) signed on the TEAS-V test I have to make proficient on in order to be considered for the program. My transcript etc. have already been sent it - I am ecstatic! Let's just hope I remember a ton of stuff on December 18th in order to be a nurse!

Well, that's about it. I'll post daily about blunders, grades, failures and achievements, mainly for dear sista! I really miss Alaska too.

Until the next,
T. Smith