Weekly Blog #35: It's Almost Over

 Hello 'Ilima

There is only 3 more days of school and I couldn't be more excited. It's has felt like a decade has gone by, but 7th grade is only now coming to a close. This was the last full week of school and it was pretty eventful. The week started off with free lunch from Ms. Chen for good SBA scores which was pretty cool. We were served Panda Express and it tasted pretty good. I filled my plate with teriyaki and orange chicken, accompanied with fried rice. My friends and I got to talk while stuffing our mouth with delicious food which was definitely fun. Then there was Awards Night. I was very excited for the event because I wanted to be able to get recognized for all my showings of academic ability and service to the school. For the event we were able to sit with out families which was nice as I wanted to be with my family when I needed to go up to get my award. It started with the sports which definitely went on for a long time because of the amount of different categories. I totally forgot about bowling and I actually won an award for it which was cool. But I was really waiting for the academic awards. When it finally arrived, I was very excited to see if I would actually win. Teams 7-1 and 7-2 passed by and it was 7-3's turn to present their academic awards. Unfortunately, none of the 7-3 teachers were there to announce the awards so they just got a different teacher to do them. That bummed me out a bit because I wanted to see what my teachers had to say about the different winners. My mom was telling me not to get my hopes up, but I still had the confidence in myself that I could win the award. When it came to the 7-3 Student of the Year, I was shaking so much. The announcer started talking about the person with the limited knowledge they knew about them, but eventually they said a name. My name. I jumped out of my seat, hands over my face, and started walking up the stage. I saw Dominic screaming from his seats and heard the yells from my other friends. Standing on the stage was so gratifying and seeing the faces of all of the people I recognized in the crowd made me feel on top of the world. Like a king on his throne, I was feeling high and mighty. The last big event from this week was Aloha Dinner. Setting up for the event was a pain, but the result was definitely worth it. The start of my actually enjoying the night was getting some food in my system as I had not eaten that whole day and I was a bit grumpy. But eating revitalized me and made me much more happy. The night also had a lot of comedy. Ms. Shayna had a video of interviews from the 8th graders which was very funny, especially the bloopers. We all had a good laugh from the video, but the real laughter came from the 8th grader's skit, Welcome to the Ing-Verse. It started off with Jabez as Mr. Ing sitting in a chair and then, BAMM! A bunch of different Mr. Ings popped out. They all thought that they were the best Mr. Ing, so to decide who was they best they needed to have a dance battle. They all did their dances but at the end, the best Mr. Ing was the real Mr. Ing all along. This skit was really funny and really brightened my mood. The officers, including me, were then sworn in which the feeling I had is something I don't know how to use words to describe. I was happy yet satisfied and also felt like something more was going to happen all at once. I think the best thing to happen from that night was the 8th grader's farewell messages. It was really nice to hear their final words and how they felt about their past years. At the end of their speeches, 7th graders were allowed to give speeches so I did one. I was very scared when I was standing in front of all those parents, but I went with the flow and delivered what I think is a nice speech. I don't know if the people were laughing at or with me, but they did laugh so I guess that means my speech was funny. The Aloha Dinner had a bad first impression for me, but as the night went on I was able to enjoy my time more and really got to be able to have fun. Besides these events, yearbooks were sent out and I am very proud with the end result. Overall, this week was pretty fun.

My Friends Eating the Free Lunch

Me and Jacob After Awards Night

Selfie from Before Aloha Dinner Started

A highlight from this week would be the Awards Night. Awards night was just so fun and gratifying for me. I’ve said like 80 times, but the whole night was very exciting for me as I was rewarded for my countless hours of hard work. Another highlight from this week would be the later half of Aloha Dinner. This includes the interviews, skit, and speeches which were all either very funny or emotional. The last highlight I’m going to bring up is the fake myth I created. When the yearbook first came out, I signed one of my friend’s book with a fake name, Tommy J. Wilburt. I then gave this same signature to another friend and that gave me the idea to make it into a legend. The story of Tommy J. Wilburt was that 20 years ago, he was the top of the school but he tragically passed in an accident and now roams the campus only signing the yearbooks of the coolest people on campus. It was really funny, specially because Jacob was losing his mind because he wasn’t getting a signature. Now to the lowlights. The main lowlight I can think of is a personal matter which is one that I don’t really want to bring up. I guess I didn’t like setting up for the Aloha Dinner which can be another lowlight, but this week was mainly good.

The lesson I learned from this week was that each puzzle piece builds up to a beautiful result. I learned this from two different ways: 1. An Actual Puzzle and 2. Awards Night. For the actual puzzle, my mom and I have been working on a huge puzzle for maybe 2 or less weeks. We have recently finally finished the puzzle and all of those tiny pieces led to a beautiful image. Next was Awards Night. Reflecting on winning Student of the Year, it made me think on all that build up to that moment. From my upbringing where I was wrongly labeled with a mental illness, to going through countless academic hardships, all leading up to the moment where I can be on top, even just for a little bit. Both examples show how each piece, no matter how tiny it is, can lead up to a big moment. This is something that Mr. Ing also has mentioned, saying that the little details matter. Both go hand in hand and shows how everything you do can lead to a different outcome with many different results. With that being said, this concludes my blog. I hope you have a great day. Cheers to another day!