We finally made it to Thanksgiving break! Yay!

It has come to my attention that I don't post much, but so far, I've only posted on this blog once a month. I intended for it to be more frequently, but unfortunately, it didn't happen, and I didn't even realize it was that bad until a student during one of my tutorial periods had asked me when I was going to update my blog. That's when I realized "Oh wow, I don't post as often as I'd like", and the reason is because I have lots of homework to do, and I never actually have a lot of time to do other things like write on this blog, because that time is taken up either on social media, homework, or just doing random stuff other than this. But rest assured, I'll always know that I have this blog, and I'm always thinking about what to write on it. But man, it was a pretty busy and interesting few weeks.

I'm proud to announce that apparently I've built up a great and positive reputation among basically everyone at CHECHS, and as of right now, it seems to only be getting better and better. I'm realizing that more as I make more friends. Now I'm interacting with tons of different people, and not just dominant to a friend group of only a few people. That positive reputation was really evident when I had the unfortunate situation of being absent on Thursday. I don't know what in the world their reactions were, but I'm sure everyone was very surprised that I was gone, and wanted me back there ASAP. Especially considering that I do a lot for this school... I'm a funny person who just tries to have fun when I can, I'm one of the student helpers for the printer room (speedy printer computers needed, anyone? I even wrote instructions for how to use the computers), I write the Quote of the Day that I get from a website for the freshman in the English I teacher's classroom, and more. You can even ask for the time when I'm nearby, and if I hear it, I'll announce to time to whoever I think said it. I get that request on a regular basis. The WHAP teacher was even jokingly telling me that since I wasn't here that day, they decided to cancel their test because of that reason, and they just sat in the room quietly for the next hour and 20 minutes... but of course, since I said he was joking, it didn't happen. But yeah, normally only a few people would care if you show up or not, but when it comes to me (and I always want to be here whenever I can), all of a sudden there's a change in the Force... as if there's no me, there's no one bringing positivity to this school, and there won't be a pretend car around! But I came back Friday, and was welcomed to quite a few people who noticed I was gone and cared about me. Someone even asked me if I was feeling better, and I replied, "Yep. Or, at least, I'm getting there." That person knew I had been sick probably because I had posted on Twitter that I wouldn't be here Thursday because I was sick, and she saw that and noticed it. If you're someone who cares about me, thank you so much. You're a positive influence in my life and mean so much to me.

Sounds like the teachers and principals finally have the volume of the freshman under control... as now they're in their classrooms a few minutes before class starts, and the hallways haven't been as loud as they were the beginning of this year. Some of the freshman still seem to act a little wild at times, though, which is unfortunate, as this school was intended for responsible students, and not for those who are clearly immature and may as well be in a regular high school. (If you're one of those responsible freshman, please don't think I'm targeting you, as I'm not... I actually know some of you as friends. I'm mainly talking about the boys. It's always the boys who are immature.)

But as of right now, it's not all about the problems I see with this school (and they're tolerable problems, thankfully) and me being an important student... I heard some news I actually wasn't willing to hear until after I stop riding the bus, especially on a daily basis. On the Clear Springs Horizons route, I've heard our current bus driver might be becoming a sub bus driver in the near future... it's either that or she might get her own route (which'll be a different one)... and that's about as far as I remember in that matter. But either way, she's eventually going to be leaving us, and it's just a matter of when. We don't know that factor at all. It was sad news for the driver, and so was the students who ride our bus. Our driver's been driving this route for nine years (basically since Clear Horizons started), and I don't think she wanted to stop doing this route for as long as she's a driver. Since we were known as bus riders who are very nice and respectful, we were thanked for being that kind of rider, and hopes that we'll give the same respect to the new bus driver when he/she does get this route. This new driver could get this route as early as after Thanksgiving, but I hope it doesn't happen that early. Our current bus driver's really nice, typically gets us to Horizons pretty fast, and knows me really well as a rider who sits up front. There are a few instances where I've helped her, like when she tells me to remind her not to take a particular road that's busy, and when we're running late, I get what intermediate bus routes need to wait for us. I've done this for about a year and a half so far, and I hope this new driver will be as nice as she was. I really hope I can make good friends with the new bus driver. I've done it with everyone I've ridden with more than a few times, so maybe I can do it with the new driver as well! We'll have to see, but I know when we get this new driver (assuming we get to ride the same bus), our bus will not feel the same way as it did when I started riding.

We still made it to Thanksgiving break, however! I'm proud we did, actually! The only odd things I see about it, though, is that there are those teachers who give homework over the break... like, really? You expect us to do work over a break that is supposed to be relaxing? I can't stress that enough. Another odd thing about the break that is exclusive to Clear Horizons is that the college doesn't have break on Monday and Tuesday, so you have to arrange your own transportation there just to attend only your college classes! I know, the College is no fun... but at least CCISD got it right when they were thinking of how long the breaks are supposed to be.

That's all I have for now... Have an awesome Thanksgiving break! I'll miss y'all! :)

CHECHS seems to have been busy this October! We're still busy; PSAT tomorrow for grades 9-11!

Sorry that I haven't posted on a consistent basis. I had thought about attempting to post daily, but after realizing that's too much to ask, I then thought about attempting to post weekly, but I also haven't had time for that, due to me wanting to do certain other fun things but never actually do, and my (and probably lots of others) seemingly natural trait of procrastination (that means putting things off until the last minute. Some of us are good at it, some of us not.) Anyway, sorry for the inconsistency, but just know that I'm thinking of you guys and that even though it may not seem obvious when you normally talk to me, I'll eventually be thinking of something new to put on this blog.

With that being said, let's get to this post, because why not? It's what you came here for!

Yes, CHECHS seems to have been busy for quite a while now. It's a pretty popular belief among high school students in the district who don't go to Clear Horizons. Apart from being busy, as I start doing things at CHECHS sophomore style, I end up visiting freshman teachers quite often, and so do others. The reason why we visit them is because the freshman teachers have been so amazing, especially last year. I still remember being a freshman, and am now seeing once again some of the assignments and projects the class of 2019 had to do last year (like the Socratic Seminars in Human Geo & English I, the Cell Tweet project in Biology, etc.), and that's partially bringing me back to the memories of being a freshman in high school. But, now I'm a sophomore, and I'll tell you right now, things have CHANGED since last year... mainly not who the friendly staff is, but rather the classes you have, the paths you take to your classes, and the difficulty of your college classes. Taking all of that into account amounts to a huge difference. I haven't EVER seen two days play exactly the same way.

For me, life as a sophomore student has generally been amazing since I started. I'm not a freshman anymore, and that means no more being stuck in the BQR during lunch and having to check-in - you can roam freely around the approved places by CHECHS on campus. Whenever I have free time during lunch (when I'm finished eating), I always find myself roaming around somewhere on the campus. Just the past few days, I've been taking quite a few different paths and ended up quite a few different places, some of them unfamiliar. Yes, you read that correctly - I've been exploring SJC's South Campus, because why not? I can't be bothered to do any more than I have to at school, so why not take the free time I have when I'm not under stress to go explore something? I'm sure that may be rebellious, but really, who cares nowadays? I'm a responsible kid - I'm not as bad as those who seem to be flipping water bottles everywhere for a living, nor am I as bad as the LOUD freshman.

Speaking of water bottle flipping... Yes, I know it's been a trend on social media for quite a while now, and it was a cool challenge the first few days it was going on. But this is November now, and apparently people are STILL trying to flip water bottles. Unfortunately, I can't really take the constant noise and distraction of someone flipping a water bottle anymore, and have been that way for a few weeks now. It's so bad, it's gotten to the point that every time I see someone flipping a bottle, and I see an opportunity to get that water bottle they missed because it fell on the floor, I'm taking it and eventually throwing it away. Sure, they can be mad at me all they want - but now it's just irresponsible behavior when you do it in the classroom. Also, when we were getting free donuts and water bottles for Student Appreciation last Friday, I told everyone in the same room I was in that if they were going to get a water bottle, to NOT get one if you're going to be flipping it, as I've had it. I ended up saying that right in front of Dr. Lemley, our principal at CHECHS, and he praised me for saying that, as we both agree that's now irresponsible behavior.

And the volume of the freshman? Don't even get me started on that topic, please... I don't know WHAT in the world has gotten into them, but the freshman seem to have overall gotten louder and a lot wilder than how I've seen it when the class of 2019 were freshman. It seems to have only been happening after lunch, so maybe they're pretty hyped up with lots of energy because they can't really roam around the campus. I totally understand that, but the volume nowadays has been getting a little loud and unreasonable. Not only that, but they're wilder than the sophomores! Like, what is CHECHS?! I thought it was a school of responsible, grown-up students in all grade levels (including freshman), not some irresponsibly loud people like the freshman! A few of the sophomores are a victim of this, but they're not as bad as freshman. Even a sophomore teacher agreed with me that freshman are annoying. Sorry freshman, but you saw that coming. We typically hate y'all when we're not in your level. But that DOESN'T MEAN I'm not friends with any of them; in fact, I have quite a few sophomore friends, some of which I made in Geometry class. I'm also friends with a few juniors, and a few seniors.

Sorry if those last two paragraphs sounded like a rant, but I've seen and heard both of those things happening, and I HAD to get that off my mind. Now y'all know why I've been so bothered by a few of you lately. But, I still like the school either way! If it means graduating with a 2-year degree, I'm up for it! I'm having a lot of fun in the process, too! Thanks to the CHECHS teachers and students for being who you are! Keep it up!

And if you don't think you're learning something new every day, think again. You really are learning something new every day, whether it be something you realize at school, something about your friends, about your computer, etc. I'm only saying this because the geometry teacher eventually made me realize that.

The whole reason we've been busy is because since I last posted, we've done 9-weeks tests, more general work up until Halloween, then we did Halloween-themed stuff, like me giving out candy in a costume at my own house (I posted on Instagram at that time), and then now. We're actually about to take a PSAT, and that's tomorrow for grades 9-11. What's a PSAT, you ask? It's a CollegeBoard standardized test cosponsored by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) in the United States. Unfortunately, the PSAT is not something you can study for, but you'll just have to try your best. It's a test designed for juniors, so don't expect to do great on it, especially on the mathematics portion. Normally, in a regular high school, you'd have to pay for this, but at CHECHS, it's free and is a test grades 9-11 will have to take. What test the seniors take, I don't know as of the time I wrote this (someone actually asked me that today). I'll have to ask or look it up locally. But good luck to those taking it!

I know I've just written a post that's probably pretty large, but it's not just a post. It's a special post written by me and my brain using a laptop. The most important part is that it's written by me... xD
Everybody knows me nowadays... I'm the one that frequently acts like a car. And I've had my share of fun at CHECHS. I hope to have many more exciting days at this special early college high school named Clear Horizons! (It's even more fun, as I'm FINALLY learning more names of people I know!)

That's all for now, I guess. See y'all later!