Wednesday, November 30, 2011

My 100th Post!

Yay! This is my 100th post! :)
Today was a pretty laid back day since I didn't have school. I got to relax and just let myself take a break from thinking about schoolwork all the time. This weekend is going to be really fun. I learned that I will be doing a photoshoot on Friday with a photographer named Michele Aristocrat and another shoot on Sunday with Tony Veloz. I worked with Tony twice when I first got started modeling and he is very fun to work with so I am looking forward to shooting with him again. :)

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Shift Happens

Today in AVID we watched an interesting video about statistics. It really made us think about one fact in particular, that by the time my graduating class begins college in the fall, the information we learn will be outdated by our junior year. The question that was raised was 'If the information we will be learning will become outdated, is there any point in bothering to learn it and go to college?" We going into a very passionate debate about the subject and there we people on both sides of the fence. My stance on the matter is that yes, it is still necessary to go through with your education because we have to know the history of what we're learning in order to understand the future and not make the same mistakes. Just like we take history classes in school, the information is not current but we still need to know our past.

Monday, November 28, 2011

Mundane Monday

I allowed myself to sleep in this morning before I got up to do my daily chores around the house. When my mom got home home from work, she took me to a doctors appointment that I had scheduled. Even though we scheduled our appointment in advanced, there was still quite a wait before we could see the doctor. After doing a few tests, everything came back healthy, as usual. :) As my mom and I were leaving, we had to give my paperwork to the secretary, Mary Kay. I had never met anyone like her before. Her voice was like the stereotypical secretary you'd see in movies and she did her work in an over the top, cursory manner. The customer service wasn't the best, aside from the doctor, she was nice. We learned that she also works at an office closer to where I live, so we will be going there next time instead.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Workaholic

Today I worked AGAIN, from 2pm-7pm. I feel like work has taken up my entire weekend! I keep in mind that I need all the hours I can get before I go on my cruise to the Bahamas in early December to make up for the days I'll miss, so I bear through it. After getting off of work, I relaxed, watched a little TV, and then went to bed. I am so tired out but thankfully I get to have a break tomorrow because I don't have school in the morning. :)

Saturday, November 26, 2011

The Aftermath

So the Black Friday crowd was pretty hectic but apparently it had died down a lot since when the mall opened at midnight (right after Thanksgiving). My co-workers said the line to get in was wrapped around the other stores and once the door was opened, the store was jam packed. For the first hour, everything in the store was half off and then afterwards everything was 40% off with a sale on hoodies for $15. Abercrombie is a very expensive brand so when there is a sale, everyone takes advantage of it. Our manager treated us to pizza and Monster energy drinks to help keep us awake and alert for the long shift. Even though standing up for such a long period of time can be a drag, I try to remain positive and not think about the time. As we were closing the store, the manager announced that we made $50,000 that day, which is a big accomplishment since our store is small. I worked again today from 5:30pm-11pm and it was very busy since we were still having our sales from yesterday. :P

Friday, November 25, 2011

Black Friday

Today is Black Friday and for those of you who don't know what that is, it's a day where most major retail stores open extremely early and offer promotional sales to kick off the holiday shopping season. It's the busiest shopping day of the year. Most people I know will spend it shopping but I, on the other hand, have to work from 6pm-12am. x_x I'm about to take my nap to get a little rest before I have to deal with this crazy crowd! ;P

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today I celebrated Thanksgiving by going to New York to celebrate the holiday with my dad's side of the family. We rented a very nice and spacious Ford Explorer that had three rows so everyone had enough room to be comfortable during the three hour trip. It took a bit longer than that because a lot of people were traveling for the holiday but seeing all my family after so long made it worthwhile. When I got there, I greeted all the familiar faces, and also many new ones. My family rented out a nice, big space for us to have a big, buffet-style Thanksgiving dinner. While we waited, my cousins took turns singing karaoke to their favorite songs. The star of the show was my little eight-year-old cousin Jenaye.  You can tell she has a passion for singing and dancing; she's just a natural born talent and performer. When the food was ready, we gathered around in a circle to say grace and bless the food. My family really knows how to cook and by the end of the dinner everyone was stuffed!
Top left picture: (on the left) My cousin Jeniya (on the right) My sister Nia
Top right picture: (on the left) My cousin Amber (in the middle) Jeniya (on the right) Me
Bottom left picture: Me and Amber
Bottom right picture: My plate with turkey, ham, stuffing, macaroni, sweet potatoes, and collard greens. Mm :)

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

The Perfect Day

Today was an amazing day, from start to finish. In art class, we watched this really cool documentary called, Exit Through The Gift Shop. The film documents the stories of some of the most notorious street artists in the world such as, Space Invader, Shepard Fairey, Banksy, Thierry Guetta, and many others. Then in English class, we watched the movie, Lord of the Flies. I already watched this movie outside of school because I was so anxious but it was still very enjoyable to watch with my friends and classmates. In AVID, we had our Food RAG (Read Around Group) and that was really fun. Before I started reading my story, Dona told me that I earned 100 points for my house (House of Themis) because she used my blog at her presentation and she said it set a great example and everyone was very impressed. I was so happy to hear this and everyone in the class cheered for me. Everyones story was great and so was the food. At first I was a little disappointed because no one even touched the cake I brought in but after Prosper announced that he would take it home if no one was going to eat it, everyone wanted a piece! I got to leave early afterwards to go to the honor roll assemble, where I met up with a lot of my friends who also made honor roll. The ceremony was very nice and everyones name was called to get their certificate and shake hands with the principle. Over all, today was a fantastic day and a great way to end the week and transition into the Thanksgiving holiday. :)


Before the chaos of 29 hungry and anticipating AVID scholars! 

People ate my cake, yay! I gave the rest to Prosper.

My certificate for making honor roll :)

My invitation to the honor roll assemble.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

The Persistent Underdog

It feels like it's been dark, windy, and rainy all day today. :(
But aside from that, I watched one of ET's TGIM videos. Although it isn't Monday, I still enjoy watching his videos because they are so inspiring and motivational. I would never have known about these videos if it wasn't for Dona. Today I watched the episode titled, "TGIM Season 3, Episode 9- The Persistent Underdog". The title of it just caught my eye. The first principle he talked about was "take the fight to them". If you're lacking in something that you need in order to succeed, you can't wait around until you have it, you need to be aggressive and go for it like you already have it. The second principle he talked about was that you have to embrace the trials and tribulations. Instead of talking about your trials in a negative way, you should embrace them and use them as motivation to keep trying to be better. His final principle is that as an underdog, you have to believe against all odds. You have to learn how to block out the distractions and negativity and get focused. First, you have to have a vision, a central focus, and establish a dream. You can't expect your plans to go anywhere without a foundation to build it on!

Monday, November 21, 2011

How I Feel About College

Today in AVID, we watched a video about three high school students talking about there feelings about the college application process. All of the applicants seemed very accomplished, had high gpa's and qpa's, and seemed very fit for the schools they wanted to go to. After watching this, we had a class discussion about what we are scared about when it comes to going to college and what we are excited about. I know this is probably different from what most peoples' answer would be but for me, college is where I would go if modeling doesn't work out so one of my fears is that I'll have to go to college in the first place. Don't get me wrong, education is very important to me but when I have a unique opportunity such as this one, it's something I want to take a chance on and it's my dream. I feel like if I would have to go to college, I would get into the colleges of my choice, I would just be worried about how to pay for the tuition and fees. I would, however, be excited about living in the city where it is more diverse, meeting new people, and having a new start.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

College Essays

Today, I am working on writing my college essays and it is a lot harder than I thought about it. I guess it'll get easier as I go along with the more essays I complete, that's why I'm starting with the easiest essays to do  and working my way up to the hardest. Right now, I am writing the essay for FIT and I believe this question is the one I can really get into and personalize the most. The essay question is: "What makes you a perfect candidate for FIT? Why are you interested in the major you are applying to? Tell us more about your experiences, activities, and accomplishments." Since I am applying to the fashion merchandising major, I am really excited that they encourage us to talk about our experiences, activities and accomplishments because I can talk about all the accomplishments I've achieved in modeling and I don't think a lot of the other applicants can say that. :)





Saturday, November 19, 2011

Senior Life

Even though the deadlines to most of the colleges I am applying to are around the beginning of January and it may seem a bit far away, it really is closer than it seems. I just want to make sure I get everything done in time because even though I'm taking a year off, I want to be ready for if I do go to college. I see why last year all my senior friends were always in a state of chaos, rushing around everywhere. This application process is something we've never had to do before and it makes you realize you really are a senior and you'll be in the real world soon.


Friday, November 18, 2011

Breaking Dawn: Part 1

Hey everyone. I wanted to do a vlog today just to switch it up a bit. Tell me what you think. I might blog  every now and then whenever a good idea comes to mind. :)

Thursday, November 17, 2011

First Quarter Report Cards!

I was so thrilled and overjoyed to receive my report card today, I finally got straight A's! I worked so hard all through out these past four years of high school and it feels like it's finally paying off. During my sophomore and junior year I had a lot on my plate by taking extra classes in night school, it was exhausting having to take 10 classes instead of 8 like everyone else but it's what I chose to do and I persevered. Now I only have four classes but I still push myself in each of them, and it's not like they're easy A's. People say that I have it easy because I only have a few classes but I still work just as hard as anyone else and I don't take my days off lightly. I'm always studying and working towards school work and I will keep up these straight A's through out the whole year. :)

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Lord of the Flies Movie

Today I watched the 1990's version of Lord of the Flies. Even though it was slightly different from the book in some parts, it was still a brilliant movie full of symbolism and meaning. My least favorite part was when Roger killed Piggy by throwing a boulder on top of him, it was so sad because Piggy was so insightful and wise and he was one of the few remaining voices of reason left on the island. :( He was also super cute even though he was chubby and wore really big glasses, which unfortunately he was teased about as well. (Sorry if I spoiled the movie for anyone but you should be reading the book!)


R.I.P. Piggy :(

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Longer Shifts

Today I went to work and my shift was a little longer than usual. Usually, the most I work is four hours a day but today I worked six, and it wasn't a very busy day so that made time go by even slower. However, I tried not to think of it as a bad thing. I remembered what ET said from his TGIM video and I remembered to think of my job as a blessing and I tried to be a blessing by smiling through it and being friendly and helpful to customers. Working a longer shift makes my usual shifts seem shorter than usual so I guess it's a good thing this happened. With Black Friday coming up, I will be getting a lot of hours and working longer than usual so I'll just have to stay positive and brace myself for the chaos. (x



Monday, November 14, 2011

Rough Draft

Today I finished writing my rough draft for the AVID Food RAG. I was contemplating between writing about my seventh birthday party and experiencing an allergic reaction to avocados. At first, I was set on writing about my allergic reaction but after comparing and contrasting the different stories and asking for my friend Shautria's opinion, I decided to write about my seventh birthday party instead; it's definitely the more entertaining story out of the two. The food I bring in will be birthday cake, I even want to replicate the exact cake from my party. I still remember that day very clearly and I still have a reminder of it everyday because of the small scar on my cheek. It's barely noticeable though and I don't even see it as a flaw. Here are a few pictures from that unforgettable day.



Sunday, November 13, 2011

Sister Skin Care

Today, I had to teach my little sister, Nia, how to watch her face. She's getting to the age where she's starting to experience some breakouts and I know how tough that can be. I didn't know how important it was to take care of my skin on a daily basis at that age but now that I'm older and know how to take better care of my skin, I'm passing on that knowledge to her. While we were at the supermarket earlier in the day, we bought a facial cleansing product called Cetaphil. The product is very mild, gentle, and good for all ages and skin types. It also removes surface oils, dirt, and make up. All you have to do is squeeze on a small amount on to the palm of your hands and rub it on your skin for about a minute, then rinse your face with lukewarm water. :)

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Photoshoot Fresh

Today I had a had a blast at my photoshoot. Everyone on set was really friendly and energetic and I always love working with those kind of people. I reunited with my stylist from my shopping trip, Julian, and he brought in a ton of cool outfits for me to wear. The hair stylist made my hair big and curly which was really cool because I don't have a lot of pictures with my hair like that. The make up artist was, I must say, one of the best I've worked with in this area. The photographer was really nice, easy going, and fun to shoot. It is rare that I get to work with a female photographer but today i did, which makes it easier and more fun because we both have the same ideas. Everyone on set was really impressed with how good I was to be so young and they said they would love to work with me again. Here are a few behind the scenes shots :)



Posing :)

More Posing!


                                           
Me and the photographer, Oriana


Me and the stylist, Julian

Friday, November 11, 2011

SAT Olympics

Today in AVID we had the SAT Olympics. When I saw this on the board I was confused as to what it was about but later understood after watching my classmates before me. Basically, we answer different categorized questions like the sections on the SAT (reading, writing, and math) and we also did ACT questions (science), to my surprise. I got a writing question, which I was excited about because reading and writing were my highest scores on the SAT. Mr. Carney filmed while Jason Gibert asked the question. Jason took so long trying to answer the question but I was too busy laughing to take advantage of my extra time! As I was analyzing the question and answering it out loud, I could see Dona from the corner of my eye cheering and using many gesticulatons because she was so happy that I was the first to actually explain the process of how I got my answer, and I was correct! The whole room exploded into an applause and Dona and Mr. Carney praised me. I left class this period feeling happy and with a big smile on my face. :)

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Day Off

Today I just relaxed at home and enjoyed not having school or work. Days like this are nice and give me a chance to unwind and all but it still feels weird not having anything to do. I like to keep myself busy, whether it's reading my favorite magazine, doing my nails, researching random things that come to mind, it can be anything. I'm not the kind of person that just sits around watching tv or playing video games all day. Even though I have the time, I really don't watch tv all that often so if you ask me about a show or a movie that's coming out soon, chances are, I'm clueless. We have a wii, a playstation 2, and a xbox kinect but I rarely play on any of those unless company is over! I just always want to keep learning, I'm always curious about something. :)

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Parallel Enrollment

Today in AVID, we learned about parallel enrollment, which is when you can take college classes and get credit for them while still going to high school. You have to take a test in the subject you want to take first to see what level you are at, and that is what decides the level of the course you take. If I were to do this, I would enroll in a math class since math has always been my weaker subject, but being in school, working, and modeling is already enough for me, I don't think I  have the time for anything else!

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Trick of the Trade

With a week of experience since I started my job, I can say it is a lot easier and I have learned so much. Today, the assistant manager, Jamie, taught what I should do when someone is acting suspiciously or tries to shoplift. After he would teach me something, we would practice a realistic scenario and he said I did really well and he was impressed. For example, if someone puts something from our store in a bag of theirs, instead of asking them why they did that, I would say, "I noticed you really like this (whatever they put in the bag) and I just wanted to let you know we have it on sale today for ____% off. I can hold this at the register for you while you shop around." This is a more gentle approach instead of being accusatory and it can even change the persons mind about shoplifting in the first place. :)

Monday, November 7, 2011

Thank God It's Monday

Today in AVID we watched another video by ET (Eric Thompson) the hip hop preacher. He talked to us about his acronym TGIM which stands for 'Thank God It's Monday". I never thought I would say those words but after hearing about it from his perspective, Monday's get a bad rep and they aren't at all bad the way we think they are. ET made three main principles that really stood out to me. The first one is, see your job as a blessing. There are a lot of people that want to be in your spot. Especially in this economy, and the employment rate falling more than it rises, you should feel blessed to have your job instead of cursed. Whether you make $7.25 an hour of $725 an hour, there are people in this world that are struggling and in poverty so be grateful regardless. The second principle he made was to stop acting like a child. Stop whining and complaining and start giving your all. Instead of hoping and wishing something good will happen and waiting to be blessed, BE the blessing. Stay after school and help a teacher, get your boss their favorite coffee when you come into work, help your parents out around the house, when you give, you get back. The last principle is to stop expecting change and be the change you want to see. If you want a promotion but you come to work in a funk and act disrespectful to the customers that come in, how is it realistic to think you would get a raise from that? The truth is, you can't. Do what you can and be the best at what you do and that is how you will see change and growth. :)

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Sunday Fun Day

This morning, I went to work and I felt like I had a very efficient day there. I started off helping clean up the store and folding clothes to make sure the store looked presentable when we opened. There was a new girl who's first day was today so I introduced myself to her and she was very nice. We both worked in the front of the store greeting customers when they came in, helping them find what they wanted, and refolding clothes when customers went through them. I wasn't as stressed since I had someone there with me to help do everything and the time went by fast. I hope it's like this every shift from now on. :)

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Homecoming

I've been so caught up with school and work that I didn't even remember homecoming was today until I passed by my school while I was driving. Maybe I hadn't been paying attention but I don't remember seeing anyone sell tickets. I asked my friends if we were allowed to by tickets at the door but they don't allow that so I couldn't go to the dance. I really wanted to go since I had never gone to homecoming at all in the previous school years but oh well, there's always prom! I'm more excited for prom anyway, which reminds me, I should start thinking about my dress and hair!

Oops. 0_0

Friday, November 4, 2011

Casual Friday

Yay, it's Friday and on top of that there's no school so I get a three days weekend! I'm going to spend it doing school work and just relaxing whenever I can. I can't let my guard down though, as I am always on call for work at the store. My friends Sara said she needs a break so I've been filling in her shifts lately. It can be exhausting working everyday but this is only motivating me to work harder and be better at modeling. I don't want to work in retail forever!

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Seniors Are #1

Today was the day of the highly anticipated powderpuff football game. For those of you who don't know what powderpuff football is, it's when the junior and senior class girls play football and the guys cheerlead. The guys aren't as open to cheerlading as the girls are to playing football, haha! Every year, the seniors always when and now that we're the seniors, we didn't want to disappoint. We scored six points at the very beginning of the game and then the juniors scored eight. After struggling for a short while to get back in the lead,we decided to get more aggressive and came out winning! It was very exciting to watch and the crowd was very lively :)

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Setting Up for Self Portraits

It's getting more and more difficult to wake up in the mornings with it being so dark outside. :p I'm always pressing snooze at least three times before I can finally wake up. In art class today we worked on practicing other artists' self portraits in order to prepare to do our own. It'll be a bit more difficult than any other self portrait I've ever done since we will be using charcoal this time. Your hand has less control when you're using charcoal as opposed to when you're using pencil, and you can't erase either. Still, I am looking forward to this assignment in hopes that it will help me grow as an artist and step out of my comfort zone.

Just a little practice

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Hello November

Today is the first day of November and also the first day of the second quarter. I feel like I accomplished my goal of keeping up good grades during first quarter and I plan to keep it up this quarter as well. As the stress to achieve perfect grades for first quarter is over, a new stress for continuing to do well arises. I came up with the concept of having a new quarter resolution, it's similar to a New Years' resolution. Every quarter of the year, I will come up with a new goal for myself and be consistent towards achieving. It's not like me to not plan these sort of things out. My second quarter resolution is to not procrastinate, act now, and think with the end in mind at all times. :)