AVID 10 Year Anniversary Dinner

I just got back from the 10 year anniversary dinner for AVID and I had an amazing time. When I got there, I immediately saw my Avid sisters Bonita and Kendyl and we walked around looking at all the other school's representation boards. Eventually, Ms. Dauka came and she brought ours too. I thought it looked great. Afterwards, my mom and dad came and we sat at the table we were directed to. The set up of the room was beautiful and everything looked so well organized. Bonita sat at my table along with Sharee and her family. After what felt like a lifetime of speeches, the food finally arrived. Dinner was delicious, the meal consisted of baked chicken, stuffing, string beans, and hush puppies with strawberry shortcake for dessert. After eating, everyone from our school's class was called to take a group picture on the starewell. Afterwards, I took a few more pictures with my friends and laughed hysterically at a few kids from a different school having what looked to be a krumping (dance) off and then left. It was a very memorable night and I had a lot of fun. :)

Me and the lovely Dona

Themis sisters for life!

:)

Me, Jamilla, & Bonita 

Me standing in front of our school presentation board.

Me and my mom

:D

Me and my dad

Dance Like Nobody's Watching

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mothers of the world! First, I wanted to give a quick shout out to my mom who has encouraged me to keep up with my blog ever since I learned of this assignment. Without her, I would have several days of missing blogs and the quality of my daily reflections would not be where it is today. I started off the day by teaming up with my sister to give my mom breakfast in bed and a card from the both of us. After we all had breakfast, my mom, sister, and I headed out to Centennial Park to meet up with my mom's friend Michele and her daughter Laurie. They are like a second family to me because her kids and I grew up together (from the time I moved to Maryland in the first grade) and Michele is always so supportive and upbeat. My final photography project is called the 'Swan Song' and the idea is to take one last picture of how we want to be remembered by NTHS. I want to be remembered by someone who was free and followed their dreams. The name of my series is 'Dance Like Nobody's Watching' because I wanted to interpret Laurie's dance skills with the care free nature of dancing in public out in the open. Here a few of my favorite shots.. Enjoy :)

My Avid Senior Farewell

The day has come.. It's hard to believe that after three years of sitting in the audience it was actually our turn to be on stage for our Senior Farewell. The night started with the screening of our (Themis') house video, I wish I could have played a bigger part in it but over all it was pretty good. I can at least say that I came up with the concept of it. Afterwards, we got up and took a bow and then sat down to receive our awards. This is how the rest of the night went, we would watch a video, take a bow, and receive our awards in groups. I won The Iman Oscar of Poise and Decorum. Ms. Casale, my guidance counselor, sponsored me but unfortunately she was not there that night so Ms. Cathirell read the speech she wrote about me for her. I could tell it was very heartfelt and sincere, which I really appreciated it. Afterwards, we got a few words of advice from the Avid site team. The most memorable of them for me was what Dona said about breaking the cycle of teen pregnancy because it is not an easy thing to deal with.Afterwards, we learned who won the competition and surprisingly, not be a long shot, it was Atlas. Prometheus was a close second with Themis in third and Hyperion finishing last. After the ceremony ended and I got home, I look through my Avid gift bag that I got along with my Oscar. There were a lot of cool things inside but the most meaningful of them all was our box of 'fortunes' from everyone in my Avid class. I got so many kind and encouraging messages, a lot of them from people I never would have expected. It really made my night :)

Me receiving my Iman Oscar :)

AVID Seniors Class of 2012!

My mom and I 

My dad and I

The Champ Is Here!

Today my sisters team was competing in the final match of the championships. Lady Tigers vs. The Stars; this game would decide who would win first place and win the State Championships for AAU. Before my sisters game started, the older Lady Tigers team was competing against the older Stars team and the Tigers won. My sister's team was happy but at the same time, they had some big shoes to fill. It was a very close and intense game with the score going back and forth but in the end the Tigers won! At the end of the game, the announcer recognized all of the players and awarded them with their trophy. Everyone was overjoyed and afterwards we went out to dinner to celebrate.

My dad and sister posing with the trophy.

No Mercy

Today my mom, family friend Michele, and I went to go support my little sister's basketball game with her team the Lady Tigers. It was very fun to watch but it was clear to see that the Tigers had an edge over the other team. The score was a blow out, with the Tigers winning 56-9. Michele was astounded by how well they played seeing as she has never seen my sister or her team play and it was funny seeing her reactions. Meanwhile, her daughter Michaela, almost one year old, tried to steal the show (and other people's food) by just being flat out adorable. It was a great game but hopefully the next one will be more of a challenge, as those are the more entertaining ones. :)

I Have Proof

Today, even though it was a B day, I went to school to print out my scholarship proof for Avid. We had to have them in our college folder by today and I'm very relieved I got that out of the way. With that complete, I am confident that I will once again get straight A's for third quarter like I did in first quarter. :)

The Avid Egg Hunt

Today in Avid we had our annual egg hunt outside at school. It was pretty fun. At first I only found one egg but I actually found a second one just walking back to the "cornucopia", the line we had to stand in after finding two eggs in order from the first person back to the last. Maurice had the 'grenade' egg so that means one person from Hyperion had to be cut from the games. When we went back inside we opened our eggs, each of them containing a random act of kindness that we are required to complete. Mine were to show up to class early for the rest of the day and ask how I can help and also appreciate my health and do some type of excercise. We also learned that we only have to do one blog a week for fourth quarter so that we can concentrate more on getting ready for our AP tests :)