If I had to describe my winter in one word I think it would be W R I T I N G. Whether I've been working on the book, on my college essays, or on my articles, it's been really nice to be able to just sit down and write.
In two weeks, I've made a lot of progress with the book, I've almost finished writing all of parts 1 and 2 but still plan on going back and giving each chapter a thorough polish before my check-in with Mr. Topf in about two weeks. I must admit that I've struggled with telling myself to stop, especially because I feel my br ain is spitting out ideas faster than m y fing ers can type. The IA has been such an experience, where we've encountered so many challenges yet managed to overcome them, that part of me could keep writing for hours to tell it all. But I don't think that would be very fun for the readers, so I'm limiting myself to the most important.
In two weeks, I've made a lot of progress with the book, I've almost finished writing all of parts 1 and 2 but still plan on going back and giving each chapter a thorough polish before my check-in with Mr. Topf in about two weeks. I must admit that I've struggled with telling myself to stop, especially because I feel my br ain is spitting out ideas faster than m y fing ers can type. The IA has been such an experience, where we've encountered so many challenges yet managed to overcome them, that part of me could keep writing for hours to tell it all. But I don't think that would be very fun for the readers, so I'm limiting myself to the most important.
Actually, on friday, I had a Skype meeting with Mr. Topf to discuss how we were progressing with the book. Something he mentioned was that although we had agreed to an hour a day, it's hard to get a lot of writing done in just one hour, and I'd have to agree. It takes me about thirty minutes to enter what I like to call my "WRITING ZONE", which is when I've already done the necessary research, outlined the most important points I want to discuss, and where my writing is actually beginning to flow. I don't know if my "writing zone" makes much sense, but it's like when you begin running, the first 10 minutes are always pretty tense on your legs and you feel like your body is really heavy, but after those 10 minutes, when you start getting the pace of it, that's when I enter my "writing zone". The point is that yes, I've been writing for longer than I said I would, but it works for me. I'm really enjoying the process and once I know that once school starts I won't have as much time, so I'm more than willing to dedicate what I can now.
Prepping for college has also been a major event for me. Since I am applying for multiple scholarships in different universities, I have to write several supplementary essays. I must hand it to the colleges, however, they come up with some pretty neat questions! One of the questions for the Stanford application is to write a letter to your roommate, it seems pretty simple, but it gives you the chance to be really
C R E A T I V E . Other questions, such as " what is the world’s most pressing problem and how should business contribute to the solution?" (Washington University in St. Lou supplementary essay for the Olin School of business) really put your thinking to the test. I actually find it funny, because after each session of feedback with my mom we both end up pretty brain dead because the questions require a lot of thinking and careful word choice. Most have a 250-500 word limit so you really have to choose only the most important things to write about, and write them as concisely as possible. Up until now, I've finished writing all of the essays that have already been released by the universities that I'm planning to apply to, but the Common App opens August 1st, so I'll have to wait until then to write the rest. The other major thing I've done this winter has been R E D E S I G N I N G my W E B S I T E. This is something that I've been wanting to do for a very long time now, but during the school semester, I never found the time. I wanted to create a website that was very si m ple to navigate through, that had clear and concise information, and that really portrayed who I am and what I'm passionate about. Believe it or not, the hardest part of the process was choosing the right website domain. I started off with Weebly, because I find it more user friendly, but after hours of changing from template to template I moved on to Square Space because I couldn't find one that I really liked. Square space is not as easy to use, but I find that the templates offered have a much more professional and "clean" look, and that's what I was looking for. After several hours of going through the templates, I finally found one that I liked and spent the next two days completely redesigning my website. I'm really happy with the results because it basically sums up all of major service, activities, and projects that I've done throughout my life and in the IA, and it makes them V I S I B L E to a larger audience.
My goal for the next four days--before I leave on my trip--is to continue working on the book and my college essays, but to focus more on my IB classes because I haven't really prioritized them yet. Unlike most holidays, I've actually been pretty productive throughout this one, and I think it's definitely going to pay off when school starts and a lot of work begins to pile up. But enough writing for now, I'm off to watch the final of the World Cup! Go A R G E N T I N A!