A Smithie Experience @asmithieexperience-blog - Tumblr Blog

The Past

Hi, my name is Anisha Tyagi. I am a student at Crabapple Crossing Elementary School. I am in fifth grade. My teacher’s name is Mrs.Bates. She is real nice. I am about 53 in. tall. I have brown hair and brown eyes. My favorite subject is writing. This is my favorite short story. A beach in San Diego is my favorite place. The sound ocean waves falling on the shore sooothes my ears as I read my book. The smell of the salty ocean water you just can’t compare. The sand is so soft when I make my sandcastle. But my favorite part is the sunset red,pink,and orange. That is what my favorite place is like. My Friends are Sarah Tanner,Shelby Walker,and Catie Hinshaw. They are the best friends you could ever dream of. To bad they are not in any of my classes. In fifth grade I have a prviledge to go to Tybee Island on a three day field trip. And I found out that I am going with Shelby! I am also learning 6th gade math. It is hard but we have a lot of ice cream parties. You know how there are always people that pick on you well I have a lot of people like that in my life. There is Karina who had the guts to tell me to my face that she didn’t want to sit with me. And there is one person who said I was an ugly cow. My friend Lisa who sits with me on the bus with me says that I am not a cow. But my teacher is really nice to me. Today she played 4 square with us. In a way I hate my life and in a way I love my life

writingsofabookworm-blog

As a Lotus Valley student...

I have discovered what it means to be an Indian student. Before I came to this school, I would ask my mother, “Do they speak in English?” I would picture Indian classrooms like I had seen them in movies- a large room with hundreds of desks that seated countless obedient children. In my imagination, they would follow all the rules, they were courteous and in a way, they were “paper people”. My picture of India was in black and white.

In the summer of 2008 came the enlightening color explosion. Sounds and smells overwhelmed me as I entered my new classroom. “It is loud in here” was all I could think. Reality was so much different from my imagination. These kids weren’t timid and obedient, they were so free with their words and their bodies, I couldn’t believe it! And when they laughed, boy did they laugh! I couldn’t hear my thoughts over the excitement in their voices. The moment the bell rang, however, everything went quiet. My classmates asked for permission before entering the room and stood up for every teacher. It wasn’t long before I realized I was in a place of extremes.

You are a true Indian student when you’ve bunked class to practice for a competition at least once. You are an Indian student when you’ve eaten a potato patty from the cafeteria. Not sharing your Maggi noodles isn’t an option here. As an Indian student, you will have a discussion about life with at least one of your teachers. To call yourself an Indian student, you must at least once publicly insult the Indian education system.

I am proud to say that I have done all of these things in the past few years. I add “yaar” after all my sentences. I even join in the laughter when a Hindi joke is cracked in class. I am that Indian. For too long I have doubted my Indian-ness. I have been afraid of rejection and not fitting in. Lotus Valley has helped me realize you can take a girl out if India but you can never take the “India” out of her.

During Dinner...

My brother: *opens fridge*

Me:

My brother: Hm..I need something. I neeed something.

Me: What?

My brother: *brings container of sprinkles to the table*

Me: You want to add sprinkles to your yogurt?

My brother: No, I needed something to read.

intellectys

scholarships are the bomb!! free money to get urself an education!! here’s my best advice aaand resources for applying + getting some of that sweet sweet money :D

advice

use all of the databases!! the scholarships are right there for you. Take advantage of them, srsly!!! many let you input your criteria + they’ll match you up with some, and they help to organize your applications. You can subscribe to their newsletter and get alerts for new scholarships. there’s a whole bundle below all this advice to getchu started :D

start early + don’t stop: your eligibility for scholarships starts pretty much freshman year of high school, and basically doesn’t stop until you’re out of education, so take advantage of them!!! Logically, applying to more gives you a higher chance of winning one, so keep ploughing through them

don’t let essays scare you off: sweepstakes scholarships are easiest to apply for, but this also means they have more applicants. Do your best work + put time into essay-based scholarship contests, and up your chance of winning something!! Factor them into your normal routine like you would a homework assignment and just keep at it.

keep track of what you’ve applied for: seriously. Do it. It’ll motivate you when you’re not feeling like it, + keep you organized. Set up a spreadsheet (google sheets, excel, whatever floats your boat) and give it 5 columns: title of the scholarship, amount worth, whether or not you’ve applied, if you were successful, + the organization offering it. It’s also a great reminder of scholarships to reapply for next year.

check local scholarships: they’re waayyyy more restricted so the applicant pool is a lot smaller!!! Check your school, organizations you belong to, your parents’ companies, + local businesses. You’ll be competing against people in your town/county/district + it’ll give you a much better shot at winning. Check out your school’s website + talk to your guidance counsellors!

be specific: narrow down that applicant pool early. When you’re googling, look for scholarships that will apply only to you, so don’t just search ‘scholarships’. Look for ‘scholarships for bisexual women’, or ‘scholarships for international students’, or ‘scholarships for left-handed volleyball players’. Less applicants=better outcomes.

don’t apply to scams: be wary!!! Two big things: be careful of scholarships which want you to pay to apply, and guaranteed scholarships. Research pay-to-apply ones to make sure they’re legit. There’s more info here, here, and here on avoiding scholarship scams. Stay safe!!

scholarship databases

unigo goodcall scholarships.com niche scholarshipmonkey fastweb chegg cappex dosomething scholarshippoints nextstudent college board

more scholarship masterposts

college scholarships masterpost by @wonderstudying

how to search for scholarships by @adamparresh

scholarships! by @the-regular-student

it’s ya girl’s college scholarship masterpost by @jesussbabymomma

scholarship 101 by @thisexpedition

scholarships: how to find them and apply by @futurecristinayang

good luck!! you’ve got this :D

Crashed graduation pretending to be a sophomore pushie and ended it with a trip to the airport with Amina. Thank you seniors for your wonderful company. I wish you all the very best in your next adventures. I am so grateful for the people I met and the experiences I've lived this semester. I won't forget laughing through CHM 326, melting in lab, joking during our final presentation and making our product! I am proud that I challenged myself in CHM 321, finishing and succeeding at exams that intimidated me at first glance. I made progress building my identity as a budding scientist by joining Shea Lab. Through it all, I gained further confidence in my abilities. This entire year has been spectacular, and I would live it again if I could.

Ivy day '17

Buying MANDY's ivy day dress 👗

pHunger Games The Games tests seniors' abilities to think like chemists by making them compete to find and correct mistakes in a scientific paper. We were a group allowed to participate as a point of comparison, as we still have learning to do. We didn't win, because we couldn't have, but we came up with the best answer to one question and pointed out mistakes that even the professors had missed. (Top: Claire and I wait for the games results. Middle: a group of us at Packard's celebrating afterwards. Below: Htoo Tint, Amina and I lying near paradise pond to watch the sunset.)

I'm here for senior week. Here's Bisma cutting Mandy's hair right after I cut Bisma's hair. This what I do when classes end.

We said goodbye at Bradley together last year, and this year we said goodbye to Khulood before she flew home. So lucky we could recreate this picture. I'm going to miss my tumblr stalker as she spends her time abroad next year.

Thank you for being a part of this year, Noori Poori. You are beautiful inside and out! @nooritothedoorito

We won the freeze off with our flavor bananazene crunch (caramelized banana with vanilla bean). Maybe it was because we were screaming "if you haven't tried our ice cream, you haven't lived" or "B for banana, B for best". Maybe it was because Amina shamelessly publicized our flavor to everyone she knew. Probably it was because our ice cream was freaking delicious.

For our last Organic Synthesis class, we had class outside. I partnered up with Lydia and Hunter, as the three of us always enjoyed brainstorming together this semester. We called ourselves LAH (lithium aluminium hydride), which worked ridiculously well with our names. At the end, because no one was brave enough, I chalked the answer to the last problem as my class watched and supported me. It was funny to see Prof Shea on all fours writing orgo problem that windy morning, but ultimately we had a wonderful afternoon solving molecular puzzles.

#smithbysmithies #experiences