Wednesday, January 28, 2026
We were off again today, but tomorrow, the ballet school I go to will be open again. As much as I love exploring and finding new virtual classes on YouTube, I do miss actually being in class with my dance friends and getting direct feedback and corrections. However, it also means that I lose free time since driving there during rush hour means we have to leave earlier than the time it would normally take us to get there. I've enjoyed the extra time in my day since commuting was taken out of the picture for a while.
In other news, I submitted my application for a two week summer internship (I'll find out if I'm accepted in a couple of months), and I'm very much considering applying to a pre-college class at the university I'm applying to early decision (most likely). My parents have already okayed it. I found a class that fits my schedule between summer trips and won't interfere with the internship if I get in. It's not directly related to the field I want to study, but there is a lot of crossover. Plus, with me being homeschooled, this will put me in a classroom environment with other students at the university that my heart is set on, and in a college level course. I'll get a chance to live in a residence hall and check out the campus and the general area. I've been before, but I was very, very young at the time, so I'll be looking at it from a new perspective now.
One other thing of note, I think my mom found another professor on her campus that would be willing to be my senior thesis advisor for next year. I want to complete a research paper combining history, literature, and psychology, and I already know (mostly) that I want to focus on WWII propaganda: how it was used and how it relates to present-day psychological “warfare.” I’m really curious about behavior and why people respond to information the way they do. Looking at WWII, especially the influence of Nazi propaganda on ordinary people and how it pushed them to commit or accept atrocious acts, feels like a good place to start when thinking about how information today continues to shape beliefs and actions in ways that contradict how people once behaved.
I'm really, really hoping that this person will say yes because not only will she be able to help me access great resources and lead me in the right direction, as a tenured history professor, she would also be an amazing person to write a letter of recommendation for my university application. Obviously that would mean I'd have to start working on this sooner than later and wouldn't be anywhere close to finished by the time I would need to submit for early decision, BUT if I can work with her a bit over the summer during my breaks so she can get to know me and my work ethic, then she would be a fabulous recommender along with my Gold Award project advisor who is a social work professor at another nearby university.
I feel like all I can think about half the time right now is getting things prepared for my university application, and it's insane that I'll be submitting ED to my top choice school in less than 9 months! I have the SAT coming up, and I need to get extremely high marks on it. I need to make sure that this summer is fully catered, without overdoing it, for university studies. Did anyone else feel like this before they went into their last year of high school?🦄
Precalculus - Watched video on asymptotes of rational functions + started learning about rational functions + practice questions
British Literature - Copied vocabulary + read chapter 6 of Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe + answered question on reading + brainstormed my personal narrative topic and decided on this title: "Who Tells the Story: A Personal Encounter with the Power of Words" which discusses an article I read a few years ago and how it has shaped many of my current interests involving history, language, and psychology (and yes, the title does come from Hamilton lyrics) + read examples of 3rd person omniscient and 3rd person limited in literature
Spanish 4 - Reviewed the informal imperative + conjugated unit verbs into positive and negative informal imperative
Bible 3 - Read Jeremiah 15-16:13
Comparative Government - Continued working on memorization of European countries (on the map) and capitals as well as major cities, bodies of water, and major rivers throughout Europe
Chemistry with Lab - Looked over new unit key terms + watched a lecture video about gas laws and atmospheric pressure
Biblical Hebrew 1 - Watched video on reading Genesis 3:2 + learned new vocabulary
Apologetics - Watched two videos with responses to two different claims on why God doesn't exist + answered questions regarding the videos along with the logical fallacies of the "arguments" of a non-existent God (circular reasoning primarily)
Duolingo - Completed one Spanish unit + completed six lessons in French + completed one lesson in Chinese
HSK Chinese - studied one hour
Piano - Practiced for two hours
Reading - Read/listened to Sonnets 33-62 of Shakespeare's Sonnets by William Shakespeare
Group Bible Study (Genesis 46-47)
Bible Study (Isaiah 41:10)
Worked on revising booklet for Gold Award project based on feedback received and emailed to appropriate parties for final review
Virtual ballet and variation class
