Spain has seriously changed me. I can't describe it. Now I just have this strong desire to go back. I want to travel the world. That would be...awesome, in the best and most amazing sense of the word. It's been a month, and I really want to go back. Forget the United States, I'm moving to Spain. Seriously, a few weeks ago I had four different dreams about travelling. More than half the nights in that week, my subconsious screamed for travel.

Well. Life in California has been normal. For a second, I thought I was going to have less than a 3.0 in the third quarter, and I worked like a madman. I ended up with something around a 3.19. So...yay? I'm smart, I swear. I'm just extremely lazy. It's a curse.

I remember a while ago I went to a family celebration of a sort and my uncle's girlfriend (I think) asked me how I was doing in school. This was over a year ago and at the time I was heartbroken over the C's (in honor's classes) I was getting. I sheepishly replied "Alright. I have a 3. 2". However, right after I said 3, she interrupted me and said "I knew you were smart." That kind of shoked me. At the time, I could still remember the 3.75's and above that I was so incredably used to recieving.

Anyway, STAR testing is next week. The schedule is seriously messed up. Fun.

Yesterday and the day before, I had barely any homework whatsoever. It was strange, but I definately needed the break, even though we had Spring Break a couple weeks ago. Lately, I've been feeling really tired, mostly in my eyes. They feel uneasy and spazy. Two days ago I had less that seven hours of sleep. It so easy to stay up, and I had so many escuses. I think school is more important than sleep sometimes. I hate saying this, but the whole "You-have-to-get-fantastic-grades-so-you-can-get-in-a-great-college-so-you-can-have-a-wonderful-job-that-you-enjoy-so-you-can-fully-live" thing is getting to me. As if I didn't have enough relationship stresses already. Is freshman year REALLY that important? (Please say no.)

To tell you the truth, if I was eighteen, I would be working in charities anyway. Seriously, if my career is extremely picky about what grade I got in Geometry, then I'll forget it and do something that actually helps people. This also ties in to the whole "I want to travel the world" thing I talked about at the beginning of this post. I would so much rather build shelters in Mexico, promote awareness of AIDS in Africa, teach children basic subjects in a country full of poverty. Does the difference between mitosis and miosis really matter in the end? I want to do something that reaches people, something that gives people something they didn't have before.

Anyway, I'm done with that rant. On to another random one.

My friend Alex goes to a different school that I do, but we are both in the same marching band. He brought up a very interesting point that I feel I should share. This guy is smarter than I am, so I listen to what he says...when he's not acting like an idiot. (You know how teenage boys are...) His theory is that the point of school is to learn. Any teacher will tell you that. So, because the goal of the school systems is to learn, he thinks that if one gets a perfect score on a test, then they shouldn't be required to do homework. Now, I admit that he probably came up with this theory because he is just as lazy, if not more so, as myself. However, I think this theory is true. I know many people who understand a concept without needing homework to practice. It just clicks. If they understand, then what is the point of proving it when they show it on the test.

Now, I can see the teacher's point of view. Just because one is smart does not mean that one can be lazy. And if a student really understood the concept, the homework shouldn't take a long time, and therefore would not be a burden.

So...schools will probably not change. Not while my peers are in it anyway.

I have a funny story that is in no way related to that topic. Alright, so today I figured that after school I would relax with some online radio. I turned it on and ... nothing. I figured the speakers must not be working. I made sure all the connections were secure. Since my dad works at the Computer Help Desk for the Air National Guard, he taught me to troubleshoot a little while ago. I thought I had done everything, and it was still not working. I decided it was the speakers and sighed as I got my headsets. I plugged them in the audio output and ... nothing. Now I was puzzled. Oh no, I thought, it can't be the output. That would be bad. By now I was moody that online radio was beyond my grasp and there was something wrong with the internal computer. A while after, when I was doing something that had nothing do to with computers, the idea hit me. The volume was muted. Come on, if that was true, then everything would make sense. I would be an idiot, but it would make sense. Turns out, it was. Oy vey.

Until next time.