Please forgive me if my writing is kind of vague. I signed a contract stating that I would not discuss test questions with anyone but I didn’t sign anything prohibiting me from telling you how I felt. But I don’t want to break any official rules so I’ll try to keep it short.

6:00: I’m awake (barely) at this ungodly hour on a Saturday morning. Why? I have to take the SAT this morning for the Duke TIP Talent Search. Yay…

7:15: I arrive Westlake High School surrounded by kids more than 3 years older than me. I’m alone, lost and confused in the crowd of giants, with nothing to do but stare at the floor.

7:45: The doors open and the mass of mountains surge forward. I search for familiar faces but see none. I stumble to my assigned room: 172. “Hello”, said the nice, blonde lady at the door. I stand there and smile at her. “Uh, ticket please?” I snap out of my trance. “Oh! Right, um, here,” I stuttered, handing her my ticket. “I don’t see your name…”, she said, pointing to the blank line, underneath which the words Student Name were printed. I told my dad I needed my name there! But he said mom knew what she was doing when she filled it out. “Uh, it’s Ca-Carly,” I squeak out. Okay let’s face it. I’m a nervous wreck. After telling me my seat number (18), she lets me in with a smile. Way to make a first impression, Carly.

9:00: After about an hour of questions about the instructions, the test begins. This is where I’m going to need to become very vague, as to not disturb my contract. I can tell you at there are 10 sections. 7 of them 25 minutes, 2 of the 20, and 1 of them 10.

Many long hours later…

2:30: The test is over and I can go home. I’m relieved and happy, but also regretful, knowing that I could have done better. You see, missing a multiple choice answer loses you 1/4 a point but leaving it blank doesn’t count against you. I didn’t realize that until after the test, a.k.a. after I had guessed on about 10 questions. Yay…

I am from tattered dog leashes,
From fuzzy, purple lamps and too many books.
I am from the light blue house with the red star,
The smell of wet dog.

I am from winter’s first snow,
The “climbing tree” whose thin branches took me higher than ever before.

I’m from dirty-blonde hair and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,
From Cheyenne and Peter.
I’m from American Idol and the Boston Marathon,
And from squinted-eyed smiles.

I’m from “I love you as big as the sky” and “Different strokes for different folks”,
And “Make new friends but keep the old…”.

I’m from Florida vacations.
I’m from Scituate, Massachusetts and Ireland,
Brownies and grilled cheese sandwiches.

From stories of my grandfather,
Reminding me how much I wish I could have met him.

A lifetime of memories,
Forever remembered in my heart.
These are the memories that make me who I am.

1. While you read this, there’s a veteran dying so you can sit here and read this as a free person.
2. But they’re making that ultimate sacrifice not because they are forced to, but because they believe in freedom and liberty.
3. Because they believe so strongly in the building blocks of our country, they are willing to spent years away from loved ones.
4. Because they have such a strong sense of patriotism, they are willing to endure not-so-comfortable living conditions.
5. Because they are so brave, they put their life on the line… for you.
6. They fight… for you
7. They die… for you
8. But they don’t ask for much in return. Nothing, in fact.
9. For one day, we honor our veterans. We sing songs, we play beautiful music, we hear speeches, and pledge our allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. Just one day.
10. But everyday should be Veteran’s Day, because everyday a veteran fights for you.

Thursday was Halloween and it was amazing! My costume, a Greek goddess, was my best one yet. My friend Lily did an awesome job on both hers and mine (she was Medusa). Lily and I went trick-or-treating with our friend Jane, who didn’t know what she wanted to be so she just wore a colorful wig and we called her….KATY PERRY! But she rocked it. I filled my make-shift candy bag (a Bath and Body Works bag) to the brim.

I’d say it was a rather successful Halloween.

What was your Halloween like? Please comment below!⬇️

Ode to the early mornings and 6 AM meets,
Ode to the inside jokes,
Ode to my second family,
Ode to the loud bus rides,
Ode to the 5K and time trials,
Ode to the locker room,
Ode to after-meet shopping trips with my teammates,
Ode to the power I only feel when I’m running,
Ode to walking the course with my teammates and getting completely lost,
Ode to breaking my record,
Ode to everything I’ve learned and learned to love,
Ode to cross country

Behind my wide, glass windows, that are framed by light purple walls, the rain falls steadily, beating on the patio’s wooden roof in a constant rhythm of plunk, plunk, plunk, plunk, plunk. The steady sound wakes me up. I sit up in my bed and rest my head on the fluffy, purple perfection that is my pillow. My legs are wrapped in the soft cotton of my pajama pants. I grab my book, Divergent, from my bedside table and crack open the ivory pages to where my blue bookmark holds my place. I eagerly settle my eyes on the printed words. I love the rain.

This Saturday I auditioned for All Region Orchestra and it was….terrifying. And extremely boring.

Basically, you sit in room with about 40 other hopefuls that play the same instrument as you (and in my case, the bass) for 4 hours. Then “the monitor” calls your number and you play one of the three pieces you’ve been practicing for the judges, who are sitting behind a screen. In Round 1, you’d play Cut 1, Round 2, you’d play Cut 2, and so on. Since it took so long to get the basses organized, we only had two rounds and played both Cut 2 and Cut 3 in the second round.

I was extremely nervous for the first piece and my bow hand was shaking the entire time. I definitely could’ve done a better job. But after that, the hard part was over because the last two pieces were really easy for me. I did my best and felt the world lift off my shoulders as I walked back to my chair. Whew!

Then it was just a matter of waiting for the rest of my fellow bass players to finish. There were some really good people and some people who needed improvement. But I think anyone who tried out accomplished something amazing.

I only tried out because if I got in, I would automatically be in sinfonia (the top orchestra) at school in 8th grade so I was only nervous about totally embarrassing myself during my audition. Long story short, I didn’t make it in but I’m not the least bit upset about it. There were a lot of other bass players there that really deserved it.

Auditioning for All Region was an amazing experience and I’m definitely trying out next year

In a fantasy world,
Beyond the reach of royal guards,
Above the green grasses,
In a regal tower,

Until one day he came,
On her eighteenth birthday,

Up the tower he climbed,
To be met with a frying pan,

Down the tower,
By her long, blonde hair,
To their escape,
Toward the floating lights,

Tangled

This is the prepositional poem I wrote with my partner, the one and only Lucy. We decided to write about the movie Tangled because it was one of the only topics we could agree on (Lucy still can’t believe I don’t like Homeward Bound).

We’ve been learning the French terms for the different kinds of weather in my French class. French is such an interesting language! What language are you taking?

 “Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will.” -George Bernard Shaw

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