The College Process....

Today I started my college application for NYU, although I have well over a month to have all my college applications on file except for CUNY colleges. In particular, the first college application that I'm already working on is the NYU application via early decision. Why I picked early decision: I'm obligated to go to that school if I'm accepted, and the good thing about that is I want to go to that school, simply because that's my dream school. I only have about two weeks to have it in. The question is, will I have it in by then? The answer is: I'll keep you updated.

New MacBook computer is here!...

The new MacBook was released this week.

The design looks fairly cool. The computer is now made out of aluminum instead of polycarbonate (or plastic, although they still have the plastic version available for less) and it resembles the MacBook Air. The setback is the price: the old MacBook started at $1100, the new one now starts off at $1300. The plastic is $1000, and it makes you wonder that when the new iPhone was released, the price was slashed nearly in half, but the price for the computer went up. I really wonder how in the world am i going to get myself this computer before college starts next year. I know I have the time but I have a hard time holding on to money.

Although I'm glad the price is down (at $1000 for the plastic version), I really want to get the new laptop. I really can't hold on to old technology. This is why I'm trying to sell my old iPod in order to get the new one.

College Open House...

Today I went to NYU's Tisch School of the Arts for an open house. I got there at 9 and left at 12:30. It was informative because I learned a lot of things about the college firsthand rather going over it with my college guidance counselor, although I'll have to tell her about it.

My laryngitis is easing a bit but I was afraid to ask any questions whereas the open audience would hear me, and they'd all be like "what?". Of all the weeks, I had to get a sore throat, cold and an impaired voice THIS week!

I'm also going to talk about applying for Tisch via Early Decision to increase my chances of getting in, although I have three weeks to do so. It's a good thing the CEO of my school also went to NYU so I'll definitely tell him about this and see if he can help me out a bit.

Silence is SO not golden....

Today was an ultimate travesty as I lost my voice. I really don't know what the heck happened. I was fine in the morning, but in the afternoon, my voice was completely gone. I could hardly respond to the teachers when they called on me and a lot of kids did not take me very seriously at all because my tone was so high-pitched. It was terrible.

Other than that, today was fun. The majority of my day was spent at a field trip to the Columbia University Medical Center in Washington Heights in Manhattan. I, along with 11 other kids and two teachers went. We left school at 8:30 and got back at 2, so I had spent only 30 minutes in my first period class and I came pack for partially 7th period and 8th.

Thank goodness a three-day weekend is coming up. I need all the time I can get to regroup and focus before Tuesday. I have a ton of work to make up, and I really need to catch up before the semester ends, which is two weeks away. I'll definitely need to use the next 60 hours wisely for other than sleeping.

School follows me home....

Being a senior in high school is extremely hard because of the new changes I had to adapt to as my school entered its fifth year of service, but also because of the homework load and the college process since I'll be entering college next year. It's also become hard to adapt to the fact that school is now in your house because my mom is expecting just as much as a teacher would...only more.

This means I have to change to adapt to the change in an appropriate way, or else I'll be screwed.

School lets out every day at 3:57 in the afternoon, except for Wednesdays, when all sophomores, juniors and seniors leave at 12:30, while the freshman have to stay for an extra grueling hour. Between 7:57 and 3:57 are seven grueling periods of schoolwork, with a lunch break from 12 to 1 (but the freshman have lunch an hour earlier).

Since I started high school, I have remained in the same school, which is a first for me. I've never remained in the same elementary or middle school EVER before. Previously, we spent an hour in homeroom, and we had to report to class at 9. Out at 4. On Wednesdays, classes started at 8:15 and we left at 1:45. On Wednesdays, I skate with some kids under the BQE underpass two blocks away from my school with some kids until 1:00. It takes me an hour to get home, whether on Wednesdays or any other weekday. I take the L at Lorimer to Eighth Avenue, and I transfer to the A and take that train back into Brooklyn to Ralph Avenue (I do this for the heck of it, but the time is still quicker).

I don't even feel like doing homework the minute I walk into my house, or not at all. I get home at 5 (2 on Wednesdays) and I will immediately turn the TV on in my room. I TRY to do my homework, and I'm successful if I even manage to finish at 6:30. I shower at 7:30, and I will crash at 10 (but on Monday nights, when I watch wrestling, I fall asleep at 11). The good news is that I have a DVR so I can record every single show or movie and I can watch it on the weekends when I have ALL the time in the world.

I'm up at 5, now what?

People ask me why do I get up so early. I don't have to be in school until 8:00, and I leave my house at 6:09 precisely to catch the 6:12 A train (that's if I skate to the train station, which is three blocks away from my house; if I walk, I catch the 6:18 C) at Utica Avenue. I get to the corner store located two blocks away from my school before 7:00, and I walk in at 7:20 and sit in the cafeteria with my friends until 7:50 when school starts 10 minutes later. My response to them: I hate being in my house so much that I leave before anyone is even up. I can't get anything done in my house, not even simple chores because of the toll my schoolwork is taking on me. The most I'll do is read certain passages in my AP textbooks for school, and that's it. Unless I have a paper for English, Government or Senior Seminar (which is a class that's supposed to help prepare me for the real world, by creating resumes, looking into careers, and we even had an assignment where we had to create blogs, which is why I'm here), I'll do my Government, Senior Seminar, English and Math homework during breakfast, and my Bio and Latin homework during lunch.

The fact that I'm in three AP classes is even worse for me, and because of the extracurricular classes I have (Senior Seminar, Latin and AP Studio Art), I don't even have a free period. Normally students have six classes and a free period, but because i signed up for AP Art, that's sort of my "free" period, supposedly. Even art class is no joke, and the AP Government and AP Bio classes I take were recommended by my U.S. History teacher and my Chemistry teacher respectively because of my performance in their classes and on the Regents.

The advantage of having seven periods a day instead of six (lunch is excluded here) is because of lunch. Previously, I had seven classes. The AP Art class I signed up for last year took place during lunch, and I had to scramble to get my Chemistry homework done during the last ten minutes of class. Not the case today. I only have two classes before I leave for the day and I can get more done during that time. But I still need to find out how can I make homework less difficult of a challenge when I'm home since I'd rather be doing otherwise.

I know that in the long run it'll all help when I'm in NYU, the college of my dreams, but I really need to think of a plan before it's too late.

Change of weather, change of habits...

Every morning, I arrive at the corner store located at Lorimer Street and Richardson Street. It's about two blocks away from my school, which is why a lot of kids buy their breakfast from there or just hang out in front of the store until school starts at 7:55. The name of the store is 5-11, which is probably supposed to be a play on the convenience store 7-11, except that the corner store is not open that early or closes that late. I'm surprised that that 7-11 hasn't filed a lawsuit over the name of the store.

I've noticed a few things: I get to the store roughly between 6:55 and 7:05 in the morning, and every day I get there, the sun is rising later and it's getting colder. It was 49 degrees yesterday, but it was 60 degrees this morning. This doesn't mean that winter will be delayed because yesterday it was 49 degrees at 7 in the morning and 60 degrees at 7:00 today. It is getting colder, and somethings will have to change.

One thing that will never change: I will always leave my house at 6:09 every morning and catch the 6:13 A train or the 6:18 C train at Utica Avenue and arrive in the front of the store between 6:55 and 7:05. But because of the change of weather, I cannot practice my skating as much in the morning because it'll be too cold to. I'll also have to hang out inside the store until I leave for school at 7:20 because people will look at me sitting in front of the store wondering if I'm mentally ill sitting in the cold. The worst thing is is that by December, even when Daylight Savings Time ends, it'll still be dark by the time I step inside my school at 7:20 because the sun won't rise until another 5 or 10 minutes after!

What I'll have to do:

On November 6th, I'll stop skating to and from school until it gets warm again, unless there's a day that it's feasible enough to skate (weather-wise). I remember earlier this year in January that it was 60 degrees and some kid came to school with shorts! Aside from that, November 6th will be the last day I'll come to school with my skateboard. I'll have to practice skating in secrecy until March when it gets warm again.

The new face of Blogspot....

Hello to all existing bloggers. The name's Leroy Graham (although I also go by my pseudonym, the LRG). I'm 16 years old (although I'm turning 17 this December). I am a senior in the Williamsburg Charter High School in Brooklyn. I live in Brooklyn, where I was born and have been raised in all my life.

A few things about me:

There are a few things that specify the kind of person that I am: my music and my skateboard, with skateboarding being my main hobby. I am a huge fan of the English alternative rock band Radiohead and I skate wherever I go, usually when I find the time. My favorite places to skate are Manhattan and Staten Island because there are a lot of stores and buildings that I find interesting. My favorite place to hang around is in the Apple Store in SoHo because of all the interesting gadgets that I can find. But I go wherever I can. This sort of makes me a native tourist.

When I'm not skating or touring, I am at home in the quarters of my bedroom sleeping. Schoolwork, skating and touring takes its toll on a 16-year-old like myself.

This is pretty much everything about myself. Got any questions? Feel free to ask.