year in review in my eyes

Doing a year in review seems to be increasingly popular this week. so i'm going to do my own little year in review, which i'll try to keep as brief as possible. It might not go in chronological order, but hopefully there will be some kind of flow. Here we go!

During the first half of 2008, i finished up my Junior year of High School. With that, i took the SATs, ACTs, and finished the Senior High Project required by the school. i also found out that i passed my Senior High Project the first time, which lifted a huge burden. By June i was all ready to leave Junior year in the dust and embark on Senior year. Also, in the realm of school, i got to watch many of my friends graduate from high school. It was my first high school graduation that i attended, and i'm so glad i attended the 2008 graduation before attending my own this coming year.

In May, i got to kiss my braces good-bye! of course this meant that during the summer i had to wear a retainer, but at least i could take that out. the braces came out about a month before i got my senior pictures taken, which was my ultimate goal.

In mid July, i tried a lot of new things all in one day. See List of Firsts for the inside scoop. the main attraction of that very hot July 17th was that i got to fly in an airplane for the very first time. i had been saving my money for a good year or two in order to go on this trip with my friend Noelle. We went to Colorado Springs for five days, and had a wonderful time! I'm hoping that some day soon i can take another trip on an airplane. even though traveling can be tiring, it's so much fun!

In August i went to a family reunion in Baltimore. It was my first time going into the city of Baltimore, and using a LightRail system. I also had the chance to see a distant cousin of mine play a piano concert.

Along with all that, i had the opportunity to see many events of the Olympics. I admit i was one of those who stayed up practically until midnight to watch Micheal Phelps swim. Unfortunately it was at the time of year when i should've been conditioning myself to go to bed earlier because of school starting a few weeks from that time. oh well...

In late August i started senior year. for the first few weeks it felt surreal. it helped going through the "Senior Routine." Things like taking the '09 picture, making sure to raise my hand in mixed classes when the teacher asked, "how many seniors do we have in here?" and stuff like that. Oh, i guess the part where i applied for college was another way to remind myself, "yeah, i'm a senior."

Speaking of college, i was accepted to Messiah College in November! This officially meant i can start focusing on school more, and not be distracted by applying to college. it also meant that i could focus on applying for scholarships.

I think that's about it. there are a few more things i'm sure i could add, such as seeing Fireproof (if you haven't seen it, mark your calendars for January 27th, that's when it comes out on DVD), and turning 18, which meant voting for the first time. it sure had been an active 366 days. Then again, leap years are always full of action.

In this coming year, i'm looking forward to graduating from high school, and starting college in the fall. I'm also currently looking for a job for the spring and summer, and thankfully i may have some options. All in all, i hope i'll be "feeling fine in 09!"