Accordion to 12AP

I want to be done with this senior so badly. I know there are only a month left of school for us seniors but unlike the other years, this one month seems so long and so boring. I don't feel the pressure of the AP exams coming in less than a month like the years before. I remember literally not being able to sleep because I was stressed over a concept that I didn't fully grasp or a certain question type showing up on the AP exam. But this year, I feel so different. I haven't even started to prep for any of my AP exams yet and I barely even listen to those review videos that I watched countless times last year. It might be from the senioritis or just from online school and it will probably become a big mistake that I will regret in the future. But this thought made me think back to my past years at Troy High and think of some regrets that I had. I realized there are way too many to count.  When I first got into Troy High as a freshman who is barely efficient at English, I had

(accidentally read ahead a bit, kind of have spoilers) Everyday, people wake up doing the same routine things. They clean up, go to work, relax, eat, sleep, repeat. This is probably even more noticeable in the daily lives of online students like us. We wake up everyday at the same time, do the same times, go to the same class, eat, do homework, and go back to sleep. Almost everyday is like this. While I am not completely against it, I do think it gets a bit boring at times. Similarly in "Waiting for Godot" I feel like I can almost see the exact same thing I describes. The same people, Vladimir and Estragon, wait under the tree everyday for a Mr.Godot. The same people come each day, Pozzo, lucky and a boy; each time with a change in characteristics. And I felt like this situation is so similar to at least what I experience currently. I work hard every single day for a distant goal in mind. But like the 2 characters under the tree, so far they have no proof that their goal exis

     With the 3rd quarter of our virtual senior year finally coming to an end, I assume that our huge poetry unit is also about to end. While I am glad that finally I can take a break from that confusing, strangely worded literature for a while, I still feel some sadness that this unit which has taken up so much of my time is finally over. Honestly, I started the unit as someone who disliked poems a lot. I often questioned why couldn't these stories or lessons be written in a more normal way so people can understand them better. The way some poets turn complete sentences into unreasonable fragments frustrated me as those details became more of a hassle to read than something that is admirable. The field of poetry is like a dark forest that I am too afraid to step foot in because I fear I will be lost. However, this unit really kind of forced me to take that step into the unknown. I don't think any of my previous English classes spend this much effort and details on poetry. We l

The suitcase collecting dust in the basement, Full of scratches from different journeys. Why does looking at it bring me enjoyment? Maybe it is the best story of the century.  As I read through the century quilt during that discussion, we talked a lot about how the century quilt represented the history of the different family heritage. The quilt is a perfect representation of how each member was sewed together with another to form a complete whole. Personally, I don't think I have travelled a lot in my life but I still think I have been to a decent amount of places. Well other than my passport what can be something that represents my journey in this world. Of course the perfect thing is that old worn-out suitcase that we should've thrown out ages ago. Thankfully though, we kept it in our basement just in case. It has so many different stickers on it from the places we have been and countless scratches on its outside that are from the poor handling of it from airport workers or

Humans like capsulated viruses infesting the earth, Always taking and taking, an uncontrolled feast When the children are sick and our days numbered, it's too late to change our destructive ways.      After reading that poem "plants", I took in the author's message and started to notice some things that I once deemed weak or insignificant and she was right. Plants always find a way to come back no matter how hard it is to live. Even in extreme conditions plants still find a way to survive. While they do not have a complex intelligence like humans, they can adapt and over time overcome any obstacle in their way. However, I also noticed how humans are the same as these plants or even worse.  I have always knew from media and personal experience that humans are destroying the planet but never really thought about how or why it is happening. We are the "colonizers" and "invaders" of the earth the poet talked so much about. We take all the resources bec

The beautiful poems we read are full of wonders But the knowledge that we seek is deep under We hastily bury our hands in the muddy water Only to find nothing and ourselves no wiser. Poetry has always and still fascinates me. I just cannot believe that such intricate text can convey sometimes such powerful messages. Even though sometimes I get frustrated at the difficult language used in these poems, I still held on to my interest in poems. Throughout my lifetime, I have studies poems both in China and the US, and despite the cultural differences, the poems from different cultures remain similar. I guess great minds think alike. In both languages there are poems about love, death, life, weather, etc. There are so many categories and styles, but one thing remained the same for me. Unless the poem is really easy to understand, I just cannot fully grasp the message of the poets even after 2-3 reads. This really frustrated me because the only times I would read poems are on textbooks or du