Rent is not one of my favorite musicals, but during the song Seasons of Love, the company assembles on stage and sings, "Five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes. How do you measure a year?"
With this prompt in mind, I began to think about how to measure my junior year. In many respects, it began at the Governor's School for the Arts this summer, where I studied creative writing. It continued with a successful speech season, a good ACT score, some essay contests, and the Keep It Real contest. Now it ends with five AP tests and some more final exams.
Still, a year cannot be captured by a resume. As I have passed these milestones in the school year, I have learned how to take the derivative of the function, how to figure out the current going through a electric circuit, where the term "carpetbagger" comes from, why King Louis XIV embodied the French state, and how to properly analyze a passage. For my film class, I have made PSAs and further explored the language of the cinema.
Beyond this academic knowledge, I have also learned some life lessons as well. When I took the CATS test in 4th grade, I got a proficient in practical living, and I hope I have improved that score this year. I had my first extended stay away from home at the Governor's School for the Arts and have tried to become more independent. One of my goals for the summer, however, is to learn how to drive, since that is the defining sign of independence.
My summer is wide open. I plan to write a screenplay or two, finally find the time to make my short film, and maybe attend a summer camp. My family plans to take some trips, but we haven't decided on a destination yet. I will probably go tour some more colleges, because I have realized that there is not that much time until I have to apply to schools.
As far as the future is concerned, I would like to finish my high school career with honors and leave Henry Clay with a good reputation. I want to major in art history and maybe film and eventually become a film director. One of my life goals is to win the Palme d'Or, but this is not why I want to tell stories cinematically. I have a great passion for film and film history, and I want to pursue this love. Indeed, I have seen some good movies this year--Richard Linklater's Boyhood, Ranier Werner Fassbinder's The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, and Pedro Almodovar's All About My Mother among them.
Perhaps the most important thing that I have done my junior year is established relationships with people. At the GSA, I talked about drama and music with fellow artists from across the state of Kentucky. I've enjoyed talking to Mr. Noger on a daily basis as we explore history and current events. I've been inspired by the some of the achievements of my classmates. All and all, I feel as if I have made another step towards my dreams this year.
That's how you measure the time in a year.
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