Work now; play later.

Quite frankly, this saying has been floating around my house for years now. Whenever my sister or I would complain about an upcoming test or a stressful class, my mom and dad would find it funny to throw this piece of advice around. I never really took it into much consideration, but when I read this week's prompt, it was the first thing that came to mind. So I guess it really has stuck with me.

Fortunately, I feel that I do follow this motto. Yeah, I like to unwind after school and check my social media sites while lying around eating food or whatever. But after about an hour or so, I get straight to business. I usually start off with a couple hours of practicing the piano and then doing all my homework in one giant time block. By the time I'm finished, I'm usually too exhausted to even think about doing anything else but sleeping, so that's basically how my life is right now.
But at least I get my work done, right?

I constantly have to remind myself that that lazy kid who doesnt seem to give a crap proooobably won't get into the best college, or any college at all. What's next? Less options for a career. What follows that? Less income and success in general. And while money doesn't buy happiness, I haven't heard of many cases where one was truly happy without at least a semi-solid form of sustenance. 
If putting in a little extra effort in high school means that I'll probably go farther in life than that kid, then I'm willing to do it. I'd rather work for it now and have an easier life in the future. I don't want to have to rely on my parents or work double jobs or not be able to go on a luxurious vacation or two because I didn't care enough in my youth.

I know it's an absolute pain in the butt when I can't do this or that because "oh, i have the ACT tomorrow" or "I have to study for that ACT...yeah the one in two months," but I know that in the end it will all pay off. I understand that with hard work and dedication I'll end up in the college of my dreams *fingers crossed* and end up with the career of my dreams and just have the LIFE of my dreams. 
And when the going gets tough, yes, the tough DO go to starbucks (Caroline Hoertz), but with that caffeine buzzing through the veins, the tough get their homework done, grades set, tests studied for, and life stamped with success. 
:

Blog Post #18--"Read, read, read!"

One piece of advice I got was from my nana.  When I was really little, I showed a strong passion for reading, and I read as much as I possibly could until I was about seven years old.  That was when I had a gap in my love for reading (I know what you're thinking, "What? Anna Freed? Not reading? I can't comprehend what you're saying!").  My teachers had begun assigning us short readings, and I really didn't like them trying to push it on us.  So I didn't read as often for about a year.

Anyway, my nana often came to visit my family when I was little, and she always brought a couple of books with her.  I don't think I've ever seen her without a book within reach.  One time when she visited us, she took notice that I wasn't reading as much during that little phase I was telling you about, and she said to me, "Anna, you're not reading anything?"

"No, I'm not right now," I said.
"Have you ever seen me without a book?"
"No."
"Well, you had better get back to reading, then.  There should never be a time in your life when you're not reading anything."

Clearly, that advice has stuck with me.  I'm always reading something or about to be reading something.  Reading has become a major part of my life and my personality.  I thrive in books.  I can do anything I want to do or be anything I want to be while I'm reading.  My nana has always been an example for me, regarding reading.  She always had a stack of books by her comfy chair in her apartment.  Until her very last days, she was reading books.  And I plan on continuing that sort of lifestyle throughout my own life, just like she did.

Blog Post #17--Bucket List

High school bucket list:

Before I graduate high school, I would really like to see my first Broadway play/musical.  I was pretty close to accomplishing that this weekend, but there weren't many tickets available. :( Anyway, it's always been a dream of mine to go see a Broadway show; I love theatre so much, and there are so many great plays and musicals out right now.  I want to be able to say, "I've seen a show on Broadway," before I get to college.  I'm sure many of my future friends in college will have already seen many.  Joining that little group would absolutely make my heart soar like a hawk!

College bucket list:

During college, I want to learn at least two (or maybe three?) new languages.  I probably won't become fluent or anything (though hopefully I'll be fluent in French by the time I'm done with college), but I just think language is such a neat thing.  So, I would preferably want to learn how to speak Italian, for sure, and then maybe Russian or German as well.  Maybe both!  Who knows?  That would just make travelling a lot easier, and I would be able to read many different books in their original languages...  There are so many new opportunities that come with learning a new language, and I want to gain that experience.

Life bucket list:

At some point in my life, I would like to travel to Madagascar with my dad.  He travels there a lot for work, and when I was really little, he told me I could go with him when I was 14 if I knew how to speak a lot of French.  I took French lessons from second to sixth grade, which is probably why it comes so easily to me.  Anyway, I was too busy to go with him when I was 14, and I'll be pretty busy for the next couple of years to go to Madagascar with him, so hopefully I'll just go eventually!  The culture in Madagascar is so interesting, and I would love to be able to experience their culture first-hand, instead of vicariously through my dad.

Advice

One piece of advice that stays with me is something my grandma always says: "Count your blessings." This really makes me stop and think of how forunate I am and how lots of people don't have the things I am fortunare enough to have. Thinking about this advice from my grandma really makes me appreciate my life and my family, friends, health, access
to food, etc. Not everyone is as fortunate as we are here, so we have no right no complain about our lives when they could be so much worse.

Cleaning Piece

Yoko Ono was an artist and peace activist, specifically known for her marriage to John Lennon and her work in avant-garde art, music and filmmaking. Though this is not a piece of advice that I have stuck to my whole life, I find these few words enlightening and somewhat comforting. This passage was taken from her book Grapefruit, which is considered one of the earliest examples of conceptual art. This simple score, labeled Cleaning piece III, is one that acquires a rudimentary feel of joy and comfort simply through recitation. Imagine if everyone took time to follow this cleaning piece, how much better life would be and how much cleaner our souls would feel. This 5 simple lines illustrate a sense of utopian perfection that is almost euphoric in impact and consequentially a piece of advice I will strive to achieve starting Monday.

Bucket list

(more of a "to-do" list than a bucket list, but that's okay)

High school: cook 10 dishes, make my dog realize he loves me (just kidding), NYO-USA
Before I graduate high school I want to learn how to cook 10 dishes. Part of the reason cooking is on my "bucket list" (more like "to-do-list") is because, by the time I graduate, I want to be able to reassure my parents that I can survive college without eating McDonald's every day. Also, I think it'd be nice to prepare a meal for my parents as a small token of thanks for all the times they've fed me.

College: visit Cremona, discover the cutest cafe on campus, find a freaking major
Before I graduate college I want to visit Cremona, Italy. This one has a little bit of a story behind it. Two summers ago, I was looking for a new instrument. After playing a countless number of violins (including a Stradivarius, what a shame I didn't have 3 million dollars on me), the String House in New York sent me a wonderfully bright instrument that I immediately loved and eventually purchased. I didn't know much about the new maker, Marcello Villa, so I decided to do some research. I found out that Marcello and his brother Vittorio live in Cremona. They sell and make instruments in a small studio along the same street that the Stradivari, Gaurneri, and Amati families made violins hundreds of years ago. Further research led me to information about the history of the Cremona, which is full of distinguished musicians and interesting styles. Reading about the city and seeing pictures of the scenery has put Cremona high up on my bucket list.

Life: learn how to ride a motorcycle, be someone's mentor, attend a Berlin Philharmonic concert
Daring, brave, dangerous. Those are words that don't describe me. I've always been one to live by the rules and play it safe. Heck, the bravest thing I've done is walk past a spider. So, learning how to ride a motorcycle is going to be my wild, stupid, life-changing experience. Don't worry, I'll wear a helmet.

Assignment 18: plastics

Most of the advice we receive in our lives is unsolicited and quite frankly inane.  However, every once in a while we get a real gem and changes our trajectory.  What is the one piece of advice given to you that has stuck?  Explain its effect.

(Prompt inspired by Mary Austin)

Minimum of 150 words - due Sunday, February 3rd at 11:59 pm

I want to do everything the world has to offer. Some of my Bucket list.

My Bucket list is crazy full. There is so much that I want to do in the world and so much that there is to do. I could barely list half of my bucket list in a blog. But, here are just a few activities I would like to do in my life.

1.     Before high school is over, I would like to improve my fencing ranking from a D to at least a B. I know this does not make sense to most people. Summarized: fencers get ranking E-A; you started unranked (U) and the highest is A. I would love to be an A, but a B will do me fine. This could potentially be an extremely influential part of my life. A higher fencing ranking is equal to more top notch colleges wanting me on their team. More teams wanting me means more colleges options and a more enjoyable college experience. I do not say that by the end of my high school career I want to… get accepted into college because I am pretty sure I will at least get into UK. My bucket list is what I want to strive or work for. Of course, get as many A’s as possible  is on my list, as well as at least getting one or two 5s on my AP tests. However, I do not want a purely academic high school career; therefore, becoming a B rated fencer is on my list.

2.     College used to seem far away. Now it’s right around the corner, ONE YEAR AND SIX MONTHS AWAY! Come on that’s crazy. Number one bucket list item for college??? I don’t know, make a best friend for life! I would like to get along with my roommate. You could say going into college it is a fear of many students. What if my college roommate, a girl I will have to spend an entire year with, doesn’t like me? What if I don’t like her? No no no im just kidding. My real number one bucket list item for college is to go to the beach or some fun place like that with a large group of friends. I have friends who are in college and I have seen them do that and I have always wanted to. Virginia Beach would be fun. Haha, I don’t know.

3.     I will die one day. Ha. Before I do, I want to travel the world. I want to visit Europe and South America. I want to go to… ready for this: England, Scotland, Ireland, Spain, France, Italy, Portugal, Greece, Germany, Russia, Egypt, South Africa, Bali, Mexico, Guatemala, Panama, Costa Rica, Peru, Brasil, the Virgin Islands, Chile, Argentina, China, Japan, and so many more places. I want to see the beautiful beaches in the world. At these beaches, I want to see the fishies underwater, scuba diving at least once.  I want to do all of this with a few amazing children and an extremely loving husband. 

this makes me stressed

I'm normally okay with all these blog posts, but what makes me get really stressed and anxious is bucket lists. Like, I'm afraid that if I say something that's on my list and then I die, I won't have 'fulfilled my life' or something. Or what if I'm dying and there's something I've always wanted to do but it wasn't on my list? Or if I had one thing to choose off my list and it wasn't the right one?!?!
I'll still write my bucket lists- but seriously, if I die soon, please don't hold me to these.

High School
1. Make memories- Clique, but true. Sometimes I feel like I'm just floating through, but unlike most people, I really enjoy high school and actually want to be able to look back and think of it as a great time.
2. Be able to work hard enough and get into a great college. Yes, I do want it for a 'good education', but like Courtney Burke, I want to be able to rub it in people's faces and for them to gasp when I tell them where I go. (But not stress if I don't! No matter where I go, I'll love college and be getting a great education!) To make it less stressful for the rest of the year, I'm considering Early Decision...
3. BE MORE ATHLETIC. I used to play volleyball and loved it, but I had been stuck with that sport my whole life, so now is the perfect chance to have fun with sports! I really really enjoy playing sports and want to be able to play them well.
4. Get a job (J. Crew and Ann Taylor never called me back but whatevs)
5. Maintain my very small business and possibly stretch it to something bigger? Hit up monogrammeredith.weebly.com if you wanna buy a monogrammed shirt.
6. Learn how to bake a freaking cake. I'm fairly decent at other desserts, but I CANNOT bake a cake to save my life.

*Make memories! I stress too much and want to love everything I do.

College
1. Form good relationships with other students, professors, and people that I'm interested in working with in the future.
2. Stay true to my morals and ideals.
3. Reeeeeeeead lots of books.
4. Start something cool that can change lives.
5. Go to grad school (business or law probably) because I'll love college too much.
6. Join a sorority.
7. NOT go skydiving (sorry y'all, it's just not appealing to me)
8. Stay close with my friends from high school and my youth group.
9. Learn lots. I thrive on knowledge and how much there is to understand and learn, and this is what makes me most excited about college!

*Start something cool that can change lives. I feel like there's something meant for me to do, and I want to find that purpose of my life.

Life
1. Find the love of my life, have an outrageously perfect, extraordinary, lavish wedding, and have a few kids.
2. Stay healthy and make sure I have a healthy family so that I can hopefully be a great-grandmother and see all my kids enjoy life as well.
3. Settle in a city (in the SOUTH), but only after I've seen other places. While I'd love to travel the world, that's never been something that I just absolutely have to do. I'm looking forward to see where I'll end up after college and then settle down with a family of my own.
4. Have a wonderful career. I've set high standards and goals for myself in this area and I hope that I can work hard enough in college to really learn and establish relationships for future professions.
5. ENJOY LIFE.

*Getting married and having a family.

Bucket List

High school bucket list:
Before I finish high school, or atleast before I start college I would love to go on a road trip with some of my friends. Honestly whenever I think of road trips I think of Mary-Kate and Ashely Olsen's "sweet sixteen" movie, an I mean who doesn't want to be them? Also I'd like to decide, preferably before the end of junior year, what my top school choices are and whether I want to swim in college or not.

Bucket list for college:
My main item for my bucket list for college is to decide what I want to be and know how to be successful at it. I also want to travel or do something productive/ fun with my summers.

Bucket list for life:
One of the highest things on my bucket list is to go sky diving. My dad has been an that's one of my favorite things to ask him questions about. I also want to travel. A lot. I guess for my age I've traveled quite a bit already but I also want to go to Croatia, Australia, Greece, Italy (again), The Netherlands, etc.

A drop in the bucket

1. My high school career has had it's ups and downs. It's had late nights and early mornings. I've had many goals of the academic variety from maintaining a 4.0 to graduating with at least a years worth of college credit. While these goals are still in the forefront of my mind they do not merit the wow factor or the single moment timespan necessary to be my single bucket list activity of my entire high school career. I love running and that passion blended with my misguided ambition has created the notion of running a marathon. Before I graduate from high school I hope to run a consecutive 26.2 miles.

2. After spending a month of my past summer in Honduras I yearned to return, but I also gained a stronger resolve to serve elsewhere. With the long summers that a college education provides I hope to spend time on a continent outside my own and Central America. In addition I would like to travel and do mission work in at least two countries other than Honduras, not because I lack a passion for Honduras and what I encountered there, but because I possess a passion for physical and spiritual poverty.

3. Growing up I always looked up to my dad. No matter what he did I wanted to be just like him. I wanted to be tough and successful. I wanted to be a person people respected and admired. I wasn't satisfied with simply looking like my father had when he was my age. I wanted to grow into the same kind of man that my father was and is. That admiration lead to recognition. I recognized how blesses I was to be raised by such an amazing example of what a husband, father and man are. Before I breathe my last on this earth I want to be a father, but not just a biological half to a genetic whole. I want to raise kids who can look to me as an example and who will want to be the kind of parent that I was.

Mr. Bucket's List

I assume this list has to be school-appropriate so I have to do some rearranging of my list...
1. The desire/want that holds top spot on my high school bucket list is... to get a 5 on the English AP exam this year. I've always been mediocre in English class, getting a B every year. English and reading are my lowest scores on the ACT. So if I'm able to get a 5 on the AP exam I will feel very accomplished.
2. The desire/want that holds top spot on my college bucket list, actually I have a tie for top spot.... but to attend every home basketball game for one season and then play in a college basketball game. I want to have the experience of both the "player's mind" and the "sports' fan mind." I think the two perspectives would be very interesting to compare and contrast.
3. My number one of all number ones is the desire/want to meet President Barack Obama. I just have to ask him why would he want to be the President of the United States and why now? And it would just be an amazing opportunity to meet the First "African-American" President of the United States.

My Bucket List

High School-

1.       Spend lots of time with my family.

2.       Pick and get accepted to a college that fits me.

3.       Travel to a different country.

Spending time with my family is my number one choice for high school because after high school I won’t see my family 24-7. I will start my own life at college and then later in a career. This last year and a half is the last time to make childhood memories with my family and I want to make this time the best.

College-

1.       Study abroad.

2.       Find the career that is perfect for me.

3.       Keep dancing.

Studying abroad has been one of my dreams since I was little. I want to be able to study somewhere that is different to me so that I have a different outlook.

Life-

1.       Be adventurous.

2.       Find love.

3.       Be in a professional show as a dancer.

I love adventure and I hope that my life will never be boring. With adventure my life will always be full of happiness and I will always have something to look forward to.

Life Bucket List

High School Bucket List:

1. Shoot below 75 in a golf tournament. This accomplishment would validate my golfing existence and be an amazing feeling to seen the progression in my game.
2. Start a game pitching. I've been really working hard on my pitching this offseason and I will get some chances to prove myself in relief this year and I hope this will translate into a successful baseball "career".
3. Power through senior year. My college planner is making me take more hard classes. The goal is not to crack until the 2nd semester.
4. Get a pretty good ACT/SAT score
5. Go to a college out of state that I love and hopefully won't brake the parents' bank

College Goals:

1. Get good grades and get into a good grad school and find a major Im interested in. Broad goal but important one; decide what to do with my life.
2. DONT GET FAT.
3. Join a frat
4. keep up with my friends
5. Meet new friends
6. DONT GET FAT

Life Goals:

1. Say that I was able to more for others more than they did for me.
2. Married with children
3. Move back to Lexington at some point
4. Keep up with my old friends

Silly life goals:

1.drive a lambo
2.sit courtside at an NBA game
3. sky dive (got that one from my boy freeman)
4. write a book
5. Meet either Michael Buble, Liam Neeson, Stephen Colbert, Phil from Modern Family, or the Cast of Downton Abbey.

Bucket List

1. The major thing I would like to do before I finish high school is making the All-State band. I auditioned this year and didn't make it so I want it even more. Getting the opportunity to play with such great musicians would be an honor and I would also get to see friends from previous trips I have been on.

2. Before I finish college I would like to travel to Spain. I am a fairly well traveled and I am hopefully going to do study abroad and I would love to go to Spain. Right now I am taking Spanish and I love it and I think going to Spain would be a great opportunity to use my spanish while also getting to travel more.

3. In my life I would just like to be happy with all the decisions I have made and enjoy life to the fullest. I know its a pretty generic answer but its true. I would also like to travel more and get to see Les Mis on Broadway in London (no longer playing in NYC).

bucket list

What is the number one item on your bucket list before you finish high school?

Before I finish high school, I would like to be able to run a 5k. Sounds silly, I know. But if you saw me attempt to run right now you would understand why. Running is something Ive always wanted to be able to do but was either too lazy to go out and try or have one too many excuses, like "its too cold" "my legs hurt" or "i have to play with my cat.
         What is the number one item on your bucket list before you finish college?
Before I finish college, I want to know exactly what I'm going to do with my life. Even though I'm probably the most indecisive person in the world, it would be nice to know how i will be spending the next 80 years on my life.
         What is the number one item on your bucket list before you finish living?
Before I die, I want to change someones life. Yes, this probably sounds silly too. But I just think it would be so cool to be able to know that something you did changed or helped someones life significantly. I'm not sure exactly what i want to do for a career, but i know i want it to involve helping people, and hopefully impacting someones life greatly.

All of these are pretty high on my general bucket list, and honestly I'm not sure which was is better or more significant than the other. I'm just going to have to wait and see what I can actually do, lets hope at least one of these goals happen!

Bucket List

High School:
1. Do something meaningful and fun with my Community service project
2. Get accepted into a University that I like
3. Make new friends and meet new people
4. Get a job

With this big project coming up for the academy, I really want to do something I will enjoy and not dread doing everyday. I hope that I can find something even slightly interesting that will benefit the community, as well as change my attitude towards volunteering.

College:
1. Graduate with a pretty clear idea of what I want to do with the rest of my life
2. Be on a game show
3. Form new relationships and life-long bonds
4. Get all of my best friends from high-school back together and have the craziest night
5. Make it through college relatively stress free

I hope that the college experience will open my eyes to what I want to be after college. I want to have my priorities straight and my intentions clear on what I will have to do to pave my way to self-fulfillment.

Life:
1. Be a good role model
2. Thank my parents for raising me right and making me the amazing person I am
3. Make a more than brief appearance on a major TV show or movie
4. Crash a wedding
5. Make a major impact on someone's life for the better
6. Create something new and innovative

I want to live my life in such a way that others can look towards me and say "I want to be just like that." I don't want to live my life in monotonous solitude, working away my life and never doing anything more. I really hope that I can inspire at least one person to live their life in a way that fulfills their-self  as well as makes other people feel important.

Bucket List

Soundtrack: "Kids on Holiday" - Animal Collective - Sung Tongs (FatCat Records - 2004)

To me, bucket lists seem like a way to devalue the everyday experience. They follow from the idea that life should be measured by the number of exciting things one did or how well life matched one's expectations, but this is too limited in scope. Despite this, I will attempt to list some things that I would like to do, but of course, it is not imperative that these things do happen.

High School:

• Road trip with friends
• Release at least one full-length album
• Perform more poetry
• Write more
• Continue math study on my own (despite running out of money)
• Improve at guitar
• Perform my music live

I am obviously rather ambitious when it comes to artistic endeavors, but I think that working on my art in its various forms is the most fulfilling thing I could be doing at this moment. Whenever I find myself concerned with imminent matters, I always seem to daydream about some melody that has been reverberating around my skull or a phrase that I feel must be spoken. It seems that setting some sort of goals for these artistic endeavors will allow me to focus my efforts and actual create something worthwhile.

College:

• Get signed to small record label
• Travel
• Hike, explore
• Further develop personal philosophy
• Write more
• Actually go to class somewhere in between
• Go to graduate school (stay in academia forever)

College is still a mystery to me, and consequently, I only have vague ideas and sweeping generalities of what it will be like. I mostly just want to use the time to continue the sort of personal development that I have been  working on during high school. College will allow me the opportunity to test myself and my ideas about the world with a microcosm of my larger reality to come. Hopefully, the synecdoche will be accurate enough to help me change my ideas to reflect what I have learned. It would also be nice to write about my experiences meanwhile.

Life:

• Get married (if truly wanted)
• Have children
• Own a record store (or just drastically expand my collection)
• Write at least one book
• Teach anyone anything as often as possible
• Learn as often as possible
• Experience life in all its splendor

When it comes to life as a whole, I just want to find genuine happiness in whatever I do. I have great longings for true human connection and fatherhood, but this is something that must happen naturally. I want most to engage in an interactive learning experience for my entire life. If you aren't teaching or learning (not in a strictly academic sense), you are stagnating, and I cannot afford to stagnate.

Blog #17

Bucket Lists
High School:

1. Get accepted into a university I really like
2. Get my permit/license
3. Pass my AP tests (hopefully with a 5)
4. Learn how to deal with social anxiety (or at least manage it)
5. Read the books I've neglected on my overflowing bookshelf
6. Make photography a more important hobby of mine
7. Become a more active student

I want to get accepted into a university I love so I can prove to people that I'm good enough. I also want to be a bit of a jerk and rub it into people's faces that I got into such-and-such university.

College:

1. Keep in touch with high school friends
2. Figure out what I will be content with studying for the rest of my life
3. Travel travel travel
4. Make friends
5. Break out of my shell, heh
6. Not give in to the stress that will be endured
7. Be spontaneous and live life more 

Living life more is my priority because in the past few years I've become such a homebody and I need to let go of the safety blanket I consider home. An abrupt road trip would be cool, too. 

Life:

1. Get married, have kids
2. Travel
3. Write a book and then laugh at it because I'm a terrible writer
4. Meet people I look up to
5. Be important to someone
6. Read as many books as possible
7. Be happy!!!
8. Also be less cliche
9. And stop using gratuitous amounts of punctuation ironically 

I can't really pick one from this list because they all seem equally important to me. I'm getting all emotional thinking about this stuff. I guess I just want to live a fulfilled life and whatnot, and when I'm old and wrinkly and such I want to be able to look back and be happy with the choices I made. 

Bucket List

High School
1) Go to Prom
2) Get into my #1 college choice
3) Pass all AP tests
4) Do well in sports
5) Go on Spring Break with ] my friends
I am very excited for college and it seems everything I do somehow relates to college. I have worked hard in my schooling career and I want to be rewarded and be able to attend my number 1 school and make the most of my experience.

College
1) Go skydiving (I won't be 18 in high school)
2) Major in something I enjoy
3) Join a fraternity
4) Travel to see UK or the college I attend when a national championship
5) Travel around the world
As of now, I have no idea what I want to do with my life, and I hope in college I will choose the best major for me. I want to be able to have a degree that allows me to quickly get a good job, but I also want to enjoy whatever I do.

Life
1) Have a well paying job that I love
2) Get married and have kids
3) Become a grandparent
4) Keep in touch with all my friends
Family is the most important thing in life and I want to have my own. I admire loving families and want to be the head of one when I am older.

Andrew's Bucket List

If there's one thing I've learned in this crazy world we live in, its that sometimes you gotta say "buckit, I'm just gonna do it". In keeping with this YOLO mentality, I'm going to break the rules and give you all a straight list of buckets I hope to do before I die:

1. Shoot a buck. I've never been hunting, but slaying a large animal while wearing excess amounts of camo seems pretty buck-tastic.
2. One time in 4th grade, I was violently thrown off a horse after it got angry. In an act of vengeance, I will someday put a horse on my back and buck it.
3. Meet MLB pitcher Josh Bucket. After winning the 2003 World Series MVP I knew I had to meet this stud of a pitcher.
4. Invent bucketeering-- similar to 'coning', bucketeering is a practical joke where you buy a large bucket of popcorn at the movies, then throw it back in their faces and run out of the theater.
5. Form a rap group called BWA-- Buckets With Attitude.
6. Get Sandra Bucket's autograph. Movies like "The Blind Side of the Bucket" and "The Bucket Proposal" have made this actress a Hollywood star. I want her autograph so bad.
7. Play for the Milwaukee Bucks. I love basketball, and playing for my favorite NBA bucketball team would be a dream come true.
8. Watch "The Bucket List". Morgan Freeman is one of my faves.
9. Make a few bucks and buy an NFL team, preferably one down south. I would call my new team the Tampa Bay Bucketeers.
10. Become a director and make a romantic movie about a music teacher and a house painter, called "The Notebucket".

My most important goal is probably to invent bucketeering. I feel like this movement could really take off, especially on Youtube. Being remembered for a childish prank is my life goal, at this point.

I hope you have enjoyed my bucket list. I didn't mean to go all buck wild on you with the puns, but hey, lets break the monotony. Buck-bye.

Bucket List

High School:
-Be in another show at Lexington Children's Theatre
-Attempt NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month)
-Go to prom
-Be okay with my grades/test scores, whatever they are (this is more of a goal than a bucket list item, but that's okay)
-Make a well-informed college decision
     Currently, my top priority is to be in another show with LCT. I've acted in five productions there--one per year since sixth grade--and they have been some of the best times of my life. Theatre was the main thing that brought me out of my shell as a child, and I have only grown to love it more. I've considered following it as a career, but the more logical side of me has moved past that idea. Regardless, I still love theatre and I intend to keep being a part of it.

College:
-Major in something I love
-Keep theatre as a part of my life, but not necessarily as my career plans
-Take fun classes as well as the necessary ones
-Go abroad for a semester/year (possibly Spain?)
-Take risks! (Good risks. Like auditioning for shows. No bad risks.)
     It was hard to pick which of these would be my priority; all of these are really important to me, even if some are riskier than others. I decided on majoring in something that I love because, really, what's the point of college if I'm going to spend all my time studying something that I despise? I want to know that I'll enjoy my college experience as well as my career.

Life:
-Learn American Sign Language
-Become fluent in Spanish
-Have a family
-Write/publish a book
-See the musical "next to normal" live
-Go sky-diving
-Travel as much as possible
-BE A BETTER SINGER (hah at least I can't get any worse)
     Choosing my priority out of these was also really difficult...of course I want to have a family, and of course I want to travel, and of course of course of course to all of them! I decided on learning languages--ASL and Spanish--because they'll be wildly useful and also really fun. Like I said earlier, I want to study abroad, hopefully in a Spanish-speaking country, and become fluent. Also, I've always wanted to know sign language, and I'm actually considering doing that for my mentoring project next year.

Most of all, I want to be happy, as cliche as that is. Being okay with myself and being confident and enjoying myself is important to me in high school, in college, and for the rest of my life.

Crazy Bucket List

High School Bucket List:

• send something to space
• win a volleyball tournament 
• star in a minor film as an extra
• make riding horses a hobby
• actually have a good audition for clarinet

College Bucket List:

• participate in Survivor
• travel around the world
• study in another country
• build a model rocket from scratch
• don't go into debt

Life Bucket List:

• live a full life
• go skydiving
• live in the mountains
• live on the beach
• discover gold
• watch the entire Harry Potter Movie series in one week
• many other things

The Top Items on my Crazy Bucket List:
Because the inevitable looming high school graduation creeping ever closer, the number one item on my crazy bucket list is to send something to space. A little explanation for this crazy out-of-this-world idea? There is a chance that as my mentoring project I could maybe possibly work in a space systems laboratory at UK. In this lab they work on cube labs (little cubes that contain one science experiment that get sent up to the space station) and satellites and many many other very interesting projects run by the college students. Ever since I was really young, I have wanted to become an astronaut of some sort or another (a long time ago it was a dentist in outer space). Since then, practically growing up in my mom's and my dad's labs has kindled my interest in the Hubble Space Telescope (which my mom worked on a part of when she was just out of college) and other mechanical systems including airplanes and even flying cars. This might be pretty geeky(?), but it just seems like fulfilling a dream just like a young athlete does playing their sport. 

For ever exciting college quickly approaching, the top item on my crazy bucket list is to participate in the show Survivor.... Yes that is my top item. It may sound a bit, well, crazy, but for me it isn't. I've been a huge fan of survivor forever... like I've been watching since the third or fourth season came out every and every season since. Some of the contestants are college aged and it seem to be about the right age to be on that show, to outwit, outplay, and outlast the other contestants. I feel that I am good at trickery and scheming. Both needed traits for Survivor!

My absolutely top top item on my crazy long bucket list to do before I die is to live a full life. I'm not sure if this counts, but right now, that's my top priority. On my death bed, I want to feel like I have made a lasting positive impact on someone's life-in my family or outside of my family. Maybe in the coming years I will think of something better like flying to paradise in my house lifted by balloons or saving the world by creating a life on mars... but until then, this is my greatest top item on my crazy bucket list. 

This is a lame Bucket List

High School List:

• Go to LeakyCon 2013 in London
• Obligatory academic goal: Get 5's on all AP tests
• Complete a long term assignment without procrastinating
• Make a friend without Annie or Laura's help
• Go at least a week without using the internet
• Eat a piece of broccoli
• Get my license at some point, since I haven't even gotten my permit yet
• Get a life

Even though it may seem pathetic, LeakyCon is the most important task on my high school list. It was a really meaningful experience, one that I would most definitely like to have again. I would also really like to meet up with my friends that I made last year. Plus its just plain fun.

College List

• Make some Doctor Who friends, which shouldn't be too difficult a task
• Not hiding in my room 24/7, even though I would be completely fine with that, but Annie would not approve.
• Major in something I enjoy
• Watch the sacred ceremony of couch burning (but probably not)
• Stay in touch with my current friends. Maybe. They're not that great.

The most important item on this list would be majoring in something I really enjoy. This has been a point of worry for me for the past few years, so I would be very proud of myself if I could finally figure out what I want to do with my life. 

 

Life List

• Take a trip to Scotland and meet some relatives
• Watch Season 3 of Sherlock. I'm praying that I won't die within the next year or so so that I can accomplish this one. I have high hopes, though, considering that they've finally begun production!

IT'S THE DOOR!

• Build a functioning TARDIS
• Eat a whole roll of Toll House cookie dough as fast as I can
• Find Hogwarts
• Get an autograph from a famous person and actually saying something intelligent instead of squealing like a fangirl 
• Find a job that involves limited human contact
• Go to LeakyCon for the rest of my life
• Have a sweet 16 when I turn 64
• Set fire to the rain
• Curse at some point
• Find the Holy Grail
• Have my friends from high school be bridesmaids in my wedding. My wedding to a fictional character, that is. Good grief, I can't manage to make any of these serious.

 I would really like to visit Scotland the most out of all of these tasks. My Grammy (great grandmother) was from Scotland and my mom always talks quite fondly of her and it makes me a bit sad that I was never able to know her. If I went to Scotland and visited some of my relatives that I've never met, then I would feel just a little closer to her. And it's freakin' gorgeous there. 

Well none of these are very bucket list-y. Not very risky or anything. Oh well. I'm happy with my choices. 

More Buckets

I couldn't really find clear cut number one's for each of my lists. So, I thought I'd just post my top 3 for each.

For High School:
1. Get into one of the top tier universities. It would be nice to earn my place in one or more of the top 20 or so institutions.
2. Pull a 6 AP Sweep Senior Year. I'm planning to load up my schedule with AP Classes. With the addition of the Senior Mentoring Project, it's going to be the ultimate test of my academic career.
3. Lead the Student Section Senior Year. I've been paying my dues by following both the basketball and football teams since Freshman Year. I'm determined to help give them the best home court advantage.

For College:
1. Graduate with Honors. I definitely want to make the most out of my time in college. Hitting that mark would certainly signify that.
2. Do well on the LSAT and get into Law School. I really would like to go into a legal based profession. The LSAT has become the gateway for such aspirations
3. Camp outside for basketball tickets. I'm one of the few people who are willing to wreck their body clocks for a spot on the front lines.

For Life:
1. See the United States win the World Cup. I know it's a longshot, but if I ever saw this I think I would be pretty satisfied.
2. See UCLA win another National Championship. Since I've been alive, the Bruins have not won the NCAA Tournament. I just hope I get to see it in my lifetime. The last time it happened was in 1995. I was born the following year.
3. Retire back in Southern California. I would love to get to go back home someday. I certainly miss Newport Beach and the warm California Sunshine all year long.

Bucket List

HIGH SCHOOL BUCKET LIST

1. Maintain my 4.0
2. Decide what career I want to go into
3. Visit colleges
4. Don’t get lazy senior year
5. Pass all AP tests
6. Stop hating presenting things in class

Deciding what career I want to go into is the most important to me. This is such a huge decision and I don’t want to make the wrong one. There are lots of things I enjoy doing but don’t know if I particularly want to make a career out of them.

COLLEGE BUCKET LIST

1. Get into a good college
2. Feel like I made the right choice in a college
3. Take classes I enjoy
4. Make new friends
5. Be involved
6. Don’t make stupid YOLO decisions

Getting into a good college is number one. Your college is so influential on your future and I don’t want to go to just some decent one.

OVERALL BUCKET LIST

1. Travel the world
2. Become fluent in 2+ other languages
3. Get married
4. Have kids
5. Be happy

Number one on this list is travel the world. I’ve always wanted to travel but my parents don’t like it, so I haven't been able to yet. I want to see the world before I die.

Bucket List

Bucket List for High School:
Get All A's
Do research at UK for mentoring
Do a large scale community service project for UNICEF
Get Ingram Scholarship from Vandy
Get Singletary Scholarship from UK
Squeeze the Diversity Scholarship for everything its worth
Win State in Public Forum Debate
Make my parents proud of me
Sleep

Number one thing is get Ingram Scholarship so that i will get into the school of my dreams without being a burden on my parents and being able to be independent.

Bucket List for College:
Get all A's
Be in a good college
Make my parents proud of my college achievements
Get into good Medical School
Live  a little
Make friends
Find myself

Number on thing is Get into medical school as that is the course my life will go in the future.

Bucket List for Life:
Become a neuroscientist
Do research on genetic engineering or something of the sort
 Create a private practice or multi million dollar industry  - either with my knowledge of the human body to privatize on certain genetic achievements only applicable to the highest bidder or simply invent and patent a creation to revolutionizes some industry
Make bank
Make my parents proud
Become successful and then somehow find time for happiness.

Number one thing is to be successful and somehow find time for happiness because they are two very separate things in my opinion.

Bucket List

High School Bucket List

• Choose the college that truly fits my personality and preferences regardless of ranking
• Try to find passion in every single subject I study 
• Take an interest in my childhood before it leaves me once and for all time by not being afraid to embarrass myself 
• Spend a month in France living the culture that I truly love

This is my number one on my high school list because I absolutely love traveling not to see the sights, but to savour a local culture and way-of-life. Being the francophile that I am, what better place than France?

College Bucket List

• Get as many internships as possible to discover the career path that suits me the best
• Not being afraid of going outside of my comfort zone by taking classes that are not the easiest for me personally
• Get to know my professors not only as teachers, but as friends and colleagues in the field of knowledge
• Remain calm and confident in my abilities as a student
• Study abroad as many times as possible

To me knowledge is not only about success in an academic environment like it is for some others, I enjoy learning for the sake of learning to enhance my world view and help me understand the perspectives of others. Professors typically share this view of learning so I figured that they would be the first place to start learning.

Life Bucket List

• Find my soul mate who may not share the same interests but who can enlighten me on areas of life that I am not familiar with
• Not get married until I feel absolutely comfortable with the relationship and the future with one individual
• Be on CNN
• Meet as many world leaders as possible 
• Work at the State Department, USAID, or the UN
• Travel, travel, travel!

This is probably pretty cliche, yet I believe it is the most important in life because relating back to my thoughts about knowledge, one can never learn too much and talking to others with different interests benefits everyone. 

Bucket List

HIGH SCHOOL BUCKET LIST

1.      College tours

2.      Finish apps at least the night before deadlines

3.      Don’t stress too much

4.      Meet new people

5.      Get craftier

6.      Get more organized

7.      Learn how to cook and bake more things

8.      Avoid senioritis?

9.      Graduate

10.   Send a message in a bottle

Cooking is important for college and life and baking is just fun. At the moment my cooking repertoire is kind of limited to Asian food, which gets boring pretty darn quick, and my baking is usually out of a box. So yea, thats kind of important to me. 

COLLEGE BUCKET LIST

1.      Study abroad

2.      Go on an adventure

3.      Solve a mystery

4.      Vote!

5.    Continue learning Arabic and Persian

6.      Hitchcock marathon

7.      Attempt the Vermonster with friends

8.      Keep off the Freshman 15, which may be impossible because of the Vermonster

9.      Intern somewhere cool

10.   Go to Coachella

What’s life without living it up a little? And getting a stomach ache and wanting to kick yourself for trying to eat 14,000 calories in ice cream, brownies, fudge and other yummies? Maybe I should save that challenge for a pity party. Or for whenever I want my heart to turn into sugar.  

LIFE BUCKET LIST

1.      Go in a hot air balloon

2.      Go deep sea diving

3.      Go island hopping in Southeast Asia

4.      Learn something new everyday

5.      Love whatever I end up doing

6.      Spontaneous trip somewhere

7.      Backpacking in Europe

8.      Go on a Mediterranean cruise 

9.      Have a family

10.   Be happy

Being happy is really cliché, but I think that’s the most important. Everything else on my bucket list would bring me happiness, so that really is the ultimate goal, isn’t it? 

Bucket List

Number one priorities are highlighted!!!!!

HIGH SCHOOL BUCKET LIST

1) Go on a road trip or any trip at all with my friends.

2) Be a part of a prank that I'll never forget

3) Get a really great academic award. 

4) Figure out what the heck I want to study in college and what I want to do for the rest of my existence.

5) Get senioritis to the point where I'll still get A's in my classes but will be stress free

6) Go to Prom 

7) Get my freaking permit for god's sake.

8) Sappy rom-com movie marathon 

9) Get into one of my top choice colleges in New York/Chicago oh please oh please 

COLLEGE BUCKET LIST

1) Not buckle under the pressure

2) Not become a hermit that confines myself to a life of rectitude and online blogging. 

3) Exercise!

4) Tour the city aka my new home for four years

5) Get good grades

6) Get a realllllllllllly good internship somewhere

7) Study what I want to study and find a set career path for after college

LIFE BUCKET LIST

1) Find my soul mate

2) Get married and have 2 or 3 children

3) Go to Europe, South Korea, Iceland, the Caribbean, and remote islands around the globe.

4) Save someone's life in one way, shape, or form.

Assignment 17: Buckets and Buckets

Welcome to your first blog prompt for 2013! Yay!

A bucket list is a list of everything you want to accomplish before you kick the bucket. That doesn't mean you can't have such a list for specific aspects of your life as well.

To begin the year, generate your own bucket lists - one for high school, one for college, and one for life. Then, write about the priority on each list.

1. What is the number one item on your bucket list before you finish high school?
2. What is the number one item on your bucket list before you finish college?
3. What is the number one item on your bucket list before you finish living?

(This blog is inspired by Axel Liimatta - my friend and former colleague that inspires me to live every day more fully)

Minimum of 150 words - due Sunday, January 27 at 11:59 pm

Speech

                In the United States, we drive 8 billion miles per day.  Think about this:  8 billion miles is equivalent to circling the Earth 320 thousand times.  Eight billion miles produces roughly 4.1 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions, depending on a car’s miles per gallon.  That’s what 8 billion miles of driving does, all coming just from our country, in one day.  Imagine what an entire year of this does to our planet’s atmosphere.  Have I caught your attention yet?

                Our country has a serious problem, an addiction to fossil fuel combustion.  We use gas like there’s no tomorrow, and as we do so, we alter what tomorrow will be.  Every day, we turn the heat on in our houses, we take our cars to school or work, and let’s not forget that Almighty Electricity has come to rule our lives.  All of these seemingly small tasks add up; they contribute to our nation’s carbon dioxide emissions, which further contribute to Earth’s upcoming climate change.  Our nation supplies nearly one fifth of the entire world’s carbon dioxide emissions, and as citizens of this country and this world, we should try to fix that.  People need to adopt more CO₂-reducing activities.  In order to encourage these activities, we will first discuss how carbon dioxide-expensive activities are affecting our lives currently, what can be done to decrease these actions, and the consequence of not preventing them.

                So, how exactly are carbon dioxide emissions affecting our country today?  Increased levels of CO₂ in Earth’s atmosphere are widely believed to be linked to climate change.  Researchers attest that climate change has influenced recent increases in the intensity and frequency of hurricanes.  Mark Wysocki, a Cornell University climatologist, states that CO₂-induced climate change (or “global warming”) “rais[es] the background in which such storms like Sandy can develop ... climate change will provide more opportunities for extreme storms to develop."  As we emit more carbon dioxide, temperatures increase, including in ocean waters; hotter waters produce more water vapor, which, in turn, causes more intense storms and hurricanes.  Fun fact:  In the top 15 busiest hurricane seasons list, 2010, 2011, and 2012 are tied at the number three spot with ­19 storms each year.  Including these three very recent years, ten out of the top 15 years in this list are from 2000 and on.  As the quantity and intensity of hurricanes and storms rises, so does another harmful CO₂-affected danger:  air pollution.  One of the most detrimental types of air pollution is ozone, produced from the emissions of burning fossil fuels, especially from factories and cars.  As we keep these productions steady, we add more and more ozone to the atmosphere, which causes ozone pollution.  Ozone pollution can cause short term damages to our health, such as skin and respiratory system irritations, or long term damages, such as impaired lung function.  While ozone pollution is higher in metropolitan areas, it does hit closer to home with the following ranking.  The Cincinnati area ranks number 21 out of 277 for the highest ozone-polluted air.  If that is not upsetting to you, consider that it is currently ahead of Atlanta in that ranking.

                Caring about and changing the community for the better is imperative, but most people don’t have a clue where to start or the motivation to do so.  Many simple changes can be made to our daily patterns.  Turn off your lights, and open the blinds when it’s sunny; if you’re not watching the TV, don’t have it on; recycle and reuse; switch to energy-efficient CFL light bulbs; try to receive documents electronically rather than in paper form so that deliveries by truck are reduced.  One specific area with room for improvement concerns cars and buses.  Here at Henry Clay, we lack an emphasis on student carpooling.  If you have a sibling or a neighbor who goes to our school, drive them!  Better yet, take the bus to school!  These methods are incredibly simple, but if we all implement them, we can greatly reduce our carbon footprint.

                Even though these ways of keeping our emissions in check are rather undemanding, some simply do not care or want to take the time to perform these actions.  However, in neglecting or ignoring these tasks, consequences will be brought upon our planet.  By 2100, the average global temperature is predicted to increase at least twice as much as it has in the last 100 years.  Also by this time, average temperatures on Earth could rise between two and 11.5 degrees Fahrenheit.  For every two degrees increase in temperature, 15% of the averaged sea ice will have melted; this will greatly contribute to sea levels rising, which are predicted to rise anywhere between 30 inches and 72 inches by 2100.  As the carbon dioxide emissions dissolve into the ocean, the acidity of the oceans becomes greater.  Since pre-industrial times, ocean acidity has increased by 25%, and over the next several decades it will greaten far more; researchers expect that it will cause the extinctions of roughly 30% of marine species.  All of these changes will impact our own lives.  Temperature changes will affect the growth of crops and the forest population.  Sea level changes will affect fisheries, coastal living, and storm surges.  Ocean acidity will affect the marine life, killing off a portion of our food economy.  One effect that stands above them all, though, is the continually increasing air pollution, which will, in time, majorly affect our health.  Air pollution created by power plants alone kills approximately 13,000 people every year.  In 2010, 3.2 million people worldwide died from total air pollution, though especially from vehicles.  Imagine how many more will die as our atmosphere deteriorates even further into the future.

                Clearly, we need to take action.  Currently, carbon dioxide emissions are causing several disasters, including an increase in hurricane intensity and air pollution.  Ways exist for us to take action and make a change to end our old bad habits.  If we do not perform these tasks to take care of our planet, our lives will change for the worse.  Not only will our environment be at risk, but our health as well.  For those inclined to do even more, consider purchasing a hybrid or electric car, encouraging your local politician to support legislation that would improve our emissions standards, visiting the Environmental Protection Agency’s website, or watching the documentary, An Inconvenient Truth.  Whether our steps are small or ground-shaking, we need to come together to face this terrible burden that could haunt us for generations to come.  Thank you.