Today, sitting in Trigonometry I realized that Harrison looks a bit like Renu aunty. Maybe it’s just because Renu aunty is also very fair, but well, just that one thing made me think about my India - the world that I’ve left behind. I don’t get a lot of time to think about the people living there, but whenever I do… I get lost in those memories and find a smile on my lips.
Everybody must be looking so different. Naman is in 7th grade now, I wonder how he is doing. Chiki is probably starting nursery. Ria, Shweta’s sister, must be in prep or 1st grade by now. Shweta, Ananya, Akhil, Nikhil, all of Hansag’s buddies are growing up, they are in 9th grade now. Over the summer I got a chance to talk to Shikhar and oh my ghosh! He has a mustache now! Kids are growing up man.
And then there are my friends. It’s their 13th and the final year at St. Xavier’s, Delhi. Right now they are having loads of fun. I talked to Kanika on her b’day and found out that school is just for fun :) I really miss them all. Each and every one of them, I still remember all the names, all the faces, and all the voices. Ah, those great days! I love them all!
Unforgettable memories! Beautiful melodies! Soothing fragrance!
Aug 23, 2004
Aug 22, 2004
I am ready for the world!
Lately, I've been missing GHP a little too much. I guess living at home is fun, but I prefer my own way of living now. I was more like myself when I was away from the people I've spent more than 17 years of my life with. As a kid I didn't know what I could expect outside the four walls of my house, so moving somewhere else or leaving for something better never really came up. Maybe it’s also a teenage thing – asking questions about self and trying to figure out what’s best for me, myself, and I.
At GHP we were treated like mature teenagers who had opinions and stood out from everybody else – unique, yet alike. Opinions mattered, everybody listened, and intellectual conversations were held. We had tons of fun, but it was very different, nothing like I’ve experienced before, nothing like I will experience anywhere else. People actually wanted to hear what I had to say. Whenever an argument was going on, all I had to do was raise my hand and as soon as everybody got my attention I would start speaking. They paid attention and respected me. I had my own style and there was nobody who had a problem with that.
At home the number one thing that has problem with whatever I do is my family! This family is merely a thing to me now. I have to yell in order to get heard, on top of that I often hear, “Why are you yelling?” If I ever ask or suggest something the very first response is, “Now, why would you want to do that?”
To them I am the same person who left this house on June 13, 2004 and came back on July 24, 2004. Nothing has really happened with me on a mental or intellectual level, but a lot has happened with and to them!! Even before July 13th I held personal beliefs that my parents don’t necessarily hold. I had thoughts and opinions before that too. The only difference in pre 6/13 and post 7/24 Geetali is that now I’m more willing to break free from the traditional way of “thinking” or “acting”.
I feel I am ready to live a life on my own. I am ready to walk on the road of life and not clutch onto someone’s arm anymore. I want to have my own experiences, learn from my own mistakes, and not rely on somebody else to tell me what’s right or wrong for me. I’m capable of making my own decisions and I want my number one problematic thing to understand that!
At GHP we were treated like mature teenagers who had opinions and stood out from everybody else – unique, yet alike. Opinions mattered, everybody listened, and intellectual conversations were held. We had tons of fun, but it was very different, nothing like I’ve experienced before, nothing like I will experience anywhere else. People actually wanted to hear what I had to say. Whenever an argument was going on, all I had to do was raise my hand and as soon as everybody got my attention I would start speaking. They paid attention and respected me. I had my own style and there was nobody who had a problem with that.
At home the number one thing that has problem with whatever I do is my family! This family is merely a thing to me now. I have to yell in order to get heard, on top of that I often hear, “Why are you yelling?” If I ever ask or suggest something the very first response is, “Now, why would you want to do that?”
To them I am the same person who left this house on June 13, 2004 and came back on July 24, 2004. Nothing has really happened with me on a mental or intellectual level, but a lot has happened with and to them!! Even before July 13th I held personal beliefs that my parents don’t necessarily hold. I had thoughts and opinions before that too. The only difference in pre 6/13 and post 7/24 Geetali is that now I’m more willing to break free from the traditional way of “thinking” or “acting”.
I feel I am ready to live a life on my own. I am ready to walk on the road of life and not clutch onto someone’s arm anymore. I want to have my own experiences, learn from my own mistakes, and not rely on somebody else to tell me what’s right or wrong for me. I’m capable of making my own decisions and I want my number one problematic thing to understand that!
Aug 19, 2004
4 Hour Nap
I was working on my English project until late last night. Went to sleep after 2am. Surprisingly, I wasn't tired in the morning. Hansag got a little late because I took a while to get dressed, but other than that I was fine! After coming back home I fell asleep while watching TV. Didn't wake up until after 9:30. A four hour "nap".
Tomorrow the Key Club is decorating the senior courtyard. I should be able to get 3 or 4 service hours from that. Peer Tutoring is my number one source though. Nothing much is really going on. Just need to get started on STUDYING!!
Tomorrow the Key Club is decorating the senior courtyard. I should be able to get 3 or 4 service hours from that. Peer Tutoring is my number one source though. Nothing much is really going on. Just need to get started on STUDYING!!
Aug 15, 2004
Festival of India and Manna Dey Night
I told everyone that I'll reach the Gwinnet Civic Center at 2pm; instead I got there at 3:45. I got ready on time, but everything is to be blamed on mom. She took the longest time. I missed seeing Satyan, who waited for me for over an hour. I didn't even get to see him this morning because I slept until 12 (went to sleep after 2:30am last night). When he called this morning, papa asked him why he called and everything but never woke me up. Hmm...
Festival of India was all right, I guess. Nobody from GHP showed up other than Dev. I talked to Dilan, Teresa, Jakina, and Kwanza on the phone but all had HW and crap to work on. It's all good though, the program wasn't that good anyways. The only thing all three of us - Hansag, Mom and I - enjoyed was the Antakshari. The Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge team was the scariest one. The way that lady sang freaked me out.
After that we attended Manna Dey's live concert in Midtown Atlanta. I had never heard about him before, but found out that he has sung many famous songs. I liked the program but hated the seats we were sitting in. They were the most costly, but weren't comfortable.
Well, that's about it for the weekend. Sunday was slow and restful.
Aug 8, 2004
Week in Review
Am writing again after 7+ days. Today is Sunday, and the week starts again tomorrow. School is going great. I like all my classes and teachers. The only problem is am getting a lot of HW this year. Maybe since I'm actually doing the HW it seems a lot, but either way... IT IS A LOT!
AP Government - Mr. Dees
I like the teacher and I really like the class. We haven't gotten into any discussions yet, but whenever we do I'm pretty sure it's going to be real good. Over the first week we just went over the Amendments and had a quiz on Friday. I did well, surprisingly. Now we have a group project - timeline of the Amendments. It's a time pass thing, but as long as one gets an A it's all good.
English IV - Ms. Schernakau
I had heard that Schernakau is a bloodsucking teacher. I think I can see what they meant, but the first couple of days that I was in her class, I got a pretty good impression of her. She likes students to do work, and excel in studies, but she's a nice person at heart. A fun creature! In her class we are doing a "group" activity, which is more like individual work.
So far, I have to write two college essays, and a letter to my prospective roommate. Everything is due in less than two weeks. Another thing we are doing is projects on our summer readings. I'm working with Michael on one of those - creating a newspaper with 4 news stories, 2 ads, 2 editorials, and an advice column. For the other one I'm making a website for Robert Bolt (Author of "A Man For All Seasons").
Honors Trigonometry - Ms. Harrison
Harrison is pretty nice. We are just reviewing Algebra right now and have a test tomorrow. Have been getting practice sheets and questions from the book. I always make simple, silly, stupid mistakes. I had a few questions about a couple of things. I got them cleared after school one day. The "staying after school and getting something cleared" is unusual for me!
AP Statistics - Mr. Shirley
In this class we got started the first day of school. Graphing bar charts, histograms, dot plots and analyzing them is what we have been doing. Also, we are doing a lot of reading from the book for HW along with 6-10 problems every other day. I love the teacher though. And you know what, Shirley's color blind! I wonder what he sees when he looks at the different things. Man, I wonder!!
AP Physics - Mr. Lee
Lee is great. We only have about 15 students in the class, which makes this the smallest class I have. We are doing some basics right now - defining time and what not. One thing
I like is that some things that I was confused about last year, I understand them now. He explained it the same way in Honors Chemistry last year, but somehow they make more sense now. Got a quiz tomorrow.
Computer Programming - Mr. Washington
The slowest class I have. I really am interested in learning C++ (coz that's what they teach in the class) but I'm not really fond of the teacher. We go to class, do nothing for the first 15-20mins and then he teaches in his crappy manner and we get done 15mins before the bell rings. I wish Mr. Smith were still at this school.
Other Activities
I’m the Vice-President of FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America) this year.
TSA (Technology Student Association of America) is another club I'm planning to join this year. They have some really cool things planned for this year. I'm looking forward to that.
Other things that I'm involved in are - Beta Club, Key Club, and Peer Tutoring. There's nothing else that interesting. I am thinking about the Mock Trial and the Big Brothers and Sisters, though.
AP Government - Mr. Dees
I like the teacher and I really like the class. We haven't gotten into any discussions yet, but whenever we do I'm pretty sure it's going to be real good. Over the first week we just went over the Amendments and had a quiz on Friday. I did well, surprisingly. Now we have a group project - timeline of the Amendments. It's a time pass thing, but as long as one gets an A it's all good.
English IV - Ms. Schernakau
I had heard that Schernakau is a bloodsucking teacher. I think I can see what they meant, but the first couple of days that I was in her class, I got a pretty good impression of her. She likes students to do work, and excel in studies, but she's a nice person at heart. A fun creature! In her class we are doing a "group" activity, which is more like individual work.
So far, I have to write two college essays, and a letter to my prospective roommate. Everything is due in less than two weeks. Another thing we are doing is projects on our summer readings. I'm working with Michael on one of those - creating a newspaper with 4 news stories, 2 ads, 2 editorials, and an advice column. For the other one I'm making a website for Robert Bolt (Author of "A Man For All Seasons").
Honors Trigonometry - Ms. Harrison
Harrison is pretty nice. We are just reviewing Algebra right now and have a test tomorrow. Have been getting practice sheets and questions from the book. I always make simple, silly, stupid mistakes. I had a few questions about a couple of things. I got them cleared after school one day. The "staying after school and getting something cleared" is unusual for me!
AP Statistics - Mr. Shirley
In this class we got started the first day of school. Graphing bar charts, histograms, dot plots and analyzing them is what we have been doing. Also, we are doing a lot of reading from the book for HW along with 6-10 problems every other day. I love the teacher though. And you know what, Shirley's color blind! I wonder what he sees when he looks at the different things. Man, I wonder!!
AP Physics - Mr. Lee
Lee is great. We only have about 15 students in the class, which makes this the smallest class I have. We are doing some basics right now - defining time and what not. One thing
I like is that some things that I was confused about last year, I understand them now. He explained it the same way in Honors Chemistry last year, but somehow they make more sense now. Got a quiz tomorrow.
Computer Programming - Mr. Washington
The slowest class I have. I really am interested in learning C++ (coz that's what they teach in the class) but I'm not really fond of the teacher. We go to class, do nothing for the first 15-20mins and then he teaches in his crappy manner and we get done 15mins before the bell rings. I wish Mr. Smith were still at this school.
Other Activities
I’m the Vice-President of FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America) this year.
TSA (Technology Student Association of America) is another club I'm planning to join this year. They have some really cool things planned for this year. I'm looking forward to that.
Other things that I'm involved in are - Beta Club, Key Club, and Peer Tutoring. There's nothing else that interesting. I am thinking about the Mock Trial and the Big Brothers and Sisters, though.
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