Science Research Project: The Cause of My Doom

Helloo family! How is September treating you?  What about the weather? Good?
Not for us.
It's been rainging for two weeks straight.
Thanks, Mother Nature.

Other than that, things have been good in the Matta home.  Life goes on as usual, eat, sleep, work, eat again, you know the drill...
But there have been and will be a few events that are worth the mention, so let me catch you up...

Nick and I have been going to school for 4 weeks.  Which have literally felt like 5 years.  I have never been so stressed out in my LIFE.

A main cause of my stress is due to a little thing called SRP, a.k.a, Science Research Project.
I haven't told you all about this little assignment yet because it is has caused so much inner trauma in me that I wouldn't have been able to even explain it, even though I have been working on this for 3 months.

But school just started, you say. Well yes. And no.

Last year, when we were given the sheet to choose our classes for 9th grade, we had 3 options for science.  Earth Science Academic, Earth Science Honors, and Biology. Both Earth Science classes are for 9th graders, and even though Biology is offered to 9th grade students, it technically is a 10 grade class.  Another thing about taking Biology, is that the big science research project that every student must complete by 10th grade, has to be completed in one year instead of two. So for example, if I take Earth Science Honors, then I would work on my science project all of 9th grade, and then half of 10th grade.  If I take Earth Science Academic, then I am not required to do the project. 

But if you choose Biology as a 9th grader, then you must complete the project in 9th grade, period.
Don't be fooled...this is not your average, 'pick-a-topic-and-write-an-essay-about-it' research project.  This is an actual experimentation research project, where you have to create a hypothesis, create the experiment, collect the data, write several papers on it, and then present your project at a big-deal science fair and get judged by actual looney-tunes scientists.  This is no poster-board, last-minute thing. This is a MAJOR project.

And since I am taking Biology, that means I skipped the 9th grade course, where you do 8 assignments for the project, and the rest is finished in Biology.  So I had do complete those 8 assignments over the summer, on my own.  There were due dates and limited email communication with some of the teachers.  And there was stress. A whole lot of stress.

But now that school has started, the due dates are still continuing.  The project won't be finished until Feburaray or April or something, so there is still a lot of work to be done.

That, on top of all the other crazy school work I have to complete.

So yes folks. School has officially started.

How many days until summer again?

On the bright side, on Friday I went to my high school's football game for the first time as a Freshman.  I went with one of my friends, and met up with some of my other friends there.  It was a LOT of fun.  I mean, if you know anything about me, you know that I have no interest for sports, let alone football, at all, but it's different when you go with friends and you're seeing a bunch of kids you know, and you have friends in the band and know people on the team, and then your freaking high school WINS against the school that is a major competitor. 
I'm telling ya, the reason they won was because of me. I mean, duh. I INSPIRE people.  I'm sure the team was all like, "Grunt-Grunt Grunt-Grunt-OH HEY LOOK ITS THAT AWESOME GIRL DANIELLE!" "Grunt?"  "YEAH YOU'RE RIGHT, WE SHOULD TOTALLY WIN OR SOMETHING!"
What can I say? I just have that affect on people.

Also, the Homecoming dance is coming up soon, in October. Yesterday we went to the Tysons mall to do some shopping and also to look for a dress, which I did find! But I'm still stuck between two, so I'll let you know what I decide since you all obviously care so much.  And just because I know one of you will ask or wonder, I am going to Homecoming with FRIENDS.  As much as the football players adore me, this bird is flying solo.  You know, the lone wolf. Me, myself and I. Going stag. The solitary seahorse. Individual Iguanas.  The Unaccompanied Unicorn.
Yeah, you get the point.

Love,
Danielle

The Definition of High School, By Danielle

So tonight finally offered the moment where I could calmly sit down, collect my thoughts, and venture onto The Matta Connection to write yet another of my insightful and entertaining posts.  I meant to write more over the summer...but that didn't work out too well.  I meant to write one the day before school started...which also didn't work.  I even had the crazy idea that I would write a post after the first day of school...after the first week of school...but instead, I come to you on a Wednesday in September, for no specific reason at all.
Well, except to vent.
So as many of you know, (meaning A. You know me B. You read this blog or C. You can just tell) I am now a High Schooler. It's funny, because, at least in the American culture, high school is the place to be, at least you think so when your little. In all the movies, the main characters are in high school. In all the books, the main characters are in high school. (I'm using All in a very loose way here...I realize not all forms of entertainment surround teenagers in high school, but come on, a pretty large percent does. Look at Bieber. He's 17 and he's a "quote: singing sensation!" And even though there are tons of talented adult singers and bands, all you hear about is freaking Bieber.)  So when you grow up idolizing these older, cooler, amazing high schoolers in practically every media you turn to, all you think about when your younger, is how much you want to be in high school, be like them.  And really, the only image of high school is what Hollywood makes it seem to be.  So basically, I grew up thinking that when you enter high school, you're going to get bitten by radioactive spiders and become a international super hero, you're going to met your soul mate that's actually a sparkly vampire, and when everyone is feeling in the mood, you can stand on the cafeteria tables and belt out your problems in time to a catchy pop soundtrack while your classmates dance in unison around you. 
This may shock you, but high school is nothing of the sort.

For starters, if you even ATTEMPTED to try and stand on the cafeteria tables, I'm pretty sure you would get instantly tased and shot.  The only thing resembling vampires in high school are the slightly creepy, goth kids that glare at you when you stare at their triple nose rings too long, and the radioactive spiders are rare to come by. (Though I wouldn't put it past you if you got bitten by a radioactive stinkbug...)

Real life high school can be summed up in three words: BIG COMPLICATED CHAOS.
The school is big, complicated, and because of the complicated-ness, chaotic.  The student body is big, complicated, and, as suspected, chaotic. And the actual kids themselves are BIG. I was just in biology class today, when I realized that more than half of my classmates were two times my entire body.  I've never looked up so much in my life.

Basically, I better start growing rapidly fast, otherwise I'm afraid I might come home one evening with my arm in a sling and two black eyes.  "What happened Danielle?" My mom will ask.

"Early Dismissal."


(I realized that if you are not familiar with school, then you might not understand the joke. Let me slow it down for you.  When kids are told they can leave a classroom...its like a herd of elephants trying to squeeze through a 24 inch door at the same time.  Now imagine an entire school being dismissed from their classes early...yeah. Word of advice: Run.)

Love,
Danielle
Speaking of slings...Nick fractured his wrist on Friday. Which hasn't made much of a difference in his life except he complains a whole lot more and works a whole lot less. Injury my FOOT -_-