Blogging has been my favorite assignment in English and in my whole high school career. I have always loved to write and this class has been the one class where I am able to do it. It is sad that this is the final blog I will ever write. However, the sadness of the last blog and moving away from our high school career is mixed with the excitement of the beginning I will be experiencing soon.
As we have gone through our blogging process I have realized that as a writer I don’t like talking about heavy topics. All of my blogs have been fun little lists of my favorite things or experiences that I want to go through. Thinking about it, maybe I should have explored new topics during my blogging series, however I love positive blogs. I also enjoy romanticizing the things that I have done in my life. I think throughout my life I have remembered more of the negative things in my life than the positive ones. These blogs made me take a step back and realize all the positives in my life.
My favorite blog is probably “So Ready For Summer”. While writing it I became excited for all of the new things that are going to happen during summer. Before this blog I think I was more scared than happy about the end of high school. I would say that the novel that I read “Purple Hibiscus” is a really good book diving into the exploration of post colonial Nigerian life. With aspects of domestic abuse and the main characters struggle through aspects of domestic abuse. I personally thought this book was really good and I would recommend it. I have never delved into books about Africa and I think this was a good way to start. The book was something that I didn’t relate to but I live that about books. The books where you can’t relate to anything are the ones that let me see a new story rather than the same old one. Something that I have learned through my voices project is the amount of children who go through abuse. I remember while researching the NIH had said “one in four children experience child abuse or neglect”. I never realized how many people had experienced abuse in their life.
The most important thing I learned about myself is don’t be afraid to put yourself out there in any situation of your life. I remember coming back for Covid and in person learning I lived in a bubble for a few months. Where I wouldn’t talk to anyone other than the few friends I had from middle school. I learned how to be able to communicate with all the new people around me. I wouldn’t have been able to make the friends I have right now without it.
An advice I would give to future seniors is try to go to everything and anything. Try to put yourself out there while knowing your limits in what you can handle. Personally I am someone whose social battery is really low. Unless it’s with the few people I can hang out with I can’t stay for long. Knowing this I know the limit in where I can stay somewhere before I get overwhelmed with everything happening. Although I make sure that I go to as many events that I can.
Hi Biswo! I agree that writing this final blog is very bittersweet, as it has been one of my favorite assignments as well. I agree that I tend to lean to more positive blog as well. Maybe that is because this is a more public medium where we read each other’s blog, and that we prefer to keep more heavy topics more personal. However, I think whether we are sharing our writing or not, writing can be a great way to reflect and remember. I’m glad you enjoyed your book as well! The novel you read, Purple Hibiscus sounds interesting and I might read it as well. I’m very similar to you in the sense that after COVID I found it very easy to keep to myself and the “bubble” that you described, but that going outside of my comfort zone is where I have found the most growth, and had the best experiences. I’ve really enjoyed this semester of AP Lit with you and I wish you the best after graduation!
Purple hibiscus sounds pretty interesting, and informative. So many books are just reiterations of the same story, which as you said don’t let you see something new, and to me end up a bit boring.
I totally agree about going out there and trying new things. I ended up not joining any clubs, or really getting involved anywhere, until the beginning of my junior year and now I wish I had joined earlier. You’re so right in that it’s important to be social, but know your limits. I also used to have a hard time talking to people (honestly still do sometimes) and my social battery runs low quickly too, and knowing this about myself has definitely helped.