Closed Doors, Open Doors

It's been really hectic and at the same time depressing this past month. So, to recap everything, I have been busy with lots of studying and stress. I took my SAT II's (French, Mathematics Level 2, and Physics). For those who may be reading and don't know what those are, they're specialized college admission assessment exams. They are really important if you want to get into an ivy league (top tier) college. So, being the lazy person that I am, I decided not to study until the day before the test. As bad as that sounds, it actually helped! It gave me some confidence before taking the test, and it helped to refresh on some of those old, forgotten equations. Overall, the test was not that difficult. I honestly expected something extremely hard, but it turned out to be moderately easy. Only the grades will tell how well I did. Hopefully, my confidence during the test matches those scores!

Also this month, were the notifications for the three programs I applied for. I applied for Questbridge's scholarship, MIT [Massachusetts Institute of Technology(ahhh...my dream school)] summer program, and NSLI-Y summer abroad to China. I was really hopeful about the summer abroad to China and I even started to learn some Chinese (mostly characters, because the tones were hard). 我想去中國. I want to go to China. The first character is pronounced wo in the third tone and means I or me. The second means to want, and you can tell because the heart at the bottom of that character signifies feeling or desire. The third means to go. the fourth means center or China (center of the world >_<) and is pronounced Zhong in the first tone. The last one means country.

I learned these characters and a whole lot more, while prepping for the possibility of a summer in China. I was rejected by NSLI-Y, but it wasn't all that bad. I still want to learn Chinese. 我想學中文. I have a newfound appreciation for China, that wasn't really as strong as when I've learned about it in history class. So, I've made it a life goal of mine to learn Chinese and go to China at least once. :)

I was also rejected from The Dream School (MIT), L'université de mes rêves, for the summer program at least. To be realistic, there was an 8% chance of getting accepted, but nevertheless, it sucks to be a reject :'( I was, however, accepted to Questbridge's scholarship program, so one thing went well. I don't know what that program means for me, but at least I have something that i got accepted to. lol

Closed doors mean open doors, windows, and most importantly an open mind to what the summer holds for me. So far, here are the options: take one of the two free college courses offered at one of the local colleges, get a job so that I can earn money, and/or participate in the Siemens Math, Science, and Engineering competition which might give me an upper hand in my MIT application next year! Thankfully, I live in a city with boundless opportunities and lots to do. Who knows, maybe I'll spend the summer here in the city better than I would have in China. *barely clings on to the hope of a good summer, and swallows the pain of rejection, sniff, sniff* jkjk. What's gone will never come back, I must look towards my future with unfaltering idealism. I think that sentence sums it up for me.