Week 16 - Yeah, and they were all yellow

Monday:
Today we had our first of our final exams. I had my math and Spanish exams, both of which went very well. It was our last Monday, which means my last dish duty of the semester. Aaron, Nitika, and I rocked it out of course. I'm going to miss doing dishes actually, but this doesn't mean that I will start doing them at home or something. Don't get your hopes up. I must continue studying. I have my US history final tomorrow.

Tuesday:
Today I had my last final of junior year! Woohoo! I studied all morning for my US history final and then I took the test in the afternoon. It went really well. After exams we had a group meeting to talk about some issues that we are having in the community.  Don't worry all will be resolved before we go home on Saturday. We also did some group bonding because we aren't yet a family.  We are close, but not quite there.  My goal for the group is to be a family; I've always had that goal.  I want us to get there. Tonight will be dedicated to working on my social venture project. They are due tomorrow and we will present them in front of a panel of social entrepreneurs. I'm excited. I love my project!

Wednesday:
Today we presented our social venture projects to a panel of social entrepreneurs.  Unfortunately, three cancelled on us last minute, so we had to pull some strings.  Fortunately, Dan Morrison of Citizen Effect and one of Noah's friends, was able to meet with us for an hour. He critiqued my ideas and was really  helpful. I'm really glad that he was able to speak with us. We need all the feedback that we can get. Also Steve Boyd (?) made it later in the day and was able to speak with us for a little bit. I'm glad that he ended up being able to make it. I'm excited to move forward with my project and apply for the grant. In the afternoon, we chilled at the academic and worked on our credos. Those are due tomorrow. The ethical credos are our final capstone project.  It is a paper about what we believe and how we will live our lives and about the ethical issues that we are currently pondering. I'm excited for that as well. I love the capstone projects here. They are innovative and amazing. After working on our projects, we did a heavy clean up of the academic building. We even cut the grass out front... with scissors. We rock at life. P.S. We are definitely acting like more of a family now. I'm really proud of us.

Thursday:
Today was actually the most amazing day ever. I was so happy. I am solidifying friendships and trying to fix any outstanding disagreements.  I want to leave DC with no regrets and no animosity.  I'm trying my best to fix everything or at least ameliorate it a little bit.  Writing my credo really helped me to think about all of this.  Our credos were due this morning.  We also had to present them as well. It was really great and everyone's credo was amazing. Every person here is brilliant. I am so sad that the semester has come to a close.  We have come so far and everyone has changed so much. I love everyone here. After presenting our credos and officially ending junior year, we headed to the tidal basin to go paddle boating. Isabel, Audrey and I were in a boat together and we had a very nice chat. It's great talking to people that you don't normally talk to. After boating for an hour, we walked to a shady spot and chilled for the rest of the day. We sat by the water, talked, played ultimate, and had dinner. It was an amazing day. I am going to miss this so much. Later in the evening, we were forced to pack. I don't want to pack. I don't want to leave. I'm horrible at good byes.

Friday:
Today was an amazing day. We spent the morning packing up and getting ready for our departure on Saturday. After everyone was packed and the house was clean, we headed to the academic for the final ceremony and other festivities. We arrived and were introduced to the activities of the evening which including filling out the ethical questionnaire that we filled out on the first day and writing in each other's bus books, like year books minus the pictures. We had dinner and then chatted with everyone for a bit. Henry came around and complimented everyone, just like he promised. My compliment was: Even though you are OCD, you are one of the most caring people that I have ever met. Aww Hen-Hen. After dinner we circled up and got ready for our final activities. Gray read us our college predictions and life stories. I'm going to WashU and owning a dairy farm in Wisconsin. We played the train wreck game like on the very first day.  After all these fun activities, we turned the lights off and lit a candle for our final circle. We did the quaker thing that we did earlier in the semester - so everyone said their final good bye or thank you to the group when they felt moved to do so. It was really emotional. I love my DC family so much. After an emotional 2 hours, we watched Caity's slide show of the year. That was emotional as well. This was honestly the best semester of my life. We came back to the dorm late that evening and we hung out in the common room for a bit, just spending these final hours together. The first floor girls were finally allowed to have a sleep over with the third floor girls, so we stayed up all night chatting and laughing. I miss it already.

Saturday:
The very last day. We all woke up early to finish packing and saying good bye. Graduation started at 11 at the academic. Everyone's family and friends were there and it was so cute. The teachers said some final remarks as did all of us. After the ceremony, we all walked around and met peoples parents, took lots of pictures and enjoyed the final moments together. This was truly the most amazing semester of my life. I have a new family and 16 best friends. I learned  more than I ever could in any other setting. I grew as a person and am now ready to change the world. We all are. We are going to. It's going to be amazing, just like these past four months.

P.S. I might keep updating this periodically with stuff about my social venture and other SEGL related things. I'll be back. Don't you worry.

Week 15 - Let's Get Together and Feel All Right

This was a tough week, but it was still a good one. I love everyone! (like I haven't said this before...) I don't want to leave, but then again I can't wait to see my friends and family at home. The end is always bittersweet.


This week we focused on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict and negotiation skills.


Monday:
Flip flopped schedule. E&L was in the afternoon. We met with Jeffrey Helsing from the United States Institute for Peace. He introduced us to our case study for this week which is the very complicated Israeli-Palestine conflict. I'm really excited for this case study. We have been waiting all year to get in depth in this intense issue.


Tuesday:
Today was pretty much a normal day at school. It was our last school meeting though. Tear tear. I'm not letting this semester end. After school meeting, we had a giant group hug and we sang our semester songs and just stood there and it was amazing and special. I love moments like that with everyone. We need to make these last 2 weeks the most amazing and special and terrific weeks here. It will happen.


Wednesday:
Today was our last Wednesday E&L. I hate this word last. It signifies the end of something great. I'm not letting this great thing come to an end. Today was a great day though. We spent the whole day examining all sides of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. First we Skyped with Thaer and Suhayb, two Jordanians who attended SEGL last semester. They provided an interesting civilian outlook on the conflict. We then met with Ghaith Al-Omari, the Advocacy Director of the American Task Force in Palestine. He provided the Palestinian view of the conflict. After that we ventured to American-Israel Public Affairs Committee or AIPAC to meet with Jonathan Kessler. He provided a very interesting Israeli viewpoint. It was a fascinating day. I really loved how we were able to look at all sides of the issue.


Thursday:
Today was a normal day at school. Our second to last day of classes. Where has all the time gone?


Friday:
Last day of classes. Last day of junior year. What is this nonsense? Wasn't it only yesterday that I was partaking in our first day traditions at HB? Here I am now... different "state" and different person. Time has flown by. Today was a normal day though. For E&L, we debriefed about the week, and then we did an interesting negotiation activity. We were split into two teams (boys vs. girls) and were sent to different rooms to come up with our rules for Capture the Flag. We would come back to the main room and have 2 representatives from each group negotiate the rules of the game. Once a consensus was reached, we all went home, changed, and then went to the park to play. It was so fun! I love playing sports with everyone here. It doesn't help that we get to play on the national mall. After that we had dinner, and then a group of us went to Good Stuff Eatery. Typical Friday night.


Saturday:
I had my last French class of the year. Au revoir! After that we came back to the dorms and chilled until Alanna arrived to give us a budget seminar. We are in the process of creating budgets for our social ventures projects and we needed a little guidance. After lunch, we all went and chilled in the park. It was such a beautiful day. We came home and hung out some more. We need to spend as much time together in this last week. This might be the last time that we are all together as a group especially because Sophie is going to Norway for 2 years. In the evening, a group of us went to Good Stuff again. Typical, typical. We came home and enjoyed a movie that Noah had chosen. He's such an 80s kid. He picked Say Anything. It was a good movie and a good way to end a good day.


Sunday:
Time to study for exams. We have them on Monday and Tuesday! Ah! So yeah, I have to go and continuing studying. Whoot.

Week 14 - 20 miles of...

Amazing week version 14.0. I'm not leaving. Ever.

Monday:
During E&L, Henry introduced us to our case study for the week: Grand Strategy. He presented a power point that laid out all the general knowledge about the subject. I love this subject! It's so fascinating. I'm also really excited for the simulation on Friday. We will all have different roles at the White House and have to develop a strategy to solve a major crisis. Ah I can't wait! After that it was a normal school day.
In the afternoon, we had exercise block with Henry. We went to the Capitol park and played Ultimate Frisbee. We had some people stop by and ask if they could play. A coach also watched us play for a while. Tourists took pictures of us. We are so legit.

Tuesday:
Today was a normal day. Although we had a lunch time speaker. Jane Mayer of the New Yorker came to speak to us today about her work in investigative journalism.  She specifically focuses on torture and terrorism. Her job is so cool! She is pretty much what I aspire to be. She leads this amazing life where she writes for the New Yorker, writes books, travels, and has a family.  I'm on my way though because I was recently selected to be an editor in chief for my school's newspaper. I am also the international liaison and will be helping to start a newspaper and teach about free press at a school in Baghdad. I'm so excited! For Flex period in th evening, we watched the movie 13 Days which is about the Cuban Missile Crisis and grand strategy. It was fascinating.

Wednesday:
Today was a strange day. I had my last AP exam of the year at NCS. I took the AP English Language and Composition exam, and it was  breeze. Hopefully, I did as well as I think I did. After the test, Teddy, Aaron, Jorge and I went back to school like we were told to do so that we could participate in E&L. When we got there, no one was there and the power was out. We called Henry and were told to report back to the dorm. No one was there. Everyone was at the Holocaust Museum. You needed tickets to get in today because it was so crowded. Instead, we stayed home, ordered Chinese food and watched a movie. It was a chill day. Once everyone arrived back at the dorm, we debriefed the day. (Everyone spent the morning walking around the monuments. We didn't miss anything big.) We also discussed the simulation that will be happening on Friday. I can't wait for that! It's going to be awesome.

Thursday:
Today was a pretty normal day at SEGL. In the afternoon during Arabic and Chinese block, we had E&L where Henry and Noah briefed on the simulation that is happening tomorrow. I'm so excited for it. I hope I am either a journalist or the head of the CIA. I think those would be the most interesting roles. It starts at 3:45 tomorrow. Can't wait!

Friday:
We had a normal school day up until E&L block, which is when we had the most epic simulation. It was the grand strategy simulation where everyone had a role in the government or some sort of related agency. A crisis hit our nation and we all had to figure out how to deal with and how to finish our daily tasks as well. The crisis that hit our nation were terrorist attacks in Yemen. Our grand strategy was to stay passive and not attack unless we were attacked first. It was pretty successful, only 3 American lives where lost. Although we did end up with a military coup in Yemen and an exiled president that we decided not to help. Isabel ended up being the President. Kyra and I were Washington Post reporters, just like I had hoped. It was so fun! We go to mess with people and write a lot of articles. We also uncovered the governments lies about the CIA drone incident. We wrote about how the  president drinks a lot. (Direct quote.) It was great! I love being here second semester because we get to do all the cool things that first semester never got to do. We are obviously the superior semester. After the simulation, president of the board, Matt Ellis did a private guitar concert for us. It was great. We all sang along. Noah and Matt did a duet and so did Matt and Gray. Everyone here is so talented. I love it. I love moments like the concert when everyone comes together as a group. We all love each other, and during times like those it's very apparent.

Saturday:
I had a three hour French class this morning. After that, we had a quick English class where we were allowed to walk around and find some alone time to reflect about our Credo. Our final capstone project is writing an ethical credo about everything that we learned this semester. I know exactly what I'm going to write. It's going to be amazing, or brilliant as is required of the project. After that we had a chill day. I played Scrabble with Jorge and Aaron. Later in the day, I went to Eastern Market with Sophie, Trevor, Audrey, and Winson. We ended up at this amazing book store called Capitol Hill Books. It's th e second hand bookstore with books about everything. It's so cool. In the evening, we played Hide and Glow seek which is essentially hide and go seek with a twist. Will orchestrated everything. The point of the game was not to get caught by Everett and you had three lives. Every time you were caught you would get a glow stick, if you got three you lost. You could also find tonic cards that either added or subtracted glow sticks. Plus all the lights were out and trash bag streamers were hung all over the house. It was so epic. After the game, we had a glow in the dark rave. Whoo fun day! Unfortunately we were missing 4 girls. They all went home for prom. It was weird having so many less people.

Sunday:
Today we had brunch and then we went to Georgetown to go shopping! It was great. It's so cool and trendy and fabulous. It's great shopping as well. After spending a few hours walking around, we went to Leopold's Cafe, which is this really trendy Viennese restaurant that is owned by a friend and board member of SEGL, Phillipe Leneer (?). He sat and ate with us and treated us to some great food. We had calamari, fries, and salmon pizza. We were all allowed to choose our own dessert. I had this mango cheesecake and it was amazing. It was by far the best food that we have had all semester. After we came home, I just chilled with everyone and enjoyed the time I have left here in DC. I'll be back in Cleveland before I know it.

One regular week left. What is this nonsense? Honestly? How have I been here for four months? Seriously? I love it. I'm not leaving. You can't make me.

Week 13 - Justin Bieber

There are not enough days left here in DC. I can't handle it. Time, please slow down.
Although this was a great week. I love it here and I love everyone here.

Monday:
Study all morning for CoGoPo exam. Went to NCS to take my CoGoPo AP Exam. I think it went really well. I felt great coming out of the exam. After the exam, we went home and then we had exercise block with Henry. We went to the Capitol park and played Ultimate Frisbee. We are getting really good according to Henry. I really like ultimate. I want to play it back home.

Tuesday:
Regular day at school.
During Flex, we are having a APUSH review session. My exam is on Friday. Ah APs!

Wednesday:
Visited Georgetown and had a great tour by a student from the School of Foreign Service. I love the school! It's definitely up at the top of my college list.  We then had a philosophy and ethics lesson from one of Noah's old students named Paddy McShane. It was really interesting.  We pondered the Theory of Double Effect. After a wonderful morning, we went back to school and had classes because we missed them on Monday.
In the evening our dorm turned into a barber shop and three of the boys now have much less hair.  Henry cut Everett, Aaron and Tracy's hair. Tracy also has a mohawk now. Work it, boys!

Thursday:
Normal school day.
Although during Arabic and Chinese we had fascinating speakers from NAIS, the National Association of Independent Schools.  We did an activity about race and had one of the most interesting discussions I've had in a while. All the adults were very impressed with the complexity of our conversation. It brought a lot of new light to many topics that we all grapple with each and every day.

Friday:
Took the AP US History exam this morning at the National Cathedral School. I think it went really well. Unfortunately, I have to wait until the end of July until I get my scores back. The rest of the day was pretty normal. During E&L, we worked on our Ashoka Action Plans, which are the business plans for the organization that we will be starting once we graduate. I'm really excited about my idea! Once it gets up and running, everyone should check it out!
After dinner, we all went to Good Stuff. Typical Friday night. I'm going to miss this so much.

Saturday:
Instead of having French and English class this morning, we went to the National Gallery of Art where we met with Nathalie Ryan and had a personal tour of the museum. We discussed some portrait pieces and then we went to the education studio and made our own portraits out of Polaroid pictures that had already been taken of us. We used water colors to embellish the pictures. It was a really fun event. After a long day out, we came home and just chilled. We watched some movies and had sundaes after dinner. We had an impromptu dance party like old times and then we just sat around and talked. I'm going to miss this so much. I don't know what I'm going to do without everyone. Time has gone by way too fast. It's unacceptable.

Sunday:
Today was a pretty chill day, like a typical Sunday. Although since APs are pretty much over, everyone has a lot more free time. We went to the National Mall to play some kickball, which is actually  DC past time. Unfortunately, I kicked the ball into a tree so the game ended early. We came back home and chilled out, had dinner, and had dorm meeting. Now here I am, doing my homework. Hopefully, I will go to sleep early tonight. We are also in an epic prank war with the boys. Watch out...

Next week, our case study is about strategy. It's the second to the last. Not okay. Where did these months go?

Week 12 - 8th Grade Tour Group, No Punch Backs.

How is there only a month left? This is not acceptable. If I don't see everyone over the summer, I will not survive. Literally.  Time just needs to slow down.

In other news, we had another greattttt week! But every week here is great. Duh.

Monday:
E&L, Henry introduced us to Ashoka and their part in our Social Venture project. We worked on it all morning and started to get in contact with various people from back home to get the ball rolling on my project.  I'm getting my friends involved and my teachers as well. I can't wait for everything to be ready and to actually start doing my project.
Noah, Alanna, and Gray are all in NYC at an event, so basically Henry is in charge for today and tomorrow. He taught our English class. We discussed Getting to Yes. It's a surprisingly useful, but annoying book.

Tuesday:
Shortened classes because we had to go register for APs. We went to the National Cathedral and walked around until we had registration at National Cathedral School. Much different all girls atmosphere than HB.  Although I like how St. Alban's and NCS have the same campus. I wish HB and US had that.

Wednesday:
E&L, we went to Ashoka to get their intro to the project. It was not what we expected and all stuff that we had already done.  It would have been perfect had this been the start of our social venture projects.
Jorge, Isabel and I had our lunch club meeting and we went to La Tomate. It was so yummy.
In the afternoon, we had a block English class to get ready for the AP. In the evening, Trevor, Jorge, Nitika, Caity, Emily, Audrey and I went to the Sewall-Belmont House for a panel discussion about women in public office. We heard Jennifer Lawless, who ran for Congress in Rhode Island and Ann Kornbult, author of a book about women in the presidency. It was really fascinating. They were great speakers.

Thursday:
Normal day, except for we had a speaker during lunch. National Geographic photo editor, Kurt Mutchler,  spoke to us about ethics in photography.  He was fascinating.  Also, you will be excited to know that the famous Afghan girl cover has no photo editing! Yes, her eyes are THAT green.
We also had our last Chinese class where we discussed Chinese education.
We had exercise block with Henry. We played an epic game of Capture the Flag on the Mall.

Friday:
E&L, we have been working on our social venture projects. Today we had to deliver our elevator speeches.  The elevator speech is the abbreviated business pitch.  We did a role play where we ran into Noah in an elevator and had to get his business card.  I successfully got his business card with my awesome pitch. It was a funny and great exercise. We didn't do anything in the evening because a lot of us have the SAT tomorrow. Oh joy.

Saturday:
I had to wake up early for the SAT, but it wasn't bad because Robbie made us pancakes! What a guy! I think the test went pretty well though. Unfortunately, I missed Open Embassy day. For English class, everyone walked around and visited different embassies and got free food and henna tatoos.  We chilled at home all afternoon.  In the evening though, we had the most epic scavenger hunt ever! We were split into three groups and we were given various tasks to complete all throughout the city. We ended up at Good Stuff, of course.  It was such a fun evening. I hate how there is only one month left. Where did all the time go?

Sunday:
I have to study for my AP tests all day long. Gross.