Welcome to the Twilight Zone: A Metaphor Based on My Experience at "The Tower of Terror"

Disclaimer: This is a post about one of the experiences I had at my Disney World vacation last summer. If you've been waiting for a post like this one, this is the chance to start reading. 

However, if you're bothered by spoilers or long articles, this might be a post to skip. 

While I do make some exaggerations in this article for humor and descriptions, I'm not trying to make everyone believe that The Tower of Terror is the worst ride ever, or that no one should ride it. 

I think it's a great experience for everyone, even though I didn't enjoy riding it the first time.

I'll also be sure to write about other fun experiences I had at Disney that will not be long, spooky, or have spoilers! :)

Life as a student in the month of May is a lot like the experience of riding "The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror" at a Disney park. In other words, "terror" definitely warrants the name.

The Tower of Terror reminds me a lot about what the month of May is like for high school/college students. So, I'm going to walk you guys through the first time I rode the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror ride and how it's a metaphor for my life right now as a student.

So you're walking in to this condemned place, feeling all jittery and excited like: "Oh my goodness, this is going to be a fun ride!" But I'm not a normal person, so I was interviewing everyone in my family who has ridden the ride before:
"Are you sure it's not scary?"
"My word, this is a tall building!"
"Is this even safe?"
"Ummm, why are there screaming people in the open window under the hotel sign?"
That's right, dear readers, the people who are currently on the ride are clearly visible and screaming looking out of an open window of this condemned, creepy building. And then the window mysteriously closes....
"Hey Mom, I don't know if I want to go on this ride."
Dad says, "Don't be ridiculous, it'll be fun."
Right. Of course. This is Disney World after all. Nothing to worry about.

Anyway, you finally get into the part of the line where you're inside of this creep-o place, and your first glance when you walk through the doors looks like this:

Yeah....is anybody else noticing that there are NO guests walking around the lobby of this hotel?
Is anybody else checking out the uncanny amount of cobwebs in this room?
Has the health department ever known about this?
And the question that of course, I'm thinking is: Why in the world am I still here?
Oh that's right, it's a Disney World ride...moving on. (At this point my dad is excitedly pointing out all of the special effects, and I'm beginning to wonder if I'm going insane, or if I'm totally overreacting for no good reason.)

• Student-life metaphor: You've been at school for a long time now (kind of like how you've been in line for a long time) and things were going pretty ok all year. It's been exciting and scary, but you've been doing really well. You start to think, "hmm, this is getting kind of creepy, maybe I should start preparing for the worst now" but of course, if you struggle with chronic procrastination like I do, you're not going to be thinking about preparing for the worst now, because you're being distracted (kind of like the absence of hotel guests and amount of cobwebs in the lobby). And...you just wait until the worst does come. It can't be that bad...

You walk in to this chamber of darkness and old books, and an old television set in the corner of the wall magically turns on and guess what program we're about to watch? The Twilight Zone! Cool, you've heard of this show! Hmm, never seen this episode before...

Rod Serling shows up on the screen and says,  "You unlock this door with the key of imagination, beyond it is another dimension. A dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind. You're moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. You've just crossed over into . . . The Twilight Zone." Wow, this is going to be a good episode.

"Hollywood, 1939. Amidst the glitz and the glitter of a bustling young movie talent at the height of its golden age, the Hollywood Tower Hotel was a star in its own right..." Hey! That's the hotel we're in right now! Wait a minute... Are we in a Twilight Zone episode?
"The time is now, on an evening very much like the one we have just witnessed. Tonight's story on The Twilight Zone is somewhat unique and calls for a different kind of introduction. This, as you may recognize, is a maintenance service elevator, still in operation, waiting for you. We invite you, if you dare, to step aboard because in tonight's episode you are the star. And this elevator travels directly to...The Twilight Zone." Oh goodness. We're in a Twilight Zone episode. I guess I like The Twilight Zone, but I have NEVER wanted to be a part of it!

• Student-life metaphor: Things are starting to pick up now. A little more stressful, some things are still familiar, but your teachers and assignments are now surprising you a lot like how the familiar storyteller Rod Sterling is surprising you with your participation in an episode of a story that you really DO NOT want to participate in. A storm is brewing, but you're still paralyzed by all of the surprises.

The creepy bellhop that led us into the library is kicking us out of the room because the video is finished, and we are now being led into a boiler room...getting in line to go on some really creepy elevators.

You look down right next to you, which happens to be right where the elevator generator is, and uh...there's sparks coming out of it, and...let's just say it's seen better days.

This is Disney World. I'll be safe. It's fine.

You're up. Time to get into the elevator. (I was sitting in the far back row on the left between my grandpa and my mom.) Thank goodness there are seat belts on this thing, and you immediately make the decision to buckle up, because you'll take any safety precaution you can get at this point.

Another bellhop checks to make sure that you're all buckled up and safe, she says some obvious safety stuff like hold on to the arm rests, don't unbuckle, and good luck.
Thanks, bellhop. Luck is exactly what I need right now...not.

• Student-life metaphor: This is the part of the school year where you know you're about to take your last steps, if you will, and the rest is the ride to the finish. It's a little scary. You know that this ride is about to take you to summer and no homework and everything you've been waiting for all year long. But it's also a ride that takes you to final exams, missing your friends, finishing up every last assignment down to the last minute. But you're not giving up now. You're getting on this ride. The only thing that anyone can do is to wish you luck and make sure you buckle up.

The doors to the elevator close. Here we go...

All of a sudden you hear Rod Serling's voice: "You are the passengers on a most uncommon elevator about to ascend into your very own episode of The Twilight Zone."
Oh boy. You can feel the elevator rising and all of a sudden, you can see down a long hotel corridor, and some ghosts say hi. Well, actually they don't really say hi, they wave at you...and wait a second, are they inviting you to come with them?

• Student-life metaphor: These ghosts kind of remind me of the college students who talk about how miserable their life is during their final exams and end of the year stuff, because their end of the year always comes before we do. Those poor students always remind me that I'm about to go through the same difficulty very soon.

Lightning flashes, the ghosts are gone. Good thing too, because they were starting to freak you out.
Then the hallway disappears. All that's left is the window at the end.
What's going on here?
You see some really pretty stars and darkness, and then the window begins to move...
It quickly evolves into the window from the opening of the Twilight Zone--and the window shatters!

Stuff just got real.

Rod Sterling's back: "One stormy night long ago, five people stepped in the door of an elevator and into a nightmare. That door is opening once again and this time, it's opening for you."

Two words go through your head: Oh, crud.

KAPLAM! The elevator plummets (on my ride, the first drop was all fifty feet. The absolute lowest it can drop). It goes SO fast, that your bottom starts to come up off of the seat, only to be stopped by your seat belt (I told you those seat belts would be a blessing). You hold onto those armrests for dear life, close your eyes, and don't open them up again until you know you're safe.

The elevator rises and falls, rises and falls. Now, windows are starting to open up when you rise, and then drop. You can see the whole park from those windows--not that I would know, because my eyes were completely shut and my head was down the entire time.

My grandpa kept trying to take my hand when we were near the window and said, "Look up! It's great! Look up!" My only response was keeping my eyes shut and my head down, as I shook my head "nuh-uh, I can't. No way."

• Student-life metaphor: You get hit hard with reality. Yes, you're coming to the very end, but your life is at its highest stress level that it's ever been. The best way you can handle it is to keep your head down, keep moving, keep studying, finish what you can, and don't stop until the last day of school is over. Each day feels like a harder and harder challenge to make it to the end. Fortunately, you have people with you trying to get you to enjoy the ride as you're trying to get to the end, but sadly, sometimes we still keep our heads down, and miss some of the good things.

Up and down, up and down, up and down. You're starting to worry for your life, it's so scary. You're even praying when you can. Up and down, up and down, up and down.

You finally go up and then come back down for the last time. It's over. You can open your eyes now. You're taking deep breaths. You're alive!!!

Rod Sterling's back again. Where was he when we were plummeting 50 feet?
"A warm welcome back to those of you who made it--"
Gee, thanks.
"--and a friendly word of warning, something you won't find in any guidebook: the next time you check into a deserted hotel on the dark side of Hollywood, make sure you know just what kind of vacancy you're filling, or you may find yourself a permanent resident...of The Twilight Zone."

One of the first things you get to see before you exit is the picture of you "enjoying" the ride....or screaming your head off.

I still remember my picture on The Tower of Terror. As I said before, I was sitting in between my mom and my grandpa. They were holding my hands as I had my head down facing my knees, and eyes completely shut. Everyone in my family was saying, "Hey look! It looks like Hayley's praying!"
My response: "I was!!!"

• Student-life metaphor: It's the last day of school and life is looking up for a change. Everyone is congratulating you, and maybe in some cases, you're graduating! You're looking back on the last few weeks, and the only thing that you can say is "Thank goodness I made it out alive." You get a whole 3 months before you'll have to experience anything like this again, but in the meantime, you can enjoy summer vacation. Hooray!

As my family and I were walking out of Tower of Terror about to move on to the next ride, I ran up to my dad and started talking about how SUPER SCARY that ride was. Who knows why, but he began to explain why Tower of Terror is his favorite ride, and you begin to wonder why people volunteer to get on a ride that will make you so stressed and terrified.

• Student-life metaphor: Have you ever wondered why people volunteer to put themselves through high school and college, often willing to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars that will take their whole lives to pay off? Yet, when we think of school, we groan at the thought of it, remembering how difficult and scary it is?

On the ride home from our second day at Disney World, I looked at an advertisement billboard for Tower of Terror, and I looked at my mom and said, "You know, it's a good feeling when you conquer your fear by doing something that you didn't want to do. I can now say to myself that I rode a really dark, tall, and scary ride for the first time."

• Student-life metaphor: One of the things that an education provides is being able to conquer our fears, and train ourselves to do hard things that we normally wouldn't ever want to do. For example, I'm about to finish a pre-calculus class, which was beyond a doubt one of the hardest classes I've ever had to pass. But even though I'm going to remember how much I struggled, I'm also going to remember how good I will feel when I finish it. And hopefully, I will remember the times where I worked as hard as I possibly could to conquer that fear and difficulty, and how it was all for the improvement of my mind and soul, and for the glory of God.

I know that many of you are about to enter finals or summer vacation, and I hope you all remember during this time that God is always there to help you and strengthen you, and that while something may be difficult and scary, the reward of conquering it is indescribable.

Another moral of the story is to not go exploring in creepy, abandoned hotels...
Unless, of course, they're at Disney World. :)

Questions for the Reader: Did you have any super scary and difficult classes this year? Have you ever been to a Disney park? Have you ever ridden a really scary ride like Tower of Terror? (Please tell me all about it in the comments, I love reading your stories!)

"For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." 
--2 Corinthians 10:3-5

The 30-Day Blog Challenge, Day 26: "It's All About Popular!"

Prompt: What popular notion do you think the world has wrong?

Goodness! I could have made an entire blog revolving around this subject alone (but that could be a very uncomfortable blog to read...)!

However, I'm going to discuss a subject that's very near and dear to my heart: education. Specifically, "Non-regular school." That's right, homeschoolers, online-schoolers, independent studiers, alternative education students, vocational education students, hybrid program students, classical students, and everything in between! You're in the spotlight today! :)

When I think about the prompt for today's post, I remember the cute song from the musical "Wicked." Do you guys know that one? The prequel to The Wizard of Oz? My sister absolutely loves it, and I enjoy seeing some excerpts from it at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The song that I'm meaning to mention is called "Popular." It's pretty catchy (here's a video if you've never heard it before):

One of my favorite parts is toward the end where she sings:

It's all about popular!

It's not about aptitude

It's the way you're viewed

So it's very shrewd to be

Very very popular

Like me!

If anything, this sums up what culture is all about: to be famous like all of the other famous people! Of course, thought has a PART to do with it, but it's more important to focus on looks and fame, because that's what's most important! Right?

No?

Then...why do we act like it?

I can't tell you how many conversations that have begun with "Where do you go to school?" and ended with a quiet, painfully awkward "Oh..." with an implied "Sorry I asked."

And I'm not hurt by that at all! I am well aware of the fact that my school is not "normal." I go to two schools at the same time! That's abnormal, and I totally understand how that can be uncomfortable to think about at first.

The thing that us homeschoolers and "non-regular" students are often bothered by is the amount of judgment that comes with the news that their friend is homeschooled, like...

"What does that mean exactly?"
"Do you think you'll be prepared for college with that type of education?"
"How do you do extracurricular activities?"
"Wow, I feel so sorry for you."
"How do you survive?" "I see, so you don't mind the lack of a social aspect?"
"Don't you want to have more friends?"
"What do you do for fun?"
"Don't you want to experience the real world?"

(I kid you not. These questions have been asked to several "non-regular" students everywhere.)

To be clear, the definition of homeschool is not the education for those with no capabilities, no talents, and no clue as to what happens outside of our bedrooms. Guys, we do not live under a rock, we have plenty of friends, and we certainly have the capability to do the fun things that you do. That includes dances, sports, clubs, activities, and knowledge of the world surrounding us just like you do!

However, just because we lead a different life than you do and we have different interests than you does NOT mean that we're a new-found alien from Area 51.

We might be more similar than you think, but not in ways that you might expect.

So, the next time you're about to judge that "non-regular" student that you're with, or pester them with rude questions, instead, say, "Tell me more about that." And maybe after a while, you'll find yourself saying (as Jordan Taylor once said), "PLEASE TAKE ME WITH YOU!!!"

Question for the Reader: What do you value in education?

"Judge not that you be not judged." --Matthew 7:1

November Resolutions

It's now time for another round of Monthly Resolutions: November 2013 Edition.

1) Drink at least 6 glasses of water every day.
According to health experts, humans should be drinking about 8 glasses of water per day. On most days, I find myself drinking about half of that, if at all. This is obviously not healthy, and I'd like to make that change.

2) Practice 120 minutes a week.
I've found that if I take a discipline and count the minutes that I'm practicing it and make a goal for a specific amount of minutes every week, it works very well for me.

3) Blog at least twice a week.
For obvious reasons. :)

4) Monastic Project
At school, I was assigned a project of reading through 1 Corinthians, and basically having "quiet time" in the morning or the evening and keeping track of what I learn. It's going to take some work, but I'd like to do well on it, and I think it will help me spiritually as well.

5) Catch-up on Omnibus Reading before Thanksgiving.
I'm behind. If I stick with the plan and persevere, I should be all caught up by Thanksgiving Day. What bliss that will be!

6) FINISH The 30 Day Blog Challenge.
What seemed like a simple blog project that would take no more than 40 days, turned into something that has now been unfinished as of about 4 months later. I need to finish this, guys. Only 10 more posts: I can do this.

7) Teach Youth Group
I'm teaching again on the 7th! So excited! Please pray that the Lord uses me to speak His words for what my peers need to hear from Him.

8) Schedule/Plan/Organize More Often
I spent a HUGE chunk of the summer organizing and making routines for myself so that I'd be a mean-green-academic-machine for this school year. Now...my binders are scarcely organized, my textbooks and notebooks are scattered all over the place: my school office, my bookshelves, my bedroom, my home computer area, my backpack...just everywhere. On top of that, I'm hardly ever using my planner (even though my online task list stays up to date) and things just aren't getting done the way they should! I'd like to be able to fix this, so I'll be well-organized when I get back to school after Thanksgiving Break.

9) Cut YouTube Time on Tuesdays and Sundays
Confession: I'm a big fan of youtube videos. I'm not at a point of obsession, but I watch it a little bit more than I probably should. I'd like to start cutting back on the 3-5 minute videos that quickly become an hour-long escapade.

10) Health
I'm trying harder to do more of cardiovascular exercise, strength training, and watching what I eat. I think if I stick to it, it will help me form really good healthy habits for the future.

These are a lot of goals, but I know that some of them will probably be a lot easier than they seem, because I've already gotten a head start in October. Here's to a great November!

Question for the Reader: What is a good habit you're trying to form?

"Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways." --Proverbs 4:26

(Link up to Kelli's She Learns As She Goes)

Photo credit: http://blog.ryanlawn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/fallTree.jpg

August Report Card

It's high time for a report card don't you think?

So so so so sorry for the lateness everyone! It's been pretty busy around here lately, with my brother's birthday, Labor Day weekend, and then my first day of online classes today. I'm finally getting around to blogging again. :)

1. Finish Summer Bucket List: A
I did pretty well finishing off the list. We made cherry limeade, I at least made an attempt to do a vlog post (and I do plan to publish one in the near future!), wrote a story, witnessed my dad and brother build a rocket to launch with Boy Scouts, went to the library, and played hopscotch. Overall, I had a wonderful summer, and I'm glad I could share it with you readers. :D

2. Summer Reading: A-
My goal was to finish the requirements for reading "The City of God" by St. Augustine by the end of August, but I didn't quite make that goal. Fortunately, I completed most of the summer reading requirements.

3. Start 11th Grade: A+
I could not have been more excited to start this school year. Online classes started today, and every one of them taught me something new about how things are going to be, and each one presented me with new challenges to face. I know that God will be with me throughout this year, guiding my every step.

4. Get a job?: A
Ok, I admit: I am currently unemployed in terms of what most people call "a real job." However, I was able to make a decision, that until I get a driver's license in February, I am blessed with babysitting opportunities and enough extracurricular activities to keep me busy enough as is. I do plan to get a job soon, but now is not the time.

5. Publish more blog posts: A++
I am proud to announce that the month of August brought more blog posts than ever before in the history of VH. This month, August had an all-time high of 19 posts!!! This is even more than April 2013(the month right after I first started). I think it's safe to say that I picked up a bit more momentum, and this blog is going to stick around for a little while longer. :)

Recurring goals: 
Music Practice: B+
I think I could have done a bit better on this, but I'm starting to pick up more momentum.

Scripture Reading: A+
I've been called to focus more on God's Word than I normally have in the past. It is my goal for the rest of my life to be active in Scripture, as it is essential to following Christ.

Exercise: D
My focus has been elsewhere this month in terms of exercise. However, I have set multiple fitness goals for myself this month, so next time, I shouldn't have any excuses about sticking with exercise.

Diary Writing: F
Same story. While lots has happened this month, I haven't been keeping a good record of it in my diary.

Total Average: A-

Wow, I'm really happy with the results! I've had a great month, and I'm looking forward to a great start in the  school year. Happy September everyone!

Question for the Reader: How was your August?

"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." --Romans 8:1

The 30 Day Blog Challenge, Day 12: A Day in the Life (As Promised)

I promised that I would publish a "day in the life" blog post as a result of a poll I did a few months back....and I never got around to it. But today, I have no excuse, thanks to the 30 Day Blog Challenge! 

Prompt: Describe a typical day in your life.

5:30am--I wake up and roll myself out of bed, because at this hour I am really, really tired. I then go and wash my face, because it helps me wake up.
5:40am--I try to wake my sister up if she missed her alarm. I grab my Bible, journal, and a pen, and start studying the word. Currently, I've been reading a lot of the Psalms, Isaiah, 1 Corinthians, and a few chapters from the Gospel of Matthew. After I read the word, I pray about what I studied that day and ask God for His companionship in my life as I do my best to apply His word to my daily life.
6:00am--Basically, after devotions, I make my bed, eat breakfast, get dressed and ready for school. 
7:00am--If we're on time, my brother, sister, mom, and I all load our stuff into the car, and drive to school.
7:25am--We arrive at school, and my mom gets set up for work (she's the head of the school), and my siblings and I entertain ourselves until 8:15 when we have to go to our classrooms.
8:15am--I say "bye" to my brother as he goes upstairs to his fourth grade classroom. My sister and I walk to the upper school building and set up our desk spaces in the high school room.
8:25am--Morning assembly with teachers, middle school & high school students. We pledge allegiance, pray, sing a hymn, and listen to important school announcements.
8:30am--Middle school students go to their homeroom class, as us high schoolers take our lunch orders and get ready for study skills DVD lectures and free work time. Since it's not September yet, we prepare for free work time instead of a high school devotion class which will likely start on the 6th.
8:35-10:35am--Free work time (Reading, art projects, planning) and/or study skills DVD lectures
10:35-10:45am--Break with Middle School & High School Students/Eat a healthy snack
10:45am-12:20pm--Continue free work time
12:20-1:00pm--Lunch with Middle School & High School Students
1:00-2:25pm--Finish free work time/DVD Lectures
2:25-3:15pm--This block depends on the day of the week. If it's Monday or Wednesday, I have a live art class that I attend. If it's Friday, I attend a community service class period. If it's Thursday, more free time! 
3:15-4:00pm--I pack up my stuff and get ready to come home.
4:00pm--Depart from school, and head home.
4:30pm--We all arrive home from school, and I unpack all my stuff and spend a few minutes in my room to organize my stuff or get comfortable. Sometimes when I come home and dinner is not happening soon, then I'll take the opportunity to grab a snack if I'm hungry.
4:45pm--Help with dinner, whatever homework I may have, or chilling in my room
5:00-6:00pm--Dinner with my family
6:00-7:30pm--Family time/finishing homework/music practice/chores
7:30pm--Start preparing for tomorrow's school day by ironing clothes or packing a lunch
8:00pm--I say "good-night" to my brother and parents and go to my room to hang out with my sister until we go to sleep at 10:00pm. Sometimes we'll watch videos until 9 and then read or play a board game until 10.
10:00pm--Turn off my lights, straighten up my room, charge my phone, set my alarm, and I go to sleep.

My days are pretty easy going since my online classes have not started yet. When I get into my class routine with electives and core classes, I will definitely have a lot more in my day. Maybe when that happens, I'll make another day in the life post.

I hope you enjoyed a tidbit of my everyday life! :)

Question for the Reader: What does your day typically look like?

"So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ." --Colossians 2:6-8

I Went Nuts Organizing, Part 1: The Student Planner

Several of my friends and family have taken note that in the past week, I have been practically living in my basement organizing, well, everything I could put my hands on. However, I created a few organization systems that I would like to share with you readers, so that maybe it could be useful to you as well.

Today I'd like to start the series with one of my new best friends: my student planner.

Materials:

• A 2-inch binder
• Copy paper (colored or plain)
• A printer
• Microsoft Word or Google Drive (I used Drive.)
• Colorful Paper of some sort (copy paper or standard construction paper)
• Labels & Notebook paper, Sheet Protectors, or Dividers
• A weekly planner that works best for you, which has 3 holes down the side, so that it can fit in a binder (My weekly planner was provided by my school, but you can buy them virtually anywhere on the internet or in office supply stores.)
• 3-hole puncher
• Pens/Pencils/Markers/Colored Pencils/Crayons

Now this may seem like a lot, but these were all things that I found around the house or were already provided for me. The good news is that it's school supply season, so most of these materials should be reasonably inexpensive. 

Step 1: Reflecting
If you're a high school student like I am, chances are, maintaining a student planner is not your first rodeo. Think about what you've always wanted in a planner that the store brand never has. Answer the question, "What does my dream planner consist of?" Does it have a fitness log or a monthly goals page? Does it have a notebook as a journal or encouraging verses to get you through the day?

Step 2: "Have It Your Way"& Monthly Planner
Now that you've thought about the things that make the perfect planner, make a document in Google Drive or Microsoft Word that starts to fill in all the things you've wanted.
For me, I wanted different sections in my binder that had daily routines, a monthly planner, weekly planner, daily planner, and school-year calendars along with other schedules, calendars, and agendas. So, I started a document in Google Drive in which my first page had the name of my schools, the school year, my name, my grade, my homeroom teacher, and the label that it's a student planner: 

On the next page of my document, I started a monthly planner page. Now, this varies for different people depending on what they want in a planner, but I made a section for what month it was, my monthly resolutions, and important events and their dates. 

The important events section is so that I can write down all of the important events coming up in the month such as big projects, concerts, school meetings, etc. and then write them down on a month calendar that would look like this each month:

Step 3: Weekly Planner

The next step is to make sure you have everything in your weekly planner that you want. If you don't want to buy a weekly planner, then make your own! 

Step 4: Daily Planner

In my document, after the monthly planner pages, I made a daily planner section. This is where I customized the most, because each day is where I make the biggest planning decisions. I started by putting a header and a space for the date. Then I made an agenda table like this:

This helps me organize when I can do certain things during the day. For example, in the mornings and early afternoons during the school year, I have school assembly, class devotions, online classes, and then electives. But then after school, I have things to do such as music practice and rehearsals, youth group meetings, exercise, dinner with the family, and so forth, which makes things difficult to schedule in things like homework.

If you have a Google Calendar account, that might work better for you as well, so that you can see different colors for events, and easily print out your calendars.

After I make a daily agenda, I use the next page on my document for my personal customizations. First, I made tables for practice, exercise, and quiet time with God.

Since I know that I have to practice at least 30 minutes every day, spend at least 30-60 minutes exercising every day, and make sure that I dedicate my life to the Lord in His Word, I make sure that I record those things in my planner to keep myself responsible.

Next, I made a prioritized to-do list section. I have a lot of assignments at my school, and it's often difficult to prioritize what I need to do each day in order to get them done. So, I made a table of 5 items to complete during the day in prioritized order along with a check box on the side, so I can check each item off as they are completed.

My next items are a bullet list table of reminders and chores. Reminders are like my organized sticky notes in my planner so that I don't forget certain small things I still need to do, and of course, what chores I need to do when I get home from school that day.

After that, there are things that I know I still have to do that might not have made it onto the prioritized list that day, but could still get done in time to spare.

Then, I have the bullet list tables of prayer requests and things that I need to ask my parents that day. These are both important because each day we have things we have to come to God for, and then we have to come to our parents for when we need help or support.

Finally, I have a list of free-time rewards. This is one of my favorites, because it helps me remember that after all the work I get done, I can spend some time playing a board game with my family, watching my favorite t.v. show, or even catching up on my favorite blogs.

Step 5: Academic Calendars

The next page in your document should be a copy-paste page from your school website about important events coming up in the academic school year. If you only got a hand out of this page on the first day of school, then 3-hole punch it and save it for when you put it in your binder.

Step 6: Routines

I made a separate document for this step. During the school year, I tend to be in the bad habit of dilly-dallying when I should be doing something productive. Making routines for the mornings, evenings, and at school can be really helpful if you struggle with this too.

Step 7: Extras

After all of your planners are typed up, maybe you still want a fitness journal or a diary or extra notebook paper in the back of your planner. Keep an inventory of all of the extra things you still would like to have in your planner and make sure that it is doable.

Step 8: Placement & Labeling

The next step is to print it all out and place it in the way you want it into your binder. I kept my routines in the very front, my monthly planner pages next, then my weekly planner book, my daily planner pages next, and finally, my academic calendars and extra materials in the very back. Then, label all of your sections. Maybe you like to put a colorful sheet of paper with "Monthly Planner" on the front in a sheet protector as your label, or you put a colorful tab on the first page, or you use a divider. Do whatever you want to label all of your sections of your planner. 

Step 9: Decorating

Make your binder your own. Put stickers on the front, or color your title page. Be creative!

Step 10: Maintaining

Keep your planner in a place where you know you will check it and use it constantly. All this work to make a perfect planner would go to waste if you never used it! Enjoy. :)

I hope you liked this tutorial on how to make the perfect personalized student planner. Stay tuned for more posts like this one.

Questions for the Reader: Do you have any suggestions on what other tutorials I could do similar to this one? Was this post helpful?

"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you." --Psalm 32:8

What's New (Literally)

Tomorrow is the first day of school.

I've been preparing for weeks in order to be ready for it, but for some reason, my mind refuses to believe that I'll be waking up at 6am tomorrow, bringing a packed lunch and new binders, and getting ready for my attendance to be recorded. This will continue to be a pattern for the next ten months, five days a week, seven hours a day. Goodness...

I think I might be worried about change. God has been changing everything around me like a storm, and yet a part of me refuses to come to terms with how wonderful it is. I find myself only seeing the negativity of change, and therefore, I'm afraid of it. I can't understand why. Change is a great thing. 

I pray that all of you who might be starting a new school year, or maybe a new phase at work may rejoice in the coming changes of your lives. It's a beautiful thing, and I'm beginning to realize that. Behold, the Lord makes all things new.

Question for the Reader: Do you ever dread the first day of school?

"Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert." --Isaiah 43:18-19

August Resolutions

I can't believe summer is almost over!!! And July has flown away with it. So a new month has begun, therefore it is time for a new post about monthly resolutions.

Finish Summer Bucket List

I don't expect to cross off absolutely everything, but I don't want to leave any more than 10 on the list.

Summer Reading

I still have one book to finish for required summer reading and then I need to continue to finish as much of the Omnibus list as possible before online classes start.

Start 11th Grade

Technically, online classes don't start until orientations at the end of this month, but I still get to take care of responsibilities at Rocky Mountain (brick and mortar school). 

Get a job?

I'm still thinking and praying about this, but I need to start raising some money so that I can responsibly take care of my parent's cars when I start driving them when I get my license, plus a few trips are coming around next summer which I'd really like to do, and my parents think it would be a good way to spice up my college résumé and practice for adult life. I have a few ideas as to where I would apply, but it's sort of a matter of whether I feel ready to take on that responsibility yet or not.

Publish more blog posts

I've been failing to post on here very often. I want to change that this month. 

Recurring Goals:

Music Practice

Scripture Reading

Exercise

Diary Writing

I'm sure this month will go very well. Best wishes to you all in ending the summer and starting the fall!

Question for the Reader: What has been the highlight of your summer so far?

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." --2 Corinthians 5:17

How to Prepare for the Coming School Year

We all despise that day when we look at a calendar and realize that summer isn't going to last forever. Pretty soon, many of us will be right back where we started last August: at a school desk, listening to a lecture, writing essays, performing lab experiments, and reading until your eyes just can't take it anymore.

Now don't get me wrong, I like school. Something about it makes me want to go to the nearest Office Depot and buy everyone I know a lifetime supply of sharpened pencils. Not to mention all the ways you can decorate your binders, and label your notebooks, and cut out pieces of paper only to find one of the best crafty creations of all time. We always seem to find ourselves re-creating a mindset of eating lunch with our friends and showing our parents a report card chock full of straight A's and B's.

However, this mindset is easier to dream than to turn into a reality. How do we prepare for the challenges ahead?

Congratulations, you receive 1000 brownie points, a gold sticker, and an A+, because lucky for you all, you found my blog. So, I'd like to treat you to the master how-to checklist for conquering the preparation it takes to survive the next nine or ten months at a school desk.

1. Reflect

As students, we grow up being told to study the proper way, and the proper way is to study ourselves and figure out what works best for us. For example, in a language class, everybody has to memorize a ton of vocabulary from English to the language or the language to English. Plenty of people struggle with this, and they have to figure out what way to study truly works for them, whether it's flashcards, putting your hand over the page, or reading it over and over again until it's memorized. Before you start preparing in any other way for this coming school year, reflect on what kinds of things worked for you in studying for tests, quizzes, and homework, planning out your schedule, organizing notes and materials, and accomplishing tasks. What should you keep doing? What needs to change?

2. Inventory (Studying Materials and School Supplies)

After you reflect and answer the questions at the end of #1, the next question you need to ask yourself is, "What do I need in order to keep doing or change what I did last year?" You might need your master list of school supplies for this one. If your teachers provided one, then definitely use it, but try to add some things that you might need just for you, such as extra colored pens for color coded note-taking, or highlighters or index cards. This is one of my favorite parts because it's where I get to go on a treasure hunt around the house. Don't waste your parent's or your own money either, because if something you need is in the house and in perfectly working order, then use it for the coming school year and save your money for a new package of magic erasers to replace your crumbly, dysfunctional one.

3. Inventory (School Clothes & Teacher Recommended Items)

Speaking as a girl, certain situations arise in the late summer where I kind of freak out about my sense of style for the coming school year. I go to a school where on Fridays I have to wear uniforms, which makes things pretty easy to plan outfits, but for the rest of the week, I have more freedom to wear things outside of a more strict dress code. I'd say that the best way to prepare your closet for school is to go through it, and see what you usually wear and don't wear much at all. If you don't wear something, give it away, if you do wear it often, then keep it. If you have a dress code at your school, then make sure you have all the things you need in order to follow it. If you do not, then make sure you have appropriate and necessary clothing in order to get through the school day. Don't forget to make sure you have things like sweaters or school spirit wear so that when the weather gets colder, you'll be comfortable in class, or if you have school spirit wear, you can have it ready for spirit days.

As far as teacher recommended items go, it's important to make sure you have everything that they tell you to have ready. Most schools give out a school newsletter in the summer with information on school supplies, summer homework, and specific materials needed for each class. If possible, figure out what classes you'll be in that semester so that you can get the specific information needed for each individual class. If your school has orientations, try not to miss those either. Orientations are gold mines for important information to help you survive the school year.

4. Make a study area

At my school, I am provided with an online class study area. In other words, my brick-and-mortar school gives me an entire office area complete with a computer, a desk with a chair, a cubicle, and a bookshelf so that I can do online classes during the day, and have a homework study area in between classes as well. I love this privilege, but I lacked an area like this at home. It was great to have an area prepared to do homework at school, but I always went home to study in several different locations around the house. This resulted in several messy rooms in the house and lots of distractions, as I sometimes chose locations to study unwisely. A couple of weeks ago, I decided that I would find a specific place to study at home, and stick to that place as my special "study area." Several study skills experts say this is a great thing to invest in for a student because it's consistent and helps them be much more organized. This place can be almost anywhere in the house, as long as it's in a quiet and comfortable place so that the student can focus. Make sure that you have a desk with the materials needed for homework and studying such as pens, pencils, erasers, highlighters, index cards, paper, mathematical instruments, and in some cases, a computer.

5. Organizing & Planning

Once you have everything you need in terms of materials and places to put them, it's time to organize them all. Label all of your school supplies and put them in a place where you'll know to find them when they are needed. Now of course the first day of school isn't here yet, so put the things that you'll need to bring to your locker and new classes in different bags. For example, keep your notebooks, and locker decorations in a bag for your locker stuff, and put your school supplies that you need to carry with you into different classes in your backpack. If your school doesn't provide one, make sure that you get your own student planner. It will help you organize and plan out your homework assignments, tests, and important class events and announcements, and also help you organize after-school activities. It's also a good idea to make sure you have routines planned out so that you will have good habits and get things done on time, whether it's getting to the school bus stop at the right time, getting to class on time, or doing your homework in an organized way.

So that's it! 5 ways to make sure that you are as prepared as possible for the coming school year. Except one more thing: Don't worry. God's in control. :)

Question for the Reader (A round of "Would you rather..."): Would you rather have a monkey do your homework all school year or go without all of your school supplies for the entire school year (no pens, pencils, highlighters, paper, notebooks, binders, index cards, or flash drives, etc.)?

Happy National Simplify Your Life Week!

"For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding." --Proverbs 2:6

Summer Reading List

Spring always gets me excited, but it also makes me anticipate for summer to come. So naturally, I plan out what many book-lovers make for the summertime: The Summer Reading List. Here is mine so far:

Required Reading for Omnibus:

City of God by St. Augustine

• Book I
• Book II, ch. 21 & Book IV
• Book V, ch. 8-26
• Book VIII
• Book XI
• Book XII
• Book XIII
• Book XIV, ch. 1-17
• Book XIV, ch. 28
• Book XV, ch. 1-14
• Book XV, ch. 18-27
• Book XVIII, ch. 1-29
• Book XVIII, ch. 30-54
• Book XIX, ch. 1-18
• Book XIX, ch. 19-28
• Book XX, ch. 16-27 & Book XXI
• Book XXII, ch. 1-17
• Book XXII, ch. 18-30

Saga of the Volsungs by Jesse L. Byock

The Koran

• Sura 3 ("The Imrans")
• Sura 8 (The Spoils)
• Sura 9 (Repentance)

Pleasure Reading:

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom
Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
Emma by Jane Austen

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

The Silmarillion by J.R. Tolkien

Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Poems by Emily Dickinson

Poems by Walt Whitman

Poems by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Dracula by Bram Stoker

The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux

Macbeth by Shakespeare

Hamlet by Shakespeare

Works of G.K. Chesterton

Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

Beautiful Outlaw by John Eldredge

Confessions by St. Augustine

Beowulf

Watership Down by Richard Adams

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi


Questions for the Reader: Do you have a summer reading list? What are some books that you are looking forward to reading the most? Any suggestions for really great books to read?

"For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope." --Romans 15:4 

(Link-up to Country Girl's Daybook)