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Ah! A new year of STAC. And the final one.

Before I start off with our assignment/introduction, I'd like to reflect a bit on my summer (I didn't have a tremendous time to catch up with others, or reflect on the past few months, so I feel the best way to accomplish these two is to post on here.)

This summer was very busy. To start things off, my friends and I went into the city and attended the 2013 Gay Pride Parade! It was my first time going, and I gathered a lot of good material to share with the GSA here. I had to say, I wasn't as shocked as I was expected to be (what has the media done to me?!)

Since I am a senior, the summer was filled with college-related business. I took a physics class in Flushing in order to make room for Wind Ensemble, so now I know how to ride public buses. I also visited colleges in Ohio (Weslyn and Denison), New York (City College, Hunter, and Purchase), and Maryland (McDaniels). At the colleges in Ohio I sat down for interviews, which was scary, but I think I handled myself in a calm manner. I also studied a lot this summer for the ACT.

I'm trying to narrow down my college search, and finding a small, liberal arts program with a good bio program and low tuition/scholarships is ideal for me. Although I plan to major in Biology, continuing with band and the arts is a must, so the college must also have art programs and music programs available for non-majors! I feel that the Macaulay honors program at Hunter is promising. I also plan to visit Queens college and the University of Puget Sound this semester.

Besides school, I worked at the Women's Fund of Long Island, where I edited videos for them and wrote scripts for a possible PSA project (which I hope to continue this fall, if I have the time). I also attended a week-long leadership school geared towards creating worships for Unitarian Universalist congregations (hopefully I can use some of the more general skills to get projects done this year)!

I was so busy I felt a little stressed, but I had some time to wind down by drawing, mixing music, taking pictures of interesting outfits, watching a lot of art/science documentaries with my parents, and going to the bookstore. I also managed to hang out with friends by going ice skating and swimming three times...the only regret was that I never got to swim in the water (today I got to put my feet in when I visited my old town in the Rockaways, but I found an interesting way to photograph the beach via. the new telescopes they put up!)

I also attended "International Cosplay Day" with my friends, and we sang for a contest (we didn't win, but it was still exciting to perform)!

Not from the actual day, but this is what we wore

When my cousins from Texas came up to visit. We went into NYC and went to the Natural History museum (a special whale exhibit was on display, but we didn't get to go! I hope to go back soon...) Even so, I was fascinated by the hall of biodiversity...I had forgotten how expansive their collection was.

Overall, the summer was a lot of work, but I feel that I worked hard and played hard. I'm a little nervous about being a top dog, but I'm looking forward to carrying some of my summer experiences into STAC, and having a productive senior year (especially after all-things-college-related are done)!

...I'm pretty sure that I wrote down all that happened, but I feel like I'm forgetting something...