Summer Is Over

So I apologize for not posting any entries in the past few months. Not sure who reads this thing anyways! I really need to get in the habit of composing more blog posts.

What has happened since the last post?
hmmm.

Well I finished my second semester at AVC. My course schedule was a little bit different that I had originally intended to take, so I will go into a brief recap of what I thought about each class.

Art 104- History of Modern Art
I took this course after taking Art 102, which was History of Art: Renaissance to Modern. Basically it was a continuation class. I thoroughly enjoyed it, even though it was a lot more difficult than I had anticipated. I had the same professor, Rae Agahari, and she is fantastic. You really learn a lot from her! I have a new found respect for modern art, and contemporary art as well. This makes my trips to LACMA a lot more meaningful!

Math 160- Calculus II
This class kicked my butt! All sorts of forms of integration and it's application. Series, polar graphs....yuck. Good teacher, but harsh grading. I am so glad I passed with a C. I will be moving onto Calculus III this upcoming semester, and I am looking forward to having the same professor I had for Calculus I this time around! He was an excellent teacher, and as a bonus, he likes me! :]

Political Science 101 Honors- Intro to American Government
My first honors class within the Honors Program at AVC. John Vento is a fantastic teacher...but this was one of the hardest classes I have had to take in a while. I took AP Government in high school, and did well, but it definitely did not prepare me for anything in this class! We did a lot of reading, analyzing, and most importantly....writing. I find writing to be extremely subjective, and I have had many teachers and professors in the past who have either loved my writing, or hated it. This professor definitely did not like my writing. But after working extremely hard to improve it, I managed to get a 75% on the first essay exam, and 90% on the last. With steady progression, it was extremely rewarding to earn an A on an exam! I ended up with a B overall in the class, which is okay, but I will take it.

Psychology 211- Psychology of Chicanos
Wow. I had to take this class to fulfill a diversity requirement. Definitely did NOT like this class. I had to bite my lip the entire semester, and thank God I got an A. What seemed to be an interesting area of study turned out to be a Chicano Pride class that felt more like a political rally rather than an environment to learn. I am so glad that I am done with that nonsense. There is nothing worse than having someone trying to shove political ideals down your throat!

Art 131- Advanced Ceramics
Since I crashed my Chemistry 110 class and couldn't get a seat, I ended up taking Ceramics again- which I thoroughly enjoyed. It was so nice this time around to actually know what I was doing on the potter's wheel. I didn't make as many pots as I would have liked, but I did make enough (and enough "good" ones) to receive an A- which is not an easy thing to pull out of Rich Sim. If you click here, you will find a link to the photos on my Facebook Album of all of my ceramic pottery.

This upcoming semester, I changed my major from Mathematics to Engineering. There are a few additional classes I will have to take, but I will definitely be at AVC for another four semesters before I transfer. Here are the classes I will be taking this upcoming semester:

Chemistry 110- General Chemistry
Math 250- Calculus III
Anthropology 101 Honors- Intro to Anthropology
Computer Information Science 161- Intro to C Programming
Art 132- Ceramics Handbuilding

We'll see how this semester goes! I will be busy with another full 19 unit load at school, and at the least, 20 hours at work! :]

Besides school, I have done some exciting things over the summertime. The first two weeks of June, I flew to Maryland with my good friend, Holly, and her family. They make an annual trip to visit every year because all of her family lives on the East Coast. We stayed with her grandparents in a cute town named Havre de Grace. If I remember correctly, that town has been around since 1785, and it was even considered in the selection of nation's capitol. Thank goodness it wasn't chosen, because it would definitely not be as cute and cozy as it is today! The town is so small, and I loved the close bonds everyone had with each other. :]

We also visited Annapolis, which is where her sister attends school at the United States Naval Academy. I had the wonderful opportunity to tour the campus, and visit downtown Annapolis as well. We also made a trip to University of Maryland in College Park. For a weekend, we travelled to Virginia, visited her family in Luray, and also visited Virginia Tech in Blacksburg. Another two days were spent in Fairfax Station, VA with the Hardy family, and we even made a trip into Washington DC and visited the "Newseum". I believe we were in West Virginia for a portion of the trip having dinner with some cousins, and even made a trip to Delaware! We were busy, and I had such a wonderful time. The family, the food (especially the Maryland Crab!), and the memories were fantastic. It was so nice to get away from the AV and from school and work to relax and have a change of scenery. I have tons of photos posted in a Facebook Album which you can find if you click here. Here are some of my favorite photos!

The lighthouse at the Chesapeake Bay. 

Havre de Grace, Maryland

Laying out on a road in Virginia. The scenery was beautiful!

Luray, Virginia

Bancroft Hall at the United States Naval Academy

Annapolis, Maryland

(We're the tiny specks on the stairs)

At the "Newseum" with Holly and the Hardy family in the nation's capitol.

Washington DC, USA

Some Maryland crab I had! YUM!

Havre de Grace, Maryland

I feel like this post is getting rather long. I will try to keep up with posting more about my life more frequently. Other than this large highlight in my summer, I have just been working a lot of hours, going to the beach every week, and hanging out with friends who are in town for the summer. I will be starting school in two weeks, so all this fun will have to come to an end. 

Hope everyone had a wonderful Monday, and has a fantastic week! 

~Marcea

Untitled 1

Hello again! Of course I have been thinking of everything to include on my blog all week, but when I get behind my laptop to write it down, I of course forget it all! :P

Lately I have been listening to the band Keane and their album "Hopes & Fears". I love the voice of their lead singer, Tom Chaplain. If you get a chance, it is definitely worth it to check out their music. :] This is the main website. Enjoy!

The more I think about it, the more anxious I am getting for school to start in February. It feels like an eternity since I've been to school, and I cannot wait to get back. However, I'm worried that I might be in over my head with 19 units of all academic classes. I guess we'll see! I probably won't get around to posting much on this blog when that time comes.

Apparently Wikipedia is doing a "blackout" in protest of Congress censoring the internet. I find the internet to be a huge help when researching for school, and from the little I know about this movement, I would fight to keep the

internet free to all. But if Congress really did go through with this, it's not like we don't have libraries to do

research and other forms of documentation or studying. I think some people these days forget we CAN survive without technology for every little aspect of our lives. Google's "Doodle" is even censored out for the protests.

On the topic of censoring things on the internet, some people should really censor what they post to social networks. I'm at a loss for understanding why some people thinks it is cool to post vulgar profanity on their facebooks or twitters. Or even promiscuous photos of them. Frankly, it's trashy. Also, when you have pictures of you drunk at parties plastered all over your profiles, it sends off a bad signal to professional people such as employers, or people who are reviewing your applications for groups, or committees. Think before you click!

So I've done my preaching for tonight. Next time I might have more interesting things to post...that's if I can remember them! Good night, and have a terrific Wednesday!

~Marcea

I Won't Give Up

So I'm trying to get back in the habit of posting on this blog. I think before yesterday, I hadn't posted since my junior year of high school....

Of course a lot has happened since then.

I've graduated and now I'm at the local community college planning to transfer after I finish my Associates Degree. I'm hoping to transfer to a UC, but I am not set on exactly where. Maybe I will apply other places, or maybe some private colleges. Definitely still going for UCLA! Go Bruins!

So...where to begin again? Maybe a review of my last semester at college. I took six classes: Ceramics(Intro to Wheel), Concert Band, Art History(Renaissance to Modern), Intro to Philosophy, Calculus I, and Psychology 101. That was a total of 19 units, and I'm proud to say I received a 4.0 this semester. Honestly, the hardest classes for me were Ceramics and Philosophy. I thoroughly enjoyed all of my classes, except for my psychology class. I guess when you have had Debby Chaddick for AP Psychology, you will never find anyone to be as good as her. haha.

Here are pictures of some of my favorite pieces I made in Ceramics.

A trash can jar

A Jellyfish Jar

Next semester I plan to take a full load again. So far I'm planning for:

-POLS 101 Honors (Intro to Political Science)

-PSY 211 (Chicano Psychology)

-MATH 160 (Calculus II)

-CHEM 110 (Basic Chemistry)

-ART 104 (Art History-Contemporary Art)

I'm looking forward to taking these classes...and the psychology class should prove interesting. I'm not taking that class on my own free will- it fulfills one of my Diversity requirements for transfer.

Other than school, I have had quite a few highlights from last year.

One of my favorites was going to see Jason Mraz and Toca Rivera live in San Diego for a special acoustic session. I was so lucky to go with Kyle, and it was our birthday presents to ourselves. Jason is one of the most amazing artists, and his voice and lyrics are phenomenal! I think my brain was on sensory and pleasure overload afterwards...it was spectacular. We were able to hear some of his old work (which I love the most) and some new songs yet to be recorded. One of the songs was titled "I Won't Give Up" and it turns out it is number one on iTunes. The song is beautiful as a recording, but I definitely suggest you check out the live version here.

Jason's work is inspiring, and his newest song has given me a mantra- I Won't Give Up. No matter what I am doing, I will not give up. I was never raised to give up and quit on any such thing, but sometimes I want to take the easy route, or just give minimal effort. I find it so rewarding to do a good job, and I will make sure whenever I am doubting myself or being less than I can be, I will tell myself- I won't give up.

I know that I kind of bashed New Year's Resolutions in my last post, but if you are truly set on making a change in your life- go for it! Make sure it is really what you want to do, and DON'T GIVE UP and have faith in yourself. I truly believe every individual is strong when they believe in themselves.

On that note, I'm out. I need to get to bed for work tomorrow.

Good Night, have a happy week!

~Marcea

Twenty Twelve

Happy New Year!

No, I do not believe this is the year the world is going to end, and all tragedy will strike. However, don't forget to live your life to its fullest extent! :D

It has been much too long since I have posted on this blog. I haven't logged onto here for so long, that I forgot my sign in info. I blame it on my poor memory, and all of the other passwords I have to remember for the other time-sucking social networks I participate in.

I'm going to keep this short and sweet since it is a little late to be blogging. I hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday season, and I wish everyone a wonderful new year. Resolutions are incredibly fake and don't happen anyways, so do what you want and do what makes you happy. Maybe some realistic goals can help you out?

Have a wonderful 2nd week of the year, as some of you go back to school, and work. I have about four more weeks until I start my semester- thank goodness! If I didn't have work, I would be completely bored out of my mind.

Take Care, and Good Night!

-Marcea

Summertime

It really has been too long since my last post!

Well, currently, I'm loving my summer and i'm keeping myself busy with friends, going to the gym, and band-ish activities.

I'm very excited for my upcoming senior year....I don't think it has really hit me that I only have one more year of high school left! I'm very anxious to get out of there...and move onto college. I'm planning on attending AVC and participating in the honors program there so I can transfer to a University such as UCLA. (Cross my fingers!!!!) I hope to one day, earn my Masters Degree in Accounting, so I can become a CPA. I'm not sure if it is my final plan, but it sounds like a good one to me.

On a side note, Junior year was pretty cool!

• Our Mock Trial Team won District Championship for the 6th time in a row, and I'm really proud to say that! We worked so incredibly hard at practice, and it was totally worth it in the end. I'm really looking forward to it next year!
• Prom 2010 was really fun. It was hosted at The Park Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles, and I had a blast with Kyle as my date. I didn't dance the whole time because the moment you came within 100 yards of the dance floor, you felt a wave of heat and sweat and all things nasty radiating off those kids. So instead of making ourselves uncomfortable, we went downstairs and I finally learned how to play Poker! Unfortunately, my brother was on the bus that broke down on the freeway, so he missed a few hours of the fun! =[
• The Band Trip to San Diego was a blast. We did a lot of cool things every single day! I didn't think San Diego was going to be so great. A big thanks to Hollie and Tarren for being amazing roommates. I had a great time. Once I get the pictures off my camera, i'll be sure to put them up on Facebook.
• And last but not least, The Band Banquet! Everyone who received an award totally deserved it! I am very fortunate to say that I will be the Drum Major for next year, and Emily Manetti will be the Assistant Drum Major! I couldn't be more excited! It will definitely be fun next marching season!

Speaking of band, Emily and I attended Drum Major Camp about two weeks ago. Just like last year, we went to the USA Drum Major Camp held at UCLA for four days. It was totally a blast, and Emily did a fantastic job! I think the instructors really liked us both! This year I stepped out of my comfort zone, and made a whole bunch of new friends. I really regret not making that many friends last year. One night, all the drum majors threw a party in the lounge in the dorms, and I couldn't imagine more outgoing, band-loving, fun people in one room. It was great. During my course of the Summer Camp, I was one of the few chosen who were offered a job with the company as an instructor. I can't take the job until i'm 18, but I'll definitely keep it in mind! I think Emily and I represented QHHS well. I hope to see all of my Drum Major friends during competitions. :]

I hope everyone had a great Fourth of July! My family tried something new this year-- we attended a Rodeo hosted by the City of Lancaster at the AV Fairgrounds, then immediately following, there was a huge fireworks show. It was definately the best fireworks show i've seen...they even had Sousa marches playing on the speakers. haha. All in all, I hope everyone's day was nice and safe!

Last Wednesday, Kyle took me to my first LA Dodgers game. One of his family friends gave him the tickets after being unable to make it. We had great seats, and I had a wonderful time. It was so much fun! Unfortunately, the Dodgers lost against the Florida Marlins 4-0.

Just yesterday, the FIFA World Cup 2010 ended. After watching game after game, I'm pretty glad a country like Spain won. I was rooting for Holland to win in the final, but it was wrong for me to doubt the powers of Paul the Oracle Octopus. All in all, the World Cup was very entertaining to watch minus the droning sound of the Vuvuzelas.

Well, I hope everyone has a wonderful week! I better get started on my summer reading...I'm only on page 50 of Slaughter House Five!

-Marcea ♥

Heaven Forbid

The Fray and Lady Gaga have been basically the only thing I've been listening to for the past few months! I got Lady Gaga's new Album, The Fame Monster, as a birthday gift yesterday, and I absolutely LOVE it. She is very different, but she has a great voice!

It's been a while since I've updated this.... Sad to say, I'm always on Facebook.

I'm so glad I've got a week off for Thanksgiving! It's not like my classes were giving me a hard time, but it's nice not having to wake up early or worry about other things. I'm actually starting Driving School at Rightway tomorrow! It'll be for the next four consecutive days (excluding Thanksgiving Day) and I'm really excited!

It feels like this years Marching Season has gone by quickly, we had our last "Big" competition at Moorpark last Saturday. Although we did not place, I was very proud with the band's performance. That was a good feeling. ;D

Coming up here in the future, I will be participating with the school's Mock Trial team, and I am very excited for the experience that comes with it. It will be neck to neck with Marching Band practice, but we only have two more weeks of that.

With these past few Sundays, I have thoroughly enjoyed T of R practice. I was surprised to make it this year, but I am very happy I did. The music is very fun, and it includes four different genres. The march has to be the hardest, and I really need to go work on it....

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

♥ Marcea

Russian Roulette Is Not the Same Without a Gun...

Wow!

I can't believe it's already the third week of school.

My official schedule is...

AP Calculus AB - C. LeBeau

Symphonic Band - McQuilkin

US History - Coach Ray

English 11 - Thibault

Spanish 3 Honors - Rocca

IB Chemistry - A. LeBeau

Marching Band - McQuilkin

I'm not happy with my regular history and english, but there isn't anything I can do about it...so I really shouldn't complain. Otherwise, I see no more schedule changes...so this is it! Hope it's a good one! I'm loving Calculus...! (Not being sarcastic)

Band has been going so well! I just came from our parade around the AV Fair. Band practice has been very efficient and I feel like it's going to be a great year. The music sounds pretty good too! The volume is getting there, but I sometimes just have these moments where I can't help but smile because I am so glad to be a part of the band. (I know it sounds real cheesy, but I truly do)

This week and last week have been filled with fair things/events. I've been there Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and today. I'll also be there tomorrow. :D

I've been listening to Lady GaGa like crazy. It's so awesome. hah

I saw David Cook at the fair the other night! I thought the concert was really nice. Everything sounded good, and the weather was beautiful. A band by the name of Crash Kings performed for about 45 minutes before David Cook, and I really liked them. I need to get onto iTunes or YouTube and find them....

I'm really enjoying being Asst. Drum Major. I love Mitch and Chelsea so much. Of course, whenever we have a performance, or anything, I'm nervous, but I think i'll get used to it soon. I love it.

I can't remember anything else I really wanted to say on here, so I'm going to post some pictures!

So I had a random urge to draw a pokeball on

Kyle Chartier's Chemistry notes.... hahah

Sabrina, Ana, Kayla, Me, and Catherine after the AV Fair Parade on Lancaster Blvd.

I look totally stupid, but it's me giving out an awesome award. Band camp was a lot of fun, and it was very productive!

Ok, well, I need to get back to reading The Time Traveler's Wife. Usually I read the book before I see the crappy movie production...but this time it's different. I LOVED the movie, but I'm LOVING the book even more! :D Thanks to Nithya, I've had the chance to read it.

Hope everyone has a nice rest of the week as August comes around to a close. Just think, tomorrow you'll be half way through the week!

mmmkay, well talk to everyone later!

♥Marcea

NIMBY

Not In My Back Yard!

Ok, so this is gonna be a short little post. It's 11:00 PM, and I need to be working on fixing my sleeping routine for school....

Random Thoughts of the Night~~~~
*-.,_,.-*'`'*-.,Have you ever sat there with other people and just stuck your tongue out? Like, tried making crazy designs? Or tried seeing who could touch their nose? It's actually really fun once you realize how silly everyone looks. ^_^

I am so super excited for marching band. I am not being pessimistic about it one bit. I know it's not going to be all of what i've been daydreaming about, but I just can't wait. The football games, the competitions, the parades....man!

Today I realized how much I love my pets. When I grow up, I always want to have pets!

Have you ever watched the sun set at the beach over the water? It's so cool, and oh so very beautiful. =] ,.-*'`'*-.,_,.-*

woooh, i'm so spacey today! hahahah
ummm, I had many more of them, but I just can't remember! (This ALWAYS happens when I sign into blogger to post my thoughts/ideas/events!)

I hope everyone has a fantastic week! See most of you at Band Camp! :D

<3 Marcea

How Do I Get Down?!

Drum Major Camp was a blast! I can't even describe how much I loved it! I have to thank the QHHS Band Boosters sooooo very much for paying for Mitch, Chelsea, and I to attend!

Our Drum Major Camp took place at UCLA from July 16-19. There were about 50-60 kids in our class and 5 Instructors. At first I was a little intimidated by the other Drum Majors (Some had been attending DM Camp for years!!) but by the end of the first day, I realized they were just like anyone else! I was thankful enough to room with Chelsea, so there was no need to immediately open myself up to someone I wasn't familiar with.

After check-in, we headed to unpack in our beautiful dorms located in Rieber Hall. After a mad dash down the long flights of stairs down to the stadium (And an almost potentially dangerous fall down the stairs) Chelsea and I had just made it in time for the orientation. From there it just got better. We started off with a Drilldown, and of course, I came no where near the finals. (The people who win have no honor! Hah, just kidding) The main culprit of failure during drilldowns was the need to change how we marked time and counted parade rest. Other than the drilldowns though, we got into our Unity/Baton Spinning/Conducting Groups.

The Unity groups were random selection, and ours turned out to be really awesome! Our group was called The Watermatos (Hybrid between Watermelons & Tomatoes) and the other three groups were Pomograpes, Lazacos, and Banangos. I got to know everyone in that group fairly well, and throughout the course of camp, we did many unity games/activities together.

As for the Spinning/Conducting class, I enrolled in Intermediate level for the both of them. Mitch joined me in the Spinning, but went advanced for Conducting. Chelsea did the exact opposite, and joined me in the Conducting, but went advanced for Spinning. I believe we all made good choices in that, and we all challenged ourselves to the point of sanity. From those classes I learned some really cool things. (Including in what my opinion is a really awesome Baton routine!) It wasn't easy though! Every meal break was spent practicing! The Baton really bruised up my arms/wrists, but it was all very worth it at the end.

Besides the classes, I also got quite a bit closer to Chelsea. We partied it up til midnite and then payed for it every morning at 5:30 AM. I can't complain though! Who doesn't love sneaking around past curfew just to buy some pretzels and M&M's from a vending machine?! We had fun, and Mitch was always there to keep us in-line. Hah

On the last night, the fabulous USA Drum Major Instructional Staff, Chris, Nadya, Steven, Todd, and Kathleen took us to a nice area in UCLA where they performed a Drum Major version of Harry Potter. The skit they performed was entitled, Marchy Potter. It was hilarious, and it was a good way to end the night. This a picture of staff from the brochure, and I decided to include it because the guy is Chris, one of the staff from our camp. He was probably my favorite. :)

This whole experience gave me so much. I am just so happy and thankful I got to be a part of it. It made me come out of my shell, and added a lot more to my spirit. In addition, I learned a lot about being a leader. All of the corny jokes, crazy routines, and strange chants/things we did really made it fun. I really hope that I have the honor to be able to attend again next summer!

If you wanna know more, and you aren't already bored with this whole entire post, i'll be happy to sit there and tell you how awesome this whole experience was.

Have a nice wednesday! I'll see everyone at the band rehearsal tomorrow! :]

♥Marcea

P.S. - On a side note--- If you ever attend UCLA, be very prepared for the copius amounts of stairs/inclines and declines! :D

Bitter Sweet

Sorry for the long intervals between posts!

I hope everyone is having a fine and dandy summer vacation. So far, I've had a good summer. I'm getting ample amounts of sleep, I'm hanging out with my friends, I got no homework, and I can sit down and watch as much CSI as I'd like.... :D

On Monday, June 22nd, I went with Kevin, Hailey, and Kyra to Magic Mountain for Hailey's birthday. It was a nice day out, and I'm proud to say we hit up every awesome ride! X2 was definately the scariest ride i've ever been on...and i'm afraid to do it again. haha. I must say though, the new ride Terminator was pretty awesome. It was much more fun than I thought it would be. The day was really great, and I had an good time screaming my head off, and getting soaked on Roaring Rapids. :D

Drum Major camp is starting tomorrow! I'm so super excited! I've been looking forward to this experience all summer, and I'm glad it's finally here. Mitch, Chelsea, and I will be at the USA DM Camp hosted at UCLA from July 16-19. When I get back, i'll post some pictures!

So far, I've watched quite a bit of movies this summer, and I plan on watching a lot more! Some include, Sabrina, Ms. Pettigrew Lives for a Day, Blast from the Past, The Devil Wears Prada, My Sisters Keeper, The Proposal, Dragonfly, Steel Magnolias, Family Man, and just today I went and saw Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I enjoyed some more than others, but all were not a disappointment.

I'm sure all of you that read this have heard of our musical selections for the upcoming marching season. Riverdance for the field show, and The Aviators by John Phillip Sousa for the March. If you guys want the music file, I can email it to you. :)

Just the other week, I was invited to Ventura Beach with Kyle's family. It was a beautiful day, and I am really happy I went. We built a Sand Castle/Fortress thing, caught crabs in the rocks, (Or more like, watched Connor chase them) and just in general soaked up the sun. The following day, my mom decided to take our family down to the beach too. Instead of Ventura though, we went a little farther to a nice day beach, Faria. The weather was beautiful, and we got to enjoy yet another day at the beach with some friends. Towards the end of our trip, this sea lion came out of the ocean, walked up on the beach, and got up on the rocks right next to us. It didn't look too good, and I figured it was probably dying due a natural release of Domoic Acid in that area of the ocean. Although it was a sad realization, we left before we watched anymore of the poor creature's pain. Altogether it was a nice trip.

Well, it's almost 4, and I havn't started packing for DM Camp which is in less than 24 hours. I hope everyone has a very lovely rest of the week, and a nice weekend!

♥Marcea