2011 Beach Reads Summer Challenge: Favorite High School Memory

Hey guys, so for the 2011 Beachreads Summer Challenge hosted by Hopelessly Devoted Bibliophile, I have to write a post about my favorite High School memory.

Seeing as I am still in High School, I have decided to tweak this post and talk about my High School experience so far. It might be a bit rambly, but oh well.


So, the first day of High School I walk into school an awkward not-ready-for-high-school teen, just like every other Freshman. I was past the stage where I thought I was the cat's pajamas (aka all of my Middle School years), and was now faced with the reality that in order to be "cool" or be successful I have to do something.

That is a freaking scary prospect. I mean, all my life I was a straight A student because everything just came easy for me!  However, once I hit High School things got a lot more difficult. First, you have to deal with the everyday teen stuff like boys, homework, and style (which thankfully improved compared to middle school). But then you realize you are 4 years away from college and need to start figuring out what you want to do the rest of your life. I mean, you get to pick majority of your classes! (Way cool, right?) I didn't realize until High School that I have a fear of independence. I've always prided myself on being a leader, but then I realized I really wasn't one. I mean, I put together a last minute audition for our fall musical because I wasn't sure if any of my friends were going to try out. Well, that failed. So I had to decide what to do besides that. So I joined DECA. If you don't know what DECA is, it's basically a marketing club where students put together projects like Ad Campaigns and compete with them.

Well, joining DECA gave me tons of leadership skills.(Especially because I had an individual project along with a group one, scary!) And, while I struggled with the first half of the school year because I actually had to work towards something, I eventually got my grades up by the end of the school year.

This past year, sophomore year, I learned even more, and made friends from completely different groups. I tried out for the musical again, and because I actually planned for it this time, I got in! I continued on with DECA and eventually joined speech club. Speech club was a big step for me. I wasn't really friends with anyone who was in speech club or trying out for it, but I knew it was something I wanted to do, so I did it. I got in, and I was so happy that I decided to join. This past year, because of my experiences with DECA and Speech, I found what I wanted to do after school. I decided I wanted a combination of the marketing I learned in DECA and the politics and current events I learned from Speech club. By doing what I wanted to do, I realized I want to go into Public Relations and/or Political Science and become a political campaign manager (or just PR specialist for a publishing company.) This year, I became a lot more independent, learned new things I didn't think I would be interested in, and made new friends.

Next year I will be participating in the musical and joining Speech and DECA again, and returning as a DECA officer. While I still have a slight fear of independence, I like when I can do something by myself, and do it well.

So yeah, I don't have a favorite High School memory to share with you, but I'm looking forward to creating some.

While I realize that was totally cheesy, I hope the few of you that took the time to read it enjoyed it.

 Love always,

Amanda

Beach Reads Summer Challenge : Favorite Strong Female Character

Hi guys! So I am participating in the 2011 Beach Reads Summer Challenge over at Hopelessly Devoted Bibliophile. I'm I bit behind on my posts, but here's the first one!

For me, having a strong female character makes a good book ten times better, so you can bet I have lots of kickass girls to pick from. There's Clary from the Mortal Instrument Series, Fire from Fire by Kristin Cashore, and Tessa from The Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare. However, none of these girls are my favorite.

My favorite strong female character has definitely got to be Raisa from the Seven Realms series. Now what makes Raisa so kickass? Well, Raisa just has the package deal I guess. As the princess heir, she's devoted to making her queendom a better place. Not only does she create the Briar Rose ministry to help the people outside of the Castle Close, but she also tries to understand all aspects of her queendom by getting trained by the Demonai clan and going to Odens Ford to hone her military skills. Now as a princess, choosing between duty and love can be difficult, but Raisa seems to know (most of the time) which one to choose. Also, even though Raisa's a princess, she insists on not being treated as one. Although she can be extremely stubborn at times, it's always in the interest of her friends and family. Raisa is constantly thrown into life threatening situations, but she doesn't run away and hide. Instead, she stands beside her friends and fights like a fierce warrior. Along with that, Raisa isn't afraid to speak up. It can be difficult when you're trying to be heard by the Queen, the High Wizard, and various military officials, but Raisa manages to be heard every single time.

With insane fighting and riding skills, fierce loyalty and sense of duty, and the ability to stand up for herself, Raisa is most definitely my favorite strong female character.

Feel free to comment telling me about your favorite strong female character or linking to your Summer Challenge posts.

Enjoy!

Love always,

Amanda