Planes, Flying, and My Utter Excitement With Such Things

Fun fact about me: I love airports, I love planes, and I love flying. 

So you can imagine my excitement right now because my wonderful father just purchased my plane tickets for this summer. And the best part? My seats to and from Washington D.C. are window seats. Quick, hold me.

People tend to judge me when they find out that I love being inside a plane. "What?! But it's so claustrophobic and you're so high up! It's so scary!" Well, we're all entitled to our own opinions, and I must say, I disagree with that one. Then they find out my preferred seat is the one by the window and they're reaction is a little like, "Why would you want to look out the window when you're so high up?!" Because it's fun, that's why. My poor dad is so distraught about me flying by myself, but I've been flying places since I was born, so he of all people should know that I will be absolutely fine and dandy. In fact, I'll probably be absolutely euphoric. Heck, I was euphoric when he was buying my tickets.

I'm rambling now because it's late and I'm running on a whopping five hours of sleep. That's what happens when you stay up late watching Star Trek: Into Darkness and cheering for Khan. Why yes, I did just admit my love for that movie and I also just admitted that I cheer on the baddies (British slang is my favorite). You may commence judging me if you would like. I have no shame.

Flying, flying, right. That's what I'm supposed to be writing about. I haven't flown anywhere since fifth grade when I went to Mexico. To be honest, I was having withdrawals. I've been craving to fly somewhere. Is that weird? I don't care.

Oh! Something else to add: I get to see my aunt and uncle while I'm there! On average, I probably see them once every three years, maybe. I'm not sure, I just know I don't see them often. They're going to pick me up from George Mason University and take me to the airport for my flight home. So that's exciting.

Thanks to my rambling, what little readers I have actually have something to read other than two or three short paragraphs. You're welcome. Unless my rambling is annoying, then I'm sorry, I suppose. Okay, I feel this post should come to a close before I trail off again like I did with Star Trek up there. Au revoir, and I hope you have a fabulous day/night or whatever it is where you are!

Updates and Whatnot

It's been a while since my last post thanks to school, games, and mountains of biology homework, but I am back with updates!

Firstly, as of last Tuesday, I am officially registered to attend WJMC this summer! I'm so excited to get to participate in this amazing opportunity. Secondly, I got over my fear of asking for a job, and I have my application almost ready to turn in. Hopefully, I'll soon have a real job earning real money.

All of my posts are so short, but my life is ever so boring, so there's really nothing else to mention. Goodbye for now!

Flickr

Alright, as of right now, only half of my photos from New York are uploaded because it takes forever and a day to upload pictures. But you can check out my Flickr here. I'm still attempting to upload sports photos, and hopefully I'll make some progress throughout the week.

And yet again, another short post. Oh well. I may or may not try to get a job tomorrow (I have the ambition now, but tomorrow I may back out because I have social anxiety...yay.). So wish me luck, I suppose!

Scholarship!

Good news! I got my email about the scholarship and I received $1,000! That means I just have to earn about $1,000 more. I'm one step closer to going to Washington D.C. this summer.

I've finally joined Flickr and I'm currently attempting to upload a ton of pictures that are taking up space on my computer. I'll post a link later if anyone wants to go look at some of my photos.

This is yet another incredibly short post, but I really have zero updates other than my scholarship news. So I will go work on Flickr and watch Sherlock. Hopefully another post will come soon with the link. Au revoir!

Random Journalism Post

Since I won't have any updates on WJMC until the 24, and I would feel bad for waiting so long to post anything, I suppose I'll talk about photography a little bit. I've always loved photography. Ever since I can remember, being behind the camera was what I loved. It wasn't until about fifth grade that I got really interested in it. It was that year that I learned that I have a relative that worked for National Geographic as a photographer, and later, an editor. This was the moment that I discovered just how much you can achieve when you put your mind to it.

I was in a gifted class all throughout elementary and middle school, and my last couple of years in the class, we focused on photography. We would take senior photos for people that couldn't afford to pay for them to be done professionally. This was the first time I was exposed to portrait photography. I enjoyed it a lot, and for a time, I wanted to open up my own studio when I got older.

My freshman year of high school, I signed up for journalism class. I had never taken a journalism class before, but I fell in love with it. I love interviewing people, writing articles, I even love the complete chaos the class goes through whenever we get close to our deadline. My first semester of freshman year, I was a little afraid to go out and take photos because I didn't know if I would be any good. Second semester, my teacher pushed me to go to some basketball games and take photos with my brand new camera that I had gotten for Christmas. She came with me my first game and gave me pointers on what to do, and from that point on, I have loved every second I spend on that court. This was also the point I decided that what I really want is to be a photojournalist, because while portrait and "staged" photography is fine and great, capturing people doing their normal thing in their normal lives shows so much more emotion.

I've heard some people say that journalism is a dying art, but I could not disagree more. Yes, while the physical newspaper may be going out, every part of that newspaper will be going digital. That means you still need your writers and you still need your photographers. You still need people to report the news, and therefore, I do not believe journalism will ever die. In fact, I believe journalists and journalism will stick around forever.

I apologize if any of this is poorly written, as I am extremely tired and I'm currently thinking about Sherlock making it's American premiere tomorrow night (rather later tonight, since it is technically Sunday right now) and how very excited I am for round two. Wish me luck for Friday, I can't wait to find out about the scholarship!

UPDATE: I have neglected to mention that Tuesday I will be going to my first organization to request a donation. I'm really awful at public speaking, so wish me luck with that as well!

Progress

Alas, Sherlock got the best of me Sunday and I didn't get my scholarship application sent out. No worries though, because I got it all faxed to the college yesterday. Progress! I'll find out if I receive a scholarship on 24 January, so wish me luck.

This is an extremely short blog post, but I really have nothing else to write. I'm still in shock from the series finale Sunday. So basically, if I don't stop writing soon, this blog post that is supposed to be journalism related will soon turn into Sherlock. Hooray for keeping this post short and sweet. I must now bid you goodbye.

Photography

As I mentioned in my last post, photography is my thing. It's what I do; it's what I love. My camera is my favorite accessory. As of right now, I only take pictures of games and other school activities. Although the main thing I like to focus on are the real, true moments, I do like to get in touch with my creative side every once in a while. Some of my favorite pictures are from when I was in New York City and Virginia over the summer. I've posted a few examples below:

I don't have any updates on WJMC at the moment as I'm still trying to get my paperwork all ready. I'm aiming to get everything faxed tomorrow (if the emotional trauma I'll experience from the conclusion of Sherlock series three doesn't mess up my goal, that is). Wish me luck.