NO TIME FOR ANYTHING! D;

          Sorry for the late post. Lately, I've been feeling very lazy and having to catch up on alot of work. This includes my current homework and projects, my leisure reading and my French. I'm going to keep this post short just because I don't have much time at the moment BUT I still want  to give you guys something to read about.
          So, this semester, I have 4 subjects: Science, Careers, English and Band. This past weekend and these few days, I have had Science questions, a quiz and a lab report. For Careers, I had to finish up my summaries for the boring and long surveys and currently have a survey reflection due. For English I had to finish up my presentation, which went well, on a chapter, read 2 books( The Chrysalids and Brand New World) and just got assigned a media project. For Band, I completely BLEW(SERIOUSLY BLEW) my Band "testing"(which is where we play 1 out of 2 pieces, one easy and one hard for him and the class to give us feedback to improve). I know this may not seem like alot but as I've said before, if you have chores or volunteering to do on the weekends and on school days, ALL THAT YOU WANT TO DO WHEN YOU COME HOME IS SLEEP AND EAT AND JUST SIT DOWN D;
          Note: I will probably explain the band situation some other time.
          As for leisure reading, I've mentioned in the first post that I joined this reading club at my school called White Pine. We pretty much get 2 1/2 months to read atleast 5 books and we have 2 months left and I haven't even read one. I'm only on page 20 and I'm already bored with the book. On top of that, I have to finish the 2 books from English, so I haven't gotten a chance to read the White Pine book,which is called Blood Red Road. I originally chose it because the librarian said that it's like the Hunger Games, which I loved(the first book atleast). I want to read the trilogy so that I can see the movie for when it comes out but as you can see, it doesn't look like it'll happen soon.
          French. You may know that Canada is a bilingual country. We are suppose to all know English and French, English being the first, unless you're in Quebec, where it can be either. French is so important for me because I am in the IB programme. If I want to go all the way through and complete the programme, I will have to be GREAT at French and I mean French-Immersion GREAT. I haven't read French or heard French much for the past month,which is killing me inside and I am really hoping that during the March Break(which is in a little less than 2 weeks), I am able to do some hardcore studying =D
         Sorry for the short and late post but I need to get back to work now. The thing about these posts is on average for my long and regular posts, they usually take an hour to think, write and edit them. This one took about 20 minutes, so which one would you prefer? Short and frequent posts OR Long and less frequent posts?

Bloomed -> Blooming~
-Melanie

Update: Keeping Calm and Collected :/ ...

          Okay, so do you remember the post a wrote last week? It was about Temper-tantrums? Anyways, it hasn't been successful so far :$
          From reading my "About Me" section, you know that I like to volunteer. It's pretty much my enjoyment for the day or week, since I can't do much on school days. However, sometimes it's not always fun. Some people may complain about this and say that I'm giving an excuse but I feel VERY stressed out. I feel like I'm coming upon a full and busy schedule because I think I get more homework and projects than most academic students. However, it varies within different schools. I normally volunteer for 2 hours everyday after school.
         I'm not saying that volunteering is horrible because it's not but just sometimes I wish that I can skip a few days a week because it's so tiring. It's almost a drag because I know when I get home 2 hours later than most people do, I'll be extra tired. You know what happened yesterday?
         So, normally I sit down for 30 minutes to eat and watch some tv and then I start my homework. Now, I sit for probably about an hour, which is WAYY too much and I eat ALOT. Sooo, I'm diverting from my routine. Yesterday, I feel asleep... . I already came home late from school, and I fall asleep, for an hour. Now add that's: 2 hours volunteering, 1 hour of sitting and eating and 1 hour of sleeping. THAT'S 4 HOURS!
         And that leads to my point, above. Sometimes during the day, I feel soo stressed out. I get too tired to pay attention so I sit there and I get angry at myself! I'm one of those quieter people in the class but I'll talk alot to my friends soo my friends would say I'm more so talkative while others think of me as quiet. So, in my classes we have alot of class discussions. Most of the time, it's those louder and more-outgoing people who contribute more. Every time they say something, I feel like I've just been pushed lower in a hole because I feel so downgraded. Currently, I am probably never getting out of this hole because of how deep I've ended up.
        That's how get angry at myself: I end up not contributing. Probably about 10 times in the past 2 weeks, did I want to say something. But you know what I did, I doubted myself. I think about it so much that I get nervous and my heart beats SOO FAST and then..........I end up not even raising my hand. I don't even try. I've wanted to but ended up putting it down when it was half-way up.
          I really want the weekend to come so I can finally rest and try to adapt back to my old routines. This week is already a shortened week due to a 4-day-weekend, so I only have 4 days of school this week. PLUS, I had a late start this morning, which shortened the classes to an hour each, so really? I already have the schedule on my side but my drowsiness is not.
         However, I will end this post with my more-so successful day than the last 2 days before. I spent around 35 minutes after I came home from 2 hours of volunteering and then I got straight to work. I missed Science class today due to the Math Contest I had to do. It was pretty tricky but I'll probably talk about it more in future posts. Then I practiced for my band testing tomorrow and now I just need to finish this blog and practice for my English presentation tomorrow.
          I've thought about my blogging topics and schedules. I may miss some days due to homework but I will try my best to be active on posting. Also, I am beginnning to write my posts earlier than I post them and I don't think that will be done everyday. If something interesting happens a certain day, I may blog about it instead of a general "everyday talk" kind of thing.

Bloomed -> Blooming~
-Melanie

No Internet!?!??!?!

          Okay, I know that I planned a post schedule but sometimes unexpected things come up. And that's what happened. My brother found out on Thursday that we were at the limit of our internet usage and after you go over that, they charge you ALOT more. Therefore, on the 4-DAY-WEEKEND, 3 of those days included no internet other than on my brother's phone. I will post 2 extra blogs other than on the regular schedule to make up for the 2 lost during the weekend >.<
          Before that happened, I was usually on the computer probably 6 days a week? Soo, I use the computer pretty often. So, that was pretty tough but I knew that I could catch up on some work that I needed to do.
          I started the morning off with practicing writing chinese words. I know that I'm chinese and I SHOULD know how to write it already but I don't. At home, I speak mainly, I believe tai-shan? It's very similar to the well known, cantonese. So, I understand people who speak cantonese perfectly, since I watch asian dramas, and tai-shan. I can speak it and hear it and understand but I can't write it. When I was younger I took chinese class for 4 years, but that didn't help because it was never taken seriously. I was in grade 1-4, what do you think?-_-. I can currently write words like cook, eat, drink, water, tea, homework, learn, write, words, what?,etc. I am learning how to write them based on the format they are written in, so it's basically memorization. However, I'm trying to separate them to know if I really recognize the words.
        I worked a little on studying for a Math Contest that my math teacher signed me up for. I'm guessing it's just a school-wide math contest for grade 9's. It's all multiple choice questions but there's a twist. There are 3 sections to the test. In part A, if you get the right answer, the question is worth 5 points, part b, it's worth 6 points and part c is worth 8 points. However, if you leave a question un-answered you get 2 points but if you get it wrong it's worth 0. I think I'm going to take a risk at answering the questions that I may be unsure about. I wouldn't leave a question unanswered just because I'm unsure, I probably would if I had NO CLUE. The plus side is that I get to miss an hour of class :D and the math contest is more-so like an extra thing and doesn't count for a mark.
          Later on, I practiced my clarinet for an hour. I got really frustrated because I've been learning some notes for some lower and higher octaves and it's difficult to play if it's not in the octave that your clarinet is normally suppose to play. The lower notes are not as hard to play as higher notes though. The higher notes I have trouble playing. I can reach them but I can't hold onto a note for 4 beats -.-, which isn't even that much really. So, I think I'm just going to practice but it's just really aggravating.
          I was also contemplating about what courses I should take next year. I have 2 electives next year with 1 being in the arts. Originally I decided to choose Gym for my other elective but I looked at my options and wondered if I would need Business in the future for my occupation and so, I didn't fill it in yet. Also, with art, I'm thinking about Band or Guitar. Currently I am leaning towards guitar. However, in IB grades 11 &12, the only art you may choose is Drama or you take Biology. They may establish visual or band in the near future but they don't know when. If I take band next year, maybe in grade 11 and 12 they may have established it and I would be pro by then. However, if they don't, I would lose the chance of learning how to play the guitar :/
          Also, on Saturday, my cousins and I went shopping and I would blog about it and show the items that I purchased BUT I don't have my USB cable to connect the camera to the computer because I'm pretty sure my cousin took it. Therefore I may blog about it next week :3. HURRAY FOR INTERNET!

Bloomed -> Blooming~
-Melanie

Why: Dietician + Weekly highlights

          (Sorry, I'm late! I will explain why in the next post for tomorrow) In today's blog, I will be talking about my highlights for this week and why I wanted to be a dietician. Currently not in a "happy, expressing-mood", so sorry if I sound like I'm monotone xP    I'm having "blogging-block" D;
          I'm not sure if this is just my class but my classmates like to get to class early. Probably 5-10 minutes as opposed to some students who are barely able to get in before the bell. Anyways, since the teacher didn't arrive yet, my class was waiting outside in the hallway. We are typically a pretty loud class even though I am not talking the majority of the time. Occasionally, people would walk down the hall and have to get through our class which isn't too hard. However, there were these 3 girls. Apparently they were grade 11's. EGO is supposedly huge for them because before they even attempted to get through our end of the hallway, they say,"F****** Move!". My classmates obediently shuffled over and glared. However, before they made it all the way through us, the last girl almost trips on a backpack and one of my classmates makes a remark saying, be careful not to trip. And these girls get all hyped up because they're supposedly not afraid to back down in a fight, so they walked back through our class in the hallway, turn around and started saying stuff like you shouldn't be in grade 9 and a bunch of rude comments. It was pretty exhilarating, I have to say but really?
          You are going to walk up and down the hallway, just so you can pick on some ninth graders because you think that you're on top of the world? Girlll, pleeeeease. It's fine to have a reputation but you know what they go and do? They tell our teacher and they leave out half the details. Do you really think that the teacher will believe 3 of you or 30 of us? Anyways, that's not something you see everyday.
          I posted about an incident that happened during Badminton season last year and I mentioned how now I get along with the coach much more. Well, once again I was helping out with the team's practice. They had to recruit new team members which currently take up 3/4 of the team. When you're new to something, you always try to experiment with different things and explore because you're curious! So, I was helping this girl by feeding birdies in the general racket direction. And guess what? I get hit with a birdie. Twice. Once on my jaw and once at my ear. You know what was so funny though? We were trying to follow a technique to hit the birdie. She followed it but...the shots were too weak. Therefore, we practiced hitting it harder but complying with the technique. She hit it hard but she didn't follow the technique and ironically, those were the shots that hit me...-.-
          "What do you want to be when you grow up?" . Typically you would expect people like me or people in my class to become a doctor, a pediatrician, a lawyer or some other top-notch recognized occupation but that's not always the case. One of my friends in the same class, wants to be an Interior Designer. I want to be a Dietician.
          I personally love gym and recognize the importance of exercising. However, a healthy lifestyle involves 2 parts: nutrition and exercise. I did think about a nutritionist but I am honestly not sure about the difference in the 2. I think that a nutritionist focuses on a specific need in a diet or someone who studies nutrition. I more so want to help people control their intake of food and the types of food for a healthier lifestyle, since I feel like a somewhat lack. By doing this though, I feel like it may be a way of making myself feel better because then I feel like I am healthy-eating, which I somewhat am but it can be better. -shrugs- I don't know. We'll see after the long-ass questionnaires we get in Careers class -________________-

Bloomed -> Blooming~
-Melanie

Temper-tantrums and Pressure (n)

          Okay, Confession: I throw temper-tantrums. I know how this word is usually associated with children when they throw fits but it's not exactly the same with me. We all have our bad days and we all have our good days. I'm usually fine but my temper-tantrums are fast and hurtful. These usually occur when I have to repeat myself more than twice, if I feel challenged by their "try-to be" casual slur, if I'm being criticized on something that I always do, if I'm getting nagged on and ALL kinds of things.
          The horrible thing is, coming back to being fast and hurtful, I get so caught up in the moment that I almost forget who I talking to. Soo, I end up saying the most MEANEST words to my mother because of the burst of anger within me. My mother is probably my closest or near closest person, so imagine cursing to her. I just can't believe it. The WORST thing about it is that I can't take back what I said. What's said has been said and cannot be taken back. I've thought about trying to change my behaviour by relieving stress through my hobbies, to try to catch myself in the middle of my tantrum and try to fix it, etc. However, as you can see that never worked. I'm pretty sure this is a common teenager thing but I feel like every time, it ESCALATES to higher, faster levels.
          That also reminds me of about 3 incidents where I thought I was LITERALLY going to BLOWUP because my heart was racing sooo fast and I was straight-up SWEATING. I was stressed out and I was angry. I was throwing a tantrum and it just escalated SO FAST, probably in 5 seconds and I was soo angry that I even cried. This was how extreme it got. The good thing is that those are happening not as often so that's a plus. I NEVER want to go through that again. It takes soo long for me to just breathe and calm down.
          Now, PRESSURE. I've already said how I love sports. So now imagine: I am practicing one of my favourite sports, Badminton, and I throw a INTERNALLY-CONCEALED tantrum. JUST IMAGINE THAT! I just feel like I shall explain how I felt at the time, which was about a year ago. Okay, so as usual I join my Badminton team at school. I've, at this point been on the team for the 4th year, so I clearly know what I'm doing. That goes back to my pet-peeves: being criticized. I mean, it's fine if you're teaching me something that I haven't learned about before because I personally LOVE to gain knowledge, but if YOU'RE questioning things that I've done for YEARS, we've got a problem. And we did.
          We had a new coach. He was very friendly and open. However, the things he taught made me angry. We were taught how to hold our rackets, move around the court and general racket swings. At the time, I was thinking, I already know all these things, why must I learn them again? And soo, we would spend alot of the time practicing these skills. The way he taught would be helpful to many but for me, it was DREADFUL. He would come around to correct our footing or arm or whatever that wasn't right. He would correct you and he'd expect you to listen and obediently follow his example. That's what got to me. I was corrected probably 5 times on ONE stroke -_______-. So, he wouldn't leave me alone to practice UNTIL I somewhat got it. Soo, he would watch, then correct me,then I'd make a swing and he'd correct me. Put that on repeat for 5 times.
          That's when I started to just stop caring. I DREADED practice. I didn't like it. I'd walk in the gym feeling like I'm trapped and instantly claustrophobic. That went on for about a month until it started to get better. Sometimes when I would get home after practice, I wanted to down-right POUR OUT. I could feel the tears wield up in my eyes. I once even broke out crying for 15 minutes right before practice ended. That's how far I was pushed and I never want to go there again. To this day, I still remember how it felt like.
          I will try hard to work on keeping: Calm & Collected. If you haven't noticed, I have decided to post 4 posts in 1 week. One on the following days: Sun,Tues,Thurs and Sat. Feels good to know that I'm able to let this out :)
- Btw, check out the quotes at the bottom of the blog and I still see this "new coach" and it's cool now soo don't worry (;

Bloomed -> Blooming~
-Melanie

Why?: Website Name

          Why did you choose your specific website name? I'll explain my complete process with creating the blog 's URL. Firstly, I wanted to be creative with the name(but miserably failed). I came up with names like, Mel-Ablooming-nie, Mel-Abundant-nie, Mel-AMAZING-nie,etc. I wanted to make it personal with my name and an adjective that describes me.(For the record, I said Mel-AMAZING-nie as a joke to my cousin, soooo don't take that one seriously. I'm  not THAT cocky :P ). 

          Then I wanted to go with the "Ablooming" one, but my cousin thought that the "nie" part looked weird. As you can see, I care about her opinion :3 . Then I decided to just use adjectives: AbundantAbloomingAsian. <-- as you can tell, I am Asian. The problem with this is that it may be too long, sooo I wanted to go with: AsianAblooming. Nevertheless, I second-guessed it and thought that using "Asian" in the URL, would otherwise be interpreted as being cool or "having swag", which I could really careless about. This may be offensive to some of you, but I see it used more-so because of that ^ reason. Also, I am by no means ashamed of being an Asian :) 

          Now, there were 2 reasons as to why I chose adjectives starting with an A. Firstly, because it would fit with the A in my name,which was my goal, starting. Secondly, because I thought it would be funny if I had 3 "A" adjectives, which would showcase me as getting, A's as a grade since I'm an Asian? That was a lame joke so I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't get it. Finally, I chose "stillblooming" to state that I'm blossoming or growing and not GROWN like everyone would think of me as.

          Since, I have physically grown up so tall so fast, it makes others think of me as tough or in control, which gives me more "power" I guess? than normal teens my age. Btw, I am about 5' 8". Also, mentally I have grown. I remember in grade 7, I started to care more about my academics. It was extremely weird. I AIMED for straight A's, which I would of otherwise just have been happy with half of my report card A's and others B's. When I was younger, I was your average student. However now I aim high and try to earn it. So far, it is quite maintained. It even got crazy once when I aimed for 90's+ marks -_-. Talk about tiring yourself out. To add to that, I was also adapted to being the one to take responsibility or to be a leader. I would have chores when I was really young. I remember learning how to wash the dishes at the age of 5 and vacuuming weekly at the age of 8 !! 

          I hope to blog so that I could document this fast-paced development of ME! I can look back to see what I typed five years ago and know about how I saw things. Oh and I think I am going to write some posts about " Why?:" . I'll probably use it for things that need to be farther explained in other posts, so that you may get a better understanding. Blogging is great. 

Bloomed -> Blooming~
-Melanie  

      

Procrastinating....

          We all do it. Like myself today. I have a reading and questions due tomorrow and I haven't worked on it yet. My procrastination started yesterday. My day was filled yesterday with going to the hospital, going out for lunch, going grocery shopping and doing chores. Finally at around 5 o' clock, I got time, but I decided to "catch up" on my current favourite tv show, The Biggest Loser. The Biggest Loser is a show designed to change people's lifestyle. This includes staying active, eating right and building a lifestyle around that. In this show, they select contestants from around the U.S. to participate in their show. They have professional trainers, Bob Harper and Dolvett Quince. They help these people lose their "extra" weight. That's why at the finale they crown the Biggest Loser to the person who as lost the most weight, percentage-wise. Enough about that but the episode took about 2 hours, so it was quite time consuming.
          Next, I decided to watch some youtube videos. I normally stick around with beauty gurus even though I myself don't seem like the kind of person. I am also a Shaytards fan. I watch pretty much all of their daily vlogs since the day I discovered them which may be almost 1 1/2 years now? Anyways, that goes up to like a little over 7 o' clock and I decide to practice my clarinet playing.
          For my art elective, I chose Instrumental Music or Band. I chose the clarinet because in grade 5 and half of grade 6, I was in band and then a quit. I thought that since I have once played it, it must be easy to get back on track. And it was, for the most part. I realized that I learnt very little in the 1 and 1/2 years. I want to learn quickly to catch up to my current class' average pace. My inference is that they have all played from grades 5-8. So, as you can see, I need to PRACTICE. I always get frustrated when I play the wrong notes or am off beat. So, I spent an hour playing the songs that I am pretty good at (which aren't too long btw) but focused on my beat. 1, 2, 3, 4, I count. I got pretty good with the half notes and eighth notes which were most difficult for me. It was well spent.
          I ate dinner, I watched some more videos and did whatever I could to not FINISH my English homework. That included blogging, for the most part. My cousin had already started a blog a few days ago and that inspired me to start one. I originally was thinking about it since I've read this other blog about a girl who had once had and is still recovering from bulimia at the age of 23, I think? So, I decided to start one yesterday because firstly,  didn't want to start my homework and secondly, because I was meaning to start one, I just didn't know when.
          I promised myself that I would do my English in the morning when I woke up(around 10:00am) but that failed since I ended up sleeping at 2:00am. I am SURE that I will do it right after I eat lunch. -crosses fingers-

Bloomed -> Blooming~
-Melanie

A Little Bit More About Me

          I know that I already have an "about me" section on my blog but I felt the need to farther explain. So, Let's start. I am a freshman in highschool and am currently in the IB ( International Baccalaureate, search it up if you would like to know more) prep program, which in my school is for the grade 9's and 10's. Basically, if you are still reading this and not searching up about IB then I will briefly explain the program. It's a program designed to create a well-rounded and globally-aware citizen.
          I initially decided to attend this program because I thought that I could be different and unique from others by being in an advanced program. I then thought about the options it would open up for me. I personally didn't have much of an idea about what I wanted to be when I grew up , so I thought that IB  could open up lots of opportunities for when I DO KNOW. However, since I am currently in Careers class now, I am looking into health-related and teaching-related jobs. Particularly a Dietician. I'll probably create another post some other time explaining why, but for now, let's carry on. I just want a job that I would enjoy and be able to offer my knowledge. I want to be stepping stone to someone, not just a spectator.
          I also mentioned that I liked playing sports. When I was in grades 5-8, I participated in alot of different sports. This includes Basketball, Volleyball, Badminton, Track and Field and even Cross-Country once. Outside of school, I enjoy skating and swimming. However, that was when my love for staying active occurred. I LOVE how it feels after you have done an all around GREAT exercise.
          Nonetheless, even the slightest act of competition sends my body going NUTS. I have adrenaline pumping FURIOUSLY through my blood. I GET PUMPED and I BURST. If you were to ever challenge me, in the hype of it, I'd probably be a little cocky myself. However, that only happens in competitions. Usually my love for sports stays subtle and quiet, UNLESS I am in a comfortable environment. As you can see, I may come off as "shy". I do suggest you all to EXERCISE and keep practicing because it DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
            As for reading, I am a fairly late starter. While everyone was reading the Harry Potter series in third grade, I was playing on my computer or watching useless TV. I really started reading leisurely after my sixth grade teacher had assigned a reading report every week on a book that we were reading. I ended up doing it for most of the school year while others stopped about mid-year due to my teacher's absence of marking. This "late start" may have also been caused due to the loss of my library card at the age of 5. I couldn't get another one because I didn't have an adult to go with me, since everyone was so busy. Therefore in GRADE 8, YES GRADE 8, did I get a library card. I have read ALL of Sarah Dessen's books(Lock and Key & The Truth about Forever being my favourites), The Darkest Powers Trilogy and The Gathering, The Daughters Series, Alexandria in Africa and it's sequel, FIRST book of the Hunger GamesTrilogy and more. Also, to farther expand my reading hobby, I got involved with the White Pine reading group at my school. It's a group for highschool students where we read 5 books, either non-fiction or fiction, and vote for our favourite. Then we go to a ceremony where, SABRINA JALEES hosts it btw, and they announce the book that wins.
          I am sorry for the large paragraphs but I only find that anything that is worth explaining shall be lengthy. I will try to post a post probably a few times a week, so it will be quite active. Anyways, I hope this helped you know more about me and hopefully you will follow my blog for future posts.

Bloomed -> Blooming~
-Melanie