My family does not usually observe holidays. We did go to Chicago, though.
The trip to the Art Institute of Chicago was more than enough for my holiday spoils. Most notable was the incredibly prolific collection of impressionist and post-impressionist artworks (Caillebotte’s Rainy Day, Seurat’s Sunday on La Grande Jatte, Van Gogh’s Bedroom in Arles, etc). Somewhat dissatisfied I couldn’t see American Gothic (it’s currently on loan in Paris, but will be back in a month or so), but Nighthawks was enough to satiate my appetite for American art.
There was also a disconcertingly sizable collection of Renoir’s works there. As a member of the #RenoirSucksAtPainting movement, I had to hold back a sigh of disgust.
I finally finished my 2000 word essay on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for my Canadian History class that is worth 10% of my mark! Now I have this Computer Programming process exam assignment to code and some math homework, then I’m done for the next couple of days I-)
Also, I think I’m almost finished teaching myself Pre-Calculus for the SAT Math 2 test. I’ve got everything covered in Pre-Cal asides from Conic Sections, Matrices, and Polar Coordinates (so I’ve got everything in Pre-Cal Trigonometry and Functions incl. Rational & Radical down!), and asides from those, I only have to teach myself Vectors, Probability, and a couple smaller subjects for the SAT. I wonder how difficult my Pre-Calculus course will be next semester, since Pre-Calculus isn’t taught until second semester Grade 11 and I almost finished teaching myself everything asides from whatever is on those “real-life” problems.
So now that we’ve seen our PSAT scores, I think it might be time to discuss answers and why certain questions were right/wrong. I’ll post some math problems I don’t really understand in a little while.
@ak2018 There are full answers and explanations if you log into your CB account and go to “view details” under PSAT then test questions and then click the question and it will give you an explanation.
I still haven’t gotten my PSAT scores back online (I think CB hates me :’( ) I’m worried they like lost my test or something. I’ve emailed and called and they asked for more info, so now I gotta wait.
@Wolfgangbread Did you see the Thorne miniature rooms? They were my favorite part of the entire museum. I’m a simple person. Everyone else was flocking over to the famous pieces, and I was in the basement imagining tiny people in tiny rooms. :))
@Hamlon I saw you mentioned wanting to learn whatever you want for a month, look into Williams and their winter study period. It all seemed really interesting to me.
@reidd799 I wondered what other schools did this! John Hopkins does something similar too. I think all the classes are free during this time, so you’re free to take weird stuff outside of your major. Brown encourages self-exploration by default since there is no core. I think I’m going to start a thread to search for more schools.
@bubblylaugh Thank you! I have Science Bowl practice and Jazz Band rehearsal to look forward to on my birthday - the highlights of my week!
My school doesn’t use Naviance. I wish we did. We use Infinite Campus. It’s only useful for checking grades.
@ak2018 My school started scheduling at that time last year to schedule around the large freshman class and their classes. I don’t know when we’ll be doing it this year because the current 8th grade class is so small.
I’m not applying to any schools ED. I’m not THAT committed to any school to make that commitment.
I’m applying to the Honors Colleges of the University of Maine and the University of Arizona. Maybe Boston University as well. I don’t know yet.
I got a cell phone (already mentioned it, lol), L.L. Bean boots, gift cards, money, and a miniature drone (it’s so much fun to play with!).
@Wolfgangbread Van Gogh is my favorite painter! Bedroom in Arles is one of my favorites of his along with my favorite painting, Starry Night.
@Hamlon I considered applying to Brown, and even had it on my list, but the school focuses a lot more on physics than astronomy and only has 3 professors who do astronomy research. None of the professors share research interests with me. The school looks great, but it’s a bust for me. 
Send me the link to the thread when you’ve posted it so I can look at it and/or comment on it!
Anyone have USNCO tips? Especially for non-multiple choice on the National exam
I got mostly books and movies for Christmas this year haha
@frazzledazzle I got a mini drone too!!
slightly late, but I also got a pillowcase (handmade by my grandma), starbucks money, chocolate and stuff, some books, a calendar, and a TARDIS ornament. I went Christmas shopping with my dad so I actually picked out the books and was like here, get these for me :))
@Hamlon You mentioned the Thorne miniature rooms and I spent a solid 5 mins trying to figure out where I first heard about them. I now remember that they was a passage about them in either the PSAT this year, an SAT practice test, or an SAT. God, I’m a nerd. Collegeboard is literally making me more cultured it’s frightening. I remember that the PSAT test in 2015 had a passage on Frederick Douglas and that same passage showed up on either one of my class’s APUSH tests or the actual APUSH test.
@ak2018 I got an arduino.
@frazzledazzle http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1951182-schools-with-intersessions-similar-to-jhu-and-williams.html
@oPhilippos That is exactly what I said to my sister when we found them in the museum! I thought the mini rooms were little art exhibits (technically are) and was curious enough to go to the lower levels. When I saw them, I realized I had just stepped into the writing section of the sat (I think that’s where I first heard about them). For all their faults, CB actually introduced me to something really cool. I didn’t know the rooms were in Chicago. It was the last thing I got to see before my school had to leave, so I got lucky!
For Christmas my mom got me two review books, AP Psych and AP World. I’m in APUSH right now… At least Amazon allows returns until the end of this month I think.
You know you’re a science nerd when all you’ve watched all week was the Mythbusters Megamarathon.
@frazzledazzle No probs! Agreed on the Infinite Campus–my school uses it too.
@Hamlon @oPhilippos I remember the Thorne miniature rooms from an SAT practice test! I had the same reaction LOL
Watching 2016 burn!!!