Posted on by Ruisi

While we were standing in line to vote yesterday, another college student and I struck up a conversation. Even after polling was done, we sat together outside and chatted for over an hour until I had to leave for my evening class–but not without exchanging contact information! This kind of thing is why I place so much value on just talking to others. You never know when you’ll make another friend. I was so happy, seriously.

Posted on by Ruisi

Bonsai, Part 1!

On January 14th this year, I sowed four different types of tree seeds in my pursuit of growing bonsai from seed. I don’t really have a green thumb, but since we can’t have pets in our dorms, I thought that growing a tree that would in effect grow and age with me would be a nice pastime.

I used scarification, which involves removing part of the seed shell prior to soaking them, for two of the four types (Delonix regia and Pinus aristata), curious to see if it would help the seeds to germinate faster.

Well, as of today, January 25th, a few of the scarified seeds have sprouted! We have 4 little sprouts now, and if all goes well, the others will too. Considering that the original instructions said that the seeds take on average 3 to 5 weeks to germinate, I’m amazed by how quickly these four have grown.

Posted on by Ruisi

Study Shows Students Favor Finals Before Winter Break

Producing and analyzing the survey made for a truly educational experience!
It was especially fun to be a member of the small group presenting our final results to our high school teachers and staff.

Posted on by Ruisi

Combining Teacher Appreciation Week with Mother’s Day

It’s the last month before my classmates and I graduate from high school, and while testing season is ridiculously stressful, I also feel that I’ve had significantly more free time recently. I’ve had a lot more time to focus on my hobbies— it’s wonderful.

My teachers have been amazing throughout my years at my current school, and the same goes for those prior. Imagine: junior-year teachers have to write over one hundred letters of recommendation and reference for students they had in a class a year ago, and senior-year ones have to deal with us kids who are stressed about college admissions.

My mom’s a teacher. She loves when she gets a word of thanks from her students and their parents, and with this week being specifically Teacher Appreciation Week and Sunday being Mother’s Day, I pulled out my watercolors and got to work.

My Statistics teacher adores tulips. My Literature teacher likes gardenias. And of course, my Environmental Science teacher loves nature (and especially orangutans).

I’ve finished two paintings thus far. Here’s to a busy weekend but a happy Monday— Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there, and to all you teachers, thank you again for everything you do for us.