2016-11-06

【Aiden in English】

        You know, the eighth grade is just the seventh plus one. It makes sense, I guess.

        Every year, at the start of the school, there always is a speech of how the new grade is “life-changing” and “totally different”. In the early years of school, the kind of stuff was all the same. Approaching the seventh grade, the changes in between grade levels began to grow larger and larger. So, in terms of math, there is no “plus one” from the seventh to the eighth grade, or like any other grade ascendance. It is, quite literally, exponentially increasing, and with the words of a math worksheet, "x" which is equal to the grade level2.

        At the end of the first marking period of the eighth grade, I must say that physical science is not looking pretty. I get great grades on tests, but the conclusions really bust my chops. There never is enough “reasoning”, and that’s coincidentally the only section on the rubric worth double versus the other parts. Sure, each lab conclusion only is around 30 points, but small things may lead to larger treasures, or in this case, consequences. Ironically, there also is a saying about how small pebbles thrown in a river do not change its flow, which apparently applies more to my standpoint since I still hung on an A.

        I’m not here to talk grade averages. So far, the eighth grade has not proven overwhelmingly challenging, and thus there is no reason for me to stress the struggles. If anything, the extra-curricular activities have gone down. But some things do stick out, like NJHS. Those letters stand for National Junior Honor Society, which basically means you’re outstanding in school and can begin leading and volunteering outside of school events, like helping fundraisers and holiday dances. By now in the first marking period, we’ve had a Halloween dance which I didn’t attend because of piano lessons, and as lame as that sounds, the lesson was crucial for the impending performance the next week. Luckily, I wasn’t removed from the list, and I plan on attending the next event, assuming it isn’t on any other important piano recitals or auditions.

        The society itself was nerve-racking enough. Most standardized tests are actually not as scary as students believe, but in the special font on the paper, students think it to be infinitely times harder. The NJHS application seemed very intimidating and used strange, harsh word phrases to describe the requirements of being an NJHS member. After tons of stress and volunteering, I applied and was selected. It was one of the rare sparkings highlights up to the end of the first marking period. Life has just become harder in general, but you get used to it quickly. Sooner or later though, there’s going to be a curveball thrown my direction. I have no idea when, where, why, or what it will be.

        However, there is one thing I do know. Based on the enormous differences of what this marking period has given me, all the “crazy” stuff is going on.

        The eighth grade is just the seventh +1.

        你知道初中三年级不过比初中二年级高一年而已，我想就这么简单明了。

        每年开学伊始，总有人大放厥词，新学年可谓“新生活”“新气象”，低年级的时候，干啥都一个样，直到初中二年级方才觉出年级之间变化很大。仅以数学为例，从初二到初三，岂能用多了一个“一”概而言之，更何况高年级越来越明显，严格地说呈指数增长，若用数学公式表示，那么变量X等于年级的平方。

        眼下正值初三第一学制结束，我敢说物理可不是稀里马哈一门课程，考试分数倒不成问题，但实验结论真把我折腾得够呛，没完没了的“分析推理”，而这一部分评分比重恰好是本科其它各项的两倍，当然每次实验总结仅占卅分，不过积沙成塔集腋成裘，细小疏漏足以酿成巨大损失，到头来势必影响总评分数。常言说得颇为滑稽，扔进河里的石子无法改变河流的走向，这句话正中我下怀，该课平均分数还是让我拿了A。

        在此我不想谈论总评成绩，截至到目前为止尚未达到考验个人能耐的时候，因此对我而言一切跟努力拼搏毫无搭尕，倒是课外活动大大减少，但像“国家少年荣誉协会”之类的活动却刚刚拉开序幕，加入国家少年荣誉协会意味着这些会员学业不错，应该开始注重领导才能的培养并义务参加校外社区服务，譬如帮助筹款和节日舞会。迄今第一学制，我们组织过一次万圣节舞会，不巧正与钢琴课冲突，当时要不是因为下周有一重要的钢琴表演，我真不该临阵缺席，听起来令人难堪。所幸的是我并未被开除，下次打算参加，但愿不要再跟我的钢琴表演或者试奏重叠。

        社会本身动荡不定，很多标准考试并非像学生认为的那么可怕，但考卷使用的特殊字体更让考生感到题目难到无以复加的程度；“国家少年荣誉协会”申请表看上去非常恐怖，其入会要求写得奇怪措辞生硬，在饱尝莫大压力做过不少义工之后，我申请获批，权且可以算作第一学制难能可贵的成就之一。一般而言，生活之路越走越艰难，不过你很快便适应起来，相信早晚有一天，我会遇到困难，但是究竟何时何地何故或者将会发生什么，我一概不知。

        然而有一件事我心中有数，针对第一学制带给我的显著变化，所有“疯狂” 事物正在蓬勃发展。

        初中三年级正所谓初二加一。