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.

        你知道初中三年級不過比初中二年級高一年而已，我想就這麼簡單明了。

        每年開學伊始，總有人大放厥詞，新學年可謂“新生活”“新氣象”，低年級的時候，幹啥都一個樣，直到初中二年級方才覺出年級之間變化很大。僅以數學為例，從初二到初三，豈能用多了一個“一”概而言之，更何況高年級越來越明顯，嚴格地說呈指數增長，若用數學公式表示，那麼變量X等於年級的平方。

        眼下正值初三第一學制結束，我敢說物理可不是稀里馬哈一門課程，考試分數倒不成問題，但實驗結論真把我折騰得夠嗆，沒完沒了的“分析推理”，而這一部分評分比重恰好是本科其它各項的兩倍，當然每次實驗總結僅占卅分，不過積沙成塔集腋成裘，細小疏漏足以釀成巨大損失，到頭來勢必影響總評分數。常言說得頗為滑稽，扔進河裡的石子無法改變河流的走向，這句話正中我下懷，該課平均分數還是讓我拿了A。

        在此我不想談論總評成績，截至到目前為止尚未達到考驗個人能耐的時候，因此對我而言一切跟努力拼搏毫無搭尕，倒是課外活動大大減少，但像“國家少年榮譽協會”之類的活動卻剛剛拉開序幕，加入國家少年榮譽協會意味着這些會員學業不錯，應該開始注重領導才能的培養並義務參加校外社區服務，譬如幫助籌款和節日舞會。迄今第一學制，我們組織過一次萬聖節舞會，不巧正與鋼琴課衝突，當時要不是因為下周有一重要的鋼琴表演，我真不該臨陣缺席，聽起來令人難堪。所幸的是我並未被開除，下次打算參加，但願不要再跟我的鋼琴表演或者試奏重疊。

        社會本身動盪不定，很多標準考試並非像學生認為的那麼可怕，但考卷使用的特殊字體更讓考生感到題目難到無以復加的程度；“國家少年榮譽協會”申請表看上去非常恐怖，其入會要求寫得奇怪措辭生硬，在飽嘗莫大壓力做過不少義工之後，我申請獲批，權且可以算作第一學制難能可貴的成就之一。一般而言，生活之路越走越艱難，不過你很快便適應起來，相信早晚有一天，我會遇到困難，但是究竟何時何地何故或者將會發生什麼，我一概不知。

        然而有一件事我心中有數，針對第一學制帶給我的顯著變化，所有“瘋狂” 事物正在蓬勃發展。

        初中三年級正所謂初二加一。