2017-09-07

【Aiden in English】

        This summer was full of fun moments, from adventure too late-night studies on Latin II. I thoroughly enjoyed every second, give or take a few weeks of course advancement, and the freedom that came with the season.

        However, all things must come to an end, and from the end of the summer break transitions to a new school year. I must admit, this school year of 2017-2018 was not something I was looking forward to. I’ll explain why momentarily. I do want to say how summer really does get boring, so I somewhat do have to thank school. It’s always amusing to see changes to teenagers over a long period of time as well, which makes the first day back a lot of fun. I always find seeing people behind the online usernames a bit more interesting than a group chat.

        Still, I do not look forward to this year of education. I’ll do a quick rundown about my schedule, which may explain most issues. I begin the day nice and early at the high school (the 9th graders usually go to MS instead of HS in my school district), where the bell rings to signal the first period at 7:21. I have chosen classes that give me the slightest advantage in GPA ratings, but the cost is a very boring start at the high school because only does the high school provide AP classes. Yeah, I’m a nerd. At least I won’t be taking Calculus in the twelfth grade. I start the day with AP Computer Science Principles, essentially programming and coding, then follow up with Pre-Calculus. Knocking out both mathematically classes early, I finish up the difficult class with Latin III, and later basically chill for the rest of the day. Most classes I take don’t sound or seem to have the same degree of difficulty as the morning three. Mentally, I am finished, but I still have to be wary about not being squashed by the thousands of six-foot/1.83-m giants lumbering around the school at high speeds. 

        I spend my morning with the giants known as high schoolers, take classes with them, look really odd, then come back to the middle school via a bus ride and look really smart. I find it funny how each middle school student perceives high school. Some think it is a deathly place, others think of it as freedom. I personally think of the building as competition, and smarter students to overcome. I will also say, it doesn’t feel good when you forget homework on the second day of school. Luckily, the teacher made a mistake when posting the homework and gave everyone an extra day.

        As far as the system works, I’m bussed back to middle school from the high school every day at noon, which is slightly annoying. However, being that middle school followed a similar system, I felt okay investing twenty minutes of the bus ride and waking up early to get to school in order to receive an education for the greater good of college and I swear this is not my mom speaking. Being around the eleventh graders all morning doesn’t benefit my mental confidence, but the bar is set high, and I really want to strive for it. 

【紅霞譯文】

        今年暑假無論野外探奇還是深夜惡補中級拉丁語，快樂無處不在，幾個星期預科學習及夏季特有的自由自在叫我開心至極。

        然而好景不長，暑假結束意味着新學年開始。我必須承認，2017—2018年度並非像本人期待的那樣，回頭聽我細述緣由。我禁不住要說還真是暑假無聊，因此當該感謝學校，久違後看到青少年一個個成長變化令人倍感激動，致使報到當天妙趣橫生，難怪我發覺見到真人總比跟網名群聊更來勁。

        即便如此，我對今年教學依舊不抱期望，快速橫掃一眼課程表或許便知道個大概齊。一日之計在於晨，我早早趕去高中（本學區高一學生通常仍在初中讀書），七點廿一分敲響第一堂課的鐘聲。我所選修的課程對GPA成績評分略有好處，但要付出晨起跑路的代價，因為只有高中才開設AP大學預修課程。沒錯，我是個書蟲，至少不必耗到高四還要惦記微積分。每天第一節課是AP計算機科學原理，實質上就是編程編碼；接着初級微積分，先對付完這兩門數學再去上難度可觀的高級拉丁語課，後面走堂的基本上比較容易。今年我學的多數課程難易程度看起來並非像上述三門那樣，心態上感覺沒啥問題，但夾在數以千計身高6英尺/1米83彪形大漢中間，我必須當心不被擠扁了。

        上午半天我得和這些巨人亦即高中生打成一片，與他們為伍顯得十分彆扭，之後待乘校車返回初中心情踏實許多。我發覺初中生對高中的看法挺有意思，有些人認為高中是走向死亡的地方，而其他人視為自由王國，我個人則看成競技場所，只有明智的學生方可遊刃有餘。另外我還想補充一點，如果開學第二天你便忘記課外作業的話，那麼肯定沒好果子吃，除非僥倖遇到老師在布置作業時出了紕漏，大家才允許多出一天功夫完成。

        就系統運作而言，每天中午我要乘坐校車從高中返回初中，有點煩人。不過兩校同屬一個學區，為做好上大學準備而多花廿分鐘車程並且起大早上學沒啥不得了的，我發誓這不是出自媽媽之言，整個上午跟高三學生同進同出，並非有助於增強個人自信力，但目標已定，我寧願全力以赴。