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. 

【红霞译文】

        今年暑假无论野外探奇还是深夜恶补中级拉丁语，快乐无处不在，几个星期预科学习及夏季特有的自由自在叫我开心至极。

        然而好景不长，暑假结束意味着新学年开始。我必须承认，2017—2018年度并非像本人期待的那样，回头听我细述缘由。我禁不住要说还真是暑假无聊，因此当该感谢学校，久违后看到青少年一个个成长变化令人倍感激动，致使报到当天妙趣横生，难怪我发觉见到真人总比跟网名群聊更来劲。

        即便如此，我对今年教学依旧不抱期望，快速横扫一眼课程表或许便知道个大概齐。一日之计在于晨，我早早赶去高中（本学区高一学生通常仍在初中读书），七点廿一分敲响第一堂课的钟声。我所选修的课程对GPA成绩评分略有好处，但要付出晨起跑路的代价，因为只有高中才开设AP大学预修课程。没错，我是个书虫，至少不必耗到高四还要惦记微积分。每天第一节课是AP计算机科学原理，实质上就是编程编码；接着初级微积分，先对付完这两门数学再去上难度可观的高级拉丁语课，后面走堂的基本上比较容易。今年我学的多数课程难易程度看起来并非像上述三门那样，心态上感觉没啥问题，但夹在数以千计身高6英尺/1米83彪形大汉中间，我必须当心不被挤扁了。

        上午半天我得和这些巨人亦即高中生打成一片，与他们为伍显得十分别扭，之后待乘校车返回初中心情踏实许多。我发觉初中生对高中的看法挺有意思，有些人认为高中是走向死亡的地方，而其他人视为自由王国，我个人则看成竞技场所，只有明智的学生方可游刃有余。另外我还想补充一点，如果开学第二天你便忘记课外作业的话，那么肯定没好果子吃，除非侥幸遇到老师在布置作业时出了纰漏，大家才允许多出一天功夫完成。

        就系统运作而言，每天中午我要乘坐校车从高中返回初中，有点烦人。不过两校同属一个学区，为做好上大学准备而多花廿分钟车程并且起大早上学没啥不得了的，我发誓这不是出自妈妈之言，整个上午跟高三学生同进同出，并非有助于增强个人自信力，但目标已定，我宁愿全力以赴。