semesters

Well, I was really freaked about semesters. Today I had chem 2 and AP government. The chem 2 test went well I think (I got a 98 on the first part, and I'm pretty sure I got about 90 on the second part). After the first five insanely detailed questions of the government test, I resigned myself to being saludatorian rather than valedictorian. It was a very hard test. After I finished it I guessed I'd probably get a 70%. But when I went to check my grade I got an 85%, and she gave us some extra credit on it since no one got above an 87%, which brought me up to a 96% and brought my semester grade to a 98%. Yes. Thank you God. (I prayed before that test.)

So now I only have physics. I tried to study a bit with Siobhan at Morning Light (coffee shop) tonight, but there were a lot of people I knew there, which was very distracting. Several of my other friends were there as well. Oh well. I think I just need an 80 on the physics test. But I really don't understand anything we've been doing, because I wrote the class off as a waste of my time, and our teacher doesn't explain anything.

I got a letter from Caltech tonight saying they won't give me any money unless I write them a sob letter about extenuating circumstances. So my dad is going to write the letter. This is so stressful. I only need to get $10,000 in scholarships and financial aid somehow. That's all I need. If I can't get that, I have to go to BYU, or amass student loans.

Anyway, the happy news for today is that I am probabl, 99% sure, going to be a valedictorian. Which means all of my work and obsessing has paid off. Actually, this year a lot of my work really has tangibly paid off, with the national merit scholarship, all-state orchestra, getting into my top colleges, placing at science olympiad, doing well at debate, etc.

It's kind of nice.