Goodbye

I was.....

self conscious and today I am a carefree spirit. 

In my first few years of high school I cared a lot about what people thought about me. I made sure to dress nicely and I barely talked in some of my class, because I was afraid of being judged by my peers. I didn't even tell my closest friends of my obsessions with Anime and Korean Pop music, because I was afraid they would judge me so much they would leave me. 

However, IB brought a new side of me. I met so many new people and those people were definitely not afraid to be themselves, which inspired me to come out of the closet as a HUGE anime and kpop dork. As well as voicing my own opinions (with a great filter) and just sort of being more open to people in general. Since then i've made a plethora of great friends who have been great influences on me and kept me straight for these past two years. 

AC: Okay I wish your work ethic rubbed off on me, but alas it didn't as I am procrastinating right now on this right now. However, I've managed to be influence by your perseverance. Even if you said you didn't like IB theatre, you still managed to do it everyday (very well might I add) and never completely gave up on the class and I really admire that about you. See you at UNC!! Can't wait to visit you at Granville as you help me get into shape!!

Dawson: Oh Dawson Lame. Meeting you faithfully in Ms. Fonke's chemistry class was the highlight of my life, honestly, completely non-sarcastically honestly. Really though, I know I can depend on your for anything. I learned a lot about how to talk in such away that you seem highly intelligent aka how to be respectful even if you disagree with what was said. Thanks for saving me from being rude af sometimes Dawson. I can't wait to spend the next 4 years with you at Chapel Thrill!!! 

Nick: Oh Bicholas Nillman you ray of sunshine. I love your curious soul and you saved my butt in WHAP by asking all those questions, because I never read anything in that class. I learned how to have fun but be studious at the same time as well as just not caring what people thought (totally learned that from you). 

Abby: ABBY I LOVE YOU SO MUCH. I CAN'T WAIT TO ROOM WITH YOU THESE NEXT FOUR YEARS. I learned so much about staying true to myself and having fun. I love your spirit and willingness to do whatever and being involved. I really can't wait to room with you! We are going to have to much fun! 

Kelsey: Chapstick! You've been my best friend since middle school (even if we did meet in an unconventional way). You would think that that I wouldn't learn anymore, but I did I learned a lot from you. I'm also so happy you stayed by me to keep me in check these past few years. I love you so much and so happy you're in my life. 

Amy: you're lame good bye. Okay, but really i love you to death. Even through all of your terrible jokes and puns, god they're so lame I'm actually questioning why we're friends. Okay, but really you've kept me sane and grounded this entire time. Through all my complaining and breakdowns you've been by my side and I'm very thankful for you. I really don't want to leave you, like don't go to state. C'mon you got into UNC you can come here, just come here do it. 

Now I really wish I could say that I took meaningful life skills like time management out of these two years, but I really did. I did however learn great people skills and problem solving as well as being cultured and more open minded about ideas. I've learned a lot from IB that I'm sure I will use and cherish in my life from now forward. Thank you to everyone I've encountered (even if you weren't mentioned up top, if I talked about everyone I'd be here for forever) and I'm so happy to be apart of this program especially in the class of 2016. Oh and Lauren Genesky thank you for being a great English teacher. I feel like I learned so much from you (from english to just life) and I very much enjoyed having lunch with you Eric every other day. I'll be sure to come visit ((with Yumi!!))

What was Whitman's favorite cereal? O Captain! My Cap'n Crunch!

     One initial thing that I noticed is that the notebook is very irregular and wild. The writing is everywhere and messy. It instantly reminded me of a 'fact' that I heard a while back ago about how intelligent people think fast. Therefore their handwriting is messy, because their hands can't keep up with their thoughts. That fact might be a lie, but I think it applies perfectly to Whitman. He was a creative genius. He's such a genius that I can't understand much of what he's written. Aside form that, one thing that I noticed that I thought was significant is how many times Whitman has crossed out  his own writing. To me that signifies that he's always looking to improve. Also that Whitman might be a little too judgmental on himself. He never thinks his work is good enough, so he always wants to improve. That's why he consistently goes back and rewords things. 
     As for the images, I like them. The seem like cartoon images of Whitman, especially the second one. To me, I think it's just Whitman poking fun at himself. The sketches are something fun for his own personal entertainment. The last one definitely intrigues me, because it's so much different than the rest of them. It kind of looks like a skull with a heart shaped body doing ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ with his arms. Maybe it's Whitman's way of saying that love and death are intertwined and humanity just has to deal with it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. 
     Looking through the notes, not only do I feel stupid, but I also feel inattentive. Throughout the book, Whitman writes a large commentary on many things: from religion to Lincoln. I think this reveals that Whitman wants to write a message to the future generations. He wants them to know about the past in a way that history books cannot teach. He wants them to feel the emotions those in the past did and hopefully learn from them.