Journal Entries

9/20/22

Dear Journal,

First entry Woohoo! I talked to Sutton about my project and I got the thumbs up and support I need from her! As I start this project there are so many layers that I need to get through. I have to talk to a lot of people from different branches of the school to get this into action. I'm getting the steps done to get the most out of this project though so that is amazing I have had multiple meetings with Mrs.Tucker as well ( my mentor )

9/21/22

Dear Journal,

Today I'm spending my x-block talking to Kara! She's gonna be my advisor for this whole club I'm creating! It's getting on track and I'm so excited. I made about two hours yesterday which is amazing and I'm gonna have yet another meeting today. Slowly but surely getting my hours in!

9/22/22

Dear Journal,

So we switched the week to spirit week so it's closer. I had my meeting with campus life today! So many ideas and voices wanting to do this and wanting to be heard. I am so excited about this and I'm excited other people don't think it is lame. Today I started making posters for the club meeting during x block The next Wednesday. I also emailed Mr. Bent bout themes for me and the club and came up with them as well as the principles to get them approved so we can start poster planning.

9/26/22

Dear Journal,

So the first club meeting happened. We got a ton done and even cited on themes for spirit week and prep rally ideas. On the other hand, I think I need an agenda and a clear list of people. It's hard keeping track of everyone and trying to listen to all the amazing ideas when people constantly skip topics. On Wednesday is our X-block and I'm giving out some candy, I'm recruiting people today and all week. Right now I have school spirit himself even and I also have a collection of students from all different "clicks" to give their ideas and opinions but everyone is pretty respectful. I also started posters and talked to Bent about prep rally ideas and what he has planned. On yet another note I have to talk to advisory teachers about the door decorating contest and about asking about campus life. I'm super excited about next week but it is coming up so fast. I also have to interview people next week on their spirit and make a spirit week newscast which will be so fun!

10/7/22

Dear Journal,

My panel meeting went pretty well! Honestly, my panel was very open to my project and gave me amazing ideas and they said I was set! My paper is going to be a series of podcasts of me interviewing big community members and students. The result of that will be my ending podcast episode will be getting interviewed. 

The next thing I will be working on is the Day of the Dead with Mrs.deycy as well as teaching seniors some game day chants. The next big thing I'll be working on is winter Hoco for fall sports and an even bigger and better pep rally! This relates to campus life because it helps better our school spirit for the appreciation of culture, appreciation of sports, and understanding for everyone. I know my panel pretty well and they gave me amazing feedback for fundraising as well. On the day of the pep rally, they told me I did an amazing job. I even have more than 20 hours under my belt already. That means by the end of the day of the dead set up, and meetings I already have thirty hours and I can start working on my podcasts and focus more on my club's finances ( which we do not have a lot of). Mrs. Wolf said it's amazing I'm getting to work with people who I butt heads with a lot which will make me grow as a person because I tend to take over on projects because I get easily stressed out about the way it's done and I want it done right. Which she says isn't a bad thing but just something I need to work on as a whole because I'm going to have to work with people in my adult life that I need to share projects with that I can do myself either mentally or just because I have to co-work with people. My panel also suggested talking to Nick about purchasing merchandise for games spirit leaders, the club, or pom poms we can sell). I also have stated I will need a few things for my podcasts like a mic and audio collector if possible and to be able to talk to certain students and pull them out of class ( if our schedules conflict and are there on time with all due work). Other than that they only had one other suggestion and feedback which is doing more research… I hate research, that's why my project is not research-based but if I want to make my statement for my project and underline if our sports teams do better or worse research is good for me.

9/28/22

Dear Journal,

Today was a tough day. I had spent hours working on some posters for a school project, and I was proud of how they turned out. But when I showed them to the administration, they told me I had to redo them because they didn't meet their standards. I was devastated. I had put so much time and effort into those posters, and now I had to start all over again.

I felt like giving up, but then Mrs. Tucker came to my rescue. She saw how upset I was and offered to help me redo the posters. We worked together for an hour, and she gave me some great advice on how to make them even better than before. By the end of the day, I had new posters that I was even more proud of than the original ones.

It was a tough lesson to learn, but I realized that sometimes things don't go as planned, and that's okay. Next, I will follow the chain of command and make sure all parties are involved with my work so something like this won't happen again. What's important is that I didn't give up and that I had someone there to support me when I needed it most.

10/9/22

Dear Journal,

Today was an amazing day! We had our first pep rally and it went well. I was a bit nervous at first, but once I stepped out into the gym, I had a blast. The energy in the gym was amazing, and everyone was cheering and shouting. I loved seeing all the different teams and clubs come together to show their school spirit.

I was especially proud of my club, which put on an awesome performance. We had been practicing how to do mini-games and talk for two weeks, and it was great to see all our hard work pay off. The crowd went wild when we finished, and I felt a huge sense of accomplishment. Today was a reminder of how much I love my school and the community we have here. I can't wait for the next pep rally!

Sincerely,

Layla

12/24/22

Dear Journal,

Today was a tough day. I had been looking forward to the holiday spirit week for weeks, but it didn't go as planned. I had burnt myself out trying to organize everything, and it seemed like people were getting bored and not participating.

It was upsetting to see all my hard work go to waste. I had put so much time and effort into planning the activities and events, but it seemed like no one was interested. I felt like giving up, but then I realized that it's okay to have setbacks sometimes. Not everything will go as planned, and that's okay.

I also realized that I need to take care of myself and not push myself too hard. I had organized the holiday spirit week so close to the winter sports week, and that might have been too much for me to handle. Next time, I'll make sure to give myself enough time to rest and recharge before taking on a big project like this.

1/6/23

Journal mid-year panel: My mid-year panel meeting was fine. It was canceled because of my work but we got it done at school a week later. Honestly, we just talked about the same stuff we always talk about, I mean everything of mine is practically done other than journals and I'm not done with my handbook. So that's what we talked about, my handbook. My handbook is going to be boring, at least for me. I know everything I can or can't do but putting it on paper is impossible; there are so many rules and regulations I ought to forget one. My club has been running per usual, it's spirit week this week but no one has been outstanding like in October. This is all burning me out if I'm honest, I have all of my credits so it seems like I'm just cruising till graduation, which isn't good. Especially since I'm done with hours, I'm done with people. I can't be the only one doing work anymore, I'm practically burnt out. So I've concluded to not stop trying but to make sure people are doing their jobs and I don't feel the need to do everything or take on their jobs. So yeah I guess that's all since my panel head and I agree with everything and it's nothing new. I just have to start getting motivated again to put all of this stuff on paper for the handbook and journals. It's just so hard when you have a BUNCH to do. I'm not going to do another spirit week for a while, I still need to plan the snowball since I've gotten roped into doing this spirit week. Not only was campus life not supposed to do this spirit week, but now other clubs (like glow) want to do spirit weeks and it's all too much for me to teach Everyone to do it and for me to have to run a club myself. Either way, people are beginning to walk all over me and frankly, I don't appreciate it. For example the captain's council boys: this spirit week was there, Mr. Bent is new to the school and asked campus life to help. We kindly said yes and got to work, our first meeting was horrid. There were comments about why I was there and on top of that, there was no authority. The next meeting we had was better, but the boys in the captains' council signed up for prep rally games just for them to not be there. I just found out they knew they were not gonna be there weeks before. I'm done with my classmates and I'm done with people walking all over me so I'm ready to wrap up my senior project and that is exactly what I told my panel. They understood which was nice, they saw the rudeness and the ignorance of people around me.

1/17/23

Today, I had a meeting with Lissa and all of my senior project panel about the chain of command and how I need to learn how to be more organized with the spirit weeks and events I do with my club. I was a bit nervous going into the meeting, but I knew that their feedback would be helpful.

During the meeting, they gave me some friendly feedback about how I can improve my organizational skills. They suggested that I create a clear chain of command within my club and give tasks to other members. They also recommended that I use a calendar or planner to keep track of important dates and deadlines.

At first, I was a bit defensive about their feedback, but I realized that they were only trying to help me improve. I'm grateful for their honesty and support, and I'm excited to implement their suggestions in the future. I feel like this meeting was a valuable learning experience for me. It reminded me that it's okay to ask for help and that constructive criticism can be a powerful tool for growth.

1/21/23

Winter sports spirit week was a blast! (sea of pink) It was so much fun to see everyone come together to support our winter teams, just like we did for the fall teams. The energy in the school was amazing, and it was great to see everyone getting into the spirit of things.

I loved all the different activities we did throughout the week, from dressing up in crazy outfits ( spirit week themes like Tropical, and anything but a backpack were the craziest ones even things like the dynamic duo were awesome!)  to participate in fun games and challenges. It was a great way to bring everyone together and show our school spirit.

I was especially proud of our club for hosting spirit week. We worked hard to come up with fun and creative ideas, and it was great to see everything come together so well. I think this spirit week was even better than the last one, I have longer to plan with more knowledge than before and insight from students. I also think that fall sports week got us off the ground and now people are really excited. I can't wait to see what we come up with next. I'm so grateful to be part of such an amazing school community. It's moments like these that make me proud.

2/1/23

Lately, I've been feeling like my peers are acting differently toward me. It's been really tough because I used to feel like they were a great support system for me. But now, I feel like they don't like me or support my club. It's been especially hard during spirit weeks when I don't feel like they're excited or engaged.

I've been feeling like a burden to them like I'm just getting in the way. It's been really tough to deal with, and I've been feeling pretty down lately. But then I realized that it's okay to feel this way sometimes. Not everyone will like us or support us as a club, and that's okay.

What's important is that I keep doing what I love. I know that my club is important to me, and that's all that matters. I also realized that I need to surround myself with people who do support me and lift me. Maybe it's time to find some new friends and hold onto the good ones and find people who do support us.

2/4/23

Today was a frustrating day. I've been trying to get some club work done, but the administration is making it difficult. The process is so lengthy and confusing, and it feels like I'm getting conflicting messages from different people.

To make matters worse, there are two principals at our school, and sometimes one will deny what the other has confirmed. It's so confusing and frustrating, and it's making it hard to get anything done. I feel like I'm hitting a brick wall every time I try to make progress. It's discouraging, and I'm not sure what to do next. But then I realized that I need to keep pushing forward and advocating for my club. I need to keep asking questions and seeking clarification, even if it's frustrating. I also realized that I'm not alone in this. There are probably other students and clubs who are facing similar challenges. Maybe it's time to come together and change. Maybe we can work together to streamline the process and make it easier for everyone. This was a reminder that sometimes things don't go as planned, and that's okay.

3/12/23

Dear Journal, 

Honestly, the past few weeks have been just burnout and focusing on the dance. I did the rest of my podcast draft and Mrs.Woolf said it was great, I just needed a bit more organization with where the audio was played and I need to update my script just a bit. The dance is next Friday and we are borrowing decor from NHS, we also have no resource officers so we need another chaperone. On top of that the only male chaperone couldn't be here, so we need to find a male chaperone; when there are not many male teachers at the school in the first place. There is alot going on and alot needed to be done, we only have two posters and I haven't had the energy to make more, I'm just hoping people will come. Thanks to Mrs. Holmburgs's interactive class more kids can come and not worry about clothes which is nice, I had alot of backlash because of that but I didn't know where to start a donation drive especially with everything going on. The interact class has put in work to take formal donations like dress shirts, dresses, and even shoes this will help alot of kids be able to afford to go to the dance and have fun. I'm so excited about the dance, I think once it's done it will give me the energy from the burnout need, I do hope it ignites that fire in me again. I hope it lights fast too because sports season is here yet again but for spring and when there's a new sports season there's a new spirit week with new themes and new prep rally games… I can't even think about it without being stressed. Anyway, have to do a spab meeting because they think I'm behind which sucks, I do not want to do the meeting because I'm not off track, I just misread but it's an okay guess. Next, I have to map out the cafe to do decor and I have to get my campus life kids on track, and believe it or not getting my kids on track is the harder job. I need to take more leadership with them it's hard because I don't want to push because I know what burnout feels like especially because I have all my hours and I just want to graduate but here I am, I keep pushing till that glorious day. 

3/20/23

Dear Journal,

I'm feeling really good today because the dance that my club organized went well! We all had so much fun and it was great to see everyone come together and enjoy themselves. Leading up to the dance, there were some challenges that we had to overcome. We had to figure out the logistics of setting up the venue, coordinating with the DJ, and making sure that everyone was on the same page. But with the help of my club members, we were able to tackle each challenge one by one. During the dance itself, I was a bit nervous at first. I wanted everything to go smoothly and for everyone to have a good time. But as soon as the music started playing and people started dancing, I felt a sense of relief and joy. Looking back on the experience, I'm proud of what we accomplished as a team. We were able to come together and create something really special. And I feel less burnt out than I did before. It's amazing how accomplishing something can give you a burst of energy and motivation.