fitness & fro-yo: Return To Sophomore Year

The excitement of finally getting your drivers license, and anticipating all of the freedom (or not) that comes along with it, the chance to host the big Sweet Sixteen dance, the much-talked about sophomore research project, the no-longer-a-freshman, but not-yet-an-uppeclassman feeling. At least, that's what sophomore year was all about at my high school. In a way, it was the most "lost" year, because, like I said, you've lost that freshman feeling of "Oh, I'm in high school and I'm so excited!", but you have not yet hit the big junior year, which is consumed with standardized test preparation and college visits. And of course, you are nowhere near being the big man on campus.

Race For The Cure

In all honesty, my sophomore year didn't really have any "stand out" moments. I was in the usual algebra II, chemistry, world history (easily my least favorite class of my high school career), Spanish, English II, the required technology class, and of course, volleyball. Volleyball was fairly mediocre that year, in both high school and club. I will never forget the day we gave our coach her first district loss ever as either a coach or a player. So that happened.

Spirit Sisters

But I did get my drivers license on my 16th birthday, and though my mom wouldn't let me drive on the freeway by myself for months, it was so nice knowing that if I needed a new tube of Burt's Bees, I could drive myself on up to Walgreen's and get it. That's the definition of freedom right there. And speaking of 16th birthdays, sophomore year was the year Stratford girls got to choose to become a host of the annual dance called Sweet Sixteen. Basically, it's a formal dance hosted by the sophomore class, and each girl is allowed to invite one freshman girl, the junior girl who invited you, and one extra invitation (that usually goes to a senior). Each invitation is good for a girl plus her date, and the sophomores who host get to have professional photos done, get to wear beautiful long dresses, get to arrive to the hotel hours early to have a sit-down dinner, and get to leave with the satisfaction that you got to be such a big part of such a fun night.

Volleyball

Long live the MATH journal

This dance, because it is an off-campus dance, is traditionally a little bit more fun than the on-campus dances, mainly because there is no real restriction on the music that gets played. I remember loving my Sweet Sixteen experience my sophomore year, despite the fact that I had to leave to go to San Antonio at 4:30am the next morning for a volleyball tournament.

And the whole point of this post? To tell you guys that I will be interning in a sophomore English II classroom at Westwood High School this semester. I could not be more excited, because ideally, that would be the level I would want to teach. I remember really liking the course content (despite having to read Animal Farm, and unfortunately, they still read that book), and it is really such a fun age to be around. My cooperating teacher (CT) is also a UT grad, and I cannot wait to meet her. Both my UTeach professor and my observer have told me that they think I'll just love her. And I really can't ask for much more than that. I am so excited for the opportunity to learn from her and work alongside her.