Final Blog Post!

When I signed up for Computer Programming last year, I was not excited about it. I was fully prepared to hate every second of the class in exchange for the Technology credit that I needed to graduate. I had been postponing taking the necessary class for three years and it was finally time to face the dreariness and boredom in a room full of computers. I was happily surprised, to say the least. While I can’t say that Programming has been my favorite class this year, I have enjoyed it considerably more than I thought I would.
My first shock came when I found that I enjoyed the short HTML unit we completed at the beginning of the year. I was impressed that I could so easily manipulate what appeared on a web browser, adding images and labels, paragraphs and colored backgrounds. I made a website about Longhorn football, similar to the Android app I am creating for the final, and I had fun with it. Who could have guessed?
I seem to remember doing something between HTML and Jeroo but Jeroo is the next thing that I can actually visualize. Although it was frustrating at times, Jeroo was definitely my favorite unit of the year. The frustration that I felt with Jeroo was similar to the irritation that I feel when trying to complete a puzzle. I separate the corners and the side pieces out from the the middle pieces and go to work. I complete the easy parts quickly and then oscillate between wanting to give up and wanting to keep working until there are just a few pieces left on the table and I can see the picture forming. I often threaten to give up numerous times, just like I did with Jeroo, but when I see the completed image before me, formed from seemingly innumerable tiny snapshots, it feels immensely rewarding. This is the same way that I felt whenever I finally completed a Jeroo lab. Seeing the little triangle, which I had become attached to over the course of the lab (naming them and watching them die so many times can get depressing), complete its mission safely made me so proud that I often forgot I was supposed to be hating this class.
After Jeroo, we moved on to Python. As I have said in some of my blog posts, I haven’t enjoyed Python as much as Jeroo. Although it has a similar puzzle-like quality, I miss the images associated with Jeroo. It is still rewarding to see a page full of working code not followed by a red error message at the bottom but not quite as rewarding as seeing my little triangle friend save the Princess with his net-destroying flowers.
Recently, we have been completing labs on App Inventor, which I honestly haven’t gotten very much out of. I have a feeling that this is more due to my intense senioritis, which is in full-force by the time I get to last period Programming, than a fault of the program. That said, I still think that creating usable apps for Android phones is a really cool idea and I have become somewhat invested in my final project quiz app about Longhorn football. I am looking forward to finishing it during the final period and being done with high school (did you hear that? Done with high school. Wow.)
One of the most surprising elements of this class has been the writing and reflection. I was not expecting to be writing blog posts for my Technology credit or doing reading reflections on current technology-centric topics and I have thoroughly appreciated this unconventional approach. Writing weekly blog posts has been my favorite part of the class because informal writing is one of my favorite pastimes. I also appreciate how the writing assignments balance out the ease of the class for us Liberal Artsy types. The computer lab parts of the class may not be so easy for us but at least the writing parts are a cinch.
Overall, I have enjoyed this class significantly more than I expected to. The writing assignments and the puzzle-like qualities of the labs roused my interests and I made it through the rest. Thanks Mr. Stephens!

Second to Last Blog Post

I have one more full day of high school. WHOA.

I have been alternating between a strange serenity and an increasingly familiar feeling of panic about leaving home. I am a home-body, incredibly nostalgic and resistant to change. I am not excited about moving "out of the house" or "away from my family." Those two repercussions are going to be the absolute worst part of going to college for me. I hate the idea of leaving my parents and sister and dog behind in the house that I have grown up in while I explore some foreign land without them. But, at the same time, I feel that this is the right decision. I have always known I wanted to go out-of-state for college and I have always dreaded it. The adjustment will be difficult and depressing but I still feel that it is the best choice. I can't really put my reasoning into words but something my mom said this weekend really resonated with and comforted me. 

She remembered when I heard a presentation in 5th grade about Kealing and I came home excited about the idea of going there. My mom was completely prepared for me to go to O. Henry. She knew which teachers I would want, which parents would be on PTA with her, which classes are the best. And she had never heard of Kealing. Once I had decided I wanted to go to Kealing, I never looked back and, as my mom put it, "I loved the adventure." I think going to Guilford will be different in some ways. I am sure I will doubt my choice for awhile. I will probably be tempted to catch the first flight home a few times but I think the outcome will be the same. I will trust my intuition and survive my freshman year. I will gain an independence I couldn't have from Texas and I'm sure I'll benefit in ways I can't imagine now. I will love the adventure.

I just need to work up the courage to take off.