09/19/2024
I finished college applications! I'm quite lucky-- there's only one school in my state that offers nuclear engineering, and I'm automatically admitted based on class rank, so I am 100% going there in the fall of 2025. July, August, and most of September were an absolute blur of applications, clubs, assignments, and scholarships. I also added another person to my D&D group and joined an additional group (as a player, not a DM), which has been quite fun. My most recent session was easily the best I've ever ran. I introduced the party to a resistance group in the city, who asked for their help defeating the evil king. The players began discussing (and arguing) about it in-character, and when I quietly set down a map of the king's castle in front of them, they IMMEDIATELY started strategizing. It was really cool watching them get super into it-- it lets me know I'm doing my job well as a DM. That session was also ran at the local game store, which helped add to the ambiance. I'm running the next session there this weekend, and it's becoming quite a fun tradition. I always buy a Mountain Dew and a few minifigures, and have really great conversations about other TTRPGs with the employees. I think it's hit me (and the other seniors) that this is our last year of high school, because we're all trying to do a lot more together. We're really becoming a close-knit community, and it's wonderful to see. I can't wait to go to college, so I'm not too sad yet, but I know it'll hit me in April/May and I'll be a MESS. I just hope I don't start crying during my graduation speech. I already have housing, clubs, and decoration picked out for next year. The future is looking bright, and gets brighter each day. :)
06/19/2024
Finally started working on the website again! It's the summer, so life isn't too crazy, but it's nice being a good kind of busy. I recently joined a Society of Women Engineers research group, which is exciting! My group (at least as of now) is planning on focusing on nuclear power as it relates to space flight, which is pretty cool stuff! I'll update the Nuclear section of the blog as the project goes on.
In other news, I started knitting again! I started work on a space blanket using the Institute of Physics' Knit the Universe paterns, and was five squares deep when I stopped. Because I have every other color except for orange, which I need to knit the other patterns, I decided to start designing my own squares based on NASA images, which is working out pretty well. I'll (probably) post those at some point, too.
In (even more) news, I have college applications coming up, which is so exciting. I honestly can't wait to have the chance to dive into my interests even more. I'm quite lucky: there are only two schools I'm applying to (one safety and one reach), and I'm in love with them both. They're also both quite good for nuclear engineering, which is also wonderful.
To conclude: life is really good right now! I was horribly stressed during the second semester, but now that summer's here, I'm a lot happier. I feel like a completely new person. I also decided that one of my goals this summer/school year is to put myself out there more. I love interacting with people, especially people who share my interests. Another goal I have is to update my website more. I'm not sure if anyone reads it (and I'm not particularily worried about that), but it's nice having my own little corner of the internet.