Arabia Mountain Ponderings 10-28-13

Sunsets make me think a lot. Maybe it's my inner philosopher coming out and maybe I'm just a soppy romantic deep, deep, deep (deep, deep, deep) down. There's something about them. Perhaps it's the ending of a day when everything that you have done and experienced has passed by when you wanted them/it to or not. It's a time when you can reflect on the decisions that you have made and how they will effect you. It's also a time to think about how you could, if you wanted/felt you had to, change your behavior or make a different decision the next day. My good friend Zeki has, for over 2 months been religiously taking a picture of the sunset from the same place in Port Washington, WI. He jokingly posted something in my group chat that I have with my Conserve friends that it was like a relationship with him obnoxiously keeping track of how many days he and the sunrise "had been together." But really it is for him. It's a centering experience and a healthy way to start the day. I wish I had that discipline and wasn't so adverse to mornings...

Zeki's silly comment actually had a great effect on me. I have developed so many close relationships with people who I am lucky enough to call some of my best friends. Sometimes we plan way to much in advance and don't let things happen. Or we worry about what other people think or that our friends will judge. We think of all the problems that can occur and whether the relationships should be retained and never focus on the now. Worry about time running out and not enough time to see each other. Living to far away from each other becomes a worry. And the more time you spend time with them the more you fall more in love with your personality and the more you fall in love with them the harder it gets to think about a time when they aren't there every day or every week. It's one of the worst and one of the best feelings in the world. You know that while it hurts so so so much that it only feels like that because you are intimately close with that person. It's a clusterball of feelings for sure. But in the end you know that it's better to know the person and feel that clusterballl of feels than it is to not know those people.

Arabia Mountain - Where I spent my Sunday. 

More Arabia :)

I'm going to go full on Broadway you guys and quote a song from Wicked: The New Musical:

Like a comet pulled from orbit 
As it passes the sun
As a stream that meets the boulder
Halfway through the wood
Who can say that I've been changed for the better?
because I knew you
I have been changed for the good

So think on that. Because that's what I believe. It might not be what you believe but think about it. I don't believe in fate and one true love and you were fated to meet your best friends. I believe that you should have the greatest time of your life with the people that you have around (or not physically around) no matter how you stumbled into their lives or how you stumbled into theirs. Love them unconditionally and LIVE.

Whew! 10-28-13

Whew! I have noticed more and more that I am creating blog posts with more and more stress relieved titles. Goes to show what I'm doing with my life. Anyways, it's been a really long week and so much to talk about. Friday night was spent burning off nervous energy trying not to mentally fall apart and go to bed at a reasonable hour. Because of course, the ACT cannot be scheduled at a reasonable time in the morning. Oh no, surely not. I was up at 6:30 am in the morning on my Saturday missing out on sacred sleep and choking down some breakfast (not my favorite meal of the day mind you). The ACT is LONG. Many people say that the SAT is an aptitude test to see how well you take standardized tests and the ACT is a test of endurance and possibly of more of what you know. Which test a person takes depends on the way the test taker's brain works. Most of the time people absolutely despise one, the ACT or SAT, and try and cope with the other one. So anyways back to what I was saying. I was in Decatur Highschool at 8 am with my pencils on their way home in the car. *Sigh* I haven't ever been able to arrive at a test without being out of breath. My very first PSAT I went to the wrong location, 2nd time around PSAT was at Conserve and I guess nothing went wrong, the first time for my ACT I went to the wrong building in a business complex, my SAT I didn't know my Social Security number, and the 2nd go round for the ACT no pencils. I suppose all of these various minor and major mishaps occurred because of my scatterbrained-ness. But back to what I was saying. I was in the test from 8 til 12:45pm. What a LONG morning.

So you must be thinking. What did you do after that Mei-Jing? I'm sure you went home and slept till the evening. NOPE! Because of my constantly crazy life I left from the school and went to Georgia Tech to be with my robotics team, Toaster Tech FRC Team 4414 (in case you would want to be super cool and follow us on facebook!), and sell  toasted Pop-Tarts and hot coco at the Atlanta Mini Maker Faire!

I'd like to interject here that I have been all over the Tech campus and had thought that I had an okay concept of where things were. That was prived wrong on Saturday when we parked and went wandering all over the place. We even askedd these two people where the Tech Green was (where the event was being held) and they had no idea. How can you go to a school and not know when the center of campus is? Georgia Tech is truly a sprawling urban campus!

The Maker Fair is very educational and fun event full of tasty snacks, cool exhibitions, crafts, and tons of demonstrations. My team was not the only robotics team there of course. Lots of the local school had shown up to show off their robots, too. I was rather miffed by the fact that Reboot showed up with the robot that I had competed/drive/built last season but hey you have to rise above. Since that debacle I have been both stressed out to an ultimate extreme and have learned a lot of fundraising and grant writing skills. I try not to be too mad but sometimes I think "If only *insert event that caused the falling out to occur* hadn't happened." but then I think about all of the things all of my friends and I have learned and have to be grateful despite the craziness and confusion and mess that has been created.

But moving on to wrap this post up. Stayed at the Maker Faire, ate really-bad-for-you sugary rectangles, and then proceeded to go home and  crash for the night. I really need to slow down a bit? I thought that finishing up projects (the ACT, college apps, etc) would help me chill out. I fear that I have been severely mistaken.

Wild Side! 10-17-13

My wonderful friends! I give you.. drum roll please... Ellie's new and updated  super rad website/blog. She is one of my best friends. I met her at Conserve and I have her to thank for my wonderful experience at Ocean for Life. So give her site a whirl and I promise you will be happy! :)

http://wildsideblog.weebly.com/

Snapshots 10-16-13

So here are some snapshots of what's been happening recently!

Ayyad and me

Beltline Lantern Festival with the Audubon Society

Giant puppet lanterns in Piedmont Park

Elanna at Edisto, SC

Finally accomplished the fishtail braid.

Moon shells. Oh how I love them. 

Ocean for Life 2013.

Sunset on Edisto Island

Over 100 sharks teeth found in a week. 

Hanging out on the jetties.

Edisto in a nutshell.

Spanish moss pathway. 

Our bathroom got redone!

The Dalai Lama's 6th Love Song

Duet Tibet with Emily Backer.

Take a bow.

Finale

Curtain call!

Final steps.

Shenanigans back stage with Kate and Sophie :D 

Birthday balloons from Yi-Shan. 

More back stage craziness!

Luke at Conserve. Photo Cred: Maeve Daw

Dexter at Conserve. Photo Cred: Maeve Daw

Moi at Conserve. Photo cred Maeve.

Some owls to make you feels the warm and fuzzies!

Naomy striking a pose!

I believe I can fly!

Jump!

I miss my OFL Ohana!

A kitty cat to make your day happy! 

PEACE OUT my friends! :)

Catch-Up Time 10-16-13

Okay here's what I've been up to in the past 2 months in hopefully some chronological order:

• Wished Coco (my dog) and Lia a happy 4th and 17th birthday respectively.
• Went to dance way to much getting ready to prepare for the big show: "Chinese Painting in Motion."
• Worked on school.
• Worked on the Common Application.
• Had my Beloit College interview on the 11th of September with Will Mortimer (a Conserve School alum from the 4 year program). We talked for 2 hours. The interview was scheduled for 1 hour.
• I danced some more at the run-through's and dress rehearsals. 
• Celebrated my birthday with Laurel, Tristram, Casey, Yi-Shan, Mama, Mother, Dana, and Edie. 
• My ice cream birthday cake said "Happy '17th' Birthday Mei'Jing" <-- and yes with the qotes around my age and an apostrophe. 
• Went to Gwinnett Civic Center on the 28th of September for my final dress rehearsal and first performance of the night. 
• Performed for a sold out show. Got a standing ovation. 
• Systematically spent over 12 hours at the theater.
• Went to a ice cream party at Emily's.
• Went back to the theater the next day and performed for another full house. Got another standing ovation.
• Went to lunch that day with Lia, Naomy, Ruby, Aja, and Yi-Shan's friend Chloe.
• Went to a couple of GaTech TE sessions for robotics and got to hang out with Myles.
• Suffered through limits in AP Calculus BC and felt relieved when limits rolled around.
• Met Kevin Dow the Canadian. He was awesome. He was a conservationist who believed that we could establish a balance by both continuing to hunt sustainable and educating people about the environment. He also had a chicken that was trained like a dog, loved Scooby Doo, and led mules over the Rockies in Montana. 
• Went to College of the Atlantic for their Presidential Scholar's Fall Fly-In and met Alaina from Seattle, Jordan (who looked exactly like Ben Stiller) also from Washington, Erin from Phoenix, Arizona, Justin (who looked like John Lennon) from Pennsylvania, Jake from Long Island, NY, Nate from Ohio and a bunch of other really cool people. 
• Flew back on a whole mess of flights.
• Slept a lot!
• Worked really hard on college essays.
• Battled the Common App website crashing due to overloaded servers.
• Everything submitted today.
• Talked to the ever beautiful Maeve Daw...

Ta Da!!!! And here I am today! :) 

8 is a Magic Number 10-16-13

So you know how when you set out to write something. An essay that is. And you have a question that is super super broad? And you think to yourself: "Jeez! How am I supposed to say everything that I want to about myself that answers this question, and all in 650 words!?" Well guess what? You have just experienced the Common Application Essay my friend. Here is what got sent. Take a peak and maybe you'll get to know me a little better too!

Me: “Hi! I’m Mei-Jing!”

You: “I’m sorry, can you say that again?”

Me: “It’s like Beijing with a ‘m’.”

So how did I end up with a Chinese name when I was raised in America? The answer is this: when my parents started my adoption and naming process they wanted me to stay connected to my cultural roots, but also wanted my name to reflect their values. The intended meaning of my name was “beautiful essence” and for years my parents have reminded me that it’s what’s on the inside and not the outside that matters. But there was a mix up and my Chinese characters, instead, translate as “lush green grass”! You might laugh now but wait until I explain. In farming villages, which is where I assume I was born, lush green grass is culturally a good omen and a symbol of prosperity. Today, all you can see on the outside of me is an Asian girl who likes math, gets good grades, and enjoys building robots. Which is correct, but it’s not the complete picture. I’m not fluent in Chinese, I have two Caucasian moms, and I’m homeschooled. All of these things become evident after a few minutes of talking to me, but my true essence is hidden deeper still.

When people meet me they have to look beneath the surface to really get to know me. Not only do I not fit many of the Asian stereotypes, but I don’t fit the mold of the typical American teen either. Same for the typical geek. I don’t like shopping or pop music, I’ve never been to prom, and I love bushwhacking my way through the woods looking for edible plants. I often notice people making incorrect assumptions about me and this observation has encouraged me to be more receptive and to look below the surface of others to get to know them on a deeper level. If I am a combination of often contradictory traits, I figure others probably are, too.  

When I meet someone new, I try to look past race, class, reputation, and what someone looks like or what they are wearing. Instead, I try to find out the raw essence of who a person is. I want to know what makes them wake up in the morning and what passions drive them. Too many times we avoid certain people because we have misconceptions about them. I often wonder if nature lovers look at me differently when I say that I like the environment and that I like to build robots, too. It is easy to talk about accepting differences but not so easy to put this into practice.

Some of my closest friends are polar opposites of me. While I was at Conserve School last fall I met Zeki, a practicing Muslim whose religious laws don’t allow him to touch girls – not even a handshake – and Dexter, a devout Mormon and the eldest of 13 children. Had I been close-minded and immediately dismissed these people because of my erroneous assumptions about them, I wouldn’t have these special people in my life today. It is, in fact, this tendency to be open and receptive to others that I believe is my true essence.

So perhaps the mistake in my Chinese characters was not a mistake at all. I think that this positive mindset directly relates to the “lush green grass” meaning. Imagine a giant field ready for planting in a rural Chinese village. A field is a place for seeds to sprout and lush green crops to take root. I am like this field: open to new people, new ideas, and new points of view. I am Mei-Jing Bernard. One foot in Atlanta, Georgia, and the other in a field in Maoming, China. I am lush green grass. I am beautiful essence.

Why the title you ask? Because I went through a gazillion copies of this. There were so many different permutations of this essay it would take me hours to read through them, but this was what came from the last Word document that I edited. "Me Copy #8" I am Chinese through and through with 8 as my magic number and not 3. My appologies School House Rock and Buffalo Springfield. 

I did it! 10-16-13

So I officially have neglected this blog for way too long and I sure as heck do not want to start a tumblr. I know Maeve and Ellie and Zeki, it's cool and stuff, but I just can't bring myself to join the world of fandom and GIFS and "shipping" of fictional character relationships. It's, well I just don't want to. But you see, the reason that I haven't been on is because COLLEGE APPLICATIONS! But, in theory I should have a bit more time now because guess what? THEY ARE ALL SUBMITTED. Okay, I'm done with caps lock. I know how annoying it can be after a while. I just finished geography which involved me reading a forum about nuclear weapons. The comments were, errrr, very emphatic or angry. But back to what I was saying, I did it! I lived! I got 9. Count them 9 college applications sent it. The next question on your mind might be: What colleges? Well they are all tiny and you may or may not have heard of them:

1. College of the Atlantic*
2. New College of Florida*
3. Eckerd College*
4. Beloit College
5. Stetson University
6. Juniata College
7. Allegheny College
8. Hendrix College 
9. Northland College*

Those would be the colleges of choice in no particular order. I might have mentioned a while ago that I was part of College of the Atlantic's Presidential Scholars Fall Fly-In. Let me tell you Bar Harbor, Maine was gorgeous and from what I hear from my host Julie, Acadia is beautiful. I was rather ticked off that the park was closed. I am really nervous now to hear back from them, and I know I won't hear back until after my ACT test which is the 26th of this month (October in case you were unaware). Despite the nervousness there is a tremendous weight lifted off of my shoulders. Despite the fact that I know that I'll get in somewhere I am still worried. You constantly have that looming voice of, "College is where your future starts" in your head. I know this is not true though. 

You don't need college to be a successful person. look at Steve Jobs, (apart form his untimely death)! He became a billionaire and he didn't even have a college degree. I would never want to be that rich and have to deal with being a technology superstar. Instead, I want to do something that I love while perhaps making a difference for other animals, plants, or people (or maybe all of the above).

I want to live on an energy efficient boat designed by my GaTech friends with Mattie and Maeve. I want to see the world and try weird foods. I want to SCUBA dive to the deep reaches of the ocean and go skydiving. I want to so roll in a mud hole or go to Edisto Beach with Casey. I want to hike the Appalachian Trail with Aaron and Luke. I want to go to college. I want to do all of these things and much much more. 

And the best part is. I don't need college to tell me that I can do all these things, except for maybe the last one. College is just another thing on the list of things that I want to do. I'm not going because I think that my life will not be successful if I don't go. I want to go because I want to learn as much as I can in a crazy environment where the masters of the field teach. I feel sorry for the people who only see one path for their life. The people who can only see to the end of their PhD career. Who only see the straight and narrow track. You have to live a little! Get out there and feel it, taste it, try it, see it, and get into a bit of trouble. ;)

Exploring Nature With your Child 9-12-13

So I may have told you, ages and ages ago, but every now and then I help Mr. Tate out with his Exploring Nature With Your Child class at Fernbank Science Center. Here is a post from ages ago of a black rat snake that was being sent on its way to Jekyll Island the next day. The class was saying its last goodbyes! :_)