i. intro - actually excited to write this one

okay so, weird problem to have: i sat down to write this post and realized i didn't know where to start because too much good stuff happened. that's a first. usually i'm scraping the bottom of the barrel trying to remember what i even did for three months. this time i had to cut things down.

last year i called things "exciting" and meant it in kind of a messy way. this year i get to just mean it. straightforwardly. no asterisk.

we'll get to the website stuff in an upcoming devlog post, don't worry. for now i just want to actually sit with how solid this year felt. it's a nice problem, having too many good memories to fit in one post.

i think i'm finally getting the hang of this blog schedule thing too. writing monthly instead of letting everything pile up made a huge difference — nothing had time to get lost or blurry.

i'm not doing this for the zero people reading this, i'm doing this mainly for me. the blog is my way of preserving my life, since i'm too much of a wuss to go out and take pictures most of the time (working on that too, actually — more on that later).

i think each blog post should be a distinct read with distinct memories, and honestly this year gave me plenty of those without even trying. i've got real, specific stuff to talk about instead of vague moping, which makes this whole post a lot easier to write.

as for length — yeah, i still have a lot to say. can't help it. but this time it's because there's a lot worth saying, not because i'm circling the same three feelings for four paragraphs.

alright, enough throat-clearing. my Junior year of high school turned out to be genuinely one of my best, and i've got a lot to say about it. grab a seat, this one's a good one.

ii. 1st semester - hit the ground running

a. summer well spent

heading into my third year of high school, i was actually in a pretty good headspace, and i think a big reason for that was how i spent my summer. i signed up for summer school — Algebra 1 and US History — mostly to get ahead, but it ended up being way more satisfying than i expected. there's something oddly calming about a compressed class schedule: show up, do the work, watch the material actually click because you're seeing it every single day instead of once a week.

Algebra 1 in particular was a nice reset for me. i'd always kind of dreaded math, but going through it in the summer, with a smaller class and a teacher who actually had time to sit with you one-on-one, made it click in a way it never had during the regular year. by the end i actually looked forward to the problem sets, which is a sentence i did not expect to type.

US History was the other half, and it turned out to be the more fun one. small class, discussion-heavy, and the teacher ran it more like a book club than a lecture. i walked into Junior year already having knocked out two requirements, feeling ahead instead of behind for once. that alone changed my whole attitude going into the fall.

Advanced Guitar ended up being the anchor of my whole schedule. i walked in the first week not really knowing what to expect, and left every single class buzzing to go practice more.

i don't think i've ever looked forward to a first day of a class the way i did with this one. the room was full of people who'd been playing for years, which was a little intimidating at first, but our teacher paired us up by skill level fast, so nobody was drowning.

i went in with a decent sense of the basics, but i quickly realized how much room i had to grow, and honestly that was exciting instead of discouraging for once.

the rhythm of the semester was honestly a blast from day one. i wasn't dreading any part of my schedule — if anything, Advanced Guitar was the thing i built the rest of my day around. and my grades were rock solid the whole semester, which felt like a natural extension of the summer school momentum. i walked into the year ahead, and i stayed ahead.

i think going in already caught up from summer school gave me a cushion i'd never had before — i could actually enjoy the rest of my classes instead of using them as an excuse to avoid homework.

b. strings attached

i have to talk about Advanced Guitar for a second because it might be my favorite class i've ever taken. we moved past the basics fast and started actually arranging pieces, working in small ensembles, even writing a little original material toward the end of the semester. our teacher treated us like musicians instead of students, which made me want to show up prepared every single day.

i started practicing at home more than i ever had before, not because i had to, but because i actually wanted to get better. i picked up fingerstyle stuff i'd been too intimidated to try before, and by winter i could actually play a few pieces i was proud of. it's the first class in a long time that made me want to keep going with something outside of school hours.

as the semester went on, my mood stayed steady and genuinely good.

i actually got the chance to form a real bond with some of the people in my guitar ensemble, especially someone i got paired with early on for a duet piece — someone who made me feel welcomed and who i deeply respect. we ended up working together for most of the semester, and it turned into one of the better friendships i've had in a while.

usually i don't strike up conversations easily, just small talk here and there. but this fall was different — we actually kept the conversation going outside of class too, texting about nothing in particular, running through parts together after school. it's the kind of friendship that just kept building instead of fizzling out, and i made sure to actually put in the effort to keep it going into the spring.

for the first time in a while, i felt like i was genuinely connecting with people around me, and it didn't fade once the semester wound down. i kept it up into the spring, which honestly felt like a personal win.

c. fall, in full

i had some other stuff to look forward to this fall too. first was a halloween party with my friends — all four of us made it out this time, no one dropped off. good movie picks, good snacks, genuinely fun night.

i went to a couple concerts with my dad — Tame Impala and Grizzly Bear, two of my favorite artists. both were incredible, and i came home with some great videos and merch from both. felt like a proper kickoff to the season, and honestly gave me a couple new ideas for stuff to try on guitar.

my Advanced Guitar practicing kept climbing all through this stretch — i was fitting in twenty, thirty minutes most nights, and it never felt like a chore. between that and summer school putting me ahead academically, i had way more breathing room than usual to actually enjoy the season instead of just surviving it.

the semester wrapped up strong. our guitar ensemble put together a small showcase piece for the winter recital, and it went off without a hitch. genuinely one of the better performances i've been a part of.

the holiday season that followed was a great one too — lots of good presents, and time with friends. we ate, talked, stayed up late, played Wii Sports. a proper way to close out the semester.

looking back on it now, i think the difference this year really was the summer school head start plus finally having a class — guitar — that i looked forward to every single day. it changed the baseline mood i was walking around with, and everything else benefited from that.

my blog was actually fun to write this semester for once. i didn't have to dig for content — i had too much of it.

iii. 2nd semester - keeping the momentum

a. picking up where i left off

the friendship from the guitar ensemble carried right into the spring — we kept texting over break, and picked right back up once school started. no awkwardness, no distance, just an easy continuation. it's nice to have proof that i can actually hold onto something good when i put in the effort.

with the new semester came a bigger spring showcase to prepare for, and i went in with way more confidence than i've ever had going into a performance before.

our teacher assigned solo pieces for the showcase this time, and i landed one i was genuinely excited about — a nice step up from the ensemble work. practice sessions were fun this semester; having a good handle on my classwork thanks to the summer school head start meant i wasn't stressed walking in, so i could actually focus on enjoying the process.

i got to know a lot more people in the guitar program this go-round, and a handful of them turned into real friends, not just classmates. it helped that i was in a good place going in instead of trying to claw my way there.

Advanced Guitar kept being the highlight of my day all semester. we started a small ensemble piece for the spring showcase alongside my solo, and rehearsing both actually made me a much sharper player overall.

my Theology class this semester was solid too — good discussions, nothing dramatic, just a class i didn't mind showing up to.

b. steady as it goes

my mood stayed pretty even this whole semester, which honestly still feels a little novel to type out. i think between finishing up the last bit of momentum from summer school and having guitar as this reliable good part of every day, i had a much steadier baseline than i'm used to.

music kept being the thing that grounded me, except this time it was because i was making it instead of just listening to it. there's something different about picking up the guitar after a long day versus just putting on a playlist — it gave me somewhere to put my energy that actually felt productive.

i've kept being honest with my therapist this year, which has made those sessions a lot more useful. it's a lot easier to have a good conversation about your life when your life is actually going well.

i've been a lot better about texting my friends first instead of waiting around for them to reach out. small thing, but it's made a real difference — i've got people to actually talk to now, which i didn't always have before.

i think a lot of it comes down to finally having things going that i was proud of — the guitar class especially. it's hard to spiral when you've got a piece you're excited to keep working on.

c. finishing strong

i still had the spring showcase to get through, and this time i was actually looking forward to it the whole way. my solo piece came together well, and i got way more stage time than i expected going in.

i made a bunch of new friends in the guitar program this round, which hasn't always been the case for me. going in with a decent baseline mood really does change how open you are to people.

school-wise, i kept my grades solid the whole semester — no dip like i've had in past years. the summer school head start from Algebra 1 and US History meant i had a lot more slack in my schedule to actually put effort where it counted instead of scrambling to catch up.

the classes i enjoyed most were Advanced Guitar and English, no contest. Advanced Guitar in particular was a highlight thanks to my teacher, who's been pushing me since day one and who genuinely cares about the craft in a way a lot of teachers don't.

my guitar teacher is staying on at the school next year too, which was a relief to hear — she's easily one of the best teachers i've had, and knowing she'll still be around for Senior year is a nice thing to look forward to.

the spring showcase ended up being a smash hit, one of the best the music department's put on in a while, and i walked away from it with a bunch of new friends and a song i was genuinely proud of.

iv. interlude - the classes that stuck

i want to circle back and give History its own little shoutout, because it turned out to be a genuinely good class this year. project-based classes can go either way, but this one had projects that actually connected to the material — we did a whole unit tied into the US History groundwork i'd already built over the summer, and having that foundation made the projects click instead of feeling random.

i ended up with a strong grade in the class, no last-minute scrambling, no refusing assignments. having the summer school version of the class already under my belt meant the year-long version felt like a deeper dive instead of a first pass, and that made all the difference.

the Algebra 1 foundation from summer school kept paying off too — i moved into Algebra 2 this year with way more confidence than i think i would have had otherwise. math stopped being the subject i dreaded and started being just another class i showed up to and handled.

looking back, doing summer school wasn't just about getting ahead on credits — it genuinely changed how i felt walking into the school year. i started the fall caught up instead of playing catch-up, and that changed the whole tone of the year.

if i'm giving advice to anyone reading this (hi, zero people), it'd be: if you've got the option to do summer school for a subject you're shaky on, seriously consider it. the smaller classes and the focused pace made both Algebra 1 and US History way more manageable than i expected, and it set the tone for a much better year.

v. outro - where are we now?

a. a series of good decisions

toward the end of the spring, a few of us from the guitar program decided to put together a little side project outside of class — an arrangement of a handful of songs for a small showcase at the school. it wasn't anything official, just something we cooked up because we were having too much fun to stop once the semester's assignments wrapped.

we debated a couple different setlists before landing on one everyone actually agreed on.

pulling it together on a tight turnaround was a little chaotic — we only had a couple weeks to rehearse outside of our normal class time — but the group pulled it together well, and honestly the tighter timeline just meant everyone was locked in and focused instead of coasting.

setup was short, just an afternoon, but we used the time efficiently. amps, mics, seating — it all came together faster than i expected, mostly because everyone showed up ready to work.

the closing song in particular landed well, and the small crowd was clapping and cheering the whole way through.

this whole stretch, combined with the spring showcase earlier in the semester, made for one of the best runs i've had with guitar since i started playing.

b. a series of upcoming events

consider this the "year summary" part of the post. i'll admit this one ran long, but for once that's because there was just a lot of good stuff to cover, not because i was circling the same three feelings for four paragraphs.