Thursday, March 03, 2005
Stress...Stress...Stress
I am not in a good mood. I am extremely stressed. My school can't seem to understand that we are drowning in work (or rather, those of us taking Computers are drownign in work), so they keep giving us even more. More more more. Here's a list of the things I have to complete in the next month:
1) Computers project. This is due April 5. I have to finish writing the code for a database program in C++. Then I have to write a document explaining exactly how it works, what all my functions and variables are, testing results, algorithms used, etc. etc. etc. In the end the document will be a few hundred pages long. Like the Bible, just about a computer program. I really need to finish the program soon. The problem is that there are some aspects of programming which I really don't understand. If I don't figure things out soon, I'm screwed.
2) TOK presentation. Yes. I have to do another one. This one is about art. We're supposed to create a piece of art, give a 10-minute presentation of it to the class, and write a 1000-1500 word analysis of what it is supposed to demonstrate, the techniques we used and why, the "meaning" behind it, etc. When it comes to drawing, painting, or sculpting I'm about as talented as a synchronized swimmer who's afraid of the water. Not very. So I guess I'll make another short film. I've already gotten the basic idea and script written. I'll probably film the entire thing this week, along with the last remaining shots of Stuffed Fantasies. Hopefully it won't be too hard to do, since it'll only end up being 3-5 minutes long. I might even enter it in the same competition I'm entering Stuffed Fantasies in.
3) Orals. All IB Diploma students are required to send a recorded oral presentation to the IB to be graded. So that means I'm going to have to study Sylvia Plath and Macbeth really hard by next Saturday. I'll go to school on Saturday morning, be handed an extract of a poem or the play, and have 20 minutes to plan what to say about it. Then I'll have to record a 12-15 minute recorded commentary on it. Wonderful. Plus, next Thursday I have to tape my oral for Spanish. I'll be discussing gangs in Central America, which means that I have 7 days to review everything I researched about them last year, and somehow cram all of that information into a 4-minute discussion.
4) Math project. Next week I will be given the information about the final math "portfolio" that I have to complete. Basically, it involves writing a long report about how to solve certain problems, use graphs, and other things. I hate doing these things. Why didn't we finish these earlier in the year?
5) PE project. Yes. That's right. A project for Physical Education. What kind of school gives students projects for PE? It's a group project. We're supposed to research how the media affects how adolescents see themselves and their bodies or something, and give a 5-minute presentation about it. What the heck does the media have to do with PE? Sure, we can talk about how they use strong, healthy models in order to promote certain products, but last time I checked PE has nothing to do with that. If it's Physical Education, shouldn't we be graded based on, oh, I don't know, physical activities? Or would that be going too far?
6) Stuffed Fantasies. The deadline for the competition entries has been moved back to April 1. But due to the all the other work being piled on top of me, I'm going to do my best to finish it within the next week or two so it will be out of the way. And I don't care if I have to not sleep for an entire week in order to finish it amidst all my other work - I'm going to complete it in time. I've worked too hard on it already not to.
7) Other homework. Even with all this going on, we still have minor assignments to complete. Things like math problems, biology lab reports, history essays, etc. Just in case there are kids out there who don't already have plenty to do.
I haven't gotten more than 5 hours of sleep per night this week. I'm exhausted. I'm grumpy. I'm stressed. I want to kill the world. I hate school because of all the stress. I hate going home more because it means that I have to keep working just as hard, if not harder, as I did while I was at school, except when I'm at home I don't have friends to encourage me and distract me from how my life is overflowing with work.
Some people don't want to graduate. It makes them sad. I could graduate right now and not feel any remorse about it at all. That's how much I hate my life right now.
Quote of the Moment:
"I felt like putting a bullet between the eyes of every Panda that wouldn't screw to save its species. I wanted to open the dump valves on oil tankers and smother all the French beaches I'd never see. I wanted to breathe smoke...I felt like destroying something beautiful."
--Fight Club
1) Computers project. This is due April 5. I have to finish writing the code for a database program in C++. Then I have to write a document explaining exactly how it works, what all my functions and variables are, testing results, algorithms used, etc. etc. etc. In the end the document will be a few hundred pages long. Like the Bible, just about a computer program. I really need to finish the program soon. The problem is that there are some aspects of programming which I really don't understand. If I don't figure things out soon, I'm screwed.
2) TOK presentation. Yes. I have to do another one. This one is about art. We're supposed to create a piece of art, give a 10-minute presentation of it to the class, and write a 1000-1500 word analysis of what it is supposed to demonstrate, the techniques we used and why, the "meaning" behind it, etc. When it comes to drawing, painting, or sculpting I'm about as talented as a synchronized swimmer who's afraid of the water. Not very. So I guess I'll make another short film. I've already gotten the basic idea and script written. I'll probably film the entire thing this week, along with the last remaining shots of Stuffed Fantasies. Hopefully it won't be too hard to do, since it'll only end up being 3-5 minutes long. I might even enter it in the same competition I'm entering Stuffed Fantasies in.
3) Orals. All IB Diploma students are required to send a recorded oral presentation to the IB to be graded. So that means I'm going to have to study Sylvia Plath and Macbeth really hard by next Saturday. I'll go to school on Saturday morning, be handed an extract of a poem or the play, and have 20 minutes to plan what to say about it. Then I'll have to record a 12-15 minute recorded commentary on it. Wonderful. Plus, next Thursday I have to tape my oral for Spanish. I'll be discussing gangs in Central America, which means that I have 7 days to review everything I researched about them last year, and somehow cram all of that information into a 4-minute discussion.
4) Math project. Next week I will be given the information about the final math "portfolio" that I have to complete. Basically, it involves writing a long report about how to solve certain problems, use graphs, and other things. I hate doing these things. Why didn't we finish these earlier in the year?
5) PE project. Yes. That's right. A project for Physical Education. What kind of school gives students projects for PE? It's a group project. We're supposed to research how the media affects how adolescents see themselves and their bodies or something, and give a 5-minute presentation about it. What the heck does the media have to do with PE? Sure, we can talk about how they use strong, healthy models in order to promote certain products, but last time I checked PE has nothing to do with that. If it's Physical Education, shouldn't we be graded based on, oh, I don't know, physical activities? Or would that be going too far?
6) Stuffed Fantasies. The deadline for the competition entries has been moved back to April 1. But due to the all the other work being piled on top of me, I'm going to do my best to finish it within the next week or two so it will be out of the way. And I don't care if I have to not sleep for an entire week in order to finish it amidst all my other work - I'm going to complete it in time. I've worked too hard on it already not to.
7) Other homework. Even with all this going on, we still have minor assignments to complete. Things like math problems, biology lab reports, history essays, etc. Just in case there are kids out there who don't already have plenty to do.
I haven't gotten more than 5 hours of sleep per night this week. I'm exhausted. I'm grumpy. I'm stressed. I want to kill the world. I hate school because of all the stress. I hate going home more because it means that I have to keep working just as hard, if not harder, as I did while I was at school, except when I'm at home I don't have friends to encourage me and distract me from how my life is overflowing with work.
Some people don't want to graduate. It makes them sad. I could graduate right now and not feel any remorse about it at all. That's how much I hate my life right now.
Quote of the Moment:
"I felt like putting a bullet between the eyes of every Panda that wouldn't screw to save its species. I wanted to open the dump valves on oil tankers and smother all the French beaches I'd never see. I wanted to breathe smoke...I felt like destroying something beautiful."
--Fight Club
# posted by Andrew Johnson : 3/03/2005 07:55:00 PM 
