Yaggin’ 2012

“The chamber will now revert to the passage of this Senate Bill.” I heard this phrase repeatedly throughout my several days of meetings at the YMCA North Carolina Youth and Government Conference, aka YAG. I have been a “Yagger” for four years now, and each year I have a different experience. For example, I was a Senate Clerk this year, so I got to experience the conference as a leader. I sat in chambers (formal sessions for bills) all day, so I was able to watch the parliamentary procedure process occur from the stage in front of everyone.

Each year, I learn a little more about current issues in North Carolina, and YAG ends up being a great educational experience in different ways. Some memorable events from this YAG conference were seeing friends I’ve made from freshman year, being honored as a four-year senior, seeing my younger sister become engaged in parliamentary procedure, and watching my friend Fields be inaugurated as governor of the entire conference. Next year, I am definitely going to miss Youth and Government so much that I might just have to join their college staff!

This too shall pass

Oh, college applications; where to even begin? Stressful does not even begin to describe the college application process. Oh well, I guess I set myself up for it. After all, I am applying to ten schools– yes, ten. Indecisiveness triggered my decision to apply to practically every large school below the Mason-Dixon line (those are the only two bits of criteria I know I want in a school); I have absolutely no idea what my number one choice is. October 15th is D-Day for me. Most applications for early action are due on this lovely Saturday. I still have to make sure that my teacher recommendations, transcripts, and SAT scores are all sent; and much more importantly, I have to ensure that my application is absolutely as close to perfect as I can make it (I’m a bit of a freak/perfectionist). If I continue to be efficient with my time and get these applications done, I will hopefully be rewarded. The process is long, boring, dull, and hard; thinking back to every thing I have done over the last four years is close to impossible. Oh, how I wish I had been more organized throughout high school and had kept a running document of my extracurricular activities. Oh well, it’s a little late now. Somehow, I will get through this, and everything will be worth it in the end. As Mrs. Harrell likes to quote, “This too shall pass.”