6. Bratwurst 2025

So here we are, I guess... This is how I view the time and idea of summer Junior year: a year we'd been hearing horror stories and rumors about ever since elementary school. Whether it was through neighbors recounting their times or through teachers scaring us about the pressure we would face, we were led to believe junior year of high school, especially for us APENGers, would be hell on Earth.  Was it really that bad, however? Don't get me wrong, there were indeed some unmanageable times, where essays, tests, meetings, and seemingly everything the world could throw at you coincided. Those times did make us feel like we would never make it out, that it was time to give up and stop caring. But guess what, here we are, at almost the other side of it all. For most, AP exams are done, barely any teachers have mandatory final exams, prom and party season is on the way. Summer is almost here. If I'm being completely honest, I think in a few years, I'll see junior year as more...

As junior year comes to an end, I would like to take the time to reflect on the experiences I have had this year and the memories I have made. At the beginning of the school year, I was constantly stressed. After only experiencing the workload of one AP class sophomore year, I did not feel prepared to face the wrath of four AP classes. The gazillions of annotations due each week, blogs, current events, and timed writes all thrown on me at once was overwhelming. AP Lang felt like the work of seven classes combined! Semester one seemed never-ending. However, it wasn’t all that bad. Small moments, such as watching the little 3-5 year olds I teach dance to kill it on stage; Thanksgiving break, where my dance team met up for Friendsgiving ; and my birthday, when I spent almost four hours in a trampoline park with my friends have made the semester memorable.  Then, semester two came around. I remember being anxious over the fact that AP tests, finals, and the SAT were all approaching in...

Some memories from junior year have changed the way I approach my life.  Most of these treasured memories are not anything out of ordinary. Some memories appear so mundane, like boring files hidden at the back of our brains, but the emotional weight they carry in my life is underestimated. Just a week ago, I went for a walk with my mother in the early hours of the night to walk our dog, Bailey. The weather was that of a perfect summer night: warm and calm with the slightest breeze. As we walked through the neighborhood and conversed with each other about our lives (the feelings of accomplishment of the past few days, mulled over sadness, the realization of growth), I could not help but feel like the luckist person to live the life that I am living. I was overcome with such an unexpected, overwhelming sense of gratitude for the opportunities I have been given, the friends I have made, and the experiences I have lived. As my mother and walked home in peaceful silence under the stars,...

As this school year goes by and junior year is slowly coming to an end, I’ve been reflecting on each memorable moment. Something I recently started doing this year is taking long walks with my best friend, Yogita. It started with a short study date at Fremont Food Hall in Fremont Hub, which turned into a 5-hour gossip/laughing session, and ended with our bellies full from the deliciously cheesy corndog and matcha lattes. We sat there half locked-in, chatting about recent events and how we felt occasionally. By the time it got dark, we decided to take a walk around the newly renovated neighborhood. It was only supposed to be a short 5-minute walk to digest everything we munched on, but before we knew it, we had walked for almost an hour. It was those deep conversations we had with each other about life and our purpose, as well as funny jokes about school, and controversial topics that we may have disagreed on, that still stick with me today. That first walk we took together holds such ...

  Looking back on my junior year, there are definitely some memories that I hold deep in my heart and would wish to cherish forever, but also some that I really want to forget. The anxiety-filled nights cramming with only coffee in my system, finally being able to sleep and having to wake up an hour later for school: Some of it definitely wasn’t fun. Sometimes I just remember the bad parts of the year, but that is primarily due to the phenomenon of selective memory, or selective amnesia.  The condition of selective amnesia is not just merely remembering what you want to and forgetting everything else, but can also extend to higher degrees of intensity, like forgetting major milestones or decisions in their life. This is not only subject to age, but can happen to anyone anytime. The main cause of selective amnesia is emotional influences, mood swings or a constant switch of emotions can directly lead to a lack in the storage of new information: Simply, stress can lead to you le...

When I look back on my junior year, I see a flood of amazing memories. I’ve learned so much, I’ve made so many new friends, and I’ve had so much fun. A part of me wants to relive junior year. As I wrote in my last post , I’m not ready for summer to start. I want to continue learning, continue making new friends, continue having fun.  But I also realize that I should take a step back.  Welcome to Suju's, which has been my home for the past 6 months (Source: Yelp ). During junior year, I felt sleep deprived, overworked, and overstressed. I had no time on the weekdays (play rehearsals would eat up most of my free time), so I would spend my weekends at Suju’s, racing to finish all my work before Monday morning. At one point, I even kept a log of how much time I spent at the coffee shop. Over the course of 14 weeks, I logged over 140 hours at Suju’s (the actual figure is probably much higher—I forgot to log my hours on a good number of days). All that time, I was working on my POAS...

  Do you ever freeze while writing because your mind wants to think up a powerful line? As I am writing my last blog with some sense of melancholy, I feel obligated to fulfill the second prompt of the two prompts we were given each quarter…“Language.” So, reflecting upon my writing journey in Blogger (and just in general) seems like a fitting way to end things. 

( https://www.computerhardwareinc.com/2019/08/06/the-secret-trick-that-lets-you-paste-phone-numbers-into-the-phone-app/ ) My memory is filled with the numbers of my childhood. My mother had sat me down on the purple Tinker Bell table in the corner of the kitchen of my Chicago home and she said to me: “Arushi if you are ever in an emergency, remember these two phone numbers.” I spent the next 10 minutes transforming my mother and my father’s phone numbers into song. Like all of you, the memory of my parents’ phone numbers just another reminder that no matter what situation I am in, no matter how I feel, anxious, excited, dejected, that I will always be able to call them because I don’t think those those two phone numbers will ever escape my memory.  The dates of my own, my family’s and my best friends’ birthdays: 10/28, 6/26, 6/23, 2/14, 7/31, 8/12…the best part about knowing these dates at such a subconscious level is that I recognize these numbers everywhere . When I see the...

  As I try to catch a bit of sleep at the sluggish hours of 3 AM, almost every embarrassing moment comes to mind. The one time I stumbled over a presentation, slipping over strings of words and fumbling into sentences, or tripping over an imaginary rock; why do our failures or embarrassing moments echo through our lives, but our achievements and victories faintly whisper to the point where you can barely hear them? As junior year unfortunately (or fortunately, however you look at it) comes to a close, it’s strange to think that so much time has passed by. With this, embarrassing moments have run its course in my high school career, and when I sit down and think, I almost can always think of an embarrassing moment. Yes I can remember some of my accomplishments, but they alway seem to be brushed away like they were required to happen, like if I achieved them, it was easy to do anyways. My achievements feel obligatory once they are completed, not holding the same presence they used to...

Last November, my club soccer team was invited to play at a college showcase in San Diego. For weeks before the trip even started, my teammates and I, the people I've known and have been tight-knit friends with since as early as second grade, had already made so many plans on how we would "make memories" on the trip. The soccer part of the trip consisted only of pregame workouts and three games (which, over a total trip length of three and a half days, meant we had plenty of time to "make memories").  Once our club managers and coaches told us we would be staying at a 4.5-star resort, those plans only got more exciting and memorable. The night we reached Carlsbad (the rich outskirt of San Diego), we had a game only 15 minutes after our arrival, and due to our 10-hour drive, our entire team hit the sack quite early.  I took this picture of the view from our resort's rooftop pool. Whenever I see it, I am reminded of the serene, peaceful feeling I had when I wa...

As each blog finishes and a new one starts, we have to constantly think about what to write next. This week, I started thinking heavily about Summer. I’ve always looked forward to the warm season of vacation and no school, especially as my birthday is in July. My family goes to Los Angeles and Disneyland every year.  Usually, my sister and I go to Disneyland in July to compete at Showstoppers West Coast Finals , a dance competition that takes place in their resort convention center. However, after I moved studios, I stopped participating in competitions at Disneyland. I still go and stay with my friends, who compete more than me. Each year is a different experience, but the same feeling. Nothing can beat the joy you feel when you take your first step into the hotel lobby, with huge teapot chairs everywhere, Mickey Mouse playing on the mini TV, and the smell of the “happiest place on Earth.” That truly brings me back to this one time I’ll never forget… Me as a baby at Minnie’s House...

 You all are probably sick of hearing me talk about blankets. I know my first blog of this quarter was about my prized Frozen themed childhood blanket. But, hear me out guys. As a child, snuggles were LIFE. I snuggled Sophie, Daisy, Elfie, Softy, Piggie, Duckie, and Sealie (my stuffies) every night. I couldn’t fall asleep without goodnight snuggles from my mom. And, my Ducky Blankie.  Now don’t get this confused. The duck blanket came before the blanket I wrote about previously. I used it from around 3 to 6 years old. The blanket I've mentioned in previous blogs has been my love from 7 years old to the current day.  I LOVED this blanket. So, so, so much. Toddlers often form attachments with objects that comfort them, and mine was this Ducky Blankie. It was small, white, and covered in little yellow ducks. I slept with it every night without fail.  Then, I turned six. It was time to leave Alphabet Soup Preschool behind and enter kindergarten at Collins Elementary....

Have you ever had a super exciting dream? You are anticipating what is about to come next. But  right before then…all of a sudden…you wake up and all your answers to the “wh-” questions fade away. Well…I have. As a kid, I did not particularly care about the mystery as I did not have much of an attachment to my dreams. But, considering how precious dreams and sleep are for me nowadays, I often long to remember what I was thinking about just a few seconds ago. I still remain confounded about how I can simply switch from being immersed in a scenario (to the point of reality) to waking up and still having an adrenaline rush from a story that has enough holes to form a canyon. While science has a hard time explaining how our dreams work in general (or even why they exist in the first place), there may be an explanation for this phenomenon.  https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-do-we-forget-so-many-of-our-dreams1/ According to Stephanie Pappas from Scientific American, whe...

For the past 2-3 months, my life revolved around Urinetown . I spent every day with my castmates—learning lines, songs, choreography, and blocking. On most days, I wouldn’t get home until 7. In the final weeks, I’d be at the theatre until 8, even 10. I struggled to keep up with the work in my classes, and I would spend my weekends at Suju’s desperately catching up on all of the homework I couldn’t do on the weekdays. I felt so much stress and pressure, and I dreamed of the day I would be able to relax, of the day I would have free time. And now, we’ve taken our final bows. Urinetown is over, and all of my free time has returned. There’s a strange feeling in my chest—a feeling I haven’t felt in what feels like forever. What do I do? Already I feel as if I lack purpose. I feel as if I have all the time in the world. And this is just a preview—in just over a month, we’ll be on summer vacation, and not even school will occupy my mind.  I’m already missing the stress. I’m already missi...

  While I was focusing on the many intricacies of the human memory, I thought, how interesting would it be to go beyond our species, and into the minds of animals? Our pet dog, or the little squirrel with a bushy tail hopping across the street and up a tree, what do they remember? Do they remember as much as we do, and how do they store them? Different creatures store their memories differently across species, from a dog recalling its memory for a command, to a baby elephant not knowing what their trunk is for, tripping over it themselves when they are young.  Research that has spearheaded this idea takes on the role of episodic memory, the basis that animals use a storage system of recollection, in a specific time, place, or stimulus that calls back a previous experience or memory. That is what many animals rely on; imagine when you recall a memory from a specific event, that is almost the only memory dogs or cats are able to recall ever!  Dogs, for example, have an emph...

  When I was growing up as a kid, one of the most common things that adults told me back then was “you are not going to have as much free time once you are in high school, so I should appreciate being able to have fun right now.” And they were not wrong. Looking back on the memories of the homework I had back as a kid, or even as a middle schooler, I had nowhere near as much homework as I have now. The ThreePennyPress has said that according to the Washington Post, students only spend about 2.7 hours on homework every weeknight. But the ThreePennyPress also found that in some high schools, such as Bellaire High School, that amount increases by up to three times. And if the average was just restricted to students with AP Students, that number would likely get higher. To be able to spend an entire day playing outside, afternoon to night, is practically infeasible. And with pressure to have extracurricular activities, that free time decreases even further, except for those who passion...

My entire early childhood was filled with music, like many of you. But there are some tunes that remain ingrained in my memory, not just lyrically, but emotionally. My maternal grandmother came to America after my mother gave birth to me to help take care of me. Every morning, at the sun’s early rays, or so my mother says, my grandmother would wake me with a Marathi song and start my routine. Even now, I associate this song with the comfort of my Aaji’s soft hands and gentle voice and I suddenly feel the promise of a new day, void of worry and stress. I feel this inexplicable protective force around me whenever I hear my mother sing this song.  Furthermore, as a baby, I would refuse to go to sleep. Eventually, when my mother had reached her wit’s end, she began to sing me an old lullaby from a Hindi film. Little did she know that her last effort would finally put me to sleep. It’s crazy to think that when I hear this song now, I fall asleep almost instantly.  I honestly feel t...

What’s your favorite memory?  Although this is a common question that I’ve been asked multiple times, I still struggle to answer with a specific moment. It’s pretty hard to think back on all my memories and choose a single one I cherished most. Was it with my friends? Family? Strangers? Or maybe by myself? It’s a constant ponder as I wonder what happened in each situation that made it unique and special to me. Sometimes it’s the people I met, and other times, it’s the places I went and things I did.   The Princess Cruises in Ketchikan, Alaska (taken by my mom). I still remember my first trip outside the country to Canada when I was a toddler, though it has since fogged. I also remember my first time on a cruise ship as a young child, experiencing the sea for the first time. It was called Princess Cruises , which sailed us to Alaska and beyond. I can still picture the gigantic icebergs, fearing we’d crash into them like the Titanic. I also remember the free soft serve machine m...

I believe elementary school is the most definitive symbol of our childhood memories. Elementary school symbolizes the idea of the "good ol' days" and the lack of responsibility and stress that came along with that time. Opening up my elementary school yearbooks or uncovering the old class pictures always takes me straight back to those memories. From my kindergarten year: I remember my move from Colorado to the Bay Area, and the first few friends I made in my kindergarten year, I am still close friends with today. I was cubby #6. From my first grade year: I remember most of the people in Ms. Silva's class very clearly. Out of the 28 people in my class, I am still good friends with seven of them. I was cubby #22.  A stereotypical picture of an elementary classroom. From my second-grade year: I remember switching from Warwick Elementary to Forest Park Elementary, and I remember my yearning for my old friends. For the first three days of second grade, I wandered and sat ...

It is common for individuals following Hinduism to do puja at home of the deities they worship. This involves lighting a lamp and circling it around pictures or miniature statues of the deities.  This is an image of an oil lamp used for puja. One fine day, my dad was doing his typical morning puja and forgot to extinguish the lamp after he was done. Three-year-old Pranatee saw this and decided to take a piece of paper, light it on fire with the puja lamp, and throw it to the ground, essentially creating a bigger fire. My mother, smelling smoke, ran into the kitchen and put it out before much damage was done. I couldn’t help it. At three years old, I was obsessed with fireworks. I loved the colorful patterns they made in the sky. I loved how bright they were, and the way they lit up the night sky.  “Mamma, look at the big firework I made!” I say proudly to my mom, smiling from ear to ear.  Now, consider this. I have no actual recollection of this happening. My memory doe...