These are a few of my favorite things!

Hello, people of the world wide web! My apologies for my lack of posts, Life has kept me quite busy, what with a trip to LA, another camp, and only 3 days of vacation. Anywho, Analyssa and I have been asked to write 5 things about our wonderful instructors! I've decided that I'm going to write 5 awesome things that I like about them instead, as well as include some little tidbits about myself. On we go!

Jen:

• Awesome Thing #1 - Jen is always willing to help or give advice, even if it's silly or if I can figure it out myself. I love that she will almost literally drop things to help me. It makes me feel like I matter, and has helped me realize that it's ok to ask for help.
• Awesome Thing #2 - Jen has an awesome sense of humor. She may sound cocky or arrogant to those who don't know her, but she just always tries to make people laugh. I certainly appreciate it, and it helps me relax if I'm stressed.
• Awesome Thing #3 - I love how Jen can tease me. I secretly like having people mess with me, because it means on some level that they know me enough to know what I can take and what ticks me off. 
• Awesome Thing #4 - Another thing I love is how comfortable I am with Jen. I never feel awkward around her, and conversation can flow easily between us. 
• Awesome Thing #5 - I enjoy having debates with Jen, because she always has interesting points of view. 

Noor:

•  Awesome Thing #1 - Noor may be quiet, but she always knows what to say to make me feel comfortable with her. I never feel awkward around her (and I'm ALWAYS awkward.)
• Awesome Thing #2 - Noor is always  sweet to everyone she meets. I love how she tries to not be mean to anybody. 
• Awesome Thing #3 - If ever I need to calm down, talking to Noor really helps. Her calm energy and disposition puts me at ease, and stops me from feeling like I have to fight everything. 
• Awesome Thing #4 - I love how much Noor loves Harry Potter. It means that there's one more thing we have in common, and it's nice to know someone else who wants to get a Hogwarts letter. 
• Awesome Thing #5 - one thing that I love about Noor is that she's super modest. She doesn't like bragging, and that's a quality I find endearing, especially when she has a ton to brag about. 

SP:

• Awesome Thing #1 - This directly isn't about how I interact with her, but SP is one of the few people that Analyssa is completely comfortable with. I love it because I've seen Analyssa struggle with making friends and opening herself up to others. It makes me happy. 
• Awesome Thing #2 - I love that SP doesn't hide her feelings. If she feels a certain way about something, she'll let you know. It's refreshing, seeing as how I recently became distant with my friend (Ana's girlfriend) due to their breakup. It was all because she didn't talk to Ana. So having someone tell me how they feel and what th think about something is awesome. 
• Awesome Thing #3 - SP is always so peppy, even if she's had a bad day. Similar to Noor, she manages to make me laugh even if I'm too tired to sleep. 
• Awesome Thing #4 - I love how SP says "bag." It's hilarious. She says it like "beg" and I laugh so hard because it sounds so funny. 
• Awesome Thing #5 - I love that SP can tease and be teased. This is related to awesome thing #4 because I can laugh at her pronunciation and she doesn't get upset because she can tease me right back. 

Susi:

• Awesome Thing #1 - I love that Susi can be so smart and yet sometimes clueless at times. It's really adorable, especially when it's something really obvious. One less obvious instance was when we helped put together the NXT Lego robotics kits. Ana was playing music on her iPod, and Chandelier by Sia came on. Susi heard it and confidently said "I love Rihanna!" 
• Awesome Thing #2 - Susi is a through-and-through Latina. That being said, I love seeing her dance. It's really awesome, because she gets so into it. 
• Awesome Thing #3 - Susi is really funny. She has this sense if humor that seems mean but really isn't. It's ironic and sarcastic, and I love it. 

So, I don't really know Susi well enough to have 2 more things, but I can say that she's an awesome person who is happy go lucky. 

And now some things about me!!!

• One thing that I think is really important to know about me is that I am a twin. That may not seem like a big deal, or even noteworthy for that matter, but I mention it because being a twin is essential to my being. I am most comfortable with my sister, and if I had to choose between my sister and my best friend I'll choose my sister. Often people try to tell us to split up and be our own people, but I AM my own person. I'm just my own person with her. Some things are hers, some are mine, but we still share a lot.
•   Another thing that you should know about me is that I love to learn. I love looking at something and working through until I have my light bulb moment. It's like a game to me, and learning and mastering a skill makes me feel accomplished.
• I LOVE TO PROGRAM!!!! I've always loved math, and programming is like math. It's all about logic, and trial and error. I love testing my project to see it work. It may be frustrating at times, but finally figuring it out makes it all worth it.
• So, I'm not sure if I should put this. But I figure I might as well seeing as how this is a somewhat important part of me. Plus, Jen said I had to tell a secret. So here it goes. I have not started dating yet, but I've always known that I am attracted to girls. I have known for a while, but I only recently told my close friends and immediate family. I've found acceptance in most of those I told, which has really encouraged me to be comfortable in myself. I don't know who knows, but I figured I might as well put it here. 
• Moving on from such serious facts, my favorite book series if the Divergent Trilogy by Veronica Roth, with Divergent being my favorite book overall. Going in the opposite direction, my second favorite book is The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. Crazy right? But I love reading about the metaphorical struggle within a person being personified.
• I love most types of music, save rap. I hate rap, mainly because most rap songs degrade women and are just crude in general. My favorite type of music is.... hmmmmm.... I'd have to say Alternative Rock. I love bands like Green Day, Nickleback, All American Rejects, etc. At the moment though, my favorite artist is actually a cover solo violinist named Taylor Davis. She does awesome covers and cool music videos for those songs.
• Throughout the school year, I'm involved in Key Club, National Honor Society, Science Olympiad, and the Supercomputing Challenge. I'm also in 4-H, and have been in 4-H for 9 years, about. I love the community service aspect of 4-H, and I hope to continue being active in my community. 
• My favorite stop motion film is The Corpse Bride. It's been my favorite stop motion film since I first watched it. Of live action movies, Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland takes the cake. 
• So. This is my pet peeves point. I absolutely HATE the sound of people chewing food. It just grosses me out to the point of being nauseated just from hearing it. I also hate it when people refer to me as "Twin" and not even bother to learn my name or who I am. I'm always upset because my dad can't tell us apart. He just guesses, or even just says "girls" when he talks to us, and even if its just me he's talking to. That's probably why I hate the twin thing so much. Anywho. I also hate it when people say things about Analyssa. I only recently grew a pair and found my courage and confidence, and with it I began to stand up for my sister. I was always the weaker one who hid behind her, but now I can hold my own and defend her if I see something. I also hate having people tell me what to do in the "I'm smarter/better than you" tone. I am not a slave, I am helping because I want to, so don't order me around. Sorry. Rant time is mixing with pet peeves here. I also hate it when people watch me when I do something. I'm a big people pleaser, so I try to do things the way I think they would do it, which just makes me mess up in front if them. I also hate it when they watch me because I tend to mess up more under observation, and I don't like messing up in front of people. 

I think that's all that I'll put here. I don't really like to end on a low note, so I shall say one more thing. YWiC has by far changed my life, and, regardless of what happens in my life, I will always look back on my experience with fondness and happiness. I have been shaped permanently by those who have taught the camps, and I will forever be grateful for the direction they gave me. 

Needles and Thread

I'm so sad. Today is the second to last day of the YWiC camps =(  It's kinda a depressing thought. I love the YWiC atmosphere, and it's my home away from home...

Ok, enough depresssing thoughts! I will make the best of it! So, silver lining....hmmmmm....Oh! I know! I got to make an awesome bag that plays the theme from The Big Bang Theory; I got to know Elena and Elisa Davidson more (which was pretty awesome. I've know of them since I started 4-H, and I always wanted to talk to them...) Anwho, silver linings are pretty good at combating my sadness. I'm glad I got to participate.

So, today we started with the morning activity, which was this game where we each got a card and had to keep it on our forehead. Then we had to go around and ask people yes or no questions to figure out who we were. It was very funny, because some people would drop big hints and some of the girls still didn't get it. Then we went inside and jumped right into Python. It was kinda boring, but I think that's because I romanticized the notion of programming in Python since I went to the 2012 summer camp.

After Python, we got started on Greenfoot. As much as I hate to admit it, I actually really enjoyed programming in it. I love the fact that you can just copy and paste and make it work. And then it was lunch!

I'm running out of time to blog, so I shall do the prompt. If I were locked in a store, I would want it to be Barnes and Noble, so that I could read and drink smoothies. That would be amazing.

You're a Programmer, Harry

Today is a very important day. Why, you may ask? Because today is our Potterluck!!!! So, in honor of our Potterluck, Ana and I went to camp dressed in our house colors. I went in a white button up shirt with a blue striped tie and a blue cardigan (I'm a Ravenclaw.) I think I looked pretty awesome, but Ana looked better. She wore a white button-up, a green striped tie, and this sequenced vest that looks AMAZING!!! Oh, how I wished I had another vest! But alas, I have yet to go shopping (mainly because I dislike shopping...)

Anywhay! So today we got to camp kinda late, and we got inside the building just as the other campers were going outside for the morning activity. Elena saw us when we got in and told us that she was glad we dressed up, because not many others did. She's a Slytherin, and in honor of her house, she wore green earrings with a white button-up. When we got outside, we were counted off into 2 groups and we played Giants, Elves, and Wizards! It was basically a live action game of rock, paper, scissors, but with the added bonus of tag! Bleagh. It was hot. The game itself was pretty fun, but my cardigan made it less enjoyable. My team won, with 4 players left by the end of many rounds.

Once the activity was over, we went inside and got started on LilyPad. My bag looks good, and I can't wait to program all of it! I kinda already started programming the song, but I need to change it a bit. The painting was easy, and I'm almost done with it. The whole morning was spent on my bag, and then came lunch!

For lunch, the special was orange chicken, some other kind of chicken, some egg rolls (I think), and some white rice. The orange chicken was pretty good, but that may have been because I was starving by the time lunch came around. The YWiC gang put on The Sorcerer's Stone for lunch, but I used that time to program the song my bag is gonna play. When lunch ended, we went into Python. It was kinda dull because it was soo similar to Ruby, but I dealt with it. I finished early, so I had some time to rest my eyes (I'm really tired...)

After Python, we went outside and played this cool game where we sat in a circle and passed signs. It's really complicated. so I won't go into detail. After the game we worked on Greenfoot. I have to admit, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be... But don't tell SP!!! Shhhhhhh......

And now for the blog prompt!! If I could magically use a spell, I would created a spell that would clean up my room, and I would call it "Comparto!" You know, to put things in their appropriate compartments??? Lame, I know. But I'm not very creative. So long for now!

Magnificent Monday!!

Well, today was another day at camp. Oh wait.... It's not the same camp... I guess I should say that it was a new day for this new week of camp. Yeah, that sounds good. Anywhay! For this week of camp, we're working with LilyPad, Greenfoot, and Python!! I'm so excited for LilyPad and Python! I love being creative and being able to make music and paint. My bag form last year was awesome, so I had a hard time picking a theme for this bag. I mean, it's kinda hard to top a Nightmare Before Christmas bag.

SO, after the orientation, we went outside to do the morning activity. This morning, we did the whole group activity where we say our name and something we like. It was cool, but kinda sad when I said that I liked Divergent and only 4 other girls stepped in. Then we got into core concepts and the drive activity. It was funny to do the mad libs, but somewhat morbid at the same time.

Once that was done, we got right into LilyPad. We learned the basics about the pieces and how to sew. Sewing was easy. When we got to pick our designs and start thinking about them. It was hard, but I decided to do a Big Bang Theory bag.

Then it was lunch!! We had wonderful Lorenzo's for lunch. The ravioli was delicious, but I still wish we had gotten the fettuccine Alfredo. Man is that dish tasty! During lunch we had very entertaining conversations about everything and nothing. Once lunch was over, we went right back into LilyPad. We began to code, and it was so fun. Then it was the activity! Today's special included a double helping of "Big Booty." Then we went back into LilyPad, I can't wait to start on it.

Ok, so the blog prompt! You have a source at the CDC and she has just informed you that the government has confirmed that the Zombie Apocalypse has begun. You have 24 hours to prepare before people in your town start turning. How will you use your time to prepare for the apocalypse?

If I only had 24 hours to prepare for a zombie apocalypses, I would  gather as much food as I could and amo, as well as all of my rifles. I would find all of my friends and family and make a plan of action with them, as well as choose a good hiding place. Then it would be a waiting game.

Thursday Blues and Grays

I'm freaking out!!!! We only have one day left of this week! Where did it go? Ok, deeeep breadths...

Anyways, today started out with us doing the back-to-back activity, where Ana and I did it in 2 seconds, quite literally. Then we got in a group of 4 with Belle and Noemi, and we got it done in a quick amount of time as well. When we did the big group, it took a while for us to figure it out. Then we got started on Ruby, which was pretty easy. I'm already on the guessing game part 2, so I'm almost done. Then we had a guest speaker present to us about this opportunity to be involved in a learning service come September. I thought it was cool and am definitely interested. Then Noor presented to us her experience with NCWIT and all that jazz. It was cool hearing what she did and all the things she has done.

Then it was lunch!!! (Don't knock the exclamation points, I'm a teenage girl. I need my food.) And good food it was! We had Santa Fe Grill burritos. Mine was steak and potato. It was delicious. While we are lunch we continued to watch The Avengers. I have to admit, I really like the movie. Don't tell Ana, though, because she's DC all the way.

After lunch, so got open lab, so I worked exclusively on my HTML project. It looks so cool! I just have a few more things to add, but I'm confident that I'll get it done by the time we present.

Now for the prompt!! There was so much space on my hard drive that I was able to work on this really cool program called Alice. While I was working in my workspace, I spilled my water on my keyboard.  After I cleaned it up, I found that the space key was now the control key. In then end, I taped a piece of paper onto the space key that read "control."

Hump Day!!!!!

Today is Hump Day!!! I'm super tired, even though I slept well. Oh well, nothing I can do about it. Except maybe take a nap... Hmmmmm....

Nah, I won't. Then I'll just have more sleep issues. Anyway, on with my description of the day! The morning activity was 2 truths and a lie. I could tell most of the girl's lie, because I'm pretty good at reading body language and detecting voice inflections. My two truths were 1) I broke my arm twice (which I did, technically...) and 2) I was I'm a published poet. My lie was that I was born in Albuquerque. That one was only a matter of wording. I was almost born in Albuquerque, but they rushed my mom to the hospital and gave her medication to stop her contractions because she was only about 6 months along.

After that activity, we went straight into LiveCode. Bleugh. I don't really like it, but it is kinda cool. After the coding. But my level 2 kept on freezing my program, so I have to fix that later. After that we had a break and then went into Ruby. That was cool, and it was easy. I really enjoy programming in it. I finished the project and I started the GPA project. Then it was lunch!!!

I wish my sandwich had looked this good

We had sub sandwiches for lunch. I got a ham and bacon sandwich. It was pretty good paired with my sour cream 'n onion pringles. We started watching the Avengers during lunch. I hate to admit it, but it looked pretty cool. Then we did Linux, where we worked on using the terminal. Towards the end of it Noor pulled Alden and me out of the room to lip sync to "Let It Go." We filmed out section outside, and as much as it pains me to say it, the whole thing was kinda fun.

Once we finished that we went back inside and worked on our webpages. I am so excited to see how mine will turn our. Mine is all about the world of Divergent, and I just love it so much.

On to the blog prompt!! If I could go to any point in time, I would go 50 years into the future to see how our world ends up. I want to see how our society changes and what the pollution status is for the world. I hope it's a little better than it is now...

Superhero Tuesday!!!

Today was agreed to be Superhero Day, where we all dressed as our favorite superheroes. Really, it was only agreed upon by Galen, SP, Analyssa, Belle, and me. Ana went the most out for it, wearing her Bat Girl shirt with matching cape. It looks pretty awesome. The next awesome costume was Galen, who wore a tank top and boots with her Wolverine jacket, completed with Lego claws. SP came in close, with her homemade cape and duct tape "R" on her chest. At first we got confused, because she had a Chrome sticker on her chest, giving her the appearance of Iron Man. Belle just wore her Superman shirt, and I was the lamest of our group. I just wore a purple shirt with a hood in the spirit of Raven, the most awesome Teen Titan.

Look how awesome she is!!!!

Anywho, we started camp today with the spoon activity. It was kinda funny, seeing Linky and Belle. They were in the last 4 for the first round. Linky won the second round. After that we went inside and worked on HTML. We learned the rest of the basics for HTML and then got started on our projects. Mine is a Divergent themed business, selling clothes for all of the factions! It's gonna be awesome ^.^

I just love Divergent...

After some time working, we switched gears and got started on LiveCode. It was pretty much go at your own pace today, so we got as far as we could. I got to level 2. Then it was lunch. Belle, Ana and I are always the first in line thanks to Belle's strategic seat choice. We got out food (the Mix) and sat down. I felt like a good citizen, by the way, because I helped Elena with her stuff when she got up to go to the atrium. She still can't tell us apart, which is kinda funny, because at the very least I've talked to her since last year. But oh well. We don't talk often. Or see each other ofter...

We got back and worked on LiveCode, before going outside to so the fact activity. We then got inside and worked on our webpages. I can't wait to finish it!! (As you can tell, I love the book series.)

Now for the blog prompt!!  
Blog Prompt: If you could change the world by developing a device using computer science, what would it be and how would it change the world we live in? Describe it in one paragraph

So, it's been my dream since I first watched IRobot to make it possible to construct mechanical limbs that felt and looked real for those who didn't have those limbs. I would collaborate with an engineer and try to make it possible for the patient to feel with their "limb" as well as have full control over it. I want to be involved in the programming aspect of it. This would change the world we live in because it would eliminate the way we view those who are missing a limb. 

First Day Fun

Today was the first day of the High School camp, but I have to admit that it was strange not working the camp. I didn't have to do anything, which was both refreshing and frustrating. Belle, Ana, and I were getting antsy towards the end of lunch because we were used to cleaning up the lunch room when we were done eating.

So, a recap of the day! It was interesting to see who got accepted to the camp. There are a few that I want to get to know more, like Alden. Elena was also here, which made me happy. I've known her (kinda) for about 5 years, but we never talked to one another until last year, and it was all because of the YWiC camp.We did the morning activity, which I didn't enjoy because I don't like making animal sounds. Elena was in agreement with me =) Anyway, after we got inside, we went over core concepts and then we worked on the crossword puzzle that went with it.

Then came my favorite part: Code.org!!!! We got to go through the angry birds game, and I finished first, followed by Benita and Analyssa. It was fun, and we got prizes for finishing first. After that we worked on our google drive activity, and I got to work with Linky. Our career that we chose was a Certified Ethical Hacker. It was pretty interesting to see the details about what being an ethical hacker requires. Then it was Lunch!!! We had Lorenzo's, and there was a copious amount of food. There was so much, I got to have thirds and there still was plenty left.

Lunch ended, and we were corralled into the ice box once again.  We got started on HTML, and it was pretty interesting. We got to part3 before we took a break and did the afternoon activity. That was the name game, and we were idiots because Ana, Belle, and I chose to stand by SP and Galen. That was a mistake because they went the other way, making Ana the last person to go. After that activity, we went back inside and did LiveCode. I have to admit that it's pretty fun (when I'm not trying to help anyone.) Sadly, we didn't have time to officially do the blog, but here it is anyway

Fun in the "Ice Box"

In case you were wondering, the "Ice Box" is what we refer to the room we work in as.  It's pretty cold in here, although not as cold as it was when it earned it's nickname.  Anywho, I digress.

Today was all about finishing up lessons and working on the projects. I've had a headache all day, so this post is gonna be short.

Today's blog prompt is a list of my favorite things. They are:

• Favorite Candy - Watermelon Sour Punch Straws
• Favorite Musician/Band - Taylor Davis
• Favorite Flower - Red Roses
• Favorite Restaurant - Lorenzo's
• Favorite Snack - Chex Mix
• Favorite Drink - Lemonade
• Favorite Color - Electric Blue
• Favorite Food - Manicotti
• Favorite Season - Autumn
• Favorite Book - Divergent Thinking by Leah Wilson

Greetings

Hey there! Sorry for not posting, I was quite tired yesterday =/ Anywho, I suppose I should recap my hump day.

So, yesterday was pretty boring, with some moments of fun. The morning was composed of scratch and greedfoot, two of the programs that the campers are using. However, Analyssa, Sofia, and I didn't get to experience it!! (I don't exactly like greenfoot...) Instead, we were organizing some NXT Lego Robotics kits. That was kinda fun, but mostly mind-numbing. There were SO many kits and SO many pieces!! Besides that, it was ok. It took most of the morning to organize all of the kits, but Ana found some cool lego launchers. She and Sofia took them, put them together, and shot them at each other and me. It was fun while it lasted.

Once the kits were organized, we had lunch. Galen, the only assistant who wasn't organizing the kits, had to set up tables in the hallway for pizza, since we were still organizing. Once we finished, we got pizza and  went to eat in the atrium. We ate with Galen and Joanna. When the lunch time was up, we gathered all the girls into the atrium to prepare for a fieldtrip to the bookstore, AKA, Barnes and Noble's. I saw this awesome Batman encyclopedia that made me think of my brother Noel. He absolutely LOOOOVES Batman (His love is strong, because the man is 27 years old...) Sadly, I had cero dinero, and I couldn't buy it =(  Oh well.

Once we got back we did some more pencilcode, which was relatively easy. Then we moved on to the dreaded greenfoot. Since I missed the lesson in the morning, I couldn't figure out the code or how to help the girls that had questions. Eventually, I got it, but not without some problems. Then we were done with the day. As soon as i got home, I took a nap, which is why I didn't post.

Back to My Roots!

Well, today was the second day of this AWESOME summer camp. Some of you may have heard of it. For those of you who haven't, this awesome camp goes by Young Women in Computing.

As the name implies, this is an all-girl camp where girls learn how to code in various programs. These next two weeks are the middle school camps, and we are camp assistants this year alongside Galen and Sofia. This year, the instructors changed the entire curriculum. They added so many java-based programs and took away most of the drag-and-drop programs. I enjoy the new curriculum. I just wish it was like this when I was a middle school camper. Oh well...

As per usual, today there was a blog prompt. If I were to gain infamy from any one of my many talents, I would most likely be famous for my poetry. I enjoy writing, and have actually been published 2 times (it would have been 3, but I didn't give permission for publication in time.) Poetry is my way of expressing myself in an abstract way.