Springtime at SMA

Hello Readers

It is spring and the weather is as crazy as ever. The sun, rain, and clouds continue on a sporadic rotation every week. It’s wild. Within the past month, I have officially decided to attend Tulane University in the fall, so I am expecting much warmer weather next year. This month has definitely been dominated by making plans for a future, which is something the senior class can relate to. We’re planning our housing, classes, and overall futures. There is also a lot of online shopping, which is always fun. 

Also this month was the tennis sleepover. Often times, SMA sports team have team bonding activities during the season to work on teamwork and grow closer as a group of athletes. This year, we had a sleepover at one of the captain’s houses. We ate lots of food and watched movies. The next morning, a few of us went to Wilson and one of our teammates “promposed” to a German foreign exchange student. That’s another fun dance that is coming up next weekend, so I will write more about that in the next blogpost.

Fourth quarter is going by so quickly! Here is a short update on what I am doing in my classes:

Biology: hereditary unit

Calculus: study for the AP test

English: reading “Song of Solomon”

Chemistry: study for the AP test, working on electrochemistry 

History: studying industrialization in modern Europe

Psychology: watching “Ordinary People,” and studying emotions

American Government: legislative assembly simulation

See you next time!

Emma Rosenthal 

4th Quarter!

Hello readers,

3rd quarter is over and there is only one quarter left in my St. Mary's career. That is absolutely wild to me and I know I have said that in almost all of my posts, but it is really hitting home now. The stretch after Spring Break is always the fastest and I am so sad, but also excited, that it is all almost over. I will miss SMA, but college is fast approaching in a very exciting way!

Spring break is always relaxing. I spent the majority of my spring break with my family in Sunriver, which was an absolute blast. I went skiing with my brothers and then did Sunriver's March Mudness (Mud Run) with my mom. We watched a lot of movies, including Mockingjay and Room, and I watched all of "Making A Murderer." It was a really nice break from the stretch of school weeks.

In the coming quarter, there are many things that I am looking forward to. First, Prom is in May. It's always fun to dance with your friends and celebrate being in the last full month of school. Also in May is senior college decision day, when everyone wears their college shirts. I can't wait to see where everyone decides to attend next fall! I'm also very excited for senior assembly, which the senior class officers get to plan. The assembly focuses on the senior class with slideshows, performances, and lots of laughs and tears on our last full day of school. Last but not least, I am excited for graduation. I have met amazing teachers, made awesome friends, and had a supportive, fun, and life-changing time at SMA and it will be very hard to leave this June.

See you soon,

Emma Rosenthal 

Doernbecher Week

Hello Readers, 

This week has been dominated by Doernbecher. With the morning cafe, dodgeball, art competitions, assemblies, and dress-up days, Doernbecher Week is one of the most exciting weeks of the year. Each day, we have different dress up days. This year, the theme was BuzzFeed and every day was dedicated to a different quiz. Day 1 was “Who is your favorite character?,” Day 2 was “Who is your twin?,” Day 3 was “What kind of celebrity are you?,” Day 4 was “What salad dressing are you?,” and Day 5 is “What is your Hogwarts house?.” For character day, I dressed up as Jesse Pinkman from Breaking Bad. For twin day, I wore my old basketball sweatshirt with two of my friends. For Day 3, I dressed up as Tom Brady. For Day 4, I dressed up as Thousand Island dressing in a Hawaiian dress and shirt. For Day 5, I dressed up in Gryffindor attire because I am a senior and our color is red even though I am actually a Ravenclaw (as proved through multiple online quizzes).  

Today, the seniors played the teachers in dodgeball. This is my favorite part of Doernbecher because instead of competing, the students come together and unite as a force against the faculty. The seniors won this year by a landslide. I mainly attribute that to the fact that Mr. Bedney, the MVP of the teachers, was on a teacher trip to the Apple Headquarters in California. Still, I am glad the seniors won.

Even though Doernbecher is a stressful and, often times, competitive week, it is also a great time to come together and support some awesome charities. It is amazing what our community can do when we put our minds to it. I am so happy to be a part of such a supportive and social-justice minded atmosphere. Tonight, we will find out which class won in points for the week at the Doernbecher Dance, but it doesn’t matter. We are all winners for raising the money and fighting to make a difference for the charities we are supporting. 

See you soon!

Emma Rosenthal 

January + Finals

Hello readers,

January is always an interesting month. It marks the ending of break and the ending of 2015, but also the beginning of 2016 and the beginning of finals. Very bittersweet. Finals at SMA, while stressful like any other week of testing, are relatively controlled. SMA has many resources to help students, including tutoring programs, calendars to manage your time, and time dedicated to review for each class. I prefer to view finals as a celebration of the topics we have covered over the semester rather than a stressful week of grade-crushing exams. It’s all about perspective. 

In other news, on January 7th, SMA held its first blood drive! We collected 23 units of blood, which could save the lives of up to 66 patients. It was so exciting to see students, teachers, parents, donors, and volunteers come together for the American Red Cross. I hope that we will be able to host another drive in the spring and continue to host drives in the coming years.

One of my favorite parts of January is The Scoop. The Scoop is an event for eighth graders who are interested in SMA. We have game rooms, wiis, friendship bracelets, spa rooms, crafting rooms, cookie decorating rooms, board games, and of course, ice cream. We also have a photo booth, my personal favorite activity at the event. Core Ambassadors (student representatives for the school) mingle with eighth graders and try to give them the perspective of a current student. Through the event, the prospective students get a better sense of what their next four years could look like. They get a better idea of the kind environment, fun atmosphere, and loving community that they could be welcomed into next year! As my time at SMA is coming to a close, it was nice to see the class of 2020 in a very familiar position that I was in four years ago and a position that I find myself in again. 2016 is definitely a transition year for the class of 2016 and the class of 2020. It is all so exciting!

See you next time,

Emma Rosenthal