Devin's vignettes

Title: Life in a Nutshell

1. What’s preschool
2. Naughty
3. Early Modern Times
4. My Delimma
5. Education
6. Good Teachers
7. End of school
8. Detention
9. I Hate Summer Camps But Later I Like
10. A New Beginning

End of School

I can’t wait for school to end, I says, I continue looking up at the clock, 2:00
This clock is broken, Michael says, He looks up too, 2:01
The day is almost over, what a boring, boring day and such a tedious class that teaches useless stuff, the stuff my middle school teaches is torture.
Devin pay attention, my teacher orders, and I do, Michael laughs and I tell him to shut up in a friendly way, better be careful, careful or I get the dreaded detention, I hate detention.
I try to make the most of my time, class is almost over, 2:02
We listen to the teacher talk about some writing stuff that I’m not interested in
I wish something interesting happens, I say, 2:03.
Occasionally very peculiar things happen in class and I remember those few memorable moments. Sometimes stuff like angry outbursts, passing of notes, stuff thrown around, and people getting sick occur. Which one would you pick, AK-47 or M16, i ask randomly in a desperate attempt to make it to the end of class. Ak-47, has a higher caliber, Michael reasons.We like to talk about random stuff like after school activities and jokes until the end of class, 2:10.
One more word out of you guys and you will both receive detentions, the teacher threatens. Why are we the only ones getting caught? Aren’t there other people? Maybe we are the only troublemakers. I daydream for another five minutes, 2:15.
I am awaken by a rude message. Put your name on the detention list, the teacher commanded, pay attention. I was in a mood for the rest of class. I just needed to survive for five minutes and I will have escaped, but i fail, 2:20.
End of school.

Education

Everybody in my family has different education. My mother and father got their education in China. My father’s education was a walk in the park. He only made it to middle school. My mother’s education was like that of my father’s except she made it to high school. My education is really straightforward, preschool, elementary, middle and high school. My little sister’s education is still young.
      But my big sister’s education is the longest, long like a line at a carnival. She has been through fourteen years of schooling. It is the sight of tremendous work and countless frustrations, the only one in my family to experience college, college and its hassles of living away from home. I think it feels lonely.

Detention

People get detention through various means. Being late, cheating, talking in class, not doing homework, etc. Detention is not a fun place. Everyone just does their homework. It is fun if you are with friends. There are the usuals who come almost everyday. Then, there are the new ones. Also, there are people who get more detentions during detention for not doing their work or talking like this guy called Victor who talks a lot.

“Where are you going after school,” he asks his friend.

The teacher takes roll call. Some people ditch detention and tell classmates to answer roll call for them. Then it’s off to work for the rest of detention.

“ Are you done with homework,” Victor asks the same friend.

The homework part of detention is tedious. The only good thing is you get to finish your homework. You can eliminate one hour of homework. An alternative is to draw, but don’t get caught.

“Wanna see my drawing,” Victor offers.

I continue with my work. Something about Mesopotamia or Babylon, how about math, polynomials and square roots, science, the eight planets, writing, compare and contrast essay first draft.

“What are you doing?” Victor questions.

“Doing my homework,” his friend replies.

A teacher sees this conversation and comes over.

“Both of you are getting another detention,” he says.

Victor and his friend look dismay. I am that friend.

I Hate Summer Camps But Later I Like

Summer camps are dreaded among children. It means less summer playing time and more education. That’s how I was thinking before I went. What summer camp is this, you ask? CTY of Center for Talented Youth. It is hosted at several universities across the globe. I went to UC Santa Cruz. I was in a bad mood the day I left for camp. I had already gone to a summer program at my middle school. I was mad about sacrificing in total six weeks of summer break, mad that my middle school required us to take two summer programs, mad that I was taking math which is boring.
UC Santa Cruz was a big campus. The campus was beautiful and surrounded by trees. The campus had a lot of land. The campus contained a lot of students. The campus was haven for me. The campus was heaven.
I got to live in a dorm. My roommate, I did not remember his name, was a funny kid. My roommate was Mexican. My roommate liked to party. My roommate had a bunch of friends. My roommate was cool.
Everyday, we get to eat three meals in the cafeteria. The cafeteria was a big place. The cafeteria was a place to socialize. The cafeteria was filled with delicious foods. The cafeteria was a messy place. The cafeteria was a happy place.
We students also received PE classes. The soccer field was the most enormous field I’ve ever seen. The soccer field was filled with green. The soccer field was bustling with students. The soccer field was gorgeous. The soccer field was freedom.
In addition to all the fun aspects, there are classes too. The classes however are fun. The classes are small. The classes are instructive. The classes are interactive. The classes are taught by funny teachers. The classes are educational.
In the end, I discovered not all summer camps are bad. I was happy to have participated in the best summer program in the world, happy that I made a lot of new friends, happy that I could procrastinate on my summer homework.