Our Educational System and Suggested Amendments

I stand only inches away from my junior year of highschool.  Or my first year of college.  Whichever way you prefer to think about it.  PSEO complicates everything.  Personally, calling it highschool is a good deal less intimidating than saying it's college.

The very word "college" gives me far off visions of a world where bedrooms are replaced by "the dorm".  At this magical place, teachers no longer teach you things, but professors profess their views on physiology, psychology, sociology, biology, and numerous other topics that also flaunt the suffix "-ology".  As if that isn't confusing enough, they recycle the terms "freshmen, sophmore, junior, and senior" from highschool.  This reincarnates variations of the following conversation throughout all of highschool and college:

Stranger: "So how far along are you in school?"

Poor Victimized College-Goer: "I'm a sophmore"

S: "In...highschool?"

PVCG: "Ahh, no, in college."
S: "Ohh...haha, ok..."

Two things result from this conversation.  First of all the Stranger is afraid that he's offended the College-Goer.  Secondly, the college-goer is offended.  Obviously, someone wasn't thinking when they suggested that both highschool and college use the same terms.  Who knows how many awkward conversations and needlessly injured feelings blossomed from this negligence? Do they honestly expect you to add "in college" at the end of your sentence every time you proclaim "I'm a freshmen/sophmore/junior/senior?"  This, my friends, is nothing more than ruthless victimization of college students.  And though I be but a humble highschoolian, I believe in justice for all mankind.

Something needs to be done about this situation.

I suggest a change of names for the four standard years of highschool, leaving college with "freshmen, sophmore, junior, and senior."  In the light of not totally confusing everyone, I suggest a simple twist on the original terms such as the following: "newhuman, plushyabundence, aprilior, and sawior".  (If you carefully compare these to the originals, you will notice the terribly clever changes I made <insert sneaky wink>)

With these beautiful terms, you could announce with confidence:
"Hello, I happen to be an aprilior just beginning PSEO online."

Now doesn't that just sound better?

Maybe I'm ridiculous, but I feel that there might be a future in this.

Time and Other Inevitables

The most obnoxious thing about life is that you can't stop time.

I distinctly remember the first time I realized this.  I was thirteen at the time and visiting my grandma.  It had been a busy day, though I don't remember exactly where I'd been or what I'd been doing.  Night had come and as I lay in the dark a thought suddenly came to me. "I can't stop time."  Now this seems like a silly thought, and I suppose I did already know it, but I'd simply never taken the time to actually think about it.

Then I cried.

It makes sense really.  Think about it.  I realized that I had no choice.  I was going to grow up.  And not only couldn't I stop myself from growing up, I couldn't reverse anything.  As soon as a second has passed, it's gone.  I cried softly, realizing that every moment, every second that I cried would never be returned to me. It no longer felt like Life was something to be lived. Life was now a Being, this ever existing, ever moving Thing I was chained to.  As this Thing moved, I too moved, a helpless victim of Life itself.

I could do whatever I wanted, and Life would still go on.  I could disobey my parents (An unbelievable thought at the time) and Life would drag me on.  As a relatively responsible girl, my parents had put a decent amount of trust in me, and for the first time I realized how easy it would be to do whatever I wanted without my parents knowing.  I understood that though my parents are in charge of me, they couldn't control my attitude, my thoughts, or my behavior.  I contemplated all the terrible things I could do, and how my parents couldn't stop me.  Life would still be dragging me on, and nothing could stop it.  It didn't matter what I did, I was forever chained to Life.

I felt like I was in prison.  It wasn't that I didn't like my world, it was that I couldn't escape it.  For the first time I realized why some people might commit suicide.  Perhaps they had this same feeling.  Maybe they thought that by killing themselves they could escape the one thing they couldn't get away from: Life.  That Being forever propelling me forward.

But even as I thought about doing what I wanted or escaping the prison of life, I realized I  would never do either.  Precisely because of Life and Time.  If you only have one chance at each second in life, why waste them?  Why cut off what the short supply of time that you have?  That was my reasoning before I fell asleep that night.

However, looking back on the event, I understand a lot more.  Life and Time are two things that you can't escape.  But that shouldn't cause me to despair.  It should wake me up.  It should make me think back on the things that I've done in my life thus far.  What have I done with my time?  Am I bringing God glory?  And in those times when nothing seems worth it anymore, it's a reminder that this second only happens once.  Will I be proud to show my work to God at the end of the day?

I am a Pseudonym

Today a beautiful word appeared in my mind.  One so marvelous that although I have known its meaning for some time now, I have yet to master it's pronunciation (or its spelling).  That word is Pseudonym.  Not only is this word hard to pronounce (and spell), but it also looks pretty awesome.  These three combined place it pretty high on the "Spectacular Word Scale" (Around the placement of ennui or supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, which, though long, can be sounded out rather easily).

But it was not for these worthy qualities that the word came to mind.  In fact, it was because the meaning of "Pseudonym" applied directly to my life at the moment.  In case you aren't familiar with the meaning of the word, I have had the forethought to paste the Dictionary.com definition here (a website which, if you are in need of pronunciation or spelling help, is an excellent resource)

pseu·do·nym [sood-n-im] noun - a fictitious name used by an author to conceal his or her identity; pen name.

Pseudonym.  Sood - n- im.  It was exactly the word I was looking for.  Words have power, I know that, but I like to think this one has just a tad more than the others.  This word lets you tell the truth however you want to, say what you think, and show a part of you not usually shown without letting anyone know who you even are.  You can tell just one or two others what your Pseudonym is, or maybe you just let them try to figure it out on their own.  Either way, it gives me a sense of freedom that I don't usually find.  I'm not going to use this blog as my journal, because I already have one of those.  No, this is going to be something different, better, unknown even to me at the moment.

Melody Nechum.  That's me.  Or kinda me.  Maybe a half me, maybe a real me, maybe a fake me, but somehow a part of me that doesn't get out very often.  As a result, she's a tad pale, a little weak, but  ready to get a tan, or even a burn.

So there you have it.  This is my pseudonym and my blog and I don't care whether or not people like it or even read it.  I'm not promising great writing or content.  But it's gonna be me here, soaking up the sun.
Hello Mr. Sun.