AICE Media Studies

  Hi Blog! Since today was an A day, I met up with my group during first period and we talked about filming again. Unfortunately, Lauren was absent so she didn't get to take part in the conversation. However, we definitely made sure to fill her in after. Savannah showed us all the props she ordered, and we went over ideas on how to incorporate the props in filming. We are also trying to figure out a day to film next week. We are almost sure it will be Thursday, but we have a small conflict. Since our main lead character, my boyfriend, is part of the project, his schedule is a bit conflicting. He had communicated to me that he has no school on Wednesday, and that he would prefer us to start filming then. I wanted to keep Wednesday open in case I had dance practice scheduled for this day. Additionally, Savannah had a potential conflict on Wednesday as she may be getting tickets for a concert. Of course, I would prioritize filming over practicing for my dance team, but I wouldn't

As you can tell from the title, today was a very off day for me. Lately, I have been feeling very overwhelmed with work. This is also in part why I haven't been able to focus so much on creating the short movie. Today was a B-day, which means I have all my difficult classes in one day. To put it into perspective,I begin my day with AP Calculus AB and end my day with AP U.S History. I have been struggling a lot academically. This might stem from all the school days I have missed due to debate tournaments. Nonetheless, this has added so much stress. I recently failed my last AP Calculus test, and we are REALLY behind in my history class. Our AP exam is in two months, and we have not even reached the civil war yet. Somehow, we are supposed to get all the way through Obama's election? And typically, I am used to getting good grades. I have always been a straight A student, which the exception of math. But this year it has really been getting to me. I have straight Bs, and currently

  Hi again! Long time no see! Joking, I posted yesterday. Anyways, there is some more news today. During first period, our group was able to meet and discuss our project. Since we all share the same period, we grouped ourselves together and gave updates. Most notable was Savannah, who told us she had purchased most of the props for our short film. This included several fake knifes and fake blood! We are all so excited to use these props since they are going to set us apart from other groups. The fake knives are essentially to be given to the lead actors, since they are plotting to eliminate each other. The fake blood will most likely be used in the fight scene to create more thrill to the movie. The only concern I have is that I am hoping the fake blood won’t stain my furniture. Since I don’t know the material, I am hoping it doesn’t stain my clothes or skin either. Additionally, Savannah and I further discussed our schedule for filming. Originally we had thought that next Tuesday woul

Hello again! I know that in my last couple of blogs I have been ranting about our busy tournament schedule. Well, nothing has changed. However, I did receive some very unexpected news today. It would be an understatement to say that today has been an emotional rollercoaster. If you recall last night, I was competing last weekend at our district's national qualifier tournament. I broke to finals and was placed as the second alternate after the three qualifiers and first alternate. Similarly, at our district's state qualifier, I also placed as second alternate. But as I was walking home from my bus stop this afternoon, I suddenly got a notification from my debate coach. I read it and I went int shock; someone had dropped the State tournament and a slot had opened for me. I immediately told my parents and called all of my friends! Everyone was very happy, and I was over the moon. This win helped me feel a lot better from the terrible school day I had. I had an AP Calculus test thi

Although it has only been a day, some things never change. I finally got home after a long day of competing. From my last blog, I gave an update that I was competing at the national qualifier tournament. I ended up breaking to finals! It was a very thrilling moment as I worked very hard to be where I was. At the awards ceremony, I was sitting very anxiously as they announced the results, and ultimately the top three qualifiers for nationals. Although I did not make top 3, I did achieve fifth place. Achieving fifth means that I am instead the second alternate. So, if two people from the top three were to not make it to nationals, their spot would be replaced with me. Alternatively, if one person from the top three cannot make it, and the first alternate cannot either, then I could take over. I was slightly disappointed that I did not qualify, I am not going to lie. However, this was my first year competing in Original Oratory, so I am grateful for all of the success I have had leading u

Hi blog! I’m back, and well not surprisingly, I’m competing in another tournament this weekend. This is probably one of the most important tournaments on the year, the national qualifier. The competitors who place top three qualify for the National Speech and Debate Tournament in June. Needless to say, I have had a very tiring day. I have been competing since ten in the morning and left the tournament today almost at six in the afternoon. I still have one more round left for prelims, and after, I find out if I move on to finals. This entire month has been back to back tournaments every weekend, so I am relieved to finally take a break next week. Since Brianna has also been competing in debate tournaments as well, we have not had much time to plan things out with our group. We usually spend the entire day competing. By the time I had arrived home, it had been twelve hours since I had left this morning. By the time we get back, we are exhausted. Knowing this, we decided to plan our filmi

  Hello Blog! It has been a while, but I am finally back. This month has been like a rollercoaster, which might be an understatement. I have had debate tournaments almost every weekend. About three weeks ago, I had a debate tournament at Emory University. I ended up breaking to quarter finals! I had to miss a couple days of school, which affected my grades. I was able to pick up my grades, but the next tournament at Harvard University this weekend set me back again. It was a great competition though. I broke to double octofinals, but at the same time I was a bit disappointed that I did not pass to octofinals. Regardless, the whether was VERY cold. Since I am from Florida, this was not something I was quite used to. Getting across campus in thirty degree whether was not very pleasant. However, the University itself was really beautiful and I am glad I got to experience visiting this University in Boston. I also got to spend my birthday during the debate trip. My friends all surprised me

Hi blog! I cannot believe that tomorrow is already THE Harvard Speech and Debate Tournament. I am specifically very excited for this tournament since it falls on my birthday! But that aside, I have been prepping for a while for this competition. It is my very last chance to get a bid to TOC. What is that you ask? In order to compete at the Tournament of Champions, one must have 2 bids, or "invitations." These bids can be obtained by doing well at national circuit tournaments and breaking to elimination rounds. I got my first bid at Sunvite last month, when I broke to finals. Unfortunately, I didn't qualify for a second bid at Emory because I broke to Quarterfinals. Due to the amount of entries, I needed to break to Semifinals in order to get the bid. So, this has motivated me a lot in preparation for Harvard. Since Harvard has 350 entries so far, I would need to get to Quarterfinals in order to qualify. Which is much easier said than done because this tournament is one of