And somewhere in this boy, there grows a vast universe..

It has been 14 days (2 weeks!) since I last posted, and I want to apologize. I have been intending to write, but I was not sure where to begin.

I feel like a lifetime's worth of events have transpired since then. I consider myself a very different person now. You might laugh, but I'm serious. I wish I could fully express my feelings about it. But I can't.

Can one's opinions and outlook on life really change so much in 14 days? I don't know, but it sure feels like it can. Maybe it's just my unstable teenageness speaking, but who knows.

Here are a few highlights of the last 14 days in my life:

- I had 2 college interviews ( 1 which was o.k. and 1 which was the most awesome interview ever) and subsequently decided on new top choices. I am thinking about majoring in something different than I originally was planning to.. or perhaps double majoring or minoring. I realized that I'm not only interested in the sciences but also very much so in the humanities as well. We'll see how everything pans out I suppose.

- I started working on my next blog post, which has been taking me forever because I've been getting distracted.. It will be up soon. I promise.

- Pre-Finals week and finals week.. That meant hours and hours and hours of tutoring all around town. I helped 10 people. I enjoy tutoring though and driving to different places, so I didn't mind. I especially like driving at night.

My town's absolutely beautiful, so I don't mind exploring it more.

- My parents thought I was lost and almost called the police last Monday (Martin Luther King Junior Day). I accidentally forgot to tell them I was tutoring and left the house at 3 PM and came home at around 10 PM. It was because when I was out tutoring, I kept on getting more text messages asking me to come tutor others, so I didn't really realize how late it was. I also often get really invested and lose track of time. Anyways, my parents tried contacting me, but I didn't get any service in someone's house.. so long story short, I got into deep trouble when I got home.

Yeah... that was bad.

My parents thought I got kidnapped or something. This was the 3rd major time in my life that they thought I was lost.. Yeah, it's a long story, but I often get lost in my own world and forget about where I am and what I'm doing in reality. They tried calling my friends, but no one knew where or what I was doing. My dad drove all around town, even checking out Barnes and Nobles to see if I was there. Lol. My mom was just about ready to gather my passport picture to give to the police. Yeah. It was interesting to see what conclusions they jumped to. My dad and Anna both thought that I was interviewing some sketchy person for my blog and was blindfolded and stuffed into their truck or something. Anna also thought that I met someone online and told them my address and got 'napped. But, yeah. Everything ended well! I got home safe and sound.. no harm done. Hopefully I didn't the stress the event induced did not take too many years off of my parents' or friends' lives.. :/

- My best friend met the love of her life, Lorde at the airport. She made it in the paparazzi pics and was retweeted by her. Lorde has only tweeted 4 of her fans in history.. and she even mentioned Anna's name in her tweet! Anna got pretty famous within the Lorde fan community. As I am typing, Anna is off at the Grammy's right now, trying to get into the red carpet area. Wish her luck.

She was able to have a convo with Lorde and her sister and got a CD signed!

She mentioned Anna's name!

- I started using Twitter again after almost a 3-year break. I was inspired by Anna I guess. I made my page Ezra Koenig themed. https://twitter.com/michelle_a_tran 

EZRA.

- I got a full tuition scholarship to U of Pittsburgh. #2for2 I'm applying to their GAP (guaranteed acceptance into their medical school) as well as their Chancellor's scholarship. I'll hear news back about those in future months I suppose.

- Met a couple of cool people from the UK

- Decided to participate in the school musical (...in the pit orchestra). LOL. When I came home last week and told my mom I was performing in a musical, my mom's face... Ah. Priceless. I wish I could have taken a picture of her wide-eyed gape. LOL. I let her imagination run wild for a few minutes before I further explained that I was to be performing in the pit orchestra. And not acting. Or singing. In any way, shape, or form. :)

- Am continuing on with my research that I started at the City of Hope Medical Center that I started last summer. I'm making decent progress I suppose.

- Discovered a site, http://blahtherapy.com/, which is amazing. I've helped people with a very, very wide variety of problems ranging from issues with sexuality, social anxiety, relationship issues, and self-esteem problems. I've spent hours talking to many, many people, and I am so happy I found the site.

- I am still on Chapter 1 of my novel. Not too much progress there I suppose.

My school under construction.

- Half of my school shut down and half was re-opened. New meeting places had to be formed and everything seems out of whack still. Our school's Ecology Land was re-opened and is extremely dry because the water system was messed up during construction. Err, Ecology club tried to water it manually, but that turned out to be a large fail. We're trying to speak with the maintenance office about fixing the sprinkler system.

- I started volunteering as a music mentor for elementary school musicians with a handful of other high schoolers. The kiddies are so cute!

- I unfortunately got a parking ticket because I parked in a bad space one morning when I was running late to zero period class. Paid off after 2 tutoring sessions. I guess this was a life lesson of sorts.

- Yesterday I started biking again with my friend Anna and tried to pick up off where we left last summer. We biked around 17 miles for lunch and back. It was very nice exercise. I came to the much needed realization that I am out of shape.

Wonderful summer weather in the dead of winter. I love SoCal.

- I finished with all of my 1st semester finals and am officially a second semester senior.

- Signed up for a 45-hour empathetic listening class taught by mental health professionals so that I may volunteer on the youth community helpline in months to come.

- (Addendum: 01/27 6:50 PM) I was selected out of a competitive pool of applicants after Northwestern's Medical School's application review for an in-person interview for Northwestern's Honors Program in Medical Education (HPME)! That means guaranteed acceptance into both Northwestern's undergraduate school and medical school for a 7-year BS/MD program. I'll be flying out to Chicago in a couple of weeks. Wish me luck!!! I highly, highly doubt I'll make the next round because it's really hard to get in, but please send good luck vibes my way anyway. :)

Chicago, IL

Anyways hm. There are other events that I wish to include, but I feel like they would seem very insignificant to readers. The point of this post is that I feel like I have been living life very fully recently. Each day is packed with a wide variety of activities and I come home tired late every day. I love being busy. 

It's difficult to explain, but these recent events have changed me that I cannot articulate clearly. It's nice being 17. I feel like my mind and thoughts are changing every day with each new life experience.

I feel like this boy. I feel like there is a vast universe within me that is continually expanding with the passing of each and every day. It's exciting.

Will post again soon,

Michelle