Since Mid September I’ve been working on my History research paper. My History class is called dictators, which means the topic for my paper is a dictator of my choice. The only people we are not allowed to do are the ones we are learning about in class. Those dictators are Pol Pot, Stalin, and Hitler. The Dictator I chose to do was Mao Zedong from China. We are not allowed to do a paper that resembles a biography of the dictator. The topic I am focusing on is how Mao tried to change China’s economy from agrarian (farming) to industrial. So far my research is going well. I had to go to the town library to get books. It was my first time ever going to the library in my town since I moved to the Boston area. The paper is due right after we return from winter break, which means I have a lot of time to write the paper, but the time is going to go by incredibly fast and I need to remember not to procrastinate.

In the last few weeks I have started thinking about colleges that I may want to go to more and more. On Saturday my dad and I drove around one college in Waltham which is right outside Boston the college was called Bentley University. It mainly focuses on business which is what I want to study. I have a friend who went to my school last year who is there right now. I am planning on asking him if he can show me around. My school also has colleges come in from all over the country. Last week I went to hear a representative from Penn State talk. I quickly realized the size difference from Bentley. Penn State has multiple campuses and over 120 majors while Bentley only has one campus and 23 majors. Next week I am going to go hear a representative from American University speak. That college is less than a mile from where I use to live in Washington DC.

Last Saturday I had to get up really early and go to school. I was taking the PSAT’S, which luckily they were only practice. Every Wednesday at school we have a half day, which means because I’m not really doing anything after 11:00 on those days my dad signed me up for an intensive SAT class. I go to a place about a mile from my house where I do SAT practice tests for 2 hours. I think it will help me prepare for the real SAT in a few months. I have learned through this class how much I’ve forgotten and how much I need to study before the real one.

I am really excited for this coming Saturday. I have tickets to a Boston University vs. University of Michigan hockey game. I have invited a friend who is coming with me. I am going to be rooting for Michigan. GO BLUE!!!!!!!