Patience is Key

         You are probably wondering, "Why is she showing me a picture of a waiting room?" Well, you may see it as a waiting room, but it shows much more about my myself and my life.

         For me, life is all about waiting. It may seem ridiculous, but all my life I have had to wait. I waited to see what I got on a test. I waited to find out who my teacher was for school. I waited to find out where I was moving. I waited to see my dad when he was deployed, but it was all about patience. When I see this waiting room or any waiting room, I am reminded of the patience I had to see my scores, my teacher, my next location, and my dad. This waiting room waits for me to arrive. It patiently waits for my return, as I wait to return to it because even if the wait is 5 minutes or one whole day, I will always be there patiently waiting.

TCK iMovie

Hard Working Helper!

Caitlin's Reflection and Reaction

     Throughout my 6th grade year, I have learned many new and crazy things, but most of all, I have learned who I really am, not who I should be. I already knew that I worked hard and was a really good helper, but 6th grade helped me blossom into who I really want to be in my lifetime. When I lived through 6th grade, I really found myself as who I really am, not who I should be

     As I found myself typing away, I realized that I worked really hard to make my writing the best it could be. I wasn't caught doing anything but type, type, typing away, the keys aflame with life and fresh fingerprints. My hard working also helped me become the helper. I grew more tempted to help others because I worked hard and understood what they needed help with.

     As a writer, I learned that you have to work hard in order to succeed. In my informational piece, I first wasn't sure what to do. I didn't even want anything to do with it, but then I started researching my topic and grew interested in the issue in this world. Finally, with a microphone and knowledge in my hands, I ended our unit with a bang! I shared with everyone the issue as the teen activist I am.

     In many ways, this is like life. I worked hard in order to receive the treat of spreading awareness when in life you must also work hard in order to achieve your greatest wishes. If you don't work hard, you will never know what you could have achieved. I worked hard, and it paid off. I was proud of myself and others were to0. Anybody can work hard, you just have to try. You can also find who you are, not what others will you to be.

My reaction to my worst and best piece, start to finish on the board game of 6th grade.

Town Hall Meeting-Mai Monologue-Listen, Slowly

Lump In My Throat

I heard the sounds of doctors, nurses, and loud elevator creeks as they pushed me into a room. No outside views, no plants, just floppy, hallway doors with tiny, crystal clear windows. I was enclosed, trapped, I could not escape. I could not walk out on all this because of my fear, because I was petrified of what was yet to come.

The room was so small, but with so many people.  It looked like a crowd at a concert waiting for their superstar. It looked like the city of Singapore; with the tall buildings all on a small island. It looked like a fingerprint that had been magnified to see all the little details. The crowd only made me feel more squished, circled, trapped. I was surrounded by suffocating air. It made me even more terrified of what was coming.

“I don’t want to do it,” I cried to my mom. In the distance, I heard the sound of ambulance sirens. At that moment, I got a huge lump in my throat, I was so scared.

“It will be okay. You don’t have to be scared.”

As I calmed down, they lowered the mask onto my face. I breathed in and out, in and out. As my eyes got droopy, I drifted off to sleep. Before I went though I heard my mom say, “Honey, I’ll be in the recovery room for you when you wake up. I love you!”

Dazed I woke to the sound of doctors and nurses scrambling around. I layed there, daydreaming to see if I could remember the surgery.

“Where are you, Mom?”

“ I’m right here, you’re okay.” I looked around, the concert had ended, the buildings had been torn down, the microscope had zoomed out.

I squeezed Fluffy close to my heart then nuzzled her at my face. She has been there for me since I was 8, my little duckie, lovey Fluffy was all I needed at that moment. While I hugged and kissed Fluffy, I was struck with the realization that I had conquered my fear. We did it Fluffy! We made it through together! We both conquered our fear together, I thought to myself. I trust my mom, she would only do the best for my safety and health, and for your’s too, Fluffy.  I wanted to cry, but instead, I squeezed Fluffy as I tight as I could without hurting myself. I faced my fears! I actually did it! . When I was afraid to go on a high rope course, my sister walked me through it, and it helped me overcome my fear of falling. When I was afraid to stand on a horizontal piece of glass on the 50+ floor, my dad assured me it was safe, and gave me a little nudge to help me overcome my fear of extreme heights. Lastly, when I was afraid to put food in the oven, my mom talked to me about it and told me that if you wear oven mitts and be careful, you wouldn’t get hurt. I smiled softly. I had already known that I could do it. I had always known that it was true.  It’s proven. I can conquer my fears.

Camping Fun

Image Used With Permission By Creative Commons Google Images

Helpful on CWW

I remember one time I helped a friend. It felt amazing to make my friend happy by helping her. All I did was tell her where the bathroom was, but it felt good. I learned that helping isn't just directing, it is also making others feel safe around because they helped you with lots of stuff. I felt better on the CWW trip. During the trip I got to be helpful many times, and not just by showing where the bathrooms were. Here are some times:

1. During the hike, one of my friends ran out of water, and since I had so much water, I gave her some of mine.

2. A friend I was walking with hated all the trash on the ground so I held out my trash bag to help her while she collected the trash with gloves.

3. When my group got into the room, I helped them by telling them what time we had to be downstairs, and telling them the time since I was the only one with a watch. 

4. During minute-to-win-it, one of my room-mates didn't feel great, so I did her events for her so that she could relax, and after minute-to-win-it she told me thank you and that it really helped.

5. At bedtime, one of my friends needed to go home because she was sick, and my home-base teacher told me to help my friend, by taking her to my home-base teacher's room.

6. The next morning, I helped my friend by making sure we were both awake and ready to go do activities.

7. When we were getting on the bus, I helped a little with luggage. 

Ever since CWW I realized that helping people is amazing. It has made me feel like I can do good in the world, and helping people makes me feel like I can do good in the world. Don't you want to do good like that too?

Click Here For Image

Be Healthy With Electronics

Before I discovered what happens when you use electronics too much, I thought that nothing would happen even though people kept telling me that it was unhealthy. I honestly thought that you could use electronic devices all day and you would be fine. Now I recognize that if you use electronics all day you wouldn’t have a social life. I learned that using things with screens too much makes you very lonely. I also learned that watching too much TV can lead to obesity. and I also learned that if you take breaks every now and then, you can spend time with your family, and go outside. I taught myself to take breaks, and now at school, they’re teaching us by making us look far away after we have just been looking at something up close. One day I told myself, “If I spend too much time on electronics, I will be a nobody. GET A LIFE!” Later on, I told myself that after a couple videos on youtube, I would go outside, go swimming or go for a walk. After learning all these things, I am no longer sinked into iPads, laptops, or TV.

When my family and I were driving around America this summer I had nothing to do. I had played on my iPad and watched movies the whole time, but once we got to Florida I noticed that I had spent too much time on electronics. I had felt light headed, dizzy, and I couldn’t see clearly. In boot camp, I found out that it is because I hadn’t been balancing using computers and staying healthy. At the time I didn’t know it, but now I realize that you have to balance using electronics, and doing things that don’t involve screens. When I use electronics now I know that I should also take a break from screens to stay physically fit.

What I have experienced over the summer has truly changed my whole point of view on electronic devices. I discovered that even if things with screens can help you, it can still affect you for the rest of your life. This will definitely change my future because I won’t be on electronic devices all day for the rest of my life. I will be out in the world having fun with friends and family. I know that it might be hard for you to take breaks every once and a while, but there are plenty of fun things to do. You could play a board game, ride a bike, do a craft, or even just go for a walk. I hope that you will become someone who grew up without electronics, I hope you become an amazing person without all that stuff. Don’t you want to be that person?

Photo used with permission by: Creative Commons Google Images

About Me 2015

Caitlin is a girl who loves her family and school. She goes to an international school on an island. She likes reading but only when she is super bored and has to read. Same for writing. She writes at school, and only at home if she has a really great idea. She is more of a math person. Caitlin really likes to read fantasy and nonfiction books. She loves reading fantasy because it takes her to magical world, and she loves nonfiction because she learns something new every time she reads nonfiction books. She writes nonfiction, fantasy, personal narratives, and mysteries, but Caitlin writes nonfiction the best. She gets the concept that you’re trying to teach the readers about the topic, while giving them fun facts. Caitlin finds a way to learn about a topic, and then she makes it fun with more detail and a little humor, and then she types it all out and then she checks it and publishes it. She knows that it may never be perfect, but she still tries. She always tries to do her best. Caitlin will always try. If she can, she never gives up.

When Caitlin is not writing at home or at school, you will find her with her family, having fun. On the weekend, when she is not having fun with her family, once in a while you will find her at a swim meet.

She first picked up writing at school. She learned how to get ideas, and since that she always had ideas. When she thought hey were good, she typed them out. She started this way, but at school they started helping her to make her stories stronger. Now she writes at school and finds it fun. She will always have ideas, and she will always have fun.

Digital Citizenship Agreement Pledge

As a responsible Digital Citizen at SAS, I, Caitlin, promise to respect and protect myself, others, and intellectual property while learning, sharing, and collaborating online.

Productivity & Organization Video

Laptop Care

The purpose for this poster, is to make sure that wherever you go, you never should pack your bag so that your laptop is squished, it should always be free, the opposite of an MRT trip.

Using My Laptop