The Chronicle of Charlotte

Freshman Year: With the onset of Covid right before spring break of freshman year, the whole last quarter of the year has become a blur in my mind. I remember spending weeks doing random schoology assignments and going on walks, with so little variation in my day to day life that whole weeks went by without my notice. Regardless of the monotonous nature of this time, it is still the first thing I think of when I try to recall my freshman year. I have to remind myself that practically a whole school year went by, filled with excitement and new possibilities before our lives were shut down. Just weeks before we went into lockdown, I was able to go to Disney world, an amazing trip which does not deserve to be overshadowed by the negative aspects of freshman year. Sophomore Year: When looking for photos to represent my sophomore year, I was disappointed by my complete lack of options. I have so few photos from this year since most of it was spent online in front of a zoom camera and stayi...

 1984 - George Orwell Sorry Mrs. Liamini, but despite what I may have claimed in 10th grade, I did not in fact read this book over the summer. 1984 was the one required book in my high school career that I never actually read. However, since then I have realized that this book might actually be interesting and discusses a lot of important themes, such as privacy and government intervention, which feel necessary to better understand in today’s political climate. Le Petite Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry The Little Prince has been listed as many different people’s favorite books, including my own fathers. Because of this I would like to read the story, but more specifically the original French version. Ever since I finished my French classes at Troy High, I’ve regretted my loss of the language. By committing to reading and understanding this book I hope to both improve my French while enjoying a beautiful story. The Diary of a Young Girl - Anne Frank The story of Anne Frank has tou...

          Of all of the school assignments and lessons I’ve endured over the past 4 years, learning about the arrival fallacy has been by far the most impactful. The arrival fallacy is the illusion that once a goal is reached, it will bring perfect happiness. I first learned about it in psychology, and then was reminded of it during our discussion of Waiting for Godot. In the story, Vladimir and Estragon waste their time waiting for the mysterious Godot to arrive and give them some sort of direction or peace, yet Godot never comes. All our lives, teachers, parents, and peers have told us that the work we put in now will all pay off when we have prestigious degrees and successful careers. Yet none of us truly know for certain if we will ever achieve this vision for the future, or if we do, that it will actually make us happy. We've all been told to wait for the future, but like Godot, it could never be coming. Instead, I have learned to prioritize my current...