I just wanted to post here some things that I don't want to lose, hehe. First, a poem that Ms. Forlini introduced to the class called "O Me! O Life" by Walt Whitman. I love the message it holds: O me! O life! of the questions of these recurring, Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities fill'd with the foolish, Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I, and who more faithless?) Of eyes that vainly crave the light, of the objects mean, of the struggle ever renew'd, Of the poor results of all, of the plodding and sordid crowds I see around me, Of the empty and useless years of the rest, with the rest me intertwined, The question, O me! so sad, recurring--What good amid these, O me, O life? Answer. That you are here--that life exists and identity, That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse. - - - - - - - - - - Secondly, today were the National Honors Society elections. I ran for VP, and Moleca ran unopposed for President. I'm glad that it's always been a natural instinct of mine to always be prepared, because Rhenecia came with an intent to win. She had a well-written speech that comforted me about the length of mine but at the same time almost made me doubt myself. But I put a lot of thought into mine, and I am sufficiently happy with it. After all, it is the embodiment of me as Coldplay-lover, wordy thinker, and over-analyst. xD. Winged introduction: “Hi, everyone. My name is Irene Martinez, previously Junior Secretary of NHS, but if you still don’t know me too well, but today you’ll find out that I’m quite wordy, I can’t wing speeches, and I love Coldplay. Speech: “You're in control, is there anywhere you want to go? You're in control, is there anything you want to know? The future's for discovering, the space in which we're traveling. From the top of the first page, To the end of the last day, From the start in your own way, You just want somebody listening to what you say. It doesn't matter who you are.” Well, when I woke up early this morning to write the speech for this afternoon’s election, naturally, the first thing I did once I turned on my laptop, was open iTunes. And fortunately, when I was looking for inspiration, my shuffle brought up a song called “Square One” by Coldplay, and that’s where these lyrics are from. As the title “Square One” implies, the song talks about new beginnings. And after Gerlin, Gabby, Ashley, and Zoyla did such a great job as our officers this year, we’re back again, as we do year after year, for the election of the new officers. And once we make our final choices today, every class will once again take a step up into a new level of the high school hierarchy, we’ll stay away from school for an entire summer, and then in September, NHS will come back full-force with new leaders. We will be “in control,” as the lyrics say. No, not just the officers who win today, but we, as in this entire chapter will be in control. Where do we want to go? What do we want to know? What do we want to offer the world next year? It’s a hard choice because of the countless things that each of us can do for the P****** community and for society. The only thing keeping us back is square one, or the very first step. I’ve already passed my square one by accepting my nomination. What can I offer NHS this year? In the past, I’ve offered my piano skills, and my note-taking skills, but this year I would like to “start in my own way” as the vice president of NHS. I would like to take the responsibility of helping this chapter take the first step for the year 2009-2010. We are in control, and I know that you might even have in mind already a lot of ideas and activities for next year. Even if you don’t, it doesn’t matter who you are, because every person here has something to offer. “You just want somebody listening to what you say.” I will listen. Thank you, and good luck to Rhenecia. ... :D