Reflective Blog

For my Genius Hour Project, I am satisfied with the outcome, although I could've done better. I liked the fact that everyone I showed the video to enjoyed it. My audience actually noticed the lyrics and the depressing music video, instead of just listening to the melody. My mother didn't understand the lyrics, but she said she almost cried. However, one thing that I would've changed is: I wish I spent more time on the piano composition part and the voice recording, instead of the making of the melody itself. My piano composition came out on a higher pitch than expected, and it's really fast. My original song was slower when I sang it; I felt like this made the song more depressing. The new revisions also made it even harder to breath with the instrumental. The song had to be divided into four sections, and it caused the song to be really disconnected in some parts. The music composition part is probably the most important part in recording a good song. Instead of focusing on the song so much with my voice, I should've began my piano accompaniment earlier or during the same time I created it vocally. For the voice recording, my voice wasn't in its best condition as I was recording for up to 5 hours on that day and the day before. It actually got pretty scratchy. The quality was also low with Apple earphones. It would've been way better if I rented a studio and recorded it there. If I have time, I really want to continue this process. I may not create new music often, but I want to do covers on my YouTube channel. I have always wanted to do this, and the feedback I got from my final product solidified it. As for the neurology aspect, I want to consider creating a series of these songs for each mental disorder. After all, Schizophrenia isn't the only illness that needs awareness. There is also aphasia, obsessive compulsive disorder, encopresis, and so on.

Throughout the year, I feel like I've grown a lot in English, especially in my writing, deep-analysis, and oral speaking skills. From all the projects, essays, and practice we have done, I was able to understand what the readers/listeners are looking for. Although it was tedious, it will help me a lot in the next year and future. I, especially, liked the books that we read this year. Night, Lord of the Flies, and so on was really interesting. There wasn't a single book I disliked; they all had their own message. I learned from my Sophomore year that everyone has a different perspective from your own. Even though I always knew this, it was accentuated this school year. It's interesting to see how I see one thing as bad, such as my projects, but others seeing it as really good. The book Night also showed this but in the context with money. To add to that, I was taught that procrastinating is not good. I, normally, don't ever procrastinate, but this year, that turned around. I didn't do things last-minute, however I didn't do things when I was first assigned it. Because of this, I was constantly stressing out. With self-control, I hope to not continue this the following year. Then, about myself, I began to understand that I have a bad habit of taking others' words to heart; it wasn't just only words, but actions as well. From this, it caused my mood to swing. However, later on, I understood that I misunderstand a lot, and I take things too seriously. Next year, instead of making the same mistake, I should just let it cross my mind briefly and worry about something else. My 10th grade year has been my hardest year thus far, but I'm glad that I learned a lot of new stuff. Every thing was its own lesson!

I'm now ready for the summer. This year, although I have summer reading and SAT studying to do, I'm still excited. I get to go to Vietnam! It has been around 3 years since I've visited. This time my family is actually planning to tour Vietnam and go to Hanoi and all; normally, we just stay at our family's house and stay there. In addition to this, I will begin my driving lessons. Imagine the places I can go when I acquire my license!