The End

I was naive.  When it all started, oh about two years ago I had no idea what I was getting into.  I didn't know how to "time management", how to spend more than thirty minutes doing homework, or even do an IA in two hours.  I currently only know how to do two of the above, I'll let you figure out which two ;).  One thing I was sure about though, was being the best and I thought that joining IB would help me to be the best.  The best me I could be.  So I did.

It was worth it.  Junior year was kind of a blur because I never really understood why I was doing what I was doing.  I had no idea the terrible oral commentaries I gave in English actually counted for something, or that the mediocre written tasks I wrote would come back to haunt me.  It wasn't until this year that I understood why everything I was doing mattered, and how it would help me.  I can now take new perspectives on situations and better understand people.  I'm thankful for the countless hours I spent (thinking about) doing homework/IAs/Extended Essay are all hours that will pay off one day.  I'm also thankful for the community that has evolved throughout my two years in IB.  I spend every class period this year (yes that is eight IB classes) surrounded by people who are striving to be better, conquering their goals, and setting the bar higher for everyone around them.  They're also people that I can talk to whenever, and people I'll remember forever.  (S/O YLT)

I am grown.  I am ready to take on the future.  I feel thoroughly prepared and hope that my freshman year of college will be easier than this year (otherwise I might drop out).  I've learned many things at Millbrook, met many people, and begun to understand who I want to be.  High school being almost over is bittersweet; sure it was hard, but that didn't matter when I could come to school everyday and be surrounded by my friends.  Thanks for the ride IB, this is me signing off for the last time.

"When we are children we seldom think of the future.  This innocence leaves us free to enjoy ourselves as few adults can.  The day we fret about the future is the day we leave our childhood behind." - Patrick Rothfuss

W.W. (Walter White)

At first glance I notice how worn out Whitman's notebook is.  I can only imagine that he used it quite often and had it with him at all times.  Based on the scribbles, random phrases and sentences I feel like this was something that Whitman used to keep his ideas in. Something that I noticed on many pages of this book was a red circular stamp, so I googled "walt whitman stamp on journal" and found an annotated version of his notebook.  It turns out the stamp is just a Library of Congress collection mark.  After scrolling through the notebook more, it is reinforced to me that this was an idea book.  Although I can't really make out anything Whitman has written, I came to this conclusion based on his formatting, use of question marks, and crossing out sentences.  I doubt that Whitman actually spend significant amounts of time at once in this notebook because of the quality of his drawings.  They are quick sketches that seem to represent ideas, not necessarily be perfect pieces of art.  Based on what I can make out, I think that these idea's were for future or current poems because of the way they were worded.

So when I clicked on the second link it brought me to the annotated version of Whitman's notebook that I had previously used.  At first I thought I had accidentally reloaded the page I was previously using, but after a second I realized that I accidentally looked at the link I wasn't supposed to until the end.  Oops :).  Anyways, one thing I learned from the annotations is that Whitman was trying to come up with an idea for a title of a book that he never ended up publishing.  I was right about the notebook being a place for ideas and quick notes.  Something that I didn't pick up on was Whitman's writings about religion, probably because I couldn't read most of what he wrote.  Another thing that Whitman did was write poetry that was related to current events of his time.  "Libertad" is a poem from the 1860s about the problems that the Union was facing.  Something that this notebook reveals about Whitman himself is his immediate reaction to things.  It seems that most of what he wrote was about events that had just happened, like with the problems going on in the nation or just with day to day life.  Something that surprised me was the fact that Whitman shared this notebook with others.  The annotated sketches in the back of the book reveal that the pictures were likely drawn by one of Whtiman's drinking buddies.  If Whitman gave this notebook to someone else, he either trusted them very well or was intoxicated.  Overall, this notebook reveals that Whitman liked to keep his ideas organized in one place and was always scribbling his things down so he wouldn't forget them.