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Well, since I'm fairly sure just about everyone (In the  US at least) has started school by now, how has the school year treated you so far? I know it's still very new, but sometime your first decisions define your experience :)

For me, I'm taking 16 credit hours a week (the max for my scholarship), and I'm enjoying all of them except for the required computer class and the required Troy University orientation class which treats us like a bunch of kindergardeners. Extracurricularly I've joined the Troy University Philisophical Society and Troy University Students For Liberty, which is the Libertarian club. I've also pledged the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity

Well, a good deal of those words meant absolutely nothing to me. I'm starting secondary four this Wednesday though, so, yeah, that's happening. Hope college goes well for you :)

MWHAHAHAHAHAHAH

Yeah, still got a week and a half for fun time summer. (AKA do all the shit I've been pushing off)

Lucky bastard 

Just remember that I finish after you do, and you'll feel good about yourself. :P 

How many APs are you taking? I'm starting to dread my choice of 3 Aps...

What are APs? (Canada, I mean, i've heard of them in movies, but they don't exist here)

Advanced placement courses (though we have to take a test for them to be meaningful). Basically a way to skip a basic course in college if you get a high enough score. 

We sort of have that here- at my school we have to take a certain number of classes to get a certain "pass" on a college course. I could take "y" course and "x" course, and once I complete the courses (and get the credits from the courses) then I get an arts and sciences "degree" (not really a degree, but they call it that) or some other sort of degree. Of course, every single profession i'm interested in requires an arts and sciences "degree" (except for psychiatry, surprisingly enough the requirements there are pretty low.) , which requires a stunningly large amount of advanced courses split over the next two years. (So yeah, no easy high-school for me...)

I think that Cegep also more or less works on that as well, getting students ready for college. I might be wrong though. I haven't been to cegep ^_^

"(So yeah, no easy high-school for me...)"

You have no idea...... I'm starting a newspaper + band (newspaper shouldnt be too hard, not playing in band, just organizing it) clubs, soccer (football) team, hopefully student council president + those 3 APs. 

This year will be hell. :P

Now when you say "starting a newspaper..."

Also, I thought you'd be too busy trying to start up/coach/raise money for your school soccer team?

Newspaper is a basic thing (as in, I'm doing a bare bones project with others) Only reason for it is to get our school to be more known and well received. 

Yep. I'm probably biting more then I can chew.

Damn.
So, tell me about this band. Waste more of your time here. ^_^ 

Got a keyboard player, a guitarist, got a flute player.... Haven't started since school hasnt started (and Sephardic Jews are known for pushing shit off. ^_^), but it'll hopefully be playing during school events and *hopefully graduation.  

That sounds like an... interesting combination of instruments. Send me one or two of their songs if you can later, i'm genuinely interested in hearing what that sounds like.

One day drak, one day. (As in, probably never :P)

Haha.

So, what clubs are you joining this year?

.... The clubs I'm creating. 

As in, the only clubs in my pitiful school. 

Oof, that sounds rough.

Nah, starting up clubs is great for getting colleges to look at you. (Ulterior motives, the only reason I stay at my school and don't go to the other, better financed, with a building, has clubs, school. ^_^)

Your school doesn't have a building?

We live in a Shul's (Curch) basement. ^_^

Are you sure it's a school?

We've had students get into high level colleges before. ^_^ (One student got a full scholarship to Rutgers).

So, is there just no school budget? At all?

We have a budget.... (I think and hope..... :P) Though I had to be rather adamant about making sure I had a qualified Physics teacher (which we got. ^_^).

Buildings cost too much though, and with 50 (+/-) students, we don't get enough money to pay for a building. 

I've taken a year long break in which I was meant to save up and go overseas, but I haven't so yeah (and also teach myself some math so I can skip a unit next year, which I have been doing). I go back first semester next year (early March).

Where were you planning on going to?

I wanted to go to Canada and the US and see a bunch of national parks and experience the culture. I probably would have spent most of my time in Vancouver (because my favourite ice hockey team is there, plus it's a cool city and close to a bunch of places) and Los Angeles (because we have family friends from there) but I would have liked to have visited Edmonton, Victoria, Seattle, Wyoming, Alberta etc. as well. If things went really well I might have gone over to the east coast too to visit Toronto and New York.

Hmm, cool. I don't think our culture is all too different from Australia, but I'm sure you would have enjoyed it. I recently saw the Canucks actually (assuming that's the team you're referring to). Sadly they lost and it wasn't a very exciting game, but it was still cool to go see them live.

the American culture can mostly be experienced from the airport McDonalds...

What stopped you?

I would guess lack of money due to lack of job.

Pretty much. Part of it is bad luck with jobs and part of it is laziness on my part. I do have a job at the moment but the pay isn't great and I don't get many hours.

I did have a little bit saved up earlier in the year when I was living closer to the city with friends but the place where I was working just stopped giving me shifts (my friend who works there says her boss is an idiot and is notorious for hiring people then not giving them shifts, and a friend I met while working there just assumed I was working different days when I saw her at a party a week later and was surprised to hear that I'd been unofficially sacked so yeah, safe to say this one wasn't my fault). 

Ended up losing a chunk of what I had to rent and fuel, so I moved back down to where my family lives and got a job as a labourer. Worked about two weeks there (hard work but good pay) - then it rained a heap (therefore no jobs) and after that my boss said there wasn't much work (which makes sense because there are less landscaping jobs in winter but I've got a feeling I wasn't right for the job and he just didn't want to hurt my feelings by outright firing me).

So yeah. I've applied for a fair few jobs throughout the year (only three interviews - the two above being successful and one unsuccessful) but the last couple of months I've been a little lazy with applying for places, partly because there's no chance of me going overseas anymore and partly because I've just recently had my wisdom teeth out and I'm flying up to Sydney for a couple of weeks to see my girlfriend on Wednesday so it would have been kinda pointless applying for a job with "hey, I'm not going to be available to work for the entire first month".

Yeah, sadly jobs aren't something you can just up and get anymore. I lucked out and got a nice lab assistant job at my university by chance, but even that only is going to give me less than 8 hours a week.

Well I go to school for 3 hours a day where I sit on the computer doing easy work with only a few others kids in the class for a credit recovery program.

It's like they rewarded me for slacking off in school.

Awesome to hear, Bo.  Playa, also awesome in its own way haha.  I'm in a similar situation as October at the moment from what I can tell.  My last year at UCSB went pretty well and I was looking forward to finishing up my last 40.5 units and graduating, but it's been the same old story for me my whole time at this school - no financial aid.  I'm even mad anymore, haha.  Each year previously, I had at least gotten tuition knocked off my bill, but since I was denied even the CalGrant this year for the first time (10-12k covering tuition) I decided that it was in my financial best interest to withdraw for the year, get a job, and apply for aid next year under independent status from my parents.  That way their income - I should say apparent income - doesn't affect my ability to get finaid, and that extra money for tuition plus anything else I would have otherwise had to pay to go this year (in loan payments over several years) will be hopefully just be awarded to me next year and I won't have to worry about it.

Problem now is just getting that job, but I'm a pretty lazy dude too, so it's just about getting over that hump for me.  And going back next year should be breeze... also, that's partly the reason I think I found time to jump back on CYS. haha

That's one thing that pissed me off about financial aid. They didn't take bills or debt into the equation. My parents SHOULD be making pretty decent money, but since we're paying for medical bills (and there are a lot with my fucked up feet XD) and other bills we have next to nothing to go around. If it wasn't for my free tuition scholarship and what little aid I got I wouldn't be able to be here.

Yea.. bills, debt, and work as a contractor (as opposed to employment) which is far less stable.  Finaid system is kind of doodoo, and if you've kept up with recent events as far as higher education goes, ya know that congress is in no way interested in protecting students... sighh

I'm all manner of stressed and excited. This year is do or die for me but I'm looking forward to proving that I've got what it takes to maintain a 90+ average in tough classes.

Good luck 3J. ^_^

I get so depressed this time of year. ;_; goodbye childhood.

Well, first day of school over, one AP canceled. :(

Huh?

First day of school, and one of my APs (AP English) was canceled. 

How come?

No idea. Just happens I suppose. I'm really happy about my science teacher though. Really excited for science and math. 

So far I'm pretty excited. Albeit a bit stressed too. Most of my classes are rather easy for me so far but I'm certain as I delve deeper into college the difficulty will change. Also this is my first semester going to school fulltime AND working as many  hours as I now am--plus a half hour commute to the job. But I'm working at a nursing home and I enjoy it so it is worth it.
Now I'm just curious, for those of you in college here, what is your current or intended major? I know this is a typical "dumb freshman" question but I just had to ask XD I'm going into special education.

Well I must say, It's been quiet on the forums with all of you've in school. And Minus the fact i miss the interaction with my good friends on here I kind of enjoy the relative peacefullness ) muahahaaha