This week I did a lot of studying and work for my classes, especially over the weekend. I was able to play a lot of chess this weekend as well, and I made a lot of progress on my projects. One project I’m working on, which I won’t be sharing the name of just yet, is an AI-integrated trip planning website for my dad’s business. It’s functioning now, but I need to work on formatting, which I will definitely do next week. I also had 3 tests on Friday, and I don’t think I did as well on all of them as I had hoped. We also had an event in my Boy Scouts troop. Essentially, we announce people who’ve ranked up and any merit badges they’ve worked hard to obtain. I was able to get two merit badges and also got news on my leadership position, which I sadly didn’t get my first choice for, but I still got a role in the end. ISM-wise, this week I worked on my website, and I’m currently in the process of updating my LinkedIn profile with all my certificates and resume items. I also have a mentor in mind that I would really like to reach out to, and I plan on doing so this coming week.

This week was a lot of catch up and learning that I had to do since I felt very behind in all my classes especially AP Bio. I had to study a little bit for AP Bio and go to tutorials and also begin learning more about Pre-calculus and Statistics as well. This week went by very slow and my motivation was very low. It was very hard for me to focus so I took plenty of breaks by playing chess, eating, exercising, and playing Valorant with my friend. This weekend I went camping with my boy scouts troop. It was a lot of fun, I got to catch up with my friends, take a nice break from school, and enjoy the outdoors. I was also able to practice my leadership skills too as I led the unloading of our trailer, which stores all of our materials and items, and also helped navigate us from our camp, to the beach and then through a trail. All in all it was around a 3 mile hike and it was a lot of fun. Then after we ate lunch and went back in the beach and jumped in the water and then we went home. Once I got home I studied for AP Bio again and did work for a few of my other classes. I was thinking more about what I would want my mentor to be able to do and also I have a few ideas on who to contact.

This week I had a lot to do, especially on Friday since I had 3 tests on that day. So through this week I did a lot of preparation. I also had to create a HOCO proposal poster, which was very stressful for me because I always feel like my work isn’t as good as it should be. So this week, along with school, I had to work on the HOCO poster. The tests on Friday went decently well, I believe. One of them I prepared a lot for and did relatively well. The other two were very difficult in my opinion, but I felt like I knew the content, and I did well despite the difficulty. I also began thinking about some extracurricular clubs like DECA and BPA, in which I feel like I have a good idea for some events that I have to do. Overall, this week was pretty good, very slow, but my friends have definitely helped me get through it. I have some ideas for my original work as well, and I’m feeling very motivated and inspired for ISM. I’m still getting into the school mode, but I recognize that this opportunity at ISM is really great, and I’m going to do everything that I can to take advantage of it.

This week I had a decent amount of tests, but because school started on a Wednesday, this week went by very fast. On Monday and Tuesday, when I didn’t have school, I got to study a lot for my tests and I felt very prepared. Although I did procrastinate a lot, I ended up getting a lot done. Additionally, I also got a lot done for my outside of school projects. I worked on developing a website for my friends’ and my clothing brand and also worked on some other personal projects. During the weekend, I set up my Claude with Obsidian to make my chats have better context and memory, and it seems to be working well. HOCO was very fun; my friends and I went to get dinner and then went to one of our houses after, and we just played around. This was a great break from my work and studies and helped me to get back on track, as I felt more focused in the days afterwards. I was able to locate some potential mentors for ISM and found the contact information for one of my dream mentors, and I plan on contacting them in the next week. Overall, this week was great for me. I made a lot of progress in ISM, personal projects, clothing brand, and in school overall. Although my grades haven’t been very good, I believe that they will go up once I fully adjust.

This week was a great week for me. I was able to do well on all my tests and get all my grade averages back up to satisfactory to me. I feel like I’m starting to adjust more to being at school again, so my test taking is getting much better and my proactivity is also improving. Additionally, outside of school I’ve been working on various projects. One includes a website for my robotics team, which I’ve iterated on many times to hopefully get a final result that the team and I both appreciate. Moreover, by working on this website I’ve learned a lot about how Claude Code works, what its capabilities are, and how to properly use it effectively for websites that actually look professional and presentable. This week I’ve been learning a lot about how to improve my use of AI since, in software, people tend to call this “vibecoding.” This term is coined for software and sites that have this AI-generated look that doesn’t look professional nor does it look like any effort was put into it. I’ve been working hard, doing research, and testing out different prompts to try to reduce this phenomenon and create a product that I am actually proud of. So far it seems to be going well, but I recognize that there are still many ways that I can improve. In addition to this website, I’ve been working on this study guide hub website where I and others can share study guides. I hope to monetize this using Google AdSense, but I was sadly rejected and told to change some things before applying again. I am very passionate about this project and I hope to share it with all my peers. Finally, for ISM I was able to secure 3 mentor interviews. One is taking place on the 26th and the others in early October. I am really excited for this, and I hope to learn more and hopefully gain an actual mentor for this class.

This week I had a few tests in which I did relatively average on which wasn’t what I was hoping for. However, for Physics I did exceptional and I am very happy with my score. For AP Stats I got a really bad score because my study routine wasn’t completed to the best of my ability. Overall this week I learned about how I can improve how I study for my tests especially AP Statistics and also I learned what works for AP Physics as well. As for the website release, I’ve actually completed version 1 and bought the domain for my new website. The goal of my website is to create a collection of practice questions and study guides while building a community of students I sent this website to all of my friends and I hope they like it and its helpful to them.The website link is studentacer.com. I hope that this website has a big impact on our school and on my peers. Finally, mentor interviews. One of my mentor interviews was cancelled sadly, but rescheduled for Monday of next week. Additionally, another mentor interview taking place on October 6th has been confirmed and I’m very excited for. One reflection I have is that I don’t really know how to prepare for an interview. I research into their background information and their papers etc. but I still feel underprepared a little bit. Overall this week was productive for out of school affairs but my in-school performance wasn’t very ideal.

This week I had just a few tests, but mostly they weren’t that bad. PSAT wasn’t ideal for me because I didn’t have that much time to study and I’m not naturally very good at tests like that. I completed a lot of work this week and studied for my tests. I felt like I did a very good job with staying on top of my work and making the most out of my class time this week. Additionally, Throughout this week I’ve been making more improvements to my website and also started the process of reaching out and putting the website on social media and on the web in general. I was able to get about 30 users so far and I am still expanding. My AdSense account got verified so I can also now monetize this site but I won’t be able to make a significant amount of money unless I get more traffic to my website. In terms of ISM news, I was able to secure a mentorship with Ian Schreiber who is a significant figure in the professional video game industry. I still have one more interview taking place on October 6th so I’m looking forward to that.

This week, school-wise, I had a few tests that I had to do, and I was very underprepared, especially with me preparing for professional symposium. I had a statistics test which I honestly procrastinated studying for, so I got what I deserved for that test. However, for AP US History I studied a lot for that test and even studied the week before, and I still didn’t do as well as I hoped, which crushed my spirit. Over the break, my cousins, grandma, and I went to Oklahoma and went horseback riding, swimming, hot tubbing, ATV riding, and hiking. Overall, this was a very fun trip, and I was able to get a souvenir for a friend and also a shirt for myself. When we went back, my cousins and I decided that they should sleep over, and they actually did, which was a lot of fun. We played video games, ate a lot of food, watched a movie, and caught up with each other, as we hadn’t been in contact for a while. The next day they stayed for the whole day essentially; we played more video games, went to the store, ate more food, and went on walks in the neighborhood. Although this week wasn’t very productive school-wise, I would never regret spending time with my family, and this was a great break from school that I definitely needed.

This week, I had a lot of good test days, meaning that I did well on a lot of my tests. I am really happy with this, especially since I used my own study site for this, so, to me, it felt like I was proving that my product actually works. I always enjoy school; I had a lot of fun with my friends during school and stayed productive during all my classes, making sure I was getting all my work done. Additionally, on Friday and Saturday I was able to play basketball with my friends, which was a lot of fun. I always love playing basketball, and it is one of my biggest passions. Basketball has taught me a range of lessons, from persistence, hard work, collaboration, and even to just passion. ISM-wise, I was able to contact my mentor and ask him for feedback on my original work plan. I hope to hear back from him soon regarding the information. I am really excited about what I’m going to do with my original work and my final work; I feel like it is very creative and, honestly, hasn’t been done before. One thing that I am worried about is the workload. I believe I have to begin actually developing the game soon if I want to finish with a very high quality product, especially given that I want to minimize my AI usage on this, since, in my opinion, AI ruins the spirit of game development.