User:Honoraryhugalujah

About Me

Hi! I'm Anouk. I'm a flying squirrel. I'm a stereotypical nerd (meaning I enjoy reading and am above my grade level at math... how surprising). I often go on random RealCTY editing sprees and sometimes obsessively organize random parts of the house. I'm an introvert, but I have a tendency to talk a lot. Probably too much.

I really, really like music.

Unlike most CTYers, my nomore year is when I'm 12, right before I go into my freshman year. I still get four years, though, so it's not all bad.

There's not much else to say about me, so I guess have fun reading my userpage. I hope it's not too boring.

Sites

• (YS) EXAM.LOS.15.1
• (YS) RENS.PAL.16.1
• EGRD.A.SUN.17.2
• ASTR.JHU.18.2

YS LOS 15.1

Course: Examining the Evidence: EXAM

Instructors: Elicia and Mark (TA)

Hallmates: June, Leah, Alexandra, Mio, Miranda, Chia-Hua, Elise, Thuivi, Natalie, and one more whose name I forget. She was Korean and from Los Angeles.

RA: Emily Davis

Residence Hall: Huesman

Firsts:

• First CTY
• First experience with a university dining hall. I discovered the magic of the soda machines and may or may not have become kinda sorta addicted to Powerade for a short while. Yes it's better than Gatorade because Gatorade gives me a sore throat.

I think it's safe to say that my squirrel year absolutely sucked. I had a terrible relationship with my hall, my classmates, my instructor and TA, my RA, the admins... This isn't surprising, given that I was just discovering the existence of video games on smartphones (my parents are pretty technology-averse) and I was an immature nine-year-old. I had exactly two close-ish friends and that was it. Everyone else... tolerated me, at best. I really don't know why I came back for another year of CTY.

YS PAL 16.1

Course: The Renaissance: RENS

Instructors: Kurt and Zach (TA)

Hallmates: Makayla, Carrie, Grace, Jennifer, Anne, Lila, Chloe, Natalie, Sunny, and Stephanie. Stephanie never showed up.

RA: Dara Homer

Residence Hall: Roble

I didn't have a very strong bond with my hallmates here either. Looking back, I realize that they did act quite a bit like a clique. They mostly spent all their time in a room staring at a screen, watching YouTube or playing video games or posting on musical.ly. Since I didn't have a device and wasn't "cool", I was excluded (and pretty much outright rejected) from this group and spent most of my time holed up in my room, reading and binge-eating jelly beans. (Gee, what a healthy, balanced diet.)

All my friends were in Tamar's hall, which was in the wing across from mine. We didn't find each other until the second week during activities, and of course it was hard to interact with them when we had dorm time.

My RA here was pretty cool. Actually, she blew my previous RA out of the water. I suppose the only notable thing Emily did for me was tie my hair up in a ponytail each morning because we had to go into a lab and at the time I couldn't do ponytails on my own.

I could go on and on about how awesome my instructor and TA were this year. They a) made a huge effort to get us engaged and have fun with the course and b) didn't talk down to us like my instructor and TA last year. They were fantastic. End of story.

SUN 17.2

Course: Principles of Engineering Design: EGRD

Instructors: David and Melissa (TA)

Official Hallmates: Aileen, Chris, Brianda, Georgette, Mariana, May, Selina, Wendy, Stephanie, Nina, Karen, and Alina

Unofficial Hallmates: Sophie, Elise, Katherine, Judy, and Alma

Official RA: Genesis Palacios

Unofficial RA: Sofi Halpin

Residence Hall: Campion, floor 5

Firsts:

• First Non-Baby CTY
• First performance in Talent Show
• First ISO
• First time braving the mosh pit in American Pie. This was at the last dance, and the second time I was stuck behind a guy whose back was slimy. It was gross, but totally worth it.

I did qualify for IS CTY but chose to take a CAA course instead since it was the only option that I liked. The other course I could have taken was INBS, but I tend to get queasy around dissections, so that was out.

I kinda wish I was on the fifth floor - there were some truly awesome people there. Shout-out to the incredible RAs (Kendall Varin, Genna Ducharme-Hall, Elina, and Kim) and everyone in the Glee Club!

My official RA was basically a hermit while we had dorm time. She'd go into her room and stay there for the entire time. She was, however, still available and responded when you knocked on her door to ask for a band-aid or something.

My unofficial RA paid almost no attention to me until the second week (I wasn't officially in her hall), when I was sitting outside my door listening to Closing Time, which she was playing on her phone as a signal that it was lights out and we should all get inside our rooms. She talked to me for an hour. My roommate was in her hall, so after that long conversation I spent some time with them. By the end of the session I had found two of the closest friends I've ever made. This might seem surprising but that was the first time I've ever made friends at a summer camp and still been able to keep in touch on a regular basis way after the session ended.

My instructor was feared by many. This was far from unreasonable. He looked threatening, sounded threatening, and could act like a very threatening guy when he wanted to. For some reason, we all managed to overlook this and we (mostly) thought he was awesome.

My class was insanity. There were lots of immature boys. The most common discussion topic was farting. Besides that, there were tons of crazy antics. A lot of stupid things were said.

Notable quotes from class:

• "The wall makes electricity!"
• "Holy CRAP there are HOLES in this Frisbee!"
• "Don't throw the Frisbee into the holy pool of water!"
• *Speculating about farting. Again.*
• "His smile is shaped like a triangle! Isn't it so cute?"
• "If you don't stop, I'll get that hammer at the back of the room and smash all your fingers with it"
• "Luke, stop working! You need to go on break!"
• "Who forgot to turn off the hot glue guns?" (everyone else tries not to inhale the smell of burnt paper)

Notable quotes from my (unofficial) hall:

• "Are YOU in a GOOD MOOD?"
• "BRING ON THE ROASTED POTATOES!"
• "Where's Sofi?" (repeated many, many times)
• *loudly sings Hallelujah in the hallway right before lights out*
• "OXYTOCIN!!!" *gives nearest person a hug*

JHU 18.2

Course: Astrophysics

This is my last year of CTY. I can technically do three more years, but that would mean going back to sites I've been to due to transportation issues, and I'd rather not do that. And I had a terrible squirrel year at LOS, and I sort of have mild PTSD from that, so no thanks. Also, I have other opportunities I'd like to explore while I'm in high school. Hopefully this'll be a good last session.