Hey Future Blues! 

I hope you guys have all decided to join our wonderful SMAmily :) !! It's officially fourth quarter, my final quarter as a student at SMA! I can't believe how quickly time has passed, it's been filled with so many fantastic memories, a lot of which surround St. Mary's. For seniors, school has been winding down a lot. April and May are such busy months and before we know it, it'll be graduation day!! In AP English, we are reading Song of Solomon and preparing for the AP Test. In PSU History we are learning about the French Revolution which is really fascinating. 

Hope you guys are all having a wonderful spring! Go Blues! 

Claire 

 Mt. Hood Meadows

Dupont Circle-Washington, D.C.

Hey future Blues!
I can't believe it is already March! For seniors, we are counting down the days until graduation!! My classes have been pretty relaxed recently, in AP English we just turned in our research paper and are now reading Jane Eyre, which is really interesting! In PSU European History, we are learning about the French Revolution and in physiology we are learning about the cardiovascular system. Also in physiology, we just dissected a sheep brain... it was surprisingly small! The Blues varsity basketball is in the playoffs right now for state and we are all so excited for them! The SMA Twitter posts their game results, go check it out!
I hope you guys are all doing well and go blues!
Claire

Stunning sunset seen from my house!

My lab partner Claire with our sheep brain! So small!

Mid-February Check In

Hey future blues! 

Hope everyone has been having a great month so far, the sun is a nice change up from all the rain and snow! Last week and this week has been Doernbecher Week at SMA. Doernbecher Week is an amazing where all of SMA comes together and dresses up and donates money for Doernbecher and one other charity. There are dodgeball games every day during lunch and the finals are the best team versus the teachers which is so fun to watch. It’s such a fun week and even better knowing where all the money raised goes! 

It’s crazy knowing I’ll be graduating in less than four months! I’m so excited for the future, I’m committed to the University of Oregon and just deciding between the regular or Honors college. 

Hope you all are doing well!

Claire

Hey everyone! I can't believe January is almost over...it's gone so quickly! The finals at SMA were very unorthodox this semester...we had this split over two weeks because of snow days. They're all finished now and we are on to second semester! I can't believe I'm a second semester senior... it feels like I started yesterday! 

Last weekend, my boyfriend and I did a day trip to Seattle which was really fun. We walked in the Woman's March, went to the Seattle Art Museum, to the top of the Space Needle and of course visited Pike's Place! It was such a nice study break and I've got such great memories from it now! 

Hope you guys are having a great January and can't wait for February!

Claire  

Here’s a picture I took from behind the Pike’s Place Market sign!

End of Semester One

Hey Everyone!
Hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas break and is feeling refreshed and ready for a great 2017! This Christmas, my family went to Hawaii and stayed in Maui which was really wonderful and sunny. I also went up and stayed at my friend Lilly's cabin on Mt. Hood and got some great snowboarding in!
At SMA right now it is "Dead Week" which is the nickname for the week right before finals when everyone is reviewing and studying. We had a snow day on Monday which put a bit of time crunch on things but I'm sure everything will be fine. Finals at SMA are obviously a stressful time but there are tons of great ways to relax... the counseling center has board games, bubbles, and snacks available which are super fun. There is also an event called "Relax and Review" where seniors and teachers help out freshman with their finals studying, there's plenty of snacks and lots of great people!
Hope you guys are having a great start to 2017!
Claire

Maui Christmas 2016

Mt. Hood Meadows

Finally December

Hey everyone!
December is flying by! Last week we had Thursday and Friday off for snow days. I have a Bernese Mountain Dog named Jasper who absolutely loved the snow and cold! This week is the last week before Christmas break...yay! I'm going to Hawaii with my family the week before Christmas and I am so excited to relax and (try to) tan. I really want to try surfing while I'm there and hopefully also explore the Road to Hana.

This week, my PSU History research paper is finally due! It was assigned in September, so this feels like a long time coming. It's been really interesting to do such thorough research into topic but I'm definitely ready to turn it in and be done. It's a busy week at SMA...we have our Christmas family baskets due this Thursday. Each TA gets assigned a family and everyone pitches in and buys food, presents, and all sorts of goodies to give to them! I went to deliver to my TA's family last year and it was such a nice experience. December at SMA is always very busy but very fun.

I hope you guys all have a fantastic holiday break!
Merry Christmas,
Claire

Here's my dog Jasper in the Christmas spirit!

Hi y'all! 

Happy almost Thanksgiving! I'm so excited for the time off and to officially start prepping for Christmas! My family has a fun plan including lots of baking and visiting the decorations at Pittock Mansion! It'll be really nice to have the time with my family and friends.

In my PSU Modern European History we are working on our research paper. My topic is surrounding Queen Isabella of Spain and the Spanish Inquisition. I've been hearing about the topics of other people too and everyone has really interesting topics. We only have a two day week this week so it's not that busy of a week. 

I hope you guys all have a great Thanksgiving week and enjoy the time off with family and friends!

Talk to you soon,

Claire