Year of 2009 in review and resolutions

Alrighty. I just got back home from shopping. Now I only have about 2 hours and 30 minutes to shell out all the biggest highlights of the year and what I'm hoping to accomplish hereafter in the New Year.

Year of 2009:

• My best friend Cindy and piano. It was the first year I played a duet, ever, and it was for the recital. She might not have liked it, and I was terrified at the time, but in retrospect,I think it was good ;)
• Study group with my good friends on Fridays, hah!
• Getting my first straight A report card ever O_O
• Building a solar-powered rice cooker for Science Fair and getting 3rd place locally
• Building a database for the U.S. Dairy Export Council PR firm in Shanghai over the summer as an intern/worker
• Just living in Shanghai for a month was a blissful, wonderful experience
• Writing a 30-paged documentary (yet to be published) about my summer experiences in Shanghai and South Korea
  
• Going to Seoul for the first time (but definitely not the last)
  
• The Purple Tide. I have so much to be thankful for. First off--the people. Amazing people. Never thought I'd know any juniors or seniors like these people ;) Secondly, the newspaper itself. I remember reading TPT religiously as a freshman, to the point of dreaming/anticipating the day I would become a member. And now I'm writing for it and I've got my own column. Wow. Thirdly--the progress. I'm going places. The Purple Tide has really opened a lot of doors for me. It has allowed me to let myself free a little more than I would have been able to before. It has also helped bond me with several people outside of the paper that I would have never dreamt of meeting or being familiar with. There's so much that I have to say, but I won't spend all that time listing every detail because I'm sure it's pretty obvious how much I love The Purple Tide as a whole.
• Discovering more about myself and my dreams, being more honest with myself
  
• Fashion and me - need I say anything more?
  
• Photography and me - learned how to edit on my own, make miniatures, still sharpening my self-taught photography, 2000+ views on my Flickr
• Meeting people
• Being free-er

New Year, 2010 Resolutions:

1. The Flickr 365 Challenge! That means a photo each day for Flickr in a purposeful way! It's harder than it sounds, people.
2. Not staying up beyond 2:30 a.m. for 3 out of 5 days of the school week
   
3. Getting more focused and responsible in school
4. Prepping for SAT's (sigh)
5. Volunteering
   
6. Interning for a company/organization (it'd be nice if I could help out again in Shanghai, but i don't know if it's possible for me in 2010...)
7. Meeting more people
8. Getting at least one of my photographs Explored on Flickr :O
9. Visiting New York City in the summer
10. Making several fashion statements in school
11. Planning out a World Civ reunion in the summer
12. Working even harder for TPT!
13. Getting nothing lower than a B- on my report card!
    
14. Expanding my blog
15. Scouting people for photoshoots or photo-get-togethers
16. Shadowing a photographer
17. Joining the NPPA
18. Improving in piano, being more dedicated
19. Being nicer to family, more helpful
20. Reconnecting with friends
    
21. lots more later.