9th grade. July.

Tamarind:

In between my classes, my filing job, my SAT/ACT prep course, and volunteering for Food for the Spirit on the weekends, I’ve been working through the books on the summer reading list assigned by my tenth grade English teacher. Next, I’ll be paging through the other books that will be covered during the rest of year in English class, along with those on my AP U.S. History syllabus. How to Get in College says that if you familiarize yourself with next year’s classes during summer, then you’ll have an easier fall.

It’s a lot of work, but it’s not too hard. It’s weird to think that I’m learning 9 months’ worth of Algebra in 8 weeks. And I’m totally getting it. Architecture, too. I like being able to concentrate on two subjects at a time, instead of 7 different classes. I also like meeting new people from other high schools in the area and from other colleges as well. We’re treated like adults at SVCC, because most of the students are technically adults. There are no bells ringing, no teachers asking us where we’re going. We’re responsible for ourselves.

I like college.

Lilo:

Ev. His name is Ev. He said it’s short for Everett.

I met him at the wine tasting event. He’s four years younger than me, and he’s really nice. We both grew up in Hennessey Park, but somehow we never officially met before the wine tasting. I did graduate high school the year before he started ninth grade, and he went to St. Francis while I went to HP, and he private school kids and public school kids kept to their own kinds, so our social circles didn’t overlap. Until now.

This is new and different. It’s easy. I’m happy.

Grover:

Okay, so… summer school’s not that bad. The people are cool, the food’s pretty good, and the teachers don’t get mad when you say something funny. Science class is the best. It’s not like regular class, where you sit and listen and pretend to take notes. We have books and homework and quizzes and tests and grades (somehow I’ve been getting As and Bs), but we mainly work in teams and create projects with connected parts and moving pieces. I like making stuff with other people, especially with my new friends Santino, who’s going into seventh grade at Parker West, and Divya, who’s going in to seventh grade at St. Francis. I feel like I’m learning more now than I did all last year.

9th grade. June.

Tamarind:

So much has changed in a short amount of time. I took the SAT Biology Subject Test, which I feel confident about, since I took it a week after my Biology final at HP.

I also took a practice SAT and a practice ACT last weekend. My approximate scores were 1850 on the SAT and 27 on the ACT. Decent, primarily because of the math sections, but neither of those scores is good enough for most of the top-ranked schools on my list, especially not combined with my average-ranked GPA. Big Apple University, Southern Private Ivy, and DC University all have a 2100 SAT average.

My scores would be good enough for Midwest State University, and this school I just got interested in, Medium Private University in Florida. I met the Medium Private Admissions officer at the college fair in May, and she was really nice. Since her booth was in the back, I was practically the only one who talked with her. It didn’t help that her school was out of state, too. So many of the Admissions officers from states like Kansas, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, anywhere outside of California sat alone for a long time at their brightly colored tables. Even the Arizona officers looked like they were waiting for lunch.

I have to do better. I want to keep my options open to everything, including scholarships. So, I’m going to study before I take more practice tests, and I’m going to increase my scores. I’ll ask if there’s a prep course I could take at SVCC. My filing job in the admissions office and my Algebra and Architecture classes don’t take up that much time, and I might be able to get an employee discount on additional courses, so I could swing it.

Lilo:

The dream board is working! I put a fruit smoothie on my board and I got a blender. I put a picture of my gym on the board and I started going to my gym again. Admittedly, those are small items, but I made them happen.

I don’t have a better career, more money, or a gentleman caller yet. But this weekend, my friends and I will be attending a wine tasting event. If I work the room right, I could knock all three of those off my list.

Grover:

Even though I passed all my classes (with a C average, but who’s counting?), Mom and Dad are making me go to summer school. At St. Francis. Since it’s Catholic school, will I have to wear a uniform? Not fair. It’s summer! This is the worst!

9th grade. May.

Tamarind:

The sophomores and juniors have a field trip to the biggest college fair in South Valley next week. I asked Miss Bliss if I could join them, even though I’m neither a sophomore nor a junior.

I told Miss Bliss that I’ve already made a list of my top 50 schools, and the fair’s only a couple miles away, and it’s not like one extra person would make a difference, and not all the 10^th and 11^th graders are going anyway. Shouldn’t HP encourage everyone to learn more about college, regardless of their chronological age?

It didn’t take as long to wear Miss Bliss down as I thought it would. She said fine.

“I’d rather have our school represented by a ninth grader who wants to be there than a tenth grader who doesn’t.”

I asked if Brimley could come along, too, which he doesn’t know about yet. Miss Bliss said if our parents wrote a note excusing us from class and signed the field trip permission slip, Brimley and I could go to the fair. My mother won’t have a problem with it, and Mr. and Mrs. Montague practically have Brimley’s lab coat and gavel picked out, so we’re as good as there.

Lilo:
My daughter is growing up fast. I was prepared to deal with dating and hormones and birth control at this stage. I did not expect Tamarind to act like a convict staging a prison break. She’s got three, actually two, years before she starts her applications, but every pore of Tamarind is screaming, “College now!”

I should be thankful one of my children wants to continue their education. The other is barely passing sixth grade.

Grover:

If my school had a field trip to a college fair, I’d be the first one on the bus. Anything to get out of class.

I have to do well on my finals. If I don’t, I might have to go to summer school, which sounds awful. Dealing with grumpy teachers while my friends play at camp? No way, man. After classes end in June, I’m not touching another book till August.

9th grade. April.

Tamarind:

So now I’m on the Math Team?

One of the members of Calculusaurus Rex got mono, so one of the alternates moved up, and Coach Taylor needed a new alternate and suddenly I’m wearing a denim blue polo shirt embroidered with a Spanish red dinosaur counting on an abacus.

Since it’s late in the school year, Coach said I probably won’t be in any of the matches, but my role is very important. I need to be prepared to step in at any time, even though there are two other alternates ahead of me. I met all the other Calculusauruses, and even though they’re older than I am, they’re super nice. And some of the tenth graders on the team are doing the South Valley Community College pre-college program this summer, so I’ll know people there.

Speaking of which, I went through a few phone interviews and one in person interview at SVCC for the jobs I applied to. I was waiting so long to hear back. I was worried that no one thought any of the skills I listed on my paltry resume would make me good enough to work for them. But someone finally offered me a job! I got hired as the Assistant File Clerk in the SVCC Admissions Office. I’m going to work really hard and be the best Assistant File Clerk they’ve ever had. I’ll only be working about three days a week total, but I’m excited.

Lilo:
How many organizations is Tamarind participating in now? Booster Club, Cinema Club, Yoga Club. Now the Math Team. Plus Food for the Spirit on the weekends. It’s too much.

Sometimes I wish my daughter would act like a normal teenager, hanging out aimlessly on the weekends.

And then I wonder why Grover won’t join any club that would have him as a member.

Never satisfied.

Grover:

Studying less does not work for me either. My grades haven’t gone down, so that’s good. But they haven’t gone up either, which was the point of my Orange book experiment.

I’m worried.

I looked at the Hennessey Park Middle School calendar, and I only have a few weeks before sixth grade ends. I need to figure this out.

9th grade. March.

Tamarind:

After many phone calls and discussions and bus maps, I’ve decided what I’m doing this summer. Well, somewhat. I’m taking two classes through the pre-college program at South Valley Community College: Algebra II (which will keep me on track to take my AP Calculus classes later) and Intro to Architecture (which will help me with my career). SVCC also has on-campus summer jobs, so I applied for a bunch of them. Now I wait and see if anyone wants to hire me.

I applied for some other jobs, too, based on their distance from Mom’s house or a convenient bus stop. So basically anything inside the boundaries of Hennessey Park. Our public transportation system is excellent as long as you want to travel within our small town. Mom and Dad said they would drive me wherever I needed to go, but they have their own real jobs during the week, so whatever I did would have to be on the weekend or weeknights. That might not work for whatever company decides to make me their employee. So I told my parents I’d come up with a plan and tell them what it was, so that I would not inconvenience them. I can take care of myself.

Lilo:
One of my friends told me about this book called Meeting Your Half-Orange, your media-naranja en español. It’s supposed to be like The Secret, except believable, and mostly about finding what you want in your life through the power of active attraction. You identify what you want, write it down, and tell other people about it. Then what you want finds you.

You can also make a dream board. I put pictures of the stuff I want in my life on my board. Better career. More money. Happy children. Gentleman caller.

Let’s see if it works.

Grover:

While Mom and Tamarind were out doing something boring last week, I read part of Mom’s Orange book. I’m not looking for a life partner, but I would like to do better in school.

One thing the book said I should try was doing less to achieve more. I can do less. A lot less. I can’t really do more. I do my homework and I study and I ask questions and I get Cs.

So, this month, for all my classes, I’ll do just enough to get by. Better grades, here I come. 

9th grade. February.

Tamarind:

I have to do something with my summer. When I met with Miss Bliss this week, she suggested I find an internship that matches my career goals.

Hmm.

After what felt like an hour of staring at each other silently, she asked me what my career goals were. I didn’t feel “None” was an appropriate answer, so I blurted out, “Architect?!” Miss Bliss asked what my experience was in the field, and I couldn’t bring myself to say, “Legos”, so “None” sufficed.

Miss Bliss handed me a folder that she “usually reserved for sophomores and juniors” filled with recommended summer opportunities for teenagers. She also reminded me that I had planned to take classes at South Valley Community College in June so that I could take all the AP courses I wanted to during the school year.

Oops. I had forgotten about that.

“Have you enrolled? How do you plan to fit a job or an internship into your schedule? And, presuming you won’t age two years and acquire your driver’s license in the next four months, what’s your transportation strategy?”

Uhhh…

Miss Bliss told me to look through the folder, which included contact information for the pre-college program at SVCC, and discuss the options with my parents. Then she’d meet with me again in two weeks and we’d work on my “game plan for success.”

I have so much to think about.

Lilo:

When my daughter told me she was looking for a summer job, I couldn’t help but wonder about my own career path. 

How did it meander so far off track?

Years ago, when one of my previous bosses was away on family leave, I took on many of her director responsibilities, even though I was a manager. Then after a layoff, I moved to another company, where I took a step down to an analyst position, but I kept my previous manager pay rate. Then when I decided to switch industries to work in sustainable energy, I took a lateral move to another analyst position. So now, almost two decades into my career, I have the years of experience of an SVP, the quality of experience of a director, the salary of a junior manager, and the title of someone who was just promoted from their entry-level position.

I need to change this situation.

Grover:

I got my third quarter grades. Dad doesn’t understand why I’m doing bad. Not bad. Just not good. Mom thinks it’s the school. Dad thinks it the divorce. Tamarind thinks I’m better at some classes than others, so I should focus on those. That’s not really an option in sixth grade. We don’t get to choose our classes.

I don’t know why I’m not smart this year. Is it because I’m eleven and I got smellier and hairier instead of intelligenter? More smart?

9th grade. January.

Tamarind:
“What do you want to be when you grow up?”

That was the question I asked Zinnia and Brimley on New Year’s Eve. The three of us, and Grover, were spending the holiday together, just like we had since forever. Last year we were at Brimley’s house. It was the first time we didn’t have to be watched by a baby-sitter, as long as we took care of Grover, too.

This time, all four of us piled into Dad’s living room with our sleeping bags and snack bowls and watched balls drop on a bunch of different networks. Grover fell asleep early, as usual. He has never made it to midnight.

As fireworks exploded in Sydney, Hong Kong, Dubai, and Moscow for the fifth time on the screen, Zinnia told us what we already knew: she wanted to be a professional dancer.  “With a contemporary jazz company or in a stage show for an international DJ.”

Brimley responded with, “I want to be a doctor, maybe? But if I have to do more biology, I don’t know.” Brimley’s father is a doctor and his mother is a lawyer. Specifically, a cardiologist and a corporate attorney for mergers and acquisitions. Big words. They have plans for their son.

Then my friends expected me to provide my own answer. “I haven’t decided. I could be an architect. I liked making those Lego buildings. At least you have a hook, Zinnia: dancer. And Brimley, you have ‘doctor, maybe.’ I have, ‘kinda good at some things,’ which is unacceptable.”

“Why are you freaking?” Zinnia stuffed her face with kettle corn.

“I don’t stand out! I have to pick something.” 

“Because of the book?” Brimley asked.

Zinnia turned to him. “What book?”

I plucked my copy of How to Get into College from the bedroom and handed it to Zinnia, who was still poring through it when I fell asleep.

I woke up that morning to find Zinnia hovering over my face. Apparently, she had spent the rest of the night reading every page, because once my eyes had opened, she started flapping the paperback in the air, shouting, “How is anyone supposed to do this?”

Lilo:
Disappointing.

I wanted to enjoy the New Year’s Eve singles’ party. I really did. My friends looked like they were having a good time at the event. But it felt like everyone else was either trying too hard or not trying at all.

I should have maintained my low expectations for the night. For some reason, I had high hopes for a night-time affair with a group of drunken strangers on an overhyped holiday. I need to reevaluate my goals.

Here’s my new New Year’s resolution: stop pressuring myself to find someone new. From now on, I’m only going to attend singles’ events involving activities I’m actually interested in. No more random parties with hundreds of people I have nothing in common with, except our mutual lack of life-partners.

The next gathering for the unattached of Hennessey Park and its surrounding areas will be a cooking class. I like food and cooking it. Sign me up.

Grover:

I wanted to stay up till midnight. I really did. But I was so bored. Not by the TV celebrations. Those were fun. I like watching the people crammed like sardines in Times Square.

The boredom came from Tamarind and Brimley and Zinnia and their future talk. It put me to sleep. I usually like hanging out with my sister and her friends because they’re cool people. They don’t treat me like a little kid, like Zinnia and Brimley’s older sisters and brothers do.

I thought this would be the one night when Tamarind’s obsession with college would be contained. Instead, the infection has spread to Zinnia. Brimley will probably be next.

Why is Tamarind so worried about getting into a school that she’ll be going to three years from now? Like they won’t let her in? She’s great at everything. I’m the one who’ll be going to Clown College, if they’ll accept me. I can bring my own red nose.