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Two Poems:
Night Town

At night I run by quaint village houses.

Wind dances, twirling past me as I fly.

Golden lanterns lead my way in darkness.

I flit free as whirling moths in the sky.

I reach a market square of cobblestone.

Loaves of warm, fresh bread lie tender in row.

Carts of honeyed oranges pile high

Like pyramids in the dim amber glow.

There is a dark and shining lake in black.

One half reflects blinking city lights,

The other, a moon rising from its dream.

I soar to moonlight to the hill in sight.

The stars blur as strokes of quicksilver paint,

Hidden in the soft fabric of the night.

In that canvas, the song of a white orb

Lulls me into faded reverie light.
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Awake
Once by the old cogs in steel meadows,

There lived a man who worked in shadows.

He toiled and toiled day after day,

But wherever he looked misfortune lay.

The mighty basked like haughty kings,

Glowering over the man with nothing.

Yet common to both were contemplating minds,

Caught in solitude with no unwind.

He thought he was impervious to time,

For he never heard a single chime.

But out of discontent he looked night by night,

For the purposeful but abstract light.

The man, now withered, worn, and old,

Still seeking, though no form had taken hold,

Thought, how ludicrous is all of this!

Yet consciously, he continued searching the abyss.

Here lay the dried old bones of the old man,

As do the once great figures.

Equals they were once, awake and aware.

And again, descended into the chaos of death.

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Dear Melissa,

This is you from four years in the future. I want to say that you will be fine and everything will work out properly. However, if I could go back in time, of course I would tweak several things that I did because no one is perfect.

First, since you are dedicated on furthering your academic career, let me give some tips. Try to focus on something that you like. I see that you are interested in computer science; feel free to explore other things, but since I am double majoring in this, I think that you should focus on it. I actually became distracted and did not work on computer science for around 2 years (junior and some of senior year), so use this time to become better at it. Also, since I am double majoring in math, I advise you to skip pre-calculus because I did not learn too much in that class and you will have more time to take more interesting, higher level classes in the future. Something extremely important to remember is that you have choice over what you want to do; don’t listen to others or yourself who say you can’t do something. If you want something, work at it and you can achieve anything you want (I am honest). Even if you don’t think you ever could, you will still be closer than if you didn’t try, and would learn a lot in the process.

But I forget that you have not experienced the same things I did and therefore probably do not share the same sentiment of “focusing”. Thus I will emphasize something you can easily understand: please realize that time is so precious. I believe you already sort of think this, but you still feel you have all the time in the world. You don’t and the clock is already ticking as you read this. I do not mean to stress you, but I want to again make it clear that time is your most precious resource, so try to use it wisely. I still have issues with time management so I think that a younger version of me would be able to fix these issues by the time she is my age.

Also, do not stress excessively over things. I know that you do not get stressed too easily, but when you do, it be excessive. Also, try to be kind to others as this will make you feel better about yourself in the future. Also, never lose sight of who you are and your identity; this is one thing I think I have fully succeeded on, and I hope you do too.

Best of Luck,

Melissa

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I have many plans for the future, and I always seem to, but my mind constantly changes. Right now, however, I am planning to go to college, then graduate school, and hopefully into academia afterwards. I am going to Cornell University, where my sister went, and I plan on majoring in mathematics and computer science, because I really enjoy these topics. Hopefully in college I will also have the chance to do research in computer science or a related topic. I plan on applying to graduate school in a PhD program where I will be able to conduct even more research.

It is too early for me to determine exactly what I will do in the next four years. I hope, for example, that I can stick with my plan, but I might realize that my passions lie elsewhere. However, I hope my current planned future will play out, as it seems quite appealing and it honestly what I want the most right now.

I also hope I can live with my sister for the rest of my life. I am not sure if she will agree to come with me, but I think she will. We will also adopt at least ten cats along with my sister’s current cat, Sapphire, who will be the leader of the rest.

In fact, although I am not exactly sure what I will do, there are some things of which I am quite certain. Something that I am sure about (and that I will always be sure about) is that I will never have human children. I will always be single as this is my ideal state. However, I will have many cats and this is for certain.

My main plans for the future are to learn as much as I possibly can about mathematics and computer science so I will be able to conduct exciting research in it. This is really vague as of now, but my plans for the future are generally rather unclear. However, what is clear is that I will always be open to learning more and acquiring more knowledge.

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The most meaningful novel I read in the past 4 years of high school is The Stranger by Albert Camus. Like most other people, thinking about the mode and meaning of existence was one of my first thoughts and memories. Until I read this book, these abstract thoughts were always difficult to pinpoint, and I never seemed to have even one coherent logical explanation. The Stranger discussed the ideas of absurdism which opened my eyes to a new way of looking at the world. For example, I had always thought that there was some sort of inherent meaning behind the universe and our consciousness and the alternative seemed too strange to understand. But the concept that perhaps the world is completely random with no knowing that it might not be, that our search for it is absurd, and yet there is something potentially purposeful or something else which compels us on, is one that is fascinating. Personally, I think that it is this struggle which is (or at least seems) meaningful, although whether this word is supposedly achieved is not important (I don’t think it truly can be, at least knowledge-wise or logically, but maybe it is, so trying to find out, at least indirectly, is really the only option). The book also emphasized the importance of choice, which I found infinitely helpful to my less lofty and actually probably possible hopes in life. I stopped believing that I had some sort of “destiny”, which while I never fully believed, was probably buried in my subconscious somewhere. Before, I thought that I would be taken anywhere and that my talents would lead me there; now I realize I have more control and can do what I wish. I am actually not completely sure whether we do have choice; after all, ignoring supposedly random movement and the nanoscopic level (or assuming we could predict it), could we not predict the motions of every particle resulting in the next instance of the world? However, I certainly believe that I have choice to act, resulting from my existence, which I follows from the fact that I can think. So clearly it appears that we at least have the illusion of choice, which we might as well use. After all, in a world potentially so random, there is probably nothing more orderly than our ability to think. This also helped me appreciate my existence on a logical level in addition to the emotional one derived from simply living.

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Dear Jane,

Thank you for being the best sister possible, in every way. You are so smart and kind and thoughtful and creative, but that is not why you are the best to me. You are the best because of the way you see the world, and the way you inspire me and everyone else. You are the best because of the love that seems to shine around you like a glowing aura, and the love that ties us together as the closest of sisters!

I am writing this in an inordinately serious tone, which normally I would not require because our ties are so close. But sometimes, this is needed as a source of fonder memories or as token of affection. Now, we know that tokens are not important and usually do not waste our time on them, but just bear with me a little longer while I finish this letter.

Since you always feel the need to be extraordinarily humble, I feel that I should make it clear how amazing you really are. You are the most intelligent person who I really know, but also so kind as to help other whenever they need. You are also probably the most artistic person I know personally. I would ask you to teach me how to make abstract art but I would probably have no ability to learn. But with you would likely find a way to teach me because you are so smart and the best teacher I know.

Sometimes I feel that I have become your second version, since I aspire so much to everything you do. But each time I do this, you are so kind as to remind me that I am my own person, thus sparking my individuality. What more could a sister ask for? A role model, but one that inspires creativity, and a sense of self?

Promise me that we will go off on an island one day and own 100 cats. But since you’re so amazing in every way, I guess you have already fulfilled your promise in another way!

Love,

Melissa

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1. First Day of School (Freshmen)

2. Cross Country, Day we got lost

3. Science Olympiad Disease Detectives and Forensics

4. Getting Annual Yule Log cakes

5. My first SHOK Workshop

6. Star Wars Rally (Sophomores)

7. Homecoming Outer Space (Juniors)

8. Gunn Hacks Hackathon

9. Distilled Ethanol in Chemistry

10. Science Bowl Practices

11. Astrophysics Club Presentation-String Theory and Astrobiology!

12. Selling Churros for Club Food Day (Seniors)

13. Attending French Club’s Mardi Gras event

14. SCVMA Math Competition

15. Attempting to make Ponche Segoviano Cake for class

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1. Sapphire the Cat and everything related to her

2. Interstellar

3. First Arabesque

4. In the Mist - Priscilla Hernandez

5. Still - Autumn’s Grey Solace

6. Alice -Cocteau Twins

7. Scarborough Fair

8. Lord of the Rings

9. Star Wars

10. Macarons

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"The Road Not Taken"
by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

This poem represents both my stance on the uncommon and on scientific research.

I do not always make a conscious effort to avoid doing things that are common or conventional, but I am certainly not afraid to do something different. This poem applies to me as it portrays my belief that discovering something new or simply doing something unique is something worth aspiring for.
Many of my interests are "well-trodden". For example, I am interested in computer science and plan on making it my major, which is extremely common for Lynbrook students (and other students as well). My plan is a little less conventional in that I want to go into academia for computer science or mathematics (but this is still not uncommon).
I believe my attitude towards achievement diverges a bit from the convention because I do not think it is usually adequately defined. No one, in my mind, is better than anyone else, despite any innate ability or hard work, because situations can be reduced to the point where there the individual seems to have no control. However, because this is not necessarily true, I think that determination is the only important quality because it is the only one that we have the illusion of controlling.
Although I am not always contrary, I find this poem quite fitting because I am never afraid to question norms that are set before me whenever they seem logically or otherwise unsound.
Also, it is important to go the untrodden path especially in scientific research, which I plan on doing. Research is completely about finding new solutions and discovering new aspects about nature and the rules of nature. The emphasis here is on "new", which ideally has not been trodden on before. Therefore, the poem represents my thoughts of research and discovering and problem-solving. It does not matter how quickly you solve problems that have already been solved (at least in the method that they were). What makes the difference is finding novel solutions.

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