Psychology Story of 2008

January: Excitement
After New Year, Mary gets to settle down and tries to accomplish the
homework that is supposed to be done during the
holiday. She is excited to see everyone at school again.
She wants to start the year 2008 in a fresh way, which
means that she should stay positive no matter what
happens to her. Since her applications to universities
have already been sent away, she expects that the
response should be posted in February. She also plans to study hard for the
second term because it is the most important term of all.



February: Maturity
Mary is working hard to try to stay on top of everything, but
unfortunately there is just too much things to care about. She is
doing environmental club, which counts for at least one
activity besides school, which delighted her. She sees that the
last day of her club meeting is on the 22
nd
her birthday!
She has a great dinner for her 18
th
birthday and has a great
time as well. Finally Mary is 18! She has become an adult who is assumed
responsibility in decision making in self-control.



March: Success
It is March 1
st
. The admission status for most universities is being mailed
to homes. Mary h
Term two is ending
and academic
pressure starts to ease. What she expects come true she gets the admittance
letter from Wellesley and Boston!
opes that she would get into Wellesley if she is really fortunate.
So finally she gets to relax for a while during spring break and
enjoy t

with her frie
he hard works sweet fruit. She is glad that graduation is not
far away and approaching within every second of time. Although
other people are busy sending their second term transcript, Mary is
watching other seasons of the TV series 24 and having lots of fun
nds.



April: Nervousness
il Mary sends her best friend in China a card that
to a job to
reparing for
o

ut
als

ay: The darkness before dawn
On 2
nd
of Apr
congratulates her 18
th
birthday. She also realizes that she should apply
meet her desperate need of clothing and everyday spending. So she goes to
Safeway and picks up an application and soon gets an interview.
Despite the need of monetary support from herself, she is p
her Calculus AP Exam which will help her in the
admission process. She seems dulled by all the
university materials, but is excited and earnest t
envision her being in university 5 months later.
After careful deliberation, Mary decides to go to
Wellesley, not only because of the financial aid, b
study environment she is going to be in. All is
excitement.

o because of the excellent

M
ed. Mary is surprised that it is May already and
lso
nce Exam.
y g
he
lying
thdays.
ne: Its Over! Its Over!
Time seems to be accelerat
she has to start reviewing for the provincial exam she needs to be taking. She
knows that she could not slack off anymore because her friends in China are a
facing the most challenging tests of all the
University Entra Just thinking of her friends in
China makes her work hard. Her AP exam is also
coming up, so she is ver conscious about not wastin
too much time on computer chatting besides E-
mails. Sometimes s would spend more than one
and half hours just rep els guilty about it. : P
Fortunately she does not forget her best friends, Tiffanys and Carls, bir
Mary misses Tiffany so much and longs to see her when everything about high
school is over. One thing that Mary is proud of is that she does not forget to
practise violin while given great pressure.

her E-mails and she fe


Ju
ut June is that it goes by too fast. Half a month of
ter
The good thing abo
school consists mostly of reviewing and some talking in the classroom while
class is going on. Finally she has come out of an ordinary schooling system af
9 years of elementary plus secondary school torture and 3 years of her Canadian
high school experience. Her father arrived from Shanghai and, keeping his

promise, brings his heavy Canon came
that does not shake up the picture the
person in the picture is walking! The
graduation ceremony for her is really
time it signifies the end of her ordinary
life and the beginning of a real li
experience that will influence the re
She blasts the stones of obstacles placing in front o
her during her exams, and rushes to the end of the
marathon line she succeeds and walks o ho will
practise her independence during her 4 year of college education. Bye Bye U-
Hill! And off she goes back to Shanghai!

ra
when
an emotional
fe
st of her life.
f
ut of high school as an adult w
ly: A BLAST!


Ju
ves in Shanghai for the first time in two
n a
It
ild the next few days
e
!
in
ough this

favourite cof
ugust: R.E.L.A.X.!
Mary arri
years. All the things seem to be changed she now lives i
new home bought a year ago and it is the best location ever!
is right in the middle of downtown and is very comfortable.
During the first days of her visit she gets to meet her
grandparents and cousin. But then everything goes w
spent with her best friends in China is crazy. She goes to Karaok
and dinner with her friends having excellent food almost everyday
It is the best time she has ever had during a summer
holiday. Well not exactly, because the time she spent
Cambridge a year ago seems to be at the same level, alth
one is about visiting old times. Most of those times are spent in her
fee shop Starbucks. An Ice Vanilla Latte would do it when her
friends horrible but fun times of high school are exchanged.



A
at home watching TV. She is excited that the Beijing
y she
an

Mary is sitting
Olympics is coming up and, although she was not accepted as a
volunteer in the events, she wants to see the greatest sport event
being held and broadcasted in her home country. At the same
time, she has been doing some serious shopping for the
interesting lifetime experience she is going to. Apparentl
still appreciates the cheap price of buying clothes and makeup,
more than 200 dollars on her everyday package! (Which is sort of a waste but its
worth it when you know there wont be more time to spend on shopping when
d she spends
you go to university.) By the end of this month, Mary finally
runs out of energy and spent her last days at home enjoying
sports competitions. She then takes a plane back to Vancouve
and prepares for college.
r

eptember: New beginning


S
the 10-hour plane ride from
the
y
it by
waking up at 4 a.m.
risty
s,
ctober: Exams exams exams!
Still having jetlag from
Shanghai to Vancouver, Mary arrives at the airport in
Boston, hoping to take bus or taxi to Wellesley
College. After dragging the heavy suitcases into
room, Mary collapses onto the bed and started
looking around. The room isnt small, and its tid
fashion makes her wonder if she would like to ruin
putting her stuff onto the shelves and closets. While
everyday because of jetlag, Mary enjoys making new friends and attendin
classes. On the first weekend, Mary goes to Boston and did some typical tou
sightseeing. The city is beautiful there are a lot of old architectures and they
often remind her of Europe. It seems that it hasnt been long since school begin
but homework consisting of big chapters of reading is already piling up and
overwhelming her!

g


O
onth, Mary looks back to the times when she

pite

for
es
home and calls her mother immediately
exam days have gone by fast, and soon she is attending parties held by some
other friends in both Wellesley and MIT.
At the beginning of this m
was still in high school. She remembers that at this point of time people who go
to the university often complains about
mid-terms. Realizing that her time of
crazy reviewing is coming up as well,
Mary has started to look over the
materials she has been taught. Des
her nerdy attitudes, golden leaves are
already falling from the trees. Although
falling leaves is not a new phenomenon
to Mary, stepping on particular crispy
leaves always makes her excited.
Walking among the leaves, Mary,
the first time since school begins, miss
when she returns to her residence. The



November: Resolution
The first half of the term has gone by pretty smoothly, but Mary has a
ard time finding a violin tutor for herself. The American currency is
ry still worries about the cost it takes to
n
s
eets,
because it is sinc



ecember: The Return

h
lower than ever, but Ma
have a lesson once a week. Since she also doesnt have her ow
violin, she has to rent one, which adds up toward the expense.
Mary has to get a job, but where could she work? Sometime
Mary would walk on the str ool breeze of autumn wind, and
wonder about the winter holiday. She decides to work out in
the gym e last year that she has not exercised
a bit. She hopes that it would snow like in Vancouver,
because she misses her family badly, and cannot wait to go
back there and meet families and friends.
facing the c
D
The last month of the year seems to come by very fast. It starts to snow
right from the beginning of the month, and she is thrilled
se the snow in Boston is was heavier than in Vancouver.
in
t
gifts for friends an
Mary likes the hol

inal
She hopes that next

becau
It is scheduled by the professors that the midterms would be
January. Although unwilling to study during the holiday,
Mary decides to bring back some books to read when she is
bored. Of course she knows that it would be impossible for her
g the holidays, because she has bought
d families in China and Vancouver.
iday theme of the month, because it
cheers her up no matter what religion she is practising.
Mary got home two weeks before the holidays and was
thrilled to see her family. A semester of studying will f
when the exams are finished by the end of January 2009.
January, it would be an even more exciting year.
o be idling durin
ly come to an end