Rites of Passage - Third Period

In the links to the right, you will find the portfolios of the third period class of Rites of Passage. The students listed here have documented their journey over the course of this year by choosing some of their best work and deepest thoughts about their process in figuring out the road to adulthood.

Profile Requirements

  • Picture
  • Your name
  • School and Grade
  • Interests/Hobbies/Sports/Occupation
  • Talents and Skills
  • Objective/Goal(s)
:D

Ms. Webster's Words of Wisdom

8 more days til Regents

There are only 8 days of school left until Regents starts. Just sayin'.

If you're about to take Regents, you have two options: freak out, or, don't freak out.

I used to like having finals when in high school, in the same way that I liked it when the electricity went out for no reason, in the way that I liked snow days, in the way that I liked big, dangerous, important events: they gave me a break from the soul-crushing routine of every day.

So of course I was a LITTLE freaked-out, because tests are tests. But mostly I was excited to get a break from the routine of high school, the getting-up-early-every-damn-day, seeing-a-bunch-of-people-I-didn't-trust-or-enjoy, eating-the-disgusting-cafeteria-food, doing-all-that-boring-work, killing-homework routine. During finals, I didn't have any of that nonsense. I even had a brilliant excuse to get out of doing chores, baby-sitting my little brother, and even eating dinner with my family (which at 16 seemed like an incredibly tedious task). Instead, I retreated into monastic study, at the table in my room I had specially set up.

The study space set up was an important component of studying for finals. About a week before finals started, I moved a table into the middle of my bedroom. I cleaned the surface carefully. I got a desk lamp with a clamp and a hinged arm that I screwed onto the edge of the table. I got a straight-backed chair and a pillow for support. I stacked my textbooks neatly in one corner of the table. I stacked my class notebooks and binders in the other corner. I acquired two sharpened pencils with good erasers and two pens, one blue and one black, and four highlighters in different colors. These writing instruments I inserted into an empty jar and positioned the jar next to the notebooks. I got a big bottle of water and a bag of pretzels for reinforcement. Then I put on my favorite album (which at the time was Pearl Jam, I believe), and locked my bedroom door. Let the storm come. I was ready.

-Ms. Webster

Read more on Ms. Webster's page