John Barnes is a senior from Little Rock. He is a Community Leader, vice president of the National Honor Society, co-captain of the Step Team and is a member of several other clubs on campus. Learn more about why John chose to come to ASMSA and his experience here by reading his profile posted at right.
A Day at ASMSA
It is 7:00 a.m. on Monday and I’m awakened by the buzzing of my alarm clock and the sound of “Get Up” by Mary Mary; thus begins the morning ritual. I turn off both alarms, wash my face, brush my teeth, take a shower, and put on the clothes I picked out the night before. Around 7:30 a.m., I study the brain components for a psychology activity. I look at the clock; it is 7:45 a.m., so I gather my belongings and make my way toward the cafeteria, where I have eggs, bacon, pancakes, honeydew melon, and grape juice.
When 7:58 a.m. hits the clock I start walking to my first class, Senior English Composition. In class we continued drafting our essay for the Profiles in Courage essay contest sponsored by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation. At 8:55 a.m. class is over and I lounge around on third floor until the next class starts. During my next class, French II, we reviewed spelling and pronunciation of a list of vocabulary words, took a quiz, and then, in groups, read a few mini French articles.
After second period I went to Psychology (10:00 a.m.). I was disappointed to hear we were not doing the brain activity due to the grapefruits not coming in on time. (We were going to construct a brain using grapefruit.) Instead, we began working on our nine weeks project of selecting a theorist and theory. I chose to talk about Lawrence Kohlberg’s theory on the stages of moral development.
Next, at 11:00 a.m., was AP Biology—my most fun and rigorous course this year. We reviewed Chapter 6 and began talking about Chapter 7 when at 11:40 a.m. we were disturbed by a fire alarm. All students and faculty evacuated the building due to a spark somewhere in the system offsetting the alarm. Around 12:05 p.m. we were allowed to resume whatever it was that we were doing, but by that time fourth period was over, and lunch had started. I do not usually go to lunch right when it starts, so I went to my room and relaxed. As I sat on my bed, I checked my mail, Facebook notifications, and grades. I even managed to text a friend from back home.
Around 12:30 p.m. I went to lunch and had a sandwich, pasta, corn, and grape juice. I love lunch, not only because of the food, but because it is when I get to sit, talk, and joke with friends after having class.
By 12:45 p.m. I was in fifth period, AP AB Calculus. We reviewed limits/derivatives (fun). Next, at 1:45 p.m. I was in my last class of the day, Advanced General Physics, where we went over 2D kinematics, acceleration vectors, velocity vectors, displacement — the whole nine yards.
Planning for college
After sixth period I had to go to the library for a meeting with the counselors. We talked about Naviance, scholarships, and applying for college. I pretty much know where I am going to go, and what scholarships I plan to apply for. That meeting lasted the whole seventh period, but after it ended around 3:40 p.m., I stayed in the library to work on applying for the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and work on MathXL homework for AP AB Calculus.
Life at ASMSA after classes
Around 5:30 p.m. I went to eat dinner. I ate a sandwich, some rice, and some corn. After dinner, it was time for Step Team practice.Today was a special day, because usually it is the captain and co-captain (me) teaching the juniors the steps we learned last year, but today the sponsors began teaching a new step that was new to us also.
When Step Team practice ended, it was study hours (7 p.m.-9p.m.). I went to the library and worked on AP Biology work, test corrections, and Chapter 7 and 8 reading guides. At the end of study hours I continued working on AP Biology until 9:30 p.m. in a study room. By that time I was mentally exhausted, so I took an hour break.
During that time I went outside in front of the school and hung out with friends. If I have learned a valuable thing here it is that sometimes you just have to take a mental break. At 10:30 p.m. it was floor check; all the fifth floor boys met in the lounge as our Residential Mentor (RM) did a roll call and made important announcements. After that, I went to my room and got ready for lights out at 11:00 p.m. By 11:00 p.m. I was in my bed analyzing my day and what I had to do the next day.