THE 2012 FORMULA by Nicholas Ng

Do you know how wacky one year can be? 2012 was a surprising, concerning, roller-coaster like year.

 

Winning an essay contest, seeing Las Vegas and surrounding canyons, and participating in a math competition were the best experiences that happened in 2012.  The most memorable moment was when one day my teacher, Ms. Poole, called me to go up to her desk.  I thought I was in trouble.  Instead, she pointed to an email with a smile on her face as I stood next her.  The email said that I won the Liberty Essay Contest sponsored by New York Liberty, a women basketball team.  I competed against students from my school and other New Jersey and New York schools, winning first place.

 

Last October, I participated in the competitive Bergen Math Competition. Even though I didn’t win, I had an opportunity to see how much other kids knew about math. It amazed me.  From my experience in this contest, I can tell you right away to prepare and don’t be nervous. Being nervous will slow you down when relying on speed to win.  Preparing will help you get ready to enter a competition and make it seem not as hard.

 

During the summer, my family took a trip to Las Vegas and the Grand Circle, a circle of amazing National Parks and Canyons.  I thought it would just be a tour of boring canyons, but it turned out to be a surprisingly fun vacation.  It was very fun hiking up and down the mountains (though dehydrating), exploring Las Vegas, gaping at the colorfully lit lights of the hotels and during the shows at the casinos. I never thought that Las Vegas and a hiking trip could be so enjoyable!

 

Challenges were faced in 2012, too. An unexpected sorrow of 2012 was getting uveitis last summer. This was not like a broken bone or something of that sort; it was an inflammation in my eyes.  Now, I take medications to control the swelling.  Without medications, I could have gotten cataracts. Good thing I didn’t. I take pills every day and injections every Friday and every other Tuesday to help me treat uveitis.

 

We had Hurricane Sandy days before Halloween.  We were much more fortunate than many others, but we still faced hardships. Our family went through four days of blackout. That seems like a lot, but some people lost power for an entire week and a half. Some families even lost their homes and cars. Based on the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, I know to be prepared for natural disasters at all times.  When I buy a house, I’ll buy it away from areas prone to natural disasters.

 

My favorite book I read last year was Powerless by Matthew Cody. It is about a boy named Daniel who moves to a new town and new school. He meets these weird kids who have superpowers. Slowly, their powers disappear one child at a time. Daniel needed to know what kind of evil would steal elementary kids’ powers. Read Powerless and find out what happens next yourself.  Powerless deserves five stars. Matthew Cody makes every chapter a cliffhanger, always tempting you to read more. I couldn’t put the book down until the end!!!

 

Lessons are learned often. Two important lessons I learned in 2012 were to always prepare before something and never last minute. Also, certainly not do the minimum. If you prepare for a test last minute, you might score 100 but you wouldn’t learn anything. Don’t take my path and cheat your way through school. If you do the minimum all the time, it would be terrible for you and your grades. For example, if you did a worksheet and you did not do the extra credit, you could get a question wrong and your grade would be lower; but if you did the maximum, even if you got a question wrong, the extra credit would cover that. Also, trying your best means that you did the maximum you could’ve done. Doing the maximum means you did a good job even without getting a 100 on your test.

 

Surprises + worries + roller coaster bumps = 2012.