Jiwoo Son 10618

Hi Jiwoo!

My name is Grace. I am also 16 years old, but I am a junior at Duchesne. Thank you so much for writing to me! I’m sorry for the late reply, I didn’t find out about your letter until today. Your letter was well written and, in my opinion, your English is pretty good!

Learning about your average day at school was super interesting! It sounds like you have a lot on your plate during the day. I have never heard of self-study, but I feel like that could help me study more outside of school. Although, I can see how that can be a lot. All of the subjects you’re taking seem interesting, especially artificial intelligence. We don’t have a class like that at my school, I’d love to hear about it! I think your uniform looks pretty nice, I like the cardigan and the vest.

Our average school day is similar in some ways and different in others, so I’ll just talk you through my usual day. My school doesn’t have dorms, so we don’t have an official wake up time. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays I have academic decathlon, which starts at 8 am. On Thursdays I have poetry club which starts at 7:40. To get there on time, I usually wake up around 6:30, but sometimes it takes me a while to wake up because I’d rather stay in my bed. Then I get ready and drive to school, which takes about 20 minutes. I have a car so that makes it a little easier, and I always listen to music to make it more enjoyable. I have academic decathlon from 8-8:40 on these days, and then I have classes afterwards. Our schedule is kind of confusing, but I’ll try my best to explain it. On Mondays we have 40 minute classes and we get out at 3:26 pm. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, we have 80 minute odd block classes (1,3,5,7), an activity block, and we get out at 3:31. Then on Wednesdays and Fridays, we have 80 minute even block classes (2,4,6,8) and we get out at 3:01. Our lunches our only 25 minutes long, which is pretty short, so I usually use it as a break to talk with my friends during the day. After school sometimes I have clubs and activities I go to, otherwise I usually go to a local coffee shop and study or go home. It differs day to day, so I just do what feels best for me. My night routine usually includes studying, taking a shower, scheduling, and maybe watching some Netflix before going to bed. I usually go to bed around 11:30 most nights unless I have a lot of studying to do.

At my school we get some freedom to choose the classes we take. My junior year classes include academic decathlon, French 3, A.P. United States history, choir, A.P. physics, A.P. calculus BC, honors American literature, gym, and a religion class. Our school is a Catholic school, so we have to take a religion class. I don’t like it, but it’s required, so I have to. Academic decathlon is a series of 10 different subjects based around a topic that we study to compete against other schools. This year the topic is the American Revolution, it’s not my favorite, but it’s fairly interesting.

As I mentioned before, I am involved in some clubs and activities. I am apart of sustainability club, poetry club, student ambassadors, operation others, American sign language club, solidarity club, melanin magic, Latina culture club, board game club, choir, theatre, bell choir, math club, science club, the Network Student Advisory Committee, and more! I am vice president of sustainability club, which focuses on educating others about how they can create less waste and be more ethical in terms of sustainability. We go out into the community and do garbage pickups, sticker sales, bake sales, and more. I love all these activities a lot and I’m so glad that I’m able to be involved in them.

Our school also has a uniform! We are an all girls school, so we all wear relatively the same thing. I don’t have a photo, but we wear red skirts or black pants, a white polo, uniform socks, and whatever sweatshirt we want. We get some freedom on how to accessorize and what kind of sweatshirt we want to wear, so that makes it kind of unique from person to person.

As far as my hobbies go, I already mentioned some of the activities I do, which are kind of like hobbies. I enjoy writing poetry, baking, traveling, and singing too! I don’t always have a lot of time for these things, but I try to when I can. I place a lot of priority on spending time with my friends and family, because I feel happiest when I’m around them. What do you usually do in your free time? Do you have any favorite shows or books? I’d love to hear about them!

Also, I thought I’d mention that I am Korean on my mom’s side of the family! My halmoni was born in Korea and she’s bilingual in Korean and English. Since I was little she has always wanted me to call her halmoni. She talks a lot about her family in Korea, the Korean language and culture, and of course makes a ton of yummy food for us. Her family lives in South Chungcheong. I went there with her and I absolutely loved it, I really want to go back someday!

I’m sorry this letter is so long, there’s just so much to talk about! Let me know if you have any questions about anything. I’m really excited to talk to you more and to read your next letter!

Best,

Grace