My name is Jon Annunziato and I am a senior at California High School in San Ramon, California. I am excited about senior year because I am in classes that I am actually interested in. I am also excited to almost be done with high school. So far, I am enjoying calculus, physics, photo, and of course iQuest. I am signed up to explore my interest in astronomy and science in my free time that I will get out of iQuest. I have a couple of goals for my senior year in hopes of setting up my immediate future at whatever college I end up attending. Not only do I have goals for my academic performance, but also for my work experience and my hobbies.
Why astronomy? Honestly, when I was younger, outer space scared the hell out of me, but I have learned to look at it in a different way and it is less frightening and also extremely interesting. The reason I am so interested with space started with a quote that I heard. "We are a way for the cosmos to know itself" - Carl Sagan. This was what ultimately started my questions about space and how things work. I started asking things I wouldn't have ever thought of before and what was great was that answers were available because hundreds of years ago people asked the same questions. I watched all of the TV shows on the universe, how it behaves, and how it could have started. There was so much to learn. After watching a documentary about how Galileo crafted the first telescope I figured it was time to buy one. Within the next week I purchased my first telescope and have been viewing the stars and planets since then. I've learned a lot, but there is a lot more. This is why I thought iQuest would be a good fit for me. With my iQuest time I will be volunteering at the Chabot Space and Science Center, operating telescopes and doing demonstrations for the public. I've been doing it since June and enjoy it a lot. I also want to spend some time reading and using my personal telescope and camera for astrophotography.
On top of learning as much as I can about astronomy and space I hope to get a 4.0 GPA for the year. It might be more challenging than last year because of the weighted courses, but I think I'll be able to do it. Another immediate goal I want to reach is just to bump my SAT score up as much as possible. I do really want to get a strong foundation in physics and calculus because I have a good feeling it will give me a good start in college. I want to really learn the two subjects in as much detail as possible. I hope that setting a goal to achieve a 4.0 will help me with this.
I have been working at Clementine's for about a year and a half and I have made a lot of progress there. I started as a host, but I moved to expediter after 8 months of hosting. Now I am in the progress of becoming a server. I want to reach that point by the end of the school year, but the earlier the better. I need to save for college and since servers make a lot more money in tips it will definitely be a plus.
As far as my hobbies go, I have been playing drums and guitar for years and I have no intentions of giving those hobbies up just because I am busy with school and work. I am in two different bands right now and I hope to make progress with both of them during this year. I want to finish up a demo with one of them and I also want to play a couple of shows with both of them. I also spent a lot of time hiking this summer and I wanted to hike to the top of Mt. Diablo, but I never got around to it and that's why I am adding it to my list of things to do this year.
You are connecting the dots of your past and moving toward your future......I love the background picture of this blog. You are certainly a well-rounded high school senior--an academic schedule, music, volunteering (internship) and a job. Enjoy this year, it will go fast.
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ReplyDeleteThat is a really cool topic. I loved space was younger but realized i did not have the grades to do it. It sounds like you are on the right path with all those advanced courses. Good luck with 4.0 I am sure you will get it.
ReplyDeleteI think it is awesome that you are reaching for the stars almost literally. I have always loved space. I know a lot just from talking to you about it, and I know that you know space like the back of your hand. I hope you are successful with your accedemic goals, your band, and your study of space.
ReplyDeleteI love it when something you would never think to be interested in all of the sudden clicks, and it becomes a huge passion. I've been to the Chabot Space Center a few times; it seems like the perfect place for you.
ReplyDeleteHi Jon, your outlook on space and the unknown is really interesting, and I like itl. I like Carl Sagan and Neil Tyson, too, mainly because they have a lot of really interesting things too say.
ReplyDeleteSo it seems your peers in this program are excited for you, many at one time in their young lives even had a huge interest in space. We can't wait to see what you learn this year and beyond.
ReplyDeleteI find it really interesting that you initially feared space and then became fascinated by it. It also looks like you've got a lot on your plate too. You sound very driven, though, so I'm sure that you will have no problem accomplishing your goals. Best of luck!
ReplyDeleteHi Jonathan! I was immediately drawn to your page because of your focus on astronomy! Last year I wrote a 27 page research paper on astronomy, complete with interviews of PhD students at Berkley, and site visits to Chabot on the topic! It's so cool that you actually work there! It's beautiful up there! You're post are really well written, I like the Carl Sagan references (my physics teacher is obsessed with him lol). It seems like everything is going great for you! go you! last summer I was going to go to Yale to take a course on astronomy but instead chose another class at Stanford! But i heard Yale's program is great as well! You should consider doing a summer session there! Anyways your blog is great, and thanks for allowing me to live vicariously through your great experiences! You should post some of your photos from the camera on the telescope! Have a great year!
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