Yani Ye's Blog

 I am going to list all of the classes that I am currently taking and also list my grades and my personal opinions about that class. I am curious to see if any of my opinions about my classes will change after the next few months, which are the most treacherous school months of the year. ISPE - Ice Skating Since I am a nationally ranked athlete, I do not have to take high school P.E. and use this extra time to train. Before my recent injury, I skated from 6:30 AM - 8:30 AM. Since my schools starts at 8:30, I couldn't make it there on time. Therefore with this class, it is basically a free period and allows me to fit in training. The only thing I do for this class is fill out a log where I log the hours I skate and my performance. I enjoy having this class because I can enter school peacefully while everyone else is in class and I am not bombarded with people early in the morning. French II Honors (94.1%) In this class, I do not get assigned much homework and rather do most of the l...

 With it now being 2026, I decided it would be a good idea to take a break and update my life status. My life has been pretty crazy ever since school has started and is still a lot to take in. I am now a sophomore in high school and am pretty comfortable with things in high school. I am currently taking AP world history, chemistry honors, English 2 honors, French 2 honors, and algebra 2/trig. I am also apart of a few clubs at my school, but currently do not do much with them outside of school. However, that is something I would like to commit to. Recently, I dislocated my knee while training on the ice. Since this is my second injury in a short period of time, I have decided to calm my skating down a bit. Although this is one of the last things that I want to do, I want to make sure to take care of myself first. Prior to my injury, I was training for my upcoming competition season and was planning to move up levels. I also have been working on my double axel and have made progress ...

 This season, I was so excited to have qualified for my first national competition! Having broke my foot 3 months before the national, I am very proud myself for safely training in order to earn the spot in nationals, while still ensuring my foot heals. I am thankful I was able to compete at all this year.  This year, the Excel nationals was held in Colorado Springs, Colorado, at the Broadmoor World Arena and Broadmoor Ice Hall. The U.S. Olympic training site is also located here.  After a long travel day from Long Beach to Colorado Springs, I had my first 2 practice ice at the arena. Due to the high, unusual elevation, I became tired and worn out much faster. However, I also noticed that the high elevation also allowed me to jump bigger. Once again, keeping mind of my healing foot, I made sure to ice and elevate consistently to make sure I was not working it too hard. Also, a good amount of skaters from my home training rink also qualified for nationals, so we all had a ...

 Over the past year, I have been working hard and continuing to train in figure skating. Though there have been some major setbacks, overall, I feel like I have made good progress in my journey. Specifically for this season, I began training in mid-December, beginning to choreograph a new program. I am skating to a mix of Cosmic Entropy, and Way Down We Go (Acoustic). I planned to compete at the level Excel Intermediate Plus, but later switched to Excel Intermediate due to a setback.  Jumping forward to March, I had begun practicing full programs, which are full out programs with all jumps and spins. I was practicing for my first qualifying competition, which took place in April. However, halfway into March, I broke my right fibula on a jump. In the moment, I was convinced that I was unable to skate for the season. However, after lots of thinking, my parents, coaches, and I decided to begin training about a month and a half after the injury and build up to make it to the last ...

 With summer starting, the school year has slowly come to end. This was my first year in high school, and definitely taught me a lot. Honestly, this school year has taught me much more about myself and how to act in certain environments and situations. One of the greatest challenges I faced this school year was balancing my school work and grades with my demanding figure skating practices. Although it did take some effort of change on my hand, I think I have figured out a good balance between the two. Also, other extra curriculars, such as volunteering and being a junior coach, took up time as well. Once in a while I had to remind myself to take a day break from all the chaos and just relax. Along with all of the stressful moments, this school year held many fun school events and meeting a lot of new people. Coming from a different school district, I was afraid that it would be difficult to find friends that were not already in a set group. However, I was pleasantly surprised to fi...

 Recently, I arrived home from my month-long China trip! After visiting 4 different cities, exploring the different life, and of course, staying with family, I was pretty tired. We visited Shanghai to tour around the city, Suzhou, my dad's hometown, a small city in the province of Fuzhou, my mom's hometown, and Xiamen, with my mom's side of the family to tour.

 Earlier this week, I arrived home from my first ever trip without either of my parents. I went on a week long trip to different places on the East Coast with my school, and had an amazing time. Although it did take some adjusting at first to be without my parents, after a little, everything worked out just fine. All in all, it was an amazing experience for me, and was a lot of fun to see my friends once again before high school.  Our trip took place from June 18-25, all starting at my school. All students attending this trip met at my middle school and met up with our chaperones and groups for the trip. Then, after our goodbye's to our parents, our large group of around 80 people headed to the LAX airport.  After checking all our luggage in, and getting our boarding passes, we all went through TSA together. For some reason, the guard did not scan my backpack the first time, so I was pulled off to the side while the rescanned it. Anyways, we then all walked a long way to ...

 Just the other week, finishing up my middle school years, I promoted! I am now going into high school! I am very excited to move onto a new chapter of life, yet will miss the middle school experience and environment. My school's promotion ceremony was held at a local high school, and to me was much nicer and more "formal" than my elementary promotion. Although my promotion was a fun expierence, it was pretty boring I will admit. Especially for all of the parents, who had to sit in the sun for  In the Americas, a caste system based on race and color emerged…white supremacy and enshrine enslavement as a permanent and hereditary status.” Like stated, during the peak of slavery in the North, most people of color were viewed with very low standards and public status. In some cases, depending on both parties' sides, some of the colors were completely mistreated, being referred to as not even human, and being dehumanized. Unfortunately, though most will not want to admit it...

 In just a couple of days, I will be finishing my 8th grade school year, and middle school! This school year has felt extremely long, yet also very short. I have learned a lot of things, made new memories, and had a good final year before things will truly affect my future. The foreign policy which I feel was most important for America as a whole during the presidency of Jefferson was the Louisiana Purchase, and how it allowed American citizens to gain access to more resources. According to The University of Maryland, “...nearly doubled the land area of the nation…secured permanent access to the Mississippi river…obtained vast natural resources for the economy…” All of these benefits that came from this one foreign purchase nearly cancel out all the negatives that come from owning a vast amount of land. First, by buying Louisiana from France, we gained control over the entire Mississippi River, which has now become one of America’s main waterways and water sources. Also, most obvio...

 Just earlier this week, I had my 3rd competition of the season! My coaches and I feel like I have made a good amount of progress, especially from my last competition, and have begun to become more solid with my program. This competition was at Irvine ice rink, and this was my first time skating on this rink. Despite that, I quickly adapted to my new environment, and adjusted my program to better cover the surface of this larger rink. For my technical elements, I skated a single axel, single lutz, double salchow, sit spin level 2, double salchow loop axel sequence, choreographic sequence, single lutz loop combination, and combo spin level 2. I am very happy with myself for getting a level 2 on both my spins, with enough revolutions and difficult positions. For my jumps, my first axel got the most positive points, but I unfortunately popped my first double salchow. I am aware of the mistake I made, and hope to land this next competition. However, I am very glad I clutched my second ...

  Dr. Baker,  Most student-athletes can agree how tired, stressed, and burnt out their mental and physical health is after a full day of school AND extra sports practice. Nearly all can agree that the school P.E. period is a complete waste of student-athletes time and energy. Imagine being the most successful and talented athlete at a sport for your age. Then, later being forced to run a timed mile, at school, while being yelled at by your teacher for “not being athletic enough.” Not only is this humiliating for you, but you choose to preserve your energy for your sports practice. To help take some of the stress off student-athletes, please consider allowing student-athletes to have the option to opt out of school physical education classes. As obvious, one of the main reasons student-athletes should not have to participate in P.E. is because there is simply no purpose. Student-athletes already work many hours weekly to stay fit for their sport, and already get beyond the amou...

  After hundreds of thousands of years of slavery in the U.S., our country finally voted to abolish slavery, after thousands of attempts from many citizens. At this time, the government decided to create new amendments to add the constitution, and finally declare the legal blocking to slavery in America. With this, many previous slaves were brought into states of worry and confusion, as being set free would leave the slaves all on their own, with no food, shelter, or general care at all. To help solve this issue, the government and the president at this time, Andrew Johnson, decided to help slaves transition back into freedom, by creating a period called the Reconstruction. The Reconstruction period assisted slaves, and gave them (limited) rights. Following the 13th amendment set earlier on, the 14th and 15th amendment were soon introduced, which allowed all born in the U.S. to be citizens, and allowed all citizens the right to vote.   To this day, this period of reconstructio...

 Recently, I competed for the second time this ice skating season. This time, I competed at the 19th Annual California Championships, located at my home rink, East West Ice Palace. After training and working on my program for a few months, my coaches and I decided it would be a good idea to get an estimate of my scores, and see what I need to improve on for the rest of the season. I would say this competition did not go as planned, but all in all, it was a good learning experience for me.

  Slave Trading from the 1600’s to the 1800’s still has impacts on our lives today, even if we do not want to admit it. A good amount of “habits” and thoughts have stayed the same about slaves and slave trading, the most notable being the invisible social hierarchy of races in our country. According to the Equal Justice Initiative, “In the Americas, a caste system based on race and color emerged…white supremacy and enshrine enslavement as a permanent and hereditary status.” Like stated, during the peak of slavery in the North, most people of color were viewed with very low standards and public status. In some cases, depending on both parties' sides, some of the colors were completely mistreated, being referred to as not even human, and being dehumanized. Unfortunately, though most will not want to admit it, this is still true to this day in some cases. The social hierarchy and overall judgment of those of color is still a huge issue in our country today, even after thousands of yea...

   Recently, in my history class, we have been learning about American travels to the West, and how they impacted America and the citizens as a whole. One of the topics we mainly focused on was the Manifest Destiny, and how moving to the West affected Americans. Simple beliefs about the Manifest Destiny as a topic can not only change the way a person feels towards it, but can slowly shift entire parties of people and their perspective on this topic. For example, if talking about the shift while America was constantly in evolution, the expansion of the Eastern territory not only led to many changes, both positive and negative, but also may have created troubles for already Western citizens. If many people from the East decide to move to the West, this sets up many troubles for overpopulation, and crowding issues.

 Recently, with the current school year slowly coming to an end, I have noticed many changes in my behavior, academics, and studies. Though it is hard to admit, I can tell that I have been slacking off a little, not caring AS much about about certain things that I would have before, and honestly just become more lazy. I personally feel it is similar to "senioritis," which seniors in high school face, after getting into their colleges, except it is in 8th grade, after I "got into" my high school. I do not feel that this issue is too bad, as I am still able to maintain A grades, yet they have just dropped into the mid-low A range, rather than the high A range I am used to. Also, some weeks, I find myself telling myself to "just make it to Friday," and "only 2 more months until summer," which is not the most ideal mindset going into high school. However, the only thing giving myself some leeway in my current situation, is that I am an 8th grader, an...

 Just yesterday, I competed my first competition of the 2024 figure skating season! I competed at the Anaheim ice rink, at the 2024 Spring Spectacular season opener, and am pretty proud overall with my performance. With the new season, I also started a new program, moved up a level, and overall increased the difficulty of my skating. Now, I am competiting at the Pre-Juvenile Plus Excel level, and also have double jumps in my program! With this level, all season, I am working to qualify for the Excel National Finals, where they take the top 6 skaters (competition score-wised) from each section of the country, to compete. Of course, this would be an amazing opportunity, and a fun experience, yet that is not my main goal this season. This season, I would like to focus on the component section of the score, meaning the skating skills, composition, and overall presentation of the skater. Last season, this seemed to be my weak area, so I would like to continue working on this to hopefull...

 This year, my spring break was filled with traveling, skating, friends, and lots of relaxing! It was great to just take a break from all of the school and studies, and relax. This spring break, I took 2 different trips, and spent time with both my mom and dad.  The first trip I took was with my mom and sister, and we had a weekend vacation to Carlsbad, where we constantly visit for short trips. However, we have not been there in a good amount of time, so it was fun to "reconnect" with the city once again. We stayed there for two nights, arriving Saturday afternoon, and returning on Monday. Easter also happened to be this weekend, so we spent our Easter in Carlsbad. We did not do much, as this was just supposed to be a short girls trip, but we still enjoyed staying outside of home for a few nights. The first night, we just strolled around our huge hotel, looked at the flower field, walked in the outlets, and ate a lot of food. My sister and I's favorite in Carlsbad is the...

  The new form of transportation I feel most benefited American citizens during the 1800s was the new invention of railroads and the railroad system. This system not only helped Americans travel faster from place to place, but was also a way to quickly transport goods. According to History.com, “by 1880, the transcontinental railroad was transporting $50 million worth of freight each year.” Trading and transportation of goods not only allows for more items and goods to be spread country-wide, but also helps spread different ways of creating goods, and spreading cultures in some ways. Different people and tribes from different places around the world are used to things being created in certain ways than others, and the diversity of the world helps spread different ideas to different places. Also, obviously, with the opportunity to spread goods to different places around the country, foreign items can be more accessible to others. All of these reasons helped America’s economic growth...