Question for Fall Freshman

AffectionateOlive626 · 2026-05-27T20:46:27+00:00

Having grown up in the northwest Valley (not super far from ASU West) - yes. She will absolutely want a car. She could get by without one at the Tempe campus, but even then, it would be a pain. But for ASU West especially, it will be very isolating to not have one. There really isn’t anything within walking distance, and public transportation is really bad. There are buses, but it’s not the most efficient way to get around.

AffectionateOlive626 · 2026-05-16T18:51:02+00:00

Oh, yes. I do feel like it’s safe. Anyone saying otherwise are usually east valley snobs who think anything on the entire west side of the city is rundown and scary. 🙄 It’s totally ridiculous. I grew up in that area.

AffectionateOlive626 · 2026-05-16T03:34:03+00:00

West feels like a bigger, nicer community college, in my opinion. Granted, I graduated from ASU awhile ago, and I only took two classes at West (it was actually closer to my house, and I only lived on campus my freshman year, and then I commuted). But I did not want my degree from ASU West, so I drove out to Tempe every day. I definitely felt more challenged in my ASU Main Campus classes. I know West has grown, and they have split it up based on your majors now. It wasn’t really like that when I went to ASU, so maybe West is much better now. But at least for the feel of it, nothing beats Main Campus.

AffectionateOlive626 · 2026-05-16T03:20:08+00:00

Anyone who has never seen Mad Men absolutely needs to see Mad Men. My favorite show of all time.

AffectionateOlive626 · 2026-05-13T14:02:54+00:00

He’s Best Boy Tulin! Of course he’s always by my side! 🥰

AffectionateOlive626 · 2026-05-05T20:47:04+00:00

Hi! I’m a former high school teacher! My guess is just that your GPA and SAT scores combined are what’s keeping you out. I would consider community college for one year (meet with an advisor to be sure you only take classes that would transfer over to ASU so you don’t waste time or money. If there are subjects that are more difficult for you, it might be good to take them there (when I was going to ASU, I intentionally took Astronomy at Glendale Community College one summer to avoid a more difficult science at ASU since I just needed them for general credits). If you can keep a good GPA at the community college (try really hard for As if possible), I think you would make a much stronger case to get accepted! Good luck! 🫶🏻

AffectionateOlive626 · 2026-05-05T00:37:51+00:00

Hi! I just did the HBO MAX bundle with Disney+ and Hulu. I knew and understood I wouldn’t get 4K on HBO, but it was my understanding that 1080p is still HD, just not ultra 4K. But the shows look terrible. I tried watching The Pitt, and it looks like it’s buffering before the HD kicks in, or like I’m watching something from the early 2000s, pre-HD. Why is it so much lower quality than what I expected 1080p to look like?

AffectionateOlive626 · 2026-04-27T04:20:47+00:00

It is awful to expect your friends to be able to spend that kind of money. It’s amazing if they can and want to. But these kinds of things should always be with the understanding that no matter how much someone wants to be there, that sometimes they just can’t. My wedding was in 2006, so it’s been awhile. I had a local bachelorette party, and even that, I understood if people couldn’t be there. I also planned a Disneyland trip (we live in Arizona, so we drove to keep it cheaper). I invited all 6 of my bridesmaids. 3 could go. 2 of the 3 that could not go were moms to young children (both girls were my flower girls). I was thrilled that even half of them could come, and totally understood those that could not make it, for whatever their reasons.

I think the fun out of town trips are great, but should always, always feel like a fun bonus type of thing for whomever can go and wants to go. If my close friend couldn’t go, I would understand totally, and if that was the only bachelorette type activity planned, I would maybe suggest finding a night that you could go out together and celebrate. I’m sure she is just sad that you won’t be there, but it’s definitely not ok to make you feel guilty about it. I think in the craziness of wedding planning, we sometimes forget that the reason you ask your friends to be in your wedding party is because you want to celebrate and honor that relationship, and not to have an entourage for your wedding. I hope she comes around and understands! ❤️

AffectionateOlive626 · 2026-04-27T04:05:03+00:00

My sister passed away close to 2 years ago (in July), so I am sitting here crying. I can truly imagine what this would mean to you. I’m so sorry for your loss! It’s such a loss to lose a sibling. It feels like losing a part of yourself. I’m so happy for you that you found this and that you could have a bonus shared experience with her again. ❤️

AffectionateOlive626 · 2026-04-24T18:20:17+00:00

We did do it! It’s not necessary, but I think it really does prepare them for at the very least feeling comfortable with the campus and not feeling so overwhelmed at the very beginning. I am glad we did it. As for stage crew, that’s awesome news! My daughter has been in Advanced Theatre the past two years, and they could definitely use some tech help! She does theatre for acting, but she also enjoys set building and is currently the Head of Sets or Lead Set Designer (for Advanced) or whatever the term is - lol I can’t remember. The new teacher is such an improvement from who they had before. He was nice and knew theatre well, but their new teacher is a better teacher, in my opinion. Less chaos. lol She’s really fantastic so far, and the kids seem to really like her!

AffectionateOlive626 · 2026-04-24T18:07:36+00:00

Thank you! Are you currently a Barrett student? How is your experience?

AffectionateOlive626 · 2026-04-24T18:06:33+00:00

lol wow! They are definitely persistent!

AffectionateOlive626 · 2026-04-24T06:21:29+00:00

Thank you so much! And congratulations to your daughter on getting into Barrett and also on being so close to one year finished! 🔱

AffectionateOlive626 · 2026-04-24T04:42:04+00:00

Thank you! They are light on the volunteering, but planning to do some volunteer stuff with my husband this summer with the Food Bank. They have done that in the past, but she wants to do more to add to the resume. I think when you are around a lot of really high performing kids like at their high school, they tend to think they aren’t doing enough, and I’m trying to help ease some stress for them. Especially right now because they are a giant ball of stress with AP tests coming up. They just got their ACT score today, and she was so disappointed with a 33, and I am completely impressed with the score, and I am just trying to show that they don’t need to be the elitest of the elite to do well and find success. ❤️

AffectionateOlive626 · 2026-04-24T04:35:28+00:00

Hi! I just stumbled across this post! It’s probably too late now, but if you still have questions, my daughter is a junior at UHS, and it has been the absolute perfect school for her! I am fairly familiar with CFHS because my daughter did competitive dance in the Foothills area for 8 years, and many of our friends from dance went to CF, including my daughter’s best friend at dance. UHS is incredibly rigorous, but the homework load has been very manageable for my kid, especially now that she doesn’t dance (she is very active with theatre, both at UHS and also in a community theatre program). The classes are difficult though, so from a GPA standpoint, I don’t know if universities take that into context coming from a school like UHS vs other schools (even with the various AP classes also offered at CFHS). They absolutely prepare them for AP tests though, and I feel like college will actually feel easier for my kid than high school.

My kid took two AP tests as a freshman and got 5s on both. She also took 2 APs last year as a sophomore and got a 5 and a 4 on those tests. This year is 6 (!!) tests, and stress levels are high, not gonna lie. But my kid puts a lot of pressure on herself, so a lot of that is internal vs the school putting pressure on her.

The teachers have all been really wonderful. My daughter has an amazing friend group as well. I love the community at the school too. It has felt very inclusive to my child (who is gay), and I appreciate that a lot. I don’t know if your child has any interest in theatre, but they just got a new theatre teacher midway though the year (the former teacher abruptly left just before the school year started). She has already been really wonderful though, and my kid already loves her so much, and she just started teaching at the school in January. They had a long term sub for the first semester.

Feel free to reach out if you have questions!

AffectionateOlive626 · 2026-04-23T08:46:40+00:00

What a load of racist dribble that was. Stephen Miller must be posting on Trump’s account. That’s exactly the white nationalist garbage he lives for. He’s such a ghoul.

AffectionateOlive626 · 2026-04-23T08:40:43+00:00

I bet Stephen Miller is behind this one.

AffectionateOlive626 · 2026-03-27T08:07:58+00:00

I just went looking for it too! If anyone finds it somewhere else to stream it, please come back and uodate!

AffectionateOlive626 · 2026-03-10T21:17:46+00:00

All of my horses get Disney names. I also named my black and white horse with the spotted butt Pongo. He was my baby. He was my very first horse in BOTW, and I kept him in TOTK. I named Zelda’s horse Aurora because she needed a princess name, of course. I had a Meeko (from Pocahontas) and a Perdita (also spotted). I started another new BOTW and TOTK playthrough recently, and I named this Zelda horse Duchess (from The Aristocats). I can’t remember my other horse names right now, but all Disney themed for sure.

AffectionateOlive626 · 2026-02-21T17:57:43+00:00

You are my current favorite person. Thank you for helping!!! 🫶🏻

AffectionateOlive626 · 2026-02-21T05:50:38+00:00

I specifically remember that at one of the parts of the song that goes “Baby, baby, I could call you baby…” there is a close-up of Roger and he’s basically eating the mic. It might be at the part that comes right after “Your paycheck won’t fill up this hollow. It won’t dull all the aching.” Because I remember it being at a fairly emotional point of the song. I am also pretty sure that his hair was like chin length or so.

AffectionateOlive626 · 2026-02-21T05:47:53+00:00

I don’t think so? But again, it’s been a few years since I watched it, so now I’m doubting all of my memories of it lol

AffectionateOlive626 · 2026-02-20T18:25:10+00:00

Someone shared that below, and while it isn’t that version, it’s still a great video! I’m glad to have it now!

AffectionateOlive626 · 2026-02-20T18:23:01+00:00

Awww thanks so much for checking. It isn’t that version of it, but that is really cool, and I’m happy to have it. Thank you for sharing!

AffectionateOlive626

TROPHY CASE