19. Mental Picture

Brainstorming a list of favorite images from my life is not difficult, right away I see my friends and I in The Bahamas (where). We had started planning our trip a year in advance when we were just becoming seniors in high school. Six days and five nights, this would be our senior trip for after we graduate. There is a company we had signed up with, for the trip called Grad Week and it advertised The Best Week of Your Life. I had about 20 of my friends signed up for the trip so it was fun everyday in school looking forward to traveling with them (who). Our senior year went by in the blink of an eye. We graduated from high school in June, on a Thursday and left that following Saturday night for our trip (when). 

The Gradweek company sent us each information for our flight. Four of my closest friends and I had gotten dropped off together at the Los Angeles International Airport and the rest of our friends met us at the American Airlines gate (how). While getting our boarding passes printed and checking our bags, my excitement was building as I could not believe I would shortly be in paradise with my favorite people. We boarded the flight that would first take us to Miami International airport where we would have a layover for about two hours. From there, it was only an hour flight to The Bahamas. Once we got onto the second flight everyone was so anxious to land and everyone felt it, we could not wait to be on the beach in the white sand and clear water.

Once we had landed in paradise, the company had buses outside waiting to take us to our resort. When we arrived at the resort we had to sit through an hour long mandatory orientation which explained the rules and guidelines, from there we checked into our rooms and all went straight to the beach. The resort we stayed at was all inclusive, free drinks at four different bars and free food all unlimited. Each night the company had set up a bus or taxi ride to take us to a local club or bar and every night had its own theme. The island was amazing, our resort offered so much including paddle boarding, kayaking, tubing, jet skis and even an inflatable water park. We even were able to take a taxi into town one day to walk through the local street market. I think this image comes to mind because my friends and I had so much fun every day and we made memories we will never forget (why). The trip felt like it went by so fast but it truly was the best week of our lives and I did not want to go back home. Flying back to reality over the crystal blue water made me realize how much I love The Bahamas and that I will have to go back at one point in my life. I am forever grateful to have experienced this trip with all of my friends.

76. Adventure 

     I had chosen the word adventure because it sparks a recent memory for me. This recent summer, I went on a road trip adventure across the United States and visited a total of ten states in four days. For this trip I had started out in California, where I used to live.

From California, I flew into Portland International Airport in Oregon where my grandparents picked me up. From there we drove into Lilliwaup, Washington where my family cabin is at and we spent a couple days up there. After enjoying a little vacation at the cabin we left for our road trip to Kansas. On our first day we had driven through the rest of Washington, and had a nice lunch in Leavenworth which was about three and a half hours out from our cabin. After lunch we had driven an additional three and a half hours to where we would stay that first night in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. The next morning it took seven hours to drive to Billings, Montana where we had stopped to see the famous Wall Drug Store. We made two stops on that day to get to Billings and that was where we stayed on our second night. On our third day of driving, we went through part of Wyoming, then to Rapid City, South Dakota where I got to visit Mt. Rushmore, The Corn Palace, and I even got to zip line for the first time. After driving six hours that day we stayed in Sioux Falls, South Dakota that night. For our fourth and last day of driving, we got up and left early in the morning to head through Sioux City, Iowa and a small part of Nebraska. From there we drove through St. Joseph and would eventually end up in Overland Park, Kansas which would be my home. On our last day we drove six hours which made the trip a total of twenty-six hours of driving. Out of the ten states I went on this trip, eight of them were states that I had never been to before. I had also never seen the Wall Drug Store, Mount Rushmore, Corn Palace, and had also never been ziplining until this summer. I also have never been on a road trip across the country but I feel beyond thankful to have been able to see and experience these places for the first time and with my grandparents. I think that the word adventure stood out to me because I really enjoy visiting new places that I have never been before and adventuring what that place has to offer. Also while driving this whole trip with my grandparents, I learned more about where they have travelled to both states and countries and I believe that inspired me to visit more places, even outside the United States. I can now say that I have been to fourteen out of the fifty states and I plan on seeing the other thirty-six states at one point in my life.

48. My Music 

After playing some of my songs and albums, I realized I listen to all types of music. I listen to my music on spotify and my playlists are basically all different types of music with songs that fit in that type. 

My Bossy playlist has artists that are all girl boss’s like Lizzo, Cardi, City Girls, Saweetie, Meg, and Beyonce. Some lyrics of songs from this playlist that bring up some bossy feelings would be when I relate to “Same group of b’s, ain’t no adding to the picture” in City Girls song Act Up, because I’ve had the same group of best friends for the past couple years and we haven’t added anyone to the picture. In Truth Hurts, when Lizzo said “Why men great ’til they gotta be great?” I felt that because guys are cool and all until they need to be. My favorite song in this playlist that makes me feel bossy would be Money Good by Megan The Stallion, she said “I ain’t gotta worry ’bout it, money good” because I’m not worried about anything right now and I’m making money so I feel good. 

In my Feels playlist, I mostly have songs that put me in my feels. My most listened to artists from this playlist are a mix of Miguel, Usher, Drake, Khalid, Akon, Ty Dolla Sign, SZA, and Kid Cudi. My favorite song from this playlist would be Nights Like This by Khelani and Ty Dolla Sign because it put me in my feelings when she said “On some nights like this, I just wanna text you, but for what? You gon’ say you want me, then go switch it up”. This had me feeling some type of way because I feel like there’s sometimes I wanna text a person that I know I shouldn’t and then I remember but for what?

In my All playlist, I have a mix of all different types of songs and artists. This playlist is a mix of Rap, Hip Hop, Pop, R&B, and Dance. The artists in this playlist are the best and all make me feel a different way. From Post Malone to YG, Mustard, 2Pac, SOBXRBE, Pouya, Trippie, and more, all of these artists are well known. Trippie Redd usually puts me in a good mood because the beats of his songs are always good. Shoreline Mafia makes me want to do something illegal because their music is about drugs or with the gang. 

In my Country playlist I have seventy-five songs from mainstream artists like Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, John Pardi, Florida Georgia Line, Old Dominion, Chris Stapleton and Kacey Musgraves and more. I grew up listening to country and I have always liked listening to it. 

Then I have songs that remind me of certain times or places in my life and those are just kept in my favorites. Topanga by Trippie Redd is a good vibe and always reminds me of when I was back home and would drive to Topanga in The Valley with friends or to meet up with some friends. The song Shots by LMFAO and Lil John brings back memories of my friends and I at the clubs in the bahamas because we took a lot of shots on that trip. 

 

23. Well-known Issue

On October 1st of 2017, a shooter opened fire on the crowd of a concert at the Route 91 Harvest music festival. 58 people were killed that night and left over 500 injured. At about 10 o’clock that night, I was at home with my mom when we received a call from my brother. Before my mom could even say hello, I heard terror in my brothers voice when he yelled “I love you always” through the phone. We had heard gunshots and people screaming in the background as my brother tried to tell us that he had lost where his friends went, that he had found something to hide behind, and that his phone was going to die soon. He also wanted us to tell our sister that he called to say I love you but she did not answer. He had told us that he was going to hide until the gunfire stopped and then he would try to find his friends and call us back. After he hung up, I drove to my sisters to wake her up and let her know what was going on. As I was driving over I couldn’t stop thinking that might be the last time I heard my brothers voice and that while I was driving, my brother and his friends were being shot at. At this point we had no idea what was going on, the news had not even been on TV yet. Ten minutes later, I was crying with my mom and sister and finally we got some information from the news. We found out that the shooter was not on the concert grounds but that many had been injured and killed already. My brother was there with friends but we also had other family friends that were there as well. My mom started getting calls from other parents to see if my brother way okay and let us know their kid was safe too. It was a waiting game, waiting to hear from my brother and waiting to get information from the news. We heard on TV that the shooter was found in the Mandalay Bay hotel on the 32nd level and that he was now dead. Later that night we got a call from my brother letting us know that he was safe and that he would be staying in a hotel on the strip with a room full of other kids that were at the concert because the hotel they were staying at originally, was the Mandalay Bay, where the shooter was at. I did not sleep that night as I imagine nobody else did. That weekend we flew him home and since then it has been a tough subject. It made me realize that anything can happen at anytime. Before this, there had been other mass shootings in the US but I never realized how bad this problem was until it affected my family and friends. These mass shootings are the issue, whether it is the shooter themselves or the access to guns, bottom line is that it needs to stop. Just over a year later, the Borderline Bar shooting happened which was only 20 minutes away from my home and that made it clear to me that America does have a serious problem and it needs to be fixed somehow, soon.

41. Five Year Plan 

Five years from now, I have a lot of plans or goals for myself that I would like to accomplish. Some people create a five year plan to list their unrealistic goals or dreams without trying to achieve them within that time period. However, with my five year plan, I think that my goals are a more realistic. Currently, I am attending Johnson County Community College to get my Associate of Arts Degree. I plan on spending two years attending this college to complete my general college credits and receive my Associate Degree. After my two years completing my general credits, I would like to attend a four year University. My top college that I would love to attend would be University of Washington. UW has been my dream school since I have been able to think about college. I would like to get my Business Degree from this college, if not another University. I estimate my time at a University would take four years to complete my classes. During the time that I would be attending college, I would like to work and have a job like usual. During these five years, I expect to expand as a person both mentally and physically. I would like to be in a stable situation with housing, work, and school. I want to achieve these specific goals because I would like to create and own my own business. For that, I need a Business Degree and I would love to complete that at UW. I would like to expand as a person because I believe that change is good and constant. These goals imply that I have a dream for my life as of right now. I know very well that I could not be accepted into the University of Washington, that Johnson County Community College could take me a year longer than expected, and that I may change my mind on what I want to major in, but I also know that I will work very hard to try and make whatever it is I want, happen. If I fail, so be it, but I will not give up and I will continue to look for a way to achieve my goals. I think these goals imply that I am organized and hard-working as a person. A lot of students are attending college just to attend, but I know that I want my Business degree after I complete my credits or Associate. My five year plan involves a lot of school time because I want a good education and career. After one more year to complete at Johnson County Community College, I will attend a University for four years which totals up to five years of school coming up. I do get overwhelmed thinking about how I will be attending college for another five years, but I am relieved knowing it will all pay off when I finish. I do not have a set plan for after these five years, but I do have more dreams and goals that I would like to achieve. 

15. Most Important Memories

I have experienced a lot in my 18 years of life and have made some of the best memories. At the same time I have made some of the worst memories. Good or bad, there are some I will never be able to forget. A memory that has left a physical mark on me would be when I went to my family cabin in Washington when I was eight years old and while I was playing outside with a kid from next door, he decided to throw some rocks and one of them ended up hitting me in the face. The rock was so sharp and big that is sliced open my face and knocked me out. When I woke up, I was surrounded by the neighbors and my family looking terrified. My skin had peeled halfway down my face and my dad had taken his white shirt off to put on my face and stop the bleeding. We had to drive two hours to the closest Hospital where I got three stitches and a scar for the rest of my life. This is an important memory because it was a traumatic day for me and to this day, people ask me where I got the scar on my face from. Another big memory that I have and feel like I’ll never forget would be when I threw my graduation and going away party. The day after graduating high school I had my family over to celebrate. I had all of my family and family friends over and my grandparents even came from out of state to just hangout and have dinner. As my family was over, I felt so loved and appreciated. I always feel appreciated but it was a different feeling and it was probably because I would be moving five states over a couple days later. After spending a good time with my family, I felt good and sure that I was making the right decision moving away and glad that I had the support from all these people. After spending a couple hours with my family, they left and it was time to throw a real party. My family left and my close friends were over in less than thirty minutes. Thirty minutes after that, half of my senior class was at my house and lets just say it was a crazy, wild and good night. After this night I had a different look on everything in my life and that is why this memory is important. Another memory that I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forget would be playing soccer for ten years. I had so many great and horrible memories from playing soccer. One great memory would be when I scored the first goal on my first soccer game, I remember how excited I was and how loud my family was cheering. One bad memory I had in soccer would be losing a championship game. It sucked because we lost but also because my team had played with the minimum amount of players the whole weekend. We had played four games, this was our fifth in two days and all of us were beyond exhausted. We were so close to winning and lost by one, I’ll always remember this because that was my favorite team and although we lost, we had a great weekend before then. 

7. What I am Thankful For

Since I was young my family has always taught me that life is a great gift and everything else is extra. Because of this I have always been thankful for life itself and grateful for anything else I receive. Everyday I am thankful to be alive, be another person on earth, and just glad to exist. Some natural coming things that I am thankful for, would be my mom, my house, part of my family, and my friends. My mom has done the most for me and I would be literally nothing without her constantly pushing me. I will always be thankful for my mom and I plan on making everything up to her eventually later on in my life. Some things that I believe are extra, that I am thankful for, would be my car, my job, my school, pizza, ice cream, my clothes and anything else that I have to get and does not come naturally to me. I believe the point in life is to be grateful to wake up every day and what makes your life yours is based on what you choose to do each day. I am thankful to have the perspective on life that I have.

47. My Junk 

Sorting through my trinkets I realized that I have a lot of junk, but also a lot of memories with every piece of junk. The first item that I noticed would be my mini ukulele. I used to play soccer when I was younger and each year, I would have a tournament in San Diego, California. After my games, my teammates and our parents would all go out to eat and visit the area we were staying at that weekend. My first year in San Diego, we went to the old town and every store had mini colorful ukuleles so of course, I had to get one. I got one that year and every year that I went back there and now I only have one because all of the strings broke on the others. This ukulele brings back good memories spent with my old soccer team, so I am not planning on getting rid of it, unless it breaks. The next item that I got excited to find, would be my old polaroid. My old polaroid is bright pink, and I got it from my grandparents as a gift when I visited them in Kansas a couple years ago. I remember I used to take this polaroid everywhere with me because I like having printed pictures, rather than on my phone. This polaroid has been to many states like Washington, Arizona, California, Kansas and even the Bahamas. This camera helped me keep capture some moments so I can keep those memories forever. I do not plan on getting rid of this polaroid, even if it broke, I still think it is a cool thing to own. Another chachski that I actually forgot that I had, would be my bobblehead Hawaiian hula girl. My best friend Rhyanna traveled to Hawaii last year and brought me back a couple things, including a hula girl. Instead of putting it on the dash in my car, I decided to just keep it in its box. Although I forgot about it and the box kind of got squished, I am not planning on getting rid of it because my best friend is the one who gave it to me, and I have never been to Hawaii, so it means a lot to me. The last thing that I picked would be my photobook from my senior year. This photobook means a lot to me because it has pictures from every single event or thing I did or went to, during my senior year of high school. Not only does it bring back some of the best memories, but helps me remember how loved I am. I went to high school in California and now am attending college in Kansas so sometimes it can be hard missing my friends, so when I do, I like to look through these photos. My mom is the one who put this book together so that makes it feel even more special to me. I do not plan on getting rid of this photo album at all.