There are so many things I am grateful for every day of my life, and it is so important to look back on your life with gratitude. I am grateful for my time at OVS and the family I have here. I am grateful for my teachers who care about me and want me to continue to get better. I am grateful for my mom who supports me in every decision I make and is always on my side. I am grateful for my dad who pushes me to be my best and makes my dreams possible. I am grateful for my grandparents who keep my whole family close and are the most generous people I’ve ever met. I am grateful for all of my opportunities and all of the things that are laid out in front of me, and I am grateful for all of the things I have worked so hard for.
A Letter
write a letter to your younger self.
Dear ___________,
i haven’t yet made it, but hopefully I will. School just started and its already been a lot but what else did I expect, a calm year ? No, unfortunately not but then again its only the beginning. My only hope is I make it into my dream college and can pay for it.
this is the typical things I would expect in a letter maybe more personal updates but i’m not going to write those here.
To be honest i’m sure my younger self would be a little disappointed but who knows. She would be so happy if I could get into college. maybe i should re-do my letter.
hey
I haven’t gotten into college and its a lot more stressful then i thought it would be. My advice start applying to scholarships as early as you can. You’re in some trouble but hopefully we’ll be able to pull ourselves out of this mess. There is one thing I should say to you,
I’m sorry, i’m so so so sorry.
anyways thats all 185 words later
Love
To think about love terrifies me. The scary thing about love is that you never know when it is coming or when it is about to end. To my mind the scariest fragment of love is whether I get to have the experience of loving another or another loving me. For the majority of people this is not something that is in the line of thinking on a regular basis. The ongoing want and urge to have the ideal teenage love as if we were starring in our own movie with nothing to fright because we have each other to hold on too. Immaturity gets the best of us during these situations. At this age, in this generation, the little things are considerably left unnoticed. Where has all of the innocence gone? Now we have to worry whether the person we desire has opened our snap or text message rather than opened our hand written letters sent through mail. The meaningful moments within love have simply disappeared. Do I look good enough to snap him right now? Runs through my head like a bullet. Where have the simple walks through the park retired too? Now all the meaningfulness has taken a leave. The falling asleep on accident while admiring the world’s beauty has changed, to the falling asleep watching a rated R movie with no thoughts at all. No simple conversations, just silence. The silence that comes along with the “love” of this generation is not as peaceful or calm as it once was. What happened to the innocence of painting together with the one you like while the sunsets below the mountain tops? What happened to the stargazing on a picnic blanket in a large open field? Where has the love in the world gone? And then one day you wake up and suddenly realize real love is gone and life is not like the movies. Life is not like how it was decades ago. Life has changed and love has developed into a scary step into the long road of life.
Photo Credits:Me
Best friends
All my life, I’ve considered many different people to be my best friend, and these people have come and gone. During my freshman orientation, my eye caught a girl wearing the same outfit I was planning on wearing. After an hour of name games and icebreakers, I decided I was going to talk to her. The first thing I said, which we still joke about today, is “To be honest you look like the only normal person here.” She brought me to her room and then we went to lunch together, little did I know she was going to be my best friend. On the first day of classes, I realized she was in my history and we quickly got close. The next weekend I had an argument and fell out with my school friends from the previous year. I started only hanging out with her and I learned to love her so much, we found out we had so much more in common then we could’ve imagined. As the year continued we just grew closer and closer, we ended up going to a concert together and hanging out outside of school. In April i got very close with two other girls and subliminally pushed her away. I didn’t stop being friends with her, I just started hanging out with these other girls more. As summer neared I worried our friendship would fade as she lives in LA and we both were traveling a lot. The exact opposite happened, we talked every day and got way closer we only saw each other once which was sad but we enjoyed our day together. In the middle of the summer, I had a falling out with the two girls I mentioned earlier and I was crying in the car with my mom when we passed her mom’s house and saw her mom outside. As our moms talked she came out and hugged me and held me as I cried in her arms. At that moment I realized she was more than just another best friend she was like a sister. I’ve never loved anyone the way I love her I genuinely don’t know what I would do without her. Sometimes we make jokes about being platonic soulmates and that may or may not be true but one thing is for sure she’s my best friend. She isn’t like any other “best friend” I’ve had before and I know she’s going to read this. I was thinking about what I was gonna write my post about this week and someone said write about something you really love and other than Taylor Swift, I truly love her. This year we have almost every class together and nothing could make me more happy than spending my whole day with her.
the importance of good friends
My favorite thing my dad has ever taught me, is to surround yourself with people who add value to your life. What he meant by that is not people who buy you things or add to your social status, but people who make you happy and help you to improve yourself. People who are always working to improve themselves and bring others up, not beat them down. This is because when you are around people who love to have fun and have goals for themselves, it encourages you to implement those traits in your own personality. It is so important to learn this lesson early in life because you can get a head start on making meaningful relationships for the rest of your life. I believe understanding this is a big step forward in being the happiest you can be. This of course goes both ways, add value into other’s lives and be the person people want to be around and surround themselves with.
pc: me
junior year
Here I am, middle of summer, joyful that my previous sophomore year has come to a close. AP world history, honors Spanish and English, the works – all complete with passing grades. Looming over my head, however, are the glories of AP summer assignments. From math problems to note-taking, complex foreign novels to essays, the workload sort of makes me want to die.
Here I am, first day of junior year, thinking that all my classes aren’t actually that bad. my teachers seem nice, my classmates seem fun, and the workload seems reasonable so far. not sure what all the intense foreshadowing of the doom of junior year was all about. Maybe the summer workload was only meant to scare us into being ultra-prepared when in reality the year will be way less horrible.
Here I am, end of the first week of junior year, already wishing to be back to the first day still in the mindset of blissful ignorance 🙂
And there will only be more to come…
Summer Adventure
This summer was very fulfilling and gave me the opportunity to learn more about nature. I worked as a tour guide in the mangroves. Mangroves are a wonderful place. A mangrove is an entire tree that grows in brackish water where fresh water from the river and salt water from the ocean mix. I did not know that mangroves are good for the global environment until I worked there this summer. Mangroves can absorb about twice as much carbon dioxide as ordinary trees. However, in recent years, they have been dying due to global warming. Therefore, I decided to pick up seeds and plant them to regenerate mangroves. I also taught these activities to elementary school students as part of their education, creating an opportunity to connect the town with the environment. I also gave tours not only to Japanese but also to foreign tourists. These tours allowed me to see a world I had never seen before. I felt that being able to speak two languages would be a great weapon for me in the future. I also learned how wonderful it is to connect with people. By talking to nearly 20 new people every day, I was able to make many new discoveries. I believe that these will be great assets for me in my future life.Lastly, by canoeing every day, I was able to grow not only mentally but also in muscle.I hope that many people around the world will come to know about mangroves in the future.
pc: me
Traveling
This summer, I traveled somewhere that I had never been before. Being in an entirely new place was incredible to me. The sites. The sounds. The people. The culture. The overall difference in atmosphere from where I usually am was a major shift for me. I absolutely loved everything. Everywhere I went, from something as simple as (i know it sounds funny) an alleyway to something major like a landmark was so amazing to see. Traveling far away from what I am familiar with was nothing short of life changing. I am so grateful for my time there, as I did not want to leave once my time had come. I hope that I can return there some day in the near future. This location truly was the most gorgeous place I have ever visited. The part of my trip that really made it special was spending time with my friend. We made so many memories together that I will cherish forever. “Home” is not always a place, but a person.
pc: me
Fall in Love
When the leaves turn crisp, brown, and fall I know something is coming… My favorite season. The start of what seems like new beginnings. When the leaves crumble and resprout so do I. In the fall the air is fresh of cinnamon, pumpkins, and pie. The beginning of the holidays with family and friends resume once again. Pumpkin tea with a side of Gilmore Girls. Outfits become cuter as the layering begins for the fast coming winter. A cute scarf to go with the most perfect pair of ugg slippers is almost as fall as it gets. As much as I love winter(only because of christmas and my birthday) I do love fall a little extra. The thought of being cozied up in a warm delightful bed watching seasonal movies and special episodes of my favorite shows. Cooking and baking with my favorite soul, as we watch the rain pour down through the window we briskly pour the batter into the pan. Another anticipated rainy day. As the fireplace crackles and the rain patters I read the most enrapturing book. As I lay in bed thoughts flood through, thoughts of love, romanticizing, and adoration. The way a faultless fall finishes must intend falling in love.
PC: Both by me.
Realizations
This year is different, and that sounds weird, but it truly is. When I was younger, I always dreamed of being a high schooler; the freedom, the friends, and more intrigued me. Now that I’m 14, I wish I was 6 again, and all I was worrying about was what color twinkle toes I would get for my birthday. Now theres always another rumor, another assignment ,another lecture from my mom about being responsible. This years different I’m not12 going into 8th grade, my mom’s not driving me to school anymore my brother is, my dad isn’t constantly checking in on me and my plans but now let me be.In 3 days ill be 15 and I’ll be able to drive in 6 months. That also means my next birthday is my last birthday with my brother before he goes to collage. The thought of not living with each other is hard to wrap my head around.I haven’t spent more time with anyone then him, although we used to argue a lot we were never not there for each other . Although sometimes he is my biggest opp i guess just looking out for me, i can’t imagine not living with him.Similar thoughts crossed my mind as I was helping my friend pack for college as we packed her room she found old photos and letters and told me to enjoy high school and cherish my time with my senior friends. That came back to me at the start of school this was my friend last first day of high school , I cant imagine school without her. Im not the biggest fan of school but my 2 best friends make it 100 times better. They have made high school in the short time ive been here so much better. I could never imagine better friends. I guess all things have to end and evolve but i wish i could go back and tell 6 year old me to stop dreaming about being a high schooler and enjoy being a little kid.
OVS Journalism Blog 
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