#24 Thanked You All

Even though my senior year has officially come to a close, I still don't believe it's over. It's hard for me to grasp the fact that my every day won't be spent at my high school. Yes, it is exciting that I'm finished with the high school chapter of my life, but it's a bittersweet feeling to say the least. I'm both happy and sad to leave. I have so much ahead of me, but there's so much that I'm leaving behind as well. I loved high school - everything about it. My friends, my classes (well, most of the time anyway), my lunch table, even my uniforms. And I will always look back on my days at the Academy with nostalgia. In all honesty, I think what made my high school experience so amazing were the people that surrounded me. I know for certain that it would not have been the same if they hadn't been there. Some I've been close to since I started school, and some were more recent additions, but all of them had an effect on me regardless of how long they've been friends of mine. This post will be short and sweet - kind of like high school. To all of my classmates, teachers, friends, and anyone else who has been with me throughout my high school years, thank you. Thank you for making me into the person that I am today. Thank you for being there whenever I needed you. Thank you for sharing yourselves with me. Thank you for making me laugh. Thank you for teaching me that I need to cherish every moment. Thank you for everything. I don't know about you all, but it's hard for me to imagine my days without my fellow Bloodhounds. I'd heard before that senior year flies by, but until now, I didn't realize how true it is. To all future seniors, don't let it fly by! It really is a special time, and I wish my senior year could've been longer. My time as a senior, and as a Bloodhound in general, was amazing, and I know that I'll always look back fondly, thanks in part to the people I spent the past six years with. I know this isn't the last I'll see of all of you, but until then, farewell.

And that, as they say, is all she wrote (about high school anyway; college is a whole other adventure to be had).

Congrats fellow grads! '12

#23 Stayed in Dance Class

There's no denying that there's something beautiful about ballet. The grace, poise, and understated human strength that dancers have is astounding to me. I used to take dance classes but stopped before I went to middle school. I remember always loving it when I did it. I'm not exactly sure why I quit, but this past weekend made me wish that I hadn't. Last Sunday, I went to my friend Miriam's dance recital. It was the ballet version of Alice in Wonderland, in which she starred as the Queen of Hearts. In my eyes, Miriam has always been a beautiful person. She is always happy, always kind, and always there when you need her - the ideal friend, basically. But when I saw her dance, she became even more beautiful. Through dance, she came alive while I sat in the audience in awe. Even though she was a villainous character, I saw the beautiful person she is. I think that's why dance is so magical. No matter what character you play, the skill involved in ballet makes the character beautiful. You hate the Queen of Hearts, but that doesn't make her any less of an amazing dancer. As I was sitting in the audience, I instantly regretted quitting dance because I realized that that could've been me. Well maybe not because I don't think I ever would've been as good as Miriam, but I could've been in one of those crazy costumes on the stage having the time of my life. I guess I didn't stay in dance class long enough to develop that drive that all dancers seem to have. They literally have to dance, and if they don't, they're lost. I have another dancer friend that comes to mind when I think about passion and drive. Her name is Griselda. Every year my school puts on a Style Show that the seniors star in. In it, the whole class is divided up into groups and all the groups learn a dance from different choreographers and model clothing from stores that are willing to lend their stuff. I was unlucky and lucky enough to be in a group with both Miriam and Gris. Unlucky because they're both amazing dancers and would make me look bad, and lucky because they helped me out more times than I could possibly count. It was Style Show that made me good friends with Gris because she spent so much time teaching me the routines that I should've already learned. She never failed to say yes to me any time I asked her to help me - regardless of what she was doing. She lives for dance, and she is always willing to help other people feel the magic from dance that she feels. She probably has more passion in one hair on her head than most people do in their entire bodies, and I'm always amazed by that. Dance brings out beautiful things in people. That I know because I know people like Miriam and Gris. It brings out grace, poise, strength, drive, passion, and, obviously, beauty. Those things make me wish I'd stayed. I may not have been very good at it, but I should've stayed so that I could've figured that out. Miriam and Gris stayed, and for that I will always admire them.

#22 Life Lesson

Let me start out by saying that I'm sorry I've been silent lately. I had such a great momentum there, but I've ruined it lately. I suppose it's a good thing that it's getting harder and harder for me to come up with things I should've done. It must mean I'm doing something right... right? In any case, there are still things I should've done - whether they be big or small. And although lately it seems to be taking me awhile to come up with them, they're still there. Again, I apologize for taking so long. I hope I can come close to compensating with this post. It probably won't be my best, but I'll try! Now, since my graduation from high school is quickly approaching, I've been trying to spend as much time with my friends as possible. And let me tell you, between choir practices and final projects and their busy schedules, it's a difficult thing to do. It's pretty much impossible to get my entire group of friends at the same place at the same time because we all do so much. But of course, I cherish the time that we do have together - whether or not all of us are there. I know for me personally, there have been several moments in my life when I've just zoned out and almost observed the scene in front of me as if I was an outsider. In these moments, I look at the people around me, laughing and smiling, and realize how lucky I am, how happy I am. In a way it reminds me of a theme song to a comedy-drama. You know, where there's a happy song playing and they show each member of the cast laughing or smiling or doing something cute. That's what's going on in my mind at these moments. This happened to me a couple weeks ago when I was at a friend's house watching a movie with a group. As I looked around at everyone singing "I'll Make a Man Out of You" from Disney's Mulan, (and actually that was my first time watching Mulan. I missed out on a lot of Disney movies as a kid, but more on that subject later) I saw how happy everyone was to be there with each other just watching a kiddy movie. Seeing everyone happy made me happy. It made me realize that I have to cherish the moments with the people I love the most before I won't be with them anymore. Sitting together watching Mulan garnered one of those out-of-body experiences for me. I looked on the scene with appreciation to every single person present. They are certainly some of my best friends because I've shared memories with each one of them. It's sad to think that I'll be without them in a few short months, but I would be silly not to take advantage of every moment with them now. I won't spend my time with them thinking about what it's going to be like without them. And this isn't specific to me and my friends. It applies to almost anyone and anything in life. We shouldn't spend our time thinking about what we don't have now or what we won't have it the future because it's a waste. Life lesson for the day: cherish what you have in the present. I'm sure you've heard it before, but it's worth saying time and time again. To close, I want to say thank you to my friends who forced me to watch Mulan. You gave me both a childhood re-do and a lifelong memory. It may have seemed like nothing, but it meant the world to me, so thank you all. Now that I look back on this post, it's not really something I should've done, but I guess I'll just go with it anyway!