Billy Collins Inspired Poem

Growing up

 

I wake up at six AM regularly

Facing the responsibilities of the day seems almost cruel

Like a thousand pound weight I have tied on my back

Each year, they grow twice the size.

1000, 2000, 3000

Until one crumples beneath it.

The weight will win,

Unless I say it can’t.

It won’t win.

I become stronger everyday.

Final Reflection Post

1.                   

             

              1.  This semester I have let myself become very open with my writing.  Some pieces I've written include one of my favorites, “Dent in the Pillow” that I posted on my blog.  I loved the story behind it.  How the boys love for the girl was so strong that he sat in front of her house every day for months after she died.  Tragedies are so relatable to society and I feel like it gets great responses just because people have been there.  They read a story about a loved one dying of cancer or suicide and they think, “Wow that happened to me.”  Writing is such a great way to connect people. It shows society that people go through hardships every day and that you’re not alone.  “Dent in the pillow was my favorite short story I wrote just because the topic was easy to write about because it is so relevant and hard hitting.

      On my own though, I have actually started to write a book.  Only a few people know about this actually. It’s not that far along because I’ve been spending a lot of time on individual chapters, making them perfect.  It is another one of those stories that is deep and motivational.  I don’t want to share too much because it’s not finished, but I’m really hoping it turns out like I picture it will.

2.              2.  The piece that I read that stood out to me the most was the Maya Angelou writing.  I found such truth and honesty in her words, and I obviously had a lot to say about it if you look at my response writing.  I just loved what she said about power and how it’s subjective.  I related to the overcoming of obstacles she would share.  Like for example, how she wouldn't speak when she was a child.  Although I was a very loud and annoying child, I understand the feeling of being terrified like she was. 

3.               3.   My blog was an interesting experience.  I was really uncomfortable at first about posting my work for everyone to see, just because I write about such personal things.  I quickly got over that though when I realized everyone else is just like me. 

I came up with the title “Head in the Clouds” because I daydream…..a lot.  When I do, I am always making up random snippets of stories in my head and sometimes when they feel right, I transfer them to paper and elaborate.  Truthfully, many of my stories come from when I zone out in Algebra class…

 Part of me wants to continue my blog, but I am one of those people who is terrible about sticking to something.  I’ll tell myself I’ll do one thing, and then I get lazy and do the opposite.  If I do continue though, I will most likely post deep inspirational writings because I feel like that is what I do best.  I love helping people and making them feel like they mean something and I’m able to do that with my writing.

4.             4.  I've kept journals my entire life.  Even in elementary school I would be that kid that starts out a page, “Dear Diary.”  I do a different version of that now.  I journal when I’m upset.  If I’m angry, I write letters to the people that wronged me.  It would make me feel so much better to get out my feelings on paper, but never sending it and starting more drama then necessary.  I have probably at least 3 notebooks filled with letters I wrote but never sent.

5.              5.    “When I write, it’s always best when it’s a time I need to escape reality and dive into a new one. I use my laptop because I can type my ideas faster than I can write them.  I always lay on my couch in my room, hopefully bundled up with a space heater on next to me because I like to be warm.  I connect my beats into the computer and listen to my favorite country songs.  What I find odd is that I always tent to write best late at night.  I think it’s because that is when my meds wear off and I’m able to truly express every emotion instead of it being covered up.”     

6.             6. Scars on the surface shouldn't determine

             Its immensity

Or worth.

Its true beauty is immense in itself.

Just have to give it a chance.

I feel sorry for those who don’t see the

Immensity

Of judgment and mistreatment

Our world is imperfect.

But it’s still a good one

7.                 7.  Writing will always be a part of my life.  It has been since the beginning and I never plan on stopping. I don’t know what my future holds as far as a career, if I’ll do something with creative writing or not. What I do know is that no matter where I end up, I’ll have notebooks stacked up in my closet.  I’ll have hundreds of them, filled with my inner thoughts and emotions.

8.                 8.  Keep writing.  Honestly, that’s all I have to say.  Never stop because every single one of you are amazing and talented and you all deserve the best that life has to offer.  I’ve read your stories and I truly have been so impressed with your passion and love.  Please never stop because your writing can be your gift to the world one day.

9.              9. It’s been a great semester. Thank you Mrs. Fraser for the creative freedom you give this class.  

101 Things About Me

1. I’m 16 years old and I’ve been told I act like a child as well as an adult.
2. I listen to the same songs until my ears bleed, and then listen to them some more.
3. There are many different sides and moods to me.
4. I am terrified of caves and have been since a field trip to one in second grade.
5. I can watch movies over and over again and still cry or laugh as much as I did the first time.
6. My junior year has been the hardest but also the most rewarding.
7. I can do yo-yo tricks.
8. I know how to make nearly anything out of duct tape.
9. In elementary school I put my hair in a low ponytail with the part still present…I don’t want to talk about it.
10. The first fight I had with my friends was over a snow globe.
11. I am a caring person who seems to get taken for granted too often.
12. I never thought I’d be interested in a science major until this year.
13. My grandma was my best friend before she passed.
14. I have a slight obsession with YouTube and YouTubers.
15. I could live off popcorn and Chinese food.
16. My little brother is one of my best friends and I wouldn’t trade him for anything in the world.
17. Give me money and I’ll spend it, most likely on food.
18. If you like One Tree Hill, then I like you.
19. My hair is split end infested.
20. This is my favorite number.
21. I come from a family where our life revolves around my brother playing hockey, and I’m okay with that.
22. Bridges over water give me horrible anxiety.
23. This is Nathan Scott’s from One Tree Hill basketball number. I love him hehe.
24. This is my brother’s hockey jersey number.
25. My favorite thing to do as a kid was set up a long table and collapse one sides legs and use it as a slide.
26. I try to be a good catholic, it just becomes hard in high school.
27. Finally beginning to learn who you are is the best feeling in the world.
28. This is totally weird but when I have water in my wars, I love the bubbly feeling when it comes out.
29. I wear a lot of scarves.
30. My friends are the most important people to me.
31. I got bit by a dog on my face when I was four.
32. Going to a Catholic school as a child helped prepare me for my life now.
33. If you watch Pretty Little Liars with me, your eardrums will burst.
34. I am in love with my aunt’s mashed potatoes.
35. I hate winter but I love Christmas.
36. Quitting competitive swimming was the best decision I have ever made.
37. I don’t consider myself to be a smart person. I have to work to get good grades.
38. My half an acre backyard was my playground, it had everything fun in it.
39. I value confidence, not cockiness.
40. I want to be a mermaid.
41. Do not touch me with your feet.
42. Pink is my favorite color.
43. I love anything where I can live in an alternate reality like movies or TV.
44. I love to read quotes.
45. I am driven but also lazy.
46. I want four kids named Anthony, Michael, Brooke, and Madilyn.
47. Plums were my favorite food as a child.
48. I am a very independent person.
49. Every day after school, I get a sonic Dr. Pepper with extra ice.
50. I can be really insecure, but so can everyone else.
51. My two dogs are just about my favorite things on the planet.
52. Speaking of the planet, I love to study it thanks to Mr. Snyder.
53. I get cold easily.
54. My uncle owns 30 alpacas.
55. Cheetah Girls and High School Musical will always be my favorite movies.
56. I wasn’t allowed to watch Spongebob as a kid.
57. I’ve punched a car on purpose and nearly broke my hand. Don’t do that.
58. I’ve met Danielle Bradbery and Dan + Shay.
59. I love country concerts and I’ve been to quite a few.
60. Vladimir Terasenko from the St. Louis Blues is a total babe.
61. I’ve sent fan mail before.
62. If I like a book, I will sit and read it for as long as I can.
63. My family used to camp a lot and I hated it.
64. I played softball for half of my life.
65. I’ve always wanted to go to Greece.
66. Make a build-a-bear with me so I know it’s real.
67. I quote TV/Movies all the time.
68. I use my laptop for a large majority of my day.
69. I hated Kickapoo at first but now I look forward to going to school.
70. If I’m mistreated, I always end up making excuses for the person just to keep them in my life, but now I learned that’s not what I need in my life.
71. As a kid, I would refuse to drink milk.
72. I am often referred to as a “nerd”.
73. If I won a million dollars I would use it to make a difference rather than for personal use.
74. No matter how much a person has hurt me, I will always care. I can’t tell if that’s a good or bad thing.
75. I deleted my personal twitter because I was sick of having to take up so much time.
76. I hate algebra.
77. I enjoy making my friends feel special.
78. If I have a relationship that is spontaneous and fun with little drama, I would be so thankful.
79. I enjoy making crafts so much.
80. Nothing makes me happier than being in the presence of people I love.
81. I hate the color purple.
82. I didn’t have cable as a kid so I watched cyberchase every day after school.
83. I had to wear the ugliest uniforms at catholic school and I hated every second of it.
84. Michelle Obama and her stupid health rules make me madder than anything and it ruins my day.
85. I love to travel and see new places but I’m also a homebody and love to just chill at home.
86. I love dramatic books and movies but if that kind of drama happened in my life I’d be screwed.
87. I am so incredibly scared of drowning.
88. Even as a kid, I loved watching shows about hospitals and episodes where someone gets injured. I don’t know why, I just found it fascinating.
89. I am quiet when you first meet me, but then I turn into this hyper and annoying child.
90. I have a story that can be a sad one at times.
91. My idol is Danielle Bradbery because she reached her dreams at such a young age and someday, I want to be that courageous.
92. I would consider myself to be responsible.
93. Although I am bad about procrastinating homework I don’t want to do.
94. I have won awards for my writing and it is probably the best feeling in the world.
95. I have a unique personality that only certain people can deal with, and those people are the nes I want to be friends with for the rest of my life.
96. I love my parents, I guess I just get frustrated with them from time to time and I don’t show it enough.
97. Holidays with my family are loud, loving, and exciting and it is my favorite time of the year.
98. When I grow up, I just want to settle down and have a family and a solid career.
99. I’m ready to get out of high school, but I am also terrified of growing up.
100. There is nothing better than feeling loved.
101. I have been mistreated my friends my entire life, and when I decided to make a huge change in my life this year when it came to the people I hang out with, It made me a happier all around person and I am so grateful I got the courage to make that decision.

Food Memories

              

            I have a large family.  We cram nearly 50 family members in a small two bedroom house on holidays.  We may be short on space, but one thing we are never short on is food.  I swear the amount of food takes up more than the people do.  Platters upon platters of deserts are stacked up on the kitchen table.  The biggest and juiciest turkey is being strewn to pieces, nearly ready to serve.  My aunt’s homemade mashed potatoes and gravy make my mouth water.  It has always been my favorite, I eat multiple helpings of it.  My other aunt had made her recipe of mostaccioli with a glorious red sauce.  I could seriously eat that for days on end. 

Along with the amazing cooks in my family, we also have a great baker.  My aunt Didi makes the most amazing pastries and cakes I have ever tasted.  Her recipe for her cheesecake is my absolute favorite.  I always ask her to make that for my birthday and for holidays. I always attempt to smuggle some of it for myself to eat on the ride back home.  She also makes an exquisite caramel chocolate cake topped with pecans, my three favorite ingredients in one.

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays of all time.  It’s the holiday where it is completely acceptable to eat your body weight in food and then some.  Yes, Thanksgiving is about the food, but it’s also more than that.  It is the only holiday that makes you truly think about the things you have instead of the things you want.  It’s the day where you get to be thankful for the amazing people, experiences and things that make your life amazing.  It’s a day to reflect on your outlook on the way you’re living.  It gives you time to change your ways before Christmas comes along.  Thanksgiving is an amazing day to spend with the people you love and remember all that you have that others might not.

Photo Hunt

Someone who taught me something: Mr. Snyder not only taught me academically, but also to be confident in my own skin and that hard work can make anything and everything possible.

Something that will always remind me of KHS:  I've had a lot of great memories here, and a lot more to come.  Just seeing the chief head will always bring back all of them.

Interesting angle:  The wear and tear of the lockers that most students don't even use anymore have been covered up with the symbol of love, a heart.

Something a little kid might notice and find interesting: I mean how could they not find a dinosaur head interesting? Heck I still do.

Something handwritten: A whiteboard in Mrs. R's class, who did more for me my freshman year then just teach me the correct time to use a semicolon.

Someone I'd like to be more like: Mr. Mello of course!  He's awkward, but he also has the kind of confidence in himself that most of us would dream of having.

Something Beautiful:  What could be more beautiful than a reminder that everyone has beauty inside of them.  People forget that these days.

Something square:  A bag of food from the vending machines...You know what is awful? How they're only open part of the day.  I swear it's abuse.

Something from nature:  Rocks, I know not the most interesting thing in the world, or so you think.  They're actually pretty cool.  Earth science "rocks."

Something round:  The clock that changes at the slowest pace...It's the object that determines when I get to go home and eat until I fall asleep.

Iconic Photo? Or Internet Accident?

             I decided to take this assignment to a different view point than most my other classmates.  It’s safe to say that most of them did a huge tragic or remember able event caused by psychopathic terrorists or something.  What people don’t realize, a huge event doesn’t have to happen for a picture to become iconic.  Of course, the pictures of the World Trade center are devastating as well as school shooting memorials. Those are all important events that is near so many of our hearts in America. I just feel like so many of these pictures we call “iconic” make people sad because it shows how messed up our world is as well as the humans in it.

                I being a person who enjoys twisting assignments into ways people wouldn’t quite expect, decided to do something a bit humorous and something that teenagers on social media have seen.  I don’t think adults understand how powerful social media like twitter and Instagram truly are.  Think about it, one person who has 3,000 followers’ tweets a picture and each of them tweet it again and so on and so on. What ends up happening? It spreads quicker than a wildfire.  I know you are probably reading this and you know exactly what I am talking about.  You know exactly the picture I am referring too.  The only sixteen year old I have ever heard of get famous for absolutely nothing other than being at the right place at the right time, and having absolutely gorgeous hair of course.  That’s right, I am talking about Alex Lee, who is now known as Alex from Target.

                I know you’re probably sighing and thinking why in the world I am writing about Alex from Target when the assignment is supposed to be about iconic photos from the 2000’s.  If you really think about it though, this kid became internet famous from one stalker chick taking a picture of him while he was working at target, and tweeted it.  It was just his luck that the people of twitter found his account.

               I understand how overly talked about this guy is.  I just found the situation absolutely hilarious.  Other people not so much.  I get he didn’t do anything to become famous but it is just the power of the internet! He had nothing to do with getting famous whatsoever so I think people should just give him a break. I get he did nothing to deserve it and he did take the whole internet famous thing a little too far, but you would too if you had an entire country telling you that you're gorgeous. Not many people can pull off going from 300 to 600k twitter followers in under 24 hours.  It’s our fault he’s famous, not his. Even so, it was probably the most entertaining thing ever to watch him spread nationwide in one day.  I was definitely amused by it.

                As you can tell, I took this assignment to a weird and probably annoying angle.  You’re probably rolling your eyes as you’re reading this but whatever.  I found it incredibly humorous to find that teenagers on social media have that much power.  Who knows, one day we might take over this country and make everything simpler and maybe better, I mean we have the power part down already.  No I’m just kidding.  Honestly though, the whole Alex from target situation made me laugh and so that is why I decided to use it for my assignment.  I mean the picture did go viral so I guess you could say it’s iconic.

This is Me...

This is me.

There is nothing special about this picture.

It is just me

With my split end infested brunette locks

And my golden skin that dries and shrivels in the winter

This is my face being clogged with buckets of makeup

And it’s my smile that I try to use to make others happy

It is me being me.

What you don’t see though, is what I choose not to show.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.

I say this picture is worth one.

A lie.

What you can’t see from this picture is my story

You have no way of knowing

What is behind the girl with

The split ends

And the dry skin

And the layers of makeup

And the smile.

I’m a girl with a hard past

But a bright future.

I’m a girl with a mending heart

But also a caring one.

I’m a girl with a story.

A story of

Smiles

And tears

A story of

Happiness

And pain.

This picture is me.

But it’s me on the outside.

You have to stick around

To see the real me.