2013, Part 1- How It Started (my journal entry)

I can’t believe another year has come and gone so quickly. I want to start by sharing a journal entry that I wrote last New Year’s Eve. I typed it because I had a lot to say but also because I felt that it would be important to look back on what I said next year. This is truly what I wrote and how I felt and I never expected I’d be sharing this.

Monday December 31, 2012, 11:30 PM.

Wow, a half hour left of 2012. Where do I begin? Well, first off, I want to start by recognizing 2012 for what it has been; a pretty good year that had its share of happy and sad moments. I started it off with Ivy Stafford (my friend), at my house, with some sparkling cider. What was my new year’s resolution? Hell, it was probably something about losing weight. Guess what? It did not happen, and I am not too surprised. But that’s okay because the year shouldn’t be based off of a resolution. The idea of a new year’s resolution is just something you want to remember for the next year but not necessary something that you measure the success of. Or that’s not what I want it to be for me at least. Anyways-the year 2012;

I went to Ecuadorwith my grandparents . I turned 17. My Aunt Nancy died- RIP, June 2^nd 2012. I was accepted to St. Paul’s Advanced Summer Program and attended the 5 weeks of intense academic study. I applied to 9 colleges and have been accepted to 3 so far. I have gotten two sportsmanship awards for tennis and volleyball. I survived junior year. I completed online English 11 in pretty much two days. I started senior year!!! Obama was elected president again. I discovered fanfiction- something that I read far too often. I drove without getting pulled over. My class (juniors) won lip sync with my theme idea. I played Junior Olympic volleyball. I bombed the AP United States History exam (Yep, I got a 1 haha). I was a HOBY junior facilitator. YOLO and instagram became really popular trends. Summer Olympics were incredible to watch- GO USA! KAT Company had its last performances ever. I didn’t get into All-State… again. I played great roles like Annie in “Annie get Your Gun”, the Mother in “Aladdin”, and Tracy Turnblad in “A Very Broadway Christmas”. What else? The Patriots lost in the Superbowl after being ahead- ughh Giants. I decided to take a gap year and go to South America for a year. Oh uhm, we survived the apocalypse? Just kidding I don’t believe in that stuff. And recently (December 14^th), a terribly messed-up man killed 27 people including a bunch of little kids at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT. I went and came back from celebrating Christmas in FL with my grandparents (while there I got to go to Bush Gardens!). I saw Les Miserables the movie while there. I also got a new laptop for Christmas. Okay, now I really think I covered 2012.

So 2013, in 10 minutes!!! It is so exciting and bittersweet. I am going to NYC with my closest friends in 3 weekends. I am going to turn 18 and technically become an “adult”. I am going to pierce my nose. I am going to pick a college. I am going to go to prom. I am going to graduate. I am going to spend a month and a half of summer with friends celebrating the end of high school. I am going to leave for a year in South America! And I am going to spend the rest of 2013 in a South American country as a senior in high school again, becoming fluent in Spanish, gaining a new appreciation for a culture, and living my life. I may get a boyfriend. I may not. I may lose weight. I may not. But whatever happens, happens, because it is life and you need to roll with the punches but also do your best and love what you can and work hard for the things you want most.

So, my New Year’s resolution?! It’s the simplest one yet. Enjoy Life! Slow it down, don’t rush. Feel the emotions of graduating- you are graduating from high school! Enjoy the benefits of turning 18. Feel accomplished. Feel the excitement for traveling to an unknown country, the anticipation, and also the nervousness for leaving my family for an entire year. The slower I go, the less stress and complications I put on myself, the happier I will be. It shouldn’t matter if I have a relationship, if I have the perfect grades, if I go to the perfect school, if I lose all the weight. What matters is if I try. 

Here we go… ONE MINUTE UNTIL 2013!! Just try; and focus on the happy and positive. Be thankful. Call on God. Pray more. And again, Enjoy life.

2, 1, Happy New Year!!!!! And here it is. I’ll admit it- I am alone on New Year’s, and I am kind of emotional at this point. It’s an overwhelming feeling of happiness though. So New Year, 2013, GOD, please be good to me and my family, friends, and loved ones. Let me have a happy year and let me be strong. Help me to try my best and do everything I can to be everything that I want to me. Give me strength to get through the challenges so that I can appreciate what’s on the other side- the success. Keep me going and looking forward to the future that is so promising for me. But most importantly, keep me grounded and keep me living for today.

Love, Me ~ January 1, 2013, 12:07 AM.