When I was around fourteen, I read T he Perks of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. This book is about a fifteen year old boy named Charlie, who is trying to cope with the suicide of his best friend. It is written as a series of letters to an anonymous person who he refers to as his “friend.'' Charlie thinks of himself as a “wallflower”, meaning that he stays on the sidelines and would rather observe things instead of being the center of attention. He is very introspective, and views life differently than most people. A lot of the time, the term “wallflower” has a negative connotation, where it could refer to someone who is socially awkward. But after reading this book, my view on the “wallflower” type of person was changed. When I started reading this book, I immediately felt a connection to it. Growing up, I was always more shy and reserved, and I never liked that about myself. People would always ask me, “why don’t you ever talk?”. And it wasn’t usually because I w...
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At the beginning of eighth grade, I walked into Uni-- a place where I didn’t know anyone, and had no idea of what to expect. I grew up in Danville, a completely different place than Uni High. They were both opposite extremes, and I didn’t realize the culture shock that I would experience going to Uni. The aspect of Uni that personally affected me the most was the different kind of people. Most of the students in Danville weren’t very focused on school. A large majority of them got bad grades, even though the subject matter was pretty easy-- simply because they didn’t try. I was always considered “smart” compared to the other students, and I worked really hard to get good grades. This caused a lot of stress though, because I made myself get all A’s, and I became a perfectionist. It got to the point where I would freak out if I even got a 90 in class. But I was different than most of the people around me because they didn’t care about their grades. And since I didn’t feel like I fit in,...
When I was asked to imagine a place that made me feel peaceful, a distinct memory from my childhood came to mind-- a cool autumn day spent at my grandparents' house. As a child, I spent one night every weekend at their house. Looking back, those are some of my fondest memories. My grandma and I used to get a blanket and put it outside on the soft, viridescent grass. We would sit under the big oak tree, shaded from the warm sun, feeling the cool breeze against our skin. I would lay back on the blanket, looking at the outline of the leaves and branches above me, glowing from the golden light of the sun. In the distance, I would hear the faint laughter of my younger sister playing on the swing, not having a care in the world. The smell of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies wafted through the air, floating out through the open kitchen window. Sitting on the blanket, I talked to my grandma as I watched my grandpa in the distance water the vegetables in his garden-- cucu...
Last summer, I lost my dog Katie. She was a Bichon Frise, with white fluffy fur and a small black nose. Though I was only 3 years old, I still remember the day we got her. We went to a house that originally had a litter of seven puppies. But by the time we got there, there were only two left, a boy and a girl. The boy jumped and ran around the pin, barking incessantly and was full of energy. But the girl sat there, looking up at us, with her big brown eyes. My mom wanted to get the boy because he seemed to have more personality. But my dad and I wanted the girl because of how calm and sweet she seemed. After a bit, we convinced my mom into getting the girl, and we named her Katie, after my dad’s grandma who had recently passed. For the next 13 years, Katie filled our lives with love and happiness. She was so sweet and kind...
Last summer, my family and I went to central California, to visit my dad’s side of the family. One night we visited this “Field of Light” art installation about forty-five minutes away from where we were staying, in Paso Robles. The creator of this art installation, Bruce Munro wanted to mix art and nature in a unique way. His vision came true, using light as an art form. He has created several other art installations using light in California. The one that we saw in Paso Robles is centered around the rolling hills and oak trees. Earlier that day, before going to the art installation, we visited some vineyards and wineries in Paso Robles. We also stopped at this small, quaint ice cream shop and got milkshakes. It was over eighty-five degrees that day, so that night we weren’t prepared when the temperature dropped over twenty-five degrees. We didn’t have any jackets or blankets, and my sister and I were shivering, so we went to the car to look for something to keep us warm. The only t...