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1. The use of the crying laughing emoji

2. People who talk while eating

3. People who flake on events last minute

4. Slow walkers in a line

5. People who play their music out loud in a public setting

6. People who use their phones during movies

7. Not washing your hands after using the bathroom

8. When someone who isn’t over 6’0 reclines their seat back in the airplanes

9. When you call someone back after missing their call, and they don’t pick up

10. When people touch my neck

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Sagrada Familia, the prettiest church I've ever been in!

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Senior year: Marching Band Flute Section

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Senior year: Marching Band Flute Section

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s/o to my flute babies

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Summer 2017: Sister's Commencement Ceremony

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Summer 2017: Sister's Commencement Ceremony

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Sophomore year: Fall Out Boy Meet and Greet

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Sophomore year: Fall Out Boy Meet and Greet

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taught English to elementary school students in Mongolia

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Freshman year: Leo (the cat I had for a good two years)

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Freshman year: Leo (the cat I had for a good two years)

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Music is undoubtedly one of the more important things in my life and during my down time I typically listen to R&B. So I recognize that to say that “Unwritten” by Natasha Bedingfield is the song that speaks to the person I am today is a little unorthodox. However, this song, although incredibly cheesy, carries a meaning special to me. The lyrics are straight to the point yet describe how her life is still unwritten and bigger things are to come.

The pre-chorus relays a message relatable to every single person; initially unsure as to what to do, you eventually find move on to another task such as opening up a dirty window. The chorus utilizes incredible sensory details:

Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you

Only you can let it in

No one else, no one else

Can speak the words on your lips

Drench yourself in words unspoken

Live your life with arms wide open

Today is where your book begins

These details make it easy for listeners to clearly imagine what Natasha is relaying. In addition to these lyrics, the song is incredibly catchy making it completely easy for listeners to catch on after a couple verses. Released in 2004, this song is a timeless masterpiece as nearly everyone can relate to this song and become encouraged by what life has ahead for people.

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Natasha Bedingfield - Unwritten (Official Video) (as featured in Anyone But You)

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Throughout my high school career, reading the required books never really intrigued me. Shakespeare, though incredibly interesting, never really piqued my interest quite like F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. Taking place in the 1920s, Fitzgerald makes intriguing social commentary about our society regarding to lavish lifestyles full of money, alcohol, and parties still relevant to this day and age. The vapid lifestyle following those with excessive wealth paired with one’s social status allows readers to take a step back and think about their own life.

The pace of the novel is quick and keeps readers engaged while Fitzgerald crams a well developed plot line with dimensional characters in less than 200 pages. There isn’t a boring moment when reading and I seem to always catch something new when rereading the jam packed novel. Fitzgerald’s elegant writing style makes The Great Gatsby slightly dense, but the clever and unpredictable changes within the plot makes it an absolute joy to read.
Fitzgerald also pours in an incredible amount of symbolism in his novel in which readers are able to critically think about all of the characters and apply the message he portrays into nearly any situation. I remember having a mini epiphany while writing my essay on the various colors Fitzgerald uses that every single word he writes down is intentional. Every single word serves a purpose to the plot and that the descriptive language he uses was meant to broadcast a meaning further than what meets the eye.

Although there have been other books I’ve read during my high school career that impacted me, such as The Color Purple by Alice Walker, The Great Gatsby symbolizes my own personal feat of truly dissecting a novel to its core. Fitzgerald’s work is simply a timeless masterpiece that I enjoyed reading from cover to cover.

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Dear best friend,

It’s been wild! I know we’re not that sentimental towards each other a lot of the times, but thank you for being the better parts of my life this past year. You’re one of the few people in my life that I can really count on and I’m so thankful that we’ve been able to develop such a close relationship. There’s never a dull moment with you and I’m so glad to have met you six years ago in math class. I know it’s unrealistic to expect that we’ll remain as close as we are after high school, but you’re on the of the few people who I wish to truly share my life with for as long as I may live! That’s really cheesy, but you make me a better person and I can’t see myself being this close with another human in a really long time.

I’m so grateful to have someone like you in my life. Someone who is able to light up a room instantly and bring people together. You believe in people even though they might not believe in themselves and you manage to always see the best in people. I really admire that about you and I hope you recognize your own self worth. People can rely on you because you’ll never fail to be there for them. You make the people around you feel comfortable and special. You change people, but don’t ever let them change you!

So, thank you. Thank you for all you’ve done for me and the people around you. I can’t believe I got this lucky to call you my best friend. Thank you for being the best all the time.

All the love always,

Your best friend

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Dear 14 year old me,

I’m writing this letter to reflect upon my entire high school experience and I want to let you know that things will suck for seemingly indefinitely, but that, as cliché as it may sound, things will work out. Believe it or not, it’s hard for me to even believe that, but the majority of your troubles will fade away as life happens and more important things pop up. Take it from someone who stood exactly where you are right now.

There will be so many times where you’ll wonder if everything is “worth it” or not. With yet more mass shootings happening way too quickly after each one, you’ll begin to question humanity. The more we’re exposed to in this world, the more we realize how little we know or understand and that’s okay. It’s scary, I know, but it’s also inevitable and there’s no point in hiding from the truth. Long answer short: you’ll always find a reason to live.

Life’s not going to work out the way you think it will and it’ll suck for a little bit because I know that we both like planning things out. But life’s just not always going to stick to the personal agenda you set in mind and it’s your job to make the best of matters. Learn how you perform best and take advantage of the things around you in order to succeed. No one else in your life will be a constant except for you so take care of yourself. If you need to take a break, take one. Take the time to truly learn about your own habits and what makes you happy because that’s the only thing that matters in the end of things. It’s fine to not know what to do with your life. You’re 14! You have time. Just focus on yourself and try to be the best version of yourself.

All the best,

Yourself from the future!

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(explanation written in PDF file!)

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At the moment, I am planning on majoring in Applied Mathematics at Loyola Marymount University located in Los Angeles, California. I hope to eventually gain internship experience during college to prepare me for potentially becoming a financial analyst after going to graduate school in order to receive an MBA in Finance, Economics, or Strategic/Risk Management. Because Los Angeles is a major city, I’m hoping that I will find opportunities to be able to work or have an internship during college. However, there hasn’t really been a moment in my life where I was sure of doing anything. So this is my basic plan for now until I find something I enjoy better than analyzing numbers and interpreting data.

I hope to pick up music again in college as I still value it to be an incredibly important part of my life. I know that I’m not dedicated enough to participate in a formal setting so joining a small orchestra would be sufficient for me. I love how music can bring people together from all walks of life so I hope that I’ll be able to continue to pursue it even after high school. I view math to be the universal academic language, but music, to me, is the universal artistic language and participating in it gives me such a unique form of satisfaction and sense of accomplishment. I recognize in pursuing a balance between academics and the arts.