# data[].attributes.body
Puff, Puff. I’m climbing a mountain. Step by step, I reach more excitement. Finally, I’ve reached the midpoint. I look down below the mountain at the wonderful view. I see trees burning with color. The colors gleam with bright red burning my eyes. But inside the trees there’s something there. The trees beam with colorful pine cones and each represents a moment in life.  My teachers in the past have listened to me and have really focused on my goals to help me out with my future.  Helping me out when I can’t get things done or right, and have supported me as much as they could with my dreams. I have learned about dinosaurs, the history of these animals that lived once years ago. My teachers also helped me tweak my archaeology skills. My old friends who have not laughed but have been intrigued by my dreams and been able to help me out with my goals. Beside me on this hike, I see my supporters who have been with me since the beginning: my family, my friends, and my school. What a life I had so far; I’ve climbed the impossible, the possible, and then thinkable. How? When I messed up on my test and got a bad grade. I fell down the mountain, but I got back up and started up again. Or when I got stuck in history, but then eventually reached out and got an understanding of the lesson. The hardest to survive was the pandemic: Covid, Delta, Quarantine, masks, Covid tests, online school, social distancing. All of these disadvantages have blocked me from progressing in my dream. My dream is to become a paleontologist who travels the world digging up bones and putting them together. I’ve survived this mountain and its dangers but many haven’t. So I have to keep climbing to get to the summit. Life is a mountain because it simply goes up and down. What is this down you ask? After I have completed school and have officially achieved my dream of becoming a paleontologist,  I’ll be retired and have a humble home with a swimming pool and a nice bathroom. So what is the summit of this mountain? The summit is me when I have completed my goals and have become a paleontologist. Then I’ll have another mountain to climb. This is the mountain on how I will make a living. What I will do with my life and then I’ll buy myself a home, have a family, probably travel the world and live my life to the fullest. While climbing to the summit I want to be able to reach my goals. Get as much help as I can and work really hard for me to achieve it. That’s why I want to be a paleontologist and be able to reach the top of the mountain.

# data[].attributes.body
An elephant snores as it jostles its way through the herd. A taxi hurdles past a red light and swerves into a hairline u-turn. An auto rickshaw lets out a dying squeal as it turns into a gas station. A boat rips across the water fighting the relentless waves. An astronaut waves in the ISS as it boosts at unintelligible speeds around our world. He gazes down at our home, straight at a thrill seeker who throws himself out of a helicopter. The skydiver achieves his goal. He feels a jerk as he activates his parachute. He is seeing the world, with places to roam and lay, places to run and sit, with many more in between. The Earth may not be infinite, but human curiosity and the spirit of travel is. From the urban sprawl of New York City to the watering holes of Ngorongoro crater, curiosity is in the air. The natural beauty of the Grand Canyon and the magnificent skyline of San Francisco all have the one thing that makes us humans — curiosity. Curiosity is the ultimate reason why we do things. Every single thing in this world wants to go somewhere to keep the flame of their curiosity burning. This world is huge and there are millions of places to go. I want to visit many of these places, fueled with only my human instincts. I want to sail the ocean blue, and fly the skies too. I want to live life with curiosity in my heart. I want to travel. Travel — travel to quench your curiosity, and get a few refills for later.

# data[].attributes.body
It’s 9 pm as I fly through the door and cannonball onto the couch. Feet dangling, remote in hand, a feeling of relief cascades over me. Suddenly, panic pierces through my relaxation as the realization of my missing writing homework hits me. I scramble to my room and frantically snatch my iPad out of the rows of books and binders in my backpack. My parents are ordering me to go shower immediately but I don’t have a second to spare. Schoology’s logo slowly loads as if it were taunting me. Checking the writing homework a second time, I finally realize the importance of time management. If only I could use my time wisely instead of being unorganized I would have turned the assignment in on time. Managing my time and having an organized schedule will make school and tennis much less stressful.

# data[].attributes.body
It’s a school night before the big exam. Restlessly trying to fall asleep. All I can do is close my eyes and think but I can’t seem to drift away. Finally, I wake up drowsy and tired but I am ready for school. Oh no. In class I am taking the test and I hear the 5 minute warning. Five minutes to go but only five questions to go. As I slowly close my eyes. NO. I can’t fall asleep again. Finally on the last question, it's an easy one. My grade could become an A with this final and I need this question to be correct. As I fill that last bubble, drowsiness becomes joy and happiness. A good night's sleep would have made for a less stressful environment and an easier test to get that good grade.

# data[].attributes.body
Alex Bull- Vision Board

# data[].attributes.body
Envision this-you have been lingering in lines and verifying luggage since 4:00 AM and you are finally in
the waiting area taking your time peacefully but slightly drained, possibly humming a tune when abruptly
you hear a boisterous roar from the loud speaker “1B, 1B, calling 1B” the gate agent hollers. Anxiously,
you hustle to the line, click clack click clack and wait and and wait and wait, checking your watch again
and again and again. You dash onward and the agent manipulates the scanner with a beep. You sprint
forward wishing to not miss your flight, click clack click clack you cross through the airplane door
slowing to a halt and pay your respects to the lean, tall, and half deaf captain and his co-pilot. You walk
down the cozy aisle, continuously murmuring your seat again and again until you arrive. You sit down,
discount the sonorousness around you, sit back and unwind. You laze off to sleep slowly as the plane
zooms down the runway bumping. Your dreams are filled with adventures where you are going….
Suddenly, you are jolted by the captain yelling through the loud speaker“This is your captain speaking,
we are reaching our destination please buckle up and get ready to leave. Is this thing even on? Hello?
Testing 1,2,3.” The jet slows down and parks, you shuffle back down the declining alley with the other
passengers click clack click clack. You march through security and a guard stamps your passport.
Congratulations, you just traveled to another country! This is what I imagine it would be like to travel,
isn’t it amazing well what comes after that is when there is real fun. You get to have all these foreign
experiences with your family and have fun! Well I think that it is an amazing journey and an exciting one
too!
Bon voyage! See you in foreign lands!

# data[].attributes.body
Time. I wish I had more. Add more grains to the hourglass. Stop the clock. I had a packed day, and there’s so many things I still need to do before the sun goes down. I hear the clock ticking down, tik tok tik tok, it says mockingly, laughing at me with an evil smirk on its face. It’s a race against the clock. Sweat running down my face. Startled, I bolt up with a nervous look on my face. The dream felt so realistic, like the foreshadowing in a book. The sun rises up like nothing happened. I want to ask it to take its time during the day, but it’d be pointless. I look at my planner, seething with things to do. I scramble around and think about how to plan my crammed day. I first take a deep breath so I can clear my mind and think properly. I start to fall behind, but like the turtle and the hare, “slow and steady wins the race.” One step, one stride at a time. I look at the clock and remember the jeers it made in the dream. I don’t need to go quickly, I just need to work on it, one assignment at a time. Satisfied, I get ready to start my day. My goal is to stay calm even when there’s a huge workload. Compared to Middle Campus, there’s a lot more homework, and it’s essential to be able to manage my time efficiently. Sometimes it feels stressful, and my mind goes blank. I think having time to just simmer down is really helpful. This year I’ll absolutely work on this goal to become a more fabulous student. This time, I’ll finish the race. I won’t back down even if things may be difficult.

# data[].attributes.body
Breath after breath, after hours of hiking through trees and ponds with colorful fish, birds, and deer. I have finally made it to the highest point of the mountain. Then I take out my camera and click, hours of hiking all to come down to a few pictures. The sun is shining, with different shapes and shades of clouds. This was my best picture by far. As I walk down feeling really satisfied I look around and find that the trees, ponds, and bushes are all very beautiful with the small and big rain drops falling off the leaves making a gorgeous photo. My dream of getting wonderful pictures has finally come true.

# data[].attributes.body
Heaps of papers devour my desk. Books flood my floor. My workplace is having a breakdown. I hear a faint buzzing sound and glimpse at my computer screen, realizing I have to turn in my assignments, but the papers are a grim mess. Scanning my desk, there are only heaps of clutter, so I dig through the papers like a predator hunting for prey. I grab my iPad off of the litter underneath and snap a photo to submit. I then begin gathering the ubiquitous papers and picking up the books from the disorder under my feet. I could feel the waves when knocking down the hills of books. Tidying the workplace up was as difficult as clenching a shadow. One of my goals for this year is to be organized, so I don’t have an arduous time finding what I need all the time.

# data[].attributes.body
     I can hear the sounds of the gentle, crashing waves echoing throughout the peaceful cove. The scent of the salty ocean air floats along the breeze. Fine-grained sand between my toes feels soft and warm. As I look towards the horizon, I see the beautiful oranges and reds painted across the sky.  The glowing setting sun illuminates the scene, allowing darkness to take over just moments later. One of my many goals for this year is to explore the magnificent mountains, hike the towering forests, and swim the countless lakes. I would love to travel so much more to see many amazing, unique places all over the world.

# data[].attributes.body
‘Motion’. The simple black and white clock on the wall never ceases to stop ticking, as the second hand progresses faster than my mind. I’m staring at a blank screen, an unwritten essay, a jumble of numbers, an empty ceiling. The figures in front of me stay unchanged, much to my disappointment. I have stopped generating ideas for the time being, and I’m racking my brain in search of something and finding nothing. *Plunk* a word pops out of the void. ‘Focus’. I try to concentrate on the assignment, but the more I think about thinking about things, the more they flood back in. Thoughts of the events that happened earlier today, the day before, and regret from over a year ago flow in. Eventually, the stress fizzles away until nothing else is on my mind. ‘Focus’. ‘Balance’. ‘Calm’. My goal is to be able to stay on task and be more efficient. Focusing on the assignment more will help speed up the process in the future.

# data[].attributes.body
“Luke Stern goes for a 3 pointer with a second left on the clock to win the game, the ball goes up and OHHHH so close. He just misses it as the buzzer goes off. Well that’s the game!”  Why, why do I have to miss those. I love this game but sometimes I feel so hollow. I need to get better. These sports are exhilarating, and I want to get better at them. Home run after a 3 pointer to a par, so close sometimes I thought I was there. Sports all the time yet I still don’t feel any better. Scrambling around on the court and on the field, sport after sport I will get better. “LUKE! It’s time for your game!” My mom yells. Missing free throws and easy goals. I wish. I wish. No, don't wait, strive for achievement, don't just want to get better. I tell myself try to get better like you have 1 goal and 1 goal alone. Practice makes perfect and perfection is the goal too far to reach. Practicing 3 pointers to practicing putts on a green. One step at a time, one step at a time.

# data[].attributes.body
I put the Kermit picture in because it says “I guess it is easy being green” and I think that’s a play on words to say it’s easy being eco friendly and things like that, because I think the car is electric. I liked the landscapes and colors in some pictures. I had some food, because I didn’t know what else to put, and food is good for people. I also put a dog because he was cute.

# data[].attributes.body
The two key ideas I tried to implement in this vision board were Family and Happiness. I included some pictures of food dishes as well, because I want to be able to cook for my family. The picture of the child and the cat means I want to have pets. The two backyard pictures mean that I want to have a luxurious and beautiful house. The flying cruise signifies adventures and travels that I’ll go on in the future, and all of these pictures ultimately contribute to happiness.