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While I didn't normally wake up this early in the morning, I didn't mind rolling over and seeing my electric clock turn to 6:00am. I was excited, joyful even, because today I got to go on an adventure that most people wouldn't dream of.
As I stepped out onto the airport I recognized some of my friends in the sea of people and as I wadded my way through the crowd I found the rest of my group. We were all wearing horribly bright tye dye T-shirts, but we wore them proudly because it distinguished us from other schools. As a group we began to board our flight and take our seats, ¨This is it.¨ I thought, ¨We are going to Italy.¨

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"the unforgettavble journey" By Ella Beardslee

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"the unforgettavble journey" By Ella Beardslee

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I don't think anyone ever thought of me being different only that I wasn't ok. One time the platelets were so low the doctors didn't want me to do absolutely anything. This was the time of the horrible bloody nose. At the time I wasn't sure what was going on.

I thought I was a normal kid living a normal life but then I realized that I wasn't. I was the kid people were going to ask where I was for the last three weeks when I got back to school. People were going to ask if I was ok and I wouldnt have an answer. I was the kid who had no idea what to think or say but I just had to go along with it to keep myself safe.

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"Hey You! Work on Yourself" by Nicco Berger

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"Hey You! Work on Yourself" by Nicco Berger

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My parents and brothers were all there for me when I was born. My oldest brother, Alex, tells me stories of when I first came out. How he held all 8 pounds of me and how I was one of the heaviest things he's ever held, he was five at the time.

The middle brother, Massi, told stories of him hating me. He said he would always try to ship me away in a mailbox or he would just hide me from my parents. Like how evil is that! I can't believe you would take some helpless 8 pound baby, probably more by then, away from his parents!

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"To Overthink or Not to Overthink, That is the Question" by: Talia Fonseca 

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"To Overthink or Not to Overthink, That is the Question" by: Talia Fonseca 

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I was alone.

Alone with my thoughts.

Alone with myself and the refreshing pool.

I needed to get away from everything.

In the water, I couldn’t hear anything. Just my heartbeat. Slowly beating.

That’s what I focused on.

I didn’t focus on kicking or moving my arms because swimming was a second nature to me.

I focused on the slow pumping of my heart.

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I don’t think it’s a common experience. I think the majority of the time people don’t look over at someone saying that they killed a woman and see a 14 year old girl in the middle of a Safeway. I guess sometimes unexpected things happen. I also don’t think that the majority of the time you have all eyes on you as you repeatedly hit your leg, trying your best not to immediately after say, “yeah, 🤬," I guess I got used to it when I started developing tics

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"We're All the Middle Kid" by Stella Robles

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"We're All the Middle Kid" by Stella Robles

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What’s your idea of a perfect family? Maybe it’s made up of a happy mom and dad and a couple of kids. Well here’s the truth, that nobody really talks about, that “perfect” family that you just thought of doesn’t exist. Every family goes through hardships and even happy times. I believe it’s how you react to those situations that make up who you are.

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Grades have always come easy to me, except for one year when a snowflake landed and caused an avalanche. What I mean is that a stupid 7th grader named Evan didn’t pay attention in class and his grade slipped past 5th avenue. I will tell you something right now, Bad Grades + Bad Attitude = Mad Parents.

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As a child growing up, I thought all neighbourhoods were like mine.

I believed that every friend group in other schools would fight each other for fun in the 1st grade. I believed it was normal for students to scream and swear at teachers in the 4th grade.

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I have very good genes from my parents, one gave me smarts and the other gave me athleticism wish is like the perfect combination to do good in life. The grades have always come good and have always been good at sports then high school came and it was a grind to play sports and keep up with my school work.

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Instead of slamming my desk, I look around my room in anger. I shift my head slightly to the right and am blinded by the light reflecting off the glass. The light pierces my eye like a dagger. Why do I always leave that stupid window open, I swear to god that thing blinds me every day, I fume, sliding my phone closer to the edge in order to cover the glare. Oh my god, I’m an idiot.

Looking to the left, there’s only a space heater that, when turned on, sounds like a hamster running in a wheel, which is kind of unsettling.

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When I was young I had a dog named amber. She was a black lab with the darkest coat of fur you would see and with these bright green eyes that she was named after.

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"The Diary of an Overwhelmed Teen" by Natalie Pfeiffer

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"The Diary of an Overwhelmed Teen" by Natalie Pfeiffer

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I have a busy schedule. I have ballet four times a week, a voice lesson usually once a week, a french class about marine life once a week, German School once a week, ballet physical therapy one a week, and obviously school five times a week. I also have meetings for other programs once a month or meetings that are optional to go to but parents make me sometimes. I also am taking a health course outside of school. Even with a jammed-packed schedule, I still have to stay on top of homework and still leave time for family, friends, and fun. Now, this is possible if you use your time responsibly. But it doesn’t help that I have ADHD and love to procrastinate. Something that should probably take only half an hour, may take me at least an hour. But luckily I have worked with so many people and have been to multiple classes that have taught me so many skills to help me with this.

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Car door opened, seat belt unbuckled, stepping out. I guess we were there. I composed myself, and headed to my class, telling myself there was nothing to be scared of as a weaved through a canvas of people. Somehow I was able to make it through the day. It felt like I was always in constant worry, like each day would never end. Somehow sluggish days turned into sluggish weeks into sluggish months, and in retrospect it doesn't seem so sluggish at all. But I knew that it was.

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Living with someone who has depression isn’t just living with them, it’s seeing them fall apart, not having one single will to live anymore, discouraged. You might be their best friend, their sibling, their parent, or even just a teacher. But seeing them like this breaks you little by little. You start to lose hope, not in them, but within yourself. You feel as if you weren’t any help, and unable to do anything about it. But you have to stay strong, for you, for them. Right?

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My brain is obsessive.  It attaches to specific thoughts like gum on a shoe. Whether it's something I heard or read, certain things just click with my brain like a perfect puzzle piece, and once the puzzle piece is in place, there’s no taking it out.

The way a brain works is complex. I don’t always understand mine. But there are some common patterns I notice. It seems that my brain's ideal is to be adored by absolutely everyone. There’s a puzzle piece of my brain that for a while told me that once everyone liked me, that is when I would achieve true happiness. So it was almost like my brain's Nirvana was having the most Instagram followers out of all my friends.

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"The Diary of a Tired Student-Athlete" by. Barrett Walker

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"The Diary of a Tired Student-Athlete" by. Barrett Walker

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A beautiful red pink haze fills the sky. The early september sun is just setting but the moon is not yet rising. 250 kids spread out over 3 grass fields behind the gates of the Monta Vista football field. You can hear the crack of pads, the football flying through the air and the coaches whistle.

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¨I will never forget the way that my dad looked me in my eyes and told me, “No, she’s gone”.  My whole heart shattered into a million pieces, my best friend was gone. Forever. I felt like a there was a hole in my heart¨

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¨I will never forget the way that my dad looked me in my eyes and told me, “No, she’s gone”.  My whole heart shattered into a million pieces, my best friend was gone. Forever. I felt like a there was a hole in my heart¨

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The absolutely true diary of a dyslexic brain by: Max Ellis

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The absolutely true diary of a dyslexic brain by: Max Ellis

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They shared with me several successful people in the world that have dyslexia.  Like Charles Shwab (founder of a multinational finance company), Muhamad Ali (prized fighter) and Richard Branson (founder of Virgin Airlines).

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The absolutely true diaries of an emotional teen by: Gigi Branigan

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The absolutely true diaries of an emotional teen by: Gigi Branigan

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Some people like to start with the beginning, but I think starting when I was born seems kinda weird. But as long as I’ve been around, I’ve been having a bit of trouble expressing my feelings. When I was 4 I found out that I had secondhand embarrassment. Now if you don’t know what that means, it basically means that if you see someone in an embarrassing situation, it doesn't matter whether it’s real life or on the T.V., I will feel the emotions that the other people are feeling. If someone says something embarrassing I could feel the same regret, and sometimes it gets so bad where I have to hide my face or hide behind things to save myself from getting embarrassed. Sadly, this happens all too often.

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Struggles as a 14 year old teenage boy By: Charlie Peterson

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Struggles as a 14 year old teenage boy By: Charlie Peterson

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My life has gotten just a little bit more stressful every year, since I've moved on from elementary school up to middle school and now into highschool. If you have ever seen the movie Life Of Pie that's who i felt like my entire life, i've felt as if i'm stuck in the middle of the ocean on a tiny boat with a tiger trying to find a way to get through this.

But then I finally found it. After all these years I finally found my way of finding peace and rest in my mind and body. It was sports. It didn't matter what kind of sport or whether I was good or bad at it. It could be Lacrosse, Waterpolo, Swimming, Golf, Basketball, Soccer, Football, Cricket, Croke, literally any sport that you could possibly think of even water sports like water skiing, wake surfing, wakeboarding, tubing. And land activities like Running, Biking, and hiking. They all gave me a way to escape the stress that was going on in my life to be able to just let go from reality it felt like i was a lone survivor on a paradise island doing whatever i pleased with no questions or comments about anything my mind could run free there wasn't a bad thought in my head. I had found what is called a “stress reliever”.

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"Absolutely True Diary of a Swimmer" by Ben Graham

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"Absolutely True Diary of a Swimmer" by Ben Graham

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My last year of recreational swimming was when I was 12, and that summer was the highlight of my recreational swimming career. My relay was unbeatable. We went to every pool and broke both the medley relay and freestyle relay every time without fail. I also became attuned to breaststroke, FINALLY! That was my spot on the relay, in fact.

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Even though I was already internally freaking out about getting into trouble (something that happens rarely when you’re an anxious person, because all the trouble you get in is in your own head!), I wanted this job to be as *magical* as I had imagined. I wanted to please the authority figures who believed in us letting them mold us like a marble statue - or become a marble floor (you can’t make this up). So I did what I do best. I told myself, and anyone who would listen, that this was fine. So, willingly, I learned and followed all of Mickey Mouses’ unwritten, albeit Orwellian rules.