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My feelings about storms are complicated. On one hand, I think they're terrifying. On the other, I think they are amazing.This story is about a storm. Jekyll is an island just off the coast of georgia. We went there for a family reunion.

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Some people think that there is no way you could remember him, but I believe small memories and photos are all you need. I lost my grandpa, my best friend, and the person I was closest with when I was 5. My Grandpa Danny. He was always with me, even before I was born. My parents always tell me

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I used to think friends were forever, but now I'm realizing that not everyone wants to be your friend as much as you want to be theirs. People are gonna tear you down. But you can't let them stop you from being happy. Because out there is someone, a true friend.

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I used to think that the truth wasn’t easy to bend. But more importantly, I believed that trust wasn’t easy to break. But ever since my sister left, I realized I was nothing but wrong. I was dead wrong. I realized that trust was as fragile as a china bowl. My parents got divorced when I was 5. I

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When I was born I was always told that I was special, a ginger who was left-handed, a ginger. All through my life ginger was called something else, rusted radiator, pumpkin plate, tomato top, fireplace. But all of these meant one thing, ginger, over the years my ginger hair felt like it was the

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Hate makes us into dogs that bite when we never even had fangs to begin with. We all start as deer’s. How we end depends on the hate we build. I had never thought like that before. But when the song of death played in my mind, that was all I knew. When my uncle was sent to the hospital, I was a

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I use to think taking risks was a cool things to do, but now I realize that trying to take some certain risks to be cool can lead you to making dumb decisions and possibly hurting yourself by accident. I started the day by coming out of the camper on a nice Sunday morning with all my family. My

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I used to think if someone did it you can too but now i realize you can’t just do something because your friend did it or someone else did it on tv. When I was in 1st grade, I was just learning how to properly ride a bike. I still had the bright red training wheels to match my bright red spiderman

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When I was pretty young, I used to believe that bad things only happen to bad people, and only the other people that deserve it and that it could NEVER possibly happen to me. However, now I believe that bad things happen to everything and everyone, no matter who you are or what you do, you can’t

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I used to think that fear was just for spiders, bugs and monsters but now I know that it is a lot more bigger than that. Every year my family goes to Minnesota and every year someone gets hurt. When I was eight I broke my collar bone there so I thought my “turn” was over but boy was I wrong. My

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My opinions on living with my disability are complicated on one hand I think, “living with my disability is easy, I barely notice it.” But as I look back I realize it’s really not. On the 26th of August, a child was born in Emporia Kansas. Unfortunately, due to being born in one of the hottest

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When I first saw that big red sign with the white capitalized letters SOLD I read it over and over again, it was happening, I was leaving all my friends with whom I shared all my best memories. My school has a big walkway and huge glass doors. My house had a colorful garden and a big trampoline in

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But as we kept shooting over and over again because someone did it wrong or we didn't have good enough accuracy, I realized I was hardly making anything and was in a lot of pain. Should I tell the coach? No, I can't because then he will see I'm not the best on offense.

I kept telling myself we were almost done, and I could rest my shoulder. But that just wasn't the case, we were going to keep shooting until we all made it in a row. I should've expected this because we were all trying out at varsity level.

I was in a lot of pain and was super tired, I think the coaches started to figure this out too because of my facial expressions, they even asked me if I needed to sit out but I just said, "I'll be fine." I said this because I thought it made me seem tough, and that I could fight through pain, but in reality, no one really can.

We started to near the end of tryouts, this got a lot of us nervous and anxious because we all tried really hard to be on the team and make the spot above many others. The coach had us doing a couple more difficult drills, and this was not helping me at all, I was in a lot of pain, I was tired, I wanted to be done with tryouts, but most importantly I wanted to be on the team.

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I used to think that if you worked hard enough for something, you would always get what you want, but now I realize, that's not always the case. I was in 7th grade and had always wanted to play basketball for one of my schools.

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Before I tell this story, here's some context. It was just a Friday night. I was having a sleepover with my friends Gilly and Kenzie. Everything was going great until Gilly said "Im hungry"

Then Kenzie said "Yeah, me too."

Because I was hosting the sleepover, I took on the duty of making them food, so I asked "Ok, what do you guys want?"

They both said "I don't know"

I didn't know what to eat either, so I told them" I'll look and see what I have."

As the nice person she is, Kenzie said "I'll come with you!" Gilly didn't have any interest in going with us, so she stayed behind at the dining room table.

"Ok lets go!"

Kenzie and I walked into my pantry trying to find something good but easy to make. Ramen? No, we already had some. Cheez Itz? No thanks. Then we found it, Kraft Mac n Cheese! It was perfect! But I don't know how to make Mac n cheese. I couldn't disappoint them so I gladly agreed to make it. I mean, it couldn't be that hard to make, right? But boy was I wrong.

We grabbed the macaroni and started getting everything we needed. Pot, check! Water, check! And of course the macaroni. After we got everything together I started to fill the pot with water. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. Do I fill up the pot halfway? Do I fill it up to the top? Since I had no idea what to do I yelled "DAD! Can you help me make mac n cheese?

My dad got up from the couch and came into the kitchen saying "Ok but I'll only help you for a little bit." I was super thankful my dad was going to help me! the stress would be off of me.

As the great dad he was, he helped me fill up the pot to the correct height; which was about 2 cups. Obstacle 1, down! After he helped me he said " I think you got it from here."

His words kind of gave me the confidence boost I needed to make this mac n cheese. So I said " Yeah, thanks for your help!" He then left, going back to the living room.

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Before I tell this story, here's some context. It was just a Friday night. I was having a sleepover with my friends Gilly and Kenzie. Everything was going great until Gilly said "Im hungry" Then Kenzie said "Yeah, me too."

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I used to think when people got married their ring was a soul tie. A gifted metal circle placed around two people’s fingerings binding them for life. Didn’t matter what they went through, that ring showed they were together for life. No wonder I was so confused when my mom took off hers. Except

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Some people struggle to find friends, others not so much. I think that friends have always just found me whether it was because I had to sit next to them in one of my classes, or like how I met my best friend. We had just moved into our new house, and it was the middle of summer, so we all had

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I never thought about how many memories places hold until my family moved to Fort Collins.
As I walked through my empty house I noticed so much I haven’t ever before, the memories that lived in this house with us. I walk up the steps one by one. The wood is dark and cold on my feet. Once I’m

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I used to think death was the worst thing that could happen. Growing up I was super close to my parents’ friends and saw them as family and I still do. I was also super close to my own family, especially my grandparents. My grandparents meant the world to me but I didn’t realize it until now.

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You know friends are weird; on one hand, they are the people who will support you no matter what, and on the other hand, they are the people who can hurt you the most. My friends are the best people in the world, helping me get through rough times. However, they can also be the ones who comment

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“Kids it’s time for dinner!!” my mom yells. Me, my brother and my sister rushed down the stairs. We eat so fast it feels like we are gonna throw up but nothing will stop us from playing outside. We only play after dinner because it has to be dark, it makes the game way more fun. We rush outside

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If anyone has ever told you that life will sometimes be bumpy and not smooth; they are right. Especially when moving across the country during covid. Midway through the year in 3rd grade my dad wasn’t finding any jobs in his field in Boston. He didn’t want to commute to the otherside of the state

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I was always the scaredy cat in my family. I always felt ashamed to be scared of so many things, it wasn’t anything in specific but it hurt watching my younger siblings try and do new things that I was too scared to try. As the oldest I felt I needed to be the role model of someone who was never

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I always said I thought about gratitude and thankfulness, but I never did. I only thought about it when I needed to. But now I know how important it is to be happy with what you have. And always realize that some people might have it worse. Each time my family went to Michigan, we would stay four

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I lived in North Carolina for most of my life. It was a beautiful place with mountains, fog, rain every day, and a lot of other things. My dad then found a job in Fort Collins, CO. He and my mom decided to move there, get away from North Carolina, and try a new place to live. We drove to Colorado,

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I look over at Khloe and she looks back at me. We both rush to hug one another. We look at eachother and laugh as if it was funny that we're sad. Our throats clog and the moment is over and we run up to our rooms, the dam on our eyes breaking as the tears rush again. We curl up in our beds and mourn the loss of our sister even though she's still here. We watched a comedy movie to try and cheer up but it didn't work. We were still sad no matter what we tried. Then out of the blue Khloe gets a text then and asks me if I want to go boating. I respond, "Sure" even though I'm not sure that I want to go boating. Khloe responded yes to the text. Our friend drives over to our house and picks us up. The mood in the car was uplifted as there was someone who was actually happy. His name was Tyler. Tyler asked, "How are y'all doing!" as we hop into the car. We say, "We're doing okay," He drives us to his house. His other close friend named Colton was also there. He asks the same question and we answer with the same response. They get the boat hooked up to his truck and we drive to Boyd lake

When Rileigh first left for college, I thought my life would be devastated. But now when I look back I realize it's ok. Not everything in life is perfect. When Rileigh got accepted to Embry Riddle I was so proud of her. I didn't realize how far away it was until she was gone. As I walked to my parents room, I could feel my face getting hot. My two sisters walked into the room as well and we all sat for a couple of minutes. In my head I thought, Why does she have to go? I already miss her even though she's right next to me. That's when the tears started to come. They flowed like a flooded river. I looked over at my sister and she was quietly weeping too. My parents come out and we walk downstairs to the main room. It was almost like I could feel the sadness in the room. It felt like a thick wall I had to trudge through. When we were all downstairs my parents said the words. "It's time to go" Noooooo! I thought , let her stay! We exchange our hugs with each other. It's the first time in years that Rileigh has truly hugged me. They shut the door and I hear the rev of the engine as they drive away. Our sadness was like another thing in the room we had to deal with.

Back to when my story started, the real hug, It wasn't a wimpy one armed shoulder pat, or a side hug, it was a full embrace. Even through the dark sadness, I managed to smile with her hugging me.

Rileigh walks to the door and says," Bye guys,"with a downed look on her face, "Love you,"

Me and Khloe both respond quietly, " Bye, love you too." as she shuts the door.

Not everything in life is perfect. That day I thought that when she shut that door, she shut the door to our relationship with each other. Now I realize that she did shut that door but opened up another door at the same time. Even though we aren't close to each other physically we can still talk just not face to face. That day I had new beginnings and new possibilities. There are opportunities even in the darkest of times.

We get to Boyd lake and launch the boat. It feels like it's 100 degrees. We drove the boat to our spot and set up the surfboard. We start to surf and the rev of the engine is super loud. I feel like my ears are gonna blow off. Once Tyler falls off the surfboard and gets back on the boat, I jump in to swim for a second. The cold water felt so relaxing on my tired eyes. When I got back in the boat and dried off, I was so tired. I put my hands on my eyes. Khloe then asked, "you good?" I said, "yes". After she did this for a while I was super annoyed. I know she was trying to be caring but it was still annoying. It was finally my turn to try and surf. I hopped in and felt like I could stay there forever. I get my feet positioned on the boat and I yell, "Hit it!". As soon as they started the engine, my legs gave out and the board flew out from under me. I give it one more try and the same thing happens. I'm too tired, I thought. I tell them I'm done and someone else can go. Nobody else wants to go so we ride the boat back to the house and hook up the boat. We then drove back to the house. Colton grabbed me a soda and said with a smirk, " I know you'll like this," I responded to that also with a smirk, "Yes I will." I drive home with him and Khloe drives separately. I eat my dinner with the soda and go watch a movie. She goes to a birthday party. When my aunt gets to my house to watch us for the week, I give her a hug and go to bed

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I look over at Khloe and she looks back at me. We both rush to hug one another. We look at eachother and laugh as if it was funny that we're sad. Our throats clog and the moment is over and we run up to our rooms, the dam on our eyes breaking as the tears rush again.

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I had a bunny when I was younger. She was black and white and her name was Moon. She technically wasn’t mine, she was my brother’s, whose name is Lucas, but I shared a room with him which meant I shared a room with her. She got on my nerves often, and I sometimes wished she didn’t live with us.

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Have you ever held something unusual, like an octopus or alligator? Have you ever held something that you're afraid of?

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I used to think I could never score on the 2010 soccer team but now I realize that no matter how short or how fast you are you can do anything you put your mind to even if you think it may be impossible.
It was a normal spring sunny friday when I got home from school there was a nice cool breeze

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he says so instead of fishing we just went and put the boat back at the marina and drove to a swim beach so we could swim for a little bit and as we were on our way back home we instead went to the movie theater and watched a movie before we went home after the movie we went home back to my mom and after we woke up the next morning we went to the arcade and hung out

I used to think boating was scary but now I relize its super fun and entertaining

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I used to think boating was scary but now I realize it is fun and entertaining. When I was about seven years old, my family headed up the mountains to go boating.

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I was having a great day playing games, and my friends asked me to go to the bike jumps near my house. I was really excited because I hadn’t been there in a while. When we all got there I was riding for only a couple minutes until my bike tire popped after hitting a couple jumps. I got pissed

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We were all ready for the tournament this weekend our whole team was playing in the mountains the view was amazing this was our farthest baseball tournament of the year and our last year of 13u. So it’s a long drive so we are staying in a hotel. Our previous hotel was hot like a sauna, and the

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I started to go down the stairs into the kitchen. As I was walking down I saw my dad at the table. I slowly approached him. My dad looked over at me as I entered the kitchen. He started to talk to me.
“How has your day been so far?” He exclaimed I replied, “Good but I haven’t done much

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At 5 years old I used to be afraid of pools. I would never go within 6 feet of one. It was just the idea of trying something new that frightened me. I couldn’t wrap my head around the idea that trying new things could be a good thing. Even though my mom knew about how much I despised the water she

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Who are you? Going through life you might ask yourself this. Your teachers might ask you to write about it. Your “friends” might ask you about it to get some tea. Your parents might even ask you if you do something uncommon for you. Opinions about this may vary. Some people might say that you are

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I used to think, oh summer camp will be so fun! 1 week of freedom, 1 week long break from my siblings, 1 super long sleepover with my friends, but boy was I wrong. Day one: I was pumped. I have never spent more than one night away from my family. My dad dropped me off at Keystone Educational Camp.

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Some people think trauma causes depression but I believe that it can make someone a better person. But my ideas about trauma are very complicated. On one hand I think “that’s so sad and I feel so bad” but on the other hand I realize that because of what happened to me three years ago I became the

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But to my surprise, he wasn't there. I began thinking why he would be acting like this.

He was always happy. I began to wonder if I had done anything wrong to upset him so I started to backtrack the week. I saw that I had done nothing wrong. The bell interrupted my thinking and I went back to my classroom.

For the first half of the day before lunch, I started thinking about all the fun times I had with him and why he would do that. It was lunch, and I was waiting in line.

I could smell the cheese and pepperoni as they flew through the air. I had seen him at the very front of the line, and I was holding on to a thin line of hope that he had just woken up on the wrong side of the bed. I was hoping that some food would wake him up. But to my surprise when I got to our table I only saw my other friend.

He was just as confused as I was. I asked what happened and he said "Why".

I said, "I have no idea I can't even find him at a table.

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I used to think I had a pretty good friend group because I had a group of friends and we all had the same mind and ideas but now I'm realizing that friend groups can change and that it isn't always good change I left home and went to school.

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Change can be good. But sometimes it can be hard, stressful, traumatic, infuriating, even. The change I went through was awful. I hated how nothing stayed the same. But I realized, those awful changes can also shape us to be a better person. I was born and raised in South Korea for 11 years. I

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Keben Herrera Baeza - Memoir Draft 2024 

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Alejandro Ramirez Guadian - Memoir Draft 2024 

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Christopher Rojo Vizcarra - Memoir Draft 2024 

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I used to think that accomplishing big goals didn’t take much, but now I know that it takes dedication, perseverance, and time to really achieve your goals in life. 5th grade I started to run a little bit at running club after school. I did this because a good

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Basketball has always been my favorite sport. I used to think basketball didn’t take much skill, but now I’m realizing I need to work harder to get where I need to be. I couldn’t wait to play for my middle school team. But that meant that I had to start playing with some older kids because I was

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I think coping is weird, it’s weird how everyone copes in different ways, for instance sometimes people cope by letting their emotions flow out, other times people cope by holding their emotions in, there’s many more too but I’m not gonna go over all of them now. When I lost my grandma I held all

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Throughout life everyone has at least one good friendship that they thought would last forever, but ends up ending in one of two ways. Either it ends without much talk, you grow distant from them, or you end up not talking with them as much. Or it can end up ending and doing the opposite. Where

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It was early December of 2017, I was sitting in the basement of my grandma’s house with my older sister and my cousin. Surrounding us was the playroom, filled with toys older than all of us combined and pictures of our family over the years, hanging on the walls. We had already gotten bored of

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I've always thought that a bully was someone else who made fun of you or tore you down, made you feel bad about yourself, but now that I've grown up I learned that my biggest bully, the one that made me feel worst about myself, the one that made me hate myself, made me wonder why I deserve to walk