maddie's padlet by Maddie Anderson

What traditions does my family have?

8023523 — 2023-11-08 13:56:00 UTC

My family has multiple traditions we celebrate throughout the year. We celebrate the general holidays like Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, Birthdays, etc. We also go to Door County, Wisconsin every year to cherry-pick. It's been a tradition since my mom was a little kid. We go during the summer so we can swim and find activities to do.

How has media/technology impacted my life?

8023523 — 2023-11-08 13:57:42 UTC

I think technology has impacted my life in a few different ways. I've had a phone since 5th grade, so did most of my friends. We all grew up with social media. That impacted my self-confidence because the people I saw on my phone looked flawless. I remember being self-conscious about my appearance every day during middle school. On top of that, my sisters and I would fight frequently about who got more likes on a post. Whenever I got more than 20 likes on a post I thought I was so cool. Using social media when I was younger, I took into account everything it was telling me. I was concerned with how many likes I got, and what type of comments I received. However, I grew out of that quickly after real-life situations showed me my worth.

I am still on my phone a lot, but mainly to communicate with my friends/parents.

What kinds of things does my family want for me?

8023523 — 2023-11-08 13:58:51 UTC

My family wants me to be happy. I think they want to see me succeed in things that bring me joy. I've struggled with mental health for so long now, they just want me to be mentally okay. They want me to graduate high school on time, they don't care if I go to college or not though.

What is the best piece of advice you have been given?

8023523 — 2023-11-08 18:12:20 UTC

The best advice I'd been given was from my sister. She told me to stop holding so many grudges. It pissed me off when she said it, but I live by that now. I used to despise my ex-step family because they moved out after 7 years, and I never really understood why. They also took my dog. Freshman and sophomore years were really hard because my sister, me, and the 2 ex-step sisters were all in the same school. I heard rumors being spread about my dad and our family. For a long time, I would worry about having a class with one of them. After growing apart from them for several years now, I always think about what Ellie told me.

What is the most important "thing" in your life? Why?

8023523 — 2023-11-08 18:13:13 UTC

The most important thing in my life is my dog. Hobbs is a plott hound x black lab. My dad and I got him in February of 2023. I enjoy taking care of him. Since he is such an athletic dog, he requires training and exercise. I'm always happy to be with him because he used to be a shelter dog and I'm passionate about animals in shelters because they're so overcrowded. He's such a happy dog, it's cool to see him learning to be a part of the family.

I love dogs in general. I used to work at a dog daycare, which is why we got Hobbs. Now he comes along on door-dashes with me.

8023523 — 2023-12-13 13:56:29 UTC

8023523 — 2023-12-13 13:58:04 UTC

8023523 — 2023-12-14 15:49:00 UTC

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8023523 — 2023-12-14 15:52:16 UTC