My Top 5 Moments of 2024 by Brandyn West

Forestry Challenge November 13th - 16th

10750071 — 2025-01-10 03:46:31 UTC

This was one of my most favorite memories of the entire school year, maybe my number one favorite. It was so tough to learn the content required for this challenge, but my teammates/friends all worked together to use our knowledge to get far. I think the Forestry Challenge gave Gavin, Baraah and I all a chance to get close in our friendships, and a chance to do so away from screens. Nature is one of my favorite places to be at/in, and learning how to take care of it makes things even better. I loved the fresh air in the mountains as well. Every morning, I would wake up, look and the AMAZING view, and inhale the freshest air ever. I also got to experience snow, which I have not been to in a few years. I feel much more knowledgeable about trees and how they help the environment, and about fires too! I truly cannot wait to go again in 2025, and I can until I become a senior in school hopefully :)

Summer Break May 24th - August 3rd or 7th

10750071 — 2025-01-10 03:51:50 UTC

I did plenty of fun activities over summer break! Just to name some, they were: Film academy, San Diego trip with my mom, finding a baby hummingbird apparently???, visiting Sony Studios, start of pesto pasta obsession, flew to Baltimore to visit cousins, worked on producing a new radio show while in Baltimore for Morgan State University, made my little cousin fall in love with electrics guitars, shopped some (but most things are on my wish list), hung out with neighbors, my uncle Stanely and his family came to visit us for a week, I went go karting, went to the beach, went to Catalina Island, went to a sleepover, tried a new sushi restaurant, played games, and a few other small things (wow I am looking back realizing I did a LOT during the summer!) I will never have another summer that was unique as this one! I enjoyed it a lot and am grateful for everything I was able to do!

CVA's First Esports Tournament December 9th

10750071 — 2025-01-10 04:49:49 UTC

The tournament was...interesting to say the least. There were weird feedback and alien noises that came out of nowhere, and the esports staff gave us these balloons to bang against the other, and they kept popping. It sounded like futuristic World War 2.

Anyways, the reason I want to share it as a milestone is because I am president of CVA's esports club, and it was amazing that we had enough people to participate! The fact that people are enjoying our esports team makes me very glad! Even though we only played 1 time because the esports tournament people never placed us properly, we still had a really fun time, and we got to hang out nonetheless and started planning for future strategies. We did place second place in Fortnite though, so congratulations Ethan and Tamir for getting the W!

Renovating Backyard with Mom(mmy) May 11th

10750071 — 2025-01-10 05:02:29 UTC

For Mother's Day, I asked my mom if instead of going to church, why don't we renovate our backyard (because the supplies were already at the house). I go to church every Sunday since I have to work anyways, so I thought it was a great idea! Turns out it was, and we had a fun time using our hands. We did a lot of cutting, used drills, screwdrivers, wrenches, nails, bolts, and big metal and wooden panels to do things. It was a great way to build our already great bond, even more! The backyard looks really nice now and is fun to be in! Lots of hummingbirds, butterflies, and squirrels like to stop by as well :)

SOVAS Conference December 4th-6th

10750071 — 2025-01-10 05:16:23 UTC

This conference was a milestone in my professional life. I went to the conference because my mom is a professional voiceover artist, and this event happens yearly were famous voiceovers all get together at a place, give valuable information, host sessions, make room for connections, and so much more! I got to go only because my mom friend who does some voiceover on the side, bought a 2-bed hotel room so I could share a bed with my mom!

What I got out of the conference was a job, I met some really awesome people, I met my mom's manager, and much more. The job I got is doing a documentary job for NAVA in October. They have a gala each year and want me to interview some people a few weeks before the gala happens. Hopefully that goes well!

I also got some professional photos taken, and in the line waiting for my photos, I met the voice actor who did the voice of "bull" for a popular game called "Brawl Stars". I don't play the game much, but EVERYONE I know does, so it was cool to meet that person! It was such a fun event, and I can't wait to go next year!