5 Memorable Moments in 2024 by Catleya Pearl Evangelista

Seattle + Oregon: (Nov 23-27)

1075740_1 — 2025-01-09 05:14:06 UTC

During Thanksgiving break me and my family went on a trip to Oregon and drove to Seattle. Compared to NYC when we had someone touring us, it was just us three navigating a new state. Some of my favorite places we went to were downtown Portland, Public Market, and the Grotto. We spent two nights in both Oregon and Seattle, but I feel that Oregon was my favorite state to see. At first I thought Seattle would be more enjoyable than Oregon, but our itinerary for Oregon gave me more memories and walking through downtown and just walking into different stores gave me euphoria. Based on the things I saw and places I visited, Oregon was mostly nature and outdoors and Seattle was more city based and sight seeing. Overall I enjoyed my trip and loved all the new experiences I went through.

New York City (March 2-4)

1075740_1 — 2025-01-09 05:20:17 UTC

Going to New York is probably one of my favorite travels so far. I had an amazing experience overall, we had a close friend tour us to a variety of famous places in under two nights and I really love the city so it was so cool to see it for the first time. I remember me and my mom waking up early before the sun came up, and we were just walking around the streets near our hotel. The lights were so bright and even though it was so early the city still felt vibrant and it was a memorable experience for me. At first I was a bit uncomfortable on our first day because it was raining and super cold so I couldn't enjoy the day as much as I wanted but honestly I wish I could go back and try to make the best of everything because I look back on it and I really miss that trip. Our trip went by smoothly and I feel like I had a more fun time because we were accompanied by people who we were close to.

ASB Camp (Jul 29-31)

1075740_1 — 2025-01-09 05:32:13 UTC

When I think back to ASB camp during summer I have a lot of mixed feelings about it. I was still in shock that I even got into ASB let alone being freshman president, but I wouldn't be able to imagine my school life without it. It was my first time ever spending the night without my family (except for sleepovers with friends) so I was really nervous especially because I was going to be surrounded by a bunch of people I had barely met and people outside of Magnolia. I tend to be less of an outgoing person but ASB camp really pushed me out of my comfort zone because for all three days I was there it was just interacting and socializing 24/7. While it was interesting to learn about other schools and my ASB peers I got exhausted really easily when the day ended. Dorming at a college was so fun, I loved the food and exploring their campus. ASB camp reshaped me as a person because I've learned to take the initiative when socializing and not be afraid to speak.

Wave to Earth (Sept 23)

1075740_1 — 2025-01-09 05:34:26 UTC

For my first ever concert, I think it went really well. To my surprise, my friend and her brother would be joining me and my sister to the concert so I enjoyed it a lot more because I had close people with me. My sister didn't know she bought sound check tickets, so we got early access in to the line (but we had to leave my friend behind) but we were able to get merch first before general admission and we bought merch for us and my friend. I was so glad that we had sound check tickets because we were really close up to the stage but we did have to wait an hour or two before it actually started. Even though I get claustrophobic, I felt fine in the crowd and me and my sister had been standing for more than five hours but it wasn't as uncomfortable as I thought it would be. I really enjoyed the concert, they played a lot of my favorite songs and because it was my first time it felt so memorable and I got a lot of good photos and videos.

Seventeen Concert (Nov 9)

1075740_1 — 2025-01-09 05:57:16 UTC

I absolutely love Seventeen, they're one of my favorite kpop groups and their music is never a miss for me. When I was able to get tickets for their concert in LA I was so excited. I was really happy that I could take my mom with me because I had been trying to get her into Seventeen, before I would play their music videos on her TV and we would watch some of their special episodes. Kpop concerts are so much different than regular concerts, it has more elements than just live singing and it caters more to involving the fans into the concert. I was a little worried about my seat because I was in a higher area in the stadium but my view was really good despite being a little farther from the stage. Although we had a hard time getting into the actual stadium because I think there was really bad management with the crowd and it took us more than an hour to get inside (we were almost late to the show) but I wanted to make the most of it as I had been dying to see them all year!!