When you did the visualization of your funeral, how did you want to be remembered? What are some of the qualities or values that are important to you?
-I wanted to be remembered as someone who changed people's lives. I wanted to be remembered as the girl who was different from all of the rest. As someone who was always able to help people and be a hero to someone. I wanted to be remembered as a good person who always tried to do the right thing. As the girl who made my boyfriend truely happy. I wanted to be remembered as the girl who was trusted the most by my friends, or even people I didnt know well. I wanted to be remembered as the girl who loved to observe life be someone who saw the world in a lot of different ways and was always open-minded. I wanted to be remembered as the girl who was always nice to people, no matter who they were or how different they were than me. I wanted to be remembered as someone who was very understanding and tried their best to not be judgemental.
During our discussion about “Circle of Influences” What were some of the important influences, events and people, in your life as you were growing up? How did these influences impact you and help shape you into the person that you are today?
- The things I have allowed to influence me have been, as ridiculous as it may sound, were movies and books. When I would go through hard times in my life, they were my escape. They kept me from feeling alone. they also taught me good lessons on how to deal with certain things in my life, or things to say in different situations.
Some of my important influences in life are my brother and my dad probably more than anybody else. Those two raised me and shaped me to be the person that I am today. For my brother Anthony, no matter what he was going through in his life, good or bad, I learned from his actions. My dad has always been there for me, and has tried to raise me to not make the mistakes he did, to be strong and independent, and just a good person.
An event in my life that changed me completley was when my mom and my step-dad split up. My world completley changed, and so did my personality. It changed some of the ways I looked at life, and even though it was a hard, I came out of it with experience and maturity. I was able to talk to other kids my age, or even older kids, if their parents were going through the same thing. I was honored to be the one that could calm them down, give them a good perspective on things, and make them feel like they would always have a person to talk to.
Many of you wrote a letter to dream when you were a freshman. What was your reaction when you had the opportunity to read this letter again? Have your dreams or plans changed? What are some of your thoughts and feelings about your next step into the future?
- Well, I wasnt at West Valley yet to write a freshman letter, but a lot has changed for me since then. When I was a freshman, I didnt have a dream. I was still trying to find my own way and discover the things that I was good at. I knew that I wanted to do something that involved helping people, but I didnt really have anything set out. I was focused on having fun more than anything else.
Through my highschool years, I have decided to work towards something. It wasnt until a long bus ride to Yreka my Junior year, sitting next to someone special to me, that I discovered what I wanted to do. Throwing out ideas and things to look into gave me something to look forward to. Something I could shape my life around.
Some of my thoughts about the future are fear, hope, excitement, sadness, and hardwork. Im scared for what is to come and hoping that my life turns out to be everything that I wanted it to be. Im excited to grow up and get out of this town but sadness because I wont be around the people that made me so happy for 4 years. I know what i want, and I am willing to work hard to get there, and I know that somewhere along the line I am going to struggle, but I wont stop.
