In the Future...

In the future... What will you become? Where will you end up? Who will you end up with?

    You don't know. Nobody knows what will happen to them next. Something life changing could happen in a split second. Life is unpredictable, it twists and turns and makes you feel amazing at times and other times it could make you feel worthless.

    Don't spend every second wondering about your future. Do overthink what you will do because most times life will come and screw it up. Take moments as they come and enjoy every bit of it, you will never get that moment back, love it and cherish it. The things that make life worth living is not your big fancy job that pays a lot but you hate, it is not what grades you got in school, or what show came on last night. To me what makes life worth living is my family, my friends, my relationships and who loves and supports me. The journey is what makes life with living, growing into a better person, figuring out who I am on the inside. What matters is what you do with the time you are alive, and you don't have much. 

    Live the moments to the fullest, even if they are not the most comfortable moments. Embrace what life has in store for you, there is no reason not to! Give someone a compliment, make someones day, listen more to the details, and just be yourself, don't change for anyone. You are the way you are for a reason, embrace your interests and personality, there is not sense in holding in your intellect. Life may throw a curve ball every once in a while but just take it, catch it and roll with it. Don't worry about the future because you will spend your whole life wondering what it will be like, and the you will look back and ask yourself what happened, it went too fast. Cherish what you have and give back to those who aren't as fortunate, give thanks to those who provide and be positive. Life is only so short, why fill it with empty questions.

10 Things to be Happy About (Lazy Day Edition)

1. Disney Movies
2. Lazy Sundays
3. Big T-Shirts
4. Rain While You Sleep
5. Naps
6. Hot Showers
7. Candlelight
8. Netflix
9. Cuddles
10. Fuzzy Socks

I Believe in You

"I believe in you." You don't hear that a lot do you? But when you do who do you think of? 

I think my mom. 

Parting ways at the airport summer (2015).

    My mom she is like everything to me! She has been there when my heads are high in the clouds and when I am down in the dumps! She has seen me grow into the person I am today and seen every in between, the 90's phase, the mixed matched clothes phase, the tomboy phase, the athlete phase. She has seen people come and go out of my life and the mistakes I have made. She has been there when I have won awards in volleyball or photography. She was there to support me at all of my games that she could make it to and she was there to support me when I locked myself in my room for days and cried my eyes out. 

    Teresa, my mother, she is the one that I think of when I hear "I believe in you". She believed in me when I tried out for volleyball, when I played the flute, she believed in my photography skills, and my ability to write a good piece for the school newspaper, she believed I could make good grades and go somewhere in life. She is my support system, she is who I turn to when I am in trouble! She loves me for who I was when I was younger and who I am today and who I will become, no matter what it will be. My mom will be there every step I take, she is the greatest woman I have ever met, I only aspire to be as great as she is! I believe in you too mom, you are my hero!

         

Fate or Destiny?

    I honestly believe that people come into our lives for a reason, that everyone who we meet, anyone who forms an impression on us, has something to teach us. Each friend that we make or teacher we have, each boss and co-worker, they all have a story they have yet to tell us. They all have life lessons that they have learned and things they live by. Everything and everyone is an experience and because of that it can never be a bad thing to meet someone new, it can only shape you and help you create the person you will be in the future.
    I am part of the Crimson Crier staff (http://www.crimsoncriernews.com) at my school and I think that class is more than just writing an article and producing a newspaper. That class is a mix of all people and it challenged me to not only get out and make friends with people I never thought would mean so much to me but to step up and take charge in the areas that I could help in. My friend Aiesha, she had a horrible family tragedy my first year in newspaper, I didn't know that much about her but as we raised money throughout the school and we had opportunities to go to concerts together for a story, we bonded and I grew closer to her. And to this day she is the one that when I walk into the class she puts an instant smile on my face, she puts everything aside in her life to make sure everyone has a smile on their face.

Happiness is your choice.

    My boyfriend Dylan, he goes to a different school, but he is still a really big impact on my life! We spend a lot of time together, he has probably seen every bit my ugliness and he still loves me and that is what makes me love him so much! He taught me a lot about trusting more in myself and other people, and believing in myself and my talents. He has taught me to love myself and be okay with how I look. He helps me get through my days. If I didn't have him I would be lost. I have to say he has most definitely shaped my life and helped me become something more than just another person out there in the world.
     These are just some examples of people that have a major impact in my life and has taught me a little something about who I want to be for some reason, it might be God who has put them here or fate, or destiny, or just something out there in the universe wanted them in my life, to teach me something or inspire me to teach someone else something. Whatever the reason is, they are just a few people that have helped me and influenced me to become and better person, I have learned that my life isn't just about me, it is about the people around me too, and how I influence their life too, and what I can do to help the people around me be a happier better person, I have a story to tell.

Family Away from Family

    In the About Me column I told you about my school and the things I'm involved in, newspaper, volleyball, and photo. I really do love my school. A lot of people don't like it, it has a bad reputation and I think people only look at the negative things about it, but its a pretty amazing school! Our newspaper is ranked 9th in the nation, our cheerleaders are national champions, our baseball team has won state, the dance team placed first in regional competition, our band has so many awards you probably couldn't count them all, and i know there are so many other teams and organizations, that have done so much and gotten so many awards, that I am leaving out but you get the gist. There are so many things at my school that go unnoticed, just because we have a crazy big school! We have so many good people there, that give back to the community and do fundraisers, and sacrifice so much to help the school look better and help the students with their studies.

The first photo (pinhole) I was proud of.

    Someone I think that sacrifices the most for their students is my photography teacher Mr. Mittman. I don't know how he does it sometimes! He takes us on field trips that start at 6 in the morning and end at 10 at night, he stays after school until 8 p.m. just so that we could get our work finished on time for this amazing photo show at the end of the semester, where he build panels himself and drills them all together. He puts up with all the hoodlums that come every once in a while and puts up with our whininess. He does so much more behind the senses! He has a family to love with and other jobs to keep up with! He gets our pictures out to the museums and state competitions! He not only a teacher to me though! He is my friend and who I look up to even though sometimes I get a little sassy with him. He has taught me more about what I want out of life than anyone else. He has helped me get through things with expressing myself through photography, and challenged me to not only be a better photographer but a better person too. He is truly inspires me to do better and be better and to give back more than I take.

After signing the Advanced Photo wall we lifted up our favorite teacher.

    Not only Mr. Mittman inspires me, my photography family inspires me to love and be kind and treat everyone equally. When I first started Photography my sophomore year, I was in Photo 1 which is dealing strictly with film. It was hard I have to admit, going through print paper like crazy because your print was too dark or too light or it had spots on it, ect. It was constantly testing my patients. In the close quarters of the darkrooms we became an insane family screaming and complaining and pulling our hair out. I talked to people I would have never talked to in a regular class, I needed help most of the time! But as the year went on some people continued to Photo 2 and some didn't. Photo 2 is digital and a little bit of film. The class got smaller and we were talking and getting to know each other more we would bond over complaining about how Mr. Mittman was giving us so many assignments or playing around on photoshop. So we became closer when the class got smaller in Photo 3. And that is where I truly found a love for my photography family! I would walk around and look at what everyone is working on and compliment it, I would make a few sassy comments some people would laugh at. They would lift me up everyday, I felt safe going into that classroom, like I could be anyone I wanted to be and still be okay with going in there because everyone was so loving and accepting. Each and every one of them had something different to bring to the class and I loved that about them because usually people try to be like other people instead of themselves but our class was the complete opposite, we were a family made up of quirks and character! You guys are my family away from family and I would be okay with spending the rest of my life with you all!

    These are the people that keep me going! I thank God everyday that I have them! They are a bunch of crazy, weirdo, passionate people! The best kind of people I know! You guys are family to me! You make school worth going to! I love you guys!

We Care Too Much

"Lost in Society" The title of my blog. When you are lost you have gone astray from your real goal or you have gone down a path that is not right for you, you are a little bit confused on what you are trying to do with your life...

But when you are lost in society you tend to not notice you are really "lost". In the world we live in there are trends that we all have to keep up with, they are constantly changing with each generation. As teenagers we feel we HAVE to keep up with them or our friends won't like us as much or we won't be as cool as the next guy..You aren't cool if you don't have certain brand or can't stay out late. So we change ourselves, we remodel ourselves to the most popular trends like getting Birkenstocks because everyone else has them, or competing for more likes on your picture, or you just like something because everyone else thinks its cool so apparently you do too.  When we do this we don't know we are changing because everyone else is doing it too, and that is where we get lost. 

We get so caught up with trying to impress our friends and be "cool" that we forget who we actually are, who we grew up to be, what kind of things we genuinely like. 

Girls, we try to be exactly what guys want. We change our bodies and how we look, we would go to the ends of the earth just to be like that girl online with the perfectly shaped eyebrows and the perfectly shaded eyeshadow. We put on pounds of make up, and we hang out with girls who are just as pretty if not a little uglier,  just to take a picture of, how much "fun" we are having, to post on Instagram or Snapchat so that maybe, just maybe, this really cute guy will see it and hit us up or our ex will see it and want us back. We have to have the prettiest dress at prom and the hottest date! We wait all year for Fall just to torture ourselves with the taste of Pumpkin Spice Latte because it is "so Tumblr". 

Stop and look once and a while.

We do all of this ourselves because that is what society tells us we have to do. It's not a law to put on make up or drink a Pumpkin Spice Latte. I know a lot of girls do it because they like to, but most girls, the ones I've seen at school in the hallways and class, they do it because their "friends" won't make fun of them anymore or the guys will like them a little more. We don't have to do all of these things that the world tells us we have to do to be "popular". 

To me you become more beautiful when you lay your own path, when your drift from everyone else's trends and set your own! When you go against the rules and the perfection that humanity sets for us! We are our own writers of our story, not the world.

 Leonardo Da Vinci painted Mona Lisa, and a lot of people say that is the most ugliest and creepiest woman ever painted, but Leonardo Da Vinci was captivated with this lady and he painted her despite what others thought and now it is one of the most famous paints in the world!

Don't get lost in society. You have an endless maze of ideas and education in your mind that you could go be someone, instead of being just another person in the crowd. All of us could be so much more than we are if we didn't care about what others thought about us!