#Snapchat memories from two years ago today are really making me tear up right now hah

[moothecowgirl]

I swear it was only last week I held my eldest nephew in my arms for the first time when he came home from the hospital, so small literally and figuratively and now he’s bursting at the seams with personality and character and articulation, with an exuberance only reached by learning something new everyday, like words and problem solving. I’m scared to blink and he’s going to be capable of conversing coherently

Time can be so bittersweet sometimes <3

[lola--james]

Lola’s 24th Birthday

characters: lola fields & ollie james date: 6 February 2020 location: ollie’s car (and other locations) nb: Ollie takes Lola out for her 24th birthday and his present to her is a promise for their future 

@shitollie

It had been Lola's birthday, and Ollie honestly couldn't have been any more excited. In fact, he was convinced he was more excited about the day than she was, which was understandable. Lola had opened up to him when they first met, telling him that she didn't really celebrate her birthday much before coming to Monarch. Ollie, on the other hand, grew up with birthday's being a huge deal until his parents died. Even then, Ollie had typically enjoyed celebrating other people more than he enjoyed celebrating him; and knowing that she didn't grow up with the same upbringing in that way only gave him more motivation to make the day better. Ollie had left a birthday surprise when Lola had gotten home, telling her that he would be picking her up around 7. Well, that time was now here. He had picked her up dressed in black slacks that were paired with a black button down and black suit jacket, making it a point to rave about how beautiful she looked for five minutes before actually leaving the apartment. It had been about a half hour drive to the surprise destination, and once they reached their destination, it had been obvious that they were at some sort of beach. "Wait, before you get out of the car...I want to give you your actual present." he stated, knowing very well that Lola would probably end up killing him if he kept pulling out all of these stops for her day. Taking off his seat belt, he reached in the backseat and grabbed a gift bag, a gift bag that had contained a box that held a special ring just for her. Ollie placed the bag on her lap, but immediately grabbed her hands before she could open it. "Look, I know what you're going to say. I know how awkward you get when it comes to your birthday, and granted we probably could've gotten away with me not decorating your room with a million balloons. But a couple of days ago I got a notification from my snapchat memories, and it had just been a picture that I took of campus on my first day, which was the first day I met you. I got a little nostalgic and a little sappy about the fact because in just a short span of a year, you went from being my sexy tour guide to girlfriend and best friend." he rambled nervously. He was still amazed by the fact that it seemed as though no matter how much time they two spent together, he always seemed to get nervous when it came to speaking his feelings. It wasn't that he didn't trust her, but it was more that he didn't want to scare her away with his intense, sometimes overwhelming, feelings for her. "Okay, now that I've softened you up a little bit, you can open the gift."

Lola thought that Ollie's excitement over her birthday was adorable, although she didn't like the fact that he wouldn't tell her what he had planned for the day. After her dad died, there hadn't really been anyone around to celebrate her birthdays and by the time that she was a teenager, she was so used to keeping people at arm's length that she never celebrated the day with her friends. That had changed when she came to MU, mainly because she had befriended Charlie and he had always insisted that they do something. With little complaint, she dressed in the outfit that Dolly had bought her for her birthday and curled her hair; applying a light layer of makeup before Ollie picked her up at 7. "I appreciate the compliments but if you really love me, you'd just tell me where we were going", she teased as they left her apartment; although she didn't push for more information as he drove. Her face lit up when she realized that they were at the beach but before he got out of the car, Ollie was asking her to wait so that he could give her a present. "Ollie, you shouldn't have! The balloons, the decorations, tonight... you've already done more than enough", she told him as he grabbed a gift bag and placed it on her lap. Despite her complaint, she knew that Ollie wouldn't take the gift back so she went to open the bag, only for Ollie to grab her hands before she could. She looked at him with a fond smile when he talked about the start of their relationship; the two of them had come so far since then and she loved him more and more with each passing day. "I may not be a huge fan of my birthday but honestly, I'll take any excuse to spend time with you. You've made today really special and I love you for it". With his permission, she opened the gift bag to see a jewelry box. Expecting to see a pair of earrings or a necklace, she opened the box; gasping when she saw the ring nestled inside. "Ollie, it's gorgeous", she murmured, completely in awe as she looked at the ring.

Ollie playfully rolled his eyes in response to her comment about the surprise. "I know you're not one for surprises, but I'm still not telling you. The only hint that you get is that it's not a party, I wouldn't put you through that torture." he assured as she got in the car. Their car ride had been filled with them blasting and singing along to some of her favorite tunes, which always came with a good laugh. He couldn't wipe the smirk off his face as she insisted he didn't have go above and beyond for her. "You deserve to be spoiled. Twenty-four years ago today a wonderful person was brought to the world, and she deserves to be treated with the upmost respect considering that she's the worlds gift." he said with a huge smile on his face. His eyes were fixated on her as he tried to gauge her reaction. "I always thought that I would somehow end up with Allison, that I couldn't possibly love anyone as much as I thought I loved her. And then you came along and changed the game completely. I wanted to get you something that'll remind you that I'm yours. You have every piece of me right in the palm of your hand. Despite what other people may think, despite the admirers we both have, I'm not going anywhere. This is my promise to you that I will always be by your side no matter what. That no matter how stubborn I am, I will always fight for us, I will always fight for you because you're worth that and so much more. Thinking about the future scares the hell out of me and I have no idea what it has in store, but I'd you to be in it." he rambled, finding himself getting more and more nervous. It didn't matter how long the two had been together, or how many of these conversations they had, Lola would always have this affect on him. "I should probably shut up now before we suddenly end up in a remake of The Notebook, but I need you to know that I love you. I love both the good and bad about you, and that's never going to change."

"Oh thank god, I was so worried that it might be a party. I've literally been practicing my surprised face so that I could pull it off without looking like I was being tortured", Lola admitted. Thankfully Ollie knew her well enough to know that she wouldn't want a surprise party. "I love you but I worked too hard on my makeup to start crying in the car because of how sweet you're being", she jokingly threatened him, although the huge smile on her face made it clear just how much Ollie's words meant to her. She had never felt as loved or treasured as she did when she was around Ollie. Her determination not to cry was quickly thrown out of the window when he talked about how much he loved her; and made his promises to her. "Ollie, this is so beautiful... the ring, the words, the promises... I love you so much. I've never loved anyone as much as I love you or the way that I love you. You may be the one giving me a promise ring tonight but I hope you know that the feeling is so, so mutual", she told him, wiping away a few of the tears that were running down her cheeks. "I can't believe you made me cry on my birthday!" she playfully exclaimed. She carefully put the ring box into one of the cupholders for safe keeping before climbing from the passenger seat so that she was straddling Ollie in the drivers seat. "I love you so much, you're made today absolutely perfect", she told him before leaning down and kissing him deeply.

“I would never put you through that torture of pretending like you’re having the time of your life for /hours/.” Ollie stated. He laughed softly in response to her reaction to his gesture, one that was both playful and sentimental; showing that she really did like what he had been doing. A part of him had been terrified to do something like this in fear that he was doing too much, or that the extent of her feelings weren’t as intense as his. He very much knew that she loved him, but until that moment he feared that he might have been getting himself in too deep. “Your makeup looks really good, but I don’t think I can hold back these intense feelings I have for any longer.” He stated jokingly, continuing to laugh softly. Reaching over, he pulled the ring out of the box before gently grabbing her hand. “I know you do. You’ve always seen the best in me, you’re the reason I’m turning into a better man every day.” He spoke in a soft tone as he slid the ring onto her finger, smiling down at how perfect it looked on her. Ollie looked up and laughed as she blamed him for hear tears, assisting her with wiping them away without ruining her makeup. “Was my romantic gesture /that/ terrible that you’re crying?” He asked jokingly, knowing that probably couldn’t have been further from the truth. He watched as she quickly climbed onto his lap, straddling him comfortably before their lips met. He rested his hands on her waist momentarily before slowly dragging them down her body as he further deepened the kiss. “God, I’m so in love with you.” He whispered quietly as he pulled away just to place soft kisses down her jawline, his breathing slightly ragged.

"Yet another reason why I love you so much", Lola told him, very appreciative that he hadn't planned a surprise party and that the two of them would be spending this part of the night alone. "I hope you know that I'm going to have to touch up my makeup before we get out of this car. I can't have other people seeing me like thus", she joked, although she really wouldn't change anything about this moment. In her eyes, it was absolutely perfect. Her hand was trembling slightly as Ollie gently took it and slid the ring onto her finger. "It's so beautiful, I couldn't have picked a prettier ring myself", she told him, her gaze on the ring she was now wearing. "I can't take all the credit. Watching you grow and become the man that you've always wanted to be, without letting anxiety or fear slow you down... god, it's been so amazing just being a part of that journey". Ollie had been completely amazing when they first met but watching him become more confident in his own skin had been truly beautiful to witness. "We both know that these are happy tears", she retorted, playfully swatting his arm. "And I'm so in love with you", she murmured. "How long do we have before we need to be at our destination?" she questioned, wanting to take a few moments to truly enjoy this moment.

[parkkjiminssi]

Outcast

Kim Taehyung x Reader | social media au

Part 10: How

In a world where superpowers exist, you would think that there’s no such thing as being different. Y/N, however, was branded with that tittle early in her childhood days after almost destroying her school and hurting her classmates. In attempts of escaping her past, Y/N attends to a high school that’s in a neighboring city. What will happen when Y/N meets the Elite Nine? What will happen when Y/N meets a boy named Kim Taehyung?

tag list: @astronomyturtle, @namiiy, @momdancingtomcr, @perseephony, @moonfairyjoon, @vstellarkth, @stephgiriseok

word count: 2.9K

a/n: I’m sorry this is so long 🥺 I just wanted to throw some fluff at you guys. Like always links are on my bio!

Y/N and Taehyung:

Today was just a chaotic as yesterday had been. A lot of questions were left hanging in the air and of course you all were looking for answers.

“Where’s Kay?” Avery asked once all of you, well most of you, were sitting on your usual table.

“She didn’t wanted to come to school today.” Lynn responded as she swallowed the bite she had taken out of her rice ball. “I guess she wasn’t ready to face Jimin.”

“Speaking of Jimin,” Avery continued, now turning to you. “where is he? He’s not with the boys.”

“As soon as he walked into class and didn’t see Kay, he tried leaving but Mr. Shin trapped him into a force field.” You answered. “I’m guessing now that it’s lunchtime and Mr. Shin is no longer on top of him, he’ll be leaving one way or the other.”

“To be honest, it was about time somebody said something. Neither of them were ever going to say anything even if they’re dying of love for each other.” Avery said as she took a bite of her own rice ball.

“That’s just the way Kay is. She’s afraid to get attached.” Lynn said with a sad chuckle. “I guess she’s actually just afraid of going back to that hellhole. As if I’ll let that happen.”

You placed you hand on top of Lynn’s trying to provide comfort. “We won’t let that happen if the time ever comes.”

“Which it won’t!” Avery added.

“But if it does, we won’t allow for anything to happen to her.” You finished.

Avery looked over her shoulder and waved at Namjoon. He returned the wave with a dimpled smile. It made you uncomfortable the fact that due to your disagreement with Taehyung, now the boys were eating separately from the girls.

“Avery, you don’t have to be here with me you know.” You said while sipping on your juice nervously. “You should be with your boyfriend.”

“Oh, no. It’s okay, Y/N. I really don’t mind it!” She said cheerfully. “Anyways, has anyone seen Jinx? She hasn’t arrived yet.”

“I saw her hiding.” Lynn said as she now took a bite out of her dessert. “I’m guessing she’s also avoiding Jungkook.”

“Wow, it’s not like her to miss class. I hope they all fix this, Namjoon will get a stroke. He’s already super stressed with all his president duties.” Avery said in between laughs.

Lynn and yourself joined Avery in the laughter.

Little did you know that a certain blonde haired boy was watching you, wishing that he could be there next to you. Laughing with you.

“Stop starring.” Hoseok murmured without looking up from his plate.

“What are you talking about?” Taehyung asked confused.

“Just go and talk to her. I’m sure she’s forgotten everything by now.” Namjoon added in.

“N-no, I can’t.” Was the only thing Taehyung said before stuffing his mouth with food, unable to say anything else.

More like refusing to answer anything else.

Subconsciously, Taehyung’s graze fell upon you once again. However, this time you also turned to look at him. Your eyes locked for a small moment but as soon the two of you realized what had happened, you quickly looked away.

I’m sorry, Taehyung.

Jimin and Kay:

Jimin was determined to speak with Kay about what had been said in the chat last night. He wanted to know if it was true, he needed to know. He had tried to contact her through any means possible. Text, call, kakaotalk, email, FaceTime, Snapchat but Kay just wasn’t answering. And as soon as Jimin saw that Kay wasn’t at school, his whole plans went down the drain.

He tried his best to leave. To go find Kay. Unfortunately Mr. Shin wasn’t having it, and trapped him inside a force field throughout the whole morning.

“Any sudden movements and I’ll make sure to close this field on you. I’m sure you don’t want to die crushed.” Was the only thing he needed to say to get Jimin to settle down.

“Jimin, calm down. We’ll think of something.” Taehyung whispered to him when Mr. Shin had turned around to write on the board.

“Thank you, Tae.” Jimin replied with a sad smile.

Lunchtime soon came around and there were still no signs of Kay.

As he walked towards the cafeteria, he bumped into Lynn and asked her about Kay.

“She stayed home. I’m sorry, you know how she is.” Lynn said while looking down. “She’s just afraid, you know, of that place.Which has nothing to do with this, but she’s just being dumb.”

“Like hell I’m going to let those bastards lay a hand on her.” Was the last thing he said before taking off running. To where? Well, to the Clearwater’s home. To Kay’s home.

“Wow, Jimin looked so cool right now.” Yoongi finally spoke after a long moment of silence.

Jimin ran. The dumbass could’ve just taken his car, but in a moment of frustration like this, this was the only thing that came to his mind. Later he came to regret this decision when his legs were sore and couldn’t climb up the tree next to Kay’s window. Regardless, he still climbed and knocked on her window.

Kay tried her best to ignore him. To pretend that he wasn’t there but Jimin screaming at her was very hard to ignore and very hard not to laugh at.

“Kay, you better open this fucking window. You don’t know what I’ve been through to get here.” He screamed in between pants, his cheeks red from all the running. “If you don’t open it, I swear I’m going to bust it open.”

“Fine, fine!” Kay eclaimed as she finally opened the window and helped Jimin climb through it. “What do you want?”

“Really? What do I want?! Not even a glass of water or—“

Jimin was cut off by a splash of water on his face, courtesy of none other than Kay herself.

“Kay, can’t you be serious for just a moment?!” Jimin said frustrated, his hands grabbing on to Kay’s arms. “Why haven’t you answered my calls or my texts? Why didn’t you go to school?”

“Why? So you could laugh at me or tease me?” Kay said as she tried her best to free herself from Jimin’s hold.

“Why the hell would I do that?”

“Because you’ve only seen me as your best friend and I’m so in love with you.” Kay yelled, tears finally streaming down her face. Thank god that her parents were out working. Otherwise, Mr. Clearwater would’ve busted in to Kay’s room ready to pummel whoever it was that had made his daughter scream like that.

“Kay, all this time I was the one that was in love with you and thought that you only saw me as your best friend.” Jimin sighed, his hands letting go of Kay’s arms and embracing her instead.

“Y-you in love with me?” Kay asked. “Why didn’t you say anything before?”

“I don’t know, Kay.” Jimin said as he gently stroked her back, trying to comfort her. “I guess I was just always scared or had this idea that you’d never see me as anything more than your best friend.”

“That’s just silly. You seriously could never tell all those times that I would flirt with you?” Kay pulled away to look at Jimin in the eyes.

“Well now it does sound silly and no I couldn’t.” He said looking away. “I was just always trying not to think too much out of things so our friendship wouldn’t become awkward. I guess I just didn’t wanted to lose you, it didn’t matter if we stayed friends forever. I was content with being just that.”

“But I know that the moment you started dating someone else, I was most likely going to lose it. Kay, please hear me out.” Jimin finally gathered the courage to look at Kay in the eyes. It was now or never. “I know that you live in constant fear that one day those assholes from the center will come back for you. That that’s why you’re afraid to form bonds and get attached.”

“Jimin, I—“

“No, please let me talk. If I don’t say it now then who knows when I’ll gather up the courage to say it again. Maybe another five years will pass by.” Jimin cut Kay off, causing a soft giggle to escape her lips.

“When I first met you, I thought you were the most beautiful girl in the entire world. As we started to talk more, I just became more and more entranced with you. From there, our friendship grew and you became comfortable enough to share your story with me. Still to this day, I feel very honored to know that I was the first person you ever confided in about this aside from your family, of course.” The two of them smiled at the memories. Of how close they had gotten in these five years. Of everything they had gone through together. “Kay, ever since that day I made myself a promise to not let those sons of bitches lay a hand on you ever again. I’ve been training and doing everything in my power to become stronger, so when that day comes I’ll be ready.”

Kay was practically sobbing at this point. She always felt like shouldn’t enjoy her life because sooner or later it would be over once again. Oh how she hated that place and the people that ran it. How she hated the fact that she always had to be watching her back and how she didn’t feel like a human at all. That she was only an experiment for them and nothing else.

“Kay, you deserve to live a normal life.” Jimin said as he whipped off her tears. “You also need to learn to depend on others and that it’s okay to show weakness every once in a while. Because unlike before, you have us by your side now. Kay, I love you so much and I won’t let anything ever happen to you.”

“I-I love you too.” Kay said in between sobs.

“I loooove you! Marry me Rebecca!”

“D-did you just quote catbug?” Kay looked up at him, a smile growing on her face.

The two of them started laughing out loud. The sadness and frustration from a while ago were long gone. This is what Kay loved the most about Jimin, he always managed to find a way to make her smile. After a couple of minutes, the two of them finally managed to calm down.

“Jimin, I love you so much. I really do, but I—“

“I know, I know.” Wow, Jimin was surely doing a lot of interrupting today. “I’ll wait for you as long as it takes. Can I ask for one thing, though?”

“Sure.” Kay looked up at him with curiosity.

“Can I kiss you every now and then?”

A slight blush appeared on Kay’s cheeks. She definitely didn’t expect something like this, but she’d be lying if she said she didn’t like the idea. “Yes you—“

Before Kay could finish, once again, Jimin took her in him arms and kissed her.

How the two of them had been wanting to this for a very long time. How lucky they were to have each other.

Jungkook and Jinx:

To say that Jungkook had looked everywhere was an understatement.

Jungkook had left no stone unturned trying to look for Jinx, but somehow the girl was nowhere to find. It was like she had become invisible or something.

Wait a minute.

.

..

...

“SHE FUCKING TURNED INVISIBLE!” Jungkook shouted in frustration.

How had he not thought about this before? He had spent the whole day looking and he even missed lunch time, which according to him was his favorite class despite what everyone said. How dare they say it’s not in the curriculum?

Jungkook sighed. He was exhausted. He walked over to a nearby bending machine and pulled out a few coins from his pants. Just as he was about to choose his drink, he noticed something odd on the reflection.

A floating school uniform?

Well, it’s now or never.

He selected the banana drink before reaching for his phone in his pocket. Jungkook pretended to click on his phone and then placed it against his ear.

“Hey.” He started saying.

Meanwhile, Jinx was standing right behind him. Hiding in between a fake plant and a wall. She never thought she would have to resort to something like this to avoid Jungkook. This boy sure was persistent and she just wasn’t ready for this.

“No, I can’t seem to find her.” He continued. “I don’t know, dude. I’ve looked everywhere, it’s like she vanished.” Pause. “Maybe she decided that after all I wasn’t such a good guy to have a crush on.”

No, that’s not true. Jinx thought.

“At times I can be too childish and irresponsible. I play around too much and my grades are not the best but my feelings for her are not a joke.” Pause. “Since the first moment I saw her, something clicked inside me. I know I probably seemed pretty weird because I kept on starring but can you blame me? She’s so perfect. She’s so smart and so funny.”

A smile started forming on Jinx’s features. Jungkook’s words made her feel all warm inside.

“She never gets mad when I ask her to explain something to me or if she can help me with my homework. Jinx is so sweet and compassionate.” Pause. “Yeah, perhaps I should leave her alone. There’s a reason why she’s been avoiding me.”

“That’s not true!”

Surprised, Jungkook turned around and slowly started putting his phone away in his pocket. He honestly didn’t think she was going to come out of hiding.

But there she was, completely visible and slowly walking up to him. Jinx extended her arm and with her small hand she grabbed on to his blazer.

“I’m not avoiding you.” She finally said. “I’m just scared.”

“Scared of what?” Confusion evident on his voice.

“It’s just, I’m so used to being on top of my studies. I want to go to a good college and help my family.” Jinx kept her head down. She just couldn’t bring herself to look at Jungkook in the eyes. “I’ve never felt something like this for anyone. When I started liking you I got scared. Scared that maybe my grades would drop and of these new feelings. I also get scared that maybe one day you’ll get bored of a girl like me and leave.”

“A girl like you?”

“A girl that doesn’t know anything about liking someone or how to do anything other than studying and not being—.”

Jungkook placed a finger on Jinx’s lips to stop her from continuing talking. His bunny smile slowly growing.

“Jinx, I like you for you. You don’t have to change anything about you, because you’re perfect for me.” Jungkook removed his finger from her lips and started stroking her cheek. “I could never get bored of you. I learn something new about you everyday, all in all I just can’t get enough of you. But look, if this is going too fast then I’m willing to wait. I will wait for you until you’re ready. No rush, really! I know it’s been a few months since we met and all.”

“You’ll wait for me?” Jinx finally lifted her head to look at Jungkook.

“Of course! Just please don’t stop liking me in the meantime.” Jungkook said nervously. “My heart won’t be able to take it.”

“Jungkook, maybe for the first time in my life I should start living my life in the moment.” Her heart was beating a hundred miles per hour but she knew she wanted this. Jinx had never been so sure. “I like you, Jungkook. When I’m with you, you always make me forget about all my troubles. I forget about school, grades, college and getting a good career. There’s no worries with you and you actually make me feel like a fourteen year old girl. You’re right, it’s only been a few months and it’s crazy but I never thought that I would feel like this for you.”

Jungkook took Jinx’s hands in his and brought it up to his lips. He placed a small, gentle kiss on each hand. “Jinx, would you like to be my girlfriend?”

Jinx threw her arms around Jungkook and bobbed her head up and down in excitement. “Yes, of course I would like to be your girlfriend!”

Jungkook wrapped his arms around her waist and gently picked Jinx up and spinner her around. He then placed her on the ground just as gently as he had picked her up. Jungkook pressed his forehead against hers. 

Jinx closed her eyes and smiled. “Jeon Jungkook, please treat me nicely. You’re my first boyfriend.” 

Before Jungkook could say anything, they heard footsteps coming down the hall. It was most likely a teacher or a hall monitor and if they were caught, they were going to get detention for sure!

Jungkook wrapped his hand around Jinx’s and pulled her along with him. “Run!”

“Where are we going?” Jinx asked. She definitely didn’t wanted to ruin her school record that soon.

“Anywhere! I don’t want you to get in trouble.” Jungkook said and he kept on running with Jinx’s hand in his. A slight blush tinted Jinx’s cheeks and a small smile rugged at the corners of her lips. 

Jeon Jungkook. He surely was going to change her life.

[drumie]

Salutatory Speech.

So as Salutatorian, I was told I would have to write a speech focused on the history... I find that a bit challenging, but here it goes.

A very long time ago, the universe did not exist. There was infinite mass and density, and said universe couldn’t take it, so there was a boom. A big bang of sorts…

Then in the late 90’s and early 2000’s we were born. One of us, in fact, was born on this very day. I want to wish Alicia Hernandez a happy birthday. (sing alicia happy birthday)

So we were born. Our worries were few, but substantial. Two of my personal struggles included catching the next spongebob episode and drinking chocolate milk too fast.

We started pre-school. My only memory from there is getting sick on one too many pigs in a blanket. We met some of our first friends here. Simple times.

2004 - Facebook was created.

2005 - Youtube was created.

Then we started Elementary school. I was at east ridge. Our worries here included getting the last breakfast pizza that was left over because “adam wasn’t here and he would want me to have it.” They included  obsessively cramming for spelling tests, memorizing multiplication facts,  and taking our first TAKS test. TAKS test. Feel old yet?

2006 - Twitter was created

We moved onto 4th grade at SIS… The turf wars began. And for the folks that don’t know, there were two different elementary schools that brought up Kindergarten through 3rd grade. And then these two schools would feed into SIS, Sweetwater Intermediate School. This was our world now. Where we came from defined a person… were you from east ridge, or were you from south east? And I’m ending the beef now, East Ridge was the better of the two. Only kidding! It didn’t matter. There were good things from both schools. I’m just glad that hating and judging people from where they’re from is only something 4th and 5th graders do.

I digress. We’d rack up AR Points ca ching! We’d party like the year we were born… Flamingo fling. Not many worries, but we were still in a hurry, learning about history and Martin Luther King. And those days remained romanticized because again, our biggest concerns only included passing a TAKS test and… our first puberty class.

2010 - Instagram was created

Speaking of puberty, here came middle school. Oh my God. Puberty was like Everyone telling you to look both ways before crossing the street to watch for cars and then a falcon swoops down from the sky and attacks you. Folks I thought that was it for us. As soon as coach Huskey said “Let’s go hit that creek” I recall thinking to myself “yeah I’m going to die in the next few hours.” I found my passion: Band. I also found what I thought was my passion: Football. I remember one day Kiante hit me and I was like “I don’t think I like this very much.” Life got real. Technology took off. We all got phones, social media, iPads. Remember how cool we thought we looked with all of our decent selfies  camwow retro logo in the bottom left? Instagram, Snapchat, facebook, tumblr (lowkey though), Jokebox, iFunny, Youtube, and for the first time, We stopped going to older people for help and we got online and googled it. We were the pioneer generation that was raised by technology. Surrounded by information in the times of our lives when we needed it the most. We began to comprehend the different weights of life. As a middle schooler I pulled a few all-nighters to finish projects and homework… I may or may not have procrastinated on. Our priority list was fine tuned. School and extracurricular were up there now. But memes, relationships, and social media were among them as well.

2012 - Vine was created

Then came High School. lots of smells in high school have you noticed that? The big room smells like shredded tires and hard work and dedication with a hint of Trent tears scattered here and there. You could always tell when bunsen burners were on because the science hall always smelled unpleasant. And Mrs. Melendez’s room when she would burn those Orange Buttercream Scenses that smell like fruity pebbles oh my god.

Smells like the big room, bunsen burners, teen spirit, and those scense’s are the things I think I’ll remember the most.

I learned a few important things in my time in High school that I’d like to share with you.

Freshman year I learned that if you’re unhappy in your situation, you have the ability to change it. Whether it be relationships, extracurricular, or any aspect of life, you can change it. I also learned that social media can be a cruel blackhole, that can distort views, reputations, and relationships. Even more so today. Tread carefully.

Sophomore year, I learned the true value of hard work thanks to Mrs. Judith Brentz. She taught us many valuable lessons, the most important being “how to use our heads for something more than keeping your ears apart.” I also got my first B… Thanks Mrs. Mac. I also got my second B… Thanks Mrs. Brentz. I also learned how to rid my life of toxic people, and for the first time I began to see the world for what it really was. All the variables, and the factors that can play into what, when, why, and how we think the things we think.

Junior year was the toughest for me. Between band, Round 2 of Brentz for chem 2, Coach Mayes, Work, and family…. It taught me that you can’t do everything you want to, and at the same time get enough sleep. I also learned that it’s healthy to rock the boat every now and then. You’ll either get humbled, humble someone else, or if conditions are just right, a healthy mix of the two.

I also learned probably the most important lesson I’ve learned thus far. This applies to everyone listening, Teachers, families, current students, etc. If you don’t get anything about my longwinded speech, please hear this.

My junior year, I stopped worrying about grades, and I started doing the best I could to learn and retain everything that was being taught to me. Numbers are just Numbers. But what we should understand is that we have the world’s most powerful computer between our ears, and once we start using it, we become unstoppable. There are people that will disagree with what I’m about to say, but stop trying ace tests. Stop trying to do the bare minimum to get by. Learn and retain the information, and those good grades will come. I guarantee it. And class of 2018, it’s not too late to apply to your lives. Whether you’re going to college or not, this is a fundamental principle that can be applied across the board, and I encourage you to do so.

Alright back to jokes.

My senior year I learned lots. Like how you can overcook a TV Dinner and still get food poisoning, ruining your chance for perfect attendance that year. Once I started seeing colleges I started learning how a world that I thought was so big is about a whole lot bigger. I learned that if you fall asleep exactly 47 minutes before the first bell, you’ll wake up and be in a sour mood the entire day. I learned that once people figure out that you’re doing a speech at graduation, everyone wants a shout out. I also learned that you can market shoutouts and get a headstart on paying tuition by selling them for a dollar a piece. I also learned that I should've thought of that sooner and not just the night before I gave the speech. Nobody bought shoutouts. (this was what was originally written, but nick gomez bought a shoutout lol)

But our priority list is strict now. When we have to be where and with who? Some of us are paying bills, we have to worry about finances, college tuition, student loans, our next meal, car payments, gas money, textbooks, toothpaste, medical, dental, water, electrical, internet, phone bills. Oh my God I thought I wanted to be an adult but this isn’t what I meant. Of course, those are all things we should be concerned about.

I for one have my priorities just a little bit different

My biggest worries are still catching the latest episode of spongebob and drinking chocolate milk at the right speed.

So welcome. I hope you enjoy tonight's ceremonies. I’m going to wrap this up with a few thank yous, and we’ll get on with it.

Thank you God, for the many blessings you’ve laid upon my life as well as the blessings you’ve given my friends and family. I know I tick you off sometimes, so, I just ask that you’ll bear with me. I’m still learning

Thank you to my dad. You’ve taught me a lot. The most memorable being the wisdom you passed on from my grandmother in heaven… To never take life too seriously.

Thanks momma. You make me laugh like no one else can. And you get me the way no one else can. You can bet everything you say I’m gonna steal and make it my own. I love you.

Marlee, you’re the only one that gets me emotional anymore. I’m so proud of you. I once described you to a friend as a little packet of sunshine that grew arms, legs, and a face, and now you just walk around spreading happiness and joy. I’m glad you made your own path and didn’t follow in my footsteps. I know you’ll continue to make me proud with everything that you do.

Band - Thank you for giving me a place I belong. I’m odd, and yall were okay with it. Without you, I wouldn’t be standing up here.

Directors - Thanks for making me feel at home. I still cant wait to call yall by yall’s first names here in about an hour.

Teachers and Administrators - Thank you for bearing with me. I know I was a thorn in yall’s side from time to time with scandalous assignments and requests. And Mrs. Reyes and Mrs. Little… I made it.

(With the exception of what’s bolded, the other shoutouts made were ad-libbed and did not have a concrete order. I recall thanking other teachers, friends, and family, and shouting out nick gomez, lauren rodriguez, and trini and bell.)

And last but not least, I’d like to thank Jeff Stein and Richard Ferguson for keeping me on their staff after numerous hiccups on 96.7 FM, 1240 AM, KXOX. Good times, great country. For the job opportunity you’ve given me, you helped ease the financial stress that comes from being a poor high schooler, and a soon to be college student. I cant thank you enough.

And in closing. Heed this warning, everyone listening.

We are strong.

We are persistent.

We are mustangs.

We will go on.

We will succeed.

We will prosper.

We are coming.

We are graduating

We are the Class of 2018.

Thank you, and God Bless.

“Salutations” //Trent(on) Hicks. May 25, 2018

[stretchjournalemerson]

When Moments Turn to Memories

By Maddie Browning

art by Molly Mitchell

“You will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.” - Dr. Seuss

This seemingly simple quote sat on a bulletin board outside of my high school theatre classroom for months. I would pass it quickly, glance over at it, and go about my day, not thinking about how horribly true it was. I knew things ended, but I didn’t understand that people did too.

I struggle with beginnings because I can only ever think of their eventual end, when everything I love about them will soon be a distant memory. When I was 12, my parents took my brother and I to Hawaii. It was absolutely breathtaking. We saw volcanoes and luscious greenery and crystal clear waters. We ziplined in an area where Jurassic Park was filmed and saw spinner dolphins leap into the air off the side of our boat when we went on a snorkeling trip. And as wonderful as it was, I couldn’t stop thinking about the time when I would eventually have to leave, when I would get one final glance at the glimmering waves, and then take off on a plane back to Colorado. It was like I needed the time to prepare myself for when the dreamy vacation life would be over before it had even begun. But I thought that maybe if I was prepared, leaving wouldn’t hurt as much. Maybe that was true. I still don’t know.

I never dealt with the death of a loved one until a little over a year ago. Before that, I had lost my great grandparents, but at the time, I was too young to comprehend the finality and pain of death. I thought that maybe, like my vacation thought process, if I had enough time to prepare for someone’s eventual death, I would be more okay. I’d be ready. But that was complete bullshit, and I didn’t get any time to prepare anyway.

I hear "Rainbow" by Kacey Musgraves, and suddenly I'm back in the car with my two best friends. We're dressed in all black. It's the middle of the afternoon, but it's as if the sky has been drained of all of its color. I’m sitting in the passenger seat, and I see life passing by in slow motion as I glance out at the gloomy clouds hovering above us. I’ve never seen a darker day. It is almost as if the world knows that something horrible happened and is in mourning with us. We drive in complete silence except for the soft playing of the song. I can feel the downbeat of the piano chords like they’re playing on my heart, pushing out all of the deep emotions I didn’t know I could feel. We make it to the church just as Kacey sings, “Everything will be alright now,” even though it couldn’t be farther from the truth. This used to be the place where we would all gather for choir concerts and sing and laugh. Now, it’s the place where we will witness the funeral of our 17 year old friend.

The first time that I met Parker was in my Theatre I class in high school. He stood apart from everyone else—wearing an orange puffer jacket, cargo shorts, and flip flops no matter the weather. His brown hair swept lightly across his forehead and his deep brown eyes held darker secrets than any of us could have ever known. He was kind and talkative and loved, but stood in the corner of the room as if he didn’t quite feel like he belonged. He was the kind of person who you wanted, needed to get to know, but you didn’t know how. My clearest memory from that class is watching a scene that he wrote and performed where a talking goat head was controlling his mind and driving him to insanity. He was strange, but in the best way.

I remember walking into the church and feeling numb. I saw people I knew everywhere, but everything felt wrong, and I couldn't even make it past the front door without crying. I couldn't understand how this was really happening. Directly inside, there were photo displays of Parker from when he was a baby until now and items he treasured like his infamous Scooby Doo shirt. I felt nauseous and almost as if I was floating outside of my own body. And as I floated above it all, I saw static. People were moving around in all different directions, and all I could see was a deep black aura emitting from the crowd. There was a sense of emptiness and darkness. Everyone blended together in a large mass of pain and suffering, a gathering of people who loved each other, sharing in immense grief. I didn’t know how to handle it all. I was shaking uncontrollably as I moved toward my seat in the chapel.

One of my favorite memories of Parker was during Beauty and the Beast, our last musical before COVID shut down in-person schooling. I played Mrs. Potts, but could not do a British accent to save my life. Parker had a knack for accents, so he told me he would help me in whatever way I needed. He tried coaxing me to say different phrases and mimic his intonation and went on rants in character about his life as the person he had created with specific accents. There was one day that I had an especially horrible British accent, and I was feeling really defeated. I told him it was almost more fake Australian than British to which he said, “That’s ok. Australians are just British people but on fire.” He made me laugh and smile when I felt awful about myself. I’ll never forget that moment.

When the funeral started, they played a slideshow of Parker from when he was a baby until his senior photos. It was the first time I had ever seen this adorable little boy. His family enjoyed going on tropical vacations together yearly and compiled photos of him from each one. He seemed to be holding exotic animals in almost every photo. There were different types of lizards and birds and monkeys perched on his shoulder. I remember just how captivating his smile was. At that moment I couldn’t think of any smiles in the world that shone brighter than his. He looked up at the camera like he was the luckiest boy in the world to be where he was. He was so playful and happy, but now he was gone.

Parker was really, really funny. He used to post daily snapchat stories about the most random things. My best friend, Kalyssa, and I looked forward to watching them everyday and laughing while he discussed the concept of frogs and how airplanes are just flying metal dildos. “Bro what even the fuck are airplanes?” was our favorite quote. None of what he said made sense, but without us even realizing, it was one of the best parts of our day.

Parker’s family wrote moving speeches that they delivered throughout the funeral, but his dad’s speech still haunts me today. He said that whenever they went on vacation, Parker was always captivated by the waves. He would go down to the edge of the sand and play in the water as the tide moved in and out. He couldn’t swim, ironically enough, but he still loved being right at the edge of the water. His dad said that he would watch Parker play for hours, content with seeing him so happy. He said that those same waves that his son used to play in now washed over him with grief and pain. The thing that his son loved most in this world, now tore him apart. I think about that a lot, and I wish that I could have known that little boy, so enthralled by the crashing of the ocean's waves.

During the first semester of our senior year, Kalyssa and I choreographed and starred in the musical, Heathers, with our theatre production ensemble class. We only had about two and a half weeks to pull the show together, so Kalyssa and I had to divide and conquer between learning our own parts and teaching choreography. I worked with Parker on the song, “Dead Gay Son,” and he was a comically awful dancer. He performed every step that I taught him, no matter how many times I demonstrated it, almost like a suburban dad trying to embarrass his kids. My favorite part of rehearsal was watching him dance. He tried so hard to get all of the steps, and I loved seeing him working so passionately. He never gave up and always had a smile on his face. I would give anything just to see him dance one more time.

My high school actually held an in-person graduation in a huge field more than six feet apart in July. They had a chair set out for Parker with balloons tied to it, and when they called his name, they released them into the air. I remember shedding a tear as I looked around at all of his friends that shared in my grief, but it was like a small part of our pain flew into the air with those balloons. It was a beautiful moment knowing that he would never be forgotten as long as we were still here to remember him.

It’s been a little over a year since he died. It still feels weird, like a part of me is missing. I still have bad days where I don’t want to get out of bed in the morning and random triggers that send me into a dark void once again. But yesterday something happened that gave me a little bit of peace and hope. My roommate, Molly, is very spiritual. She does tarot card readings and lights candles for her deities, and however unbelievable as it sounds, she sees ghosts. I didn’t believe it myself at first, but after all of the weird encounters in our room, I know she’s not just seeing things. She can’t always see the full features of any ghosts, but she can feel their energies and when certain ghosts are connected to the people they stand next to. Yesterday, she told me that she had been noticing an energy that never left my side since last semester. Even when we left our room and traveled out into the city, it was always there. She sensed that this energy was a young male presence, who had some deeper connection to me. She is sure it’s him. It’s Parker. I know it sounds crazy and impossible, but I believe her. In all of my grief, I didn’t realize that he never truly left. And even though I can’t see him, I now know that he has and always will be with me.

Acknowledgements

This memoir was inspired by my friend, Parker Priesser. He was such a kind and beautiful person who made my days brighter and never failed to make me laugh. He was funny and smart and good at accents and had so much potential to do great things. His death caused me great pain and sorrow, and this memoir was one of my outlets of expressing that. It gave me a way to feel him again without spiraling back into a pit of grief. He was truly the most genuine person I have ever met.

I miss you, Parker, and I will always love you.

[everythingshawnmendes]

Individual Success PT1(Shawn Mendes x Reader)

I made this imagine with Fred Weasley on my Harry Potter blog, and decided to make a Shawn version with it. There will be more parts so I BEG YOU to be patient because there will be a happy ending. Don’t get fooled by the first couple sentences that Shawn ends up with Camila okay there will be more parts!!!!! Leave feedback hope u enjoy oxxxoxoxoxo

« Y/N! Y/N you look stunning! Can we get a smile?”

Y/N flashed her signature smile at the cameras, ears blocking out, out of habit, the thousands of screams of fans. It wasn’t that she didn’t appreciate her huge fanbase, but come on, she’d like to keep her eardrums intact.

She walked along the red carpet.

Shawn got out of his cab, and lent a hand out to his girlfriend.

“Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes! Hollywood’s sweetest couple! Smile!”

Shawn kissed Camila on the cheek and walked onto the carpet with her. He moved on slowly down the carpet towards the center of it.

Nearing the middle of the carpet, Y/N turned her head and spotted Shawn Mendes. Her breath hitched in her lungs.

Shawn smiled and looked in front of him. His hand fell from Camila’s waist. Standing in front of him was Y/N Y/L/N.

They locked eyes as the same memories played inside both of their heads.

-

Shawn walked into the bright small Los Angeles café, looking forward to the caffeine he was going to get.

He walked up to the cashier, who had her (hair color) hair tied up in a messy ponytail. She looked up from what looked like a script and smiled.

“Oh my god Shawn Mendes! Oh gosh, I’m so sorry I’m being totally unprofessional haha. Um what can I get you?” she smiled brightly.

Shawn smiled widely at her. Smiling looked good on her.

“Um can I get a triple shot latte?”

“Yeah sure. I’m assuming you got a big day ahead of ya?” She laughed as she started preparing his drink.

“Yeah actually, got a lot of press conferences today.” He glanced down at the pack of papers she was holding. It was indeed a script, more precisely what looked like a musical.

“Triple shot latte.” She said, placing a cup down in front of him.

“Thank you so much um-“ he looked at her nametag. “Y/N.”

“My pleasure. Shawn.” Y/N grinned.

“Um may I ask if that’s a script?”

“Oh yeah, I um have an audition for a musical in a couple weeks.”

“Wow, best of luck!”

+

Y/N took a deep deep breath before walking into the audition room. The movie musical she was auditioning for was called “Summer of Love” and the character was the main love interest.

Walking in, she spotted a table of directors and, Shawn.

“U-um hi!” Y/N stuttered. What was he doing here?!

“Hi Y/N, thank you for being here today. So, you are auditioning for Shawn’s character’s love interest. Um, why don’t we turn to page 41 and read from the top?”

+

“Hello Y/N, this is Amy from casting. I’m calling to tell you that you got the part! It’s a six-week shoot, we start on Monday.”

“OH MY GOD!”

+

Articles read:

Shawn Mendes and new upcoming actress Y/N Y/L/N to star in musical movie “Summer of Love”

Shawn Mendes’ love interest will be played by Y/N Y/L/N, brand new actress

+

Shooting the movie was amazing. Y/N and Shawn had this natural chemistry and their attraction on camera was the most natural thing ever.

After each shoot, Y/N and Shawn hung out; at times practicing their scenes, at times just watching their favourite movies together, at times going out late into the night downtown to see the lights of the tall LA buildings.

+

Pictures of Y/N and Shawn surfaced on the internet, in magazines… Pictures of them laughing together, of them leaving set in sweats and a cup of coffee in hand, snapchats of them on set together goofing around.

+

“Hello this is BroadwayToday.com and here we are with two absolutely talented actors both making their film debut in the musical «Summer of Love», welcome Shawn Mendes and Y/N Y/L/N!”

Y/N and Shawn sat down, Shawn put his arm around Y/N’s shoulder comfortably.

“So, this is both your first movie. Congratulations by the way! How does it feel?”

“Wow, it’s so cool. Actually when I was a kid, I wanted to become an actor so it’s really out of this world for me right now.” Shawn said.

“Ah the anticipated how do you feel question.” Y/N laughed.

Shawn chuckled, and looked at her.

“Well I moved from Canada five years ago to become an actress, and every single day had been a struggle for me. But luckily I had an amazing family and friends circle betting on me, so I kept on pushing and bam here I am!”

“Oh Y/N, I didn’t know you were from Canada!” The interviewer said.

“Montreal actually.” Shawn interjected as Y/N opened her mouth to say the same answer.

“Hahaha you two seem very close!”

“I guess we are.” Y/N grinned. “We became really close of course during this entire shoot and we hung out every day actually.”

“Shawn, what do you think of Y/N?”

“Oh god, where do I start. She’s annoying, irritating-“

“Shut up!” Y/N punched him amicably.

“I’m kiddiing.” Shawn said to her. “Y/N is honestly a perfect mix of funny, kind, goofy, artistic and um… “

“And um what mister?”

“Fun.” Shawn finished.

“Well if you don’t mind me asking are you two-“

“If you’re gonna say dating, I’m going to say yes.” Y/N said. “JUST KIDDING. Oh shit, I already see the paparazzi twisting this around.”

“Yeah, maybe this wasn’t a question to joke around with, the media die for this kind of stuff.” Shawn smiled down at her.

+

“Alright guys last shot of the whole movie. The kiss scene. Make it fire. Action!”

Y/N and Shawn undeniably had feelings for each other. What was a little crush turned slowly into more, and after a long six weeks, their feelings have blossomed into a beautiful love waiting to be announced.

Shawn looked into Y/N’s eyes, and took her hand in his. Y/N smiled up at him and closed her eyes as she felt his lips on hers.

And in this moment, they were not their characters, they were Y/N and Shawn and their kiss lit up fireworks in their minds.

+

“Wow you look beautiful.” Shawn gushed. Y/N blushed.

“We’ve been a couple for two months and you say that to me every day, you know?”

“Well how can I not, it would be a sin not to tell you you are beautiful.” “I love you Shawn.”

“I love you more love.”

Shawn pulled Y/N into a kiss.

“Whoa whoa whoa there tiger. Red lipstick.” Y/N smirked.

“Fuck it.” Shawn said, pulling her close again.

On their way to the premiere, he wiped the lipstick off his face.

“You know, eeeverybody thinks we’re dating.” Shawn said.

“Well we are.” Y/N giggled.

“So do you think we should just tell them and make it official?”

“I don’t see why not, since we’re not very subtle anyway.” Y/N laughed.

The two stepped out on the carpet to a round of shouts and camera flashes.

“Y/N! Y/N you look amazing! Oh and you came with Shawn!”

“Yeah actually we have a little announcement to make.” Y/N said, looking at the cameras.

Shawn was looking at her, and said:

“Yeah and that announcement is-“ He pulled Y/N into his arms and kissed her. Y/N smiled up at him.

And in that moment, each other was all existed.

+

“Y/N have you seen my sweater-“

Shawn looked up to quite a sight. There y/N was, sitting in his apartment kitchen, wearing his sweater and fuzzy socks, coffee mug in one hand, book in another.

“Hmm?” She looked up.

“Nothing.” Shawn said, sitting beside her, kissing her cheek.

+

Shawn’s career was flourishing and he was preparing his biggest tour yet, he was going to be on the road for a year and a half.

Y/N meanwhile, had been to numerous auditions, but hasn’t gotten a part since Summer of Love.

+

“Shawn are you coming to bed baby?” Y/N hugged him from behind, as he was hunched over contracts and international concert venue information sheets.

“Hmm yeah.”

Y/N went to bed alone, waiting for his body to warm her up.

+

“Hello love.” Shawn said coming back home.

On the kitchen counter was a note.

“Hey Shawn, I got three auditions in a row tonight. See ya in the morning.”

+

“We never spend time together anymore!”

“Well maybe I’d see you more often if you weren’t involved in tour preparations 24/7!”

“I’d see you more often Y/N if you weren’t trying to get every movie role available in America!”

“I’m sorry if I’m ambitious and want things in life!”

“I have ambitions too!”

Y/N sat down, tears streaming down her face. Shawn flopped down onto a chair, hand going through his hair nervously.

“What’s happening to us Shawn?”

“I-I don’t know.”

“Our goals, careers they’re just. They’re driving us apart.”

“I miss how we used to be.”

“We’re still the same people, we’re just so busy you know? Anyways, I got an audition in ten minutes we’ll um we’ll talk later.”

“I’ll come with you.”

The cab ride, Shawn held Y/N’s hand. Their minds left their careers, their jobs, their schedules and just focused on this intimate moment. As they pulled up to the building however, it all came rushing back.

Y/N’s audition went well. She was borderline trying, having been rejected for every role she auditioned in the past year. This just made the casters see her natural self though, and they loved her.

+

Outside of the audition building, on a park bench overlooking the city.

“So, what do we do Y/N?”

“I don’t know. Nothing. You’ll have to go on tour, because that’s what you love; and I’ll stay here and you know, wait for responses.”

“I’ll never forget you Y/N. I don’t think I’ll ever stop loving you. When I met you, my life was changed because of you.”

“And I will always love you Shawn. Maybe we’ll find out way back to each other.” Y/N smiled sadly.

+

The camera flashes and shouts came back into Shawn and Y/N’s ears. Y/N blinked and Shawn swallowed as they both turned away from each other and smiled to the cameras.

Y/N turned her head slightly to look back at Shawn. He did the same. In their eyes there still was a hint of love that would not fade.

Y/N smiled at him, and Shawn gave her a small one back.

They weren’t with each other, but all of their other dreams had come true. Y/N was an Oscar-winning actress and Shawn had taken home his first Grammys. It just wasn’t with each other that it all happened.

PART2. Btw in ur requests take off anon so u can get a notif when i answer it 

[musicandspanglish101]

Today was my last day of work (onsite) at the Monterey Bay Aquarium—an institution I’ve had the greatest pleasure of my life working for seven exciting /eye-opening/memorable years. This is the longest I’ve worked with an organization/company (the longest relationship I’ve ever been in) and I’ve admitted to a few of my friends that it feels as though I’m breaking up with one of the nicest boyfriends on the face of this planet.

I gave my letter of resignation over a month ago; therefore, it felt like I had not moved out of my nice boyfriend’s apartment—seeing him (my wonderful/amazing colleagues and all the magic the Aquarium has to offer) every day. A simple congratulatory conversation with someone in the kitchen or after a meeting quickly segued into a two minute crying session. This is why I felt like I was still living in my nice boyfriend’s apartment. I was constantly reminded of how some of the best days of my life, thus far, were spent with him (working for the Aquarium). I know a lot of you know why I loved this nice boyfriend of mine so much. You’ve watched me share countless of stories about how life changing these past seven years have been for me. If you’re still reading I’d like to highlight some of said moments and explain why he’ll forever mean so much to me (let me tell you why working for the Monterey Bay Aquarium has meant the world to me):

•        the staff—every single person I have met whether they’ve moved on to new endeavors or remain at the Aquarium have left the sweetest and most inspirational impression embedded in my memory and heart. Some who have become the greatest of friends giving me the strongest feeling that we’ll grow old together as such.

•        I got to talk to Leonardo DiCaprio for a solid 55 seconds or so. I sometimes tell myself that he definitely remembers the red head who bid him farewell after a quick visit at the Aquarium.

•        I worked at the Membership Entrance during one of our attendance breaking days (over 17,000 guests) and lived to tell about it. CC: Brandon Mohr.

•        my colleague then and now really good friend Reyna, once told Harrison Ford he couldn’t come in through the Membership Entrance if he wasn’t a member and had to go through the Main Entrance to buy tickets. He obliged without hesitation and was actually really polite to her. Reyna had NO clue who he was. I still die when I think of this story.

•        I learned more about marine life than I ever thought I would in my entire lifetime—FYI: the jellyfish and the school of sardines will forever be my favorite.

•        I will never forget the 76 year old man I met while working at the Adventures Desk, “I’m traveling across California by myself. My wife died last year and I’m making all the stops we once did during our 40th wedding anniversary road trip and the Aquarium was the highlight of that trip, this place will forever safe keep some of the fondest memories of my Stella. Before she passed, we made plans to come out here one last time…” I hugged him before he could even finish sharing his story, as he cried.

•        The time we had to scramble and run to CVS to buy pantyhose for our celebrity guest (famous Mexican actress), during Fiesta del Mar—all because homegirl was cold. I still can’t stop laughing.

•        The cute time Simone Sant'Anna (supervisor at the time) arranged a Pacific Octopus encounter for my birthday. Long story short, never in my wildest dreams would I have assumed to be so close to a Giant Pacific Octopus let alone share with folks that I’ve at some point in my life have had octopus hickeys for a whole day ;)  

•        Meeting countless of school children who were visiting the Aquarium for the first time, but more so, who had never seen the ocean with their naked eyes. I still cry.

•        October 4, 2013, sometime in the afternoon, I received news from HR that I had landed the Marketing Coordinator position–a position I had my eye on since I started at the Aquarium. So I decided not to move to NYC. Hella tears. Ask Tracy Murray, Laureen Campos and Janelle Riess. We all cried together.

•        Getting to work with and learn from some of the most hard-working and bad-ass women on the face of this planet: Mimi Hahn, Lorraine Yglesias, Barbara Barbara A. Meisterr, Letise LaFeir. For four years, I was awed beyond words by these amazing ladies and challenged to step into self-improvement territories I never knew I could ever set foot in. Y'all are inspiration personified. 

•        working for this organization has elicit this greater love for ocean conservation that I never knew existed within me. I can wholeheartedly admit that I’ve found a bit of myself during these seven years. For some this might not make any sense, but I truly found a purpose in my life and that is to pursue ocean conservation in some way shape or form. Whether it’s a volunteer gig/hobby, it’s a niche that I’m passionate about—the well-being for this beautiful planet and the massive body of water that hugs it. After giving much love to the Pacific side, I look forward to see what I can do for the Atlantic side of this grand beautiful ocean of ours. For the time being I’ll keep it simple by reminding folks that ditching your plastic bag and straw can be so easy and make a big difference.

Maybe now you can understand why breaking up with this nice boyfriend has been so hard. I’m certain I’ll find myself stalking him (the Aquarium) on his social media accounts, like every ex-girlfriend does, right?—Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook. I look forward to seeing all his new adventures and how much more he’ll (the Aquarium) accomplish. If you ever run into him and consider asking him out (consider working for the Aquarium and applying): it doesn’t hurt to try, DO IT! If you get lucky, you too will fall in love, become inspired and then some. I promise you. 

So I’ll leave you (the Aquarium) with this: you gave me some of the best years of my life and have nestled yourself into a deep corner within my heart. As cliché as this may sound, it’s not you (the Aquarium), it’s me. I’ve realized you (the Aquarium) can’t give me what NYC makes me feel. I’ll always love you. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Monterey Bay Aquarium. xo

[5hfanfiction]

Too Close To Home - Chapter 16

Camila Cabello Had A One-Night-Stand With A Girl

A very surprising photo of singer Camila Cabello surfaced the internet today. This morning, a girl named Alycia Debnam posted a rather explicit photo (picture below) of the not-so-innocent Cuban-Mexican singer.

The girls were seen with a random girl whom we recognized as Alycia going out of a club late last night. There were also snaps of them in the club in Dinah's snapchat.

The photo was trending through every social medias and luckily, we managed to contact the woman who took the picture just a few hours ago.

“Yesterday, I was out at this club that just opened. That was the time I saw Camila [Cabello]. She was drunk and dancing in the middle of the dance floor. At first, I didn't remember how I knew her but something pulled me to her." She said.

"She looked at me invitingly and we danced through the night. She eventually brought me to her friends (current members of Fifth Harmony and Lauren's fiancé). That was when I realized who she was. But I didn't really fangirled then. We all played games and drank. It was fine and everything but at one point, Lauren [Jauregui] and Camila got quite moody.”

“It wasn't because of anything. I don't think they're not in bad terms. Actually, they seem quite close. Lauren seem to look at her [Camila] a lot." She said when we asked if the girls hated each other.

"For the short time I've been with Camila, she never once mentioned Lauren or anything that says that she was or is romantically involved with her. But what the hell do I know?”

So there you have it, Camilizers and Harmonizers.

We all know that the girls have been close this past year. With Camila birthday celebration and the outing they had last month. But how do you guys feel about the cute reunion? How about Camren, do you think they happened at one point? And more importantly, how's your reaction about Camila's picture? Was it surprising? Do you think she's gay, bi or just having fun? Comment your opinions below.

I scowl as I finish reading the article. Drama just keeps on coming to me. I don’t get it. What’s so interesting about a girl having fun? Everyone has sex once in a while.

The management would be so pissed. For years since I was in Fifth Harmony, they seem to push me towards the straight, pure and innocent girl but the photo just killed two birds with one stone.

The management knows about my sexuality. I actually told them right after I left Fifth Harmony, hoping that I was free enough to open up to the public. Unfortunately, they thought that I would get a wider audience if I stay in the closet for a few more years. I didn’t know anything then so I thought that they know better so I just complied.

But after more than a year staying in that claustrophobic closet, I felt the need to come out. So even if I’m quite sad that I got outed like that, deep inside, Im sort of happy that it’s out there. People know now.

But again, that wasn’t ideal. Who wants their naked picture on the internet for everyone to see? I’m just glad that she had the decency to at least not take a picture of my private parts.

How would my management react? They’re gonna be so mad. Would they fire me? Is that possible?

I start panicking at that thought. I’ve come so far, only to be demolished by a meaningless one-night stand. Oh My God. Are people going to label me as a slut now? Haters are pretty simple minded and I’m sure they would think that. I’m sure they would think that I do that often, only to be caught now. But I’ve never done that before.

Alycia is honestly the second person I’ve ever had sex with. The first being Lauren. I was just so frustrated and so dry from 2 years that I thought that it was a good idea. Basically, I was driven by desire and lust. Is that why people say that you can’t make decisions according to desire? Is this my backlash for not listening to Lauren? Is this my karma? Is karma even a thing?

I start panicking more now. My eyes are blurry from the tears that seems to pour out when I was thinking. My breathing is hectic and shaky. I grab my phone and luckily, I know where the contact app are and clicked at the first option I could find.

Of course, the universe being a usual bitch, Lauren came through the line.

“Hello?” She asks. She is seriously the last person I wanna call. I’m kind of embarrassed because I didn’t listen to her. I thought that she was only thinking about her own feelings, that’s another factor that pushed me to sleep with Alycia. But now that what she warned me is actually happening, I can’t help but feel ashamed.

“Camz?” She repeats since I haven’t answered her, “Are you okay? You’re breathing really loudly.”

“I-I’m fi-ne,” I croak out, even if it wasn’t as convincing as I hoped it would be.

“What happened?” She asks.

Again, I didn’t reply. I was too busy thinking about how to end the call before it becomes obvious that I’m panicking.

“Camz?? What’s happening? You’re scaring me.”

I take a deep breathe, trying to compose myself but failing miserably since she asks, “Are you having a panic attack? I’m coming to your room.”

“Do-ont, I’m oka-y.”

“Too late.”

A knock comes a few moments later, indicating that she’s here already so I can’t really do anything but open it.

After a minute attempting to open the door with my shaky hand, I succeeded and Lauren immediately barge into the room.

“Camz.. are you okay?”

I just look at her with my blurry eyes and she knows what’s happening. She wraps her arms around my, releasing endorphins into my body, immediately making me calmer. She then led me to the couch, still wrapping her arms around me while we sit.

After what took about 15 minutes, my breathing finally becomes normal, she releases her hold and lean back.

She takes her phone out and punch a few numbers. She brings her phone to her ear while still holding me with her other arm.

“Hey Dinah… Yeah I know… I can’t come today… I’ll go tomorrow… I’m sorry… It’s just that this is more important… I’ll record it tomorrow… Can you tell the producers I’m sorry… Yeah, thanks.”

And with that, she puts her phone back to her back pocket and continues putting her energy on trying to calm me.

“I’m sorry,” I mutter.

“What? Why?”

“I’m sorry I called you. I’m sure you would’ve preferred doing anything else than this. I’m also sorry that I didn’t listen to you when you warned me about her. If I listened, this wouldn’t have happened.”

“What happened?”

“You haven’t checked your social media?” I ask.

“No?”

“Well, long story short, the girl I hooked up with took a picture of me whilst I was asleep and posted them so now, everyone knows I hooked with a girl.”

“Damn… Was that why you had a panic attack? The fact that you got outed?”

“I mean, honestly, I don’t mind that part.. It wasn’t how I pictured it but it was long overdue. I just don’t know how the management will react. I have a feeling that they’re gonna call me for a meeting or something soon.”

“Well, you know what?” She asks rhetorically, reaching out to take my phone from the coffee table, shutting it off before putting it back, “today’s your last day before you have to go back on the road, they can’t take that away from you. So what do you wanna do today?”

“I was planning on having a lazy day before performing tomorrow.”

“Then we’ll do just that,” she responds, leaning against the couch, turning on the TV in front of us with the remote.

“Wait.. You’re staying?”

“Yeah? Why not?”

“I-” I start, “nevermind.”

She lets it go and just watches the TV. We fell into a comfortable silence. I don’t know what happened but at one point, our shoulders touch, causing warmth to spread through my body. The simplest touch could do this to me, imagine if we were kissing.

We spent about an hour staring at the TV, barely talking. But I wasn’t even watching the show, I was busy side-eyeing Lauren’s profile subtly.

“You know, staring is deemed rude in some culture..” she says at one point, still watching whatever’s in front of her.

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. I was just joking. Actually, please stare some more, it’s actually boosting my self-esteem,” she jokingly says as she turns her head to me.

“Jerk..” I say, causing her to laugh loudly.

Her laugh dies down after a minute. We just sat there, looking at each other. The mood shifts suddenly when she asks, “did you remember what happened yesterday?”

“Barely.. I drank a tad bit much.”

“Uhh, well.. Do you remember when we played Truth or Dare?”

I crack my head open, trying to recall everything that happened. Luckily, I begin to remember chronologically instead of those typical flashes of scattered memory that just makes people’s head spin some more. I smile as I remember Normani and Dinah kissing like there was no tomorrow.

But then.. Lauren. My heart constricts as I recall what Lucy said. The memory seemed vivid enough and I can’t help but feel hurt again. I know it happened a long time ago, but it still didn’t help. It felt like Lauren is now deliberately scratching my almost dried bruise, making the bruise raw again.

“I’m sorry,” she releases. She probably knows what I’m thinking about from my facial expression, “I wanted to tell you. But-”

“When?”

“What?” She cocks her head, narrowing her eyes as a sign of confusion.

“You said you planned on telling me. When did you plan it?” I raise one of my leg up to the couch so I could fully turn towards her.

She looks dumbfounded, she didn’t anticipate that I was going to ask that. I knew she just wanted to say what I want to hear. If it wasn’t for Lucy, I probably wouldn’t have known.

She said we were best friends, even before we happened. But why was Lucy never a subject? Were we even friends in the first place? If so, why didn’t I know jackshit about this?

“I thought so,” I sigh, defeated. “You weren’t really sorry for not telling me, you were sorry that you got caught. It’s different.”

She looks down at her knotted fingers, a few tears seem to flow down her cheeks to her jaw, collecting tears at her chin.

“But it’s okay,” I began, making her snap her head in my direction, “it doesn’t really matter now anymore.” Her hopeful expression faded at my last statement.

It’s true though. As much as I’m mad about it, what good would it do to dwell on it further? Yes, I feel betrayed and deceived, but at the end of the day, Lucy is still her endgame. So why the hell would it matter if they had history before?

“Yeah..” she sighs.

“On a more pleasant note, Im glad you found your The One,” I smile, a sad one but a smile nevertheless, “Remember when we were 15 and 16? We dreamed about being famous. We talked about boys and how you want to marry the person who you know before we were well-known. You also wanted the person to be so similar to you, having the same thoughts and knowledge. I’m glad that Lucy reaches all your expectations, eventhough she’s a girl.”

She laughs softly now, tears still streaming down her face, “Indirectly, I think I was talking about you. We-”

“Stop,” I interrupt, “just stop.” I was hurt already, I don’t think I need another trip down memory lane. I’m emotionally tired. I’m already in pain. I feel so drained already and it’s still a little after 2pm. My brain is pounding, my heart is aching painfully, I’m looking at the girl that got away. What good would it do to talk about the days where everything was fine - great even - and simple?

“Sorry..” she mutters.

And at that, we continue watching the movie. But the stupid elephant was back and just stared at us. The tension was thick and I felt the need to lighten the situation.

“You wanna try writing on a song together?” Just yesterday, we made a deal to write a song together so why not do it now?

“You wanna do it now?” she asks.

“Now is as good as any.” I walk to my room, only to come back with a pen and my journal. The journal has a few deep entries but most of them were just ramblings and scattered song lyrics I don’t really use. The journal is leathery and white, with my name imprinted in front of the book.

I place the journal down at the coffee table and slide down to sit on the carpeted floor. She followed suit, causing our knees to brush each other. I move my knees up so it doesn’t touch, to somewhat create a barrier between her and me. She frowned when she realized what I’m doing but said nothing.

“So what song do you want it to be about?” I ask as I open to a fresh page, free from any type of ink.

“Love,” she says without a beat,.

“What about love?”

“A dead relationship,” she says with such simplicity. I squint my eyes, confused as to why she wants to write that since there’s nothing wrong with their relationship. Just as I want to ask she beats me to it by interpolating, “it’s not based on Lucy, it’s based on any relationship in general. An internal battle between whether they should break up or not.”

“Right,” I say, still unconvinced but decidedly lets it go.

We spend at about 30 minutes discussing about the base of the song.

Lauren’s phone rang from her back pocket. She takes it out, Lucy’s name temporarily imprinted on the phone.

“Hey baby… Oh, I’m at Camila’s.. Oh, okay.. Yeah, I don’t mind, take your time. We’re just chilling here so it’s okay.. Yeah, alright… You too,” she says through the phone. I can’t really hear the other side of that conversation so I don’t really know what’s happening. She ends the call after that, putting her phone on top of the coffee table.

“Lucy?” I say in the least noisiest way possible.

“Yeah, she said a friend is in LA and they’re going out.” This was another thing I see in Lauren. The amount of trust she has on Lucy is huge.

Back when we were together, it was hard. Lauren was a very possessive person and she was jealous at the littlest thing I do. We fought about it a lot; whether it’s about a guy I clearly have no interest in like Shawn or a girl I only see as a friend like Ariana or Taylor. No matter what I do to try to reassure her, she was too hard-headed to trust me.

Hell, even now… Just two days ago, she was jealous of Ariana. It kind of hurts, knowing that Lauren has never trusted me the way she trusts Lucy.

We spent the next few hours conveying our thoughts and feelings to the song. It was easy writing with her, probably because we have some kind of bond that I don’t seem to have with the other songwriters I’ve worked with. Lauren understands me to a personal level and vice versa.

At the end of the day, we seem to be pretty proud of our creation - or our baby if you must.

The only obstacle now is how to convince the label to include Lauren for the song. I want her on it because she deserves it just as much, if not more.

[heyraspoetry]

My 1st Retreat

Exactly two years I lived an Inner Healing retreat in some mountains in Georgia. And my life forever changed. (I usually don’t remember or keep track of these things, so thank you Snapchat for the memories) Two years ago in 2017, I was going through an extremely difficult time. A lot of major, unexpected, and unfortunate events had happened the year prior in 2016 and into the next year. (The details of those unexpected unfortunate events we will save for another time.) Point is, ya girl had it rough! Amongst many things, I was battling a deep depression, daily suicidal thoughts, anxiety, PTSD, extreme mood swings, I wasn’t eating or sleeping, I was m i s e r a b l e. I would cry myself to sleep almost every night. Even when I would manage to sleep I would just have horrendous nightmares and I wouldn’t rest. Not only did I feel like I didn’t want to live, I felt like I didn’t deserve to live. I hated myself. I hated everything and everyone. I was in pain and traumatized which led me into self-destructive behaviors which uncovered more unresolved trauma from my childhood and adolescence. It was a very dark time in my life. But by the grace of God I am still alive (obviously I am writing this)! The worst part about it all was that I was mainly dealing with all of this alone. I chose not to tell anyone anything, especially not my family. As I was in the dark, I also pushed everyone else away and kept them in the dark, which kept them from knowing what had happened to me. Isolation is one of the many trauma responses I had. And although those around me did notice I was acting differently, I kept everything seemingly OK. I wasn’t the usual happy, smiling, skipping, hardworking girl everyone loved and knew, but I managed to put on a façade. I guess you could say lots of factors went in to me not actually killing myself… like my mother’s prayers, the love of my little brother, my own fears, a bad car accident, and deep, deep down inside I wanted to get out of that deep dark hole I had been pushed/spiraled in to. I mostly couldn’t stand the thought of my little 5 year old brother asking where I had gone and never seeing me again. Eventually, it got to a certain point where I could no longer hide the darkness that was consuming me. I was only fooling myself when I thought I was controlling it. The inevitable happened and my family and close friends started finding out. In a whirlwind of events I finally told my best friend and mother what had happened to me. It was something I forced myself to do because I knew that was the first step for me to take on my healing journey: I had to reach out for help. I also knew I wanted to fix my relationship with God. I had grown up Catholic and I had even volunteered at my parish before. I went to Mass every Sunday and prayer group every once in a while. And instead of turning to God in my darkest times, I turned away because I thought God hated me too. I stopped praying and I stopped going to mass because I would cringe every time I stepped inside a church. I avoided anything that had to do with God, even getting angry when someone would mention God. I felt so unworthy of even thinking about God. Growing up, I had this perception of a strict God that would punish you into Hell if you didn’t abide by the commandments. I feared God and thought I had let Him down because I had let myself down time and time again. And even though I wanted to, I just didn’t know how to fix things. However, once I had let my mother and friends know what was going on, I started letting them help me. My mother didn’t take the news so well, but she wanted to help. She was mainly angry I hadn’t trusted her enough to tell her sooner. I just never had the courage or words to tell her until I did. In 2017, that same year I told her everything that had happened, she had gone to a Catholic Inner Healing retreat. She suggested I go. There was going to be one a couple months away in Georgia. I was on the fence about it. When she mentioned that I should go with my dad, I was even more hesitant because we never got along so well. But she insisted. I wanted to go, just not with him. I wasn’t even sure if he wanted to go. It wasn’t until that Friday night a couple of hours before leaving that we decided to go. Even that small step already seemed almost like a miracle. My mom was even afraid we might not make it because we would have awful fights all the time and who knows what could happen during a 7 hour car ride just the two of us. Now that I think of it, I don’t even remember the car ride that much except for the last hour. I was so scared because we were driving up the mountains in the dark with no cellphone service, our GPS stopped working. We even thought about turning around but we kept going. We got there a little before midnight, it was dark and a little confusing because I didn’t know what to expect. The next two days of the retreat were something like I had never experienced before. I knew that I had to let go of all the pain, guilt, shame, fear, and hate I had bottled up for a long, long time and I told myself that weekend was the weekend to do it. I really did not know what I had signed up for and I tried not to expect anything and I was blown away. That weekend I was able to truly forgive myself and with that accept God’s forgiveness that was there all along I just didn’t know it. I was amazed at everyone’s testimonies of how their life had changed once they accepted God in their life. I couldn’t believe it. But what was even more unbelievable was how these strangers, servers at the retreats, all volunteers, were so nice to us. Their faces were filled with love and joy and I didn’t know why. Later I realized it was because it was God’s love shining through them. I cried and cried that weekend, tears I thought I didn’t have left. But they weren’t just sad tears anymore, they transformed into tears of hope and joy. Tears of love. I don’t want to go into the details of the whole retreat, all I do want to say that it changed my life. I went into it with an open heart and mind and I was willing to invite God into my life once more. Little did I know the great surprises and blessings God already had planned for me. Since I lived that first Inner Healing retreat two years ago, I have gone back and volunteered myself. I have also lived other retreats from that same ministry and even other ministries as well. But that first one will always hold a special place in my heart. I could go on and on about how this particular ministry has been a crucial part of my healing and salvation, the list never stops and it is still going. If I tell you that my journey of healing has been perfect and linear and all uphill from here it would be a lie. It has actually been the complete opposite. It has been full of challenges, falls, tears, and a lot a lot of work. It has been anything but easy. It’s been messy. I have had to face things that aren’t pleasant and change toxic behaviors and start making radical changes to my lifestyle. I had to take a hard look in the mirror and ask myself tough questions. Some of those questions are still unanswered with many pending. That same year, right after the retreat I tried to pick myself up and start running again with life as I used to know it. But it was too soon and I fell again. So I had to go slowly, taking small but firm steps towards self-love, self-care, and healing. I wouldn’t have been able to do it if I hadn’t forgiven or accepted myself first. And as a matter fact the journey of healing is ongoing! I am STILL on that journey and boy let me tell ya I never even thought it was possible to actually heal this much. Even a year ago today I would have told you that my happiness was still unreachable, only a faint dream far off in the distance. Everyone’s journey of faith and healing is different. All I know is I couldn’t have done it alone. I needed my loved ones but most importantly I needed myself back. God helped with all of that and more. God and his mother Mary! Never in a thousand years would I have thought I would be this close to God or even this big on my faith and spirituality. I staggered a bit since I began but I don’t think I could possibly live my life without God anymore. I still have problems. I am still working on myself to be better every day. My life is nowhere near perfect. It is still a lot of work. My mental health and faith went hand in hand for me to even be able to type any of this out. Thanks to my family, friends, therapists, doctors, meds, but most importantly GOD, I am here today. Smiling. Actually wanting to live. Not just my mental health has gotten better, also my physical health because being depressed takes a toll on your body too. I have a new purpose now, and it’s not to be sad and angry all the time. I want to let you know that it IS possible to get out of that deep dark hole. And if you can do it alone, that’s awesome. I know a lot of us can’t, not even myself. Just know that there are always going to be problems and challenges in life, but having God in my life makes them more manageable. I am now more prepared to deal with all of the curveballs life has for us. And yeah, God could have “cured me” in the blink of an eye, but the fact that I worked hard for it makes it more valuable to me. I wanted to heal. I wanted to forgive and love again. I wanted to actually be happy and I am now, thanks to God. My faith is what saved me. ..... One last thing, (because I could talk about this forever and ever because God has done amazing things in my life and I am surrounded by amazing people that love me) guess what!? There is going to be one of those Inner Healing retreats this month in Lexington, KY (in Spanish) and one in December in Illinois (in English). Reach out to me for more details if you’re interested. I would love to share more.

[trenthix]

Salutatory Speech.

Salutatory Speech.

So as Salutatorian, I was told I would have to write a speech focused on the history… I find that a bit challenging, but here it goes.

A very long time ago, the universe did not exist. There was infinite mass and density, and said universe couldn’t take it, so there was a boom. A big bang of sorts…

Then in the late 90’s and early 2000’s we were born. One of us, in fact, was born on this very day. I want to wish Alicia Hernandez a happy birthday. (sing alicia happy birthday)

So we were born. Our worries were few, but substantial. Two of my personal struggles included catching the next spongebob episode and drinking chocolate milk too fast.

We started pre-school. My only memory from there is getting sick on one too many pigs in a blanket. We met some of our first friends here. Simple times.

2004 - Facebook was created.

2005 - Youtube was created.

Then we started Elementary school. I was at east ridge. Our worries here included getting the last breakfast pizza that was left over because “adam wasn’t here and he would want me to have it.” They included  obsessively cramming for spelling tests, memorizing multiplication facts,  and taking our first TAKS test. TAKS test. Feel old yet?

2006 - Twitter was created

We moved onto 4th grade at SIS… The turf wars began. And for the folks that don’t know, there were two different elementary schools that brought up Kindergarten through 3rd grade. And then these two schools would feed into SIS, Sweetwater Intermediate School. This was our world now. Where we came from defined a person… were you from east ridge, or were you from south east? And I’m ending the beef now, East Ridge was the better of the two. Only kidding! It didn’t matter. There were good things from both schools. I’m just glad that hating and judging people from where they’re from is only something 4th and 5th graders do.

I digress. We’d rack up AR Points ca ching! We’d party like the year we were born… Flamingo fling. Not many worries, but we were still in a hurry, learning about history and Martin Luther King. And those days remained romanticized because again, our biggest concerns only included passing a TAKS test and… our first puberty class.

2010 - Instagram was created

Speaking of puberty, here came middle school. Oh my God. Puberty was like Everyone telling you to look both ways before crossing the street to watch for cars and then a falcon swoops down from the sky and attacks you. Folks I thought that was it for us. As soon as coach Huskey said “Let’s go hit that creek” I recall thinking to myself “yeah I’m going to die in the next few hours.” I found my passion: Band. I also found what I thought was my passion: Football. I remember one day Kiante hit me and I was like “I don’t think I like this very much.” Life got real. Technology took off. We all got phones, social media, iPads. Remember how cool we thought we looked with all of our decent selfies  camwow retro logo in the bottom left? Instagram, Snapchat, facebook, tumblr (lowkey though), Jokebox, iFunny, Youtube, and for the first time, We stopped going to older people for help and we got online and googled it. We were the pioneer generation that was raised by technology. Surrounded by information in the times of our lives when we needed it the most. We began to comprehend the different weights of life. As a middle schooler I pulled a few all-nighters to finish projects and homework… I may or may not have procrastinated on. Our priority list was fine tuned. School and extracurricular were up there now. But memes, relationships, and social media were among them as well.

2012 - Vine was created

Then came High School. lots of smells in high school have you noticed that? The big room smells like shredded tires and hard work and dedication with a hint of Trent tears scattered here and there. You could always tell when bunsen burners were on because the science hall always smelled unpleasant. And Mrs. Melendez’s room when she would burn those Orange Buttercream Scenses that smell like fruity pebbles oh my god.

Smells like the big room, bunsen burners, teen spirit, and those scense’s are the things I think I’ll remember the most.

I learned a few important things in my time in High school that I’d like to share with you.

Freshman year I learned that if you’re unhappy in your situation, you have the ability to change it. Whether it be relationships, extracurricular, or any aspect of life, you can change it. I also learned that social media can be a cruel blackhole, that can distort views, reputations, and relationships. Even more so today. Tread carefully.

Sophomore year, I learned the true value of hard work thanks to Mrs. Judith Brentz. She taught us many valuable lessons, the most important being “how to use our heads for something more than keeping your ears apart.” I also got my first B… Thanks Mrs. Mac. I also got my second B… Thanks Mrs. Brentz. I also learned how to rid my life of toxic people, and for the first time I began to see the world for what it really was. All the variables, and the factors that can play into what, when, why, and how we think the things we think.

Junior year was the toughest for me. Between band, Round 2 of Brentz for chem 2, Coach Mayes, Work, and family…. It taught me that you can’t do everything you want to, and at the same time get enough sleep. I also learned that it’s healthy to rock the boat every now and then. You’ll either get humbled, humble someone else, or if conditions are just right, a healthy mix of the two.

I also learned probably the most important lesson I’ve learned thus far. This applies to everyone listening, Teachers, families, current students, etc. If you don’t get anything about my longwinded speech, please hear this.

My junior year, I stopped worrying about grades, and I started doing the best I could to learn and retain everything that was being taught to me. Numbers are just Numbers. But what we should understand is that we have the world’s most powerful computer between our ears, and once we start using it, we become unstoppable. There are people that will disagree with what I’m about to say, but stop trying ace tests. Stop trying to do the bare minimum to get by. Learn and retain the information, and those good grades will come. I guarantee it. And class of 2018, it’s not too late to apply to your lives. Whether you’re going to college or not, this is a fundamental principle that can be applied across the board, and I encourage you to do so.

Alright back to jokes.

My senior year I learned lots. Like how you can overcook a TV Dinner and still get food poisoning, ruining your chance for perfect attendance that year. Once I started seeing colleges I started learning how a world that I thought was so big is about a whole lot bigger. I learned that if you fall asleep exactly 47 minutes before the first bell, you’ll wake up and be in a sour mood the entire day. I learned that once people figure out that you’re doing a speech at graduation, everyone wants a shout out. I also learned that you can market shoutouts and get a headstart on paying tuition by selling them for a dollar a piece. I also learned that I should’ve thought of that sooner and not just the night before I gave the speech. Nobody bought shoutouts. (this was what was originally written, but nick gomez bought a shoutout lol)

But our priority list is strict now. When we have to be where and with who? Some of us are paying bills, we have to worry about finances, college tuition, student loans, our next meal, car payments, gas money, textbooks, toothpaste, medical, dental, water, electrical, internet, phone bills. Oh my God I thought I wanted to be an adult but this isn’t what I meant. Of course, those are all things we should be concerned about.

I for one have my priorities just a little bit different

My biggest worries are still catching the latest episode of spongebob and drinking chocolate milk at the right speed.

So welcome. I hope you enjoy tonight’s ceremonies. I’m going to wrap this up with a few thank yous, and we’ll get on with it.

Thank you God, for the many blessings you’ve laid upon my life as well as the blessings you’ve given my friends and family. I know I tick you off sometimes, so, I just ask that you’ll bear with me. I’m still learning

Thank you to my dad. You’ve taught me a lot. The most memorable being the wisdom you passed on from my grandmother in heaven… To never take life too seriously.

Thanks momma. You make me laugh like no one else can. And you get me the way no one else can. You can bet everything you say I’m gonna steal and make it my own. I love you.

Marlee, you’re the only one that gets me emotional anymore. I’m so proud of you. I once described you to a friend as a little packet of sunshine that grew arms, legs, and a face, and now you just walk around spreading happiness and joy. I’m glad you made your own path and didn’t follow in my footsteps. I know you’ll continue to make me proud with everything that you do.

Band - Thank you for giving me a place I belong. I’m odd, and yall were okay with it. Without you, I wouldn’t be standing up here.

Directors - Thanks for making me feel at home. I still cant wait to call yall by yall’s first names here in about an hour.

Teachers and Administrators - Thank you for bearing with me. I know I was a thorn in yall’s side from time to time with scandalous assignments and requests. And Mrs. Reyes and Mrs. Little… I made it.

(With the exception of what’s bolded, the other shoutouts made were ad-libbed and did not have a concrete order. I recall thanking other teachers, friends, and family, and shouting out nick gomez, lauren rodriguez, and trini and bell.)

And last but not least, I’d like to thank Jeff Stein and Richard Ferguson for keeping me on their staff after numerous hiccups on 96.7 FM, 1240 AM, KXOX. Good times, great country. For the job opportunity you’ve given me, you helped ease the financial stress that comes from being a poor high schooler, and a soon to be college student. I cant thank you enough.

And in closing. Heed this warning, everyone listening.

We are strong.

We are persistent.

We are mustangs.

We will go on.

We will succeed.

We will prosper.

We are coming.

We are graduating

We are the Class of 2018.

Thank you, and God Bless.

“Salutations” //Trent(on) Hicks. May 25, 2018