If you haven’t already, please read my post “I am…” so that you know what this project is all about.
1. Donated all of my change to help schools that were destroyed by the hurricane. I was planning on donating a dollar, but then I decided to pour out my whole wallet (2012).
I am… a pursuer, a believer, and a helper. I always follow my dreams; if I say I’m going to do something, I will do it. I always believe in myself and others. And I love helping people because the feeling you get after you make someone happy is inexplicable. So that’s why I chose ‘Make an Impact’ as my bucket list item to illustrate. It means a lot to me for a few reasons. The first is simply that I like seeing a smile on a person’s face after you have helped them. The second is a more personal subject. Recently my friend Morgan passed away. She was on an exchange program in Indonesia and always loved helping people also. She did many service projects, went on mission trips, and even taught kids how to read in Indonesia. She was always optimistic and loved trying new things. Through her achievements she has inspired me to make a difference in my community and hopefully eventually the world. I aspire to be like her and change the world, one person at a time. Through Mr. Neumann’s class and creating my bucket list I have realized that I have many passions, hobbies, and things I want to do in my life. And thanks to The Buried Life, I am starting to believe I can accomplish everything on my list. But I don’t want to stop there. Inspired by The Buried Life and Morgan, for every item I cross off my list, I’m going to do a random act of kindness for a stranger. If this works out like I hope it will, each random act won’t be planned, it will be a spontaneous action where I can help someone out at that moment. I am also going to write them all down and try to do each act soon after I cross something off my bucket list. I feel so grateful for everything I have in my life that I want to help others find happiness too. One of my favorite quotes is “Be the change you want to see in the world” – Mohandas K. Gandhi. Most of the time people talk about wanting to make a difference more than they act upon their thoughts and I admit in the past I have done the same. However, for me, that is going to change. I want to make a difference, no matter how small, and now I have the motivation and determination to do it.
In 4th grade my teacher was Ms. Woodrow until she got married and became Mrs. Taylor. The whole class went to her wedding ceremony and she was an amazing teacher. My best friend Corinne was in my class and my 2 other best friends in 4th grade (Andrea and Amanda) are still my best friends now. Corinne and I also won an ice skating trip with our teacher at a school auction. My favorite activities at school were watching the talent show and going to the Planetarium. My favorite school subjects were math and spelling and I participated in Girl Scouts and dance. My favorite TV show was Full House and I was obsessed with Hillary Duff. Also, at school I was in ALP (Advanced Learning Program) and I remember having a lot of fun in that program. Our class was in a trailer and things I remember include doing logic puzzles, learning about mythology by doing skits, and playing on the special playground.
Friends are… special. I don’t know what I’d do without my friends. They have a portentous power or prescience; they almost know me better than I know myself. They never bruit about me and they always cheer me up after abortive attempts and traumatic experiences. They never try to vitiate me or use contumelious dictums. My friends aren’t usually maudlin, but I know they will always be there for me when I need them. Friends should never make you feel like your attempts are ever maladroit and they should never act iconoclastically. They are very waggish and can always make me laugh. They don’t need to use a touchstone because they accept me the way I am. Friends are necessary in order to have a salubrious life and I am very grateful for my friends.
Symbolizing song: You’ve got a friend in me
My friends are always supportive of me and I am always supportive of them.
Family is… EXTREMELY important to me. I know my whole family will love me no matter what happens and will always support me. No one in my family is prurient, we never have philippics, and we never browbeat each other. I never feel immured when I’m with my family because I chose to spend time with them. I’m going to start by describing my family members and what I love about them. First, my mom and dad. I know my mom will do anything for me and she always supports me and cares for me in any situation. She believes in me and knows I will pursue my dreams. My dad always makes me laugh and knows how to cheer me up. He also supports me and believes in me. I know I can always count on my parents and I love them so much. Next is my brother- he is 14 years old and although we never show it, I know we are glad we have each other. We fight sometimes but we also laugh a lot. Now onto my grandparents. First, on my mom’s side, we have my grandma Mimi. My grandpa died a while ago and I never got to meet him, but I’m sure he was a great man to be married to my grandma. Mimi is an amazing person- she volunteers her time and writes different genres of poetry for fun. When she comes to visit, we play board games and talk a lot. When I was younger, she would make up stories to tell me right before bed and I always loved to listen to her. She is a great writer and she helps me with essays and projects. She is so sweet and caring and I love being around her. Next, on my dad’s side, we have my grandma, who I call Grammy, and my grandpa. They are divorced and have been for a while. Many years ago my grandma met her fiance, Merrill. They aren’t technically married but they have been living together for 20 years and don’t want to get married. I love spending time with Grammy because we always have fun together. She loves to go shopping with me and I know she would do anything for me. She is very caring and sweet and can always make me laugh. I don’t know what I would do without her. Merrill is very sweet and always tells me to make good decisions in his homilies. Also, he always asks me what the last word in the dictionary is to make sure I remember. Next, my grandpa is always caring and he loves to spend time with me and my brother. He loves to take us to the movies and usually my dad tags along. I am so thankful to have him. I also have 5 1st cousins. On my mom’s side they are Maddox (13) and Baylee (10). Usually when we visit them my brother hangs out with Maddox and I hang out with Baylee. Baylee is adorable- she’s so nice and caring and she can always make me laugh. I love hanging out with her and it makes me happy knowing she thinks of me as a role model (she’s my aficionado). Although I love all of my cousins, Baylee and I are the most commensurate and I always have fun when I’m with her. On my dad’s side, my cousins are Kavan (12), Kaden (7), and Kort (5). They are brothers and they are all as sweet as they can be but they also have crazy personas and are usually insouciant. They always run around the house and usually break something, but it’s fun to be around them anyways. I also want to write a few words about my great grandfather on my mom’s side, Pop-pop. He died a few years ago and he would have turned 100 this month. I remember he was so sweet and caring. I will always remember how he would pretend to get mad at me and my brother for eating his grapes. RIP Pop-pop, we love and miss you very much. Even as we go through vicissitudes, I love everyone in my family so much and I don’t know what I would do without them.
Symbolizing song: “Lean on Me” – The Temptations
I chose this song because I know I can always count on my family to support me.
After graduating high school, Herschel went to Oklahoma State and played on their football team as a running back. He played with the Oklahoma State Cowboys until June 1, 2012 when he was dismissed from the team after facing charges of felony. He was accused of stealing $700 from a teammate and on June 5, 2012 he was charged with two felony counts of second-degree forgery. He pleaded guilty and received deferred sentences. After that he transferred to Lamar University and is their leading rusher.
So… I don’t remember anything from school in 2nd grade so I’m going to write about my best friend who I met in 2nd grade. Her name is Corinne and she has 2 younger sisters, Kierra and Kaitlyn. In 2nd grade, she and her family moved into my neighborhood, a few streets down from me in a cul-de-sac. We became friends during the summer because our families, along with other families from our neighborhood, went on a cruise together to the Bahamas. We spent pretty much every day together, developed an affinity between us, and began to consider ourselves sisters and cognates. Like many sisters, we had a gamut of ups and downs. We sometimes fought and didn’t talk for a few days over folderol, but we always made up and that was symptomatic of our fights. And since I visited Corinne’s house multiple times per week, her sisters became my friends too. Corinne and I used to always give Kierra and Kaitlyn makeovers in Corinne’s mom’s bathroom, and then we would have my brother, Philip, be the judge of whose makeover was better (if he knew I was saying this he probably wouldn’t be very happy). Also, Kaitlyn, Kierra, Corinne, Philip, and I used to play a game we made up called Rocky and Stoney. Rocky and Stoney were the villains and we were all magical creatures. Corinne was a dragon and I was a wizard. We would go on adventures and we had all of these paper props of technology and elixers that we would use. One time, Corinne tried to convince me that she had an invisible dragon that only she could see. I believed her for a weeks and I was very mad when I found out. I eventually got over it and now it’s a very risible topic to us. We also went on vacation together multiple times and we always had the best time. And then… the summer before 8th grade she moved to California. You didn’t see that coming did you? Neither did I. The day she told me was bilious. We were on the bus coming home from school and she said she had bad news. The first corollary that popped into my head was that she was moving. It was as if I was skillful in divination. I don’t know why or how that came to my mind but it did. So I said, “You’re not moving, are you?” in a completely joking manner. And she wasn’t laughing. She turned away and quietly murmured, “No.” And I breathed a sigh of relief. I could tell she didn’t want to talk so I didn’t say anything for a few minutes. Then, as the bus pulled into our neighborhood, she said, “Actually, I am moving.” And she started to cry. Tears came to my eyes (as they are as I type this) and I asked, “Where? And when?” She told me they were moving to California after the school year was over. Then she got off the bus and I sat there, completely stunned because of this ineffable situation. I was so shocked I couldn’t even cry until I got home and talked to my mom. So before she moved all of her friends and I threw her a surprise going away party in my basement. Except it wasn’t really a surprise (cough cough thanks Andrea) J. Now 4 years later we are still best friends and hopefully we will be forever. Every summer she comes to visit or I visit her. But that is not the parameter of our friendship. We try to talk a few times a week and sometimes we Skype but we have both been busy with school and tennis. But of course it will never be the same as living 30 seconds from her. She’s the greatest, smartest, funniest, sweetest friend I could ask for I miss her and her family every day.
Symbolizing song: That’s what friends are for by Dionne Warwick
This song is about friendship. It says that friends are always there for each other no matter what happens, “In good times and bad times,” which is how it is with Corinne and I.
Death is…scary. I’ll admit it. I’m not sure what to expect, but I guess no one does. Also, I tried to bowdlerize this as best I could and I don’t mean to condescend anyone or their beliefs since everyone is entitled to their own religious beliefs. But is there a heaven? I think so. When I picture a heaven I picture a place like a dream where anything is possible. Would it be up in the enclave of the clouds where you can hear the paean and the sunlight shines through or in space somewhere? Or would it be in an alternate universe? What is it? I wish I could obtain answers about what heaven is like, but I guess that’s part of what you wait for your whole life. And what if there isn’t a heaven? Then what happens? Nothing? Everything ends and you disappear into a macrocosm of nothingness? That’s what scares me. That’s also what causes me to believe there is a heaven; God wouldn’t let the world end for everyone who dies. Also, sometimes I think about the topic of reincarnation. I think it would be pragmatic to keep living different lives forever. You could die and immediately transform into another human or animal, forgetting everything from the previous life. This would be efficient, like recycling souls. However, I don’t know anything for sure about this topic; I just know what could happen, what the possibilities are. Another topic related to death is ghosts. Are they real? Again, I have no idea, this topic isn’t exactly my forte. Sometimes I want to look it up on Google, just type in ‘ghosts’ and see what comes up. But I don’t, because then I would have nightmares. All of the stories of people encountering ghosts, are they true? I don’t know! Thinking about the unknown is scary because, well, there are no answers. It’s mysterious. There’s an interstice between what’s known and unknown about the topic; but actually it’s more like a huge gap.
Now let’s move on to a more persiflage-type topic. In 1st grade my teacher was Mrs. Provost and our class was the porpoises. I also remember that in I was the tallest person in my class and I was extremely proud of it. Like with Kindergarten, I have only a few memories from 1st grade. But I guess they were important to me at the time since I remember them. The first is of one day in particular. Some parents came into our class to help us with an art project involving hot glue. Maybe you can see where this is going… Anyways, we were making snowflake frame ornaments to put our school pictures in. One parent was putting the glue on mine and somehow hot glue got on my hand and burned me pretty badly. I had to go to the nurse but I didn’t cry. At recess, I was standing near my teacher while she was telling all of the other teachers how brave I was for not crying. I felt great after that and I didn’t have any more pain; it was like her comment had a therapeutic effect on me. Also, I kind of remember 9/11. Somehow I don’t remember the part where we got out of school early, but I do remember asking my mom about what was going on. And I also remember not understanding what she was trying to explain and being really quizzical.
My 1st grade class. I’m in the blue dress on the left.
Symbolizing song: Chasing the Sun by The Wanted
When I think of heaven, I picture the iconic view of the sun shining through the clouds. This song is about, well, chasing the sun (or your dreams). Even though this isn’t what they mean in the song, I believe the sun coming through the clouds symbolizes heaven. And in the end, everyone wants to reach the sun.
Kindergarten… those were the days. Kindergarten was the microcosm of the real world. While we were playing with blocks, learning the abc’s, having story time, napping, and NOT doing homework, people everywhere were struggling with jobs. Although it was mostly fun and games, I only have a few remotely miniscule memories from that year. Also, the verisimilitude of this post might not be the best because I could be remembering things wrong. After all, it was 12 years ago. The only important memory I have is that my teacher was Ms. Maurer (now Mrs. Simons and I went to her wedding). She was the best teacher I could ask for. She was kind, caring, sanguine, and made her students want to be bibulous of knowledge. Her students were like vassals under her aegis. We were her claque; there was nothing to be polarized because everyone loved her. Our class was the frogs and I still remember the whole room being covered with green frogs everywhere. As I’m typing this I can picture the whole room, my memories of the room have not been obfuscated. When you walked in, the ‘housekeeping’ station was to the right. It was my favorite station and I used to pretend to be the mom and two of my friends (still my best friends now) would be my pretend children. The teacher’s desk was next to the housekeeping station facing the center of the room. In the middle of the room there was a big circular rug where we sat during storytime, and there was a whiteboard on the left wall. In the back of the room there was an arts and crafts station and a few computers. The next memory I have from kindergarten is naptime, indigenous to kindergarten; however, it should have been called quiet-talking time, because that’s all I did. My friends and I NEVER slept, we always talked and got in a little trouble for it. I even remember one time I pretended I was asleep and couldn’t wake up, and all of the kids tried to wake me up. I don’t think I ever apprised them that I didn’t really fall asleep. I really wish we had naptime in high school to make up for all of those times I didn’t nap in Kindergarten. An unimportant memory I have is of one day in particular. My mom was one of the ‘room moms’ for our class and she would help the teacher on field trips and sometimes with in-class activities too. One day, my mom came in to help the class with something and when she was about to leave I became lachrymose and I started crying because I didn’t want her to leave. I even tried to guard the door so she couldn’t leave. However, it didn’t work, because my teacher picked me up and carried me away. Then she asked me if I wanted to be the first one in my class to make a muffin card for father’s day. Of course I did, and I deracinated the signs that I had been crying. My last memory from Kindergarten is of my teacher’s wedding. I only went to the reception, along with two other girls from my class who were daughters of the other room moms. I remember dancing with my teacher and eating dinner. I believe Ms. Maurer/Simons had a positive influence on me because since Kindergarten, I have wanted to be an elementary school teacher. Recently I have chosen another career path that I want to take; however, it is still similar to teaching and it still involves working with young children in a way similar to paternalism (in a good way). To add suspense, I won’t reveal what that career is quite yet. I’ll save that for a later post.
Symbolizing song: ABC by Jackson 5. It might seem like an easy song to pick but I think there’s a deeper meaning besides the fact that you learn abc’s and 123’s in kindergarten. And there’s also a love part to the song but I’m not relating that to kindergarten. I’m looking at the deeper meaning where it talks about how simple life is. In kindergarten, life was simple. I probably took it for granted then, but now I realize how simple it really was. We never had to give an exegesis of a novel or find the derivative of sin(x). The purview of our learning was the extremely basic lexicon of the English language.
The best thing to do in my hometown, Atlanta, Georgia, is to visit the World of Coca-Cola. Not only is it the only one in the United States, but it was renovated in 2007 and has many more exhibits and features than it did before. I toured the museum last year and it impressed me immensely. The history section is very informative, but my favorite part was definitely the tasting center. Tons of different coke tasting machines fill the room, including the American originals, flavors from different countries, and even new never-before-tasted flavors. I was able to taste the cultural influences in each and every cupful. Additionally, another interesting part is the Bottle Works display which allows guests to see a functioning bottling line. Then, once guests leave, they each receive a special 8oz bottle of coke that was bottled by the Bottle Works bottling line. Touring the World of Coca-Cola is a necessity when visiting Atlanta!
1. Be successful in my job (GA)
2. Have/adopt kids (EC or GA)
3. Rescue a dog (GA)
4. Meet Ellen Degeneres (US)
5. Make an impact in the world (WORLD) (2014)
6. Help underprivileged kids (GA or US) (2014)
7. Meet Cake Boss (US)
8. Dive off the high dive (GA)
9. Ride the biggest rollarcoaster (GA or US)
10. Learn to play an instrument (EC)
11. Learn a new sport (EC)
12. Speak Spanish fluently (EC) (2013)
13. Learn a new language (EC)
14. Travel to Spain (world)
15. Go skiing (US)
16. Travel to England/Europe (world)
17. Learn how to do a jump on a wakeboard (GA)
18. Locks of love (EC) (2014)
19. Paint a picture (EC) (2012)
20. Model (GA or US)
21. Be on cupcake wars (US)
22. Finish my wreck journal (EC)
23. Get ears pierced (EC) (2013)
24. Sew (EC)
25. Be on TV (US) (2013)
26. Go to the olympics (US or world)
27. Swim with dolphins (US)
28. Send a message in a bottle (US)
29. Ride a camel (world)
30. Watch a TV show live in studio (US)
31. Shower in a waterfall (US)
32. Teach someone to read (EC) (2013)
33. Learn to juggle more than 3 tennis balls (EC)
34. Grow a garden (EC)
35. Meet Bobby Flay (US)
36. Scuba dive (US)
37. Run a marathon (GA)
38. Do a good deed to a stranger (EC)
39. Plant a tree (EC)
40. Go to Israel (world)
41. Get a makeover (GA)
42. Live in a different country for a month (world)
43. Learn to surf (CA) (2013)
44. Learn to whistle through fingers (EC)
45. Date a foreign guy (world)
46. Throw a pie at a clown (GA)
47. Witness a food fight (GA)
48. Run in the color run (GA)
49. Fly first class (US or world)
50. Help in a 3rd world country (world)
51. Go to Carlo’s bakery (US)
52. Vacation in Igloo Village (world)
53. Swim in the Dead sea (world)
54. Go to the Super Bowl (US)
55. Pick strawberries (GA)
56. Get a massage (GA or US)
57. Go to the U.S. Open (US)
58. Get autographs on tennis ball from famous tennis players (US)
59. Ride in a gondola (world)
60. See a shooting star (GA)
61. See the Aurora Borealis (world)
62. Have $1,000 in my bank account (2012)
63. Go on a safari (US or world)
64. Bathe in the Blue Lagoon Geothermal spa (world)
65. Go to the Egyptian pyramids (world)
66. Ride an elephant (world)
67. Participate in Geocaching (GA)
68. See the Eifel tower (world)
69. Ride a segway (US) (2014)
70. Go to a midnight premiere (EC)
71. Go to Australia and find 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney (World)
72. Go down the up escalator or up the down escalator (EC)
73. See an eclipse (EC)
74. Learn to skateboard (EC)
75. Ride in a helicopter (GA or US)
76. Graduate college (GA)
77. Visit 7 wonders of the world (world)
78. Stay in the Ice Hotel (world)
79. See the Hershey’s chocolate factory (US)
80. Buy a stock (EC)
81. Punch someone (US?)
82. Bake a cake for someone else (EC) (2012)
83. 3 day breast cancer walk (US)
84. Save a life (world)
85. Be in a magazine (US)
86. Graduate high school (Pope) (2013)
87. Win tennis city finals (GA)
88. Win a contest (US)
89. Do something outside of my comfort zone (GA) (WinShape 2012)
90. Make a surprise dinner for my family, including dessert (EC)
91. Become friends with a teacher (Pope/GA) (2013)
92. Get into UGA’s honors program (GA) (2012)
93. Tennis against breast cancer (GA)
94. Start a service project (GA)
95. Visit Mount Rushmore (US)
96. Get accepted to a college (GA) (2012)
97. Pass the BC Calc Exam (Pope) (2013)
98. Help someone learn how to swim (GA/US)
99. Tell someone how much they mean to me (GA?)
100. Meet the buried life (US) (2013!)
What do you want to do before you die?
Roses are Red 