For My Future...

I am very happy with my first 25 years. Of course, there are many things I would like to do before I die. One thing I would love to do is travel to Europe. I am one who loves to see things and experience different cultures. The main places I would like to visit are London, Paris, Rome, and Salzburg, Austria. I have always loved "The Sound of Music" and would like to visit the place where the Von Trapps grew up. I was also in "The Sound of Music" at my church about ten years ago; I was a nun. I was so happy to be part of a musical that I grew up loving!

I am also picturing what my dream home would be. I would like a ping-pong table, a studio for random recordings, and a video game room. I love the Wii, and I would love to come home from work everyday and exercise while having a whole lot of fun playing Wii Sports Resort!

As I have previously mentioned, I would like a degree in Library Science to become a reference librarian. Having a job where I could help people at reasonable work hours would be a dream come true! And of course, I would like to be married (hint to my boyfriend)!

I look forward to the rest of my life. Perhaps in 25 years, I write a blog titled, "The Second Quarter of a Century." I am sure that it would have paragraphs of stories in between then and now! Stay tuned!!!!

My Side Interests

Along with school and work, there are many activities I love to do. One activity I love is acting. I was in three plays this year; the most recent one was a play called "Murder by Poe" which was sponsored by my county's library association! Having a love of libraries, I loved taking an activity I love and connecting it with a job that is close to my heart. I also love doing children's plays. Every summer, I participate in them during our local Fourth of July celebrations. We have done "Little Red Riding Hood", "Puss in Boots", "The Three Little Pigs", "Rapunzel", and "The Trial of the Big Bad Wolf". I love seeing smiles on the kids' faces when the plays are over.

"Murder by Poe"

Another activity I love is singing. I have sung in my local church choir for almost five years, and I love every minute of it. I also recently participated in a local Christmas concert, which consisted of singers from around the area. My boyfriend was the bongos and congas player, which he is excellent at! I also played piano, which is a third activity I love doing. I have been taking lessons for the past two years, and this was my first time playing the piano at a concert. My arms were shaking since I was nervous, but I took deep breaths and everything went fine.

Although I know I cannot make a living from these activities, I love doing them. If I won the lottery, I would stop working and focus solely on these activities. Without them, I wouldn't enjoy anything.

The College Years

I started college after high school at a community college. Everything went pretty smoothly at first. It did feel strange being in a new world. I really wanted to focus on my studies when I first started and not focus on making friends. My classes were pretty easy, except for math. I took classes in Microsoft Word, Excel, Access, and PowerPoint, eventually earning certifications in three of those four classes! During my third semester, classes started to feel too overwhelming, so I decided to take a much-needed break for a while.

After two years, I continued pursuing my Associate's Degree in Business Office Technologies at a different community college. I felt this college gave me more opportunities in terms of activities and other interesting events going on. I also had an opportunity to become a peer tutor in the college's library, which I enjoyed doing very much. I also met my current boyfriend during my final semester (after I thought I would never find anybody)! Finally after many years, I earned my Associate's Degree in Business Office Technologies! A month later, I got a full-time job in that same field! I was happy to finish what I started.

My ultimate goal is to become a reference librarian. I decided to continue my education, majoring in Communications at SUNY Empire State. After earning this degree, I would like to earn a Master's Degree in Library Science. So far, I have had nothing but pleasant experiences with this degree program, and I am looking forward to future classes!

Life Experiences at OneTrueMedia.com

I thought I would take a break from my continuous life to share a video I created for my Digital Storytelling class. We had to create an assignment involving pictures of artifacts that we have come across in our lives and cannot part with. I feel that pictures themselves are artifacts not to part with if they involve wonderful memories!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Most of my pictures included trips I went on over the years. My trips include Lake Ontario, Niagara Falls, and New York City. In New York City, I used pictures from my trips to the Colbert Report and a boatride to the Statue of Liberty! My boyfriend and I are big fans of the Colbert Report, and we decided to get audience tickets for one of his shows. We went in January 2010, and it was an awesome experience! He was giving random people a bracelet of his called "Wriststrong", and he tossed one to me in the audience!!! We were so happy!!!

In July 2010, I discovered that I was able to get a discount (thank you, library job!) to a boatride along New York Harbor to the Statue of Liberty! Despite the 95 degree weatber, my family and I had a great time! I have never been to the Statue of Liberty before then, so I felt it was a dream come true!

Another picture in the video includes a family tree that my cousins and I created in 2006. Every year, our family has a family reunion in Michigan, and my one cousin thought it would be fun to create a family tree of the entire family! We got it done in six hours! Everyone loved it, and I loved every minute of making it!

I believe that pictures are artifacts that I could never part with. If there was ever a rainy day, I would love to take a trip down memory lane if I had the time. This really has been a great life so far!!!

The High School Years

High school felt like a different world. It was a time to start thinking about what I would want to do for the rest of my life. What I have always had an interest in is acting. I wanted to participate in the high school drama club. I bombed the audition for the drama club play my freshman year, but with training, I was in the plays for my sophomore, junior, and senior years! I also wanted to try the musicals as well. I would always be assigned to the stage crew, which would be a pain in the neck at times. Finally in my senior year, I decided to be the line reader/understudy. I had so much fun doing that! I was able to memorize everyone's lines! I also participated in the annual variety shows every year, which I enjoyed doing very much! Being involved in theater and talent shows was my favorite part of high school!

High school was also a time when most, if not all, my friends started to date. That was a time of insecurity because still, no one would ask me out. That made me feel self-conscious and left out of the loop. When we would be at dances, I would sometimes sit by myself while my friends would be dancing with their dates. I started to think to myself, am I really that bad? But, there were more important things I had to worry about.

As my senior year approached, I had to think about what to do with my future. I really did want to pursue theater, but my mother insisted I pick a major that I could make a living from. I looked through different majors and decided to take classes in Business Office Technologies. That involves learning how to be an office secretary. I thought that sounded easy enough. Mom said I could continue with theater, but on the side. Looking back, that is a good move.

Join me next time when I get into...the stress of college!

1995 and up...

In 3rd grade, we moved to a new house not too far from where we used to live. I moved to a new school and met new people, which I was a little nervous about. I did meet some nice people, but there were still some kids that would bully me around for some reason. Nevertheless, I was still a happy kid for the most part. I enjoyed what any child enjoyed: birthday parties, going to sleepovers, and halloween!

As middle school started, it was the beginning of a new chapter: starting the teenage years. One event I remember very fondly from that time was participating in the video club! During the summer before eighth grade, my English teacher asked me if I would like to participate in his video club during the next school year, and I gladly accepted! We started doing a training during the summer, filming little films and learning about photography. We made a video yearbook during eighth grade, and it was such a wonderful experience! We also took a field trip to the local news station where we observed that day's newscast! Looking back, that is my favorite part of middle school!

It was also during middle school that some students began dating. I did start to like boys, but they never seemed interested  in me. Of course looking back, I knew I wouldn't find my ultimate prince charming then. Still, I was hoping someone would like me for who I am. I was never really popular, although I did have some friends. The popular kids really were jerks, but I was still hoping for a nice guy to have an interest in me. Once again as I look back, there was absolutely no reason for me to start dating at that time.

Tune in next time when I get into...high school!

Deciding to Look Back

It is hard to believe that I am almost approaching 25 years old. I am almost finished with my first quarter of a century. I believe this is a good time to look back at what my life is like so far. Many people have different opinions of how they feel about themselves at this age. I believe I am at a good spot.

I was always a happy baby. I loved my family and loved being around other people. I never was around children my age until I approached kindergarten. Unfortunately, the kids in my class were not very nice. One day, for a reason that is beyond me, the class decided to play "Cops and Robbers" and volunteered me to be the robber. Everyone kept pushing me down, which caused me to sprain my ankle. Looking back, they were definitely not real friends. Despite all the troubles early on, I always still cared about people and making sure they were happy.

Growing up, I always wanted a sibling. I would observe kids playing together in the supermarket and say to myself, "Why can't I have a sibling?" When I was six, my parents gave me the news: I was going to be a sister! I had a feeling in my gut that it was going to be a girl. My parents would say. "But honey, it could be a boy." I would say, "No, I know it's a girl." When my mother had her ultrasound, it confirmed it was a girl! When my sister was born, it was the happiest day of my life (so far)! I cannot imagine a life without my sister!

To be continued...