The younger version of me is different from the person I am today; growing up I was not a school kid, I would fake sick to spend the day at home instead of going to school. Now I still don't want to go to school most days but I know I can't miss too many days of school because of the risk of falling behind. During my freshman year, I learned that the hard way. Freshman year is when COVID hit and I was constantly sent home because of close contact almost every other week. I had fallen back drastically but somehow managed to move on to sophomore year. 

Growing up I hated nap time, I just wanted to run around and play. Now I can't wait for the opportunity to take a nap. When I was little my grandma used my mom's old room as our room for when we came up and visited. In that room there was a bed and my grandma would call it the ¨big bed.¨ She'd say ¨someone needs a nap, get in the big bed.¨ After hearing those two words… ¨big bed¨  I was off and outside as fast as I could to be by Papa so I didn't have to nap…until Papa also said ¨someone needs a nap¨

Growing up I would be so excited for the end of the school day because it meant I could play with my friends; Now I dread the end of the day knowing I have to go to work shortly after school ends. Its not that I dread going to work, It's just the mindset of I was working all day and now I'm going to a different type of work. School is hard for me most the time because I'm not a test taker; half the time I know the answer of the question but it's on the tip of my tongue and I can't figure it out which causes me to stress out. 

Growing up I was so excited to be a big kid, an adult—now that the time has come I'm more nervous than ever. I'm graduating high school in three days and I feel the pressure of not wanting to go to college. Most of the students in my grade are going off to college and I am still in Wisconsin answering questions awkwardly about ¨ What's your plan after high school?¨ 

Truly I don't know what I want to do after high school other than have fun. In elementary school growing up, I wanted to be a veterinarian. Now I'm a little bit older and I know the majority of the requirements to become a veterinarian and I don't want to put myself through all that stress. 

Seeing the person I am becoming, I just want to have fun and keep moving forward. At the end of the day I just want to be able to support myself and my needs while living out the extraordinary world I saw as a kid.