Unruffled Feathers: It feels so good to be alive.

Helloo there! It's been a busy past few weeks, but nonetheless more amazing than I could have ever hoped for. I finished taking all of my AP exams, experienced an amazing prom and after prom shore weekend, and enjoyed the perks of being a senior (aka barely any work). I've started to find a nice balance in my life, and it feels so good to just be alive. I'm confident in myself, my friendships, and what the future holds for me (whatever that may be haha).

It seems like it was just September and I was so anxious and excited for my final year of high school. And now...there is one month left until I graduate! I can't believe it's already here! It's so bitter sweet. In the last couple of months I've grown so much closer to all of my friends and made some great new ones as well, which makes it that much harder to believe that the next 31 days is all I have left to spend with a good majority of the people I've shared my life with for the last four years and then some. I just want to soak in every second of it, and take nothing for granted. I don't want to regret not doing the things that I've always wanted to do. One for example is to sit under this gazebo I've passed by every day, multiple times a day, on my way to different classes. It's a quaint little place surrounded by a few attempts at shrubery and such, and I just can't shake this desire to sit under it. Everyone always says to me, "one day," but I think I might just have to make it happen tomorrow. Hopefully it's not taken...we'll just have to see :)

In addition to the craziness surrounding finishing up last minute projects, papers and other assignments for the final marking period, I've finally found some time to delve into the kind of reading I've always wanted to do. Just the other day I stopped by the local Borders and read for hours. I picked up so many random books and magazines that ranged from Chinese Horoscopes to Buddhism for Beginners and Food Inc. to Archaeological discoveries. Of course I bought the majority of the items I pulled off the shelves, and have only found time to read a few of the magazines and excerpts from Oceans (book based on the Disney movie). Just reading about the calamitous effects of global warming in Oceans and the reprehensible and dishonest food production occuring in the United States in Food, Inc. made me want to make a difference somehow. Since I was a child, I've always dreamed of helping people, and after becoming more politically, socially and environmentally conscious in the last few years, I've learned that I want to make an even greater difference in our world. So this has led me to strive for a few new goals:

Short Term: Join the pre-orientation program at Syracuse for Habitat for Humanity, in which I arrive at Syracuse sooner than the rest of my classmates to build a house for the underprivileged of the surrounding city. (Check!)
Short Term/Long Term: Become an official vegetarian! (For years, I haven't touched red meat and have only survived off the occassional chicken, deli meat, and breakfast bacon, but now I'm commited to actually become a vegetarian. And to begin the official process, I took the Veg Pledge - a little late, but it still counts!)
Long Term: Spend my life traveling the world helping people (possibly through writing journalistic pieces, books, or just lending a hand in some way)

So right now as I'm sitting here on the couch contemplating my next move, I can't help but dream of the wonderful work I can and will do for the rest of my life. It feels so good to have a purpose.

And just if you were interested here are a few of the highlights of my amazing prom weekend..Enjoy!

From Prom: