I was born on September fifteenth 1987 at Theda Clark in Menasha Wisconsin. The nurses at the hospital always told my relatives that it would not be hard to pick me out from all of the other babies on account of my full head of thick brown hair. All of the other babies in the nursery were bald at the time.
      I caused a lot of trouble when I was a kid. I refused to eat during preschool because they wouldn't give me catsup (it had too much sugar in it) with my food. My mom had to schedule a meeting with my teachers in order to get them to give me catsup so that I would eat. Another thing that got me into trouble was whenever I was bored at home I would get out the box of cheerios and take it to the back patio door. I would sit right next to the heating vent that was there and I would just spend all day shoving as many cheerios as I could down the vent. My mom was under the impression that I was just watching the birds through the window. But was proved wrong when she went to clean the dust out of the vent and found it full of cereal instead. Needless to say cheerios were not to be found in our house for a while after that.
      I have one sister, and one half-sister. My half sisters name is Laura, she is twenty-four years old and is my dad's daughter from a marriage previous to that of my mom and my dad. Laura is like a sister to us even thought we don't get to see her much, when ever we do get together its nothing but fun. Just recently Laura and I went on a vacation to the Dominican Republic. We spent everyday relaxing and becoming closer and closer. While we were there I got a chance to go parasailing, and horseback riding, it was incredible.
      My other sister's name is Erin. She is a nineteen year old, and is in her second year in college. She attends the University of Wisconsin Madison. She is going into some field concerning psychology. She used to want to go into engineering, but she went to an engineering summer camp and hated it so much that she changed her mind right away. Madison is about three hours away from where we live, so she comes home on the weekends sometimes to visit and to get free food to take back to her apartment with her, and to do her laundry for free. In order to do your laundry in Madison you have to pay in quarters for each load.
      I grew up with my mom and my dad both supporting my sister and I in everything we did. Even when we wanted to grow up to be singers, actresses, or firefighters etc. they always encouraged us. My parents separated and divorced when I was in the fifth grade. I can still remember the night that my parents took my sister and I into our basement and broke the news to us. We thought it would be the end of the world because we looked up to our father so much and he was moving away from us. I think the hardest part to deal with was the fact that the elementary school guidance counselor called me into his office to ask me how I felt about it. He was a friend of my dads because my dad works as the high school guidance counselor. Naturally I didn't really want to talk to him about it knowing he would go and tell my dad anything I said about him.
      My relationship with my middle school guidance counselors much resembled my middle school life. It was almost non-existent because I never understood why they wanted to know so much about me and why it was any of their business. Our middle school had many of the same qualities as a prison, there were no windows in any of the classrooms, and you were never allowed to leave the school. Middle school had many rules that I thought were ridiculous but the one that I hated the most was the Chap Stick rule. You were not allowed to put Chap Stick on during any of your classes, and I got caught putting it on twice and both times I got an “infraction” and got it taken away. An infraction was a slip of paper telling you that you had a detention that day. They ranged in severity; there was a one, three, and five pointer. If you ever got an infraction during the school year you were not allowed to go on the fun field trip at the end of the year.
      During the summer after my eighth grade year a bunch of my friends went on a trip to Japan. My mom wouldn't let me go because she is a little over protective. There have been other trips since then but my mom is still too afraid to let me go. I was lucky I was allowed to go on the school trip to New York and Washington DC. We visited all of the historical sites, and while we were in New York we went to see MTV studios. MTV is a popular TV station for teenagers. Another thing that happened during the summer after eighth grade was my best friend Rachel moving away. She returned home from Japan and had to move less than a week later so I didn't get to see her at all before she left. I have kept in touch with her till this day thanks to the Internet and emails. People do change a lot when they are around different people though. I always wonder how things might have been different if she didn't have to move. It's hard to realize how much people mean to you until they are gone and it's too late.
      During my freshman year in high school my life completely changed for the better. I had a friend since before elementary school (she lived just down the street from me) that was just mean to everyone all of the time, like it was her pastime or something. She would tell people what to do and always had to be the most important person to everyone. Whenever she was mad at someone she would make sure that no one else talked to the person until she decided that she wasn't mad anymore. My friends and I all put up with this for way too long. It was only because we were afraid of her, afraid that she would turn everyone else against us if we stood up to her. Looking back on it now it seems really stupid that we put up with it for so long. It is a big issue for kids growing up that they most of the time don't even realize is there. Once the influence of my controlling friend was off me I became myself. I opened up to people more, and learned how to trust until proven wrong. I am a firm believer in the saying “fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me” which basically means that if you trust someone and they lie to you its their fault, but if you trust them again and they lie again its your fault for giving them another chance after they proved themselves untrustworthy.
      I remember people always telling me about how the freshman year of high school is always the hardest, but I do not agree. My freshman year was a blast, I met so many new people and got to do so many new things that the year just flew by. It was sophomore year that I did not like. I don't really know why but my grades all dropped sophomore year, and a lot of my friends from the year before had graduated so I missed them a lot.
      One of the new people that I met freshman year was Allie. We became really good friends, and she got me started in our school's technical crew. Tech crew builds all of the sets for the school plays. I have been involved with six plays now, and I have worked my way up to being assistant stage manager. I have worked in Grease, Kiss Me Kate, Anne Frank, Charley's Aunt, Rumors, and The Sound of Music. Next year I will be the Stage Manager, which is as high as you can get (besides being director). In addition to being in the tech crew I am a singer in the Madrigal choir. I always remembered seeing the madrigal choir sing at our elementary school (they would tour the schools and sing for the little kids), and I always wanted to be in the group. I knew which dress I wanted to have and everything, because the group wore outfits resembling the fashion of the medieval times because that is the type of music we sing. Besides being medieval singers we sing holiday songs from that era as well. I never did get the dress that I wanted in elementary school but it didn't fit me so its all for the best.
      We have about thirty days of school left in my junior year now, and I have never been more excited and nervous at the same time. I am totally excited for the summer to come because that means that I get to start working at my job at the baseball stadium again. I got my job last year; I work in the concession stands. But since I am not eighteen yet I cannot be a server because we serve beer and you have to be eighteen to do that. When I am not working in the main concession stands I work in the ice cream kiosk. It is always very fun; you encounter all different kinds of people that come out to see the game.
      Looking to the future is what scares me most in life right now. I have no idea what I want to do once I finish school and my senior year is coming up fast. I have a few ideas of where I want to go to college but I am not even close to deciding. I don't know if it is just me but the idea of leaving everyone that I have grown up with and gone through school with terrifies me. But despite all of that I can't wait to see where my life outside high school leads me. I can't wait to be out on my own.