Letter to New Senior(Letter)

FINALLY here is a new post for you all to read!! This is the final assignment I had to do for my AP English class that I took just last year(my senior year of high school). This is basically a letter written to an incoming senior in High School! Read, and enjoy!! Also PLEASE give me feedback!! I like to know what people think and if they have any advice for me or not!

Letter to a New Senior

 

Dear Senior,

 

Well, you made it! You are officially a senior in High School. While it is very exciting to be on your final year of High School, it is also stressful and scary. Now, I am not saying this to freak you out or anything, I am just saying it to be honest. There are big decisions such as which colleges to apply to and then what college to go to. On top of that you gotta focus on school work, start applying for scholarships, working to have money to pay for college, and all other activities that you may be involved in. It will be overwhelming at times, but my words of wisdom to you, don't stress over it to much, and always schedule at least ten minutes of spending time with God. This is coming from someone who stresses A LOT and has been through a lot of tough stuff. By no means do I have all the answers, but I do have some general words of wisdom.

 

Now, to get back to that whole "spending time with God" thing I was talking about, it is something that has kept me sane over the last year of my life. Before I was a senior myself, I honestly did not schedule that "God" time in my life. I just worked to get my stuff done, watched a little TV and then went to bed. That was my outside of school and other responsibilities life, and I stressed way more than I should have. Then, I went on a mission trip the summer just before my senior year began. I went to Nassau, Bahamas and worked at the All Saints AIDS Camp. While I was there, I always took ten minutes from building a cabin to spend with a resident named Miss Moxy, who has AIDS . She taught me that spending time with God was important. So, I brought that concept home with me. I made sure to take ten minutes out of m time every day just to spend with God, thank Him for the good in life, and lift up prayer requests. I also made sure to do some devotions and read my Bible. In doing that every day, I found that I was feeling more relaxed and more at peace with whatever was going on in life. It also helped me to be able to get my work done on time, without freaking out over the due date. Same thing with my college choices and filling out scholarships. I was able to put my trust in God and prayed he would just provide and lead me down the path He wanted me to go.

 

That is another huge thing I have learned, trust God. This is a verse that has become the verse that I lead my life by: "'No chance at all,' Jesus said, 'if you think you can pull it off by yourself. Every chance in the world if you trust God to do it.'" Luke 18:27. What your plans are for life, may not be what God's plans are for your life.So when things are not going your way, just go to God in prayer and just pray that you will be able to trust in Him. If you just put the hard times and stressful times in God's hands an trust him to lead you down the right path, I can gaurantee that it will make things feel a lot less stressful and you will have "every chance in the world" to be able to do it. This will help you feel more at peace and not stress so much. Then, you will be able to enjoy your senuor and just have fun.

 

That's one more thing, the Holland Christian community is a wonderful place and I am going to miss it dearly. The staff, especially. When you are struggling with going down that path God is leading you, the teacher your trust and love most is the person to go to. They have a lot of knowledge and wisdom and can help you overcome problems and give advice. Even better, they can pray for you and with you.

 

Overall, remember just a few things.. In the middle of your busy schedule, always find ten minutes of your time to spend with God. Trust God with everything and thank him for everything as well. Lastly, the HC staff are amazing and the perfect people to talk to about whatever problem you have and whatever it is you are stressing over. Most of all, enjoy your senior year. It goes by fast, so make the most of it and have fun. May God bless you through your final year of High School and all the upcoming decisions you will be making! You can do it! Just have faith!

 

With Love,

Tori

Update on Big Writing Project!!

HEY!! soooo...guess what?? I FINALLY have The Bridge story I was working on transferred from my notebook onto a word document on my computer!! It is 17 pages long and 10,470 words!! haha! I also have done 1 reread and a little bit of editing on it already! At this point I might reread once more and then send it to the Tre-J team to read and critique, and then go from there!! SO EXCITED!! I really feel like God has a big plan for this!! :D

Those Moments(Short Story)

This is a story in which I do tell a lot about myself, but I tie in a lesson I learned a couple years ago. I wrote this story the summer before I started my junior year of High School. So, there is a part about my cousin who was expecting a baby at that time, but now that baby is 2 years old! haha! so yeah, that is just so you all know! Now, enjoy this story:

Those Moments

 

I was your average young girl when I was really little. I had cute curly hair that everyone loved and a sweet smile that people thought was adorable. I also loved dolls and was always dressed in cute little outfits. I was always seemingly perfect and always felt like nothing bad could ever happen to me. I say this because life was good. I had my family and one best friend, Kendra. I thought nothing could ruin my life, ever. Then, about halfway through second grade is when things started to get bad.

 

I started to put on weight rapidly, and my mom became worried. That is when I started to see doctor after doctor. I saw doctors to help me lose weight and I saw doctors to help me become more social and to help with the psychological stuff. Third grade is when I saw most of my doctors, and they basically turned me into a depressed little girl. But I had moments that made me forget about it all.

 

Most of themm were with my best friend, Kendra. Kendra in general could cheer any person up with her energetic, spunky, blonde, outgoing personality. But, I have memories that she helped me create and helped me forget about my problems.

 

Like the butterfly garden on the school playground. Now, it really wasn't an actual garden. It was more just a few flower bushes up against a fence towards the back of the playground. But, Kendra and I treated it like an actual garden. We had  the two white butterflies, Sheila and Buttercup. Then there was the bee family: Mr. and Mrs. Buzzer, Baby Buzzer, Teenage Buzzer, and even a really big scary bee, Big Mean Buzzer. Then we had Little Blue, who was a little blue dragonfly. Arrow, who was this huge dragonfly with and arrow on his butt. And, lastly, we had Tiger the Monarch Butterfly. In this little garden Kendra and I cared for the creatures, played together, and laughed together. Each time we were in that garden all of our troubles went away and we just enjoyed each other.

 

I also had another moment with Kendra during the Tulip Time Festival week that made me forget about my troubles. It was the weekend that kept getting better and better. I started out going home from school with Kendra to her house on a Friday. We played and hungout there, then Kendra came with me to watch my mom Dutch Dance, then she came to Captain Sundae with me, and then her mom let her sleep over at my house with me. The following day Kendra and I went to the Saturday Parade together and then we had to bring Kendra home. But, that whole weekend I never thought about any of my troubles. It was just one of those memorable moments.

 

Fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh grade didn't really give any of those moments, except for the cottage we go to once every summer. Big Star Lake is a small inland lake that is just absolutely beautiful. The water is crystal clear, the area is friendly and warm, and there is always so much to do. When I am at the cottage with my family, it is never boring, and it is always a time of no worries and no stresses. It is just all fun and relaxation. But summer always ends, and then came eighth grade.

 

That fall, in October, my cousin Beth, who is practically a sister to me, gave birth to her first baby. Baby Sophia Hope Marcus was born on October 5, 2007, weighter seven pounds and six ounces. My first time seeing Sophie was one of those moments I will never forget. I walked into Beth's hospital room and saw her in bed just resting. I rand and gave her a bug hug and then I looked in the bassinet and saw this small bundel just sleeping peacefully in it. I lifted the little girl out of the bassinet and sat in the rocking chair and just held Sophia close. I rocked back and forth gently and just took in all her tiny, fine features and just couldn't help but love her. I told Sophia I was her Aunt Tori and that I loved her and would always care for her. She almost seemed to smile and I was filled with peace and joy. I placed her back in her bassinet, gave her a kiss and then left. It was another one of those moments that made me forget I was even over weight.

 

Then, that winter came and it was another one of those moments that was a once and a lifetime experience. I got to go see the Jonas Brothers and Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana in concert. I was so happy and excited and screaming so loud that I couldn't have even heard myself think about being over weight. It was so cool and so fun I will never, ever, forget it.

 

Then, in January, came the worst time in my life, ever. I was having exremely awful pain in my right side and even started to have some trouble breathing. My mom took me to the doctor and I was found to have a blood clot in my lung. I was then immediately sent to Devos Children's Hospital and put into the Intensive Care Unit. There I was hooked up to  a whole bunch of wires and was forced to have two IV's in me; one in my hand, and one in my arm. The one in my arm took a total of eight pokes before they got it in. They then brought me a komode, which is a chair with a bucket underneath it, to use as a toilet. I was miserable and it was the most stressful timein my life, especially since I wasn't able to sing for Sophie's baptism like I was going to. But I had a lot of great moments whenever I got a phonecall from someone, or a card, or a gift, or even an email. That's because they made me feel like I was loved and it proved to me that I was lucky to have the amazing people around me like I do.

 

Then came my first day back at school after being in the hospital for a week. I approached my locker and saw it all decorated saying "Welcome Back Tori" and all my friends, class mates, and teachers were giving me huge hugs and telling me how much they loved me. It was the greatest thing in the world, and I will never forget it.

 

Then came my fourteenth birthday, by far the best birthday I had. I got to school and my locker was all decorated and my friends surrounded my locker wishing me a happy birthday and giving me all these cute little gifts. I felt so loved, it was unbelievable. It was like a giant birthday celebration all day long.

 

Later that year I had a doctor appointment with my least favorite doctor, Dr. Pinar. I saw her and all I did after seeing her was cry, and cry, and cry some more. Once again, it was Kendra who gave me a hug and told me I was strong and that I could lost the weight. It was a wonderful moment.

 

There is one more thing that always makes me forget about my weight, and that is when I am singing in front of people. I say this because I just let it all out and I move around and sing with all my heart. It makes me feel good, and like I'm not over weight.

 

Also, each time I am with Sophia, I feel like I;m not nover weight, because she loves me for who I am, and because I have fun with her, and she doesn't care what I look like.

 

Now, I have one more thing to say to close it all, since you all, most likely, want to know why I am telling you these moments. It was a night that my older sister was very stressed over a lot of things going on in her life and my mom was talking to us about a country song she heard called, That was Nothing. She said to my sister and I that trying to change, or get things done, or to have material items, none of it matters. What matters is the love you have with others, and the people care about, and the special memories you share.

 

I realized that she was right, and that me trying to lost weight, and all my stresses and struggles don't matter. What matters is that I have people who love me and memories to go around. Also what matters is that soon Beth will have aother baby that I will get to hold and love and create more memories with. So all the moments I have shared that I had are what I call, Those Moments. They are moments that truly matter, and you have them too. So all in all, when you think life sucks, think about "Those Moments" and about the people you love and that love you back. Because that is what is truly important, not stresses, but "Those Moments" and people you love and care about.

 

The End