Summer is coming up soon and right now the warm weather and p on the beach are all I can think about. As a burnt-out senior just like many others the stress of all that is coming up is dragging me down right now. With AP tests coming up in a few weeks and the fact that I have barely studied all my time and focus is on doing well on the tests. Even looking at my calendar with all of the things that I have to study for is making me go in a bad mood. Although daydreaming about the fun of summer has been helping. This is what I will be doing in the summer of 2024!

1. Camping 

Let me tell you right now I love the outdoors don’t get me wrong. A quick 5 hour hiking trip and I will love it, taking pretty pictures of nature as my mom tells me random facts about different plants. Although sleeping out in a tent is a different story, the bug bites the second you wake up in the morning is not fun. Although my family on the other hand loves it. Each summer we go on a road trip to a national park and camp there for a few days. As much as I dread going, I do things to make me decently enjoy it. From hanging on a hammock as I read my favorite book to playing random games with my brother’s makeup. I guess it’s not all bad once the dread sits in although I would rather be in the hustle and bustle of the city. 

1. Beaches

My love for the beach will be forever. I can envision myself as an old lady getting tan on the beach and eating a popsicle. I love going to the beach with my friends and this year will be no different. There are a bunch of beaches to choose from depending on how much you want to drive. Although I will probably end up at Chicago beach most of the time. 

1. Family time 

I am gonna miss my family when I am off to college so I want to spend as much time with them as possible. My brother who is coming back from college lives in Arizona and as I don’t get to see him that often I will end up spending a good amount of time with him catching up. I don’t have younger siblings but I think of my cousins like siblings. They live pretty close to me and we normally go between houses each week. As I am off to college I won’t be able to see them as often as I want. This summer is a good time to spend as much time together before I leave. During this summer my family from different countries will be coming over for both my graduation as the second last to graduate and a family reunion. The last time we had a reunion it was in 2018 as it’s hard for all of my family to take the time off to get together mostly as it’s not a short trip to them. It’s gonna be a good time to catch up with all of them until the next time I see them. I would always recommend spending time with family as much as you can before you leave for college. Mostly after a while I and many others will become homesick. 

1. Campfires 

Summer is the time to bring out the s’more and hot dogs and eat by the fire. I love campfires mostly because of the s’more and watching the wood burn. I think it’s therapeutic watching a piece of wood burn without having a care in the world. I used to spend my childhood in camps during the summer. I used to love singing with my friends next to the campfire. 

1. Working

I will be working a lot during the summer to pay for all the new things I have to buy for college. From cute room accessories to practical things like a microwave, there are so many things to buy. Let’s not even talk about all the clothes to buy, from sweatshirts to going out clothes there’s way too much. I have already started making a list of all the things I want to buy before I go to college. Thankfully I won’t be going too far away for college so I can wait to buy all of the winter gear that is needed. Although there is a lot to buy. 

I hope this summer will be the best for you with stress-free relaxation. For me, this is one of the first summers that I won’t have tons of things to do and worry about. In these few months, I hope you put yourself out there to make the best memories you can before the new chapter of college comes up. 

As the end of our senior year is approaching there are so many school events to go to. However it is also the time of AP testing and planning what you need for college. All of that has made me pretty stressed out so here are some things that I have done that has helped me be a little less stressed. 

Clean 

I don’t know about you but when I am stressed I clean and rearrange. I think I have rearranged my room around 3 times this month putting all the furniture in different places. I feel like rather than cleaning calming me down its the silence of it. I use that time to think and be present in the moment rather than put on music while I am doing it. I love living in a clean house and seeing things messy really doesn’t sit well with me.

Books
Reading wasn’t always something that I had enjoyed. Maybe it was because of always reading books assigned to me in class that I had felt like there was no time to read books outside of school. I am not really sure however this year I have started enjoying books a lot more. None of the books I read are about things happening in the world, that is what google is for. However I do read books that take you into a magical world. Transform you to become an elf or a fairy in an outlandish world. As you know I clean a lot when I am stressed, one thing my family has been wanting to clean is our book drawer. Where tons of books are stacked in all different angles to fit into the one drawer. I truly believe that nobody has opened that drawer in years. When I ended up cleaning it out I found tons of old treasures that I had forgotten about. Books that I used to read in my childhood that had been stacked away had been opened. Books like Corduroy and The Very Hungry Caterpillar. 

Skin care

Taking the time out of the day at night or in the morning to focus on yourself is so peaceful. Mostly after a long study day I will put on a facemask and watch a movie. Even doing my everyday skincare routine is something I look forward to. I will put on my favorite music and take the time to be meticulous in every step. Although it’s something small it can truly change your stress level. A way to turn off your mind and do something you love. 

Rotting in bed 

I don’t get to do this often but when I do I really need it. I love spending a whole day or even just a few hours not having to do anything. Watching fun shows or movies and sitting with 100 blankets. Lately I had just watched Madame Web with Dakota Johnson, a movie about Cassandra web who confronts her past and protects 3 girls from a man who wants them dead. Being able to do whatever you want in a day without having anything happening is such a hard thing to do lately. I feel like my life has been pushed to the brim with events and studying that having a day with completely nothing is basically impossible. 

Go outside

I hate the cold and will probably always do. With it being cold for basically half the year I don’t really go outside unless I have too. With that I don’t get to breathe the fresh air and see the sun as much as I should. Lately with spring happening I have taken in the pleasure of being outside. I have ended up biking a lot more, an activity I haven’t done in a while. If you have younger cousins or siblings you know that all they want to do is run around outside. With my younger cousins visiting more frequently I end up being outside most of the time now. Although you don’t have to go do an activity outside to breathe in the fresh air. I have ended up spending the mornings eating breakfast outside as the weather has been nice lately. 

I hope everyone takes the time to spend some time for themselves in these hectic times. Mostly with fun events coming along the way. As exciting as they are, they can also make a lot of stress in your life. From picking the best prom dress to picking the college you should go to. I hope that this blog can bring some ideas of what you should do. 

gUpon my first read through  “Fun games with a sphere” by Ko Un I was in a disarray. The poem’s first line of “last night I cut off an arm” became a lot to take in. From the start I could tell that this poem was made in a way to show the violence either happening around the author or in the mind. As it goes on I realize that the writer is giving body parts to other people. I was first confused since the people he gave them too weren’t family or people he was close to rather it was a “poor woman” or “idler”. The use of strangers showed the authors kindness in a time of fear. Although it didn’t make sense why he was giving so many body parts to others.

The next part of my difficulty was the use of the dash line in the first stanza. There was a reason why the author added that dash line there of all places. Although I didn’t understand why, my first way of understanding was to pull up google. I realized that the use of the dash line  is the ability to create silence within the poem, forcing the reader to stop and take a break wherever one occurs. Although this didn’t make sense the more I read it as he writes “Then I cut off the other arm — gave that to her too.” Although there is the use of cutting off his arm  he says the same thing in the first part of the stanza. Then later he talks about cutting off his other body parts. Although when I thought about it I realized the importance of arms as they connect to the ability to write. He states that he had “cut off the other arm” showing that rather than cutting himself in half he is tearing all parts off himself. 

The writer kept using repetition in the poem with the use of “Ha ha ha.” He highlights his feelings by adding this phrase into its own sentence rather than a continuation of others. Rather than making this poem lighthearted he keeps it serious. The choice of that phrase shows a way of escaping the situation he is in by laughing or creating a harsh situation better by laughing. Which might be a way of escape towards the author. In the second stanza he writes “Ha ha ha. I wonder though: What the hell am I doing? Ha ha ha.” The writer himself is being confused by his actions. Showing that in a time of a difficult situation he would rather give himself to others than keep himself and see people living in this harsh situation they are in. 

There was a feeling of the author having a lot of despair with the use of writing in the fourth stanza. The author writes “It can’t be helped. Now I’m nothing but a head, nothing but a head, nothing but a head”. With the repetition of the word nothing it displays the amount of despair he is. There could have been other words used instead of nothing, although with that word word being repeated it explains the authors inner feelings. Although he contradicts the nothingness by going further and saying “but a head”. The head is the most important part of the entire body with being able to have memories, conscious thinking, and being alive. The head is the reason why someone can think for themselves. Although with nothing and the head being used in the same sentence it seems as though even with the head they are nothing. Displaying that the person cannot use the head even though they have one. Supporting my belief of the situation being so bad they cannot speak for themselves.

The last stanza is what was the most difficult for me and the reason why I had ended up picking this poem. As the author adds religion into the mix into this poem with it saying “A bald monk from Chogye temple kicks my head away.” I saw this as the narrator praying for the hope that the situation they are in would go away. Although with the kicking away that wish did not come true rather became worse. Then the writer writes “spinning merrily” merrily to me seems to be more of a happy word. Different from the entire poem with its serious attitude. It seems to be a fake happiness or a way to make a harsh situation better. Which was used with the repetition of “Ha ha ha”. Lastly it talks about “World games! Global games! Ha ha ha.” While reading World games it seems like war rather than anything else. Which would fit with the harsh situation that I believed the author is in. Keeping with the excitement with the use of the punctuation being exclamation marks rather than periods. 

At the end he explains that rather than being “nothing but a head” he now says he is “with one single but”. Showing that rather than grown he has lessened which shows that the happy ending that could have ended with was rather replaced with a harsh one. The author writes that with that but “I’ll send the earth, this helpless earth stray off course, off its tracks. I’ll send this world off to vanish forever into some outer space void.” He explains that although he is only one butt he will still do all that in his power to hold the world accountable. For the disaster it caused for him and to all the people he met as he was giving body parts away. The narrator holds a deep hatred for the world for causing himself to become ripped apart.

In the end I concluded that the author Ko Un depicted the hopelessness in the situation he was in. Although making the best of it by creating it better for others. At the end he holds a great grudge against causing this pain for a type of game (war). Although I have comprehended this much for the poem I still have unanswered questions. For example why did he say that he was “nothing but a head” then it changed to him having a butt? My analysis of this poem may be wrong of what the author had wanted it to be. Although it was fun matching pieces of the poem together like a puzzle.

As senior year is coming to an end and the new journey of college is coming around the corner.  All of my college applications were left in 2023 and now it’s time to wait.  While waiting and for the future I want to try some things before I start this new journey. These are some hobbies or places I want to go before that. 

1. Crochet

I have been on a deep dive through crocheting, at first it was one or 2 videos now there are thousands coming up on my youtube. At first I just used them to fall asleep too but after a while I started wanting to make it. While watching I realized you could make a thousand types of designs. There are also ways to make clothes which would be cute too. I want to try making little stuffed animals. 

1. Cooking

My love for cooking is not nearly the same as my love for baking and I hope to change that. I can make the few basic staple dishes but after that I cannot cook anything. For me cooking is not as fun as baking is. For example in bread making you can watch as the dough doubles in size the yeast convert sugar into gas creating gluten. Having to have all the measurements perfect in baking has made me love it rather than the free spiritedness of cooking. Going into college and later living by myself I need to be able to feed myself of course. It’s not like I can spend my life eating baked goods for every meal. I especially want to learn how to make cultural meals. My mom has always made dumplings ever since I was young. I would watch her make them on the kitchen counter and sometimes I would help in wrapping the meat with the wrappers. However, one day I want to learn the whole recipe before I start living alone. 

1. Hidden spots in Chicago 

I took Chicago history last semester and I ended up realizing that I have not really explored Chicago. I have gone a million times to the more famous areas like the bean. Although I have not yet explored all of the other areas. I would love to go to P.O.S.H where they sell unique vintage pieces. With the store having a mix of all different types of pieces I think it would be a good place to find some treasures. I also feel like I haven’t checked out any of the art museums, I only feel like I have gone to 1 in my life. Although I don’t remember the experience since I was a child. Now I don’t really feel like I will get all the art pieces. I think it would be a good time to explore and learn.

1. Horror movies

As a kid I would turn my head away to scary movies, to the point where I would not even watch the movie at all. I would sometimes even leave the movie theater in fear, as a child I had really bad nightmares which is probably my reasoning as a kid. Although growing up I have stuck with that fear, never trying horror movies again. I think its time to break out of my shell and try a different movie genre. Although I might need some moral support so my friends will end up going too.

1. Stained glass art 

A year ago I had ended up finding stained glass art on youtube. My favorite channel was where this girl ran her own little studio where she would teach her students how to make it. The video was so calm that it looked fun to do. It doesn’t really seem that hard also although that might have been because she was a professional. What drew me to it was how you could make these stained glass pieces into a little box or however you wanted it. The pieces were kind of like wood that you could use to make new things out of. Now once the sun hits it, it turns the room magical as the glass reflects colors onto the walls. 

These are my hobbies and activities that I want to do this year and all throughout my life. A quick list of the fun new things that I want to do before I don’t have time again. I hope that everyone can have a few new hobbies that would make you less stressed. Now with the new life changes I am about to experience I am excited how everything will be!

Initially going into this class all I heard from seniors were about blogs. I cam into this class not caring for them as we were only gonna do them once every 2 weeks. Although to my surprise they have changed me more than I believed they would 

The blog that I enjoyed writing the most is the place to be one. For me thinking about the future undoubtedly scares me, although when I was thinking about the places I will hopefully travel that fear momentarily washed away. Traveling is something I am genuinely passionate about, going from thinking what my life would be like there to writing it in words was very fun to do. All of these places that I added onto the blog were not spur of the moment pieces. Rather they were countries that had a meaning to me for why I would want to travel there. For example I added Guatemala because it’s a place where my friend’s family lives. With her speaking so much about it from the culture to the food I slowly found the urge to explore it for myself. I am not someone that would be very open in essays however being able to talk about my name and what it means to me and my family was very comforting. Contrary to my previous writing pieces the words just seemed to flow out of me without trying. Reflecting upon this post and the others I realized that my comfortability and attitude towards writing has changed. 

The nature of the blogs being as creative as they are has truly expanded my relationship with writing entirely. As a child I loved writing little stories about world’s colored in pink and blue. However with the use of writing pieces being added more and more into school, with the constricted feeling that they gave from the use of rubrics and Ap guidelines. The positive connotation I once had on writing had completely changed into this rejecting attitude towards any piece of writing. Being very used to being given specific topics and rubrics to follow the beginning of the semester had me utterly confused and lost. I felt like nothing I had to say was interesting enough to talk about for 600-700 words. After an extremely long brainstorming session with Carol Yin I finally found it. The topic that was going to be my first vlogs, favorite shows. The entire process of writing these blogs have become so much more comfortable the more I do it. I also believe it is an amazing way to communicate with others. At least for me during class I did not make as many friends, however being able to read what friends in other periods made me become closer with them and new friends in general.

Addition to my attitude towards reading, so did my writing skills. I have always been a more personal writer than other people. Being able to connect with the piece is very important to me and something I look for in every writing piece. Most notably what changed my blog to become comfortable to be able to talk about my name and what it means to my family is Matthew Ru’s piece. His blog called “My Increasingly Wishful Pickleball Wishlist”  was so bewildering to read that it broke me out of my comfort zone. As I became more conscious of making sure that I am adding pieces of myself into the blog, I began to add a distinct tone onto my pieces. 

This first semester made me realize that I am able to be alone. I have always been the student to make friends easily and chit chat throughout the period. Although maybe with all the stress of college applications and AP classes, I have become much more comfortable with being by myself. Although with this I never felt like I couldn’t comfortably communicate with my classmates. With the use of blogging and being able to read what other people are passionate about. It became this unique process where you know so much about someone but don’t at the same time. I think this feeling of being comfortable alone will stick with me and I am glad for it. I also hope that this new attitude of writing will stick with me throughout my life. 

I look forward to Thanksgiving every year, not for the holiday itself but for the almost week-long time of no school. This year it has been a much-needed moment of happiness without any worries before going back to school. For both students and teachers, it has been a time to be with family and watch as many movies as you want. It gives you the time to do anything and everything you want without being on a strict schedule. That freedom both creates boredom but also the much-needed time to relax. 

This year my Thanksgiving break has ended up being spent with family and friends. Reflecting back on my week of break I will list the 4 memorable things I did during the time. 

1.  FaceTime with friends 

During this break it was filled with tons of visiting family, my friends have also gone to see their family. Our schedule hasn’t matched up throughout the entire Thanksgiving break. Instead of going to meet them, we spent quite a few nights catching up and playing games. We have started playing games from our childhood that bring back good memories like Among Us, Roblox Five Nights at Freddy’s, Scribble, and Exposed. We stayed up all night talking and playing games until we became delirious with lack of sleep. Realizing that my friend had to go to Chicago early in the morning we abruptly ended the call. It was really fun to go back to play these games before I went to college. It felt like the end of an era for me to end it with one good moment.

2.  Thanksgiving day

My parents had decided that this year instead of hosting we went to a family friend’s house. They hosted a Thanksgiving party for everyone who lived in the same village back in our home country. I had believed that it was just a dinner and we were going to do something the rest of the day. Although when we got to their house at 3 pm I was very confused. We ended up eating both lunch and dinner there. While waiting for the turkey for 2 hours I had expected it to be good. Although the turkey sadly did not deliver to my expectations. We ended up staying there and talking for 8 hours, my parents had a lot of fun. Although staying in one place for such a long time and not having anyone my age had taken a toll on me. I had ended up spending my time there watching my phone or talking to people.

3.  Family 

My aunt got married last year and ended up moving to New York. Instead of our usual going to her house for Thanksgiving Eve and then coming to my house for Thanksgiving dinner. It was spent a week before Thanksgiving picking up her and my uncle from the airport. It felt a lot different from last year but this year new memories were made. By watching our favorite old Bollywood movies and eating foods that bring back moments of my childhood. I used to see my dad’s side of the family all the time, although both my cousins who live decently near me have ended up going to college, and one with her own business. Seeing each other has become less and less through the years. We have spent mornings on FaceTime calls made by my grandma to see how we are doing.

4.  New years 

For as long as I can remember I have always been to a place where all Newari through the Midwest come together to celebrate the New Year. I remember as a child I would play with all the other younger kids there until the end which was always at 1 am-2 am. As I grew up all the kids that I played with ended up 

moving away or not coming anymore. My parents had instilled in me that I would know and understand why it was import

ant to go. With that, there was not a year that I wouldn’t go. This year my younger cousin did a dance with one of her friends. It has been fun watching her grow up from when she was a baby to now being an 8-year-old dancing on stage. Before people started leaving there were adults dancing to any music available. All the children ended up falling asleep on the chairs after waiting for their parents to be done. I’ve never been anxious about a senior year until people started saying that this would be the last time I do that. To me, that is the worst part of leaving a place you grew up, rather than the act of change.

When my parents immigrated to the US they knew a lot of things were going to be different. However, what they didn’t realize was that they had to already have the child’s name picked a few days after the birth of the baby. In Nepal, you can wait until it is the child’s Pasni (rice feeding) which is normally when the child is 5-6 months. So as you can tell they were very shocked when they realized that they had to pick out a name for their newborn baby girl when they had barely thought about it. They had started calling every family member they knew to add names to their nearly empty list. My dad’s only input onto my name though was that it had to start with a B after his dad who had passed away a few years ago from a heart attack. Which was a family decision as half the children on my dad’s side’s name start with a B. My mom had no idea what name to write on the birth certificate although by a fate of luck, the word that came up the most on the music I was listening to was my name. She decided it would be unique and perfect since it meant world or universe. What she had wanted for me from the beginning was that I could travel to as many places as time was able to let me. So these will be a few places that I want to travel to before I die.

Netherlands- Amsterdam

Truthfully I don’t think I have ever even thought about the Netherlands once in my 18 years of life. What ended up happening was I read my friend Carol Yin’s blog about her favorite cities she’s been to. She talked about the picturesque being of the city. With people riding bikes instead of cars by a slow river flowing through the middle of the city. The quiet nature of the city made me want to go. It doesn’t help the fact that the houses are a billion different col    ors yet they all somehow work together.

Korea

There is only one reason why I want to go to Korea and that is only for the pet cafes. As someone who has only had fish and one frog that lives in the water going to a pet cafe would be a dream. Even if it was just for the dog or cat ones I would still go. However, what is different about Korea instead of in the US is there are animals that you don’t normally go to and pet. For example raccoons, yes, I don’t know about other people but my mom would have lost it if I went outside to pet a raccoon. I never realized having a raccoon was a thing until I spiraled in TikTok watching videos of raccoons washing cotton candy to them eating grapes and now they are just chilling at a cafe. There are even other exotic pet cafes for meerkats, turtles, chameleons, etc.

China- Harbin

Don’t get me wrong I hate the cold, although the thing about me is if I want to go somewhere I will go no matter if I am uncomfortable or not. In Harbin China, there is something called the Ice Festival which is the largest snow and ice festival in the world with 2 main exhibits filled with the biggest ice sculptures in the world. Ice sculptures carve out giant sculptures that when multicolored lights are added light the sky. I just want to go once to see all of the sculptures I can. After that I will sadly not be back just because of how cold it can get, it can go all the way to -13℉.

Guatemala

During middle school, my friend Jazzmine Gonzalez told me about the country of Guatemala where her family is from. After doing a bit of research about the country I stumbled upon Semuc Champey. Which are these stepped limestone pools with turquoise water passing the Cahabón River. I also can’t forget about the part where you go inside a cave with a candle and swim till you get to the other side. Honestly, the cave part seems the most fun to do.

Thailand

As you can tell I am a fan of warmer areas rather than the cold. I haven’t talked about food during this whole time, I think food is one of those things that can make or break an experience. Of course, every country on this list has amazing food to devour into. Something I would love to go to is night markets. Night markets seem like the best way to really immerse yourself in the country’s food all in one space. Since instead of a restaurant you can taste snippets of the food rather than a platter. Let’s not forget that since it’s night time after you are done with the fun activities during the daylight you can eat at the end.

When people ask me this seemingly simple question it’s always been hard for me to answer. I always thought everyone would be the same, I mean the variety is endless for a question like this. Although that hypothesis was rebuked when somehow every single person started to say that their favorite artist was Taylor Swift. It wasn’t something they had to even think about; they just knew the answer. Now as someone who never had a favorite artist or rather favorite anything this took me by surprise. So instead of telling you about a variety of favorite things like my last post. This one is gonna be about how I jump around. 

Music Artist 

Picking a favorite music artist is saying personally this one person or group makes the best songs out of everyone. There are so many people out there that make such amazing songs that for me saying that this one person is the top is something I can’t do. Truly I can’t even pick a language or music that I love the most. So the topic of picking a favorite artist is ridiculously hard for me. My playlist always ends up in a jumble of different artists that sing in different languages.  From Tum hi ho by Arjit Singh to Bolo by Penomeco it’s been a mix. The music ends up getting shoved into different playlists just for the feeling that I have at the moment. Although with my array of different people there hasn’t really been one person that I have loved since middle school.  

Desserts 

There are so many types of desserts in the world from the splash of coffee slowly melting the decadent ice cream to spongy cakes filled with Swiss meringue buttercream and decadent caramel. Picking one through all of that is like trying to find your favorite lip tint through the assortment. Of course there are some that you dislike. For me it would be marshmallow fruit salad (that I will never try) or pudding. Every holiday ends up with their own types of deserts normally eaten during that time of the year. From fall being pies and cobblers and winter being anything mint flavored. Let’s not even talk about all the desserts from different cultures that could bring world peace.

Friends 

I have never really realized this until this year, although slowly as the year has gone by I finally figured it out. I found out that I am someone that gets comfortable with people very quickly because of this I have ended up finding new people I become friends with really quickly. I have never found myself scared to go into class on the first day, being scared if I can make friends. Rather I will be thinking about how I pronounce my name when the teacher gets it wrong. Although with this easy comfortability with people comes also the feeling of having a lot of friends but not the main one. I have become someone that bounces friend groups easily because of that. For me that group of people that I tell everything to and it’s just them has never been there. Once I thought about it I realized that even in elementary school it has been the same way. The idea of just bouncing around and being there for a lot of different people. Although not one group that I can call my favorite. It has never been sad for me since I end up with a bunch of friends and with them their stories. 

Seasons 

I have always told people that I love spring since it was the easiest answer and sort of true. Although now with the weather not making up its mind that is not true. People have always told me that I am probably used to the cold with living in a state that is cold

for now basically 7 out of 12 months. Although that is not true, I am not used to it and probably will never be. The second the weather goes below 70℉ the heat gets cranked up and the 100’s of throws that I had stuffed in my closet in mid may have ended up on the ground of my bedroom. Half the time I end up walking around my house with a blanket shielding me from any nonexistent chill of air. It’s fall right now and it already is cold, and my mom is already stressing out about her vegetables in the garden that are gonna die. To me fall is just sad, the leaves are slowly gonna change color and fall off. Then you know snow is gonna fall soon, there comes the seasonal sadness from the sun always being covered by clouds and it being dark the second I come home. Let’s not even bring up summer, it’s just way too humid and somehow it feels sticky and gross the second I come out of my house. The humidity ends up making a perfect 80℉ day feel like 101℉. The only reason why spring ended up being the one I said whenever people asked about my favorite season was that you know the weather is gonna get warmer and all the tulips are going to come out soon. Spring feels like the season of hope and anticipation, and you know all the months of freezing snow is worth it with the flowers blooming. Although what used to be at least 2 months of that feeling has ended up dwindling itself down to what feels like barely a week.

The shows we have grown up with have influenced us to become who we are. Kids grow up watching shows on PBS Kids or Disney. Slowly throughout the decades, children have become more accustomed to watching and technology in general. For our generation, it was the start of the use of more technology. As we grew up there were set shows that we watched. For me, it was Wild Kratts, Arthur, and Hannah Montana. Growing up the shows changed from “children” shows to “adult” shows. I am going to show you a few of my favorites throughout my lifetime, the 10/10 in my book.

Winx

The idea of Winx is that this girl who lived in the human world and found out she had magical powers with this knowledge ends up going to Alfea, a school for fairies. What interested me was the way she ended up in this dorm filled with all the people who ended up being her best friends. The idea of having 2 separate worlds one that is home and the other being a home filled with friends seemed like a miracle for a 9 year old who only lived at home. 1 whole world where you could call your own, where you are the main character, somewhere secret that no one could steal. Although just to let you know the Winx I am talking about is the animated version, not the one that came out in 20001

Grey’s Anatomy

This show was the perfect blend of medical and outside drama. To me the rush of the hospital scenes that contrasted with the life Meredith had outside from the people she dated to her best friends was perfect. I loved how all the characters from Meredith’s class had rushed around the hospital trying to find all that they could do to cure their patients. She managed to still live her life throughout all the years of internship, residency, and being an attending. The amount of love-life drama that she went through with Derek could probably last 4 lifetimes. (SPOILER IF NOT WATCHED I lost it when he died because they couldn’t take a CT and the neurosurgeon wouldn’t get to the surgery because he had dinner). Watching that rush of the hospital gave me the perfect amount of stress about whether they could help their patients before they died. Ending it with love-life drama from one of the characters was a great way to keep thinking about what happens next. The show always ends up being the perfect way to end a boring day of studying at school.

Scandal

Truth be told, I haven’t completely watched all 7 seasons, although I am 3 seasons deep. Honestly, this show just makes me mad whenever the president is around. Both Fitz and Olivia Pope love each other so much, and go back to each other every single time it gets annoying. Even as Olivia has Jake by her side she would still rather be with Fitz. However, he will never get a divorce because he has to worry about public backlash from his cheating on his wife that could cost him the presidency and impeachment. Olivia is also amazing at her job which might be one of the main reasons why I love this show. It displays moments where she defends her clients in a type of way that can bring you into a state of shock. Learning each of the character’s backstories, with Huck being the saddest, is so interesting to me. Since somehow in one way or another Olivia has something to do with it.

18 Again

If I ever want to cry this is the show I will watch. 18 Again is about a couple that is 37 and on the verge of getting a divorce. They had twins when they were 18, and one day the husband decided to go to his old high school and throw a basketball. He wishes that he could go back to 18 and be a bbasketball player, before the kids and the marriage. He ends up in the same year as an 18-year-old who ends up befriending his children. As the children tell about their dad who works a lot and doesn’t get to see him. I have probably seen this show 10 times by now and every time without fail it makes me cry. With its glimpse back to the hardships it was for the both of them trying to raise their kids as a teen. The thought of having that responsibility in taking care of a child as you are still a child to the world who still has a lot to learn is so jaw-dropping to me. The way the kids talk about their dad as they feel like their parents’ lives ended the second they gave birth to them was so heartbreaking to hear. Their thoughts of not doing something they love just for not wanting to be a disappointment to him. Every scene when they talk about their parents and what they have done for them made me rethink every memory of my parents.

Although these are not all of the shows that I love. They are a few favorites that I could watch over and over again. Either just for nostalgia or a moment where I need to cry. They all tell me so much about a topic that the show is trying to say.