Category: Junior Literary

I have a lot of opinions about the music careers of certain artists that Disney/nick kind fostered and I’m just going to be sharing some in no specific order. 

1. Miranda Cosgrove. 

You might know Miranda from her role as Carly Shay on “ICarly” or Meghan Parker from Drake and Josh. I don’t think many people talk about her music, which I think is really good.

Top three songs: 

1. Shakespeare (she actually sung this song in an episode of ICarly, literally obsessed with it when I was little and now)
2. Dancing Crazy (this song gives my heavy Cher Lloyd circa 2011 vibes) 
3. Leave it All to Me (the ICarly theme song, still know it word for word)

Quick Honorable Mention: Leave it All to Shine (a sort of theme song mashup from the ICarly-Victorious crossover episode, So good) 

 

2. Mitchel Musso

Mitchel is most known (at least Disney-wise I can say because I personally didn’t keep up with career past Disney) his role as Oliver Oken on Hannah Montana, King Brady on Pair of Kings, and even voicing Jeremy Johnson on Phineas and Ferb. I personally think his music should’ve made him one of Disney’s it-boys. It could’ve made him the Austin Moon/Ross Lynch of his time on Disney.

Top Three Songs: 

1. Let’s Make This Last 4Ever (a song he performed in an episode of Hannah Montana that’s on the third Hannah Montana Album)
2. Us Against the World (I don’t know the girl he had featured on this song but she sounds very familiar)
3. Shout it (just good)

Quick Honorable Mention: Welcome to Hollywood (this song is featured in StarStruck which is one of my least favorite Disney movie but this song is very good).

3.Jennette McCurdy

Jennette is most known for her role as Sam Puckett on ICarly and Sam and Cat (a show that is very hated, but I love it so much!!!). I think most people don’t recognize she actually has a really nice voice especially in the country genre. 

Top Three Songs: 

1. So Close (this song is unreasonably good, I literally am obsessed) 
2. Generation Love (the way this song makes me feel should be illegal, I can’t explain the feeling in my chest this song causes)
3. Put Your Arms Around Someone

Quick Honorable Mention: Stronger

3. Emily Osment 

Most people know Emily from her role as Miley’s best friend Lily Truscott on Hannah Montana. I personally think she could’ve had an Ashley Tisdale-Esque music career. Side note: Ashley Tisdale has some phenomenal songs. 

Top Three Songs: 

1. Let’s Be Friends (this song went semi-viral on TikTok but it came out in 2010) 
2. Lovesick (I need to eat this song, I can’t physically explain how good it is) 
3. All the Boys Want (I have dreams about how she says “someone to let them go”, I am obsessed) 

Quick Honorable Mention: You Get Me Through Something

4. Bridget Mendler 

Bridget is most known for her role as Teddy Duncan on Good Luck Charlie and Olivia in Lemonade Mouth. I think most people recognize that she has made music but never talk about how good it is.

Top Three Songs: 

1. Hurricane (she literally mocked the accent of the girl her ex’s new girl, she slayed this(and I never use that word).) 
2. Ready Or Not 
3. Forgot to Laugh 

Quick Honorable Mention: Every single song she sang in Lemonade Mouth literally. One of Disney’s best soundtracks.

I’m not saying these artists deserve Hannah Montana style recognition, but some acknowledgement would be nice. 

 

 

     Recently my friends and I all took the 16 personality quiz and I want to talk about my results. I am a Turbulent Mediator or INFP-T. Mediators are quiet, private, free spirits who view life as an endless series of idealistic possibilities waiting to be realized. They typically try to get along with others and promote harmony wherever they go. How they do that though depends on whether they are Assertive Mediators, INFP-A or Turbulent Mediators, INFP-T (That’s me!).  

     These personality types tend to be open-minded, and imaginative, and they apply a caring and creative approach to everything they do. Mediators are creative and imaginative, they happily lose themselves in daydreams, inventing all sorts of stories and conversations in their minds. They can have profound emotional responses to music, art, nature, and the people around them. Idealistic and empathetic, Mediators long for deep, soulful relationships, and they feel called to help others. Because this personality type makes up a small portion of the population they may sometimes feel lonely or invisible in a world that doesn’t seem to appreciate what makes them unique.  

     Mediators strengths are that they are empathetic, they can feel the emotions of others. They are very passionate, when an idea captures their imagination Mediators want to give their whole heart to it. Like most people Mediators also have weaknesses that affect their strengths. Mediators are self-isolating, they long to connect with others, but they don’t always know how, especially in new environments. They are also desperate to please, conflict tends to be very stressful for Mediators. When someone dislikes or disapproves of them they tend to get fixated on trying to change that person’s mind. 

     INFPs are hopeless romantics. They don’t just want to find a partner, they want to find their soulmate. Mediators pride themselves on their ability to look past appearance, social status, or possessions, but they do have preconceived standards for a significant other. Their vision of their ideal partner may be based on a favorite fictional character or simply the stories they’ve told themselves about how love “should” look. Many Mediators come to learn that true love doesn’t just magically happen. 

     After all no partner is perfect, fortunately people with this personality trait can find a great deal of joy in the effort it takes to strengthen a relationship. Mediators tend to promote harmony over disagreement, yes this lends stability to their relationships, it can also lead to problems.

    Mediators long for a career that doesn’t just pay the bills but also feels fulfilling. They want to spend their days doing something they genuinely love, preferably without too much stress or drama. 

Taking this test was fun and I really learned some new things. If you want to take this test I’m leaving the link at the bottom 

https://www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test

                                         

                        Hello lovelies, here’s a fun story for this post 🙂

It was a beautiful Christmas Eve as the two cheerful little girls hopped excitedly while watching their mom come through the door with the stuffed garbage bags.    

They knew what time it was when their mother stepped through the door letting the fresh non-permanent snow in the house and the chill of the night air clash with the new heat of the heater.  They knew it was time for them to get presents for Christmas the next day.   It was an all-time joy for them as they clasped their hands in their fronts praying that they were getting the treasures they wanted.  Was it going to be a new Monster High Doll or a Barbie Dream House set, they wouldn’t know until the next day when they unraveled their gifts.  

As their mother walked to her room denying all obvious existence of their gifts one of the little girls piped up 

“Mommy!  Mommy!  Can I take a peek?”  

Their mother giggles.   “I don’t know why you are asking, I ain’t got you nothing.” 

But the little girl knows not to worry.   She will see her present tomorrow morning.  Even if it wasn’t something she was waiting for.  

They both gasped the next day as they saw all of the gifts under the Christmas Tree.  

There were fake janitor sets, big play ovens, Barbie dolls, Monster-High dolls, and mountains and mountains of stuffed animals.   All of those toys are there but only two toys catch their attention. 

                                                     

(This isn’t the exact doll but something similar to it) 

There were two life-size African American Rapunzel dolls.  Staring deeply at the girls with their hooded moving brown eyes.  Grinning with small pink smiles.  The girls admired all of it, especially the long black hair that you could make grow with a button on their necks.  

“Mommy this is so beautiful, where did you get it?”  The youngest sister asks.   

Her mom waves her hand lazily, “Doesn’t matter, as long as you play with it.” 

Both girls nod in unison with big bright smiles.  That was the plan: Play with the dolls.   

All the children play with their Christmas presents.   Don’t they? 

Well, the little girls did.  They loved playing with the luxurious life-size dolls that looked like them.  The best part was that there were two dolls, double the fun (also double the trouble than it was worth.  But we digress.)   

They played with the Rapunzel day in and day out.  Brushing their hair, singing songs with them, making them laugh, and dancing with handsome princes.   It was a joyous time until it got too boring for them.   So, like what most children do, they discard the dolls.  They were done playing with them after the month that followed Christmas.   They were done with dolls.   But dolls weren’t done with them.  

It first started when the girls were playing with their new Kindles in the living room when the dolls were sitting on the couch behind them out of the blue.  Both girls look at each other confusingly. 

“Did you put these there?”  says the older one.  

“No, I didn’t.”  responds the youngest. 

They both give eerie glances while they pick up the dolls. 

“Let’s put these away before momma makes us play with them.” 

They put the dolls in their room closet on the top of the shelf hidden with the dusty spiders. 

The next morning the girls walk into the kitchen, getting ready to fight over who pours the new milk in their cereal first when they scream. 

Sitting with frowning pale pink lips are the Rapunzel.  They are covered in dust from the closet. 

The younger girl screeches. 

“Oh my gosh!!  Who put them there?”  

The older one shivers. 

“Oh no I don’t know.  But we have to get rid of them.”  

They plot with each other.  

The plan was to put the dolls in plastic bags and then throw them in the trash can outside.   No one would ever know they put them in the dumpster. 

So, there they were, standing in the cold, shaking in their Lalaloopsy’s pajamas as one held open the heavy garbage lid. 

“Momma’s gone whoop us.” Says the younger one as she holds the lid in her shaking chilled hands. 

“Only because we might get sick, standing out here,” says the oldest. 

No comments followed after they listened to the two heavy thuds.  

The job was done.  

That night both girls slept peacefully.  Or at least that’s how it started.  They didn’t hear when their bedroom door creaked open.  Didn’t hear the shuffling through the night. 

So, when that morning they both felt something weighing them down on their sides. 

Each of them wakes up and screams louder than wild coyotes. 

The Rapunzels are sitting on their beds covered in apple peels and meat juice.   They both were grinning slyly. 

 

Thank you for reading this story based on True Events. 🙂 

Good day.   

(Feel free to ask any curious questions) 

 

My day is somewhat, very repeatable. It’s almost a relief that I can expect something to be the 

same. Because in most cases the only constant is change. But there are a few things that I would like to share. Things that tend to repeat themselves in my everyday mornings. 

For starters, I’m sure mostly everyone wakes up at the same time every morning. That’s a given. But every morning, I always wake up  and meet my neighboring Suitemate in the bathroom. And we always brush our teeth at the same time. Which is around 7:05. After that I get dressed. Then go through my usual morning routine. 

 

I’ll go downstairs and sign in, then I’ll walk to this bench, where I sit every morning. Right outside the entrance to the JI. There are two benches there. I sit on the far left one. On the very left side. Every time. And while I sit in the same spot, at the same time, every morning. I notice small things, repeating idiosyncrasies of the world. Every morning, the same elderly lady, with pepper colored hair crosses the crosswalk. At around 7:30 or later. However, She doesn’t always go in the same direction. Some mornings cross from the right side of the street to the left. And other mornings she crosses from the right to the left. I’ve always wondered what she does. And I forgot to mention that she always walks with both her arms behind her back. One holding onto the other. 

 

The next repeating variable in my morning is the 207 bus that comes to the stop sign every morning. It comes every time from 7:38-7:42. (That’s the earliest and latest I’ve seen.)

I can never tell if it has the same bus driver though. And it never has any kids on it. I assume it’s just dropped them off. Or has yet to pick them up. But seeing as it’s already near 7:40, I don’t see how it could pick anyone up and then drop them off before 8. So, I’ll assume that it’s just dropped them off.
(You can’t tell very easily from this photo, but that white piece of paper says 207.)

The next repeating part of my day is after the first block. During that short break between block 1 and block 2. I read in the same spot every day. Well, I used to read by the stairs. I’d sit in one of the chairs in front of the dance area. And I’d read whatever book I was reading at the time. But a week or so ago, the chairs disappeared. So instead I sit in front of the Writing lab room. 

 

There’s something relieving about some things staying the same. I know that things will change.
I know all about change. I don’t think I stayed in the same state for longer than a year while my dad was in the military. Now he’s retired, and we live in Mississippi for good. But while my dad was in the military, we moved around a total of ten times. From Mississippi to New York. I made a lot of friends throughout those years. But I only ever met two friends I’m still in contact with today. 

 

Not to say that I didn’t like moving. I loved visiting new states, and the car rides, and the people, and the culture. But I’m finally glad we can stay in the same house for longer than a year now.

         Hello lovelies, for this post I’m doing something different.                                     I’m going to try to convince you to play this IOS, and Android game I became addicted to.                                                                                                                                         To start off, I didn’t find this game out myself, a best friend of mine from my former school put me on this game during the Summer.  I was hesitant at first because it looked like one of those games that could hack my phone (which it didn’t so don’t say no yet) and the description was creepy.    Also, she texted me about the game out of the blue (meaning she hadn’t texted me in 3 days) while I was about to go to bed.  She said:  Hey!  I need you to play Elmwood Trail right now.   It’s about you solving a case and it’s crazy. So that right there is what caught my attention, but when I looked it up and read the summary I texted back: I don’t know this is looking too realistic.    Which to me now is a great thing, and I know I’m writing statements that contradict my statement but trust me after downloading this game all of my doubts went down the drain and I became obsessed.  

So now let me tell you about the interactive game, The Elmwood Trail

                                                   

      

Elmwood trail has the best elements (to me) for a good interactive game.  

For all of those who love interactive games, this is for you. 

For all of those who love mystery, horror, and suspense games, this is for you. 

For all of those who ever wanted to go through someone’s phone like an FBI agent (I do not mean going through real-life people’s phone without consent) and find unexpected secrets, this is for you. 

For all of those who ever wanted to be a cop or FBI agent and crack a cold case, this game is FOR YOU. 

Also, one interesting thing is, you can call actual numbers and text people that will respond, but I’m pretty sure it’s set up like a call operator so it’s not dangerous.   

Here’s what the actual game is about: 

                                   

It’s been 3 weeks since 18-year-old girl Zoey Leornard has been missing.   After finding little evidence the detectives on the case have closed the case and declared it a runaway situation.                                                                                         Everyone decides that they tried their best and she can’t be found, well everyone except YOU. 

You are playing as detective Adam Lane, someone who feels like Riverstone Town is miserable.  People keep going “missing” and everyone else is giving up on them.  Yep! You too were about to give up on Zoey’s case until a unanimous message text you, forcing you to take on Zoey’s case.    You’re hesitant, you know you can’t right now because the messages from your own phone indicate that you have too much drama going on in your life.                                                          This is what you explain to the unknown messenger, but they don’t care.  What the messenger does care about is finding out what happened to Zoey so to make that happen they give an offer they know you wouldn’t refuse. 

After all of the introductions you do some research on Zoey, but you can’t get far without any specific evidence.  So, when you’re about to tell the unknown messenger that you give up, they decide to send you a “gift.”  Shockingly, it’s Zoey’s phone.   You know it’s crazy that some unknown person knows your address and has a missing girl’s phone, but you can’t question it when you’re in too deep.  The only thing you can question is everyone that knows Zoey’s lies, truths, and what could be her secrets.   

                                                 

There are necessary puzzles in this game that build the spooky atmosphere.  I’m a fan of puzzles and I loved these because they weren’t too hard.   You get to read everything on Zoey’s phone and Adam’s phone.  Reading is a ton of fun because like a real teenager’s phone there are so many contacts, and you can text all of them.  Some people you can call and ask them questions when the time is right.   Zoey and her friends have their own Instagram which is set up like actual Instagram which makes it feel so realistic.  The people themselves look drawn but it doesn’t take away from the spooky feeling.  It actually makes me feel better knowing the people aren’t real.  The background music gives you chills in a good way.  It actually provides that feeling like you’re a detective on a TV show.  The dialogue of the suspects and the way they text and speak are so emotional.   They don’t sound like robots rehearsing a speech, they read in an actual modern teenage manner.  Their reactions are our everyday reactions.                                                                   

To me the storyline is engaging; you won’t be confused of who’s speaking or who they’re talking about.  A good part is for some scenes you get to be in the narration from Zoey’s point of view.   Her view is supposed to explain to you her thoughts outside of the text messages between her friends and also let you in on the secrets she has.  But then some twists make you wonder if you can even trust Zoey yourself.  Is she telling the truth of what actually happened?    Did she actually run away?   You don’t know.   There are so many questions that will leave you on a cliff that I ended up playing this one sitting.  Especially when you’re trying to figure out what’s with Adam’s life drama?                                         Then your main question would be:  How do you know you didn’t take Zoey? 

For the technical aspects of the game, the graphics are clear and pretty.  The way you can transfer between Adam’s and Zoey’s phone is not complicated.    All of the messages are responded to quickly (when they’re supposed to).     Most importantly, There’s NO WAIT.   You don’t have to wait for time to be added back or wait 3 hours to play the next part.  You can read this game like a good book where no one can stop you (which I did.)                                                           Overall, I love this game.  They’re still updating though and if you follow the creators on Instagram they post when it’s updated.                                                      Thanks for reading this, Good Day to You. 

So, I’ve struggled with finding a topic to write about this week. I had a ton of ideas, but this one stuck out the most. 
In this post, I’ll be talking about my all-time favorite
young adult American poet, Trev Cimenski.

I First discovered Trev Cimenski about a year or two ago, on Instagram. I heard this soft yet intimidating voice, and the words just spoke to me. At the time I didn’t really follow random people on Instagram, so I passed his account without much thought. But a few days later I came across the same person reading another wonderfully written poem. And I was intrigued. So, I went through his posts, and became obsessed over his work. 
And then when I heard that he had a book released, and another one on the way, I immediately bought the first copy. I read it twice in once night. It was really amazing. 

Trev Cimenski’s book ‘Orangutan Teeth’ was published August 25th, 2022. A relatively recent publication. This book has many amazing poems. I’ve certainly dog eared at least half of them.

There are so many things in this book that I would recommend. I don’t remember the name of it verbatim, but my favorite poem from this book has to be the Years poem. (I think that’s the name) 
It talks about how Years are wasted on calendars, and young people wish they were old and old people wish they were young, and how it’s all just a useless cycle of envy.

I Think that the name of the book is hilariously intriguing, ‘Orangutan Teeth.’ It would only make sense if you got to the poem about Olives Teeth, which (I think) is the first poem in the book.  And another interesting fact about this book is that all the illustrations are by Trev Cimenski himself. Which I very much admire.

 

Somewhat Small is another poetry book written by Trev Cimenski, it was released in this past July. I’m actually lucky enough to own a signed copy of this book. I was so excited when it came in the mail. 
This book is filled to the brim with dozens of poems, and I have to say that my favorite is ‘The World’s Greatest Piano Player’.  It’s really amazing, and it talks about childhood wishes, and realizations as an adult. 
Unfortunately, there aren’t as many illustrations in this book as the previous one. I’m not sure as to the reason, but I do miss the little squiggly fellas. 
I debated for such a long time on
whether or not I wanted to highlight
or dog ear pages, because on one hand some things in the book were really inspiring, but on the other hand I didn’t want to harm this book in any way.  I eventually decided on leaving it as it is, and maybe dog earing a page or two.

So, I’ve Talked about the books he’s released, but what makes them so brilliant?
And the answer to that, is how insanely deep these somewhat simple poems are. Trev Cimenski, writes poetry about the smallest of things, 
Teeth, Houses, Pianos, Nephews and Nieces. And makes them into this philosophical concept, that really makes you reflect. And something even more impressive is when he talks about serious things. Like death, age, years, love.



What I’m trying to say is that, in my opinion, I think that his work is brilliant. And I love re-reading his work over and over again. For the past year or so he’s been a huge inspiration for me. 
I think that’s why I’ll always love small town poets more than world renowned poets. I know it’s silly, but it seems more personal when its someone who isn’t as widely known.

And if anyone ever wants to borrow one of his books from me, feel free to ask. 
I would love to share his work with other people.

* I apologize for how rushed and short this post is, other than the two books. And his media accounts, I could hardly find any information about him. 
So, I just wrote what I knew about Him. *

This is a snippet of a much longer story that's not entirely fleshed out. Cheers!

I stumbled blindly through the yard, the open door swinging behind me, and everything was too loud.

“Nicky!” Sarah Ann called, joy ringing through her voice like a bell calling for its dog. “Where you going, Nicky?”

Punch dribbles from my hair, my shirt clings to my skin, and every breath I take feels like I’m gonna die.

“Is that even your name? Nicky?” She yells. “Because what I heard—”

“I don’t care what you heard!” Even I could hear the tremor in my voice, the way every piece of me rattled as I scrambled my way into the woods with my hands quivering and my chest filled with wasps. “Just leave me alone!”

I didn’t want to be here, I didn’t want to be anywhere, I couldn’t breathe right as everything was pounding on my skull like a drum and my chest was bashing itself in like the world was coming to an end and this was my final soliloquy.

I kept everything straight, had all my accounts locked, not even my best friends knew, so what could’ve tipped her off? How did she find out? Did she get into my phone? She got into my phone, and she saw it, that’s what happened. I don’t get to keep a single secret, and I trusted her, I really did trust her, why am I so stupid?

I should’ve realized I would’ve gotten lost when I started running through woods that weren’t mine. This wasn’t my house, this was some stupid dumb party I decided to go to and now I’m stuck here.

By now the wind was starting to get to me, and I knew I couldn’t run much further, so I stopped, the tired burn of my legs and the shake in my hands just another part of the noise.

“Nick?”

He found me. I didn’t turn around.

“I don’t wanna talk right now.” My voice cracks. “So don’t make me talk right now.”

He didn’t say anything. For once.

But I couldn’t, as my head ran a thousand different ideas about how I’m gonna die and how this is gonna kill me. “You’re not gonna fix this, Gray,” I said. “I don’t even know if you can fix this.”

I collapsed against a tree, my laughter hollow and my voice broken. “I know what’s gonna happen. The school finds out, calls my parents, and I’m out of Westerfield by next Tuesday. Or they’ll just call me—”

I stopped myself.

He didn’t follow up on that. I guess he knew he couldn’t. Instead he mutters, “I was worried you were gonna come out here and do something stupid when I saw you running.”

“With what?”

“I dunno..” He kicked up dirt.

“Well, I wasn’t, so.” I shrugged. I said it just to get him to leave, but he didn’t. I didn’t know why I wouldn’t just tell him to leave; it was like I couldn’t. Maybe I knew I would be alone if I did.

So, whenever I’m stuck in a place where I have no idea what I am going to write about I find myself going back to things that I enjoy, or at least pieces of media that I enjoy. Lately I have been doing a lot of schoolwork, so I really haven’t had the time to watch, let alone take in movies or tv shows. But this week was an exception, a new show came out that I need to talk about, and if you’ve read the title then you can see, it is Fionna and Cake. 

 

For those who do not know Fionna and Cake is a limited time spin off series that is airing on FX, it is a spin off, or some might even say a sequel, of one of Cartoon Network’s most notoriously popular and successful shows, Adventure Time. I remember watching adventure time a lot as a kid, however since it was in cable format as well as the fact my brain hasn’t developed enough to even be able to appreciate the true beauty and intricacy that this show has to offer. It was only when I was about 12 was when I began to really watch, start from the beginning, understand what the story was truly about. The fun part about a small time in this show is that it wasn’t really about anything. For the first two out of ten seasons there really wasn’t an underlying storyline that the show adhered to, it was more of just a lighthearted piece of media that both kids and young adults could enjoy. It provided an enriching setting and set up characteristics of the story as well as specific characters that stood out more than any other cartoon network show.

 

Throughout this post I’ve tried to make an effort to not include spoilers and keep the actual storyline very vague but the topic that I am about to touch on does include slight spoilers, so just keep that in mind. One final thing that I want to bring to light is the character development throughout all ten seasons of the show as well as the two spins off shows. The pictures I am about to show reflect not just the physical changes that you see throughout the show but the emotional as well.

 

 

 

In conclusion I think that both of these pictures encapsulate what the main underlying theme in this universe of shows are, change. Change, whether it is negative or positive, is going to be a prevalent part of all of our lives. And I think bringing it to light in the eyes of children is one of the most important things that this show can offer.

Step 1: take off your shoes

Step 2: feel the grass, simultaneously sharp and soft, weave a blanket with the soil underneath your feet.

Step 3: lift your hand, let the moss shift soundly into your palm, and hold the branch tightly.

Step 4: grab with your second hand and lift your leg and hoist yourself up like pirate hanging valiantly from mast.

Step 5: Climb.

 

There is a tree in my great grandmother’s yard. It is a magnolia, elegant and powerful. It stands like a duchess, a queen, completely outshining the dull demeanors of the tiny houses, common people, run-down docks, and weak-willed weeds that surround it. At each family gathering, I greet my relatives with a smile, sit down for a bite, and then retreat outside to its glorious presence. This time of year, its flowers have taken to dropping their petals, leaving skeletons of blooms littered among the leaves, yet still, it is beautiful.

             I climbed it again last weekend. The familiar route straight towards the heavens filled me with nostalgia, and my heart was instantly full. It was quiet. It was safe. I climbed maybe four feet up, then five, then ten, then fifteen, before I finally found the perfect branches. I dangled my legs over the first branch, then shifted to my side. My legs were bare (I was wearing a green sundress that blended in beautifully with the leaves), so I could feel the bark pressing roughly onto my skin. It was course and it left marks on my flesh, yet still, it was beautiful.

            On the second branch, slightly higher than the first, I rested my back, my neck, my head, and let my right arm swing softly in the air while my left served as a soft pillow. I looked precarious – suspended high over ground, eyes closed in a dream-like state, not holding on to a single vine or twig – but I felt sturdier, stronger, more secure than I had ever been. I trusted the friction that my legs created to hold me steady, I trusted my body to be strong enough to be still, and most of all, I trusted the tree that cradled me in its powerful arms. I laid there. I rested. I found peace.

            Tree naps, in my humble opinion, are one of the most effective ways that one can recharge. We are consumed by schoolwork, stress, messy social lives, teenage angst, industrialized everything, capitalized media, technological overloads, unrealistic standards (the list goes on)… It can be so difficult to even consider the thought of including tranquility in our chaotic lives. However, burnout is real. If you are constantly spending, and spending, and spending your energy, then what’s left? Who do you become? In my experience, I become nothing but pure exhaustion, fatigue, and apathy. When this happens, there is a simple remedy that I highly recommend. Find a good tree. Follow the steps listed above. Rest. Feel the sun warming your skin, feel the coolness of the patches of shadow casted by the limbs above you, feel the peace of nature (as cheesy as it may sound), trust in your own strength and stability, and allow yourself to heal.  

Once upon a time I was in tenth grade walking to lunch with my friend Madison when we saw this table set up with some flyers, pamphlets, and pens. The first thing that came out of my mouth was not, “I wonder what that’s about” but instead, “Oh my god Madison I want a pen I really want a pen.” My friend Madison replied to me by saying, “Georgia if you really want a pen that badly then you should go get a pen!” Of course I couldn’t just walk up to this lady’s stand, ask for a pen and walk away. That would be rude. I had to at least seem mildly interested in what the topic was. It was at that point in time when I finally decided to read the banner hanging by the table. It read, Mississippi School of the Arts. I had no idea Mississippi had a college specializing in Arts.

As my obsession for pens had grown over the years, I had stopped by multiple stands pretending to be interested in them just to get a pen. Whether they be a college or a business, I was determined to obtain a pen. 

Madison and I got our lunch trays and sat down at our usual table which just so happened to be right across from the lady who was at the stand with the Mississippi School of the Arts. The entire time while we were eating lunch I kept talking to Madison about how I could approach the situation, seeming like I was interested in the school even though I wasn’t. In the end Madison finally yelled at me because she was sick of me plotting about a pen and told me to just go up to the stand and ask about the school and then ask for a pen. I ended up doing just that. I walked up to the stand and said something along the lines of, “So what’s this about?” The lady who was working the stand had really long hair. She told me that it was a residential high school for grades 11 and 12 to specialize in one of six disciplines, Dance, Vocal, Theater, Literature, Visual, and Media. This immediately caught my attention as I had been interested in literature and dance for years. As she told me more about the school I began to ask more questions and as I was more interested in the school. When I was done asking questions, she had me fill out a sheet of paper with one of the very pens I had been trying to achieve from the start. The paper was just so they could contact me to give me more information about the school so of course I filled it out as I was very interested (I also kept the pen).

When I went back to the lunch table where Madison was she asked me what took so long and I told her about the school and that I wanted to apply and she said to me something like “God dammit Georgia! You were supposed to get a pen, not go to a new school!”

After school I called my mom to tell her about the school and she fully supported me. I then called my friend Dannica and told her about the school and she got really interested and wanted to apply to the school. Fast forward to the present day while I’m writing this blog, both Dannica and I go to school at the Mississippi School of the Arts and love it here.

As a note to those of you who are reading this, if you want the pen from the business or college stand, go get it. You may end up going to the school of your dreams.