Throughout elementary school, middle school, and high school I have always valued my relationships with my friends, whenever I was having a hard time they have always been there for me. I have kept the same couple of friends all the way through we have gone through lots of rough times but also many good times. We all lived in neighborhoods near each other which were mostly middle to upper class neighborhoods. During our senior year one of our close friends passed away in a car accident, more than ever these friendships mattered. Through the times of mourning we were spending countless hours hanging out and being there for each other. Some days some of us were affected by it more than others and we could recognize that stand by each other and help them through it. This had made these bonds between us even stronger. I know these guys no matter how close we are at the time they will always be there for me if I need them. Going off to college split many of us apart but these bonds will always be there.
Growing up my family and I would always go skiing, my dad was my ski teacher. When I was younger I didn’t enjoy skiing and didn’t appreciate it as much, I thought it was too cold and I hated waking up early to drive one hour to the mountains. When I first started skiing I was around 4 years old, my parents skied with me on a leash in front of them. Getting up to the mountains gave us nice family time where we could all be together. Skiing was only possible this often because of how close we lived to the mountains and the convenience of it. My parents had a rule that I could only switch to snowboarding until I was able to ski the whole mountain, by eighth grade I switched over to snowboarding. This change was very frustrating at first, I wanted to quit the first day I tried. After multiple days of falling and having bruises everywhere I finally started to figure it out. Persevering through the pain was the best decision I made because now I can snowboard just as well as I could ski.
My father has always been my idol, he has always shown me it is possible to work very hard and still make time for family. In my first year of life I had 13 ear infections, I was constantly crying but the only thing that would put me to sleep was car rides. My dad would always get home tired from work, and my mom was exhausted from dealing with me crying all day, and he would drive me through the night to put me to sleep. When I was about 5 years old he went back to get his masters degree because he had started his own company. He was often staying in a hotel near Denver where the CU Denver campus is. This was hard because I rarely got to see him but every single night we would talk on the phone. He often influenced me to start many small businesses, like lawn mowing services, parking spots for football games, and landscaping. My Dad has shaped a huge part of who I am because of the influence his actions had on me as a kid.
My brother is two years older than me, we have always been close with each other. Growing up with an older brother made me a lot tougher, we would always wrestle and fight, but I would never win. He has taught me a lot of things, some not for the better but in the end it’s all okay. He was the reason I said my first cuss word and I got in trouble for it. One day we were in my room and he looked at me and said “say duck but instead of the d use an f” and I proceeded to say it, then he goes “okay shout it” and I shouted it, my mom came up those stairs some quickly and I got in trouble for it. Having an older brother who made good decisions and watched out for me was very lucky for me. Although how close we are we are very different people, but our differences bring us together.
During the summer time I really enjoy going surfing behind a wake boat. In Colorado there aren’t many lakes so it takes a bit of a trip to get up to the lake. Surfing is fun because it is really easy to pick up and do but the main goal is to be able to let go of the rope that is keeping you behind the boat and let the momentum of the wave keep you up. When the weather is nice my family and some of my friends will drive an hour and a half up to Berthoud, Colorado. It is always fun going with a bunch of friends and just hanging out on the boat. When we go up it’s not always surfing, sometimes we get wild and tube. The tubing can get a little intense, luckily no one gets injured. We are able to go around 5-6 times a summer because of the scarcity of lakes in Colorado. It takes a lot of work to get the boat and all the equipment ready and hooked up but it makes it all worth it when you get out on the water.
When I was going into my senior year I went on a trip with a group called me to we, when I went I went with a bunch of kids I had never met before from Canada to Ecuador. Our main goal for the trip was to help build a water filtration system for a village in the amazon. We also explored their culture and got to learn about the way they live. One of the guides from Ecuador had brought her nephew along for a couple days, his name was Martín. Martín spoke no english, with my 3 years of spanish class I was able to have normal conversation with him, I’m sure I was butchering it but he still somewhat understood me. I would always play soccer with him, make him laugh, and he wanted to do everything with me. The whole time he was right by my side wherever we would go. Although I have no way to contact him now, I will always remember our conversation and laughter.
Every year for Christmas eve my mom’s side of the family all gathers together, this is a rare occasion where we are all able to find time in our busy schedules to be together. No matter what family drama occurs in the past year everyone is able to push it aside and enjoy each other’s presences. Because we all live in the same state it makes this all possible. Every year we have the same dinner, crab legs. My favorite part about these dinners is the outgoing conversation. The crab legs come with a set of tools to crack the crab open and pull out the meat, I always have a difficult time breaking my crab leg open. My grandpa is always the first one to offer to help me with opening it. Once everyone gets their food the conversation decreases because everyone becomes so invested in their meals. These Christmas dinners are very special because it’s a time where you can catch up with all of my family members and hear interesting stories about their year.
Covid put a lot of change on everybody’s life, everything came to a quick and sudden stop within our country. Unfortunately it took away a lot from me, I was unable to participate in lacrosse my senior year because the season had been cancelled. When graduating at this time, I never got to attend a real graduation ceremony which was very disappointing. Most of all having to do everything I do online makes it hard to remember what a normal day of classes was like or going to events with more than 20 people like concerts. Being from Colorado the Covid restrictions have been constantly heavy and makes for a tough time when you have to restrict yourself from doing activities and change your lifestyle. Covid in Mississippi has restricted my social life in college as well. Going through these uncertain times has been confusing and difficult. This restriction has restricted all of us in many ways but it is important to continue to brave through it.
Since I was a kid I have always had asthma, it is not as bad since I have grown up but it used to affect me a bunch. When I was in little league sports, when my asthma held me back the most, I would often try to ignore and and continue going but it would always get to me and I would need my inhaler. Another thing that was tough was to the mountains where there was low oxygen. Since I have grown out of it I rarely need my inhaler, I think this also has to do with the fact that I don’t have to run conditioning for any sport and I can take it at my own pace when I work out. Asthma restricted my ability to do continuous physical activity. Trying to not let it restrict me was difficult but I realized the more physical activity over time asthma wouldn’t affect me as much. Overcoming this meant a lot to me because I am less dependent on an inhaler.
Every summer in high school a big group of my friends would get together and go to a concert at red rocks. Most of the time we went to EDM concerts, we would all meet in the parking lot before to take pictures in front of the red rocks. The venue was the coolest part about these concerts. I’m lucky to have been able to experience a place like this. Me and all of my guy friends normally wear basketball jerseys or hawaiian shirts. Once the gates open for a concert we all run up the stairs to make sure we get good seats. This is one time of the year where most of our high school was at one place all having a good time together. My favorite part about these concerts are the visuals and crazy lights they have that match up to the music and being able to look at the crown of people around you. Unfortunately Covid took that away from us this last summer, but hopefully we will be able to go back soon.
