1 – My first tropical vacation; The Cayman Islands. It was an extraordinary adventure! My family and I went to a sea turtle sanctuary, where we held young sea turtles. Then we went to a blue iguana sanctuary, which was fascinating because I had never been that close to a big reptile. We also spent a lot of time at the beach. The ocean was beautiful. Clear, turquoise-colored water. We also held starfish, and they felt spiky, like sandpaper. I will never forget that vacation.
2 – I have had many thoughts on the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” The intimidating question every 8 year old witnessed. Of course, I loved animals, so at first I wanted to be a veterinarian. That was mostly because of the fact that my mom worked at an animal clinic. Then, I realized I loved drawing “masterpieces”, so then I was thinking of becoming an artist. Grasping the thought of how it’s hard to make income as an artist, I decided to become a book illustrator. Without a doubt, the idea got scrapped. Then, the first day of 7th grade happened. Third block, I will never forget the moment I walked into Ms. Markowitz’ classroom. Taxonomy charts, cages with reptiles, fish, more posters, turtle shells, you name it. Eventually, it was the unit I was waiting for; Ecology. I fell in love with the concept of comprehending the relations between organisms. Taxonomy and classification was interesting, an abstract topic for most students to learn, sure, but I was very intrigued. Being an ecologist sounds like an amazing fit for a job for me! I’ve settled on that for now, but it could always change!
3 – On the island of Madagascar, there is a species of lemur called an Aye – Aye (Weird name, but aye – aye captain!). Anyway, I was watching an episode of the show “Wild Kratts”, and this weird, goblin – like creature was before me on the screen. It was an Aye – Aye! I fell in love because it was weird; It’s middle finger was extremely longer than the rest, and it had big bat-like ears. To this day, it is my favorite animal.
4 – Vegetables, so lovely, so green, so many people don’t like them. I like them. In fact, my favorite food is a vegetable; The (preferably unseeded) cucumber! Again, people think it’s weird, it isn’t weird, it’s delicious. Especially with ranch, oh my word. Sometimes I have some ranch left over, and I just drink it. I get judging looks, probably from haters, but haters gonna hate, right?
5 – I have always written strangely. I write with my fist and still have great handwriting, somehow. Everyone has always asked, “How do you write like that?” I usually answer with, “I guess I’ve always written like this.” Some people think it is fascinating, and others think it’s weird. I have still never met anyone else who still writes like me.
6 – I have a few hobbies. My favorite hobby is drawing. I mostly like to draw animals, semi realistically with a slightly stylized look. I believe I started drawing when I was around 6 years old. I had a Disney Princess themed notebook, and I drew “masterpieces” in it. I actually used one of my old drawings as inspiration for one of my original characters, Jelly Dog! It was a combination of a Jellyfish and a Bulldog. I also love writing, hence the reason why I’m in this class. Poems are my favorite, although I’m not good at writing them. I could be a journalist if I really wanted to. I wouldn’t mind! I also like to plan ahead. I don’t like to use physical planners, I much rather use digital. I use notion.so, Google Drive, and Canva to keep my life organized (Not sponsored, by the way!).
7 – My family is chaotic, but loving, crazy, but I love them. My parents are sweet and caring; My dad tries to be funny, and he somewhat is. He also loves sports, especially the New England Patriots, the Boston Celtics, the Boston Red Sox, and the Boston Bruins. My mom is kind, and she loves animals. It’s probably why she works at an animal clinic. I have two brothers, Adam, 17, and Brady, 22. Brady is a teacher at Briar Woods High School, and has a caring girlfriend named Claire. He also plays the guitar. Adam is a senior at Potomac Falls High School, and is the drum major this year for the PFHS marching band. He plays the saxophone. My mom’s mom, my Gramma, lives with us, too. She is kind hearted and super helpful.
8 – As I have mentioned before, my family loves animals. That’s probably the reason why we have 5 pets right now. We used to have 9 pets, though. Here is a list of all my pets from 2020 and up; Marigold, a tortie cat who had 11 kittens (Had 7, but adopted 4). She is so sweet. She acts like we are her kittens, too. Maisy, or Moo-moo, is like the drama queen of dogs. Actually, she acts like a cat, even though she is a dog. She loves catnip and she is very cute. We think her breed is a dachshund mixed with a cairn terrier. Rhody, who was basically my best friend, who passed away from heart disease. He was an orange tabby that liked to go under my covers and sleep with me. I love him so much. I miss him, too. Mousse, a tuxedo cat, was misunderstood and called the “dark one”, lovingly by my family. Anyway, he was gone way too soon, and he was like a little baby. He made “biscuits” on my blanket, which is when a kitten is pretending to nurse, I guess. I’m guessing he missed his mom. Sweet boy. I love and miss him very much. Pancake, a tiny deluxe tortie cat, who is lucky she is cute, because she gets in a lot of trouble. She sleeps with me at night, and she is adorable! Diesel, a dog, who was sweet but old. He had anxiety and could barely walk. He had to be put down, and I miss him very much. Mitten, a big boy. A cat who has diabetes, and basically a cat and a half. He is a brown tabby with white splotches. Then there’s my bluetick coonhound, Olive Matzoh. She is a mom of 11, and she is a big girl. She is a little crazy, too, and a handful. Love her, though! Technically speaking I have 6 pets. A fish, eyeroll. Noodles, is what his name is. Apparently one of his friends got a fish but she had to go to college, where they don’t allow pets. You can probably figure out the rest.
9 – The guinea pigs. Many stories with them, so many that I had to make a separate part. It started in 4th grade, when my friend, Sophie (I’ll link her blog with my other classmates!)asked me if I could take care of the pigs, because she got a new dog and her parents wouldn’t let her keep them. “It would be a big commitment!” My parents responded. We have had guinea pigs before, though. Why would I be talking about my guinea pigs if I never got them, you ask? You are a pretty smart cookie, because I did in fact take them in. It was father’s day of 2020, right after the pandemic hit. We had to be far apart from each other, with exceptions. Anyway, in 2023, unfortunately they had both passed. It was depressing, and even more so when I told Sophie the news. She was very attached to these little piggies, and I knew it was hard for her as well. We both have hair samples of them, and the tiniest, cutest, little paw prints ever. Thank you Sophie, for this experience we had together.
10 – Last fact, whew – I’m out of breath rapping. Just kidding! Anyway, I have been a Girl Scout since Kindergarten, and my troop was not very productive. Since 6th grade, I have been a Juliette looking for a troop. Over the summer, I usually go to Girl Scout camp. My favorite is Camp Summer Magic, and I am finally old enough to be basically a teenage camp counselor! The summer of 2023 was definitely my favorite time out of the three at that camp. Mostly because it was my first time being an “AID” (or a teenage camp counselor!). You basically hang out with the older, cool kids, who are in High School. There are gift exchanges and you get to have your own camp name; Mine was Onion. Anyway, at the camp there are kids as young as 3 all the way up to 12! We all usually get along, with a few frustrated youngsters. Also, my family helps at the camp as well! It’s really fun!
Thanks for reading!
Every December:
