Wow. It's been a long past 16 years.

Man.
Looking back on it all, its been a long past few years.
I realized that yesterday as I practically single-handedly ran the bottom of the track at Silicon Valley's 7th Annual Soap Box Derby local. I don't think I've ever had so much control over people older than me. It was kind of awesome, considering I think of myself as a small, young, female who is often reserved in many senses of the word, but is not afraid to be loud and embarrass herself in front of people.
Now as I look back on it all and even look forward into this summer and the years to come, I've grown a lot from the quiet little tomboy with the bowl cut and Harry Potter glasses to this animated, exuberant, young leader. I've guided kids around rattlesnakes at Science Camp, taken care of kids at Soap Box, and co-lead and befriended my campers and Cabin Leaders at the 2 Summer Camps I've worked at.

As a kid, my nose was always in a book, or in a band aid. I was a klutz, quiet, didn't get along too well with people my age or gender, and if I wasn't reading, I was playing soccer or drawing. If I did hang out with people, it would be because I was trying way too hard to fit in, or I was playing soccer with the boys. I still remember being asked things like "Why do you wear dresses so much?" and "Why is your hair short?" and really, I was trying to fit in with the dresses and prove to people that I was in fact a girl, and my hair was short because I hated brushing it. I got teased so I stayed quiet.

In middle school, I broke out of my quiet shell when I was introduced to Tech Class and KDOG, the news broadcast for my school. It was a big step for me to go from the quiet behind the scenes tech operator to being an anchor as my fellow classmates see me do still to this day. From KDOG, I transitioned to Chorus parts in both Guys and Dolls and Bugsy Malone and a Duet in 8th grade. Finally, in 8th grade, I joined Leadership class and ran all the dances, lunch-time activities, planned all sorts of events, and worked in the Autism and Special Needs department some days. Joining Leadership was probably the most important decision I made all throughout Middle School; without it, I would not be the young woman I am today.

Now, in High School, I've been supporting and chorus roles in Giver, Curtains, Bullshot Crummond, The Wiz, and The Jungle Book. I'm also Secretary of the Gay Straight Alliance, and hope to be President next year.
This summer, I am applying to a Summer camp to build Go-Karts with middle schoolers. Also, I will be a Counselor in Training at Camp Wastahi this summer and I have been going there for 4 years now.

Looking back on it all, I don't regret anything I've done. Regardless of how busy my life has been, I don't think I've turned down one opportunity and I don't regret that.

Can Drawing on People be a Career?

Because how cool would it be to get payed to doodle cool things on people.
And before you say:
"Durrr veronica why dont you become a tattoo artist?"
Im afraid of needles. I cant imagine stabbing people with needles or being stabbed with needles. Also, the people who work there are COATED in tattoos. I'd look so out of place. Like Kat Von D without tattoos. Just a little weird.

WEIRD.

Although I'm not a fan of permanent ink, I have taken a kind liking to Henna or Mehndi [as Abdul likes to correct me] Henna is a natural, herb based paint that dyes the skin for up to 2-3 weeks at a time. It's pretty amazing stuff. I used it last summer before camp and Ive learned a couple tricks on how to maintain the design longer.

No matter how much I adore Henna, I rarely can get the kits and when I do they are very tiny. So I've taken a liking to these lovely Sepia Micron Pens for drawing similar reddish-brownish-orange colours on people and myself.

In fact, here is a small collection of doodles I did just in 1 class period of Photo!

College. [And How I am Tied Between Two.]

 OK. Choosing needs to get real now. Between Art, a passion of mine since as long as I can remember, or "real school" as adults call it.

While I was at soap box derby a few weeks ago, every single adult I've been growing up with constantly asked me which colleges I've applied to. After explaining many times that I'm still a junior and have yet to go on college tours, I told them I was interested in either UCSF or the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, or somewhere in southern California [Whittier, UCLA, UCSB, ect. ect.]
ONE single response stood out, and that's Kim Ferguson's. She explained how when she was a junior in high school, she was an artist [and still is, once an artist, always an artist] but her father forced her to major in something "real." So she acquired a Bachelors Degree in Microbiology. And her Grandfather had told her, "If you're an artist, art will find its way into your life, regardless of profession." Later that year, she got a job at a Science Textbook company, where she drew figures of Microplankton and Other various microscopic sea life which were too small to capture with cameras.

This sparked an idea.

Due to my love of darkroom photography and chemistry, I considered becoming a photographer. They don't really pay well.
So due to my love of drawing [which has recently improved greatly recently] and matching colors, I considered Fashion Designing. Those COULD pay well if I start off somewhere good like JC Penny. Also, I'm not half bad at sewing, as 3rd period could attest with those crazy barbies I made for the Six Sigma and New Rules project.
But finally, I also would not mind being an Illustrator for kids books. I've always loved kids, and Ive never been one much for colouring things shades of grey. [50 shades of grey? no. flipping rainbows.] Jamie and I made a pact in Freshman year, that if she ever wrote a book, I got to either illustrate or do the cover page. <3 Jamie, tell me when you finish the book, I'll still willingly illustrate it.

The Possibilities are Endless

Throughout my life, everyone has always called me "well-rounded." As a kid, I worried that meant they were calling me fat, which I was on the chubbier side, but it wasn't until 7th grade did I realize what I really loved. Science.
Thank you, Mr. A, my 7th grade Biology teacher. You opened my eyes to a whole new way to enjoy life, by over analyzing the little things and stopping to dissect the flowers. Now instead of simply picking away the petals of a flower, playing "he loves me, he loves me not," I can tell if it asexually or sexually reproduces by simply counting the petals on it and dividing by either 3 or 5. I also showed the other younger kids where the baby flower comes from by creating a cross-section and showing the ovaries, pistils, and stamen. I never really had the "Birds and the Bee's" talk, but I understood how bees carried the pollen to other flowers and those create seeds which then grow new flowers. I understood that far more than how humans pollinated.
Anyway, Life Science was 7th grade and that made me interested in Botany, Marine Biology, and Rainforest Protection. The year after that was 8th grade Physical Science with Ms. Brown. By far, one of my favorite classes. That class made me interested in Astronomy, Chemistry and the pH balance of things.

Before that, I knew I loved to draw and sing.
And that was all I knew. I tried an Art class in elementary school, and it was fine, but that summer, I tried one at the Community Center, and I did not enjoy myself. The teacher demaded of us what we would draw and the whole rest of the class was everybody fighting over the "How To Draw Super Heroes" books and little blondie in the corner wanting to draw real life pictures.
And thereforth a general distaste for classes that force creativity upon students.

But then there's always singing!
And there's always doubt and self-conciousness which makes my work look like a finger painting next to the Mona Lisa or a screeching cat next to Imagine Dragons.

Only recently have I found a whole new world of creativity to dip my feet into, Fashion Design.
Today, my photography class [not my favorite, but I enjoy playing in all the chemicals and helping everybody be timely.] was visited by a representitive from The Academy Of Art in San Francisco.
It rekindled my love and excitement over art and expressing emotions through creations and beautiful paintings.

And again, the cycle continues as it gets closer to applying and narrowing down what college I want to go to; the question is asked,

WHAT DO I WANT TO DO WITH MY LIFE?