I value my family, my educational system, and the ability I have to live my life as I choose.
My family is not perfect, far from it as I know that other people feel the same as their family. We certainly do have our fights and the consequences of hurt feelings and egos that comes with it, but I love my family all the same. The person I rely on the most is my dad, Steve. Although I'm only in high school and therefore in the rebellious stage of my life, I know that my dad is always there for me. It's amazing to me that no matter what I have done to hurt him he will always except me back into his arms. This kind of love is amazing. I cannot explain how proud my dad makes me, although at the same time he can be rather embarrassing. Thanks to my dad I also have my firm belief in Jesus, something that I think him for greatly. My mom died when I was 12, which was 5 years ago, and although I have had time to recover, my dad still supports me because he knows that this is one of the wounds that will never completely heal. My dad is just an awesome support system that is truly a gift from God.
Secondly, I respect my educational system. High school is not the funnest thing in the world, and at this present time I have to suffer 138 more days. Luckily for me, I love the art of learning and I simply enjoy being able to think for myself and figure out the mysteries of life. The learning process is an amazing and complex thing, one filled with the need to have motivation to do good work and the willingness to fight temptation to be lazy and cheat. I'm a senior and therefore heading off to college next year, so I'm really thankful to be going to the school I go to and having the opportunities to explore new things that might take me to the professional level I wish to be at in my future.
Last, but certainly not least, is that I have the ability to choose for myself how I want to live. Not being a legal adult yet, my options are still limited, but thanks to the many people who helped found our nation's morals I know that I will soon get the chance to vote and help the country in any way that I can. America is a great place to be in because not only am I a free individual, but also free from fears that other nations in war have to worry about. Unlike other nations I am allowed to think for myself and express my personal views in the ways that I see fit- my creativity and opinions are not silenced and I have our amazing country to thank for that.
As I look at my life, I can readily point out the spots where a Tide bleach pen could have come in handy, but, as the old saying goes, I wouldn't change a thing. What's happened in my life has made me who I am and I, no matter how overused this is, am happy with that. I take this for granted, this life that has been practically handed to me on a golden plate... I look at these and I think, "Boy! I'm sure glad my life isn't in the dumps like the main characters of White Nights or The Dream of a Ridiculous Man by Fyodor Dostoyevsky because that would suck." Haha.
But in all reality, the average person could bump up the life in their day to day passings just a little bit, because we all know that it is possible! It is possible for things to get better! All we have to do is embrace life... I know we can do it, because progress starts with one person, and therefore we initiate change. We are the reason.
