Sixteen years isn't very long compared to many people. In fact, your sweet sixteen isn't even near the highlight of your life, is what most people have told me. But just because being sixteen isn't much, doesn't mean it isn't anything at all!
When I was 5 i was Daddy's little girl. Unfortunately, when I was concieved, my parents were hoping for a little boy -_- My brother was 5 when he decided he wanted a little brother. He'd go to the store with my mom and pick out toys for his "future little brother". My brother was kinda lonely actually, having 5 sisters at the time and one brother who was 10 years older than him. My mom and dad had always wanted more boys too, so they decided they should try for another boy. Then of course I robbed my brother of a little brother and my parents of another son by being a girl :D
Being the youngest and distant in age from my siblings, I never really knew them actually. I wasn't even born yet when my oldest sister got married. My oldest brother went away to college when I was 4 so I don't remember living with him at all. My memory of living with my sisters is kind of foggy because they also went away to college or got married when I was still really young. I've actually only really lived with my second older brother until about 3 years ago when he went off to college also. But even from afar, my siblings always looked out for me.
Even now, my siblings look out for me a lot. I know I can always go to them for help when I need it. They also open my eyes a lot to things i never noticed or thought about before. I think one of the best things about being the youngest is having a lot of people tell you their mistakes and how you can avoid them. But I don't just watch my siblings. I also watched the people around me who are my age. I never wanted to grow up. I wanted to savor my childhood. Watching middle schoolers and even elementary students start dating and wearing strange clothes trying to grow into teenagers too fast made me want to stay away from that. And I'm really glad i did! I think starting in middle school I started to grow a determination to be successful and happy in life; to have a career I love and be educated. That's why i'm in this room right now, in the second week of summer vacation, at PEOPLE Program.
I always really wanted to do something fun like writing books or producing films. Then I realized, I really don't have the passion to be able to go through the process to get there. About last year I decided i still want to write books that get turned into movies and be famous and have something in the entertainment industry, but I'll put that to the side. Instead, through the AVID program, I've been trying to discover my skills and things that I might like. As of now, I've decided on Engineering. One of the reasons I chose this career is because I want to understand how the things in our world are made and I want to be the one to make them. Also, I love math and I love learning math. The job secuity of engineers also attract me a lot. I know the schooling will be hard and the field is competitive, but i think there are more pros in the engineering field than cons.
In AVID we took a field trip to MSOE (Milwaukee School Of Engineering) and I really liked it, but it's a private school and really expensive. My mom and dad told me it's a bad idea. But I'm still going to apply for it when I'm a senior! I hear UW-Madison's engineering program is in top 15 of the country too, so going here won't be too bad. I'll have my tuition covered too! I just really wish I could get away from home and have the real college experience though...
And there is the basic outline of the 16 years I've lived!