from me to you (729)

      A year ago around this time, I remember being so infatuated with someone that i would've done anything for them. I loved them more than I loved myself and that is terrifying to think about. I am living without the one person I thought I could never live without, thriving actually. You always think that things will go the way that they are planned and that is how I was. I was never emotionally ready for anything thrown my way because I was so dependent on this person to be there and be my rock.

So then what happens when your rock decides one day that they don't love you anymore? What then?

      That is what my journey was about. I hit rock bottom after that day because I thought that things would never get better and that something as "great" as us would never happen again (hopeless romantic, I know). I could've sat around hating the world and making sure that the other person got the satisfaction of seeing me down but that is not what I wanted. I found out that day that I am way stronger than I thought. I saved myself, for myself and not for the other person this time. I thought over and over and over and over and over multiple times what had happened and what I could've done to keep that person. I thought I wasn't good enough or that I wasn't deserving of what he gave me, but that is all wrong. If some one can lie to your face saying that they care about you and then completely drop you, they are in the wrong sweetheart. No matter how loyal you are, how forgiving you are, how compassionate you are, there is no way in hell you can change someone's bad habits no matter how many times they promise not to do it again. I realized that I am deserving of the type of love that I so willingly give to everybody else. I learned that you can not love someone into loving you and i asked myself why i was holding on to someone who so easily let go. You can love an old version of someone as much as you want, but it will not bring them back. It will not inspire them to treat you as their old self did. Times change as people do too and that is the first step in learning to love yourself. I realized that the past was in the past for a reason so why let it touch me? I can't remember how many ice cream cups I ate that weekend to be honest. I took it upon myself to make that month a month of special transformation in to the new person I wanted to be. I no longer wanted to be a girl that was hung up over a boy or the girl who depended on someone else so I decided to change for the benefit of myself. I gave more of my free time to my family and friends, I cooked more, I started to do things again that i don't even know why i stopped. I didn't go out and throw myself around at other guys or jump into a relationship at first because I wanted to heal myself. I will never not wear my heart on my sleeve because love that fails should not make you bitter. I realized that the person you want is the person you are sometimes better off without! I learned that you can love the old version of someone and still realize that they are different now. I looked at the whole situation as something I would never get over at first. Now, half a year later I am glad that it did happen and I am happy that this person showed me their true colors because I learned a love that is greater than any love you can have for some one else: self love.

      To any girl going through a situation like this: please keep going! Do not think it is the end of the world because things do get better. One day you just wake up and realize that you are perfectly okay with out someone that you thought you would never get over. Keep your head up and pass the time by learning to love yourself :)

Summer Fun (233)

As summer approaches and is currently inching closer and closer, we have so much time on our hands to do anything we want to. Sadly, a majority of teenagers use the time to sleep in and not enjoy the warm weather because they don't know everything that is available in Cedar Rapids.

-You can go downtown to the ampitheater for a summer concert. The schedule is available online to see when your favorite artist is available.
-The down town farmers market is a good way to connect with friends and your local businesses as they sell produce and home made goods
-Go to the pool! This might sound lame because the pool is where little kids hang out but if you are with a couple of your friends it can actually be a pretty fun time.
-Go to the beach! My favorite is McBride because there are so many fun things for everybody. You can rent a paddle boat or even kayaks. You can also just chill out on the beach for the day and catch some rays.
- Check out the cool festivals such as the freedom festival in July or Hog Wild Days in June!
- Catch up with some friends over a delicious fruit-zen sno-cone.

There are so many other things to do this summer instead of sitting inside and watching another episode of netflix so get out there and have fun!

Time (273)

    Time. As teenagers, we run through life always living off the hands on the clock. We have a schedule every day that we plan out accordingly and rush and rush and rush through the day just waiting to get home. We don't ever just stop and look around us to enjoy the life that we were given. There is always a homework assignment to be done, an appointment that needs to be gotten to, or a job that we must be at for a certain amount of time.

  24 Hours.

    That is how much time we have in a day to make it a great day. We go to school, wait to come home, and then are busy the whole night. We live off of a clock and are always wishing that we had just a little bit more time to fit every thing in the day. With there being little time in a day and staying busy, there is not time for us to enjoy what we should out of life. We think that we live off of a clock but in reality it is only a ticking time bomb on the wall awaiting our death and by that time we will regret not doing certain things because we always took the time to check the time or meet a deadline. Go to the park with your friends, meet for a dinner date, make time to see your family and actually spend time with them. So much time is wasted waiting for the clock to run out to leave, but what about when it runs out for good? Will you be satisfied?

When too much is just too much. (210)

      Warmer weather. This has been on the minds of every student at Kennedy High School for the past couple weeks. As the weather gets warmer, it is necessary to wear less clothes to be comfortable in school. Students comply to this by wearing shorts, tank tops, dress, etc. A dress code is put in place at our school to help distractions from learning because of distracting clothing. I do believe that the dress code is used to the wrong people, but some girls really do push it. I think it is okay to be able to wear shorts or show a little bit of your stomach, but please don't wear bra and underwear to school. Some girls comply to the fashions of movie stars and models and walk to streets of high fashion cities, not the hallways of a public school. In my opinion, the dress code is a little harsh, but it needs to target the right people. A girl should not be called down to the office for showing skin but another girl flaunts her belly button. It just isn't right to me. This spring let us change the dress code inequality so everyone has an equal chance to wear what they want while still being not distracting.

Incoming freshmen (726)

Dear incoming freshmen,
       It's scary thinking about high school, isn't it? Next year you will be spiraled into a school full of kids that are older and wiser and yet again you will be the baby of the school. I'm just going to tell you straight up that high school is probably not what you think. Once you enter freshmen year, the idea that you are too "cool" for anything will soon be washed away. Your best friend group won't stick together. I can guarantee that everything will be different. You will soon come to be thankful for your study halls because the homework load increases dramatically. Speaking of classes and homework, sign up for something different and please challenge yourself don't go through high school trying to take the easy way out because you will not get the entirety of Kennedy's opportunities. I signed up for sculpting freshman year and it ended up being my favorite class of the entire day. I have also never had a free period or study hall because I have jam packed my schedule of a variety of classes because our school is so awesome in offering classes for different levels in intellectuals. You will soon learn to pursue your passions. Kennedy is so very diverse with something for everybody. Choosing from activities like sports, show choirs, or even knitting club it is important to find your niche and stick with it so you have something to escape to when things get hard. You will always learn about the drama which is the equivalent of middle school drama magnified by one hundred times. There are ways to make sure to avoid these problems, though, and that is with the biggest lesson you should learn while you are here. You should not care about whats others think about you, only about what makes you happy. You will become thankful for the attendance ladies because who do you think writes the thousands of passes to call you out because your parents so kindly called you out of school. The teachers at Kennedy are phenomenal. They put in several more hours then they are required to because they actually care about your academic success which is something i don't think could be found anywhere else. You will soon become thankful for the longer lunch that got blessed to us from the district Gods because it is what allows the athletes, the writers, the artists, and the hard workers a chance to get their homework done or to get extra help. The classes offered at this school are by far the best that you will get the opportunity to take. The artists get their art classes, the athletes get gym, the social studies lovers can load up on different classes in that area. When I tell you that your friend group changes, please do not take that lightly. It will guaranteed. This is not a bad thing at all either! When you enter high school there are so many different directions that you can take to fit where you belong and your eight beloved friends will not have the same interests and that is okay! You meet new friends that share your interests and you may or may not lose the girls you spent your middle school years with, and this is all just a part of growing up and is perfectly normal. Another thing i want to touch on is relationships. They are not like the movies and expecting them to be like that is just one cause of failure. Your high school boyfriend, if you chose to get in to a relationship, will most likely not buy you designer hand bags or diamond rings, but that does not make him a bad boyfriend! Be happy if he takes time out of his day to get you your favorite ice cream, it's the little things that matter anyways. I personally recommend no relationships so you can just have fun with your high school years. I was in a relationship for over two years which ended this year and girl let me tell you it has been the best year of my life figuring out who i am! The choice is yours for the next four years to find out who you are and who you want to be, so make it great :)

Fad Diets (287)

While recently scrolling through my Facebook feed i came upon the "GM Diet". This diet consists of eating one type of food a day for 7 days and at the end of the week, you are supposedly going to be 10 pounds lighter. I like fruit and i like vegetables so i thought why not try this? I was looking to shed off some winter weight and this looked like a good idea for quick weight loss and on top of that i work out nearly every day. On the first day, i strictly ate pineapple and cantaloupe. The cravings were quickly diminished and i thought i was doing pretty good. The next day i started with the baked potato and i was supposed to eat vegetables all day. I went to workout on the second day and i was completely exhausted. I couldn't do anything that i could do before because i was pretty much starving myself! This is not a healthy way to shed the pounds and please let me be an example to all not to try this. I felt so tired and weak only on the second day that i couldn't imagine how i would feel on the last few days. It's scary to think that girls do this so much to meet society's idea of what people should weigh. A more healthy and realistic diet plan should include enough fruits, veggies, and protein to get you through the day and still be able to work out to build the muscle that is necessary to lose body fat. With fad diets, the weight gets packed back on when the person begins to eat like normal so it's just like torturing yourself for nothing.

Promposals (71)

       Prom is write around the corner! With it being so close, promposal season is in full swing. If you are trying to figure out a way to ask your significant other, it can be hard because you want to make it perfect! What you should do is just find what that special someone likes and incorporate it into the question and make sure it is a surprise because girls love that!