Starlight, Starbright

     I want my ceiling to be alive with stars again.  When I was little they were like a cool nightlight when I was getting weaned off a real nightlight.  Then, as I got older they became more of something magical; something that connected my world to the worlds of the books that I'd read.  Now I still read those books, but there's no connection to my world anymore.  The few stars (and meteors) that remain don't shine and together barely make a dull glow.  I want my nights to be alive again.  I wish the stars would come back.

When did I become old enough to go to Prom?

     Yeah, what?  Prom is for older people, for teenagers...oh wait, that's me.  Well there are two roads I can go down at this point: the one that recedes back into my childhood and refuses to accept that I'm growing up, or the one that embraces my 16-going-on-17 self and milk my prom experience for all it's worth.

     That all seems dandy, until you factor in that it's not just one magical dance that I will remember for the rest of my life...they're three (and that's just this year)!  In the movies it's only one high school, one prom, one year.  I guess I was naive enough to think that that's how it would be for me when I become of age.  I forgot to factor one little thing in however: I don't go to public school, and the catholic school system screws up the whole movie idea that I've worked up in my head ever since I've been old enough to watch Disney Channel.  Instead of one school, there are at least six.  Instead of just seniors at prom, because of the lack of students, there are seniors and juniors.  Instead of a prom king and queen, there is a prom queen and a princess.

    

     So I guess my many proms won't ALL be completely memorable, but the only way I'll find out is if I act like each prom is my only one.  At least one better be memorable this year, for all the stress it's worth.

The Whole Wide World is Mine.

     So here I am once again running for SGA president.  This time is different though because I'm running for both school and class president.  Ever since freshman year I've had the dream that I'd be class president all four years.  At first it started as a blind ambition, a wanting to be in charge of something.  As the years passed my goal didn't change, but the reasoning behind it did.  I stopped wanting to be remembered and respected; I wanted to help the people that mean so much to me.  I know it sounds incredibly cheesy but it's true.  I want to make a difference in my class, I don't want myself to be remembered, I want my class to.
      So here I am, torn between only running for class president or not places my eggs all in one basket and making my odds of being elected a little greater.  I know what I have to do if I truly care about making next year, my senior year, unforgettable.  So I'll run for both, I will not pick one over the other, I will be happy no matter the outcome, I will help and support whoever gets elected; I can do it.  It's the classic case of the little engine that could.  I think I can, I think I can, therefore I will.  At least that's the optimistic view of everything, and that's okay to have.
     So, in the words of Angels and Airwaves, "everyday I wake and tell myself little, harmless lie: The whole wide world is mine."

May the odds be EVER in your favor.

     Yes it is a Hunger Games reference, no this post is not going to be all about the book-turned-movie phenomenon.  So I don't believe in good or bad luck, I think it's what you make of a situation that determines what kind of luck you have.  I consider myself an incredibly lucky person, not because I always win contests and prizes, but because what I do get seems to be better than anything I could ever ask for.
     I think I started being contest-lucky in fourth grade, that's when I started to notice it at least.  We had a bake-sale at lunch and I put a couple of tickets into the pot just out of habit (at this point I really had no hope in ever winning one of those cakes).  The end of the day comes and they're about to announce the winners so I turn to my friends and start talking about how I never win, and what do you know, "Camila in 4th grade" is what the student on the PA says.  The day I brought home that baseball cake was passed in complete, surprising bliss.  Ever since then I have won many more raffles, a couple of contests, and a chance to ask a lead singer to prom on stage.  I don't know about you but I'd call that pretty lucky.
     But it's not the cake, or the prizes, or even the prom date that matters.  The prom date fell through but I'm not disappointed; I'm too lucky to be disappointed.  The reason all those things are so special is because i never expect to win, I'm never confident in my luck even though I have a fairly decent track record.  I enter things because they go to a good cause, my friends asked me to, or I just do it out of habit.  Sharing whatever reward I have with my friends is the best part.  The shock that comes across their face all but supersedes my own.
     So I am lucky, I'm lucky to have friends that I can share these things with.  I have amazing luck to have had so many best friends throughout my life that I've never felt alone.  Whether they leave the state or we just lose touch, I'm sad but at the same time it makes room for another person to come in and create lasting memories with me.  I guess I'm lucky that they leave at the perfect time for someone else to walk in.  That's all there really is to it, friends that is.  I know it sounds really cheesy but as long as you have those two or three people that you wouldn't change for the world, good and bad, no matter how long they stay, you should consider yourself lucky.  I know I do.
     So here's a list, a list of my greatest accomplishment in the luck category in no particular order.  If I did believe in good and bad luck, I'd say I've had the best luck so far.
EF
NT
AT
JR
LN
PR
LS
VM
MM
MF
FR
TC
PM
MF
AR
MC
SS
and I wouldn't take anyone off this list for the world.