"Mixed Feelings"

So many feelings come to me when I think about the next school year,
Most of it is excitement, but there is still a lot of fear.
Living away from home is something I have never done,
It's going to be hard to handle being away from all my loved ones.
Over the past years, I have had the same group of friends
It scary to think we'll all be doing our own thing when August ends.
We've known each other for years and it's with them I feel most comfortable
Next year is going to be tough for someone shy like me, stepping out of my bubble.

I realize starting over and getting to know new people will be a little hard
But I plan on trying to be open to new things and not having up my guard.
When it comes to school work I will try my absolute best,
That is the only way I will come out with success.
I have heard from many people you have to learn to manage your time
And I believe as long as I avoid procrastination, I will be fine.
Even though thinking about leaving kind of makes me ache,
I'm anxious to go and see all the memories I will make!

"My New Job"

Finding a job was not as easy as it would seem,

I applied so many places with not a single answer, I wanted to scream.

But one random day I received a call

To set up my interview at Frozen Peaks in the Bergen Mall!

As excited as I was, being the new girl is never easy,

Everything was new to me so I felt a little uneasy.

All my co-workers have been working there for at least a year,

They are all so comfortable there, and I felt a little fear.

I learned a lot of things all at once

I tried remembering everything, I didn't want to seem like a dunce.

Soon enough I began working a bunch of days

I was getting the hang of things and my managers showed praise.

Now I'm getting pretty comfortable while working in the store,
My co-workers are all really cool so it doesn't feel like a chore.
It's great working and getting a paycheck every other Friday,
And now anytime I'm craving frozen yogurt I can have it right away!

"And The Decision Is..."

"I don't know" or "I don't want to talk about it" was often something I would say
whenever someone would ask what college I would be attending on any given day.
Any time I thought about it I felt hopeless, confused, and downright miserable,
Finding a school that was the perfect for me just didn't seem capable.

I applied to ten different schools, all of them responding at different speeds,
With every acceptance letter I felt happy, but my confusing continued to proceed.
All the private schools I applied to were the ones to answer first,
But then after realizing they weren't worth the money, I felt like I had been cursed.

I was still waiting for a few responses, but I realized I needed to find a school that I could afford,
So at the last minute I applied to Stockton College and liked the school, so I was all aboard.
But then came a curve ball, I got into UMass Amherst and they gave me money
When I went to visit I fell completely in love, everything was so happy and sunny.

But like everything else, with those two schools came trouble and moans
Stockton didn't seem as fun and Umass required taking out too many loans
But finally it seemed as though luck was coming in my direction
I heard back from The College of New Jersey on my admitted selection.

I went to visit, loved it and knew it was worthy
I am now proud to say I am apart of the 2017 Class at The College of New Jersey!

"My Irish Culture Presentation"

In the first few weeks of English class we learned we had to make an oral presentation,

I strongly dislike getting up and speaking in front of others, so this would be a complication.

I signed myself up to do it in April so I can learn from others who went earlier,

Everyone's presentations were so good, the pressure to do good became even heavier.

A few months passed and it was time to start learning about my Irish background,

Little did I know there was so much information to be told, my head starting spinning around.

Eventually I found the perfect poem, song, and artwork to share with the class, 

I collected all the information I needed so for fifteen minutes this presentation would last.

After watching my classmates present their cultures I figured this would not be too time consuming,

But after beginning to do my work I realized this was a bad thing to be assuming.

I'm glad I started early and did not wait to start until the last minute to start,

This way I was able to find all the possible information about all the different parts.

Now I have finished my PowerPoint and what is left is to just rehearse,

Going up in front of everyone unprepared would be the worst.

But now that I am done I do not think I will be scared,

I know I when I go to present I will be 100% prepared!

"So Much To Do, So Little Time"

Balancing time for school work, sports, family, and friends is not the easiest thing,
I was unaware of how much work I would have this week and all the stress it would bring.
Practing every day after school takes up a lot of valuable time to get things complete,
but I had no choice, because during the weekend the cheerleaders needed to compete.
Weekends are always the best time to get the most amount of work out of the way,
You have more energy and can work all throughout the day.
But during the day Saturday and Sunday I had to go to cheerleading competitions,
And Sunday night I had to go out to eat for my aunt's birthday because it's tradition.
I had homework, papers to write, and scholarship applications to fill,
The only time I could think of was Saturday night, my time to chill.
"Should I stay home or go out?" was something I had asked.
Even though I didn't want to, I started my work at last.
I was upset thinking I was stuck home while everyone was having fun,
But while all my friends were out, I did what needed to be done.
By the time Sunday came, I did not have any stress,
Getting all my work done turned out to be a success!

"What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up?"

"What do you want to be when you grow up?" has always been my least favorite question.
I've felt like I'm way too young to know what I want to spend my life doing as a profession.
It seemed as though every two weeks I would think of something else to be,
But then I would always think of a reason doing it was not meant for me.
One thing was for certain, I was NOT sitting in an office day in and day out,
I wanted to go into a field that would help people, without a doubt.
Then came the issue of worrying if a college would have a major I would be enjoying,
Having to think about transferring if they didn't have anything for me would be very annoying.
I was always told just to go into whichever school undecided and find out later what my future holds,
Still I would always feel worried and stressed out, I don't have the patience to wait too long for it to unfold
So what is something I could do is a question that has been running through my mind,
Speech pathology was suggested by my mom, so I decided more information was what I needed to find.
Luckily, there is a speech pathologist that works with children in my aunt Dorian's school,
For a day I got the opportunity to shadow her, and it turns out I find the job to be pretty cool.
The speech teacher was so helpful to me and gave me enough facts make my decision,
Working with children as a speech pathologist is a life I can envision!

Every year my friends and I have the same idea
"Let's do a Secret Santa" that way we don't need to buy each person a different present
We put everyones name together and randomly pick one
After choosing Michelle, I thought she would be easy to make content.

"We like so many similar things" I thought to myself
Picking out something for her will be a breeze
I wanted something funny or to show her how much i care
But I couldn't think of anything that would please.

I walked around the mall for what felt like an eternity
Then finally I saw something that was perfect
She always complains how she needs stud rhinstone earrings
So that was a the present I would select.

Then I ran into another problem
We made a twenty five dollar price point, so I needed something more
Thankfully I walked past a kiosk and saw just what to get
It was a little calendar of puppies, a gift I knew she would adore.

When it was time to exchange presents a big smile grew on her face
That made it worth the effort and searching all over the place!