“Sparks are the interests that inspire, the activities that energize. Sparks are the special abilities uniquely yours to tend, to grow, to share with the world. Your family, school, and community need your unique talent! What gets you going? What grabs you and pulls you so deep that when you re-surface you feel like you’re back on earth again? That interest, that joy or activity is your Spark!”

The Search Institute
I am a freshman in high school! Every so often I enjoy proclaiming it. I am a freshmen and that makes me feel pretty awesome.
I feel I have rarely gotten the opportunity to fit in at school up until this year. In the past, I always felt as if I were just sitting there watching the world go by. I’d have my own little group of friends that I’d sit by at the same lunch table every single day, all sitting in the same spots, only rotating positions every once in awhile. But now, I feel different. Something has changed and I have no other word to use to describe it besides: otherworldly.

The first time I felt this way was while I was filming a movie this past summer. I was recording my friends and suddenly I felt like I wasn’t just in a “comfort zone” I was in “utopia,” a perfect place in life where nothing, not no one could touch me, and I was in love with the process.
Then it happened again when I was at the media studio I work at. I was getting ready to go out on my first story/interview. We were all just talking about random stuff and I realized that I was exactly like these people. The crazy people who would research, and write, and talk, and have fun all day because that’s the best kind of occupation you could possibly have…the one where you’re doing what you love. It only increases in awesomeness when you realize you’re not the only person who loves doing all these things that other people might call bizarre, pointless, and/or useless.

Most recently, it occurred at a forensics tournament (For those of you who don’t know, that’s acting and public speaking). My friend and I were getting ready for our next round and while we were waiting in a big room with all these other people from all these different schools some of the kids from my school started singing songs from the musical Les Miserables. Neither I, nor my friend, knew the words to any of the songs, but it was a lot of fun to watch and act as if we knew what we were doing. For some reason, just sitting there with all these people made me love life all the more. There were no boundaries for us that day. We could do what we wanted. We could be kids. We could have fun. As we waited for the judge to come for us, we sang and danced in a small room with a bunch of people who were just like us, laughing our butts off and having a great time.

All of these examples caused me to realize that I shouldn’t just do what I love as a hobby or something to pass time. I should try to do what I love ALWAYS and not do it alone. Also, I should be the person that I CHOOSE to be, always and forever.