E1. Christmastime!

I would have to say that my favorite holiday is definitely Christmas. My spirits always rise especially when this time of year comes around. It is a great season for such joy and extreme excitement.  The thought of the different scenes and festivities that Christmas brings along is why it is so worth-while.
The first snow fall before Christmas is always the best, especially when there is a lot of snow on Christmas morning. On Christmas Eve, my family and I always go to the Christmas Eve Mass at church and then eat a well-prepared dinner as soon as we get home. It is usually one of the best meals. Then, when it is time to go to bed, no one can ever sleep because there is too much excitement running through our veins! The only time that I will get up this early in the morning is on Christmas. I love sleeping in, but I am always excited to see what I got for presents. And, later that evening my extended family and I always gather at my grandparents’ house. It is always such a great time because I am so close with my family, and always nice to see them! The day after Christmas, my cousins and I always have a tradition to go sledding at Como Park. We go no matter what the weather is and we always have a blast no matter what! Playing in the snow is one of my favorite things to do. I love to have snow ball fights, go tubing, and making snowmen is at the top of my list. Another wonderful that comes around Christmas is my birthday! I was actually supposed to be born on Christmas; however I was born on the 21^st. My birthday is always a huge deal to me and I love celebrating it! Around this time of year I always act like such a little kid, but it is definitely worth it in the end. Christmas can’t come any sooner!

                                                                                                                                                                                       

D4. My Loves

There are many things that are a part of my life that I love. They are unique and enjoyable to me in my own ways. One thing I love is SpongeBob. How could someone not love a sponge like him? I honestly laugh so hard, as I quote SpongeBob every day of my life. So many people love SpongeBob just as I do. It is the best times repeating the hilarious stuff that he says. Also, Patrick Star is one of my favorites. His is the kind of humor that people have to except and appreciate. Another sea creature that I adore is the shark. Ever since the first time that I watched shark week, ever episode, every day, it has become an obsession. I find them such interesting animals and I enjoy learning the fascinating facts that they present. I have such a love for sharks that my sister is going to try her best to get me a real-live miniature shark for my birthday. I am so excited! Also, to support my sharks, I bought shark footie pajamas that are very adorable. It can’t get better than this. I have another love, and this one is for zombies. I think they are strange, but fascinating at the same time. Zombie movies are thrilling to me and could never get boring. For Halloween, I went to a haunted house and had to fight zombies with a laser gun. I had the best time of my life and treated it as if it was really happening. I used the tactics that they use in moves, and made sure that no zombies defeated me. There are many things that I enjoy in life and that I adore, however this one is a major factor. Taylor Swift is definitely one of my role models in life. She started off so young, writing her own music, and then with all of this, making it to the big picture. I truly enjoy her music because I can relate to it, and I think this is why she has been such a popular singer. This is because teens are her major target market and she knows what they are going though. She doesn’t let any boy push her around and I love that too! I will always be a #1 fan of hers. My unique interests are a part of me that will stick with me for eternity.

D3. What the Future Holds...

I always think about what my future brings. I’m always planning ahead and doing the best I can to set the bar high for the future. Ever since I was a little, I have wanted to be an elementary school teacher. I always practiced in my house because in my basement I had a mini-classroom set up. It has been my lifelong dream to do this. So, I am planning on majoring in child education. I love to work with kids and I hope to get a good teaching job, so I can teach as an occupation for a while. I plan on achieving this major at Canisius College. It has a beautiful campus, people, and sports program. An activity that I want to do at Canisius College because it is a major part of my life is softball. I've looked at the softball program and it was absolutely tremendous. When I first started to play travel softball, I had a hitting coach that was from Canisius College. She inspired me so much and ever since then I have been interested in the softball program there. Also, after high school I want to keep in touch with the Alden life, both socially and in volunteering ways. I will stay involved in my community and also keep in touch with my friends from the past. I don’t want to lose them when I go to college. I know that happens to many people, but for me, I want to keep friendships close and keep in touch with many people. Then, going ahead to the further future, I want to have a family. I've decided I want to have seven kids. My dad has seven brothers and sisters and I love how we all come together, having a big get together for the holidays. So, this made me want to have a lot of kids. I want to have a cute family, living in a cute home. I’m excited for the future, but I don’t want it to come too soon.  

D2. Healthy with Health

My favorite class so far is definitely health with Mr. Casillo. Ever since freshman year, I was ready to take it. This is especially because I love Mr. Casillo. He is probably one of the nicest people in this school. He is easy to talk to and always puts things in positive ways. When my schedule was finalized for my sophomore year, I was ecstatic to see that I got into the health course, and I wish that it would’ve never ended. I thoroughly enjoyed that class. It was fun and if I was having a bad day, it brought my spirits right up and put a smile on my face! The one thing that I was most excited about was getting to do the baby project. I don’t think there is one person in this school who was more excited for this than I was. When my sister did this project in high school, I helped her out with it and I had a blast with it! And, so I already knew how much fun I was going to have. I went all-out with this project. I took my baby out to the mall and lunch with my friend, Kaysie. We had the best time and the whole time, I was waiting for mine to cry because I wanted to take care of it. Then, my baby did cry, a lot. I was thrilled and was a great mother! We did many other group projects in class that were entertaining as well. Health was definitely a class that I always looked forward to. It was a time that the class dealt with reality life instead of work that I don’t enjoy and carries on. Health was a place to be very open with everything and there was always a smile on my face with constant laughing. The atmosphere promoted a good source of health!

D1. Touching Lives

Many people have touched my life in special ways. The certain thought about this is that when people do such great things for you, you never forget them. It is stuck to a person and will never leave their side. A woman, who has impacted my life and sets an amazing example for me, and others, is Mrs. Gramza. I knew from the start of freshman year, when I first met her, that she was a remarkable person with a great personality and a huge heart. She shows people what a true person should be like. Mrs. Gramza does so much for everyone and is involved with just about everything. She always is helping out or volunteering for something. And, in every situation, even if it is negative, brings something positive out of it. Mrs. Gramza is one of the strongest women I know, and I have my sources for this. Mrs. Gramza’s son, Andrew, passed away about two years ago from a bad car accident. It was probably one of the hardest situations that the Gramza family had to go through. However, together and with the support of friends, family, and the school association, everyone brought up her spirits. Mrs. Gramza bounced back from this tragedy; people would never even know anything happened. This is what a tough and high-spirited person she is. She doesn’t ever give up hope or lose her heart-warming smile. Instead of only thinking about it, she took a bigger step in life and got involved with UNYTS and the Donate Life Club, and formed Andew’s Army, in memory of her son. This could’ve been too emotional for her and her loved ones; however, she overcame it and kept plugging away. Mrs. Gramza is also always willing to help and ready to do anything. She runs the school spirit pillar in Alden High School and aldo, gives help to thos who need it. She will never not stop, drop everything and help those in need. This is how dedicated Mrs. GRamza is at what she does. And, there is not a day that goes by that I wish I had never met her or become so close with her. Mrs. Gramza’s impact on lives is one that will be remembered until the day you die.  

C4. Winter!

I can’t wait for the upcoming season of winter! It is definitely one of my favorite times of the year. One of the most exciting parts of the season is the first snow fall. It is usually the most gorgeous scene and gives people such a calm and relaxing feeling inside. There are all the millions of soft snow flakes that fall from the sky in such a quiet way and form such a nice touch to the scenery of the grass. And once there is enough snow on the ground, the fun activities begin! My favorite thing to do is play in the snow. There is always so much to do and the snow activities never gets old. I always feel like I’m five again, and I absolutely love it! My favorite thing to do is build snowmen. It is a blast on how creative you can get with making a snowman. The best one I ever made was about six feet tall. It was amazing, and I’m pretty sure there was no other like it. I also love to go tubing and ice skating. I enjoy sledding on huge hills and then fly down it as if you were a penguin on its belly, sliding on ice. For ice skating, I usually have to go extra slow because I am not very good at skating and I always end up hurting my feet. However, at the same time I make the best of it. Another incredible thing that comes along with this season is Christmas, and then four days before that is my birthday! Most people think that having your birthday so close to Christmas is the worst, but actually, for me, it isn’t so bad. I still get the same amount of presents and they are always the best. It is great to get that many gifts in such a short period of time. The wintertime always brings a smile to my face and never leaves without a fun-filled time!

C3. Homecoming!

My favorite time of year is already done and over with for this year! And, this time of the year is homecoming! It is so upsetting that it is already over. Homecoming flies by every single year. I partially think this is because our school has it so early too. However, people always say time flies when you are having fun. And, having fun is definitely the correct word to describe it. It is such a fun-filled and exciting week to take part in! It all starts off with having a theme to dress up as for each day. I always participate in it because it is enjoyable to be so creative with an outfit for each day of the week. Then, major events start towards the end of the week. There is the hallway decorating, the parade, the pep-rally, and the powder puff game. For the parade, I love how each class competes to make the best float based on the theme they have. My class, the juniors, had a theme of Dr. Seuss. Our float won first place this year with the help of many people to make it a success. Also, for hallway decorating, my class placed first! It was a success all around for the junior class! However, this year’s parade was special for me. I got to be the bulldog in the parade! It was one of the best times I have ever had in the homecoming parade. The pep-rally afterwards was very entertaining also. I ran out with my volleyball team to get announced. However, the event following this was my most favorite one of all. It was when the powder puff game took! I have never looked forward to something so much before. All the girls get so pumped up to play! It is the best feeling ever and the junior class is 3-0! It is a once a year time of thing and it is cool how this girls get so into it and intense. We definitely make the best of it. Then, the following day is the football game! Football is a huge deal in our school, obviously, and they played the biggest game of the season, Depew. The boys got the job done and came home with the win. The game is always fun to go and cheer at because everyone has a blast. On, Saturday, the homecoming dance is in the evening. It is always a great time to go and have a ball with your friends, while you dance the night away! Homecoming is always my favorite time of year because there isn’t any time like this. This is the time when your true bulldog pride comes out in full swing!