California Dreams
The sound of waves crashing paired with memories flashing behind my closed eyelids overwhelm me as I stand in front of the salty shore, and I wonder what actions in my life have led me to this one perfect moment of golden state. The trip I took with my family to the Los Angeles region is one to never be forgotten. I tried to remain open minded, but the movies and cartoons that depict Hollywood as...
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The Philippines: Living in a Childhood That Was Never Mine
To visit the country that my parents remember so vividly from their childhoods is difficult; living an Americanized life really detached me from identifying with Filipino culture. They grew up knowing the off-brand soda sold in cheap sandwich bags, the 5-mile walks through thick vegetation to get to school, the nights where they could only eat a steaming cup of rice after the fish spoiled — things...
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Reflections on Omaha Beach
Sand. As far as I could see, sand carpeted the expansive, harmless beach. Yet this wasn’t just any beach, and – seventy-one years before I arrived in 2015 – it was anything but harmless. My World War II pilgrimage brought me to northern France. Five beaches, code-named Omaha, Utah, Juno, Gold, and Sword, dotted a 50-mile stretch of the Normandy coast. That day I stood on the most famous one,...
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Costa Rica: Baby Sea Turtle Rescue Mission
A shrill call from our alarm interrupted the rainforest cicada’s song and I fumbled in the dark to turn it off. We were assigned the midnight shift. Mary and Kallie slid out of their bunks, so the other girls wouldn’t wake up, and we pulled on our dark census clothes. My shirt clung to my skin and the humid heat wrapped around me like a blanket, but I hardly noticed. We giggled at the excitement...
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Peace in Churning Waters
It hadn’t rained a single day - not in London, Paris, Florence, or Rome - but of course, on our last morning before flying home, on the day we would be spending in the sea, the Italian sky was filled with thick clouds emitting a soft drizzle. We descended the steep steps from the city to the coast, approaching the ferry, nearly running to keep up with our sure-footed tour guide. A small, precise...
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Mortality In Paradise
During the summer of 2014, my family took a trip to Costa Rica. We explored San Jose, then traveled to Tortuguero where we visited the national park and took a canoe tour down the river. Not long into our canoe tour, it began to downpour! We gave up on staying dry and just relished in that fact that being soaking wet in a canoe in a Costa Rican rain forest was better than whatever we would have been...
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Hidden Gems of the Sequoia National Forest
It was the last day of school and French class had been reduced to listing words to describe summer vacation. People started dishing out words like “fun” and “beach”, before it came to my turn and I chose “frustrating”, much to everyone’s confusion. When the turn came back to me, my word was “famille”, family. At that, my teacher immediately realizes, “So that’s why you said frustrating!”...
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One Step Forward
A tightly-sealed door never failed to guard my hesitant heart from outside adventures. But on that otherwise gloomy day, a tiny spark escaped. The carefully engineered clicks rang throughout my ears, the overwhelming thuds of my heartbeat, and a fluttering happiness sang in my faint voice. The mechanics inside my complicated heart began to unlock itself. I had always preferred the comfort of local...
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The Great Adventure of Around the Block
One never knows when they step outside what adventures they might run into. Exciting adventures like someone watering their lawn or a person walking their dog with headphones glued to their ears. I stepped out into the precious world of Spokane Washington; a city that is mostly known for potholes under the name of "That One City Near Seattle". Now, I know what you probably thinking right now, none...
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Go Play In The Snow!
The wind tugged playfully at my hair and the cold nipped at my redding cheeks. I pulled my scarf tighter around my neck and ran down the airplane stairs onto the tarmac. I had never felt more invigorated. I took a deep breath of the mountain air, letting it fill my lungs and mingle inside of me. I looked up at the towering mountains, and suddenly I felt microscopic in comparison to the vast expanse...
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The Limitless Beauty of Punta Cana – Expanding My Horizons From Sky to Sea
To celebrate our highly anticipated 2018 high school graduation, my best friend Eden and I embarked on a trip to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. After hours of paperwork, four declined passport photos, and countless midnight phone calls ensuring everything was planned and packed to the nines, the endless adventure commenced. With my rudimentary Spanish, we navigated through the airport and scored a...
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Santiago’s Tears Of Joy
Pilgrims drop to their knees, tears of joy hit the ancient stone, Scottish music plays, church bells ring, and the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela towers above the square. El Camino de Santiago, La Chemin de Saint-Jacques, or The Way of Saint James. The Camino began after the death of Saint James in 812 AD. Originally a religious pilgrimage, thousands of pilgrims journeyed to Santiago de Compostela,...
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