Learning to Love and Grow

Two weeks in beautiful Las Vegas, Nevada sounds exciting right? That’s only if you were 21 or over. Personally, I thought these upcoming two weeks were going to be the worst because Las Vegas is an ‘adult’ city. My question for the five-hour drive from California to Vegas was, ‘What is there to do in a city I am too young for?’ as I traveled with my sister Marizel, her two kids Matthew and Maggie, and her boyfriend Frank.

I had also been eagerly waiting to see my other sister Mitzi and her potential boyfriend Alex, who all reside in one home. I expected very little from Las Vegas, but in reality got so much more than I would have ever imagined. Basically, when we got to the house, I walked through the front door and felt an amazingly strong camaraderie within the whole house.

It felt great there was no tension with anyone at all. Throughout the days passing slowly, but quickly I learned I didn’t need to go out to have a good time. Everyone was gregarious. I felt like the new kid in school and everyone wanted to be my friend. Of course, in the house there were occasional misunderstandings, but they were over within 30 seconds.

The mixtures of characteristics between all of us in the house were very diverse. All of our different styles blended together beautifully and it created a good welcoming for me. Later, during my vacation I met various types of people, some loud, and some quiet. I have always known there were different types of people in the world, but this really showed me everyone is special in their own way.

The majority of the people I met have strong beliefs in dreams, just like myself. They told me, I could do whatever I want in life just as long as I fight and I work for it, nobody can take it away. I felt like everyone knew I was trying to do something big and amazing with my life, and they all believed in me even though we had just barely met. Not very many people are as fortunate as I am to have met a multitude amount of people who live their lives as there was no tomorrow and live for the rush of the moment than live by a daily routine.

Lastly, Knowledge is power, Francis Bacon once said; I learned that in my 8th grade English class but never really understood the meaning. Now, I know going to school is the best thing in life. I have been just taking that for granted my whole life. What really opened my eyes to that was when I spoke to Mitzi. I realized I could do so much in the world with the little time I have for this life. I have the ability to do whatever I want and all I need to do is put my mind up against it and accept the challenge.

Having confidence in myself isn’t as bad I thought. Now I think highly so I can meet those standards I set for myself and feel good about things I have accomplished. ‘The only person who can limit you is yourself,’ Mitzi told me that just about everyday for the time I was there. That saying would replay in my head every day over and over again, until I finally took the time to think about it.

I came to the conclusion that limiting myself would not give me the ability to enjoy life the way I would like to and become an splendid young woman.Therefore, those two weeks ended up being the best of my life, instead of the worst as I earlier expected. I didn’t go to Las Vegas with an open mind about things, but now I know if you go into something with an open mind, you will come out in the end with unimaginable results.

I would never trade the people I met, the things I did, or anything I learned there for the world. I know life is going to take me to many different places, and I know I will feel so many different emotions and say different things but mainly keeping my head held high will bring me good things in the end.