Who Am I | My Site

Where I Am From

Scar Story (told from the sparkler)

I was lit by a match and grabbed by a small hand that began spinning me in circles. Up and down and all around, then suddenly, bang. I was slapped backward and hit the chest of this girl. I scorched her skin as my spark went out and stuck on her chest. I was drenched in liquid and pulled out of the little girl’s shirt. Then I was then placed in the trash.

First Crush

The 12 Dancing Princesses was my first glimpse into a fairytale ending. Not only had I always wanted to be a princess, dressing up as one for every Halloween, but I wanted a prince charming. In the movie, I wanted to be princess Genevieve because she had a pink dress on, which was my favorite color, she had blonde hair, just like me, and she was the main character. But I also wanted to be her because Derek, the shoemaker, saved her. Derek helped Genevieve and her sisters escape the evil queen’s trap and defeat her for good. Through these events, they fell in love and had a happily ever after. Derek was one of my first crushes, and this movie made me believe in happily ever afters.

First Sleepover

My best friend lived about ten houses down from my house on Mt. Curve BLVD. We met each other before preschool after both moving onto the same block at about the same time. I don’t remember much from the start of our friendship, but I do remember my first sleepover at her house. I believe I had just turned five, and it was the summer before we started kindergarten. My mom walked me down to her house, and I quickly said goodbye. I remember the first thing we did was go swimming in her pool. Her mom made us popcorn with M&M’s and lemonade for a snack. We swam until dusk and then ordered pizza from Davanni’s for dinner. After we put on our pj’s and watched a movie, I am unsure of which one. Next, we went up to bed, where her mom told us a bedtime story. We started as normal girls, but then we found a secret door on a hill near a river. As soon as we walked through, we became princesses. Our dresses were extremely sparkly. Annika’s was pink, and mine was yellow with a blue sash. After that part of the story, I fell asleep. Then, we woke up and had bagels for breakfast. Then before I knew it, my mom was there to pick me up, and I could not wait to tell her about one of the best nights of my life, or so I thought at five years old.

My Sister

My sister was born on March 2nd, 2006, which means I am almost three years older than her. I was not happy when she was born; I liked being an only child and the center of attention. My mom was healing, so she was unable to hold me; I did not understand why she couldn’t pick me up, which made me dislike my sister more. This lasted for a while, and since I did not like her, I was kind of a bully. At her first birthday party, I took her smash cake away from her because I wanted it. As she got older, we would play “house,” and I would make her be my servant, ordering her around to do whatever I wanted her to do. I would convince her to trade me her $100 American girl doll for my $5 stuffed animal. We did not get along and were constantly nagging at each other until I got to high school. All of a sudden, something switched. We became best friends, and she became a mini-me, but in a good way. Now she looks up to me, and we are inseparable from one another. Now she is my built-in best friend for life.

Italian

I am from Italy. Or six generations ago, my family was. My last name is very Italian, but realistically I probably don’t have much Italian in me. Nonetheless, that doesn’t stop my dad’s side of the family from acting like it. They eat and drink 24/7. They gamble like there is no tomorrow. Everyone is extremely loud, and family always comes first. They are very proud of their Italian heritage, and if anyone asks what they are, they shout, “Italian,” without thinking twice.

Golf

I was a competitive dancer for all of grade school, but when I got to high school, I decided to quit to have more of a social life. My school didn’t have a dance or cheer team, and I had never played any other sport in my life. So I picked a sport that most people came into high school not knowing how to play, golf. I loved the outfits and figured it’s an excellent lifelong sport to know. Through my four years, I learned to play golf and learned to love the sport. During covid, golf was a huge outlet to let out my anger because I could go out and just wack the ball. It also gave me a little bit of normalcy because I played golf in school, so somedays it felt just like going to practice. Plus, most of my friends were on the golf team, so we would all go out together and make the best out of the bad times.

Where I’m From

I am from bobby-pins,

From tights and hairspray.

I am from the bright lights in the city skyline.

(Metal, sirens

In the dark of nights)

I am from the Mississippi river,

The pine trees

Whose needles smell of Christmas

As is if they were in my home.

I am from pasta and popcorn,

From a Vannelli and a Peterson.

I’m from the hard workers

And the fun partiers

From sun up to sundown.

I'm from the Catholic church

The ten commandments

And going to church every Sunday

I’m from the Minnesota State Fair,

Cheese on a stick and jerky.

From the island, we played on

To the boat dock

The grill cooked on in the summers.

In my living room is a box

Full of old pictures.

A box of memories

To recall in my head.

I am from these moments -

Taken from a camera -

Printed out for us to enjoy.

Revision

I was spinning around and hit my arm on a tree and it hit my chest and fell down my shirt.

I was twirling around, I slammed my arm on a pine, and the sparkler smacked my chest dropping down my shirt.

While twirling around, I slammed my arm on a pine, and the sparkler smacked my chest dropping down my shirt.

Peer Response Artifact

Mentor Response Artifact

Where I Am Now

Letter Home

Dear Mom, Dad, Luca, and Cali,

I am currently sitting in English class which I have twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:30-4:20. Before this class, I woke up and went to my first class, applied calculus. This class is probably my most challenging class, which is no surprise because it was the same in high school. After class, I went to ampersand and got a large salted caramel mocha. I stayed there and did my math and econ homework for about an hour and a half. I then got Dutch’s with Brooke because today was $2 tacos. Next, we went to the library, where I finished my econ homework, and now I am here, in class. I have one more class which is social problems; not my favorite, but it's a chill class, so it should be fine. Tonight, I am going to the basketball game or blue goose; we’ll see which one wins. I hope you guys have a great week.

Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1SnHYKZwH8

Citation

“The Parent Trap (1998) | Meredith Surprised.” Youtube, uploaded by SeeClips, 21 Aug. 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1SnHYKZwH8.

Photo

Photo by: Morgan Vannelli

Interview

https://youtu.be/HILd0DIFKpA

Site Visit

I enjoy going to church on Sunday at TCU because of the community. Everyone is my age, and the priest is very relatable. For example, on Ash Wednesday, he said, “I know most of you are here just so you can send a picture to your parents and prove you came.” He then followed it by saying that even though you may not have come for the right reasons, you are still here, which is an accomplishment. Another day the gospel was about turning water into wine and multiplying it for a wedding. He then made a joke and said something along the lines of, “I’m sure it wouldn’t be enough wine for a frat party, but it was still a lot.” No other priest that I have seen would say anything remotely close to this because frat parties are not that holy. But he knows what we do and doesn’t say to stop going or that they are bad; instead gives us the advice to help lead us in the right direction.

Influence

One influence in my life has been my nanny, Brooke. Is she a great nanny? Absolutely not. Both of my parents work full time, so until I got my license and my sister and I were at the same school, we had a nanny. Brooke was my nanny from 8th grade until my senior year of high school. Brooke was 19 when she started nannying us and probably the worst influence we could have. But she was my big sister I never had. She taught me the things big sisters teach their little sisters, and she put me in my place when I acted too highly of myself. Brooke was someone I never knew I needed in my life but has hugely influenced me. She taught me how to be adventurous and not to be afraid of change. She taught me how to do the minimum amount of work and get the best results. But most importantly, she taught me how to live life to the fullest because you only get one. Even though I no longer need a nanny, I still see Brooke at least once a month, and she has now moved to dog sitter when we are out of town.