jessie's girl

In my graduating class, there are 71 people. Most of these 70 other people and I have gone to school together for 9 years, from kindergarten to 8th grade. Throughout these 9 years, we've grown from naive and sometimes stubborn kids to mature (most of the time) and bright young adults. More importantly, throughout these 9 years we've become a family. And although these incredible 9 years are coming to an end, there are so many new beginnings awaiting us. High school. It's either depicted as a hellhole with not much to  offer besides bullies and terrible teachers, or it's "the best four years of your life". Either way, we'll soon find out what high school is to us, because as our time in middle school ends, our journey through high school begins. Summer. It's a time free of homework, grades and stress. Tanning, long bike rides and sunsets replace textbooks and essays, and the fluorescent lights of classrooms are exchanged for blue skies and starry n

July 4, 2017 Dear diary, Today was the second day of our canoe trip. After we got to the campsite and lugged all of our canoes onto the beach, Bender insisted that we all follow him without question. We all love Bender, everyone thinks he's the best counselor, so of course we did.  After floating with our lifejackets downstream for more than ten minutes cluelessly, Bender motioned for us to follow him onto a beach. It was obviously private property, and there was a massive party going on in the secluded cabin on this random beach. We continued after Bender farther into the woods and we found a stream. He literally made us walk upstream even further  into the woods, and we were all looking at each other like, "Is he crazy?" as we walked. And then we all stopped.  Right in front of us was the most beautiful scene. A waterfall surrounded by trees, light creeping in between the leaves and illuminating the clear water. Cliffs on either side, and rocks perfect for sit

“We must live, and when this is all over, we must work to make the world a better place. And if we die, we will die knowing that it was not our fault, that we did our best, and we can go to our deaths in dignity… I want you both to live…And to remember...You must choose love. Always choose love.” (from Daniel’s Story by Carol Matas, page 70) Choose love. In a world that some might say is fueled by hate, it is easy to toss that phrase aside and focus on what is becoming more and more prominent in all of our lives - intolerance and hatred.  Orlando and the other acts of hatred directed towards the LGBTQ+ community can make it easy to forget about love, and that it always wins. For almost everyone, the word "gay" is something we've heard thrown around as an insult on the daily. But why? Why is it fun for us to nonchalantly hate on someone for loving? Why can't we accept that love is love, and that just because someone else's definition of love doesn't fit y

For this week's blog post, our assignment was to compile a playlist that essentially explains your life. Morals, milestones, memories, whatever we wanted. So, I picked some songs that represent me. Maybe the way they make me feel, maybe some misty eyes, we'll probably do a little walk down memory lane, too. Enjoy! Wake Me Up  - Avicii I chose Wake Me up because it was my unit's theme song at camp. By theme song, I mean that whenever we were waiting for something to start, we listened to it. And when we were eating breakfast, we listened to it. And when we were walking somewhere, we listened to it. And guess what we did during dinner? Before bed? Brushing our teeth? We listened to this song. All the time, 24/7, everywhere. We even came up with a set of hand motions to go with it. It never got old. On our last  Shabbat,   at around midnight after dancing, all 95 of us sat squashed together like sardines on our platform/meeting place/I don't even know it was just our g

This wasn't my choice. In fact, the Bronx was probably the worst  place we could move. At least I had friends in Maryland; in the Bronx, the closest you get to friends are gangs. All I wanted was to go back to Maryland, to leave this smelly apartment that I would soon call home.  "Sweetheart, there's a nice young boy in the hall who wants to meet you. He heard there was another boy moving in, come say hello," Mom said,  standing at the entrance to my new room. A teenage boy? I thought.  In this neighborhood? Probably not my first choice of friend material.  In the hallway was definitely not what I was expecting. A clean-cut, skinny 15 year old rocked back and forth nervously on the balls of his feet, completely out of place in the shabby apartment building. Seeing me approach, he grinned widely and stuck out his hand. "Jacob Widen, welcome to the neighborhood."  I shook Jacob's hand hesitantly.  "Will Stevens, and thanks, I guess."  Jacob

Happy new year, lovelies! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday with your family and friends. In spirit of the beginning of 2018, I thought I’d share some of my New Years resolutions for this week’s post. Cliché, I know, but maybe you guys can think of some resolutions for your own list while reading mine. So, without further ado, here you go: Love myself and be confident - I’m pretty cool. Work hard for what I want. Be responsible and reliable - make sure to plan things in advance, so flaking out at the last minute won’t happen. Stay organized - it’s easier to procrastinate when I’m not. Be kind to my body - be mindful of what I eat, how much sleep I get, how much water I drink, and how much I exercise. Have good character - do kind things when no one is watching. Give to charity - giving back is important, especially when I’m as lucky as I am. Bonus points for donating time instead of money, because I believe that giving time is much more valuable than money. Confro