jessie's girl

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...