Thank The Stars

    This year has brought me so many new experiences, whether from the AP English class I took or the family and friends I grew with. I'm so thankful for every aspect and detail of this year, as well as all the people that have brought me to the position I am in today. 

    To begin, I want to thank my family. Thank you to my dad for always making time for me and helping me to understand that my knowledge is more important than my grade. Thank you to my mom for cooking every delicious meal that I ate while finishing my English homework. Thank you to my little sister for putting up with me every time. I’m genuinely so sorry (I’m not) for how annoying I am. Thank you to my Nani, Ammama, and thathas for literally everything. I love you guys from the bottom of my heart. I wish I could come back and live in India again just to see you every morning and night. Thank you to my birds Sunny, Coconut, and Pakodi.

    To Divya, for always monkeying around with me. I'm so grateful for having met you last year and I love talking to you about everything in our lives. Thank you for helping me write every atrocious blog post and, above all, for keeping me real. Thank you to Gayatri for always eating brunch with me during class and rushing to finish French homework. And Sneha, thank you for always staying up with me late into the night to study for either AP Chemistry or Lang. I quote that when I asked you what I should write for your acknowledgment part you said to thank you "for merely existing" and that you are a "blessing in itself" (10:57 pm). To Vandya for the creative title of this blog post.

    Jiangjiang Liu, thank you for giving me an insight into a world I never would've realized existed. Lighting Up The Stars is a phenomenal work of art and deserves every star in the world. Michael Crichton, thank you for the gem of a literary piece that you have given this world through Jurassic Park. And an extended thank you to Steven Spielberg for his cinematic production of this book and the beauty to which your movies have opened me to. 

    David Foster Wallace, thank you for the piece This Is Water and the incredible message it conveyed. Reading that piece helped me realize how small I am in our world and how important it is to understand the perspectives of those around us. I wish that everyone take this advice with them and live a life they feel comfortable with. Maxine Hong Kingston, thank you for Woman Warrior that taught me that I could make a change, even if just barely, in my life. To Lynn Nottage who gave me a glimpse into a world outside my own. Every line and every word from Sweat was emotionally driven and so beautifully captivated. To Art Spiegelman for Maus and the in-depth decisions that were placed into every comic panel. You helped me understand the level of thinking that goes behind every word and picture drawn.

    Thank you to the very first English essay that I actually enjoyed writing. It was a rhetorical essay based on consumerism in the United States written through symbolistic flamingos. I hated writing before that, but having been able to fully analyze and write an essay that I was truly proud of strengthened my skills. I cannot thank the repetitive essay writing enough. Every Monday morning was agonizing to experience but I'm glad I did. I can see a large amount of growth from my first few essays to my recent ones. In my essay regarding Individuals and change, I used random examples such as the movie Turbo to support my claim. I soon realized that regardless of how it connects, it must be supportive and realistic, a way that Turbo wasn’t. Later on, my best scoring essay on most overrated topics, I involved real life examples about big weddings. One of them included a famous internet couple that spent over $180,000 for a wedding. This connected to how, while this is a large expense, it is fair as they are rich themselves and don’t need that money for other uses. However a lower income couple would’ve had to spend a little more thought into their spending. I'm really not sure what I'll get on the AP exam, but I am proud of my learning growth above all else.

    Thank you to my blogging website for providing me a record of all the valuable things I've learned this year. As much as I dreaded writing them, I am grateful for having the opportunity. To my favorites posts - Mesmerizing Greed, The (im)Perfect Star, Why Do We Do Bad Things To Ourselves - thank you. I loved writing every single one of them and I'm glad I can go back to them and see my writing. Thank you to Pinterest for giving me the many aesthetic images I used in my blog posts. Every starry image.

    A special thank you to Mrs. Valentino for her guidance and help throughout this entire year. I have never met a teacher as passionate about their career until I witnessed the effort and love you put into your job everyday. Your class gave me an unsurmountable amount of learning experiences and was an incredible journey.

    Thank you to those unnamed individuals who have helped me along this year. I cannot begin to explain how grateful I am to live this life and for the people around me. The perspective I have on life would not be the same without the people who supported it. I want to grow up to become just like them and continue to create new relationships. This life, however small it seems, is worth everything.

    To the twinkling stars in the sky above my house that I have fallen in love with.