At first glance, I’m seen as a quiet and reserved person, but once you approach me and we start getting to know each other, I can honestly be pretty talkative. I graduated last year from Franklin High School. I plan on moving from Elk Grove, since it’s a pretty boring place. My pet peeves consist of slow walkers, people who text LOL, chewing with their mouths open, and liars. On a typical free day, I’m probably in my room, cuddled up in a blanket, either on my phone or laptop watching Netflix or Youtube or some other social media app. My current favorite series is Haunting of Hill House.

I’m also a pretty clumsy person, I have several scars to prove it too. Ever since third grade, I’ve always ended up scraping my knee every year until eighth grade. One time, in the Philippines, I was drying my hair with the fan, and the gaps of the fan cover plate were wide enough for my fingers to go through. The fan was on the floor and I wasn’t paying attention, so I accidentally slipped my finger in and all I heard was a buzzing noise. Thankfully, it was just a deep cut and nothing more, but since I was just in a full state of shock, I frantically shook my hand and blood splattered across the wall.

Although I am full filipino, I honestly feel pretty white-washed, especially since I can’t properly communicate with my relatives, so I feel kind of isolated. One of the main reasons I wasn’t taught tagalog was because my dad wanted me to be more “American”, whatever that means.

I have a strong love for music, whatever mood I’m in, listening to music is my go to. I spent six years playing and performing music during my years of middle school and high school. Half of that time was spent playing the flute, while the rest was done with a french horn. I was fortunate to be accepted into the wind ensemble during my junior year, despite how bad my audition seemed. Out of spite and the peer pressure of my friends, I decided to join drumline my senior year, which is a group that solely performs with percussion instruments, such as snare drum and bass, while doing choreography. Unfortunately, during one of the practices, I ended up dislocating my left knee, causing me to switch from playing cymbals to sampler. A sampler is basically an electrical instrument which uses sound recordings as sounds.

I feel like I am my own biggest obstacle. One of my biggest regrets is not venturing out of my comfort zone, causing me to miss out on opportunities. I suffer with generalized anxiety and depression, so I often feel conflicted, worrying about things that I need to do while simultaneously feeling unmotivated and numb. Luckily, I’ve been able to get through my “demons” through outlets such as running and singing. I also find myself faking some confidence in order to overcome my social anxiety.

One of my embarrassing stories was when I was a freshman. So I was trying out for volleyball, having no previous experience whatsoever, and my first day was on the second day of tryout week. While we were practicing serving, I accidentally hit a senior’s butt with a volleyball, and that senior just so happened to be my Link Crew leader. That day had also consisted of conditioning, and boy did it wear me out. With my lack of athleticism and fear of being kicked out from the team anyway, I immediately quit after that day.

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