4 things that make me grow.

1. Family

There is no way I would ever be where I am without the love & support my family gives me. I would take a bullet for every single one of them. I am blessed with the 2 of the most gracious families. There is one thing I most firmly believe & that is families are forever. We're not all the same & both families come from very different backgrounds. We all live different lives. We all find our own struggles & our own success in different ways. We all have different stories to tell (some still untold). With every family members experience & story, I am able to grow & learn walking in their footsteps, making & avoiding their mistakes, becoming who I want to be because they believe in me, sharing common ground, & growing with them. They amaze me with their knowledge on life & with their occupations. I am an observer. I learn from those around me. I learn from stories & what others experience. So to every family member that has shared me a story, even if it was only a glimpse, you taught me a lesson, you taught me wrong from right & you helped me find myself. Your support & the way you took care of me helped me win awards, win elections, graduate, & smile. Families truly are incredible. Especially mine.

2. The way I was raised

Sidney & Lisa Timoteo. The greatest parents I could ask for. Their love is infinite & endless & my love for them is 100 times more than that. So I win the "who loves most" contest. I have heard both of their stories & both have lived hard lives. We all have. Even me, at the age of 18. The struggle has been real for all of us. But they have proven to me that life, even in it's worst time, is more than worth living. They have taught me to keep my head high & to stay steadfast in what I believe. Because of my parents, I believe in change. Thanks to their decisions in life, their love & support, & the struggle we have all 3 gone through these past 18 years, I am able to go to college, have a great knowledge of discernment, learn patience & love, & understand life a lot more better. I am so blessed to have them as my parents. I have grown from them immensely & I will forever have a respect & unconditional love for them & the great lives they've lived. Thank for everything. Thank you for baring with me, growing with me, & learning of me. Thank you for creating the most wonderful family.

3. Experience

Like every young ambitious person, I want to travel. I want to explore the 4 corners of the world & experience things I haven't ever come across. I want to taste new foods, learn about cultures, run around like crazy & have a blast! I want a story to tell my family one day. I'm studying at Southern Utah University right now & so far, I have experienced two things;

1. If there's free food, be there.

2. Never take 17 credit hours.

I am experiencing the life of a poor college student! I hitch rides with friends to save gas [even though there's no where to go in Cedar City, Utah]. I hardly ever eat out. I spend majority of my time doing homework [hence the 17 credit hours]. I eat a lot of toast & Mac & Cheese. I'm jobless [because of the 17 credit hours {no time}]. So as fun as it is being a poor college student, IT ISN'T. Hahahah. I can only hope that it gets better from here. I am working towards having a successful & great future. {I sure am hoping for many more experiences}.

4. Being myself 100%

So do I need to say anything or does the picture sum it up all too well? Here are some words that describe me;

Enthusiastic, opinionated, way too goofy, sociable, independent, mature when it comes to decision making, kid at heart when it comes to anything else, GO GETTER, devoted to my work, positive, smiley, impatient but patient?, characteristic, motivator & motivated, hungry 40% of the time, stressed about school majority of my days, dancer, pianist, NOT Asian, talkative, easily inspired, observer, & hard working.

Try to maintain THAT every single day. Nearly impossible. Accepting who I am has always been one of the hardest things for me to do but I realized the more I am myself, the less I have to deal with fake "friends" & the less I have to pretend being someone I'm not. I enjoy the person I am & I can only hope people will feel the same way whether I'm meeting someone for the first time or wether they are a current friend or acquaintance. I try to be the best that I can be all the time and along with that, I make the best out of everything I can. People will come & go in my life but those who stay are those who have accepted me for who I am & I thank them so much.