Excuse me! Does anyone have a map?

               Left! Wait no. Right! Straight? Decision making is not an inherited trait of mine. It’s a skill that I’ve had to constantly work on. Then, once a year, I have to put this ability to the test. You see, every October, my family makes the small hike up to St. Paul Nebraska to meet up with friends at the Pumpkin Patch. It’s usually just the three moms and six kids that show. It’s a ton of fun every time. We have so many traditions that we carry on with. When we first arrive, it’s just a meet and greet. We hug, shake hands, and just talk. Then we start with the events and everything is a competition! Who can chuck the pumpkin the furthest? How fast can we peddle around the track on the mini tractors? However, the one that is the most fun is the annual corn maze! Every year, amongst the corn stock war, pushing and shoving, and sprinting to the end, someone different always comes out on top! Not being the best on decision making, it’s usually not me. Unless of course I hit a stroke of luck! There are so many things to choose from, so many different paths to decide on, and not to mention what to do if you get lost.

                In a lot of ways, the corn maze kind of describes where I am at this point in my life. I mean, if you want to get literal, I am in Nebraska. Aurora, Nebraska to be exact. I live in a house on a hill. My zip code is 68818. Yes captain obvious. I do know where I am. That’s not the kind of “where I am” that I’m talking about. I’m talking about where I am in regards to my journey in life. It’s a hard question to answer. Just like the corn maze, there are so many different paths I can take; so many opportunities to choose from. Things like college, career choice, money, and fun are always on my mind. Trying to get sleep at night is almost impossible! I’m at a point in my life where decisions have to be made. Things have to be decided on. Isn’t there an app for decision making? Something called Choice Chooser, Decision Decider or something like that? No? Darn… so now I guess it’s just iMakedecisions. This is like the ultimate test of how my skill has improved over the years. But how can I make these seemingly impossible choices? This is a question that has baffled me for a long time. I really want to be able to make the right choices. In order to do so, I have to look at where I am at this point in my life and also what I want out of my life in the future.

                Where am I now? In all actuality, I’m really happy with where I am at this point in time. I’m very content with what I have yet I’m not settling. I could always be better at something. I feel like self improvement never stops. There are always ways to push your boundaries and your comfort zone every day. I like to step out of my box. How do we really know who we are, if we never try anything that pushes our envelope? What makes me so happy? Honestly, I feel like I am happy because I currently have balance in my life. My good days outweigh the bad ones. I am getting to spend a lot of time with my friends! It seems like my play is matching fairly up with my work (though I wish I could boot out work all together). My home life is also very stable. In the not so distant past, this was the polar opposite. There use to be constant chaos. Never was there a break from yelling or fighting of some sort. Having that behind me feels really good. No longer am I afraid to go home. No longer do I feel like I have to leave the house to get away. For the most part, everything is calm and peaceful.                

               I am also at a point in my life where everything is go, go, go. I’m always running from one place to the next. Whether it’s Rhapsody at 7:15 A.M., early morning band, speech after school, work, or even out to hang with friends, nothing is ever done at a leisurely pace. If constantly running wasn’t a reminder, Officer Friesen at the bottom of my subdivision was. However, I choose this kind of lifestyle. Why? Why would anyone want to choose to be stressed and running all of the time? Well, to put it bluntly, I love it! I enjoy running. There is never really a boring part of my day. Because of all my running around, I don’t get to relax often. However, because I am running, it makes the few times I do relax even better.

             So where am I in my stage of life? I am at a stage where the realization of adulthood is far too close for comfort. I’m at a stage where I soon have to drop the prefix ‘young’ off the adjective ‘young man.’ It’s not an easy transition but it’s one every person must make once in their life. I feel like I am a content individual who never settles for anything but the best. I’m getting out what I’m putting into my life. I have a good idea of where I want to go in life. I have dreams. I have ambition to chase my dreams. I have goals to help motivate my ambition. I have expectations of myself to reach these goals. I possess enough self-respect to have expectations. I possess the self-respect because my family raised me to accept nothing but the best. Therefore, my family is the reason I have dreams. My family is the reason I know I can reach my dreams. I am where I am because of all the support my family gives me. My family may butt heads. My family may argue a lot. However, at the end of the day, they are my family. And I wouldn't be where I am if I didn't have them.

If you're confused with the pictures...

(From top to bottom) The first photo is of corn. There are two reasons for this. First, it goes along very nicely with the paragraph about a corn maze. The second is that Nebraska is very well known for being one of the biggest corn producers in the country. The next photo is of the sign by the state border. Just stating that Nebraska is one of the best states to live in! Below that is a picture of the sign on the Aurora city limit. I love this sign. It's just very clean, casual, and classy! Funny, the town has the same reputation. Then we have a picture of my school. Usually it looks a little nicer with green grass! The final picture is a picture of my family. I have this photo sitting in my bedroom. It just shows what I get to come home to and who I work hard for. 

To give you a visual idea of where I am... 

 
Top Left: This is Aurora's courthouse! Sitting right in the middle of our brick square, it's quite an attention grabber! 
Top Right: Football is a HUGE part of life at Aurora High School! It's amazing how many fans show up to support the Huskies on Friday nights!
Bottom Middle: This is my room. I love being here! Whenever I need to get away, this is where I go. My room is my safe haven. Nothing bad ever walks through my door. When I'm in my room, I'm calm.