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(R.M. Rilke) The essence of the human being is something I feel as though nobody can describe perfectly. I am layers and thoughts compounded into one soul, one heart, and one mind. I could not tell you who I am today, because I am still waiting for the discoveries that tomorrow may bring.</p> <p>As a child in a privileged family, I reaped most of the benefits of having two hardworking, college educated parents. Despite our family moving around frequently and the split of my Mom and Dad, I have easily managed to experience many beautiful happenstances as well as perplexing situations. It took many moving trucks and cardboard boxes to discover the place I will always feel I belong, Orono, Maine. I have only lived here a year and a half, but after the move here from a huge suburban town outside of Dallas, Texas, I knew I had found home. I do not mean so in the sense that prior homesteads were inadequate, but that they simply did not fit me. I gather much joy in walking through Orono at night with my best friends in the summertime when it s just cold enough for a sweatshirt, but warm enough for flip flops; or the changing of the leaves that fall outside my window. Perhaps I am too poetic, too much dream in a real world, but I have come to realize recently that the  caressing of the details as my English teacher calls it, is one of the finest skills to grasp. I express myself throughout the art spectrum from bursting Broadway music at the top of my lungs to sitting quietly in my room and sketching portraits or pondering the self-reliance theories of Emerson. I am in love with many things in my life, but there is so much I would love to change. I know I am a flawed human being, but it makes me beautiful. It brings me happiness when I see other people basking in the mistakes of human nature, because it allows me to reflect on the imperfections of life.</p> <p>Spanish speaking has recently became one of my hobbies. I am going on an AFS summer program to Costa Rica this June to immerse myself in the cultures of Latin America as well as do community service in local areas. I cannot wait for this experience to learn and grow in a completely different area of my life. Snowboarding and running are the sports I place most of my time in. It is ironic however that these are my favorite sports simply because I am below average at both. While my brothers speed down Sugarloaf mountain in the winter at top speeds, I snowboard down cautiously but with a determined manner, still finding it interesting. Similarly with running cross country, I have accepted my naturally slow pace, and take it in stride. This past fall I broke my ankle the day before a race and was out for the season. It was one of the hardest things to see; my teammates running and racing while I crutched along with the timer. I do not say these things for sympathy, I say them for insight. Both snowboarding and running open the dimensions of myself on different levels of learning and insight, and for that I cannot be more grateful. In conclusion, I find myself back at Rilke's theory. The life of a human is a changing cycle, with some consistency and many changes. The person sitting here typing today is a teenager. Talented, confused, thoughtful, misunderstood, but full of laughter. I am not afraid to admit these traits because I know I am not the only one. So I will continue on with my life with great anticipation of what is next, but also the calm zen that fills me now.</p> <!-- InstanceEndEditable --> </div> <div class="bottomnavblank" id="bottomnav"><img src="images/spacer.png" alt="spacer" width="835" /> <p style="margin-top:0px" align="center"> <a href="index.html">home</a> &#149; <a href="contact.html">contact us</a> &#149; <a href="about.html">about us </a> &#149; <a href="obsstory.html">stories</a> &#149; <a href="exchange.html">exchange process </a> &#149; <a href="schools.html">participating schools </a> &#149; <a href="faq.html">faq</a> &#149; <a href="support.html">support us</a></p> &copy;2010 Operation Breaking Stereotypes &#149; <a href="mailto:webmaster@operationbreakingstereotypes.org">email webmaster</a> </div> </div> </body> <!-- InstanceEnd --></html>