To Aubrey, for being the best neighbor I could ask for, 

I could have never asked for a better neighbor. You are not only my neighbor, but my best friend. I couldn’t have thanked you more for allowing me to sit by you on the bus in early first grade and for the many times you welcomed me when I was alone—making countless memories of creating dances to convince our parents to let us have a sleepover, playing video games in my living room on the old family computer, and making up hilarious Barbie stories that made us so loud my mom would come and tell us to be quiet. In a perfect world, we would be in elementary school, leaving out Emily (my younger sister) as we ran around the front yard talking about “SM” and other fragments of our irreplaceable, uncanny imaginations. Our priceless FaceTime calls on Messenger Kids that the 2014 Kindle Fires could barely handle are etched into my memory. As I grow older and more mature, you grow with me. Never once in my life has there ever been a moment that I doubted your love for me. 

To Addie, for always being there for me,

I will forever be thankful for our eighth-grade yearbook class. Our friendship immediately sparked when we were assigned to sit next to each other in the fourth hour. Though we soon grew apart during Freshman year, our friendship was rekindled when we discovered we had second-hour physics together. Sharing short smiles in the hallways quickly turned into walking together between almost every class and spending our whole lunch period dying of laughter with every moment. Even though it gets frustrating the amount times I ask you for help in physics and you refuse to help me, that will never change my view toward you as one of my best friends. 

To Kylin, for always reminding me that I’m worth it,

Our fifth-grade friend group will never be forgotten, as it was the beginning of our inseparable friendship. Your fifth-grade birthday party will forever be one of my favorite memories, as it was one of the most memorable days of my life. To this day, I still enjoy bringing up our ridiculously embarrassing stories from that party, being reminded of all the cringy moments we shared when you introduced the videos you took on your old iPhone. Facetime calls never get old, from sitting silently as we complete our homework for hours to laughing together about our favorite moments. I adore our quick mall trips on the weekends, as we are both the most indecisive people and convince each other to buy everything, though it may be an unhealthy shopping addiction, there is no one else I would rather shop with. You are always the first person to ask me how I’m doing if I look down in any way, you’re always the first person to cheer me up when I’m upset, and when I’m on the verge of tears you’re always the person to take me into the hallway to comfort me. I am so thankful to have someone with such a kind and pure soul in my life, and not only that but to call you one of my best friends.

To my Mom, for being the best personal therapist I could ask for,

For every inconvenience in my life, you are always the first person I send a text message to and always the first to respond. I will forever be grateful for the many “girl nights” we take to recap our lives, as I don’t get to spend as much time with you as I wish I could. I always look forward to the days I have work off, knowing that I will spend the majority of the night talking to you over dinner. However, at times I catch myself giving you attitude for unnecessary reasons, we always manage to quickly make up because no matter what we always stick together. Just a few nights ago running in the TJ Max parking lot together, attempting to make it back to the car before the snow started as we both hate the cold more than anything. You are more of a best friend to me than anything, guiding me through life with your incredible advice and childhood stories, and teaching me who I am today. I love you more than anything and I am so thankful to be blessed with such a perfect mother.

To Emily, for the endless hours of laughter,

I will forever be grateful to have such an amazing sister. Though we get in pointless feuds almost always over the dumbest things, I will still love you unconditionally. My least favorite day of the year is the day summer ends because I know I will no longer get to spend hours every night playing random games on Roblox with you. I am so thankful to have someone that cannot only always make me laugh, but also I always feel comfortable with, and I never feel embarrassed to be myself around you. Reminiscing on the carefree days spent with Aubrey, I fondly recall us playing for hours in the backyard, collapsing into fits of uncontrollable laughter over jokes only we understood. I’m forever grateful to have a partner when visiting the grandparents, sparing me the discomfort of dining alone and providing someone to share the time with. My favorite part about my room is the fact that it connects to yours, knowing that whether it’s two in the morning or right after school I am always welcome to accompany you in your bedroom without the hassle of running up and down the stairs. I love you so much, I am unable to put into words how much you mean to me and I am so thankful to call you my younger sister.

To Emma, for always being there when I need you, 

No matter what I’m wearing or how I look, you are always the first person to notice when I’m not having the best day, and not only that, but you’re the first person to hug me when I’m feeling down. Since the day we became friends, we grew inseparable by the moment, as when I’m with you, you feel more like a sister to me than anything. To me, we are sisters, not through blood but by heart. You understand me as a person, and when I’m around you I feel as if you are my sister because I don’t feel embarrassed to be myself around you. I love having you around as you treat my family just as well as you do yours, and not only that but you also go out of your way to spend time with my sister. You are one of the first people other than family to go out of their way to buy me gifts, and I appreciate that more than anything. I love the photos we took together at the mall in the cheap photo booth, which failed miserably because the machine decided to give us terrible acne and skin cancer. I will always cherish them, taped onto the mirror I use every morning to remind myself that you are my best friend and will always be there for me when I need you most.

To my lunch table, for never failing to make me laugh,

Mia, I am forever thankful for our freshman year biology class as it was the spark to our everlasting friendship. Your sarcastic personality never fails to make my day, and your humor never fails to have me dying on the ground of laughter. Not only do you have the prettiest hair on this planet (that I will forever remain jealous of), but you also have the most beautiful should, and I am forever grateful to share a class and lunch table with you. Zoe, my favorite part about our irreplaceable friendship is that we always make up no matter how many little arguments we get into. No, not in the way that we send in-depth apologies to each other, but we will both agree something is hilarious and completely erase the fact that we were fighting out of our minds. You always make me laugh as you are probably one of the blondest brunettes I know. I love mocking you for keeping the stickers on your Owala, even though you need them to help remind you how to lock the lid. I love teasing you for not understanding the proofs in math, and encouraging you to go up to Mr. Pierce even though you think he’s scary. Aside from my teasing, you are one of my best friends who never fails to cheer me up when I’m “down in the dumps” and I will always appreciate you being there for me when I need you most. Lydia, though we are not the closest, I will always appreciate you for being my bus buddy. The day that our bus decided to combine with another bus route was probably one of the worst days of my life and the best, the best being that it sparked our friendship. Though our conversations about what we got on the previous Spanish test might not have been the longest, they still mean more to me than it might seem. I always enjoy having a buddy to walk me to the first hour so I don’t have to traverse the halls alone. Hayeon, even though you are not technically in our lunch, I always look forward to the days your fourth hour decides to switch to the third lunch. I love sharing new block blast high scores with you, even though yours will always surpass mine by about two hundred thousand. You are one of the sweetest and smartest people I have ever met, and I am so lucky to call you my friend.

To my teachers,

Mr. Sultini, I always enjoy sitting in your classroom before school starts with Aubrey and having ridiculous conversations about our most recent reading: The Crucible. You never fail to make the class laugh, as your elaborations in our readings usually always end with a completely different topic from before. Aside from your humor, I always appreciate your detailed clarifications about our readings to help us understand. Without them, I do not think I’d be able to get through English without breaking my laptop in frustration. 

Mrs. Stone, I think almost every student in my physics class can agree that you’re the best teacher at answering questions. I always look forward to your class and the daily questions on the board. You are one of the very few teachers who genuinely seem passionate about their job and the subject, and it’s relieving to have a teacher who enjoys teaching their subject.

Sra. Stacey, you are easily one of my favorite teachers as I have had you for Spanish for the past three years. Though you are not one of the teachers I often have conversations with, you are easily one of the most understanding teachers I’ve ever had. I often feel bad that you’re always gone for your sick children, however, I am so thankful that through all that you do, you always come to class teaching with a smile on your face.

Mr. George, the day I received a 4.5/22 on my Honors English assignment is a day I will never forget, as you were one of the first people to notice that I was upset. As most teachers would have brushed it off and ignored it, you will always be there for me no matter what. Not only are you a very understanding teacher, but you always give the best compliments and hyping the students that deserve to be, which is a huge confidence booster for most, including myself.

And finally, Mr. Pierce, although you often mock Emma and me during class, I have never once in my life been so thankful to have a math teacher who strives to encourage his students to ask so many questions. I have grown less nervous to ask questions during class as years prior, my teachers were never as welcoming as you were. I will never forget the time the whole class yelled at me for suggesting to do a proof (including you), however, it was worth it in the end as I finally learned how to complete proofs completely on my own, thanks to you.