5 different things you might not know about my life….

 

Part 1:

Asked my Mom a few questions about her younger years…

 At what age did you start school? Did anything interesting happen during these years? –

1965- I started school when I was 4 and went to kindergarten “beginning in 3^rd grade, I had to change schools because the district line changed and I had to go to school in a different neighborhood then where I lived, and I walked there, It was a long walk, almost a mile and I never took a bus because there was no such thing.” “I was out numbered, the racial mix changed… I was intimidated because I was one of only a few white girls in my school.” “In 7^th grade more kids came into our school because it was like going from elementary school to middle school. And the racial mix was a little more even.” “I had to learn racial tolerance and acceptance at a very young age.” And she stayed there all the way through high school.

Did you move at a young age, and change living arrangements? –

Stayed in the same house where she had been born until she went to college and the house burned down, it was next to the funeral home business so there was no reason to move.

 “In the mid to later 60’s that’s when there was a lot of racial discord in the whole country, there was riots in Chicago, and obviously I was pretty little and I don’t remember much, I recall things going on like civil rights protests.”

“My parents thought about moving us out to the cottage on a lake they had but the education in that part of town was similar or worse then where I was attending.”

“There was never necessarily gangs, but there was a lot of racial tension in the country that played a close role in my community that I had to deal with.”

 

Part 2:

Family artifacts:

 

1. Picture of my Nana

2. Family skiing at Sugarloaf

3. My Dad’s kitchen aid mixer

Part 3:

Turning Point:

I feel like I have encountered a lot of turning points in my life, but one that sticks out to me the most is when my grandmother recently passed away. I have dealt with death in my life before, but this is the first time I have experienced a family member passing away. My family is very close and losing someone so unexpectedly gave me an indescribable feeling.  I feel like death is one of those things we all know will eventually happen, but you never really expect it to, until it hits you like a ton of bricks. This experience taught me that life is really short and as cliché as it may sound, that you should not take any moment for granted. I would do anything to spend one last day with my Grandma. Watching my Grandfather cry over loosing his wife of almost 65 years of marriage was extremely difficult, but also taught me so much about life.

Event in a place that’s really important to me:

A lot of my favorite memories have occurred at a ski resort called Sugarloaf. When I was 3 years old my parents taught me to how ski. I feel so fortunate that I was taught at such a young age and have been able to continue this tradition every winter since then. 17 years later my family and I continue to go up to Sugarloaf almost every weekend, no matter where life has taken us we are together and are able to share so many memories on the mountain.

Key moment with a family member:

This past fall when I was visiting my Nana in Florida, we celebrated her 92^nd birthday. My Nana grew up very poor and moved to the states from the Ukraine with her family. She raised my father and 2 aunts alone after she was divorced from my Grandfather. I wanted to talk about my Nana because of how much of an inspiration she is to me, not only for her how long she has lived, but also how she lives such a healthy lifestyle and how even at her age she is still living alone. My family jokes about how she is probably going to live until she is 115 years old… but I bet it is going to happen.

 

Part 4:

My education:

As of right now, I really don’t know what I will be doing after college and where my education will take me. I am hoping what I have learned during my time here at the University of Maine will be able to guide me into a job, I love. Rather than a job I am not really happy with. My dream job would be in some type of interior design job but focusing on the technology and graphic design side of it, which relates to my major as New Media and my minor as Studio Art. I really like fashion so anything involving that would be cool too. As long as I am designing, painting, drawing, sculpting, working on my laptop, in illustrator or photographing part of my life I will be happy and learning.

Part 5:

A day in my future:

I hope to see a day in my future filled with people I love, possibly a husband and kids. I want to carry on traditions that I have now with my family with my future family. Such as, teaching my kids to ski at Sugarloaf, traveling on breaks to Florida and all over New England. I would love to see a day in my future where I have traveled over sea’s and saw different parts of the world. I love to travel and I want to get out and explore as much as possible in my future before I am tied down to a full time job.

Top things I want to see in my future:
-Lots of good-healthy food
-Lots of mild weather, I like to have my windows open
-Lots of traveling to foreign countries
-Climb at least 5 mountains in the near future
-Cooking/baking
-Skiing/snowboarding at sugarloaf
-Less SCHOOL STRESS