1) The moment my best friend walked out the door

There was absolutely no time I expected something this drastic to happen to me. Out of no where, my best friend for nine years was leaving me. It was like she had suddenly dropped a huge bomb on me. A bomb that would literally change my life, and things would never be the same again. When she told me a week or so before that she was moving four hours away from me because of her dad’s work, I felt like calling his boss and telling him that he quit. I felt like locking her in my room and telling her parents they couldn’t take her. But after she spent the night on her last day in her hometown, her parents came to pick her up the next morning to leave. Then, after one last hug and one last crying session, she walked out the door.

2)The moment I walked into the gates of Whitney High School

There was no way I would have thought I was going to such a huge school, an outdoor school. A place where you had to walk more than 10 feet to your next class and actually had decent sports teams. A place where you actually had to wear a sweatshirt to school on cold days and didn’t have a locker to place your things in. Compared to my last school, this place was like going to a convention every single day. So hello to a travel bag, and hello to Whitney High.

3) Walking on the coastline of Sea Ranch

Honestly, I thought it would be pretty cool for my family to spend a couple days with one of my best friends and his family on the coastline. But I have to say, in the beginning, all I wanted to do was stay inside. It was raining hard, no, pouring, as if Mother Nature decided to pour a huge water bucket right onto Sea Ranch on the day we got there. But if I hadn’t gone outside on the second day, I would have missed the most beautiful hidden landscape anyone could have seen. The sun glistened off of the soaked rocks that had just been washed from the tide. The sea spray smelled like sea salt perfume and overwhelmed the air. I could have probably stayed in Sea Ranch forever.

4) Seeing my littlest brother leave for Kindergarten

It’s always hard to see someone that has always been so dear to your heart grow up in front of your eyes. I experienced this life changing moment for my little brother when he walked into his kindergarten classroom. I wanted to hold onto him forever and put a magic spell on him to keep him small.But in the end, the little, innocent, adorable child was finally starting his years in elementary school, at the school I went to when I was his age. Then I realised that he was finally growing up, and I couldn’t help but let a tear roll down my cheek.

5) Hearing my favorite song played live on my birthday

Confession number one: I am a major music fanatic. So for my 14th birthday it seemed ideal to go to my favorite band’s concert. But whether they would play my favorite songs, I had no clue. With my 5 close friends, including my best friend who had been mentioned in 1, we headed to Sleep Train Amphitheater to see Train, Gavin Degraw, and the one band I had been dying to see, the Script. I tried not to expect much so I could be somewhat over amazed, but I had never expected my favorite song to come on. So when Danny O’Donoghue started to pour out the lyrics of “If You Could See Me Now”, I became immediately overwhelmed and started to scream them. I didn’t even care if my friends were looking at me like I was absolutely MAD. That song was what made my birthday one I’ll never forget in 2013.

by RACHEL MARQUARDT