I'd Like to Thank the Academy...
As much as I'd like to give in to the darkness (and the insane racing of my teenage hormones) and say I'm here because of no one but myself and all my struggle, I have to admit that there are some people I couldn't have gotten this far without.
My friends: Christina aka Chibita-chan, for being by my side no matter what for 12 freaking years; Corri, for helping me figure out wtf I'm trying to say half the time; Brandon, for sitting through Jenethea and creating Matthew with me; Derrick, for reasons only he could ever understand; Maria aka Earth, for being one of the first to let my creative juices pump, ooze, and flood all over her bedroom.
My family: Mom, for sitting outside with me and making me tell stories with perfection; Dad, for reading awesome books to me every night until it implanted itself in my brain; Grandma, for threatening to disown me if I didn't use proper grammar; Julia, for proving to me that dreams can and do come true; and a bunch more people I don't have the patience to thank individually just for being there for me.
My teachers, earliest to latest (yes, folks, I actually LIKED school): Mrs Fuller, 1st grade, for giving me the building blocks (and The Seven Silly Eaters); Mrs Gano, 2nd grade, for seeing my potential and sending me to GATE; Ms Ladd, 3rd grade, for giving me confidence by making me project my voice and believe in myself; Mrs Awad, 5th grade, for liking my stories and showing me what it was like to see my words in print; Mr Imel, 6th grade Creative Writing, for throwing away an early draft of a different novel so I'd get angry enough to write the whole thing; Mrs Trebesch, 7th grade English, for making me flesh out a whole story for the first time; Mrs Agobian, 8th grade English, for encouraging everything I did, partly by telling me that there's always something to look forward to after the disappointments (*cough*highschool*cough*); Mr Barnes, 9th grade English, for recognizing and honing my talent; Mr Stratton, 9th grade Pre-AP & 10th grade AP World History, for seeing what was good in me and therefore never giving up hope in me, even when I wasn't worth the time it took to believe; Mr Romero, 10th grade English, for treating me like an equal and making me feel better than the rest; Mrs Bond, 11th grade AP Literature, for supplying me hours of entertainment and plenty of envelopes; and though it's still early, Mr Ryan, 12th grade AP Language, for just being an inspiring figure in my life. I'd be nowhere if it wasn't for you guys, and I know that. This list is sure to grow, as I still have my senior year and several years of college to go before my schooling is over.