Creative Writing: Who said you had to hit the writing prompt on the head?!

   Okay so about a month ago our power went out. I had been sleeping a while so I decided to get up instead of rolling over and going back to sleep. Well with no power, I am like Totally “off the grid”. No power = no internet, no phone and no A/C. A/C was actually already beginning to be important in AZ. I realized that the longer I went without power. lol 

   I had my iPod, fully charged (YAY!), which has my music, some movies, and some books so there was a little bit that I could do without power. I opened my Kindle app and realized the last book that I had open was a writing prompt book. I thought “Oh how fun, I’ll write!” So I did. The following is one of the prompts that I did and somewhere in the middle of writing it, I decided that it should be a blog post. lol 

Writing Prompt: You have been sent back in time (to kindergarten) and you have the ability to change your entire schooling experience. How do you change the next 16 years of your life to make your life better? Does it work or do you lose some of the flavor along the way?

   Well personally I wouldn’t change elementary school. I loved my classes and my teachers. I had one teacher, Mrs. Clegg, for 3 different years (Kindergarten, 5^th and 6^th grade). She was by far my favorite teacher and I was very sad to leave 6^th grade because I knew that I would probably never see her again. I know that you aren’t really supposed to be friends with your teachers (unless you want to be called a Teacher’s pet) but by the end of 6^th grade, I felt like she was a friend that I was saying “Goodbye” to. I remember crying the most over knowing that I wasn’t going to see her again. I did find her on Facebook a year or so ago. Even though I don’t talk to her much, I like just knowing that she is there.

   When I went into junior high my mom MADE me go to this private Christian school. I remember fighting with her because I wanted to continue on to a public junior high with all of my friends from elementary school. I told her “I won’t know anybody at this school.” Well, we settled on a compromise. I would go to this junior high and then I could pick which high school to attend. I got there the first day and realized that I knew everyone (It was a very small school) because I had just gone to Bible camp with them over the summer. 

   It was at this school that I made two of my best friends in the whole world; literally because one of them (Sarah) is going to be a Baptist missionary in the Congo. Sarah, Rachel and I have shared so many memories. We have had our silly moments, our serious moments, have gone on so many adventures and share so many inside jokes it’s not even funny. These are two women that I will always be friends with – probably cuz we know too much about each other. Again, I really don’t keep in touch like I should but I know that they are there and whenever we do see each other we pick up right where we left off like no time has past at all. They aren’t just friends, they are my sisters. 

   Rachel is the sister that will put you in your place when you need that dose of reality. She will pick you up when you fall but she will be laughing because she warned you that would something would happen. lol Sarah is the sister that always just wants to make sure that you are okay. Life wouldn’t be complete without either of them. So in the end, I wouldn’t change junior high either. 

   My first year of high school I moved to Idaho, so again my mom put me in a private Christian school – which was okay with me because moving to a new state was bad enough – let alone picking a high school. lol This school is something that I would’ve changed. Even though it was a “Christian” school I felt like an outcast there. I made some friends that I still keep in touch with on Facebook, but overall I didn’t like the experience. I might’ve been better off just going to a public high school. 

   After my first year there I decided that I didn’t want to go back and because of my experience there I was scared to go to a public high school. After all, I was shy and kind of an outcast and we have all seen how the shy kids are treated on TV shows. I decided to home-school instead. This is what I would change. To this day, I always regret not having gone to an actual high school. I feel like I missed out on some fundamental parts of life. I never went to a prom, I never had the opportunity to be grossed out in Biology class, I never dated anyone or had my heart broken (maybe that’s a good thing) but the one thing that I regret the most is that I never had an official graduation. I got my GED but never the opportunity to wear a cap and gown, and walk to receive my diploma. If I could go back, I would go to a public high school. I would face my fears and take my chances. I would deal with the peer pressure, the heart break and yes even the Biology dissections….ewww. 

   I know the prompt is probably just meant for K-12 but life (and schooling) doesn’t end after high school – no matter what you think when you’re 18. After high school I moved again, this time to AZ…on July 4^th. Ick! Note to self: Never move to AZ in July. All I can say is “YAY for movers!” That Fall I started college at a Bible College in Tempe, AZ. This is also a choice I wouldn’t change for the world. It was there that I met Andy. Andy was a lot of firsts in my life: first true love, first date, first kiss and my first (hopefully only) husband. 

   Even though I only went to college for a year, that year was the most pivotal point in my life. If I hadn’t gone to that college, I wouldn’t have met the most wonderful man in my life. Without meeting him, who knows where I would’ve ended up – it could’ve been anywhere. If I had not met Andy at college there are other people that I am sure I wouldn’t have ever met. I probably wouldn’t have ended up in the job that I have today. I probably would’ve never played WoW, which resulted in meeting Jill, Mat (aka Donald), and Danny. I probably wouldn’t have ended up going to the church that I go to and meeting Julie and Crystal. All of these experiences stem from the choice of what college I went to. 

   My life would not be complete without my husband, without the people from my work (who aren’t co-workers, they are family), without Jill, Mat (aka Donald) and Lil’ Andy, without Tom, Julie and Miss Abigail, and without Jed, Crystal and their whole gang of Smithlings. My life would be so different and I honestly don’t think it would be better. 

   So I didn’t exactly hit the writing prompt on the head. But maybe I wasn’t supposed to – I had bigger and better things to write about. 

   To all of the people that I mentioned, Mrs. Clegg, Sarah, Rachel, Andy, my MCC family, Jill and Mat (aka Donald), Danny, Tom and Julie, and Jed and Crystal, you all mean the world to me. I may not say it (or say it enough) but life wouldn’t be the same without you. Each one of you holds a special place in my heart. No matter where you go, no matter what you do, no matter where life may take you, please always know that you have each made a great impact in my life and I thank you for that. I will never forget you and I will always keep my memories of you close to my heart. <3

Your Creative-Writing Blogger,

                  Jessy <3