My parents named me Veronica. They thought I was going to
be boy so they didn’t really know what to name me. They bought a baby book and
found my name, along with my middle name, and they chose my name, due to its
definition, which I do not know. However, my sisters were really into the Disney movie, Alice in
Wonderland. They wanted to name me Alican Wanda. I’m glad my parents chose my
name.
When it was my time to be born I didn’t want to leave my
mother. The doctors had to give my mother a cesarean section, C-section.
Finally, I was born, the last to be born in my family. I’m the youngest out of
three girls, my oldest sister Tiffany, now 24, and my middle sister, Breeanna,
who is now 18. When I was younger I used to be with both of my parents’ parents
equally. Unfortunately, when I was in the first grade my grandmother passed
away, and that changed the situation. I began to be with my father’s parents
more and more often. My favorite memories of being with my grandparents were
when my grandmother and I would cook, while my grandfather would watch
television.
There’s nothing really special, or really unique about my
family. We’re just a Filipino family that lives in Oxnard. However, my
grandfather has a purple heart and at one point in time he was a prisoner
of war
for a year. When my father was in his twenties he was in the Navy. There are no
special holidays that we celebrate in our family, besides Christmas and
Thanksgiving. Those two months are my favorite of the year, due to my anxiety.
I’m just excited to see my family that I only see twice a year. Also, I’m
anxious for the food. Just watching my grandmother and my mom cook the food is
difficult because I’m so anxious. Another great time is when my parents, my
sisters, and I, put up our Christmas decorations, which happens to always be on
Thanksgiving. We put up a lot of ornaments and decorations around our house.
It’s a lot of hard work, but is worth it to see how beautiful it is with all the
lights.
I’ve never lived outside of Oxnard. However, I was born in
Camarillo, due to the fact that my mother’s doctor worked in Camarillo. On the
other hand I have been out of the state many times. But, I love Oxnard the most.
It’s home, no matter what anyone says it’s home. Plus, Oxnard weather is better
then any other weather in other states and our city is along the beach.
One of my hobbies is to write. I enjoy expressing myself by
writing stories. Writing stories like fantasies or fictional stories is an easy
way for me to escape reality, and for me to go into my own world. My creativity
and imagination comes out when I write. My stories are corny and cheesy, but
that’s how I am. That’s my expression of how my reality is. When I’m in any
emotion, happy, sad, or even angry, what helps me center is being able to write
in my notebook and express myself. When I write in my notebook no one else can
judge me, unless I let them.
I
just joined Oxnard High School’s Track team, I’m not great at it, but I’m
getting there. The practices are hard right now, but soon it’ll all be worth it.
Also, I’m doing Tae Kwon Do, which is a different form of Karate. I’ve been
doing it since I was six years old, and am now a second degree black belt. I am
a part of my studio’s Sparring Team, also known as the Tournament Team. We go to
tournaments near and far, to get experience and be known across the nation. I
have competed in six Junior Olympic Nationals, and over one-hundred and fifty
tournaments. I usually have a tournament at least once a month, sometimes two.
It’s exhausting, but it’s fun. Even though I’m on my studio’s Tournament Team
together we do not actually spar. When I compete, I spar by myself with my
competitor only. It’s the same with my teammates, but we do support each other
like any other team does. My teammates do well at what they do. Of course, just
like any other team there’s room for improvement, but that just comes with
experience and growth.
I enjoy school very much. It’s pretty much
the best part of my day, since it takes up the most time. Even though I am
Asian, I don’t like math. My favorite subjects this year have been English and
Spanish. Both of my teachers for those two classes made me enjoy each subject in
a different way to help me learn. They made my learning environment easier to be
in with their way of teaching. The thing I dislike the most about school are the
seagulls, they’re loud annoying and poo too much. I am on the Oxnard Track Team,
as stated above, and I am enjoying it very much. My teammates are very nice and
supportive, and that makes the long running a lot easier.
My favorite subject is English right now. My
teacher is very funny and he makes boring literature, interesting. He refers to
Ancient Greek Mythology to modern day pop culture, which makes learning in his
class a lot easier to understand. Also, last semester I had
Spanish One, and that was my favorite
class. Going into that class I
thought my teacher was going to be mean and strict, and her class was going to
be even worse. However, over time her class became more fun to be in. I was
friends with all of my classmates, which was a first for me. So I enjoyed that
class because my teacher taught the best and my classmates weren’t rude. But the
class that gave me the most headaches was my Physical Science Honors class. My
teacher didn’t fully explain our assignments, and when we’d ask questions he
would go off on rants about things that had nothing to do with the question or
the answer. Also, I didn’t like that class because science isn’t my best subject
in school. I haven’t really ever received special awards when it came to school.
The best award I ever got would have to be in the second grade. I got student of
the month and in my classroom we had this poster that the student of the month
filled out. When I finally got the award I was so happy, and that has been the
best award I’ve ever gotten when it came to school.
College
is for the future that is not close yet, but will be. I’ve thought of some
colleges; however I haven’t put a lot of thought into it due to my age. I’m
not close to going to college soon, but I know what I want to do somewhat. I
want to go to a school where I could study
creative writing. I chose that
field, since I enjoy writing all the time. I’d rather do something I enjoy to
do rather than something I don’t, just like everyone else. After college I
plan to get married, have a family, that whole bit. On the other hand, I still
want to have my career, as a business woman and a mother. But the future will
come soon, it will become the present, and in that time I’ll choose what I
will do.
To sum it all up, I’m just a teenager that
enjoys her life and everything about it. I like to live the way someone my age
should live. LIKE A KID! I love living in the present and worrying about the
future when it becomes today. To leave off here’s something I like to say, “Live a little. You can’t be old and wise if you
weren’t young a crazy.”
