My family is the most important component of who I am today. My brother, Drew, and parents have helped guide me through life thus far. My family is interesting because we all have particular things that differentiate us, but we all share a lot of the same personality traits. When we do butt heads, it is because we are so similar. Regardless, we support each other through everything and are very open with one another.

The Army has been important to my family since my parents met as officers while stationed at Fort Dix. My mother retired right before she married my father, and my father did not retire until three years ago. Growing up as a military brat, I moved five times before fifth grade. I enjoyed moving because I got to make new friends everywhere I went, but the flip side of that was that I never had any childhood long friendships besides Drew. My brother was always with me and I could always count on him being by my side.

Growing up I was a tomboy because I wanted to be just like my big brother. Drew is still my rock and my confidant. I don’t know where I would be without him. We first got really close during my dad’s deployments, beginning when I was in third grade continuing until I was a freshman in high school. We banded together through moving and not having my father around. He also continues to have a large influence on my interests. Through following him to all of his volunteer events and watching him earn his Eagle Scout award as one of the youngest in North Carolina, I came to loving serving others. Drew was the person who got me interested in sports and taught me how to play basketball. Not only has he influenced my personality, but my goals as well. Drew was always older and smarter than I was and inspired me to pursue academic excellence. Though filling his large shoes (literally; he’s a really big guy) is difficult, I make sure to work as hard as I can.

I am blessed to have the parents I do. My mother is my best friend, hands down. She is the strongest and most caring woman I know. If I can grow to be half the person she is in life, it would be a great accomplishment. My father is the smartest person I know. He is knowledgeable on almost every subject I ask him about! My parents are responsible for instilling my values in me. They both hold themselves to a high moral standard and I am glad my brother and I were able to inherit that trait from them. They taught us to be compassionate, respectful people and to work hard in order to achieve our goals. My parents have made endless sacrifices in order for my brother and I to become good, educated people. I hope someday to be able to repay them for all they have done for me.

A place that makes me happy is Chicago, Illinois. I’ve been a few times and have loved it every time. The first time I was in Chicago was for the US Junior Nationals tournament with my AAU basketball team. It was hands-down my favorite tournament of all five years playing AAU. We travelled all over the country, but the Chicago trip is an experience I will never forget. Firstly, three teammates of mine and I decided to drive their instead of flying because we could all pile into one girl’s Chevrolet Suburban and hang out for fifteen hours. This is exactly what we did. On the way there, we watched The Last Song, A Walk to Remember, and of course, The Notebook. Now we are all athletes, tough girls, but to say that we cried during that car ride is an epic understatement. We bawled our eyes out. Some videos of us sobbing were taken and later released as embarrassment. That first night we ate deep-dish pizza and had a blast in our hotel room. There was a skyway connecting our hotel to the building our games were held in. This giant building contained a room in which they fit thirty-two basketball courts. It is crazy to see that many people playing at once.

We began games the third day and played well against teams from Wisconsin, California, and Canada. Outside of playing we explored the city. This picture was taken on the one hundred third floor sky deck of the Willis (formerly called the Sears) tower. The sky deck is glass box sticking out of the building. As someone a little acrophobic, being able to see 1,353 feet between the ground and my own feet was not exactly comfortable. I did not end up getting any nice pictures of in the sky deck because I look terrified in them all, but I did get some pretty unique pictures. Hanging out with my teammates in the city

The next time I visited Chicago was with my family a few months later for a family friend’s wedding. This time we went shopping downtown and saw all of the tourist attractions. While downtown a reporter stopped my brother and I and asked if we would mind being interviewed for ABC7 news. Apparently that summer had the highest tourist rates in the past ten years, so they wanted the prospective of some tourists for the news. The reporter asked why we were there, if we had been before, and how we liked it. I got kind of nervous before answering the questions and spit out the first thing that came to mind, which was “the buildings are so tall.” Not exactly what I was going for. It was pretty cool watching ourselves on television that night, even though they spelled my name wrong after telling them three times how to spell it.

Chicago is such a great place; I can see myself living there in the future. Whether I do an REU at the University of Chicago, Graduate school at Northwestern, or live in Lincoln Square later in life, it will still be somewhere I love to visit.

Although I love travel and I plan on visiting as many places as possible, I’ve decided to write my passion blog on a different topic this week and possibly for the rest of Summer Bridge. When we did the initial passion blog post, my other idea was to write about what makes me happy. I will begin that today.

Animals have always made me extremely happy. I wanted to be a veterinarian or a paleontologist for most of my life because of this. This picture was taken this March when my family and I went to Wisconsin to visit my grandparents. My father and his siblings grew up in the farmhouse that my grandpa still lives in. He has about five acres of fields between his land and his “next door” neighbors’ land. When we visit, he always allows me to explore his neighbors’ farms because he no longer has livestock. My grandpa had some new neighbors move in the past few years. One of which owns alpacas and sells the fur in town. I first noticed the alpacas and goat that the man in the yard when driving into my grandpa’s farm and made my dad stop the car. There were about twelve alpacas and ten goats in the yard. When I walked toward the fence I expected the animals to back away, but more animals approached the fence to greet me. I pet the goats first, because one particular goat was trying to go through fence to get to me. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen goats’ eyes, but they are kind of freaky. Their pupils are horizontal rather than round like most other animals. Nevertheless I petted the goat and let him lick my hand, but as I was petting him a white alpaca kept getting closer to me. I had never been that close to an alpaca and really got to see how cute they were! They are really tall and their fur is matted, but soft. I put my other hand up to pet him and he leaned his face closer to mine. As I couldn’t contain my smile, the goat, whom I was letting like my other hand bit me! It did not hurt very much; it just surprised me, so I jumped a little. I laughed and realized what just happened. The goat got a little jealous of the attention I was giving he alpaca. I came back the next day to pet the alpacas. The same white alpaca ran up to me and immediately licked my forehead. I would have expected to get spat on before getting licked by him, but I was pleasantly surprised. I visited the alpaca farm each day of my trip and eventually had to say goodbye to my new furry friends.

I enjoyed sharing a happy little story and believe I will continue my passion blog this way.

The Netherlands always seemed like a magical, illusory place. Some pictures look a little too perfect to be real.  Though, from a bit of research I learned that the Netherlands has much more to offer than windmills, canals, and clogs. I decided prior to writing this that I will not be paying a visit to the infamous red light district.

Let’s begin in the capital, Amsterdam.  It is full of museums of all kinds including the Tulip Museum, which gives the history if tulips in Holland and the history of the infamous craze. The Museum also includes a shop with a wide variety of flowers.  Another Museum I will be visiting is the Van Gogh Museum. How exciting would it be to see hundreds of Van Gogh’s painting first hand? The museum tells the story of Van Gogh’s life through his artwork.  I am not an artist myself but I love to indulge in it.  After the museums, I will visit a small neighborhood district by the city center called Jordaan. This little neighborhood has cute old houses, cafes, and little shops.  Apparently, Wrinkel’s Cafe has the best apple pie in all of Holland. I will definitely have to have a bite of that! Another important site to visit while in Amsterdam is Vondelpark, one of the most famous parks in the world. It is one hundred twenty acres of luscious green grass and paths for bicycles.

Because the Netherlands has over 2,500 miles of navigable canals, so although it is cliché, I will most definitely be taking at least one canal tour.  Canal tours have been reported to be the best and most relaxing way to explore the city to see the unique architecture, narrow buildings, and gorgeous gardens.

Located on the Northern shore of the Netherlands are the West Frisian Islands, which are a chain of inhabited and uninhabited islands.  One island, Texel, has four different types of landscape:  flat land, rolling hills, sand dunes and beaches, and wetlands. When I visit Texel I want to participate in Wadlopen. Twice a day the tide recedes and uncovers a vast mud flat. Though it is dangerous because of the strong currents, travellers and residents Wadlopen, or “mud-walk” around the island.

Rotterdam, Amsterdam’s neighbor, is home to one of the busiest and most impressive shipping harbors in the world.  It is also home to Euromast tower, which has a rotating elevator that takes passengers over six hundred feet high. This is the best way to see the entire city.  I will be visiting Rotterdam and the rest of the Netherlands during the summer because I cannot miss out on the Rotterdam Summer Festival held in late July. The festival includes dancing, colorful decorations, and of course the Netherlands’ own world famous beer, Heineken.  The festival will be the perfect way to close out my fantastic visit!

The Netherlands await my visit, but in the mean time I will think about my next trip.

This Christmas, my family decided to take a family vacation because it had been a few years since we were all together.  Because we were all sick of the snow, we decided to go somewhere warm.  Although we ended up having a great time in Puerto Rico, we also considered going to the Virgin Islands, specifically St.Thomas.  I still plan on going there, so I added yet another location to my traveling bucket list.  One of my fellow cohort members, Joash Lake, is from St.Thomas, so I discussed my future trip with him and made a list of how I want to spend my time there.

First on my list was the Virgin Islands National Park located on St.John. The park has twenty-two different hiking trails all with spectacular views of the islands. The tropical vegetation and wildlife of the island is what I most look forward to at the park. Also located in the park is Trunk Bay, the most serene spot in all of in the Virgin Islands.  Offered on the beach is an Underwater Trail, a calm snorkeling adventure path of coral and tropical fish.  I love to snorkel and can’t wait to see the different kinds of fish in the Caribbean.

I also need to time my trip perfectly, so that it elapses with St. Thomas’ Carnival celebration. Carnival Is celebrated from the last week of April through the first week of May.  The celebration consists of a giant art gallery and endless music for two weeks.  The children all get out of school to perform in cultural dances and music groups.  The entire event is sponsored by big companies like Heineken, First Bank, and Cardow Jewelers.  The local children’s hospital also raises money through the Carnival. Overall, the event seems extremely lively.

While in St. Thomas, I will also be sure to visit Main Street. According to my fellow cohort member, it is the heart of St.Thomas.  It is the area that attracts the most tourism because of the shopping available. Although I do not have very expensive taste, nor do I really enjoy spending money, it also is considered the heart of the island because of the liveliness of the street.  There are many street performers and artisans’ handmade souvenirs to explore as well. Fun fact! My father is of Danish heritage and as many people know the U.S. Virgin Islands were formerly the Danish West Indies, so Danish words are still used frequently. When I searched “main street St. Thomas,” the Danish name “Dronningens Gade” came up! Moral of the story is that my last name means street in Danish, which is pretty cool!

The last place I plan to visit in the Virgin Islands before I leave is Blackbeard’s castle in Charlotte Amalie. The castle sits on top of the mountain giving  a great view of the islands and statues of Blackbeard along with fun props like Pillories to pretend you are a pirate and a pool and restaurants.

The Virgin Islands await my visit, but in the mean time I will think about my next trip.

¡España!

España es uno de los lugares más increíble del mundo. Quiero visitar porque hablo Español y tengo un interés en la cultura. Algunos de mis amigos visitaron España este año, para un proyecto del clase de Español pero no pude ir porque era durante el fin de semana de la intrevista.  Now back to English.  For those unsure of the past few sentences, I said: Spain is one of the most incredible places in the world. I want to visit because I speak Spanish and I have an interest in the culture. Some of my friends visited Spain this year for a Spanish class project, but I was not able to go because it overlapped with interview weekend.

I put Spain on my traveling bucket list in third grade when the Disney Channel movie, The Cheetah Girls 2: When in Spain, came out.  The movie depicted the pop stars strutting the streets of  gorgeous Barcelona and living their lives to the fullest. I thought, someday I’ll go there to be just like the Cheetah Girls. Obviously, now I am attracted to many more aspects than solely the “amigas Cheetahs.”

When in Spain, I plan to attend mass in The Sagrada Familia, possibly one of the most famous churches in the world.  The large church in Barcelona includes Catalan architecture and renown religious detailing, such as the stained glass and incredible sculptures.  Also while in Barcelona, I also want to visit Casa Milá and Casa Batlló, two buildings in the center of the city that were designed by the same architect who designed The Sagarada Familia, Antoni Gaudi.  All three buildings are absolutely fantastic.

I refuse to miss out on one of the most important aspects on Spanish life, art.  Obviously, Spain is the home of Pablo Picasso, so the country does hold the largest amount of his paintings.  A multitude of these are held in Museu Picasso. The museum contians over four thousand pieces of his work.  The museum has two pieces that I am particularly interested in because Picasso painted them when he was fifteen years old.

What makes Spain so different than the United States is the long history and the royal background. Though we have celebrity in the states, I cannot experince any sort of royalty.  I will definitely be visiting The Palacio Real de Madrid. This is the official residence of the Spanish royal family. It is a beautiful building of Baroque style architecture. Who knows maybe I will run into the King!

As for cities to visit, I will be stopping in Ibiza to experience their famously lively nightlife. The island sits on the edge of the Mediterranean Sea for an impeccable view.  The last place I will visit in Spain is not actually in Spain.  Instead Gran Canaria is one of Spain’s canary islands off the coast of northwestern Africa.  The island has white sand beaches and offers cruises. The coasts of the Islands are commercial, yet relaxing, while inland, it is mountainous and rural.

Spain awaits my visit, but in the mean time I will think about my next trip.

I begin my virtual, global travel in a country I have wanted to visit since I was young: Australia.  My interest was further provoked when I met some of the father’s Aussie friends last year.  His close friend is a law professor at the University of Adelaide, so he brought his top students with him to the states.  I had an amazing time, when I was able to attend a dinner to meet the students.  Now that I have connections there, I plan to visit or study as soon as possible.

As for my blog, I will have a general layout of each post, including outdoors, cuisine, can’t miss cities, and fun things I would do there. I be will the using the trip advisor website to read reviews of  things to do in each country I “visit.”

One aspect of Australia that a have to experience is the outdoors, such as the beaches, the Kimberley, and the Atherton Tablelands.  Whitehaven beach is possibly the most photographed beach in Australia because it has incredibly smooth, pure white sand coupled with extremely vivd blue water.  This almost unreal beauty will have to be my first stop! The Kimberley, a western region that contains out of this world landscape, will be a close second.  It includes waterfalls, gorges, other untamed landforms, and even a lively town on the eastern border. Another of the numerous outstanding outdoor areas is the Atherton Tablelands, which is a wildlife paradise consisting of rainforests, waterfalls, and rare animals.  The wildlife itself is a reason to visit Australia.

The first thing that comes to mind when I think Australian cuisine is, of course, Vegemite.  I actually have tried it on toast and loved it! It has a different taste than I expected it to, but it definitely grows on you. Another Australian cuisine is Pavlova, which I have heard only good reviews. Pavlova is a meringue based cake usually topped with fruit that is commonly eaten in Australian homes.  What I most look forward to trying in Australia is Kangaroo meat.  I’ve tried many different animal meats because my dad hunts, but I still have yet to have kangaroo meat.  They say it tastes just like chicken!

Australia is full of amazing cities that every tourist must visit like Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Gold Coast. In Sydney, I would go to the harbor where I could see the Opera House and the Bridge.  I would also do the Sydney Harbor Bridge climb because I love thrills. In Melbourne, I would take the scenic drive along the Great Ocean Road. From pictures, the winding road looks unforgettable. The main thing I want to see in Brisbane is the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. I know I said earlier that I wanted to try kangaroo meat, but kangaroos and koalas are still really cute and worth seeing in person. When I visit Gold Coast, I will visit natural bridge, one of the national parks in the region. I will also take an air balloon ride through the city.

Australia awaits my visit, but in the mean time I will think about my next trip.

For my passion blog I would like to either write about things that make me happy or about places I would like to travel to during my life.  My blog about things that make me happy would be very broad, and each post could be different from the last. The freedom of that type of  blog fits my personality.  Smiling and joy are very important in my life, and I would succeed in relaying that to my audience. I would have the freedom of writing about people, something I found on the internet, or just a happy experience from my life. I think this blog would keep my spirits high during the summer, especially because of the challenges I know are ahead. My other idea was to write about places in the world I want to travel to.  Trying new things is another one of my favorite aspects of life.  Though this is more focused than the other I still have the freedom to choose a particular location or even an entire country in general.  I would write about the food and activities I would try in this new place.  I am excited to begin my passion blog in either area.