Video link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/17H23qDXLF9mA_rJnsqPTU84ai9xqdUXw/view?usp=sharing

To begin, one of the most influential things that I have learned from my research was that culture does truly impact the mental health of an individual on a high level. Whether it is the way they are raised or the cultural obligations that they uphold, it all shapes their head space, whether they realize it or not. For example, something as simple as pressure to care for siblings and be at their beck and call at a young age (solely because of cultural standards) can negatively impact the mental health of an individual without their knowledge, so it is important for parents to know this in order to create an environment that is both culture enriching and safe for their children. Another influential idea that I learned was that therapy services are not as readily available to people as I once thought. Many of my sources referenced the fact that Asian Americans are more likely to have mental health problems, but they also have a harder time getting help due to language barriers or cultural rules. These definitely impacted me because mental health services should be available to everyone because mental health applies to all people, which definitely opened my eyes to how much work is still needed to be done in the mental health field. Overall, this project was very eye-opening for me and brought many new things to light in terms of mental health and how it should be addressed. 

If people take one thing away from this project, I would hope that it would be to treat people with kindness because you never know the mental health struggles that they are going through. I would also hope that my project would just urge people to be more sensitive when trying to find ways to help those struggling. Getting help isn’t always as easy as it seems, especially if there are cultural or familial aspects of a person that will not necessarily change. These cultural aspects can prevent people that want to get help from getting it, so there may need to be special services in place to apply to more specific groups of people. Overall, it is always important to treat people with kindness and respect because you never know what is going on inside their head. 

Moving on, the most important thing that I learned from NNHS would be that I am way more capable of so many things than I originally thought I was. North has taught me to take every opportunity that comes my way because you never really know the outcome until you try something. From trying to make a track state to applying for leadership positions, North has taught me to have faith in myself and my accomplishments. Some of my best experiences have come out of this lesson, and for that I am eternally grateful.

The one piece of advice that I would give to incoming freshmen would be to be the person that says hello. It only takes one person to get someone out of their shell and feel comfortable at school. Hello is also the first word in a new friendship, so don’t be afraid to put yourself out there and meet new people because you never know who you will end up creating amazing friendships with. You also never know who just needs someone to talk to them, so being that person can really change someone’s life, even if you never hear it from them. So work hard, be kind, and be the person that says hello because those are the things that you will NEVER EVER regret!

As summer is coming up quickly, I can’t help but imagine all of the fun things I will get to enjoy with my friends and family! From going on vacations to running with my friends, this summer should be one to remember. More specifically, I cannot wait for all the fun food that I will get to enjoy, so I thought I would blog about some of my favorite treats that make the summer months so memorable. 

First up is ice cream. Some people may not count this as food, but my friends and I definitely make it a full meal at least once during the summer months. My go-to is definitely Dairy Queen, but I am definitely not opposed to trying new places. My favorite things to get are a vanilla cone with sprinkles or the Star Kiss bar. 

Next would be MOD pizza. I usually get this with my cousins when we help with the Naperville Municipal Band Concerts at the bandshell in downtown Naperville. It is always fun to walk and go get pizza that we can enjoy after handing out the programs for the concert. Our orders range from pepperoni to sausage and green bell peppers. Everyone ends up trading different slices, so we can all try new things. This is definitely one of my favorite summer traditions as well!

Then we have the obvious choice: Portillo’s. My friends and family will go there at least once a week. I especially love when I get to do some sort of picnic with my friends. We love to go to Blackwell Forest Preserve and watch the sunset while eating our food. My go to is a chicken sandwich, but I also love the hot dogs. Portillo’s is definitely an integral part of my summer experience. 

Since the past two summers have involved some restrictions, I would also like to address some new things that I would like to try: 

First, the new Jojo’s Shake Bar Downtown Naperville looks like it could be a really fun experience. It would definitely be a one time thing for me, but I would love to go see what all the hype is about. I have seen so many pictures of the elaborate, sugar-filled shakes, so obviously I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to go with my friends and summer will give that exact chance. Plus, walking on the riverwalk during the summer is always super fun! I love looking at all the flowers, trees, and fountains when it is warm outside, and a milkshake will only make that more fun!

Another thing I attempted to try earlier this year was Crumble cookies; however, the line was way too long, so I ended up leaving before I could even get a chance to step into the store. I was excited to see that there was one opening up on Ogden a few weeks ago. I would really love to try the basic sugar cookie the most. I like seeing how companies put a spin on classic things and judging whether or not it is better than the original. 

As the school year nears its end for seniors, I can definitely feel the excitement in the air for a summer free of homework and high school classes. However, it is definitely bittersweet. I have heard the “I want the school part to be over but not the social part” too many times to count, and I can’t believe that graduation day is almost here. Hopefully, this summer will bring just as many memories as the school year and prompt me to try new things even outside of the food category. Let’s go Seniors! We are in the final stretch!

There are always things I am saying that I want to do once I finally have free time; however, I find that I always end up scrolling through my phone for hours on end or even just falling asleep. I figured that I could make a list for my blog this week, so that I can have something to hold myself accountable and maybe do something both relaxing and a little more productive than numbing my brain with random things on Instagram or Snapchat. So without further adieu, here is my spring break bucket list!

1. Deep clean my room: It has been pretty difficult to not throw clothes on my floor or leave office supplies all over my desk the past few weeks because of how school ramps up before Spring Break, so I would love to deep clean my room over break. This will allow me to have a clean space where I can both relax and do things that I enjoy without being stressed out by the fact that it looks like a tornado went through my living quarters. 

• Go shopping: I am getting really excited about the warmer weather and want to go shopping with my sisters or friends to buy some new clothes. After going to a private school for 8 years and wearing a uniform, it has been hard to build up an entire wardrobe from freshman to senior year. This is especially important since I will need enough clothes to take with me to go off to college next year. I mean it’s a good excuse to buy stuff, so I’m not complaining.  

• Watch TV Shows and Movies: I’ve been very deprived of sitting down for the sole purpose of watching a movie. Usually I just put something on in the background of doing school work or cleaning, but I never really get to pay attention and enjoy the movie itself. I’m planning on watching the Incredibles and Tangled. I also want to finish the 3rd season of Stranger Things (I’m a little late to the trend) before the 4th season comes out in the next few months. 

• Experiment with my Cricut Printer: I got one of the vinyl cut printers for Christmas and so far I’ve been able to personalize things like water bottles and make gifts for people that are super sentimental. I’m hoping to make a few more water bottles along with cards with the pen attachment. I love seeing how I can make so many different things with one tiny printer. I’m really looking forward to being creative on a project not related to school. 

• RUN: Outdoor track season starts right after break, so it is really important that I keep my training up. Some of my teammates are staying in town, so we are going to workout together to make it more fun. These practices usually end in some funny photos, which definitely has me excited. Some may dread having to keep up with a sport over break, but I personally find that it helps me stay on some sort of a schedule. Otherwise, I end up sleeping in until noon and feeling super groggy and unproductive. Plus it gives me an excuse to get Einstein’s bagels after, which is always a plus!

While I may be staying in Illinois for break, I definitely think I have my work cut out for me with all the things I want to do. Not to mention getting excited about all of the senior activities that are going to be flung at me sooner than I can imagine. I am so excited to make the most of this final Spring Break and year at North. It is definitely looking like it is going to be a blast! Happy Spring Break everyone! Stay safe and have fun!

For those of you who play a sport, you know what it’s like to have certain superstitions. Usually, it’s a certain granola bar you eat before a game or a lucky pair of socks, but I don’t think I’ve met an athlete that doesn’t have some sort of routine or superstition before a big competition. I know I definitely have my fair share of things I ALWAYS do the night before a track race. I realized that as my routine has changed throughout high school, so I thought I’d write about it for my blog this week. Here’s my night-before-a-race routine.

Team meeting: 

Obviously, we have the weekly team meeting where our coaches go over the meet schedule, what our goals are, and give some sort of inspirational speech; however, my favorite part of these meetings is what our team calls positive mental imagery. During this, we all lay on the floor in a comfortable position while one of the coaches reads through a guided visualization that rehearses the events in which we will compete. This helps us picture ourselves at our best so that we have something to turn back to during the race if something doesn’t go as planned. It allows us to slow down and remember all the hard work that we have put in, along with reminding ourselves that we are prepared to accomplish our targets and goals. I also love this part of the meeting because it forces me to slow down and remember all the things I have to be grateful for within the sport, even if things aren’t going one hundred percent my way.

Dinner:

Obviously after a long day of school and practice, I love coming home to, what we runners like to call, carbo-load (it’s basically just an excuse for us to eat a ton of pasta the night before a race so we have plenty of energy). This is where my specific routine begins. I always get spaghetti with parmesan-crusted chicken breast and a side of mac 

and cheese from Noodles and Company (by far the best pre-race meal out there. I highly recommend it). I usually eat this while watching some sort of Disney show or movie (if I don’t have homework to work on). I like something that’s light-hearted to help keep my nerves down.

Shower:

After some homework or TV, I like to take a warm shower to calm any nerves that I have. I usually listen to a playlist that has a bunch of throwback songs, so I can get excited for the race to come. 

Bed time:

Finally, I’ll pack all my stuff for the next day. This includes laying out my jersey, making sure my running shoes are packed, checking that all my spikes are screwed in correctly, and picking out what kind of braid I want to do in my hair the next morning. I have a hair tie with blue and orange ribbon on it that I have worn for every track and cross country race I have run in high school, which is definitely something I have to have before I race. Then, I head to bed and usually do a little more positive mental imagery to really solidify my vision for the next day to get ready for a good race!

Overall, I have come to love my pre-race routine as it helps keep me grounded and excited for an opportunity to push myself to accomplish new things, even if they make me nervous. Over the years, I have tweaked the routine to my liking, and I definitely plan on replicating it as I go onto compete in college. What are some of your athletic routines or superstitions before a competition?

How 2022 is going so far…

As we near the end of February, I  want to take some time to reflect on some of the amazing things that have taken place this year. While we are only 2 months in, I want to savor every last memory of my high school graduation year. With everything beginning to turn back to a state of normalcy, I still want to remember that everything is a gift so that I don’t take anything for granted. Without further ado, here is how my 2022 is going so far.

First up was a fun birthday celebration for my friend, Anna. We went to Chicago with one of our other 

friends for the night and had dinner at a nice restaurant that overlooked the city. It was really fun to dress up since we hadn’t really had the chance to this year. It was also amazing to see how Chicago looks at night because I had never actually been there when  it was dark. It was gorgeous and we got some super fun pictures! We also had some amazing donuts the following morning as well!

Moving on, track started and so far, I have had 2 meets. My friend Madeline and I love to take these funny headstand pictures after our races. This tradition started last season, so we thought we would bring it over to this year as well. I ran the 55 and 200 meter dashes at the first meet and the 400 meter dash at the second meet. I also long jumped at both. I was able to have a personal record in the 55 (7.84 seconds), which was around a tenth of a second faster than my previous time. This may not sound like a lot, but in sprint every last millisecond counts, so this was super exciting!

Another thing that was really awesome to take part in was the National Honor Society event that made valentines for all the staff at North. We made cards for each faculty member and tied small bags of candy to them as a little thank you for all the hard work the teachers, secretaries, and janitors do to keep our school running smoothly. We also did another event where NHS members could come and make origami figures that are put into lunches for senior citizens that can’t provide for themselves. It was super fun to get together with friends and other students to do something nice for the community, and I am definitely looking forward to more NHS events over the next few months.  

Finally, we had the senior fashion show. A bunch of businesses around the Chicago-land area allow nominated NNHS students to model their clothes in a fashion show that both honors the seniors and raises money for North through a raffle. I got to model the store, Peaches, which is a prom dress shop. My dress was a high-low mauve dress with a beaded top. It was so fun to wear! I also got to get my hair done in a fun up-do, with a bunch of other seniors. It was so fun to see how a small event like this can bring a senior class together. Everyone there was a leader of some sort of club or sport at North, so it was an amazing group of people to be around. 

I am super excited for all of the school activities that are to come with the end of the school year. I am excited to see what everyone is deciding to do with their future as they choose their next steps in education or the workforce. From what it looks like, 2022 is shaping up to be a pretty good year!

Edna St. Vincent Millay’s poem, “Still I will harvest beauty where it grows” suggests that 

beauty is not a superficial concept and can be found in everything if one just looks thoroughly enough.

First, Millay describes that she will “harvest beauty where it grows” giving off the impression that beauty is not a predisposed concept that only certain things possess, rather she presents the idea that it is always rooted somewhere just waiting to be watered so it can reveal itself like the seed of a plant waiting to grow from the ground. She personifies beauty within this metaphor through the word “grows” to show its plasticity and how it can be stretched across even the ugliest of concepts, whether one notices that beauty or not. The word “harvest” is implemented to express the value of beauty and the gain that the world receives from even the smallest of things like a plant blooming, one just has to learn to appreciate that value, just as a farmer finds value in their crops that are harvested for profit or gain. 

To further buttress this idea, the following line includes natural things that are usually connoted with less than beautiful ideas. The words of “colored fungus and the spotted fog” usually give off the impression of something disgusting or irritable to encounter. However, the illustrative diction, which can be seen through the words “colorful” and “spotted”,  used around fog and fungus shines a new light that passes through the ugly, external appearances of these objects in order to showcase their more inner beauties. The vibrant colors of the fungus that are usually considered unsettling become beautiful because they aren’t artificially produced and come from the ecosystems of the Earth. Moreover, the spottedness of the fog is not something that should be avoided or considered irritating, rather it should be embraced, as it is a beautiful result of the Earth’s processes that are not orchestrated or influenced by the human race. This line kickstarts a list of things that Millay proves are beautiful if you look past their initial appearance and consider the complexity of ideas like the biological processes behind said superficial, sometimes off-putting, appearance. 

Adding to that list, Millay once again brings up colors, this time ones that form on rotting food and appear in ditches filled with the mud. These aren’t things that are inherently thought to be beautiful; however, Millay brings them to light to prove that even some of the most repulsive commodities contain beauty, whether society chooses to look at it that way or not. This can be seen through the use of the word “Surprised” to describe the colors of litter and rotting food. The list of things not usually considered beautiful continues in Millay’s efforts when she breaks to the next line. She uses imagery to introduce the idea of “rainbows” filled with vibrant colors, before she jumps to the next line and uses that as leverage to make her readers realize that those beautiful characteristics can be found in unattractive concepts like oil spills and rust. This pulls her reader in by separating the ugly details with a line break only to spring it back in their face by bringing up something beautiful that can be seen within rusted metal or an oil filled ocean. Through these few lines, it is apparent that Millay enjoys pairing positively connotated words with ideas that are usually considered repulsive in order to prove that beauty lies within every thing if you just look past the superficial and literal concepts like rotting food or pollution. Once again she is driving home the idea that beauty can be found within those things, but if one simply looks past society’s standard for constant perfection and flawlessness in order for something to be considered beautiful. 

The next line takes a similar approach. It is a call out to pollution, and she says “…where half a city throws” (referring to tins and wrappers) in the same line that discusses rust and oil in order to explain how pollution spreads by the wind blowing man-made wrappers and tins all over cities. While considered to be trash and pollution by most people, Millay sees the various wrappers for their lively colors and the metal as something shiny amidst dull cities. Yet another example of beauty hiding within a less beautiful concept. 

Millay then returns to explaining the hidden beauty of nature. By continuing to rhyme words ending in “og”, it emphasizes the initial lethargic feeling that comes with talking about fog, bogs, logs, and frogs; however, Millay once again uses illustrative diction to with words like “oozy” and “emerald” to define a swamp covered in “green scum” or moss, but beneath the surface lies some sort of animals which can be seen through “a black pupil”. This is a subtle hiny at the fact that the beauty lies beneath the surface, and can be overlooked by anxious individuals that have no desire to dig deeper than a superficial layer, but when one takes the time to observe and dive into other ideas, they might just find something like a beautiful frog beneath that surface of moss. 

Millay continues to showcase the consistency of hidden beauty by fully personifying it in line 9 through the capitalization of the word “Her”. As a person lives in a house she claims that beauty “inhabits” the places of divers, or the ocean: a place where you only see it’s true beauty if you dive deeper than the surface to unlock entirely new ecosystems, creatures, and even new things that have yet to be explored. Then comes the sonnets shift where Millay calls on her own practices and how she attempts to see beauty everywhere. By explaining that she “Surmis[es] at all doors and [she] push[es] them all” she is referring to her ability to assume that everything has beauty without necessarily having societal evidence to back it up. She then criticizes her readers by complaining that they are “fearful of a creaking hinge”, which is another way of saying that people are too quick to judge when a concept is not completely perfect, and they cower at the smallest things like a creaky door, which gets in the way of their ability to see beauty in everything. The final three lines act as a call to action. Millay challenges her readers to “Turn back forever more” with those cowardly faces by directly referring to her reader by saying “Unguessed of you upon her gossamer shawl”. This aims to urge her reader to try to search for the beauty that has always been present in their lives, but is just waiting to be acknowledged and uncovered. 

While Millay’s poem is only a single stanza, it is packed with illustrative imagery, metaphors, and personification that showcase the true beauty of the Earth in both its natural and industrial aspects. It exposes the toxic ideas that constant perfection is needed in today’s society in order to classify something as beautiful, when in reality the only thing necessary for beauty is the thing being judged itself. Overall, Millay’s poetic choices prove that beauty is indeed in everything if one makes the small effort to peel back the superficial layers of a concept, be it a person or an object, to reveal its inner beauty. 

After a long overdue break from the chaos of assignments and finals, winter break felt like a breath of fresh air.  I had so much fun spending time with family and friends over the holidays and ringing in the New Year with all the people I love; however the once thought to be eternal two weeks quickly came to an end and all of the fun activities I did are almost a blur in my mind, so I thought I would do a little winter break recap. Here are some of my favorite and final moments of 2021! 

Christkindle Market:  My friends and I took a trip to the Christkindle market in Chicago a few days before Christmas! It was super fun to take the train and walk around the city with all the lights and just enjoy each other’s company outside of school! My favorite part was definitely all the fun pictures we took by the lake and Chicago River! It was the perfect way to start off break!

Gingerbread Villages: My cousins and I were able to get together for Christmas, and we had a Gingerbread making contest with my grandparents as the honorary judges. I recreated Whoville and the Grinch’s mountain with my cousin, Drew. It definitely took some creativity, especially since my other cousins managed to make a three part story with the remaining villages which explained the story of how the North Pole started, but nonetheless it was a very fun way to kick off Christmas!

New Year’s Celebration: My sisters and I stayed up until midnight on New Year’s Eve, so we could celebrate 2022! We had the basic party blowers and hats; however, my dad decided to take a more conventional approach by banging a wooden spoon and a pan together, which made endless amounts of obnoxious noise. Let’s just say we were all in bed by 12:10.

Running: This took place for the majority of winter break because I have been training for track season. I spent a lot of time lifting weights and trying out the new running shoes that I got for Christmas. I always love running over winter break because it gives me a chance to enjoy working out rather than being exhausted during practice after a long school day. I even ran on the track with my friend Anna on Christmas Eve. We obviously took the chance to listen to some of our favorite Christmas songs during the workout! It was a very fun and healthy way to celebrate the holidays!

While I’m going to miss the endless amount of time to sleep in, I am so excited to be back in school for my last semester at North. I am looking forward to track season and all the senior activities that are going to make this year one to remember. Air band, the Senior Variety show, Senior Celebration, Prom, and the track state meet are all definitely on my list of things to be excited for! Here’s to our last semester of being Huskies! Happy 2022 Seniors!

Well we’ve made it. The days we thought we would never come back in the midst of the college application season and the start of senior year, but here we are: finals week. As I look back on this semester, it has definitely been one of my favorites. My schedule was amazing. The teachers were awesome, and I made so many new friends. I felt that it almost went too fast, and I know that next semester is all going to be about the “last” of everything. These last six months have helped me learn so much in terms of how I want to go about my life, and it opened my eyes to the person that I could be, but there were also some things that I definitely would have changed if I could do it again. So without further ado, here is my first semester advice and lessons, brought to you by Snoopy.

My first piece of advice to an incoming senior would be to join clubs and activities! I learned that I absolutely love taking my personal passions and sharing them with other people. I participated in cross country, National Honor Society, Top Dawgs, and a few other things. I helped make videos on homeroom and finals to help other students as well. Staying involved helped me feel proud of what I am accomplishing at Naperville North. It also helped me realize that I need to cherish every opportunity given to me because I might not get it back, so join clubs, sports, theater. Anything that you love, just go for it! Let Naperville North give you its resources because trust me, this school is one in a million!

My next piece of advice would be to do your college research during the summer. I failed miserably at this and suffered the consequences. Senior year gets extremely busy really fast. One minute everything is calm and serene, and the next thing you know you have 15 assignments and application deadlines all on the same day. Not to mention trying to figure out what you want to study and where you want to continue your education next year, so my advice would be to not only research the schools that you want to apply to and visit over the summer, but fill out the common application with all the information you already know. This will help you TREMENDOUSLY because all you will have to worry about during school is the essays, which most of your English classes will help with. Planning ahead is the best thing you can do. Trust me on this one. You will save yourself a lot of overwhelming mental breakdowns if you do. Plus, it makes you excited about the possibilities that you are working towards!

Next, Snoopy says SLEEP. Obviously this is cliche, but I prioritized sleep this semester unlike any other year of high school, and it helped tremendously. I felt a lot happier and was able to really enjoy all of my classes, even if I had some extra stress from having to put off some assignments that I had wanted to complete early. This semester has taught me that sometimes going to sleep an hour earlier than normal is the best thing I can do for my mental and physical health, and it all worked out, so don’t be afraid to take a nap!

My last piece of advice is to reach for the stars. This is probably the biggest lesson I have learned, and one that I will not only take with me to next semester, but to college and beyond. Especially after Covid, it is important to remember that you only get high school once, so make it count. Go to the dances and activities with your friends, laugh in classes with your teachers, and most importantly, HAVE FUN. This semester has changed my perspective on school drastically. It is no longer just a place to learn, but a space where I can collaborate with other students that have just as much passion for certain things as I do. Whether that is having a laugh over drawing Snoopy all over the school, or competing in the Track and Field State Meet, this school has taught me to try new things, be outgoing, and work hard, so that I can achieve my goals. I am so excited for what next semester will bring, and I can’t wait to experience what North has to offer the senior class for our last semester here! Work hard, stay strong, and reach for the stars, Huskies!

 As I walked towards the Nequa Valley Track in 2nd grade, I had no idea that the camp I would attend everyday for that summer would change my life. I had always enjoyed racing and running with my sisters, cousins, and friends, and had always known that I had something in me saying I could keep running even when I was tired. What I didn’t know was that the sport of track and field would grow into one of my biggest passions. I discovered my love for finding ways to push past my limits, better myself, and interact with others that shared an interest, but in this process, I discovered that track is unlike any other sport because you were part of a team, but weren’t directly working together by passing around a ball or puck as other sports do. Little did I know this would be the biggest leadership lesson of my life up until this point.

         As I once did, you may be questioning how running is a team sport when only one individual is actually completing the task, and until I joined Naperville North’s track team, I did not find the answer to this question. When the word team is mentioned, I believe people often think of the saying “There is no ‘I’ in team,”, which points to how a group of individuals should be unified and not focused solely on one person; however, I feel that this saying can be misinterpreted because they often mistake this for needing everyone on a team to do things the exact same way, which forces a stereotype of how the team needs to be led and disciplined. On the contrary, Mr. Iverson, my coach in both track and cross country, always says “If the 79th person on the team is working to be the 78th, and the 78th is working to be the 77th et cetera, then we are all making each other better.”; therefore, there is indeed a level of individuality on teams because athletes have to push themselves, before they can begin to encourage others. One of the most common examples of this is during a race when a teammate is out in front of you. You see them working so hard to improve themselves, and that further ignites your determination to catch up to them, even with that immense mental and physical fatigue.

         After dedicating myself to this sport for almost 11 years, I am reflecting on the fact that this philosophy of pushing yourself in your own unique way to unify others not only applies to many other aspects of my life, but it is also the most effective form of leadership that I have come across. I discovered that when I work hard to do what I am passionate about, others follow, and this is exactly how I intend to lead the NNHS track team as a captain this year! I plan on continuing to use my passion to motivate and unify everyone; however, unity will not mean uniformity. This is yet another thing that I have come to love about track and field because it forces an athlete to bring in that level of individuality in order to make a unified team. After all, the sport involves numerous separate jumping, throwing, and running events. How much more assorted could a team sport be? 

This week marks the last, first day of my high school track career, and while I am blessed enough to have this passion take me into collegiate athletics, I plan on continuing to let the sport teach me bigger lessons in leadership, determination, and just pure grit because that is what will stick with me for a lifetime. 

Nequa Valley Track Camp

IHSA State Meet 2021

The months of November and December have to be my favorite time of the year. You have Thanksgiving with all the food and family get-togethers, and personally, I celebrate Christmas, which alludes to even more family gatherings and traditions. Last year almost all of these rituals were put on hold due to Covid, and if I’m being honest, I don’t really remember that specific holiday season very well, as a lot of the things that made it special were coming to me as a disappointment through their cancellations rather than a way to celebrate, so this week I thought I would talk about some of my favorite holiday activities that have become Fleury holiday trademarks. 

Let’s start with Thanksgiving!:

• Turkey Trot: As a member of the Naperville North Track and Cross Country teams, it only makes sense that I would enjoy running on Thanksgiving. I love doing this race with my friends, as we all love to dress up in silly costumes while getting in our workout for the day. I have also done this with my younger sister since she has started to run cross country in middle school. I don’t usually get to run with her, so this is a really fun experience for us!
• Dinner: My grandma never fails to make the best food on Thanksgiving. My personal favorite is stuffing, but she also makes sugar cookies in the shape of turkeys that are always a close second!
• Santa Buddies- Now I know there is a strict divide between people who start Christmas before and after Thanksgiving, but my family definitely starts decorating for Christmas before Thanksgiving. That being said, Christmas shopping is already a priority the second November starts, but since I have so many cousins, we do a big secret santa gift exchange. Thanksgiving is when everyone gets together and chooses their names. My family has come to call them Santa Buddies.  Let the shopping begin!

Now onto Christmas!:

• Decorations: This tradition has already started in my house! My mom decorates our house like a Hallmark movie every year, and it is one of my favorite things about the holiday season. It definitely helps me get through finals week since I have a pretty place to study that reminds me of winter break, which really ramps up the holiday spirit!
• Cousin Christmas Sleepover: This is a fairly new tradition. A couple years back, my cousin and I had the idea to have a big sleepover at my grandparents’ house a few days before Christmas, and the concept stuck. We always have it on December 22nd and all of my cousins come in from out of town! We love to bake and decorate cookies, watch all the classic holiday movies, and just enjoy being together. This year we might even have a scavenger hunt all over Naperville! 
• Christmas Morning Breakfast: My family always has cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning. This has been a tradition since I was born, and my younger sisters and I look forward to it every single year. I mean who doesn’t love a good cinnamon roll?

I can always count on the holidays to lift my mood and remind me of all the amazing people I have in my life. I love participating in all of the fun activities with my family and friends. Especially after being isolated from family for so long during the pandemic, this year is going to feel like a breath of fresh air. I would love to hear about some of your holiday traditions! It is always so fun to hear people talk about how their family celebrates! Let the holiday season begin!