An Anniversary of Sorts
Yesterday, I turned eighteen years old.
Yes, I am now old enough to legally open a bank account, vote, and purchase dry ice, if I so desire.
Oh, the powers of adulthood.
But if any of you remember, something else very important besides my birth happened on October 20th. It was when I started my blog!
On October 20, 2015, I turned seventeen years old, and I started my blog, Genuinely Giancarlo. Throughout the past year, I've written many blog posts (although they have been less frequent recently - I apologize!) and the response has been nothing but positive. I didn't know exactly how things would turn out with this blog, but I discovered that a lot of people like it when you sit at a computer for a while, put your thoughts into written text, and publish them on the internet. Who knew?
So I don't know exactly what I want to say here. But I'm going to just write a whole bunch and hope that at least a little bit of it makes sense.
When I started this blog, I don't know exactly what I was looking for other than a simple platform to express myself. I just wanted a way to get my thoughts out of my head and share them with other people, so I had the idea to start a blog and I just kind of went for it.
And I think that's kind of been the most fun part about having this blog. It's something so different than anything else I've ever done, but it's also 100% me. It was just a random shot into a field that I had never taken a step into before, but it has been the most empowering thing because it is exactly what I want it to be. No one tells me what to do except myself, and that feels spectacular.
I'd say that the best part about this blog is the amazing amount of support I've received from it. It's honestly mind-blowing. Like I just assemble some words into sentences and some sentences into paragraphs and most of them don't even make any sense but I still have people tell me constantly that they enjoyed what I wrote. And I don't mean to be like "Oh look at my blog and how everyone loves it" but I'm just so appreciative that this crazy endeavor that I took up has the power to make other people happy.
So to every single person that has taken any sort of interest in my blog, I would just like to say: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. The support means more to me than anyone will ever know.
Yeah. It's crazy. My blog is one year old. So that's freaking rad.
But the past year has been pretty crazy in ways not involving this blog. So I'm going to take a second to recap everything from when I was seventeen, and then I'm going to write a little bit about the people in my life that mean the most to me. So here it goes.
Yes, I am now old enough to legally open a bank account, vote, and purchase dry ice, if I so desire.
Oh, the powers of adulthood.
But if any of you remember, something else very important besides my birth happened on October 20th. It was when I started my blog!
On October 20, 2015, I turned seventeen years old, and I started my blog, Genuinely Giancarlo. Throughout the past year, I've written many blog posts (although they have been less frequent recently - I apologize!) and the response has been nothing but positive. I didn't know exactly how things would turn out with this blog, but I discovered that a lot of people like it when you sit at a computer for a while, put your thoughts into written text, and publish them on the internet. Who knew?
So I don't know exactly what I want to say here. But I'm going to just write a whole bunch and hope that at least a little bit of it makes sense.
When I started this blog, I don't know exactly what I was looking for other than a simple platform to express myself. I just wanted a way to get my thoughts out of my head and share them with other people, so I had the idea to start a blog and I just kind of went for it.
And I think that's kind of been the most fun part about having this blog. It's something so different than anything else I've ever done, but it's also 100% me. It was just a random shot into a field that I had never taken a step into before, but it has been the most empowering thing because it is exactly what I want it to be. No one tells me what to do except myself, and that feels spectacular.
I'd say that the best part about this blog is the amazing amount of support I've received from it. It's honestly mind-blowing. Like I just assemble some words into sentences and some sentences into paragraphs and most of them don't even make any sense but I still have people tell me constantly that they enjoyed what I wrote. And I don't mean to be like "Oh look at my blog and how everyone loves it" but I'm just so appreciative that this crazy endeavor that I took up has the power to make other people happy.
So to every single person that has taken any sort of interest in my blog, I would just like to say: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. The support means more to me than anyone will ever know.
Yeah. It's crazy. My blog is one year old. So that's freaking rad.
But the past year has been pretty crazy in ways not involving this blog. So I'm going to take a second to recap everything from when I was seventeen, and then I'm going to write a little bit about the people in my life that mean the most to me. So here it goes.
17
Nine days after I turned 17, I concluded my first quarter at Bingham High School. It was weird and frustrating (and, in a way, kind of invigorating) to not really have a place at such a huge school, but it didn't take long for me to get to know people and make friends. It's so weird to think back and realize that a year ago, I didn't know most of the people that I consider my best friends now.
Last November, I had the chance to attend Bingham Ball, Bingham's fall girl's choice formal dance. It was a crazy fun time. A year later, I am now in charge of planning the next Bingham Ball, and it's so cool. I'm so hyped.
Also last November, I had the chance to go to Rice-Eccles Stadium at the University of Utah to watch my school's football team take on the Lone Peak Knights in the semifinal of the Utah 5A football tournament. We lost fairly badly, but I wasn't too angry; I just enjoyed the whole experience. At that point, I still didn't feel deeply connected to Bingham, so us losing was sad but not horrifically devastating to me. Right now, my reaction to such a result would probably be a little bit different, as I have been fully accepted into the Miner family and as I've grown to love my amazing school. But I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens this year.
Last December, I had the chance to participate in True Blue, Bingham's December fundraiser to help various charities and foundations within the community. Although I didn't participate as much as I should have (or as much as I will be participating this year) I am still grateful for the opportunity I had to help out and make a small difference. I can't wait to see what this year's True Blue will hold.
In Spring, I watched as Bingham's boy's basketball team took the state championship, and it was so sick. It was truly one of the happiest days of my life. Following the win, I wrote a blog post about it, and, well, that post got the best response of any post I've ever written. It has the most pageviews of any of my post (beating my next most popular post by more than 1,000 views) and my school's student body president quoted it in one of our assemblies. That post (State Champions, Heartbreak, and High School) made me realize that this blog had the power to actually make people connect in ways that I had never realized.
And that was sick. Oh man. It was amazing. Realizing that something I had written could make people feel better really changed my perspective on what this blog means. It was so cool.
Anyway. A short while after I wrote that post, I campaigned to be a student body officer for my school for the next year. I didn't even come close, which was frustrating, but I found that the path I was supposed to take was much better (at least for me). I was chosen to serve as Bingham's Senior Class President, and it's something that I am so grateful for. Even now, it's still hard for me to believe that I made it, but I'm so happy that it happened.
Then, summer came. Summer between junior and senior year was weird because it was all over the place. Sometimes I was camping with friends, searching desperately for matches that we didn't have. Sometimes I was at the high school, somehow preparing things for the coming school year. Sometimes I stayed in bed until 1:00 PM watching Netflix. It was such a fun time, and I made some memories that I will cherish forever.
Next up came the start of my senior year. It's been such a crazy ride so far, but I've been enjoying every single minute of it. I've gotten to meet so many people and do so many things and I am honestly just so happy with the way that life has been going.
And then suddenly, it was my birthday. I didn't have any fun plans, but the day turned out incredible anyway. For my eighteenth birthday, I got something I've never gotten before: a surprise party. And yes, I was pretty surprised.
It just... I don't know. There have been times in my life, even recently, when I have felt that I don't mean very much to people. People aren't ever rude or unkind to me, but I just always have this subconscious fear that no one truly enjoys my company and only socializes with me to be nice.
See, I am a very happy person, but I am also unbelievably insecure. I am almost always in a cheerful mood because I know that life is good and there is so much to be happy about. But then I think about what other people think about me, or I wonder if any girls will ever like me, or I ask myself if I'm actually a cool person, and I freak out because my opinion of myself is probably always more negative than it needs to be. I just constantly overthink the smallest things and it kills me. I am one big conflict; I am always happy until I start thinking about myself. And it's a quite discouraging position to be in.
But last night, there was none of that. I felt surrounded by people that genuinely loved and cared about me, and it meant so much. I was simply overwhelmed by the joy that I felt and the thought that Yes; these people really care about you. You really matter to them. I had so much fun, and I just felt insanely happy that these people that I didn't even know two years ago could come into my life and change it so much for the better.
And so last night, I was reminded once again that the people in my life are what make it amazing. My life is good in part because the people that are in it are so fantastic. And I'm so grateful. I did nothing to deserve the friends I have, but yet, they're there. And I can't imagine where I would be without them.
And so, my eighteenth birthday concluded with me watching the movie Hocus Pocus, wondering in amazement how I got lucky enough to have the friends I do.
I'd say it was a pretty good night.
I don't know what this next year will bring, but all I can say is that I'm excited to find out. Right now, I feel on top of the world, and I can't wait to get going.
Eighteen is going to be a dang good year.
It just... I don't know. There have been times in my life, even recently, when I have felt that I don't mean very much to people. People aren't ever rude or unkind to me, but I just always have this subconscious fear that no one truly enjoys my company and only socializes with me to be nice.
See, I am a very happy person, but I am also unbelievably insecure. I am almost always in a cheerful mood because I know that life is good and there is so much to be happy about. But then I think about what other people think about me, or I wonder if any girls will ever like me, or I ask myself if I'm actually a cool person, and I freak out because my opinion of myself is probably always more negative than it needs to be. I just constantly overthink the smallest things and it kills me. I am one big conflict; I am always happy until I start thinking about myself. And it's a quite discouraging position to be in.
But last night, there was none of that. I felt surrounded by people that genuinely loved and cared about me, and it meant so much. I was simply overwhelmed by the joy that I felt and the thought that Yes; these people really care about you. You really matter to them. I had so much fun, and I just felt insanely happy that these people that I didn't even know two years ago could come into my life and change it so much for the better.
And so last night, I was reminded once again that the people in my life are what make it amazing. My life is good in part because the people that are in it are so fantastic. And I'm so grateful. I did nothing to deserve the friends I have, but yet, they're there. And I can't imagine where I would be without them.
And so, my eighteenth birthday concluded with me watching the movie Hocus Pocus, wondering in amazement how I got lucky enough to have the friends I do.
I'd say it was a pretty good night.
I don't know what this next year will bring, but all I can say is that I'm excited to find out. Right now, I feel on top of the world, and I can't wait to get going.
Eighteen is going to be a dang good year.
