Genuinely Giancarlo

In less than twelve hours, I will have begun the final year of my high school experience. And I could not be more excited. I can't wait for all the football games. All the dances. All the funny experiences and wonderful memories. I can't wait for the new friends I'll make, and all the old ones I'll get closer with. I can't wait to go door-to-door in December, sacrificing my worthless sleep for the people that need my aid so much. I can't wait for the assemblies. I can't wait for the basketball games, defending our championship and getting so pumped in the process. And the best part? There are so many exciting things that I have not even thought about yet. Things that I don't even know are going to happen. In a way, all this excitement kind of freaks me out. But what really freaks me out? I never thought that my path would go this way. If you had asked me five years ago, I never could have guessed that I would be where I am now at this moment. I n...

I can't believe it's been a year. As I woke up on August 2, 2015, I became informed that one of my classmates, Stephany Villegas, had died the night before in a car accident . I felt confused, sympathetic, and deeply saddened by the news. It was kind of hard for me to process what had happened. "How could she just be... gone?" was the question I kept asking myself. This girl that I sat behind in my Spanish class was dead, and I would never see her again. In my life, I haven't had too many direct experiences with death. I mean, all four of my grandparents have passed away and I have known a few other people in my life that have died, but I consider myself very much spared from a lot of the pain that death brings. And so Stephany's passing was hard. It came out of nowhere and I didn't really understand how it had happened or how to react to it. But what made it harder was the fact that she was so close to me in age. One of the things that made my p...

Quick little blog post because I haven't written anything for a while. Annnnddddd... GO On Tuesday, I saw the movie "Finding Dory" for the first time. And the second time. Yes, I saw "Finding Dory" twice in one day. Sue me. Anyway, as I saw it for the second time, I noticed something that I hadn't seen the first time around. For those of you unfamiliar with the Finding Nemo/Finding Dory universe, the character Dory is a lovable regal tang (a distinctive type of blue and gold fish) with a dorky and humorous personality and a bad case of short-term memory loss. Yes, Dory forgets just about everything that comes to her. Throughout the movie, this short-term memory loss causes some problems, and it's actually one of the main dilemmas that Dory has to overcome. In fact, this issue becomes so present that Dory tells herself to "not be such a Dory" as she is trying to remember something important. Her lack of memory is so frustrating but al...

Last week, I sat in a large auditorium at Utah Valley University, looking on as my school's class of 2016 officially ended their high school careers in their graduation ceremony. I felt sad that they were leaving, but also very much excited for them as I realized that they would have the chance to go out into the world and take real control of their lives. I don't know what every member of the class of 2016 is planning on doing, but I know they have the potential to create incredible things. And so as I thought about the sad/exciting thing that is graduation, I couldn't help but wonder: is graduation an end or a beginning ? Conclusion: it's both. When the students walked out of the building with their diplomas in hand, their high school experience would be finished. Over. Done with. But so much is going to be starting so soon for them! College! Living on their own! A new path in life! Isn't that sweet? And so I kept thinking about endings, and beginnings,...

Tonight, I was informed that I have been chosen to serve as the Bingham High School's senior class president next year, and I could not be more thrilled. I am so grateful for the chance that I'll have to serve my school next year and be an influence for good in the atmosphere there. I'm so pumped for all the exciting things happening next year, and I can't wait to get going. The crazy thing is, this whole thing almost didn't happen. I almost didn't even run to be a class officer next year, and I'm so grateful for all the people who encouraged me to do so. Their words of kindness and motivation ultimately will change my life in so many ways, and I can't even express how thankful I am for that. The craziest part about this whole thing? I wasn't even a student at Bingham 365 days ago. A year ago, I was a student at West Jordan High School, contemplating the theoretical possibility of switching to Bingham High School. I never could have...

This week, I ran to be a student body officer at Bingham High School for the 2016-2017 school year. I didn't make it. The thing is, I wanted to be an SBO more than I have ever wanted anything else in my life. And while that may sound overly dramatic, I mean it with every ounce of my being. I had the most intense desire to serve as an SBO next year, and there are so many reasons why. I can't quite articulate how much serving in student government would mean to me. And I don't mean to write this post in hopes of pity or sympathy, because that's not who I am. I just really really really enjoy serving my school. But now I have a dilemma. To understand, you'll need some context. When I was in the seventh grade, I ran to be an SBO. I can't tell you why. I was a twelve year-old kid with few friends and no experience or even a basic understanding of what I was doing. But I really wanted to do it, so I went for it. I took a leap of faith, and I hoped for the best...

A little less than a year ago, I was faced with a decision. My family had just moved into a new house, and I honestly and genuinely enjoyed the experience of moving to a different place (granted, we had moved less than five miles, but it was a change). Unfortunately, this move had taken me away from where I was going to school, at West Jordan High. Not far enough to force an immediate switch, but far enough to consider moving to the much closer enigma that was Bingham High School at the start of the next school year. I was in a tough position. I loved West Jordan. I loved seeing all my friends each day and I was intensely attached to the familiarity that I felt there. But West Jordan was more than twice as far away as Bingham, and I needed to make a choice. Should I stay at WJ for the rest of my high school career, or should I take a chance by switching to Bingham and dive headfirst into something brand new, hoping for the best? I am not ashamed to admit that for a period of several...