Genuinely Giancarlo

Although some of you may argue with this, I'm not very good at making friends. I'm really awkward and often give off bad first impressions and so it's sometimes hard for me to get people to like me enough to call me a friend. Or at least I feel like it is. So when I walked into the first day of my physics class at the beginning of my junior year of high school, I was definitely not expecting to meet someone who would become my closest friend, and who would force me to say such a hard goodbye less than 24 months later. Allow me to introduce the one and only Jacob Angeletti. I met Jake on the second day of junior year but didn't really talk to him for a few weeks as I was trying to figure things out and get accustomed to a new school. For a while, the extent of our conversations would be me asking how to do a problem and Jake easily explaining it to me (physics was not an incredibly hard class for me, but any time I struggled I could count on Jake to help ...

As of yesterday, I can now call myself a high school graduate. It's been a wild bunch of years to get here, and I'm so grateful for all the things I was able to do along the way. If you didn't know, I had the opportunity to serve as the president of my senior class, and so that meant I had the privilege to give an address at my school's commencement ceremony. This was a really cool experience and it definitely made my graduation a lot more memorable for me. Since the graduation, I have been told by several people that they really enjoyed the speech I gave, and I'm grateful for their kind words. It really means the world to me not only that people listened, but gave me enough attention to enjoy what I had to say. I wish to share the speech here just in case anyone who didn't get to attend the ceremony would like to see it (or, I suppose, if there is anyone who would like to see it again). Thank you to everyone who has given me the kind compliments on the s...

Allow me to introduce you to one of my best friends. Her name is Kayla Miller. If you are not in the lucky group that gets to know Kayla, I simply have two words for you: I'm sorry. I'm sorry you don't get to experience the beauty that is Kayla Miller. I'm sorry you aren't afforded the opportunity to be inspired by her kindness and astonished by her love each and every day. I'm sorry you can't know just how sweet she is, even being sweeter than the delicious treats she'll deliver to people on the days that they need them. Without any sort of reservations or conditions, I can say that Kayla Miller is easily the nicest person I know, and probably the nicest person I will ever know. This is not hyperbole, this is fact. Kayla is always willing to help others even when it's insanely inconvenient for her. She's incredibly thoughtful, and always does good things even without any sort of provocation from an outside source. She is ferociously ...

Hey guys, it's been a while. I've been thinking a lot lately about the blog, and how I really really really suck at updating it. It's not that I don't have anything to write, it just hasn't really been flowing for me lately. Each time I try to write a post, I get stuck either because I don't know what to write about or the things that I want to say just aren't coming out right. Today, I'll just post everything I'm thinking without any care for how it sounds. Hope for the best. So... graduation is in 34 days. I'm not really freaking out, like I think it'll be fine and everything. Just another necessary step in life, right? What I'm actually a little worried about is the speech that I'm going to have to give. Really I've actually always thought it would be sick to speak at graduation and I'm excited to do it, but I'm just so worried I'm going to mess it up. I don't know what to say and I'm afraid the s...

A week ago, I was privileged to be in attendance as my high school's basketball team played in the state basketball championship for the second consecutive year. And for the second year in a row, I watched in absolute euphoria as we won the championship again, going back to back for our first time since the 1989-1990 seasons. What a time. As chants of "Back to back" rang out in the arena, I couldn't stop thinking about how great life was. I was on cloud nine, so happy that I got to take part in such a celebration. I kept thinking about how great it was that I go to school with so many incredible people, and that the memories I'm making during senior year are ones that make me the happiest person. I know that there are a lot of people who hate high school, who can't stand the people they go to school with, hate the stress that comes from everything, and dislike the drama that comes naturally when you throw a bunch of teenagers together. And I ge...

Dear friends, it is I. Yes, after all this time, I have returned to the blog. I hope you can forgive the absence, and know that I am really trying to post more. I've been really busy lately and the blog hasn't been my number one priority but fear not: more posts will be coming. Anyway. I bring you this post in a messy way because, like many things in my life right now, my thoughts aren't exactly the most organized things ever. I hope you'll bear with me as I try to straighten myself out through this keyboard I sit in front of. So let's begin. First up: THE END. In one hundred and twelve days, I will be sitting in the UCCU Event Center at Utah Valley University, not only attending but also conducting my high school graduation ceremony. It seems so weird to me that after all this time, the comforting consistency of public school will be in my life no more. Of course, I'm excited to graduate. It will surely be an exciting time and I can't wait to get out in...

For me, the beginning of each new year is always about reflection. What did I do last year? What made me happy? Sad? What do I want to do again? But the most important question I always ask myself about a recently-finished year is this: What did I learn this year? Of course, it wouldn't be very beneficial for me to try and go through and review every single fact, detail, or new bit of information that I picked up during the span of the last twelve months. Instead, I try and go through the biggest lessons I learned over the year and how they can help me be better in the coming year. In this post, I am going to try and get out the most important things that the year 2016 taught me. Hope it makes sense. Lesson 1: The path you ultimately take is different than the one you think you will (and that's okay) If you asked me on January 1st, 2016, to tell you how I imagined 2016 would go, I probably would have told you something that's not even close to how the year...