I know this might be common for many people, but I've always been shy around people since I was a kid. This made it difficult for me to make friends and adapt to new environments. I would eat lunch alone at school and cry. It reached the point where I wanted to switch schools. She always told me to try talking to them, but I couldn't. I was afraid that I'd be judged. My mom soon put me in therapy, where I could speak to a counselor about it. She was the sweetest woman ever. Every time we started or ended a session, she'd make me greet the staff. I hated it at the time because I wasn't used to it, but the more I kept doing it, the more I got out of my comfort zone. Thanks to her, I feel like I can do anything now.

As we all know, the pandemic was one of the most challenging times in 2020. For me, I lost a loved one that was battling coronavirus, pneumonia, and Alzheimer's. Alzheimer's is a dementia-related illness that can damage the brain. It can also affect the loved ones of those fighting the disease. I want to share with you how the illness affected me and my family and what we've learned from it. As a kid, my mom left me and my siblings at my great-grandmother's house while my mom went to work. Due to us getting older and being able to stay at home by ourselves, we stopped going over there. My mom explained how she was getting sick, so we decided to visit her. When I saw her then, I assumed her Alzheimer's was not severe. She recognized me after I hadn't seen her in a while. She made a happy facial expression like she was trying to smile, and I smiled back at her trying to communicate. I was grateful and glad she still recognized me. My other family members were there visiting her at the time as well. I observed how they communicated with her and her responses. Some tried asking her simple yes and no questions, and there was no response. She would stare at them. I don't think my family members understood that she had Alzheimer's because they were confused by her responses. It's saddening watching someone you've known your whole life start to forget their memory and how to do things independently. My grandmother was my great-grandmother's primary caregiver. She would pay her bills, help her do things like go to the bathroom, and ensure she was stocked on necessities. I could tell this took a toll on her because she was the only one caring for her, and it was hard seeing what her mom was going through. My grandmother also worked full-time, so she felt she had no help. This caused her to be admitted to the hospital due to high blood pressure, with stress being the primary cause. This negatively impacted me and my family because we were scared of the outcome. I felt like I was losing both my grandmothers simultaneously. I was mad and stressed that she was doing everything alone. My grandmother got better, but sadly my great-grandmother passed weeks later due to pneumonia that stemmed from coronavirus and Alzheimer's disease. What I've learned from this is that if you're dealing with a loved one with Alzheimer's disease, help them as much as possible. Only letting one person take care of them leads to the diminishing of their emotional and physical well-being. Everyone should work together to ensure the person is well cared for. We should call health professionals if the disease is difficult to deal with. A loved one fighting Alzheimer's is hard, but everything will be better when everyone comes together.

I was really obsessed with Barbie when I was a kid and I still am now. I used to have the Barbie Jeep Wrangler, a huge amount of barbie dolls, convertible cars for the dolls, some Barbie movies, a Barbie RV camper van, a Barbie vending machine closet for the dolls, and of course the iconic Barbie Dream House. I’ve always wanted my house to look like the Barbie Dream House and now I get to build my very own. My Barbie Dream House will be located in Malibu, California where Barbie usually resides. The house would be all shades of pink ranging from the lightest pastels to hottest pinks and it would be two story. The exterior of the house would consist of a long driveway with a water fountain in the front of the house. There would be palm trees leading up to the house on each side of the driveway. The outside walls of the house will be light pink with white outlining around the windows and the roof would be hot pink. The entry doors and garages would be hot pink, as well. The backyard would have a patio set with pink furniture a pool shaped like Barbie’s head, and a pink tennis court. The fences surrounding the house will be light pink. The interior portion of the house consists of 5 bed rooms including the main, a kitchen area, an indoor pool room, a gaming room, a kitchen, a living room, guest bathrooms, a room for my pets, and a photography studio. The inside of the house will be pink, as well. It would also have pink lights in certain areas and some plants. The main entry way will have a pink chandelier in the middle. To the right of the entry way will be a hall. One wall will have windows looking out the front of the house and the other wall will have different pictures of Barbie. In front of the entry way would be stairs leading up to the bedrooms, photography room and gaming room. Down stairs has the kitchen, living room, pet room and some guest bathrooms. The man bed room would have its own bathroom with a pink tub and a huge closet. This is my Dream House. It’s pink just like Barbie’s because I love the color pink and has many things I wish to see in my own Barbie Dream House. I hope you all are able to visual it.