My favorite aspect of Minecraft is the building. I absolutely love building in Minecraft as it lets me utilize my creativity in such a way I would never dream of in most circumstances. I’ve been playing Minecraft since I was around seven and as long as I can remember I have always loved building over anything else. I can still remember my first ever build on my old tablet in fact. It was a brown stained clay(now known as terracotta in-game) castle in a flat world. I don’t believe I added much else to the castle before starting the rest of my town in that world though. Of course, I was seven or eight so it really wasn’t a great build, but it was so special I can remember it even ten years later. I do know that once I lost that original tablet and got a new one, I immediately started another town with a castle. This one was emerald and was definitely a little bigger. I remember that town a lot better, I spent hours of every day just building on it with my cousins. Nowadays, a lot of times I tend to sketch out my build on paper a bit before I actually get started which allows me to see the build in more than one dimension. Even the Minecraft content I watch is largely about building. I watch Hermitcraft, a large server known for their out-of-this-world builders. There are times I really have teared up seeing the beautiful builds others can create, and I strive to build as well as they do one day. I truly believe building in Minecraft has helped shape my artistic abilities over all these years. Minecraft and the building you do while playing really hold a special place in my heart.

Taylor Swift’s music has helped me through a lot of hard times and has especially helped me this year in particular. I’ll go over multiple songs in this essay, including “Shake If Off,” and “Wildest Dreams.” If I had to choose a song from Taylor Swift’s hit album, 1989, to describe my year, it would be “Shake It Off” first and foremost. The song itself is about trying to stay unbothered about the setbacks in your life and doing your best to rise above them. I feel that I have definitely been faced with that challenge this year, be it with hard classes, mental health issues, among others. This song in particular out of Taylor songs has helped me remember that it will only be a small moment in my life and that I’ll be able to get past it. It has helped me get past letting others' opinions negatively affect me. This song really is inspirational and calming, and even despite the fact I can not relate to every lyric in the way they were written, I can relate to them on a deeper level that allows me to understand Taylor’s struggle as well as my own. Even with that though, I do relate to certain lyrics such as, “I stay out too late, got nothin’ in my brain.” Obviously that is a stereotype that many smart and confident women deal with, and it simply is not true. “Shake It Off” allows me to remember that these stereotypes don’t matter and that I should just let them roll off my shoulders. Another song that I say could help describe my year is “Wildest Dreams.” While this song is about a dwindling relationship, I think it can apply to many other things in one’s life. Especially in the first verse, the lyrics, “Let's get out of this town, drive out of the city, away from the crowds. I thought Heaven can't help me now. Nothing lasts forever, but this is gonna take me down,” feel very reminiscent of my life this year and the decisions regarding what I plan to do with my life and the stress that comes with it. While Taylor worries about her boyfriend not remembering her after their breakup, I worry about how my friends may forget me once I move out for college or university. Overall I think these two songs in particular summarize my year so far very well. They can easily sum up my stresses and worries and tell me how I should move past them. I love Taylor Swift and these songs are a perfect example as to why.