More Than A Stuffed Creature

An artifact from my past that holds a special meaning to me is a stuffed animal that was given to me by a friend from the sleep-away camp that I attend every year in Maine, Forest Acres. My closest friend while at camp presented me with this stuffed creature on my first day of my second year at camp to celebrate another fun summer together. 

I have been the proud owner of this creature, whom I dubbed Bubbles because of his bright cyan color and rounded appearance, for three years, since 2009. Bubbles symbolizes a unique bond between my friend and me. Even though we remain separated for the majority of the year, we maintain a constant contact and are extremely close. 

When she gave me Bubbles as a present, my friend cemented our friendship through a gift given in good faith, without expectation of reciprocation. To me, Bubbles’ meaning is that friendship is able to endure through long periods of time and can extend over long distances. Regardless of the fact that we had spent ten months apart after only meeting briefly, my friend was appreciative enough of my devotion to her that she bestowed a token of her affection to me.

 Before camp had started that second year, I had worried that the friendships I’d created my first year would have faded over time. Her gift cemented our friendship and reassured me that no amount of time of distance could drive us apart. I keep Bubbles to this day because he reminds me of the power of mutual respect and amicability. When I gaze upon his chubby face, I am brought back to the day when I was touched by the generosity of a still-new friend and reminded of our unbreakable bond.

My First Public Speech

Today in Personal Branding I had the opportunity to give my first formal public speech.  I had never given a public speech, besides small presentations of projects in elementary and middle school. I drew the topic randomly, and the topic I chose was "the three foods that you would eat forever". I decided on pizza, sandwiches, and ice cream because you can create many different flavors with the same ingredient base by adding different toppings.
Overall, I thought I did pretty well in my speech. I think I could have made more eye contact with the audience while I was speaking, and it felt like my speech was a bit too rushed and I could have taken my time with each word. However, I did stay on topic and I managed to meet the time requirements and complete all of the required elements, such as stating my name and grade, and saying 'thank you' at the end. Once I got started, giving the speech was easier than I thought it would be. I had anticipated feeling awkward and possibly freezing up while giving my speech. However, while talking, I started to feel less scared and more confident.
After reflecting on my topic with more time, I wish I had mentioned how ice cream, pizza, and sandwiches could all be considered 'healthy' foods. Ice cream can have nuts added for protein and fruit for nutrients and fiber. Pizza has tomato sauce, which is a fruit/vegetable depending on which way you look at it, and cheese, which has calcium. Sandwiches can have lettuce and tomato for a serving of vegetables, meats or peanut butter for protein, and cheese for calcium. It would have been interesting to twist three foods that people do not normally think of as 'healthy' into 'balanced' foods that incorporate many different food groups.

-Laura Cegarra

My Favorite Quote

A quote that holds a special meaning in my heart is this one, by a famous artist:

"The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls."
                    -Pablo Picasso

This quote is significant to me because it reminds me that art should be something to be enjoyed, an escape from the tediousness of day-to-day activities. When I am working on art, it is easy to get caught up in being "perfect" and forget all about the pure enjoyment of creating something and expressing yourself. This quote serves as a reminder to me that even great artists create art as a way to enjoy themselves, and I do not always need to take the process of creating art so seriously.

-Laura Cegarra