Throughout the school year, I've written down my thoughts in my phone notes. As the semester draws to a close, I thought I'd share one of my more personal memos. This poem perfectly captures my experience throughout my first year of college, and the changes I have gone through.

I also extend this message to the world as a whole. Not only is this poem an ode to my internal transformations — but it is also a reflection of how the world has changed, and the changes we as humans will continue to make. I hope you enjoy reading my thoughts, and I wish you an amazing LDOC!

Sierra Jones

I'm not a girl anymore I'm all woman now

Even my body's different

Sure I've put on a couple of pounds

I'm stronger and I like it

Growing more and more decisive

But I can still rile up a crowd

My minds getting sharper, thought it'd be harder

The only thing getting harder is trying to pin me down

Whether it's a thought or a plan I'm hard to read, in my own head screaming

"I AM THE MAN"

I've gotten braver, bolder, dare I say wiser

I understand myself without my mother as the sole adviser

And it's funny looking back cuz I understand everything so much better

I understand everyone so much better

It's really beautiful

Growing older

Realizing this is the way things are

And here are the ways I can change them

I told my mom a few weeks ago It's like a growing and a shrinking

A death and a birth

A laugh and a curse

Like a Phoenix (I know, a Phoenix analogy? Lazy writing)

But that's the way it feels when you're so happy you're crying

You're so proud of yourself you can't even believe it

Like up until now I wasn't really a sentient being

It's this feeling

Of being a greater force in the world

Something not everyone can see but they can always feel

Like the great northern wind

Or the flap of a butterflies wing

Knowing that we are all connected

And we all have the same song to sing

Sprinkled with different harmonies

And yes there's been a little dissonance

But watch me now, I've found my stride

I've cleared some distance

And I know now that when a tree falls in a wood yes you can hear it

The whole world stops for a minute

You're caught up in it

Back and forth,

Slow and silent

And with all the violence

That grows so tiring

And with all the pain

You want to erase

And with all the people

You stumble to catch when they fall

And to all the damage we cause on this little floating ball

And at night you stay up thinking about it

All the things you can't change

All the ways you would raise your offspring into a new nation

All the things you have done and the limitless pool of potential you face

Do we all get our dreams from the same place?

Will we ever understand the human race?

Will I ever not be scared of outer space?

And I think, how have I survived all this weight, the force of gravity,

Why doesn't it show upon my face?

Then I remember the mantra I've repeated my whole life

You choose to be happy

You control your own "vibes"

You can only control your own actions

If there are shadows then there must be sun

If there is an end there is a point where it had begun

You must have hope to be hopeless

You cannot lose focus

You must press on

For the evil that will rise

And the good that will come

For all my friends

And all my enemies:

To live this life We all need a little more positive energy

- S.J.

Keep it cute!