was, still is, and probably will be the best year of my life. I'm not saying that nothing bad happened that year- plenty had, but for me, it was a year of fun, memories, and changes. And the stuff that I regarded as bad at the time actually played a big part in shaping who I am today.

6th grade was a horrible school year for me. I got teased mercilessly by many girls for my boyish haircut and my wacky clothing that "nobody out of elementary school wore anymore." I thought that 1996 would be a very bad year...until things slowly got better for me. Summer vacation was a ton of fun. My cousin and best friend had slumber parties at my house, and this one time we got so hyped up on Surges that we literally spent all night long performing stunts jumping off of the top bunk of my futon bunk bed. We were somehow trying to be like the gymnasts on TV. I really loved watching Olympic gymnastics, and it was an awesome year to watch them in the Summer Olympics in Atlanta. I remember being at the height of happiness that whole summer, and was REALLY bummed out when 7th grade started. But thankfully, it was not to be another bad school year like I dreaded. I also got really into writing around this time. It started out as keeping mundane records of my daily adventures at school, but then turned into writing fiction. I wrote and wrote, filling up about 3 notebooks of just...stuff that was on my mind. Some were stories, some were just lists and quotes from people, and sometimes there were sketches and maps. It started out as just a way for me to feel better about myself, at least, in my imagination, if that makes any sense, but little did I know that that was a turning point in my entire life.

7th grade was an awesome year because I didn't get made fun of anymore. And at least if I did, the jibes usually came from a prepubescent boy whom I'd end up literally slapping and then they became good friends with me. I had discovered this year that I felt more comfortable around guys than with girls. While most of the girls my age were trying to flirt with and hook up with them, I was too busy trying to be like them, wearing baggy shirts that were untucked, skater shoes, no style whatsoever to my then-long-and-wavy hair, and always feeling obligated to outdo them in some dumb physical stunt. I think I took it a little too far, though, because I developed quite an ego- something that came from that year that I'm not too proud of. I was too young and inexperienced to realize that it was completely unfounded at that point.

Then, the Nintendo 64 and Super Mario 64 came out later that year, and although that did nothing to help my ego, it sure put me back into an emotional high. That game has inspired so many of my short stories, it's not even funny. My imagination ran wild, mixing video games with school and mixing fantasy with reality. I always had an overwhelming feeling that each day was going to get better and better, and I always had something to look forward to. Of course, that didn't last very long past that year, but it sure was a memorable year.