User blog comment:Aquamarinesandopals/happy thanksgiving!/@comment-33964026-20181126025140

This year has been so meaningful, and i've grown so much as a person - The year kinda started on a decent note: I won a competitive forensics tournament (speech and debate), in a few different categories. I made some great friendships with people over at the Monster High Fandom Wiki. It felt like i was on top of the world. But everything went down hill - drama, and depression hit home. Which really messed me up mentally - this was both online and in real life - people stabbing me in the back, and me stabbing back equally as hard. The roller coaster of events was all over the place in the first few months. I finally left online for a few weeks - and went to the National speech and debate tournament - where i was almost assured to win my event. Well, i didn't win - which was defistating. (and in California, i stayed in my hotel room for hours, because i couldn't believe it). Long story short, i didn't get a tan - and flew home feeling totally broken. When i got back shit got worse, i split from one of my internet friends, and we stopped talking. Someone who i had confided my trust in.

I was so grateful for summer, since i left home and lived in another state for two months. Away from the internet (Mostly) and away from online drama. When i got back, i tried to make amends with that friend, which worked. Then the speech and debate season started back up - i'm in a club where i'm legit hated, even though i have been in the group the longest, and am the oldest. But am still treated like dirty, presumably because i didn't live up to the standards of my team at the national tournament. To put things in perspective, no one from our club has won a full even at nationals, for about twenty years. Then i found out my dad was being sued from a previous job, for doing nothing wrong. Which eventually fell through - but it was serious, i would have lost all the money my parents had saved to help pay for college, we would have lost our home, etc. Everything. It has been a hard year, honestly i wouldn't have changed anything about it. (well, maybe i would have changed the fact that i didn't win Nationals) but each issue was a particular battle. And i overcame all of these battles, which helped me grow as a person, and appreciate those around me, that i knew would always have my back. So overall i'm thankful for all the great moments, and the hard times as well - because without them or the people that have stood by me, i wouldn't be the person i am today.