About Me

        Health.  Family and Friends. School. These are a few things that are really important to me, Rachel, a tenth grader at GP South.  My hobbies and interests, as well as the people I love, make me who I am.  I began practicing yoga at the yoga shelter when I was in sixth grade, and it has become a real passion of mine.  At first I liked it just because of the physical benefits it provided.  Later in my practice, I am discovering it does great things for my mental being as well.  It helps me connect with myself, as well as the people around me, and achieve balance in all aspects of my life.

        As far as running goes, I joined the middle school track team with purely social intentions.  As it turns out, I caught a serious case of the running bug that I haven't been able to shake since.  Especially with the Cross Country team here at South, I have really found myself.  I love everything about it: the heat your body creates, the cleansing sweat.  I think it's amazing I'm able to go out in 20 degree weather without freezing to death because of the heat my body is creating.  The release it provides for me is : I tend to stress myself out uneccessarily about everything.  After a run, nothing seems like a big deal.  I feel as if I've discovered a secret weapon for life with both running and yoga. 

         In general, I am extremely interested in health and the human body. I'm that annoying person who reads the nutrition facts on everything I eat, and also making sure I love putsing around in the kitchen with my Aunt Mary (a former owner of a restaurant) and tweaking recipes to make them more nutritious.  I love, love, love food.  I can honestly say that there is not a single fruit or vegetable that I don't enjoy, and very few foods I won't eat.  I dream of being a dietician, or nutritionist, or something, that can help people discover the joy in cooking and healthy eating.

        Structure and organization is something most high schoolers don't care for.  I am definitely an exception.  As much as I love summer, I hate it at the same time because my day is not scheduled hour by hour.  This might seem strange, but it's just my nature.  I feel calmer when everything in my room is it's place.  I feel more secure when I have a schedule to follow.  I have exact places I have to be in the school year, and exact times I need to be there.  I like my room, my locker, my backpack, even my day, to be organized.  For some reason, it's comforting to me.

       My family and friends are another important, perhaps the most important, aspect of my life.  They have influenced me and shaped who I am.  I'm not extremely outgoing or social, but the people close to me are very close.  I'm not one to jump into a friendship, but prefer to get to know the person and slowly warm up to them.  I pride myself in the ability to maintain a friendship:  some of my best friends from elementary and middle school are still close to me now.  That said, I need to work on stepping out of my box and building my people skills.  I hope this year, my sophomore year of high school, I can improve on that!  Maybe blogging will be a helpful tool.