Rachel Penick

Block 5
Mixtape Memoir

2007: Jump by Van Halen

2010: Party in the USA by Miley Cyrus

2014: Roar by Katy Perry

2016: My House by Flo Rida

2018: We are the Champtions by Queen

2019: Too Dang Young

 Jump by Van Halen
2007
My family goes to the river about 2-3 times a year. 2007 was the first year I ever got to go. I was
only 4 years old and I went with all of my older siblings and a few other families. I was the
youngest kid there so I kind of had to prove myself. Back in the day, I lived for candy. I would
sneak candy behind my parent’s backs. When we got to the river, there was a candy store there.
My dad let all of us get one candy a day. It was never enough for me though. So, the next day we
went out on the boat. We tubed down all of the way until we arrived at a bridge. Now, this bridge
was one that we have been jumping off of for years. It was a milestone for each kid to jump off.
My dad asked if I wanted to jump and I said yes. I walked up with my older sister who was about
10 at the time. When I got up there, I realized it was way too high up. I was regretting coming up
here. I contemplated jumping for a few minutes. I didn’t want to walk back down because the
rocks were really hot on my feet. But that jump looked pretty gnarly. My sister told me that if I
jumped, she would give me her candy from the candy store. It sounded like a deal to me, but it
was hard to get myself to jump off. Then, I heard a song coming from the boat, “Might as well
jump, go ahead and jump (jump)”. After hearing this, I leaped off the 25-foot bridge into the
beautiful river water. Everyone was so proud of me and they were cheering. To this day, I am the
youngest kid to jump off that bridge. Trust me, I don’t let people forget that.

Party in the USA

2010
When I was little, I spent a lot of time at my grandma’s house, hanging out with my cousins.
Every summer, my grandma would have all of us grandkids make a music video for our parents.
In 2010, we chose “Party in the USA” by Miley Cyrus. I loved filming this music video because
every 7-year-old likes to perform. My cousins were my best friends growing up. Any excuse to
go to grandma’s house, I would take it. I remember my cousins and I in the backyard and we
were all singing for the video. We were in a tight circle, all with our hands in the air. I was
squeezed in between people, but I didn’t care. My grandma was filming us from the porch. The
lyrics “yeah, it’s a party in the USA. Yeahhh it’s a party in the USA” came on. I felt so
connected to my cousins at this time and so free. I realized how lucky I was to have such a
loving family. After we finished filming and editing, my whole family came together in one
room. There was probably about 25 of us in my grandmas living room. We sat down and
watched the video. Everyone was laughing and smiling. To this day, I am so extremely grateful
for my large, tight-knit family. They are apart of some of my fondest memories from childhood.

Roar
2014
I have been playing soccer since I was 5. I have played for 4 different club teams at this point.
But, in 2014, I was at Albion. This was my second year at Albion, and I was really close with the
girls. We were in State Cup and we were super pumped because we had gotten past the first
round. Before each game in State Cup, we would listen to our hype song. We all got to the field
and suited up for the game. My friend had her speaker and so we listened to our usual music to
get us pumped. “Roar” came on and we were super pumped. We finished warming up and played
the game. We ended up winning in the last few minutes. We all ran and hugged each other. We
celebrated after the game by going to Souplantation. On our way to the restaurant, my friends
and I blasted Roar in the car. The lyrics came on “Cause I am a champion and you’re gonna hear
me roar, louder than a lion”. We were all singing in the car and I felt super close to them and also
super pumped about our win. This moment is so memorable for me because I consider this one
of my best wins of my career.
My House
2016
Every year since I was 4 we have been going to the river. Each year we would play some of the
popular songs for the time and one or two would end up being considered that years “river song”.
In 2016, that song was “My House” by Flo Rida. This was so memorable to me because this trip
was one of my favorites of all time. One of my favorite parts was when we went to a sand bar
and had a cool whip fight. This trip consisted of my family, and some of my cousins who were
our ages. We headed out around 4 pm on the houseboat to go down river. We packed dinner and
snacks for the boat, and we were on our way. Our houseboat had a deck and a slide and so we
would stop midway to jump off and swim. When we got to the sand bar, we dyed our cool whip
3 different colors and that was the start. We separated into 3 teams and it was on from there. The
fight started and colored cool whip was flying everywhere. I remember midway through the
fight, “My house” came on and it felt so right. The lyrics “Welcome to my house. Play that
music too loud” came on. We all stopped the fight and started dancing and singing. It was such a
cool moment and we could never recreate it.

We are the Champions

2018
My freshman year of high school, our high school soccer team made it to the CIF finals. When
we arrived at the field, we were so excited. We began our warmup and prepared for the game.
The game started and we were on top. We were winning 2-0. But the other team scored 2 goals
and we scored 1 more goal to make it 3-2. We then scored another goal to make it 4-2. Halftime
came around and we all got a break. But, about 5 minutes into the second half, I pulled my
hamstring. I could barely walk and so my coach pulled me off. They scored 2 more goals in the
second half to tied us up. I was so upset because the game was slipping away and there was
nothing, I could do about it. As the game came to a close, it was still 4-4. This meant that we
were going to have two 5-minute overtime halves. The overtime rules were that the game would
end either if the time ran out or if someone scored a goal (golden goal). I realized that I needed to
go into this game. I could recover from my injury after this game. But, if I sat out of this
overtime and we lost, I would regret it. So, I suited up and went into the game. A few minutes
into the overtime, we scored and took the CIF banner. They blasted “We are the Champions” on
the intercom, “We are the champions. We are the champions”. Everyone was hugging each other
and celebrating. This was one of the best days of my life.
 Too Dang Young
2019
I have known my best friends since elementary school. We went to the same school all
throughout our younger years. We were friends, but never best friends. We started to get close in
7th grade. After that, we were inseparable. Last spring break, sophomore year, my friend Sara got
her license. Maddie, Sara, Gillian and I went to Coronado to get food and then go to the beach.
After we got food, Sara drove us to the beach. We drove along the beach by Coronado with the
windows down. The lyrics came on “We were too dang young to know any better”. This is one
of the first moments I felt real freedom like I was finally becoming an adult. I felt so free and so
happy. I was free from school and from rules at this point. It was just my friends and I driving
along the coast. I will forever remember this moment as when I felt the freest. I am still best
friends with these girls. Even though we couldn’t go out during spring break this year, we have
made a lot of plans for summer.