I decided to make my personal anthem about what is most important to me and that is

the things that have kept me going. I included people, but not all of them, that made me who I

am today and made my life enjoyable. I chose to add more videos than pictures because I feel

like a video captures a moment more than a picture. I take at least 5 videos/ pictures a day

because the smallest memory makes a big impact on me and I don’t want to forget them.

The song that I chose is All Night by Icona pop. This song brings me joy and somewhat

explains the way I feel about life now. Every time this song comes on I can’t help but smile and

dance and think back to all the memories I have when this song was playing. I chose the lyric

“We’ve always dreamed about this better life” because I have always dreamed of a better life,

one where I was finally happy and able to show my true self. I now have that life, it is not perfect

but it is what I have always wanted my teenage years to be and what I never thought it could be.

I went through so many obstacles to get here but all of those hard times helped create me the

most. The next lyric is “We’ve got the keys to open paradise.” This lyric means to me that I am

the one with the ability to make my dreams come true and find my “paradise”. I used to allow

others to control the way I live and act but then I realized that I would have never found my

“paradise” or happiness if I didn’t start to take control of my own life and show my real

personality. “We can smash the clock” is a lyric that I chose to show that I don’t let time stop me.

I do not stop to look at how slow or fast time is going, I just continue to live life as if tomorrow

could be my last day.The last lyric I chose is “With a love this deep, we don’t need no sleep” I

chose this part because I finally have all the love I need in my life in order to live life to the fullest

all day and all night. My best friend has made me feel the most loved because she always

makes sure to put my needs before hers and has helped me through my roughest times. She

has my personality so I feel like I can be myself around her without any judgment and when we

are with each other there is rarely a dull moment and we block out all of the negativity. We have

made other friends along the way and they come and go but they make me feel loved and alive

as well. I always thought I was not good enough to have friends and that no one would want to
be friends with me so seeing how many friends I have had and how much they care for me

makes me emotional and feel lucky. I also chose this lyric because I do not want to waste my life

by sleeping when I could continue to make more memories. I have finally found what makes my

life meaningful and just want to do it all night.

For my four quotes I chose ones that I keep in my mind everyday. The first quote is “God

has a plan. Trust it, live it, enjoy it.” I am not sure who this quote is written by, but I have had this

quote as my lock screen on my phone for about 2 years and can not get myself to change it

because it gives me security. Everyday I tell myself that my life is in God’s hands and whatever

happens in my life happens for a reason. I worry everyday about everything and keeping this in

mind helps me to live without worrying. My second quote is “live everyday like it is your last” I

know that this quote has been already created by someone but I say it to myself and others

everyday because I don’t want to not live life to the fullest because I would regret it. Keeping this

quote in mind allows me to realize that I should step out of my comfort zone and do the things

that I'm scared to do because it could be too late. This quote relates to my anthem because I

wanted to show through the videos that I put that there is rarely a dull moment with me and I try

my best to use my life wisely. The third quote I chose “growing old is mandatory, but growing up

is optional.” by Walt Disney is because I wanted to express how I have a childish personality

and the way I think about it. This quote explains my whole video because I used the video to

show my true personality that only the ones close to me get to see. Everyone always says that

my friend and I are immature because we goof around and have the personality of a kid but the

way we think about it is that life would not be fun if we were serious all the time. We are the type

of people to bring laughter and life to anyone who encounters us and anytime we are upset or

stressed out we use our childish personality to forget about it. We can still have a child's heart

but be mature adults when need be. The last quote I chose is “That which does not kill us

makes us stronger” by Friedrich Nietzsche because I have been through a lot of hard times in

my life that have made me very strong. I had heart surgery twice and was able to stay strong
during both of them even though there was the possibility that I wouldn’t make it out of surgery

and everyone considers me as strong and brave just knowing that I went through that. I believe

that yes, being brave during surgery has made me strong but what has made me the strongest

is my struggle with mental health. I struggle with severe anxiety and depression that has

impacted my life in many ways. When I was first diagnosed with it I was prescribed medication

and was finally able to not worry and be happy but then I decided to stop the medication

because I wanted to feel normal and not have to rely on medication. At first I was doing fine

without the medication and felt accomplished but later on I realized that the medication wasn’t

quite out of my system and it soon wore off. Everyday I overthink everything, especially my

health which affects my life immensely but I have come so far from what I was before and know

what things help and what does not. I did not include my mental health struggle into my video

because I do not want it to define me, I want people to see my joyful and wacky side. I believe

that I was given this struggle for a reason and that I am strong enough to win it without

medication which makes me extremely proud of myself.

In the end, I realized a lot about myself through this project. I knew these things about

myself but this project allowed me to appreciate myself more and figure out why I am on this

earth and those reasons are to live, be childish, enjoy everyday, make people laugh, dream and

not take things for granted. I loved this project because I have always wanted people to see this

side of me. Most people do get to see this side when I am with my best friend but when I am not

with her I am shy and in the shadows and that is the way everyone thinks of me. I was able to

show how far I have come from being a shy girl afraid to speak and having few friends to

someone who is finally able to enjoy life, not hide, share her laughter with her friends and be the

person she was always meant to be.