I have recently realized that I am completely obsessed with India.  The people, the history, the culture, the food, the music, the art, the languages, the relgions.  It is one of the most diverse countries in the world and I predict that its place in the world is about to become more important.  I also believe that part of my purpose in life is to go there.  And I plan to go there in the Peace Corps, or in an NGO(non-governmental organization).  Here's a general plan of how I see my life unfolding:  I plan to go to college, please don't ask me where yet, I am being accepted but still don't know for certain where I will go.  In college, there are a million things I want to study.  English, because I love to write.  Psychology, because human beings are fascinating.  Southern Asian Studies, because of my obsession with India.  International relations, because I have a growing intensity in politics, economics, and world understanding.  French, because I have studied the language for four years and it’s impossibly beautiful and will (hopefully) help me get into the Peace Corps.  I would also like to learn Hindi and Sanskrit, but there is a distinct lack of schools that offer such courses, go figure.  After I get my undergraduate degree, I can either choose to work, go into the Peace Corps, or go to graduate school.  For the Peace Corps, a undergraduate degree is not required, but 95% of PCVs(Peace Corps Volunteers) have their Bachelors.  If I have my English degree, I would very likely, if I even get accepted into the Peace Corps, be chosen to teach English as a second language.  The Peace Corps application is a rigorous one.  It requires nominations as well as many forms and essays.  It takes a long time and not many people are accepted.   On the forms, the applicant may choose three places he would like to spend 27 months of his life.  But that does not mean that he will necessarily go there.  PCVs are sent where they are needed and there is a lot of trust on the part of the applicant that he will do well wherever he goes.  At this moment in time, my three choices would be India, (Tibet), and Nepal.  Tibet is in parentheses because it is no longer in existence.  Tibet was a pacifist nation that was invaded by communist China.  Many Tibetans were killed because they refused, due to their religion, to retaliate. Many more Tibetans fled into India, where they are currently refugees, and the Dali Lama is among them.  Still today, Tibetans are under persecution at the hands of the Chinese.  The flag of Tibet is banned, displaying the flag or proclaiming “Free Tibet” is punished by death.  On my car I have the “Free Tibet” sticker because a) I find it to be an extreme act of cowardice to attack a pacivist nation and to continue persecutions and b) also as a testament to my freedoms as an American, to say, think, and believe what I will, free of persecution.  Anyway, I would like to work with the Tibetan refugees in India, because of the immense respect I have for those people.

For our Junior prom, my friend John and I dressed entirely in duct tape attire.   For the sake of time, John and I covered an old thift store suit and dress in red and black duct tape.   Everything from my mask, necklace, bag and shoes were made of duct tape.  The whole project took several rolls of duct tape.  John's outfit took longer because of the number of pieces he had to cover as well as the flame detail that he put on the vest.  My dress only took about 4 hours to make, but I spent a lot of time on the accessories.  I made my corsage and John's boutonniere out of duct tape and instead of obtrusive pins to stick them to our clothes, we used tape!  Also, my shawl is made of both duct tape and  aluminum foil (very hot, like a baked potato) and my earings were made of foil as well.  Before the prom, John and I, dressed to the nines, went to ACE hardware, where we had  bought the duct tape.  The manager asked us questions and was so excited that he took our picture and gave us free duct tape.  Walking around in outfits like that is a lot of fun.  I felt(and according to my friends looked) like super hero and everyone pointed, stared, and asked questions.  And yes, everyone wanted to touch it.   Spending $40 on duct tape sure beats $300 on a boring dress that someone else might wear!