My TeenPact Experience, Part 3

I learn a lot when TeenPact rolls around.  The alumni track was really good this year.  The American Criminal Justice System is much more interesting than you'd think.  I had to write a 1,500-word essay about it, after all!  In the time it took me to research and write up my essay, entitled "How To Reform The American Criminal Justice System," I consumed loads of facts, stories and statistics.  I don't know when I'll ever again have to talk to someone about the 2.2 million people currently in prison, but if I do, I'll have lots of facts to back me up!

Our PD this year was, in a word, amazing.  He could play Devil's Advocate like nobody's business.  He asked questions that made us think about our opinions and why we believed in them.  "Not that your ideas are wrong, but you want to be able to back them up if someone asks you the why behind them." He said.  I still wonder if he put forth some of his own opinions when he played Devil's Advocate though. ;)

One of the things that has impacted me the most about TeenPact this year was how real I was.  I was more open with the people in my Rendezvous group.  And I'm not open with people.  But this year, when the staffers in my group asked about anything we needed to get off our chests, I didn't feel like staying quiet.  I didn't want to hide behind a mask anymore.  I didn't want to worry about whether or not one of them would judge me.  I didn't want to bother with hiding.  So, I opened up a little and found that one of the girls I know empathized with me...she knew exactly what I was going through.

When I got out of General elections, even though I didn't win, I had no regrets.  I didn't regret coming up with a dumb agrarian slogan, didn't regret trying to make people like me, didn't regret making a fool of myself, didn't regret putting on a lot of masks for everyone, didn't regret losing in the primaries.  Because I didn't have to.  Things were different this year.  I was different this year.  I had a great slogan courtesy of my Mom (thanks, Mom!), met lots of new people by just being myself, found that I had a lot more in common with some people than I'd originally thought, and got into the General elections.  And I didn't regret anything I'd done at TeenPact this year.

I made it my mission during TeenPact week to be myself.  Truth is, sometimes I don't know who that is.  But I believe TeenPact, its staffers, its program directors and its students have helped me learn day by day, week by week a little bit more about who I am.

And who knows?  Maybe next year, I'll be a senator.

Have you been to TeenPact?  Tell me in the comments section about how TP has shaped who you are!

I hope you enjoy this series of posts about my experiences at TeenPact!  Thanks for reading!

Other Parts Of This Series:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 4

My TeenPact Experience, Part 2

Hey, y'all!  Hope you enjoyed my previous post in this series!  Here's Part 2!

I knew a lot of the students this year.  Some of them were staffers now.  I smiled, shook their hands, gave them hugs if I knew them well enough.  Our PD seemed familiar to me.  Turns out, through a slightly awkward conversation, I realized I'd seen him on TeenPact Memes.  He's famous there, I guess. ;)

After catching up with my TeenPact buddies, I met a few new people...Most of them were first-timers.  I told them that, if they liked the first year, the Alumni Track would be even more fun.

I spent months writing up my essay (the previous year, you had to write two 500-word essays on interventionism.  This year, it was one 1,500 word essay on the American Criminal Justice System), planning my bill topic, and coming up with the slogan.  No more dumb agrarian slogan.  This year, I'd be myself.  This would be my slogan.  Well, not quite because...

See, every student knows Taw's name.  So, they also know that I'm his little sister.  If I had a dollar for every time I met a student or staffer who said, "Hey, you must be Taw's little sister!"  I can't tell you how rich I'd be.  But connections are good.  Especially when you have a big brother who's been elected to every position.

So, this year, my slogan was "Vote For Me.  I'm Taw's Little Sister!"  Yup, that was my slogan.  I loved it.  It was funny because everyone knew who Taw was.  And, oh, the laughs I got when I said it!  A candidate standing next to me when we were in the primaries liked it a lot.  Every time after that, when we started talking to each other, he'd say "Vote for me.  I'm Taw's little sister!"  And I laughed too.  Pretty good slogan compared to my agrarian tree hugger slogan two years before.

Primaries...Students nominate others and/or themselves.  Every candidate in your party stands in a line.  You all get asked questions, like "What would you do (selfishly...no giving it to charity) with a million dollars?"  And then you get really deep questions, like "What kind of fish would you be and why?"

I said I'd be the humuhumunukunukuāpua'a.  More laughing (mind you, I was laughing too).  One of my friends, a staffer, exclaimed, "Say that again!"  One of the students said, "I can't fit that many syllables into my mouth!"  Ah, it was a good feeling.  Being myself and loving it.  It's nice to have a good laugh with everyone when you say you'd like to be the Hawaiian state fish. And humuhumunukunukuāpua'a sounds so much more impressive than simply saying Reef Triggerfish. :D

Another part of being myself was reassuring other students - first-timers and alumni alike - that they should run, or that they'd do great, or that it'd be lots of fun.  I like to focus on helping other people feel comfortable, especially when I'm feeling just the same.  Those butterflies I told you about in my previous post?  Well, I'm not the only one who gets them.  One girl, she got elected Senator.  She sat next to me the last day, fretting about her speech, telling me she'd probably make a mistake, or just stand there and freeze.  I told her she'd do great, that I knew she would.  She gave a little laugh and said she'd totally campaign for me next year - do anything to help me out since she didn't want to run again.  She delivered her speech, and sat down next to me, breathing out a sigh.  I complimented her and she grinned.  I like that feeling of making people feel good about themselves.

So, as you can probably guess, I didn't get elected this year either.  But there's something I have to tell you.  For the first time as a TeenPacter, I got voted out of the primaries!  I made it to the General elections!  I was so, so happy!  I could hardly believe it.  I finally got to stand where my friends - and big brother - had stood.  I got to answer questions about which donut I'd be, and what our party stance was!  And there I was, more content than I'd ever been at TeenPact, standing in front of all the other students.  Lined up with all the other Senatorial candidates, answering every question with a huge smile on my face.

And, yeah, the other students laughed with me when I announced my slogan.

Have you been to TeenPact?  Did you get into the elections?  Tell me about your TP experience in the comments below!  

I hope you enjoy this series of posts about my experiences at TeenPact!  Thanks for reading!

Other Parts Of This Series:
Part 1
Part 3
Part 4

My TeenPact Experience, Part 1

Hey, y'all!  Hope you've enjoyed Memorial Weekend.  It's nice to see that over the decades, people still care about remembering America's soldiers.

This past week, I've been having a "missing the memories" time of it.  Basically, that means I remember something and feel sad about it...in a good way.  For the past few days, that something has been TeenPact.

I love everything about TeenPact except Sine Die (saɪnɪ daɪɪ - Latin, lit. End of the end.  The end of TPLeg).  So today, I'm taking that happy-sad memory of my week at TeenPact and turning it into a post. :)

TeenPact is rather, um, difficult to describe.  It's a Christian government class for teens.  You write bills, run in elections, hold a mock legislature (where you debate bills), listen to speakers, and debate stances on a subject in the Alumni Track.  And it's...it's...fun.  Person who has never attended TeenPact: "Are you kidding me?  How is that fun?  Don't take this personally, but is there something wrong with you?"

I've met kids who have attended TeenPact for years, and they've said their parents literally dragged them to the class their first year.  They just plain didn't want to go.  Four days of government stuff just didn't sound fun.  And afterwards?  They begged to come back the next year!  Hmmm, guess they actually enjoyed this government stuff.

I've never had that kind of story...My big brother, Taw, started attending the classes with his buddies who had been going for a long time.  So, naturally, I was more than excited when I was able to attend.  My first year at the Four-Day class (the One-Day is less intense, but it did prepare me for the new experience of the Four-Day), I was nervous beyond words!  I was excited, but there were butterflies in my stomach that didn't go away.  Actually, they've never gone away.  Every year, when I get up and stand in line, waiting to read my bill, those butterflies come back.  I choke and smile at the other kids standing beside me, wondering if they have those butterflies too.

Besides the butterflies that never leave, I had a crazy first year!  I was one of the new ones at the Four-Day class, so I didn't know how to "play the game."  Yes, there's a "game" of sorts at TeenPact.  The game consists of a lot of inside jokes and "cheating without cheating" of the rules, like where some students (including your big brother!) decide to pull off a "speak con on your bill" thing.  I still cringe when I remember saying "no" to my brother when he asked to "speak con."  All the alumni kids gasped, some chuckled.  Turns out he'd played the game.  Many times, the students speak con to help you (and the other students) out.  To get your bill passed.  They obey the TP rules, but when they get to the well, they joke about how "awful" this bill is for the environment, how this could never in a million years help anyone...Sounds painful, but they say it in the funniest voice, and you know they're not serious.  They're okay with your bill.  They want to help you out.  So they joke their way through speaking con.  And if they're serious about speaking con, that's okay.  At least you're one step closer to getting your bill through TPLeg.

So, I was one of the new ones.  I learned my way through the "game" (I still ended up crying a little that night after Night Class...I was sad that I hadn't known about the game before I'd said no to my own brother!) that week, and decided to run in the primaries.

Primaries are crazy things at TeenPact.  In preparation for the General elections, people create T-shirts, make posters, give out candy (mostly Starbursts and Hershey Kisses), and pass out business cards.  You never know who voted for you, just whether or not you got into the General elections or not.  My first and second year, I tried to be liked.  I wanted everybody to like me.  To me, it seemed like everyone loved Taw.  He'd been elected to every position: Governor, senator, clerk, chairman.  Man, one year he and another former Governor ran a smear campaign against themselves just so a First-Timer could win!  That was a hilarious election.

But anyway, I'd wanted to be liked.  I didn't want to be one of "those kids" who was weird and had a funny laugh and found pleasure in calling "Point Of Order" whenever I pleased.  I wanted to be like Taw.  Liked by everyone.  So I tried to be Taw.  I tried to make funny jokes that everyone laughed at.  Tried to be witty and extroverted.  Problem is, I'm severely introverted.  I can fake extrovert for a long time, but eventually I'll go back to my corner and die inside because I peopled "too much" for one day.  And I can't make up a joke on my own to save my life.  I'm funny on accident.

So, I wasn't myself.  I tried so hard to be my big brother because he was popular and smart and funny and just plain awesome.  And I wasn't myself anymore.  I felt like I wasn't good enough if I tried to be myself.  No one would want to hang out with, much less vote for, a shy, introverted, awkward, not-funny-at-all girl, right?  I made up a "funny" (dumb, actually) slogan in the agrarian party because Taw is funny, so I should be too.  I lost in the primaries that year.  Tried again the next year.  This time, I was a bit more me.  Way better than trying to be Taw.

I lost in the primaries that year too.  But I felt better.  I still wished I was in General elections, but my best friends (including my big brother, naturally) were in General elections, so I was really excited for them.  But there was still that nagging feeling inside me that I hadn't tried hard enough, that I wasn't good enough, that I'd tried to be the best I could be and had failed again.  I didn't want to be myself because no one would want me, like me, vote for me, befriend me.  I got caught up in the popularity of it all, the desire to be identical to my big brother.

But this year?  This year I made myself promise to totally be myself.  The real me.  Not the fake me.  The different, shy, introverted, not-funny, awkward girl with the awesome big brother was going to TeenPact.

Have you been to TeenPact?  Tell me what you liked most about your TP experience in the comments below!  

I hope you enjoy this series of posts about my experiences at TeenPact!  Thanks for reading!
Happy Memorial Day!

Other Parts Of This Series:
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

Teen Photographer E-Magazine

Hey, y'all!  Today I'm posting to tell you about my brand new, FREE e-magazine on the Diverse Reflections store!

I've been a photographer since I was 9 years old, and last January I turned my hobby into a business at Diverse Reflections Photography.  Through the years, I've learned many things as a self-taught photographer.  Just recently, however, I got the idea from my Mom to start an e-magazine for young photographers like me.  So, for the past few months, I've been busily working on creating and launching Teen Photographer.

April Issue of Teen Photographer.

Teen Photographer is designed to teach and encourage beginning photographers and inspire photographers who are intermediate and beyond!  Inside, you'll find stories, tips and gear guides to help you on your photography journey.  I'm so excited to launch this new e-magazine, and I hope you'll check it out!

Issues of Teen Photographer are FREE, so check out the Diverse Reflections store for your free download.  Each issue will be free for a limited time though, so don't wait!

Have a lovely day, y'all!

Update (4/30/16)

Hey, y'all!  Hope your April has been fantastic!  Here is a short update from me. :)

I can't believe April has gone by so fast!  We had some nice rain, so that was very nice.

Since my last update, I've finished my portrait montage, and have started a few other new portraits - Sherlock and Moriarty from BBC's Sherlock, Lauren Daigle, and Tom Baker as the 4th regeneration in Doctor Who (He is my favorite regeneration.).  The finished montage is below.

I'm really excited about how much my art has improved over the past few years that I've been drawing portraits.  Below is a photo I posted on Instagram of some of the portraits I've drawn through those years.

L to R: Rose Tyler and Tenth Doctor, Lecrae, NF, Angel montage.

So, yeah, I've definitely improved!  I'm still really proud of my portrait of NF, just because I hadn't done any drawing in quite some time then, and that one had turned out better than anything I'd ever drawn before.  Drawing hair is still quite a challenge, but I think that's getting a little easier as I practice.  But I think David Tennant would be disgraced if he ever saw my rendition of his hair. ;)

Aside from art...

I'm going to have another sibling!!!  I am so, so excited!  Baby Ten is due this Fall.  Mom wanted me to crochet a baby blanket for #10, so I've started that.  It's a blanket composed of many Granny Triangles, and is very easy to work up.  I found the pattern HERE.  We chose a Fall color scheme for the yarn (I'm using Lion Brand yarn for this project.).

I've released a brand NEW e-magazine on the DiverseReflections Store, so hop on over and check it out - it's a FREE download!

I attended TeenPact again this year, and it was super fun!  This year's Alumni track was probably my favorite so far - The American criminal justice system.  Also, I got to meet the TeenPact-meme-famous PD, Elijah Knapp, who very nearly became the King of our state (the state would have been a constitutional monarchy). ;)  Awesome guy - my favorite PD so far!

Also, I met a young lady at the Church we've found in our new town, so I'm hoping that it will be the start of a new friendship - I have so much trouble finding friends sometimes.  Most of the people I know here are from the Deaf community, so I'm definitely learning more Sign, which is fantastic!

Well, that's about it for now!  I'll be updating again soon, so keep checking back and subscribe so you'll never miss a post.  Check out my photography business and blog, Diverse Reflections Photography too!

Have a lovely last day of April!

Book Review ~ Surprise at Yorktown

Hey, everyone!  I'm so excited to share my review for the 15th book in Adventures In Odyssey's Imagination Station series: Surprise At Yorktown.

Surprise At Yorktown is set in the Revolutionary War in 1781.  Cousins Beth and Patrick are on a quest in the Imagination Station, and find themselves on a dangerous mission to warn General George Washington of the British general's plan to win the war.  They question who to trust as they rush to save the country from the British.

As with all the books in the Imagination Station series, I found this book interesting, humorous and fast-paced.  Everything is so well-described so that you can almost see and feel the story around you.  In every AIO book, there is a secret word puzzle, and the answer can be used to win a prize.  The puzzles are easy and fun to complete, and many involve remembering parts of the book to decode them.

My siblings who also read the book said it was "pretty funny" and "historical," although my little sister said that it wasn't as good as the previous books.  I like that the book created some suspense with one of the characters.  James Armistead, a shadowy man who constantly crosses paths with Beth and Patrick, continues to confuse them.  Can they trust him, or is he a spy for the British?  This is one of the suspenseful questions that led me to continue turning the pages of Surprise At Yorktown until, finally, the truth was revealed.

Surprise At Yorktown was a fun read, and I believe any child who reads it will think so too!

(I received this book from Tyndale House Publishers in exchange for my honest review.)

My Long-Forgotten Update

Hey, everybody.  I'm a bit embarrassed due to the fact that my last entry was just before New Years 2015, and it is now New Years 2016.  Time flies and life happens, I guess.  But, I'm back and I have some big news to share with you all!

To start things off, I have a new photography blog - Diverse Reflections Photography.

In the months before my last post, I'd noticed The Godly Photographer had slowly grown from the first tiny posts with no more than a captioned photo into longer posts that weren't limited to photography.  I've become a Tyndale House book reviewer, Compassion International blogger, and storyteller on this blog.  Anyway, I decided that I wanted to take my photography to a new level, and in order to do that, I felt the need to create a new blog solely for photography, Diverse Reflections.
However, I found that I missed having a blog where I could share my thoughts and review books and just write about whatever without worrying if it sounded professional.  It's kinda nice having a place to write freely, you know?
So, have no fear, I will (hopefully) continue writing on this blog while still building up Diverse Reflections.  But, I probably won't have quite as many photos posted here, so check out Diverse Reflections for my really good shots.  :)

Also, I have a little sister!  As some of you may know, it's been a long, long time since there's been a baby girl in our house (and there have been lots of baby boys), but the wait is finally over!  Azzy and I just shared a birthday...did I mention she was born on my birthday?...and we're preparing for a Birthday Girls photoshoot.  I've already planned out our future birthdays (i.e., making the waiters at restaurant sing Happy Birthday twice, and give us two separate desserts - we can share one, and the family can share another ;) ).  Ooh, it's so surreal having a little girl in the house!!!

And we've moved...again.  We move a lot.  I've gotten (sort of) used to living where we are, but there's not a day that goes by that I don't think of the best friend I had to leave.  Paprika, you are awesome! ;) ♥♥♥
In the months since we've moved, I've joined a fun group at Starbucks where Deaf people meet (I'm super interested in Deaf Culture, and hope to become a Deaf Interpreter).  I'm excited about where this will take me.  I've also volunteered at a Deaf children's camp, and have met a few interpreters who have given me advice for when I go on to College for interpreting.

Oh!  I'm now on Instagram!  Check out my account @megan_diversereflectionsphoto for my photography and art.

Speaking of art...Even though drawing has always been a hobby of mine (I drew lots of simple paper dolls when I was 8 years old), in the last two years my art style has changed a lot!  I switched from Manga to realistic portraits.  Let me tell you, my portraits weren't very realistic two years ago!  They looked more like Picasso had decided to keep the oversized features and place them in the correct position on the face!  Yeah, that bad.  But, about 5 months ago, I finished a portrait that is my personal best to date.  And now I've started a new portrait montage of Angel from X-Men: The Last Stand, which I hope to finish in time for the County Fair.  Once I'm finished, I'll post a photo of the drawing here on the blog for you all to see.

I guess that's about it.  I'm thankful for all my great readers who have kept following me all this time.  Thank you very much, everyone!  And happy 2016!