Last time I was active here was August of last year.... crazy to imagine how much time has passed in the meantime. I was just a 17 year old beginning his last year of High School during the first year of this god-forsaken pandemic. And quite a bit of stuff has obviously happened during that significant time span. So, this is kind of a loose and not very professional attempt to bottom line how these last few months have been for me. And there's quite a bit to unpack here.
First, let's start with August. I started my year with an interesting structure. I was (and still very much are) deadly afraid of COVID, so being back in school wasn't exactly comforting. So I took the dreaded route of taking every class online with just one in-person class. That in-person class was technically not a class, instead, I was a peer facilitator for one of my teachers that has been with me since the start of my High School career in the U.S., but besides that, I took my classes completely online.
The format really got into me instantly, probably a side-effect of the previous year suddenly ending in-person classes in April and moving to online-only. I was burned out and barely motivated to do anything, which carried over to this year almost without missing a beat. Senior year was easily my weakest academically, while I finished my Sophomore and Junior years with no class average below 90, I barely passed my Math and Lit classes with grades on the 70s. I still got some classes with averages in the 90s, but it wasn't exactly my best and I'm okay in admitting that. If it wasn't for that single in-person class, I would most likely just gave up on the year completely, but I eventually persevered until May came around.
Graduation was closer and closer, and it certainly dawned on me how little time I had left. Preparations began for the ceremony, so did my worries for what was next for me after graduating. But my last few days in High School might have been some of the best I've ever had in my life. With the last day in particular being truly emotional. I was finishing up some remaining homework during my in-person class when suddenly, the teacher told me that he needed me at a table they had set up. So, I sat and witnessed one of the most touching moments in my life. The students who I've helped, interacted with, and even called friends spent the entire class writing farewell notes behind my back. And when I received them, and then saw many people (especially the teacher) get emotional... I couldn't handle it anymore. I broke down and cried immensely, and to this day, I'm still deeply touched by that. But the day wasn't done. Due to transportation complications, I was able to stay for the rest of the day after my class was done, and the gestures for my last day didn't stop there. Once the last class came around, I was on the same table as before. The class happened to be the winners of a poetry competition we had earlier in the month, which I decided to help since I just loved helping people. They also won this huge trophy for their performance as well, which was displayed on the classroom alongside the trophies from previous classes. The class is settled, and the teacher begins to talk about me. And when he's done, he decides to give me the trophy as not only a thank you gesture for the help I gave him this year, not only for the help I gave this class that allowed them to win, but for all the memories made the last two years. That moment is easily the most treasured memory I had in a long time, and I still have it displayed in my room. It's something I'll never forget about my High School years. It came full circle, from a fish out of water to receiving a trophy as a parting gift, the emotions I had were at an all-time high. I loved my time in High School, even with some low points and classes I didn't particularly like (and people I found despicable for that matter), it was a wild ride that I will treasure immensely.
Some days have passed, and I'm done with High School for good, now all that was left was my graduation. I received the biggest surprise when I found out that I was graduating with Honors, which as someone who doesn't think highly of himself came as a unexpected accomplishment. The ceremony was lovely, with my dad and stepmom attending (no one else in my family could come sadly), and on the ride back home, I started to think about something else that was in the works.
Ever since I moved to America in 2018, I always wanted to return to my home in Venezuela to visit my friends and family back home. But many complications prevented me from doing so. But the chance finally came, I was going back home a few days after graduation. In the middle of the pandemic. I was terrified for a few reasons:
- The airline required you to show a COVID test that is no older than 48 hours. Problem being that those tests can take longer than that to complete, so I had to be lucky the test came before I had to check-in my luggage.
- Due to me being the only one with a Venezuelan passport, I would have to travel alone. For the first time in my life.
- For political reasons I'd rather not mention whatsoever, a direct flight from the U.S. to Venezuela was and still is impossible. So I had to travel from Atlanta to Miami, then from Miami to Panama, and finally from Panama to Venezuela.
- The COVID pandemic, 'nuff said.
These factors combined into a very interesting experience that lasted two days. Before the day of the travel, I was talking with my mother via a call about the travel and making sure everything was in place. Then, I talked to my dad and stepmom about it as well. With everything packed up, I went to sleep until my dad woke up early to go to work. We said goodbye while I was still in bed, and hours later I woke up and prepared myself for the long road ahead. I said goodbye to all of my pets, two lovely cats, and more importantly, my dogs. I said goodbye to my dog Simba last, which retroactively was probably the most important part of that day. Then off we were to the airport. Once I arrived to the line, I said goodbye to my stepmom and began the first part of the travel: Atlanta to Miami. This part was the most annoying by far, but went relatively smooth once the luggage was checked. Once in the gate, I texted my mom to let her know how I was going. I then got into the plane, and waited until I arrived into Miami at the middle of the night.
I first decided to locate where I needed to check-in my luggage, since the flight was a decent amount of hours away. Once I located it, I basically waited for two things:
for the check-in to open and the damn COVID test that hadn't arrived yet. But thankfully, it arrived just two hours before the check-in was to be opened. That alone was a massive sigh of relief and took so much stress out of my mind. The check-in was opened not soon after, and went smoothly. With the luggage ready, I went to the gate. I calmly waited for the plane to be ready, and once in, I finally went to sleep.
I wake up and I'm in Panama, the luggage was already on its way to Venezuela, so I just went directly to the gate to wait for the plane to be ready. A few hours later, I'm home. I had finally arrived to Venezuela, and went through a slow process before reclaiming my luggage. When I was out, and saw my mother, one of my aunts, and one of my cousins waiting there, I was so glad to be back to the place I was born and raised in. We arrived to my house, and a good chunk of my family was waiting for me. But more importantly, I also met with one of my childhood friends in what was his last day in Venezuela before moving to Canada. It was a very emotional farewell, as he decided to give me some gifts, including a PS3 Slim! As the day came to a close, a new chapter of my life began.
The next few months were what I like to call my "weight gain" period. As you can gather by that, I began to grow my belly up, and it wasn't something I was particularly happy with and I'm still dealing with the consequences of that right now. I went from comfortably staying in the 70 kilograms range to almost 90 kg of weight. And it showed immensely. I was just so unhappy with myself, which wasn't helped by some of the saddest parts of my life.
Back in July, it was very obvious my childhood dog Salvatore was having health issues, until suddenly one day he could barely breathe. My mom rushed him to a hospital where he was saved from respiratory failure. He was in a very delicate condition but I thought he was going to make it when he seemed to stabilize. I went to sleep until my mom woke me up with the news.....
He was gone. A second respiratory failure came, and it was too much for him.
The following hours were filled with sorrow, as he was then cremated. We received the ashes later in the day, and the ride back home had me full in tears. Especially with how much memories I had with Salvatore. We eventually placed his ashes on his favorite room in the house, where he still rests today.
Three months go by, and things started to look up when I started to go to the gym to deal with my sudden weight gains. Until another gut punch came. One of the dogs in America had just died, Simba, the same pet I mentioned earlier was now gone. They put him to sleep to spare him of the pain caused by many health issues that simply destroyed him.
I cried once more, especially since I knew Simba since he was just a puppy back in 2011. He was just such a novel soul and a loyal friend who made my years in America that much more special. And to think the last time I ever saw him was when I left America back in May... if I had known, I wished to spend more time with him. Especially now when the opportunity is gone forever.
That leaves me with my current situation today, I'm still going to the gym and still getting over the loss of Simba, but I'm optimistic about what's next. I'm optimistic to lose all the weight I gained, I'm optimistic about finally recovering my sense of motivation I lost during my Senior year, I'm optimistic about returning to America in February and begin the next phase of my life in college. And who knows what will come next!
These last few months have been pretty transformative in many ways, but have left me with a positive attitude about the future. Maybe I'll regularly participate in this website again, who knows, I certainly miss interacting with people such as a certain bitch from Scotland or a certain chiptune enthusiast.
Regardless of what the future holds, I thank you for taking the time to read this poor man right here ramble about his life. Really means a lot to me especially when you also have your own life to deal with
.
Until next time, thank you for reading.
- Gabriel.
First, let's start with August. I started my year with an interesting structure. I was (and still very much are) deadly afraid of COVID, so being back in school wasn't exactly comforting. So I took the dreaded route of taking every class online with just one in-person class. That in-person class was technically not a class, instead, I was a peer facilitator for one of my teachers that has been with me since the start of my High School career in the U.S., but besides that, I took my classes completely online.
The format really got into me instantly, probably a side-effect of the previous year suddenly ending in-person classes in April and moving to online-only. I was burned out and barely motivated to do anything, which carried over to this year almost without missing a beat. Senior year was easily my weakest academically, while I finished my Sophomore and Junior years with no class average below 90, I barely passed my Math and Lit classes with grades on the 70s. I still got some classes with averages in the 90s, but it wasn't exactly my best and I'm okay in admitting that. If it wasn't for that single in-person class, I would most likely just gave up on the year completely, but I eventually persevered until May came around.
Graduation was closer and closer, and it certainly dawned on me how little time I had left. Preparations began for the ceremony, so did my worries for what was next for me after graduating. But my last few days in High School might have been some of the best I've ever had in my life. With the last day in particular being truly emotional. I was finishing up some remaining homework during my in-person class when suddenly, the teacher told me that he needed me at a table they had set up. So, I sat and witnessed one of the most touching moments in my life. The students who I've helped, interacted with, and even called friends spent the entire class writing farewell notes behind my back. And when I received them, and then saw many people (especially the teacher) get emotional... I couldn't handle it anymore. I broke down and cried immensely, and to this day, I'm still deeply touched by that. But the day wasn't done. Due to transportation complications, I was able to stay for the rest of the day after my class was done, and the gestures for my last day didn't stop there. Once the last class came around, I was on the same table as before. The class happened to be the winners of a poetry competition we had earlier in the month, which I decided to help since I just loved helping people. They also won this huge trophy for their performance as well, which was displayed on the classroom alongside the trophies from previous classes. The class is settled, and the teacher begins to talk about me. And when he's done, he decides to give me the trophy as not only a thank you gesture for the help I gave him this year, not only for the help I gave this class that allowed them to win, but for all the memories made the last two years. That moment is easily the most treasured memory I had in a long time, and I still have it displayed in my room. It's something I'll never forget about my High School years. It came full circle, from a fish out of water to receiving a trophy as a parting gift, the emotions I had were at an all-time high. I loved my time in High School, even with some low points and classes I didn't particularly like (and people I found despicable for that matter), it was a wild ride that I will treasure immensely.
Some days have passed, and I'm done with High School for good, now all that was left was my graduation. I received the biggest surprise when I found out that I was graduating with Honors, which as someone who doesn't think highly of himself came as a unexpected accomplishment. The ceremony was lovely, with my dad and stepmom attending (no one else in my family could come sadly), and on the ride back home, I started to think about something else that was in the works.
Ever since I moved to America in 2018, I always wanted to return to my home in Venezuela to visit my friends and family back home. But many complications prevented me from doing so. But the chance finally came, I was going back home a few days after graduation. In the middle of the pandemic. I was terrified for a few reasons:
- The airline required you to show a COVID test that is no older than 48 hours. Problem being that those tests can take longer than that to complete, so I had to be lucky the test came before I had to check-in my luggage.
- Due to me being the only one with a Venezuelan passport, I would have to travel alone. For the first time in my life.
- For political reasons I'd rather not mention whatsoever, a direct flight from the U.S. to Venezuela was and still is impossible. So I had to travel from Atlanta to Miami, then from Miami to Panama, and finally from Panama to Venezuela.
- The COVID pandemic, 'nuff said.
These factors combined into a very interesting experience that lasted two days. Before the day of the travel, I was talking with my mother via a call about the travel and making sure everything was in place. Then, I talked to my dad and stepmom about it as well. With everything packed up, I went to sleep until my dad woke up early to go to work. We said goodbye while I was still in bed, and hours later I woke up and prepared myself for the long road ahead. I said goodbye to all of my pets, two lovely cats, and more importantly, my dogs. I said goodbye to my dog Simba last, which retroactively was probably the most important part of that day. Then off we were to the airport. Once I arrived to the line, I said goodbye to my stepmom and began the first part of the travel: Atlanta to Miami. This part was the most annoying by far, but went relatively smooth once the luggage was checked. Once in the gate, I texted my mom to let her know how I was going. I then got into the plane, and waited until I arrived into Miami at the middle of the night.
I first decided to locate where I needed to check-in my luggage, since the flight was a decent amount of hours away. Once I located it, I basically waited for two things:
for the check-in to open and the damn COVID test that hadn't arrived yet. But thankfully, it arrived just two hours before the check-in was to be opened. That alone was a massive sigh of relief and took so much stress out of my mind. The check-in was opened not soon after, and went smoothly. With the luggage ready, I went to the gate. I calmly waited for the plane to be ready, and once in, I finally went to sleep.
I wake up and I'm in Panama, the luggage was already on its way to Venezuela, so I just went directly to the gate to wait for the plane to be ready. A few hours later, I'm home. I had finally arrived to Venezuela, and went through a slow process before reclaiming my luggage. When I was out, and saw my mother, one of my aunts, and one of my cousins waiting there, I was so glad to be back to the place I was born and raised in. We arrived to my house, and a good chunk of my family was waiting for me. But more importantly, I also met with one of my childhood friends in what was his last day in Venezuela before moving to Canada. It was a very emotional farewell, as he decided to give me some gifts, including a PS3 Slim! As the day came to a close, a new chapter of my life began.
The next few months were what I like to call my "weight gain" period. As you can gather by that, I began to grow my belly up, and it wasn't something I was particularly happy with and I'm still dealing with the consequences of that right now. I went from comfortably staying in the 70 kilograms range to almost 90 kg of weight. And it showed immensely. I was just so unhappy with myself, which wasn't helped by some of the saddest parts of my life.
Back in July, it was very obvious my childhood dog Salvatore was having health issues, until suddenly one day he could barely breathe. My mom rushed him to a hospital where he was saved from respiratory failure. He was in a very delicate condition but I thought he was going to make it when he seemed to stabilize. I went to sleep until my mom woke me up with the news.....
He was gone. A second respiratory failure came, and it was too much for him.
The following hours were filled with sorrow, as he was then cremated. We received the ashes later in the day, and the ride back home had me full in tears. Especially with how much memories I had with Salvatore. We eventually placed his ashes on his favorite room in the house, where he still rests today.
Three months go by, and things started to look up when I started to go to the gym to deal with my sudden weight gains. Until another gut punch came. One of the dogs in America had just died, Simba, the same pet I mentioned earlier was now gone. They put him to sleep to spare him of the pain caused by many health issues that simply destroyed him.
I cried once more, especially since I knew Simba since he was just a puppy back in 2011. He was just such a novel soul and a loyal friend who made my years in America that much more special. And to think the last time I ever saw him was when I left America back in May... if I had known, I wished to spend more time with him. Especially now when the opportunity is gone forever.
That leaves me with my current situation today, I'm still going to the gym and still getting over the loss of Simba, but I'm optimistic about what's next. I'm optimistic to lose all the weight I gained, I'm optimistic about finally recovering my sense of motivation I lost during my Senior year, I'm optimistic about returning to America in February and begin the next phase of my life in college. And who knows what will come next!
These last few months have been pretty transformative in many ways, but have left me with a positive attitude about the future. Maybe I'll regularly participate in this website again, who knows, I certainly miss interacting with people such as a certain bitch from Scotland or a certain chiptune enthusiast.
Regardless of what the future holds, I thank you for taking the time to read this poor man right here ramble about his life. Really means a lot to me especially when you also have your own life to deal with
. Until next time, thank you for reading.
- Gabriel.
