The Things She Carried

The things she carried everyday, weighed down her backpack by at least ten pounds. Always in her phone charger, a pair of headphones, wintermint flavored gum, and an undrunk water bottle. She carried at least three notebooks for notes and class journals. Her two pencils always destroyed by her curiosity and lack of care, maybe the colors might be swapped between the two. The most important thing in her backpack, she swears, is her small sketchbook. “For when a good idea hits me.” she would claim.
The notebook she carried held many different sketches and ideas. They ranged from things that should be invented, rough sketches for a future piece of artwork, to a future book idea. Some ideas stayed in the back of her mind. Some pieces will manifest themselves in a story, or full blown artwork. Yet for the perfectionist she was, some pieces will never turn out right in her point of view, despite what others may say. Her quest for perfection often fuels the fire in her to draw over and over one single drawing, often to create an anatomically correct piece. As she writes, always in her mind she may make a typographical error, she thinks at an incredible speed, often her fingers may be behind with what she wishes to say. Then when she finishes, she may reread the piece, and claim “I can write better than that, what’s wrong with it? how can I make this better?” Sometimes, she comes to terms that she believes it is as good as other people may say, but she’s always thinking, there’s room for improvement. Many times it weighs her down, many times, beautiful ideas spring from the depths of her imagination and manifest themselves for others to see.
Mentally, she carries the stress of her life. The stress of school,  the stress of knowing, no matter what, she will never be able to fully participate in her favorite sport because of her spine being twisted and in the shape of a backwards “S”, thanks to scoliosis. Yet her mind is a beautiful place, full of scientific and artistic knowledge from such a young age. In her mind before she writes, she has all of her ideas thought out, usually from thinking in the shower, or right before bed. She carries the memories of her dreams. Magical experiences, sometimes it would look like something out of a science fiction book.
The most important thing she carries, are her dreams and aspirations. She carries her plan for her future, but also the uncertainty that comes with it as well. Her dreams may take her in many different directions. A Biochemist, geneticist, artist, actor, teacher, or writer. Whatever she becomes, will take her on an adventure of a lifetime. As her life progresses with time, she carries the confidence to keep going forward, and stepping into the unknown.