Fifteen...

I am fifteen. In a week, I'll be sixteen... To me, though I may be in the minority, it seems an important date. In America, sixteen is when you can drive. So, I guess it's an age where you become a little less dependant on your parents. I don't necessarily feel the need for increased independance, but I would like my parents to trust me a little more in the next year. They've admitted, as an example, that they would let me date, because I'm so responsable... I don't like the way they phrased that. Beyond my wishes for next year, it has come to my mind how much I have changed in this one. Things I would have thought impossible a year ago have now become commonplace. Who know's what I'll do in the years to come? This year, I have:

Attended a church service in Arabic
Talked to the same person, not even a relative, every day
Spoken with people in Finland, Korea, Lithuania, and Morrocco
Found a little rat I thought was lost forever :P
Spoken to people in Mexico and Chile solely in Spanish
Learned how to pronounce Qatar, and attempted (with some success) a Glottal Stop
Taught a Persian a word in her own language
Read A Song of Ice and Fire
Been the Treasurer of the Book Club
Been to Yosemite National Park
Heard, and understood, in its original context, a word in Arabic
Been to Big Sur
Been hugged by a little girl I couldn't understand
Met three little children who spoke Aramaic
Been to Curacao
Done the Sophomore Research Project
Got another Division Winner in the Science Fair
Gotten closer to Kate, Stephanie, and Rachel
Spoken to a German in German
Sung "Bye, Bye Miss American Pie" loudly in the lobby of a sophisticated hotel
Seen water that really was turquoise blue
Gotten a Valentine in Norwegian
Snorkled around a ship-wreck
Started to enjoy swimming again
Caught a black widow spider off of my foot
Been attacked by a 6 year old fan club
Been locked outside in January chasing a runaway puppy
Shown a boatful of International Tourists that Missourians could rope-swing
Helped furnish and reorganize a new lake house
Helped Tootsie recover from her back surgery
Eaten authentic home-made Sushi
Discussed toast in primitive Japanese
Seen a wolf spider the size of my outstretched hand (in my cabin)
Survived a 13 year old sister
Babysat for Jeffrey at 5 in the morning while his little sister was born
Won a Trophy in an athletic event
Gotten an H in Latin
Taken 3 languages at the high school level
Learned to read Hiragana
Been the president of Creative Writing Club
Read the poem that Carpe Diem came from
Learned to read Latin Poetry
Learned to discuss the fine arts in Spanish
Skipped Latin 3, and taken Latin 4 as a Sophomore
Gotten a 3.9
Gotten letters from Duke and various other colleges
Taken the PLAN test
Worked with actual DNA
Gotten a Web-Cam
Fallen in love
Inspired my English teacher to take Spanish classes
Seen a spider poop (It's microscopic)