“A Moment That Shaped Me” by Liani Diaz

Welcome to the Summer 2022 Edition of REFLECTIONS!

Hey my name is O’Neil but people call me Dre. After looking at the art for the magazine and the excerpts, a lot of different things came to mind, but the two things that kept coming back is the miracles and adversities of life and that I’m not alone. Considering that roughly 8 billion people reside on this planet it might sound conceited to say I felt alone in what I was going through but in the midst of the worst of adversities, it’s hard to think someone is going through similar things until you see it. Being able to relate to almost everything in this magazine was a real eye opener and once I got that realization out of the way I could focus on the miracles and adversities of life.

Miracles and adversities are like two sides of the same coin. One art piece that defines this theme is the picture depicting a child in the hospital painting her current self. This really stood out to me because if she didn’t have the strength to push through what she was going through, her current self might not be what it is now. There are things that we go through that nobody could really understand and at times it could affect us on a mental level but sometimes you just have to try to stay positive because one day could change your predicament. Keep pushing through and you could break through to your miracle and could look back just like me and wonder how you made it through that adversity; because not everyone could handle what we go through physically and mentally and remain the same or come out a better person. You could look at anything as a miracle; a child hugging their parent to the journey of a butterfly. Life itself is a miracle so you should always fight to live the best one possible. I would keep rambling so I’ll end it with something my Grandma always tells me ever since I was young: “Only you know how you feel so don’t let anyone tell you differently. Doctor or not.” Then she would encourage me and say, “You’re the strongest person I know, you’ve done this since birth and throughout your entire life you always come home with a smile on your face and always chase whatever you want without being held back by your condition.” So to whoever reads this, I want you to know that you are strong even at times when you feel like you’re not because after everything you went through you are here. Just push through until you get that miracle.

Dre Ogilvie Guest Teen Editor