Lyndsay+Rathbun

I've always been proud to say I wasn't born and haven't lived in York my whole life. One of the first forces that sets me apart from just about everyone I know, is that I've lived in another country. When I turned four months old, my family moved to Nagishi, Japan for three years. Even though I don't remember much, this has instilled in me the "travel bug." I want to travel the world and one day return to what was once my home. York is where I grew up, but it isn't where I want to stay. Another force that has shaped me into what I am is my family. What I've learned from my mom is hard work truly does pay off. For the past three years she went back to school. During the past three years she went to school, worked three jobs at one point, maintained a 4.0 average for almost her whole school experience, and was still able to come my brother and my sporting events and concerts. She just graduated in early August after having to work 65 to 80 hour per week for the past seven months. She is the person I look up to and because of her I know that if I put my mind to something, I can accomplish it. My brother is also someone who has shaped the way I am. Matthew is one year, ten months, and two days older than me. I probably calculated that when I was about seven years old. We didn't exactly like each other for the first 15 years but when I got to high school, we started to have a better friendship. It's probably because my mom forced him to drive me to school. I never realized how much I actually cared for my brother until he went to college. It was really hard when he left because my mom began to work a lot and my dad started traveling for his job. My house became so much quieter and I ended missing him being around. Something else I picked up from my mom was the love of music. Not just listening to music and singing along with the lyrics, but playing an instrument and making the music that I've heard before. I started playing the violin in third grade and never truly liked playing until three years ago. In the high school we started to play music that was more difficult than I've ever had to even try. At first I hated it because I couldn't keep up, but I stuck with it and because of my old stand-partner I now enjoy playing music that is difficult. My education is another force that has shaped me into what I am today. I've always loved learning new things and finding out the answer to everything. I've always felt that education is important and I strive to do my best with every class that I have taken. Reading has also shaped me into the person I am today because I feel like I always have a book that I'm reading. Ever since I was young, whenever I would read a story I would put myself into the character's shoes and experience what they were going through in my mind. Reading has changed my life because it has shaped my mind with ideas from all over the world. Playing and being involved with sports is also a force that has played a role into shaping me to the way I am. My cross country team is literally a family with over 80 people in it. There has always been an over abundance of support from every person on the team and you can feel it from the moment you encounter my teammates. One last thing that dramatically shaped my life was when I had a major knee injury in March 2010. In a way, I'm thankful for my injury because it taught me several things along the way. One of the major things I had to learn was to suck it up and to ask for help, when normally I would just do it myself. If my past had been any different, I wouldn't be the same person writing this entry.

This was really interesting to read. I can totally relate when you were talking about your brother, you don't actually start to miss them til they are gone. My oldest brother is also in college and hardly is ever home. I miss him, even though I don't want to truly admit it! I love how family plays a huge part in your life because that is what truly matters. Really nicely written. - Lina Than

The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas Part one and two reading.

Part three reading Part four reading Part five reading