This entry is from one of our Youth Interns, Kierstin Alston. See the "Meet the Team" page for more information. One of my cousins was telling me about anime that they watch, ‘cause one of my cousins is very into anime. And so he was telling me what animes to watch and he was like, “It's your birthday. How old are you turning?” And I told him how old I was turning and then he was like, “Hey, let's watch an anime together.” So we watched an anime together and he was giving me this whole entire background of the anime. And his brother comes in. His brother was just messing with me, but he got upset 'cause his brother was messing with me and we couldn’t take the time to watch the anime, and I always find it funny when my older cousins, not my older cousins, but like, you know, ‘cause I'm the oldest, right? So I find it funny when the cousins who are a bit closer to my age. So, probably around like 10 or 10 – you know, 11, 9, when they get to that age, I find that they try – they try to act – I don’t wanna say they act cooler, but they do very much so try to act like they aren't kids as well, just trying to fit in. And I always found that funny, 'cause I'm like, you don't have to fit in, you’re talking to the girl who used to play with baby dolls all the way up to eighth grade. Which is also something I found was actually pretty weird to some people because I have – see, I played with dolls for a very long time. But I like dolls. And it got to a point where I wasn't playing with dolls as much as I just liked dressing them up, and doing their hair and stuff. I feel like for me dolls unleash a creativity side of me. They always have been a side of creativity for me. I don't know if it's because my grandmother on my father's side has a doll collection, or what. But dolls have always been, like, a creativity escape for me. I can always dress them up, do their hair, do their makeup, you know, it was just easy for me. So I didn't understand why there would always…

And so, I think the closest call – or, like, the most recent call I've had was this summer. So since we couldn't really go anywhere this summer and last summer, I've been spending a lot of my time outside playing basketball. And so I remember, this was a few weeks into the summer and, you know, whenever I shot a hoop or did a lay-up or something, bees would like, just come after me. I don't know where they would come from. And so I was so confused. And so one day the ball went over the hoop. And so I go to grab it. And I see these hornets going in and out of my basketball hoop. So they were inside my basketball hoop on the backboard on the back side of it and, like the little holes that are meant for, like – I don't know what they're meant for. I don't even know why there’re holes in that. But the backboard is hollow, right? And so the hornets had made like a home inside of it. And so I go inside I tell my parents and nobody believes me for a week, because I would go and try to show them and for some reason the hornets wouldn’t come out. And then one day, I chuck a football at it and a hornet comes out and my parents see. And so my dad, he brings the hoop down. We use – I don't know what the spray is called, but it's supposed to, like, kill the bees. And so, we sprayed them, and then all of the hornets came out. And I took the screwdriver to, like, break the honeycomb. So that, like, the hornets or other hornets don't come back and, like, build a nest again. And ultimately it was very scary. But at the same time, the honeycombs are beautiful, I think it was the first time I'd ever, like, seen the honeycombs up close and I think it's just so amazing how this small creature can make something so beautiful, and I think it kind of shows like – or gives a lesson about, like, hidden potential.

But this comfort food? I don't know, like candy? Like food that makes you calm down. Like any food will calm me down. I mean, unless I don't like the flavor then I will spit it out and I will get mad. Like, spaghetti or lasagna -- no, not lasagna. I don't know why lasagna doesn't calm me down even though it's like one of my favorite foods. I don't know, I'm eating Smarties right now. That's not really calming me down. Though I was eating chocolate earlier, that calmed me down. I don't know. I might be getting this definition wrong.