"My heart was beating outta my throat and I, like, looked behind me." Have you ever had a strange or paranormal experience and what happened? And as embarrassed as I am to say, I think that yes, during middle school, I had one of these strange or paranormal experiences. Um, but in middle school, I, uh, was living -- like my bedroom was in the basement and our basement was set up in this u-shape. Um, so the middle of the U was where the stairs would be coming from the main level down to the basement and then on either side of like the long legs of the U was my bedroom and then my brother's bedroom. So like we shared a wall but you would have to walk all the way around the U for me to get to my brother's bedroom. And it was a fairly long basement, cause it was a ranch style house and so the basement, um, was really long and kind of narrow. And my mom had set up these mirrors down there to make it seem even, like, longer, I guess, I dunno. But they would be on either side of the entrance to the stairs such that if you like stood in front of the mirror, you could see all the way down the leg and then back into whichever bedroom, either mine or my brothers. And they were really nice mirror with like good lighting above it. And so that's usually where I would do my hair in the morning. And so I would be sitting in front of the mirror braiding my hair like Katniss Everdeen, like an -- into a side ponytail kinda situation. Um, and then I could see all the way behind me to my bedroom. And then there were two other doorways on my side of the basement that my brother didn't have. There was a door to a bathroom and right across the door was it -- er, yeah, right across from the bathroom, there was a door to under the stairs. And we -- when we moved in had never been able to get into that room. And we just couldn't get it open and it didn't really seem important to open it, so we never really tried. Um, but during the mornings when I was braiding my hair, I would sit in…

And I looked over at my friend and I was like "Is my car squeaking or is something in the car?" I don't think I'm an enemy of bugs. Um, and I don't think that they specifically don't like me. Ive just had some bad run-ins, you know? Um, I don't hate them. I've just had bad run-ins with them. This sounds bad. This sounds like I'm making excuses or something. I don't know why I'm explaining it so much. But recently me and my friend, we went to a bonfire at my other friend's house. And at the time we were staying with her mother. And her mother was like, "I have a couple of chairs in the back if you wanna bring those to the bonfire," like lawn chairs. And so we were like, "Okay, bet. Thanks." Took em, put em in my Jeep, and we went right into the bonfire. And now, my Jeep -- I like -- when I have the windows down, sometimes I can hear like a little squeak. Like when you hit a bump, it's like, "Squeak," like the suspension. But this time when I was driving, I noticed, like, it was very loud. It was really loud and it was consistent and it wasn't just when I was hitting bumps. And I looked over at my friend and I was like "Is my car squeaking or is something in the car?" And she was like, "No, no your car is just squeaking." And I was like, "No, girl. No, girl, tha- that's crickets. There are crickets in the, there are crickets in the lawn chair." I was like, "I can't do this. I cannot do this girl." I pulled over so fast into the quickest -- into the closest, um, what was it? Like a car wash, like a touchless car wash with a big old parking lot. I whipped in and, and ran out of the car and like tore the chairs out. Because, also at the time, I had a bunch of stuff in my vehicle, so if a cricket had hopped out in there, I was just gonna have to burn the whole thing. So I ripped them out. I still heard the, the menacing sound of the crickets. And I, I, I held the bottom of the bag. I like opened the, the cord and like ripped it…

"This day had been lined up perfectly." So this took place back in May of 2019 -- so very much pre-pandemic and uh this day had been lined up perfectly. I had concert tickets to go see BTS and somewhere along that day -- towards the middle of it, we get a phone call, my mom does at least. And the, this dog that we were looking at that we were very interested in getting, we were approved to get her. So I remember like my mom just like calling us all into the room with a hu- -- like with this big smile on her face and basically saying "Guys, guys we have a new puppy." And I just remember like jumping up and down hugging my sister and asking "When are we getting her? When can we see her next?" Um, and my mom was like "Well, we're gonna pick her up today." And, and then I just remember them going to drive -- cause I was getting ready. I had a concert to go to with my friends, um, but I remember that they left in time to go pick up Dottie. And then, they drove back. And I just remember seeing her for the first time and sort of just like holding her. She was so, so tiny. And she was just the cutest, tiniest little thing. She was so tired though that when we first got her she was so curious about the house, but she was also so sleepy. So like I remember just sort of sitting there and she would -- it wasn't really like a walk. It was more like a waddle -- up to me and she would just sniff me and then she'd start crying because she wanted to be picked up and I remember like I was crying tears of happiness because I was like, who is this amazing little creature that I'm holding right now? It was, it was very cute, very sentimental. I was like, "Okay, I'm sorry. I, I have to go get ready for the concert." And so, I walked back upstairs. And apparently from what I'm told is Dottie did not like this cause she couldn't walk up the stairs yet. And I just remember getting home that night -- I was freezing. And I enter the house cause I obviously knew the code…

“… it was basically a modified hide and seek.” Do you have any scars from doing an outdoor activity, like hiking or mountain biking? What happened?” Um, well I have one from, like – from my childhood. Um, I wasn’t doing anything cool like hiking or mountain biking, I was in middle school. And at my school, we would take these trips every fall, we would go to this camp out in, like, rural North Carolina and stay there for, like, half a week. They were always really fun, but we would play this game, usually every night, where we would – it was basically like a modified hide-and-go-seek, where the kids would hide, and we would try to reach a base, and the teachers would, uh, try to catch us, basically. And I remember, I was trying to get to the base, and I could see the base, but it was about, like, hundred, two hundred feet away or something. And I thought to myself, “The best way to get there would be to cut through this, like, concrete soccer field type of thing. It was, like, a small soccer field that was concrete, not grass. So I thought I was gonna do that. So, I started running just as fast as I could, trying to get through this, um – trying to get through this soccer field. And, it was really dark that night, they had, like, minimal lighting and I couldn’t really see where I was going. And I didn’t realize that there was, like, this wooden goalpost that was right at the level where my head was going to be as I ran through the soccer field. I didn’t see it until, like, probably one fourth of a second before I slammed into it and just, like, busted my head on this wooden board. And I flew into the soccer field. And, uh, yeah. It wasn’t great. It was not a pretty picture. So I feel really bad for the teacher who I eventually ran up to, screaming, and clutching my head, my forehead. Because I’m sure that – I’m sure that was somewhat scarring for that teacher, but, yeah. I, uh – they had to call an ambulance and take me to the hospital. My parents were really worried, they had to drive the hour-and-a-half over there to the hospital to see me. And they…

So I paired up with the first person and go rock paper scissors shoot. I throw scissors, they throw paper. A few months ago, I went on a retreat for my school. I've already been in this University for a few years, but I wanted, I wanted to kind of get to know people better and just really get more involved in my community 'cause, you know, you -- it's never too late to make more friends. But I was a little worried that I would go on this retreat and I wouldn't really meet any new people. Like when we were waiting to get on the bus, everyone was in their groups together, and there was a few people that I knew but it wasn't really -- like there wasn't the same kind of closeness. Um when we got on the bus, I sat by myself and I was just really hoping and praying that everything would turn out well. We end up -- so we go ride the bus, get to the retreat site, and we put our stuff away and we go through the process of kind of introducing ourselves, getting to know our orientation leaders, um, and then they tell us that we're going to play a rock paper scissors tournament. So every person would pair up with another person and you guys would play rock paper scissors and then the winner would go on to play the other winners and you would keep going and going until only one person was left and they were the winner of the whole tournament. I normally really get in my head for these things. So I just decided, you know what, I don't care. I'm just going to throw whatever and it's, it's fine that -- if I lose. But -- so I paired up with the first person and go rock paper scissors shoot. I throw scissors, they throw paper. And I'm like, "Okay, this is, this is nice." And I go with the second person and then again I win and then the third person I win again and I'm like, "This is kind of getting serious." Um, and so even after a few more times, I kept winning, and at this point, I'm -- there's like a little bit of attention starting to gather and people were like, "Oh my gosh, okay, like, you gotta…

"So that is what I like to call the saga of the missing wallet." One day I met up with a friend at a dining hall to eat lunch, and then we both got picked up by my mom to visit my house. The friend that I was eating lunch with she's really into horticulture and plants and stuff and my mom is a certified Master Gardener. So I thought that they would really like to meet each other. So yeah. That all went great. My friend mentions how she hasn't been using her combos, basically the predetermined snack thing you can buy from certain stores on campus. So I was like “Mom, how about you drop us off at 1855 Sparty’s?” which is canonically the best one, it has so many options. So she drops us off. And I pick out my combo. I've got a nice stack of Oreos. I've got a little fizzy drink that’s peach flavored. I, I have a veggie wrap. I was so excited so I get in line, I -- the person at the checkout asks me to scan my card, I reach into my pocket and… is not there. Like fully has disappeared. So, did not enjoy that. I had to return all of those items. I never got my Oreos. Very sad. And so I tried to call my mom. I text her “Hey, do you know where my wallet is?” She could not find it. So that was so fun. And then she reminds me that I have an appointment at 3 o'clock. The appointment went well. And then after, I -- I'd realized during the appointment that I might have left it at the dining hall. So I walk back to the dining hall and I ask the front desk “Hey, did you see a wallet?” And they were like “Yeah! We have that.” and finally I got my wallet. So that is what I like to call the saga of the missing wallet.

"So we were at this show and I was just -- I was vibing." So I was thinking about a particular time that was a remarkable story or something that has made an impact, um, in my, you know, self development, um, and I thought about the time that I broke my tailbone for the first time. I actually ended up breaking it three times, unfortunately, um, but I broke it for the first time when -- I think I was in fourth grade, maybe fifth grade, um, and I was in a, an honors choir, and we took a trip to Mackinac Island. I was with, um, my mom, she was like a chaperone, and a bunch of my friends. And we went to this show. I think it was, um, Three Men and a Tenor, um, at this old theater and, um, it was super beautiful. The seats were really old and each one had, like, a sort of, like, knobby handle in between them, where you can, like, r- -- like an armrest, I guess, um, and, like, velvet seats. They were beautiful. Um, but because it was old, some of them had, like, missing seats and whatnot, um. Anyways, so we were at this show and I was just -- I was vibing. I really, really was enjoying myself. I was with a bunch of my friends. It was music that I enjoyed, um. It was, you know, performers that I had seen since I was a kid -- like, even younger kid, um, it was music that I knew, so I could sing along to it, um. And I was really in the moment and I was jumping up and down and we were singing along to the music, um, and then, you know, we were cheering at the end of it. And then when it was all done, I was just full hyped of energy. I went and -- I, I went to sit back down really hard, and I missed my seat, and I slammed into the armrest that was between two seats and my tailbone hit that little knob at the end of the armrest so perfectly that it sent a intense shock wave all the way through to the top of my head. And I felt like I couldn't see for a second and it was awful, um. Eventually, like once…