Have a look inside my mind
If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be?
I would change the world into a tolerant place to live, where everyone respected everyone else's right to decide how they want to live their lives. How many people have wasted their lives looking for ways to change others? It just doesn't make sense to me to worry about petty things like lifestyle choices when children are starving, millions of people live below the poverty line, and men and women are dying to serve in wars that may or may not be necessary. If everyone would stop focusing on bringing other people down, we could start working towards fixing the more serious problems throughout the world. Tolerance would allow that to happen.
What makes a person respectable?
A person is respectable when they have taken advantage of every opportunity they've been given and have made themselves better because of it. A respectable person does not simply settle for the knowledge that they have, they strive to become as educated and cultured as they possibly can. A respectable person is respectful of others and does not dwell on that cannot be changed. They are intelligent enough to make the best out of their lives and will make sure that their children do the same.
What do you look for in a friend?
My friends are people that I can have conversations with, whether it be about our love lives or how we feel about current political situations throughout the world. They can hold their own in a discussion, and don't let me bully them into coming to my side of an argument. My friends are well read and intelligent, but they know how to have fun and can be goofballs every once in a while. They also know that sometimes I just need to be alone, and they respect that. My friends and I don't always share the same views, but we respect each other because we can back up our opinions. I also tend to pick friends who are as sarcastic as me about certain things, including but not limited to celebrities, politicians, and special interests groups.
What are your hobbies?
My favorite thing to do is read. If I'm not online you can probably find me sitting on my back porch, barefoot and sweating like mad, reading a good book. My favorite book is Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five. I've read it many, many times and each time I find something new to think about. I also love all of the Harry Potter novels, of course, and I'm desperately awaiting the release of book six. As for other hobbies, I'm very much a home-body so I love hanging out online, watching television and movies, and writing when I get the chance.
Have or would you give time and money to a charity?
I would absolutely give my time and money to a charity that I thought was worth while. Unfortunately, I haven't had the opportunity yet. I've just graduated from a very small high school, and the only charity for miles is the Salvation Army. I'm currently working as a waitress so I don't exactly have time or money to donate right now. Someday, however, I would very much like to find a charity that I feel passionately about. Of course I would research the charity before I did anything else, because so many charities right now really aren't being helpful at all to the people they're supposedly benefiting. I would make sure that my time and money was going to where I intended it to go.
What is the one thing you would most like to accomplish?
For my personal life, my biggest goal is to become as great of a mother as my mom is to me. She raised me as a single parent, but I had more love in my life that a lot of people I know who grew up with both parents in the home. As a spin off of that, I would also like to help change the stereotypes about single-parent families.
For my professional life, my biggest goal is to find better ways of preventing and treating congenital birth defects. Too many pregnant women are not being screened for diseases that can easily be treated during gestation, and then are left shocked and unprepared when they give birth to babies with defects.
I tried to choose which one I would rather accomplish, but they are both very important to me.
Who is your role model?
My role model is most definitely my mother. She was born into a very large family during WWII. My grandmother did the best she could to provide for her family while my grandfather was fighting in Germany, but there were many times my mother went days without eating so that her younger siblings would not have to be hungry. She married at age fifteen and dropped out of high school to take care of her husband and my sister, who was born when my mother was eighteen. She would go on to have two more children, boys, one of whom was born three months prematurely and barely survived. She then stayed strong for her family as news of her husband's affair came to her attention. She never told my brother's and sister's because she didn't want them to resent their father.
She remarried when she was forty and planned to live out the rest of her life in peace with her new husband and her grandchildren playing at her feet. However, when she was forty-two she got word that she was pregnant with me. My father didn't want more children, so he asked her to have an abortion. She refused and they divorced. So she started her life over with a new baby that no one really wanted her to have. She loved me and raised me by herself, and she did the best she could with limited resources. When I was thirteen years old, she took her G.E.D. exam and passed with remarkable scores. I had never been so proud of her.
My mother took a life that could have easily been lost into a sea of poverty and bitterness, and turned it into a successful endeavor that her children could be proud of. My mother is brave, funny, loving, and the most intelligent person I know. I can only hope to someday be half the woman she is.
What trait most annoys you about other people?
Ignorance. Don't misunderstand me, I'm not talking about everyone who is not in the top ten percent of their class or who did not graduate with a 4.0 GPA. Intelligence is not just about books and grades. Intelligence is knowing how to work hard and succeed in whatever you do. Intelligence is knowing that everyone is not going to agree with your decisions or see things the way you do, and accepting that.
People who try to discuss things that they know nothing about get on my nerves. If you don't know the facts and are completely uninformed, then you are not qualified to discuss the issue. I wish people like that would just keep their mouths shut until they take the time to research what they're talking about, otherwise people like me have to get testy with them.
What do you want to do for a living?
I'm starting as a Pre-Med student at Eastern Illinois University this fall. My major will be biological sciences with a focus in organic chemistry. I will be taking honor's classes. After earning my Bachelor's degree at EIU, I plan to attend Duke University Medical School, focusing on obstetrics and gynecology. My goal is to open my own practice and to deal with high risk pregnancies.
(I thought I should add that obstetrics deals with pregnancy, and gynecology is general female medicine. Not everyone knows what they mean and I hate to leave them confused about what I'm saying.)
If your friend was attacked (by a person, animal, or (in the magic world) beast), what would you do?
Whatever I could do. I probably wouldn't rush right in and try to beat the thing off myself, but I would do my best to stay calm and think of a reasonable plan of attack. I'd likely try to find a weapon with which to beat them off, and I probably wouldn't stop beating until they were good and unconscious.
Would you ever use an Unforgivable Curse for any reason?
The only circumstance I can think of that would merit me using an Unforgivable Curse would be if someone was threatening a child and I had tried everything else. I would rather not think about this question, because it's actually very morbid when you think about it. It's like asking someone if they would kill someone else under a certain circumstance. You really can't say "yes" or "no" until you're in that particular circumstance and are feeling the pressure of the situation.
What do you think are your top five abilities or qualities?
It's strange to have to judge yourself in this way, but I will do my best.
1. Perseverance
No matter what life throws in front of me, I like to think that I can handle it with grace. For example, I suffer from a chemical imbalance that causes me to have violent mood swings. During my sophomore year of high school I went through a particularly bad episode during which I dropped out of school and tried to kill myself twice. I don't like talking about that, but I think it's necessary for people to really get a feel for what I've accomplished. I went back to high school the next year as a junior and doubled up on my course load so that I could graduate with my class. I graduated third in my class with a 3. 6 GPA.
2. Empathy
I have an uncanny ability to put myself in other people's shoes. I try to look at every side of an argument and understand where the other sides are coming from. That's not to say that I won't express my feelings about a situation, but I'm careful as to how I do it. You never really know why someone feels the way they do until you sit down and listen to what they have to say.
3. Independence
I think for myself and I don't let others do my dirty work for me. If I need to make a decision, I may ask for other's opinions but I will not allow someone else to make it for me. Because of this, I can't blame anyone else but myself for anything that goes wrong.
4. Intelligence
I pride myself on being educated about current events and having 'book smarts'. I study hard and enjoy doing so. My entire purpose in life is to keep learning new things, whether it be learning a new language, learning to cook a gourmet meal, or learning how to play golf. Everything is a learning experience; it doesn't have to be something you get out of a book. I like to think that I embrace all learning experiences.
5. Being comfortable in my own skin
At one point in my life I hid my sexuality and practically starved myself to loose a few extra vanity pounds. Now? I'm completely 'out', I'm comfortable with my weight, and I'm genuinely happy. I had to loose a lot and suffer before I was able to be happy with who I am, but I'm loving my life right now and that makes me proud. When I see girls who are desperate to find something that will complete them and make them happy, I find myself yearning to share whatever knowledge I've found that has allowed me to change my outlook on life so drastically. Unfortunately, I'm not really sure what turned my life around. So I just tell them to ride out the rough times and not loose hope; everyone is capable of being happy with themselves. It just takes work!
What do you think are your top five weaknesses or worst qualities?
1. My temper and lack of patience
I often find myself gritting my teeth and stifling a scream when things don't go my way. I'm an extreme perfectionist, so I torture myself when things go wrong. I don't like getting angry, so I try to hold it all in, but when I do let it come out it's usually not pretty. I hate it when people see that side of me.
2. Obsessions
I find something I enjoy and I cling to it for dear life. I can't just be a fan of something, I have to be a fanatic. Sometimes this is okay, because I have a lot of friends that are the same way. Other times, however, it can be devastating because nothing is permanent and I end up getting my heart broken way to easily.
3. Crying
I cry about everything. When I'm sad, I cry. When I'm frustrated, I cry. When I'm happy, I cry. I cry at weddings, funerals, graduations, and birthday parties. I cry when someone dies on TV or in a movie, during a sad song on the radio, when I see someone homeless on the street, or when someone is being hurt emotionally or physically in any way. I cry sometimes for no reason at all. I can just be sitting in the car or at my desk and I will just start sobbing. No matter how strong I try to be, I can never stop a few tears from escaping. I don't like this about myself mainly because it projects weakness.
4. Clumsiness
I'm a waitress. Normally you would think of a waitress as being graceful and steady on her feet. Not me! I spill at least one thing every night and I'm constantly falling on my butt. I don't really get embarrassed about it, but it definitely hurts!
5. Fear of Change
I hate the thought of anything changing. I get into a comfortable routine, and when something about it changes or doesn't go as scheduled, I get frustrated and upset. I'd like to be one of those people who can just 'go with the flow' and accept when it's time to move on, but I find myself clinging to everything that's familiar and comfortable.
Define in your own words the following key traits:
Courage:
Courage is not being unafraid, it's doing something in spite of being afraid. I admire people who admit to being afraid of something and then doing it anyway as opposed to people who go on and on about how they aren't afraid of anything.
Loyalty:
Sticking by someone no matter what. I realize that's a pretty generic answer, but loyalty is a pretty straightforward quality, don't you think?
Intelligence:
Being fully aware that you don't know everything, but doing everything in your power to change that.
Ambition:
Ambition is seeing what you want and going after it. One person may strive to achieve something through any means necessary, without worrying about the consequences of their actions. Another person, however, may sit and think about the best way to accomplish their goal without stepping over any boundaries or hurting anyone. Both of those people have ambition, just different kinds. How far you succeed in life really depends on which kind of ambition you have. (I won't say which one I believe is more effective, mainly because I don't wish to criticize other's means of achievement.)
Name: Anne
Age: 18
What house do you think DOESN'T fit you? (This question is optional for those who feel they just DO NOT fit in a house. Please explain WHY.)
Each house has something I admire, and of course there is one house that I think I belong in. But it's not about what I see in myself, it's about what you all see. None of the houses strike me as being truly inappropriate for me, so I don't really have an answer to this question.
Where did you find out about us?
Just a random "interests" search.