I am from a lonely hill where most cars would never dare to go 

and from a small house that feels a lot bigger than it actually is

I am from a boisterous house where something’s always happening 

and from a quiet house where literally nothing ever happens

I am from boiling hot showers in the morning, a room that seems impossible to clean, and a huge staircase that will always annoy me when I’m tired

This is where I am from

I am from feeling like I’ll never make a dent in saving the environment 

and from dreaming to become vegetarian

I am from hoping that I’ll taste lychee green tea again 

and from feeling like there will always be something that I’ll forget

I am from reading a long book in one day, getting four out of five questions right in Math Olympiads, and plunging down waterfalls

This is where I am from

I am from eating flavorful pancakes every Sunday

and from drinking delicious smoothies every Saturday

I am from making mouth-watering cookies way before Christmas so we inevitably have no cookies on Christmas and from a strange addiction for cookie dough

I am from never eating meat but loving fish, being terrified of gelatin, and being tempted to eat turkey on Thanksgiving

This is where I am from

I am from getting a back full of sunburns and mosquito bites when I go to Florida in the Summer and from the irritating feeling of having sunscreen slathered across my face

I am from going to Costa Rica and seeing views that you’d only see in fairytales and climbing through mountains that feel larger than Mount Everest 

I am from eating my almond pudding way too quickly on Christmas Eve, having to wait for my parents to wake up before I can open my presents on Christmas, and watching a seemingly random movie every Christmas

This is where I am from

I am from insanely weird nicknames 

and from people pronouncing my name wrong

I am from rising above insults that it seems only five year olds would use

and words that should never be classified as jokes

This is where I am from

I am from viruses that people either care too much about or not enough about 

and from people killing each other for stupid reasons

I am from being frightened to watch the news 

and from feeling that we aren’t doing nearly enough to stop climate change

This is where I am from