Monica Multer

My mom and I found a beautiful little niche in the woods full of rock piles. It was astonishing. There were so many of them of all shapes and sizes. Even some on tree branches. It amazed me because people took such care and time to make this little corner of the woods into an amazing place. I just wanted to thank those people for brightening up my day.

Today I shook The hand of a man Who truly has suffered But lived his life He is from Sudan On his face A story is told Sun made wrinkles Make him look old His dark complexion Shows who he is A Lost Boy He saw death But refused to die He fought for his life And earned every second His parents shot down Right before his five year old eyes So he turned and ran And never looked back Through starvation and thirst He walked the hard land Over one thousand miles Ethiopia, Sudan, Kenya All called home But never truly settled His entire past gone Lost in gun shots and screams Blue rivers run red But still this boy ran Trying to keep up his head Trying not to fall in the sand His fellow comrades The other lost children Trek along desert ridges Across barren lands Nowhere in mind Just trying to survive Carried everything on his back His history and hardships A burden weighed down Something pushing from behind To keep him from falling down So many fallen who never get back up His name on a board That guided his destiny Brought him from nothing But gave him everything From Kenya to America He traveled at last To freedom, a home But her could never forget his past So he took what he had And made something of it Finally coming to our school To tell us his story Of a time so sad He stands here before us Showing his burden Sharing his life At the end of it all I shook the hand of a man Who had earned his way Rough calloused hands With a strong hard grip That never let go But yet still he smiles Even after his time Traveling through lands Of blood and fire To find a home He is a Lost Boy Torn from his home At only five years old

I find myself standing downhill sometimes and feeling that the way to the top is so very far. When you stand at the bottom of the mountain everything else just seems so much bigger. Everything gets out of perspective and it is during times like these that we need to remember that things can seem out of your hands but nothing ever truly is. You just have to be up to the task. You have to start walking up the mountain at some point. It will be a long and hard journey, but the top will be insight eventually. Laying at the bottom of the hill doesn’t make it seem any better and won’t get you any closer to the top. So get up and climb. Let the journey begin.

One of the best parts about living in California are the magnificent redwood trees. They are so beautiful and they just make the nature in California so much more enjoyable. I go on hikes and runs with my mom and our dog Gracie all the time. My mom is the true redwood lover in this family. I just have to say With trees like these, who wouldn’t be a tree hugger? ...

I just wanted to congratulate the amazing students at my high school, Scotts Valley High for doing an amazing job raising money for people in Haiti with their winter concert. I am so impressed by my fellow students, there is so much talent at my school I never really knew about. Raising money for this great cause and watching my friends and fellow students performing was so inspiring and I just wanted to say ...

Downtown Santa Cruz has a Thai restaurant called Pacific Thai and out front it almost always has really interesting fruit carvings. My favorite are the watermelon ones, they are always fascinating to look at. Thanks Pacific Thai for being amazing!