The quote in my title is from the third Harry Potter book, The Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling. I interpret the second half of the quote as meaning two different things. The first thing that this could mean is trying to view bad things in a different perspective. When you look into a dark room, you may see dark lumps or shadowy figures. However, when you turn on the lights, you realize that you are really just looking at some clothes, a chair, or maybe some toys which is a lot less intimidating. On days where I come home from school stressed about homework or projects that are almost due, it helps to take a second and think about what I actually have to work on. By mentally turning on the lights, I often find that the work is not as imposing as I made it seem in my head. The other thing that turning on the lights could mean is focusing on the bright things in life. When you’ve had a bad day, a way to cheer yourself up is to point out all of the good things. I often do this when something bad has happened that is beyond my control since there really isn’t much that you can do.

Somebody I look up to as my hero is Rivers Cuomo. Firstly, Rivers attended Harvard University. Harvard is an extremely prestigious college which has an acceptance rate of three percent. Despite dropping out, he later re-enrolled and graduated. My family and I take education seriously, so I really respect someone who has the perseverance to go back to college to get a degree. Rivers Cuomo is also the lead vocalist and guitarist of one of my favorite bands of all time, Weezer. Weezer is a popular rock band with many hit songs that started in 1992. This shows that not only is he smart, but he is also creative since he is able to right his own lyrics and music. Another reason that he is my hero is that he is still performing and making music. It impresses me that someone who started a band in the early nineties is still performing thirty two years later. I saw a Weezer concert in September and they were absolutely incredible, and didn’t sound washed out at all.

My word of intention for 2024 is tranquility. I would like to keep my stress at an all time low this year, and there are many things that I can do to achieve this goal. I want to stop procrastinating on homework and school projects. Instead of waiting until the last minute, I will instead bring myself to work on it as soon as it is assigned. This will stop me from freaking out about the due date, knowing that the assignment is already done. Another thing that I will do is only focus on things that I have control over. I wasted a lot of time and energy in 2023 because I worried about things that weren’t in my power. Thinking about things I do have control over will make me feel as if I am in charge of my life, and have power. If I do start to get anxious I will do something such as draw, read, or take my dog on a walk to take away from the stress. I often find myself getting overwhelmed by my thoughts, so doing something to put me at ease is a great way to cope with the anxiety. If I do my best to actually bring myself to do these things, it will be a very peaceful year.

In December I read the book Taken by Erin Bowman, but I only got to page 150. Taken is a fictional book about a seventeen year old boy named Gray Weathersby. Gray lives in a primitive town named Claysoot, where every boy disappears to what is known as the Heist on the night of their eighteenth birthday. While Gray did not think much of this at first, he begins to question everything around him after finding a strange note from his mother. This note was supposed to be kept from him as it contains secrets which Gray shouldn’t know about. However, the last piece of the note is missing and since his older brother, Blaine, was recently lost to the Heist and his mother sadly passed, Gray is unable to find answers. Other than waiting for his Heist, Gray’s only other option is to cross the perilous wall which secludes Claysoot from the rest of the world. While people have tried to cross the wall, no one has ever made it to the other side alive. This leaves Gray to choose between being taken on his eighteenth birthday, or risking his life to find answers on the other side of the wall.

This book was incredible. I absolutely loved all of the twists and turns because it kept the book fresh and exciting. The author did a great job at adding a small amount of vital information at the end of every chapter which made it so that I had to keep reading. I loved all of the different character types that this book included, and felt that I could relate to them all. When I picked up the book, I felt as if I could not put it down.

My favorite character was Gray Weathersby because of how his reckless and explosive personality adds action and excitement throughout the book. The story says on page 9, “I forget that she’s a girl and that I probably shouldn’t hit her. I react automatically, dropping Kale’s hand and throwing my fist into Chalice’s cheek.” This shows that Gray is reckless because he punched Chalice in the face without even taking a second to think about whether what he was doing was wrong or right. Chalice had been taunting him, and even though what she was doing was rude, Gray should have paused to process his emotions.

My favorite quote is on page 29 which states, “‘Let us have a moment of silence,’ she croaks in her dry, brittle voice, ‘for Blaine Weathertsby, who on the morn of his eighteenth birthday, was lost to the Heist.’” I love this quote because despite it being only twenty nine pages into the book, the author did a great job at making me feel connected to this character. Unlike most books, this one actually made me feel sad when Blaine died and I felt sorry for Gray.