Mallery+K’s+Final+AmEx+Speech+2016

= = = Fantasies and Fairy Tales  =

==== I’m going to start out by saying that I’m really bad at making decisions; any decisions really, so just choosing a topic to write about was a struggle in itself. As I was trying to figure out which topic would be best to present as my final, I decided that my brain just really wasn't capable of focusing on a serious topic. Ideas such as optimism, less worry, less stress or pressure all bounced around in my head and I think they're all great ideas that America either needs or needs to get rid of. However, one thing that has stuck with me these last couple of weeks as I'm trying to survive until summer is fairy tales. Fantasies. Dreams. ==== ==== The end of the school year brings out the little kid in me that counts down every hour to the end of the school year. Right now there’s about 41 left. So many times my friends and I have wished that places like Neverland were real because then we wouldn't have to grow up. We wouldn't have to face real life and all the challenges and big choices that come along with it. High school, especially junior year, has presented endless decisions that we have to make in our futures. We’re supposed to know what to do with all these options and choose a major, choose a college; I can't even choose what classes to take next year. I'm not ready to even prepare to enter the big scary world out there. I want to grow old in an America where... I don't have to grow old. Or an America where I can at least push pause on the whole growing old thing. In my ideal America, fairy tales would be true. ==== ==== I know this sounds so childish, but I bet each and every one of you would love to be able to ditch a math test to go play with the lost boys and fight pirates or become the kings and queens of Narnia. At least I would love to do that. Just imagine what it would be like to come home after school and be able to take a flying carpet to your friends house as your genie comes along and grants you wishes! Or if there was a magical bridge that opened a portal to whatever dreamland you could possibly imagine! I definitely want that to be a part of the daily routine in America. It would be like walking through the pages of a fantasy novel or stepping into the screen of a movie. There would be so many endless possibilities! People would be able to train like a Jedi in the world of Star Wars, or sword fight alongside Jack Sparrow as the ultimate race for the newest treasures in the Caribbean proceeds. Or even becoming a student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry; learning new potions and spells in the morning, flying the Nimbus 3000 (which I actually tried to do when I was 9), and then fighting off the dark magic on the weekends. Talk about the ultimate dream life! ==== ==== This sounds totally unrealistic and impossible, I know. And it sounds like just a bunch of silly adventures and perhaps to some of you, a waste of time. However, I would like to point out that being able to live out fantasies isn’t just some ridiculous game of make believe, there would be some very real benefits from this idea. ==== ==== As some of you may remember from the mock AP English exam, if you haven’t already erased that from your memory, one of the prompts was on creative thinking and how, according to a study some doctors had done, there has been a steady decline in the particular skill of creativity. Kids aren’t having to use their imagination to create games to play with their friends anymore. That’s what videogames are for. The stories are already made up by 40-year-old guys being paid millions do it. As for us, we’re too busy. Taking AP classes, about to start college applications, who’s got time for daydreaming? Not me! Our schedules are jammed packed with trying to live our high school lives to the fullest; we’re not gonna sit down for an hour and think about what it would be like to live as a princess or a new age Robin Hood. Time just simply doesn’t allow it. And I know adults don’t take the time either. They have jobs to attend, children to chauffeur around, and bills to pay. Why do you think only kids were allowed to go to places like Neverland or Narnia? They’re the ones that know how to live in those worlds and just simply enjoy having fun. Or at least they used to. In our society, the older we get, it seems as if we are told to forget how to do that and focus on “what really matters,” all the boring, adult stuff we’ll have to do one day. But if there were a way for us to go live in our fantasy worlds for just a little bit each day, I would bet that our creativity levels would soar. We’d be able to experience new things and run free in new worlds. The creative part of our brain would be in heaven, and so would our bodies. ==== ==== Being able to run through fields of wildflowers on the way to the King’s castle or traveling through the thick leaves of the magical forests would be an awesome workout! No more having to pay expensive gym membership fees, rocking climbing up a tower and fighting off dragons would take the place of any weight lifting you did before. Plus, how much fun can you really have in a smelly gym? Not as much as in a fairy tale! Think back to any fantasy movie or book that you know well: what do they all have in common? Adventure! Travel! Fighting bad guys! That’s all exercise in disguise. Instead of having your parents nagging you for wasting a beautiful day or, worse, wasting all the money they spent on your overpriced Nike workout clothes, you’d be out having the time of your life and never having to work for that coveted summer body. It’s no wonder in movies they’re all in such good shape! Not only are they usually in good shape though, they also always end with smiles all around. ==== ==== There’s that cliche fairy tale ending. Happily ever after. Everyone wants it, but does anyone really get it? I mean, of course we all like to think we’re going to get it and that our lives are headed down the path towards a happily ever after. But do we ever get those endings in real life? I think yes. I think we do all have a happily ever after waiting for us. I also think that the road to it is not always going to be pretty, but I still think it’s possible. We can all have our fairy tale endings. Now, this might just be the overeager hopeless romantic in me speaking, but I truly think that people need to hear that so that they have hope to keep going and not give up. There were so many instances this year when I was grateful to have friends, leaders, and teachers that gave me hope to see the light at the end of the tunnel, which is our dreaded junior year. Fantasies also provide this much needed sense of hope. If we were able to take a break from real life, step away from tough situations for a little, and just enjoy journeying through a completely different world, it would benefit a lot of people. On a more serious note, teenagers wouldn’t need drugs and parties to give them a break from all the stress and pressure in their real lives. Stepping back from the challenges of the real world would give people a chance to release stress, get a breath of fresh air, and a new perspective too. Sometimes things just need to be looked at from a different angle and everything becomes clear. Walking into a fantasy world for the day would provide this new view on life and plus, what’s better at teaching a moral than a good old fashioned fairy tale? Kids would be learning important life lessons of friendship, bravery, loyalty, and all that good stuff just by playing in their fantasy world! ==== ==== This is why America needs fairy tales. We need dreams to come to life and fantasies to become reality. I want to live in an America where dreams really do come true...literally. And just as a side note, so everyone knows, in my fantasy stress-reliever world, boys would most definitely NOT be allowed to wear short shorts. ====