This is who I am

    

    Where do I even start? It always amazes me how difficult it is to write about myself when I myself am the only one who truly knows who I am. Let's start with the basics. My name is Shannon Lawler, I am from Orland Park Illinois. I have two older brothers, my mom, dad, and nana plus two staffordshire pitbulls back at home at my house. My family is quite crazy but I love it. We are a handful for sure but they never fail to make me laugh and they are my number one supporters when it comes to school, and sports. Since I am bringing up sports, I am a track and field athlete here at NCC, I run both the hurdles 100m and 400m as well as sprints. I have always been athletic, my whole family was always running from baseball and football with my brothers to gymnastics meets with me. I did gymnastics for 8 years of my life, it shaped me into the athlete I am today. I was a three-sport athlete in high school for two years before deciding to stop playing volleyball and stick with basketball and track for another year. Finally, in my senior year, I made the decision to only concentrate on track. Track and lifting is my true passion. It helps me take my mind off of anything that is happening and lets me just focus on me.   

    But sports is not the only thing about me. I also love to paint, I paint songs that I love listening to or just anything I am feeling. Every brushstroke, every color, and every image in a painting tells you something different about the person and how they are feeling. When you're done, you feel incredibly proud of the work you've done. I also love country music. I know so many people who hate country music and think that all the songs are the same. But to me country is such a different type of music that tells such beautiful stories if you truly sit down and listen. Country concerts are the best thing ever as well, I have gone to several concerts and definitely plan on going to more. Going on a drive listening to country music with the windows down with my friends or boyfriend is one of my favorite carefree things to do. 

    Lastly, I am a very shy girl who keeps to myself but once I open up to you, I am a whole different person. In high school most of my friends called me a sunflower, they said I am always so positive and always had a smile on my face to brighten their day, it really grew me into having a love for sunflowers. I am also a girl who loves watching sunsets. My favorite summer activity is to take my family and boyfriend out on a lake cruise in the family boat, where we then stop and watch the sun set. Sunsets to me are the most beautiful god created nature things ever. All the colors, if there are clouds, the trees, the water just everything about them around it and in it is so perfect. I take pictures all the time and have a ton of them on my phone, but I also like going back at them and remembering the memories of the day. I think that pictures create a lot of emotions and memories. In addition, I have a group of friends who are like my second family and who mean the world to me. 8 guys and 3 girls make up the large group. We enjoy going on adventures together, making memories, and simply living life to the fullest. This is who I am: a quiet girl who enjoys painting, playing sports, listening to country music, watching sunsets, taking pictures, spending time with her loved ones, and is known as a sunflower.

    The activity we did in Card 101, on the "Portrait de Famille" was very fun and interesting. I think hearing everyones point of view on what they see really makes you interested in the painting more and more. I had so many questions about the painting and why it was the way it was, but when we discussed it more I kind of understood it a little more. I think this activity really made us think in depth of both writing and art and how they both coincide with each other. Overall found the painting very interesting and made the class think and have a good discussion.