AJOA: Days 14 and 15

Day 14: A vacation you'd like to take

There are lots of places I wish I could go. I'd love to visit Britain, or the Philippines, or New Zealand. I've always wanted to visit the East Coast. Someday, I'm going to drop everything and take a random road trip around the country, and it will be awesome.

However, I think my dream vacation would be a long trip to Italy. I've always imagined learning Italian and going around Italy conversing with anyone who will talk to me. I think that would just be the coolest thing ever.

Photo Credit: http://tinyurl.com/4wf5ha5

Day 15: A person you admire

This one's difficult, because there are a lot of people I admire; I've been incredibly blessed to have been brought up by and around admirable people. So, even though I'm not writing about them today, I should mention that I admire both of my parents, my teachers, my pastors, and my friends. I don't know if anyone's reading this, but you should all know that each of you, in some way or another, inspire me to be a better person. I love you all.

Most people I know won't recognize his name, but the person I've chosen to write about is young adult author John Green. Although he's best known for his novels Paper Towns and Looking for Alaska, I have read neither of these books. I know him primarily as a video blogger, because he and his brother Hank make regular videos on YouTube. The two of them have formed a community known as Nerdfighteria, which is basically a bunch of nerdy people who are dedicated to decreasing "Worldsuck." (Translation: they raise money for charity, do good deeds, etc. etc. I happen to be a Nerdfighter.)

Mr. Green is not my hero. He's not my role model. In fact, I disagree with him on a lot of stuff. The reason I admire him isn't because I think he has all the answers-- he doesn't.

I admire him because he's not afraid to have unbridled enthusiasm for what he loves, even if that makes him a nerd. He never ceases to make me think about and question my own assumptions, beliefs, and values. He's an incredibly gifted wordsmith, and his videos (and books, although I can only speak for the one I've read) have just the right balance of thought-provoking and light-hearted material. And most of all, I admire his ability to find beauty and meaning in things that I overlook every day.

I chose to write about John Green because I hope to someday see the world with eyes as open as his.