Currently at 4:44 am mountian standard time. I am going through my childhood academic folder that my elementary school which I just snuck into had compiled for me.

Here is what I am able to glean from my child self:

1. Arts an crafts are necessary part of creativity. Both as a child and as a young man… and I am assuming as an adult. There is a reason why home depot just calls to 35 year old married men wanting to do a project or make something cool happen.
2. My fifth grade self said that to change the world…and I quote…”I will prevent war” as well as my kryptonite being “annoying sisters”. My motto was “go 100%”, and my haircut was a landing strip mohawk that my dad and I thought would be funny. It was… (especially combined with the sports googles).
3. My sixth grade self said that in 2026 I will be “living in a 3 story house. A new york selling best author that writes amazing novels. Married, with two kids, living in a cabin in the nice mountains of Colorado playing golf with my kids in my free time”. My retirement age is gonna be “50 years old with a hypoalergenic bernadoodle puppy.” I am also a “frequent world traveler.”
4. I want to be remembered as…”A HARD WORKING – SPORTS LOVING – MAN OF GOD.
5. I used a llama as the front page of a campaign ad I ran with the back of it reading “In Runyon we trust” Crazy comparison to God there. Definitely bold.
6. You can tell exactly when my mom gave up on dressing me…somewhere around 5th grade.
7. A colored drawing of a Swedish flag from some small amount of Viking blood that runs through my veins.
8. An empty workbook about life skills training.
9. An A+ paper about Martin Luther King Junior that is linked here.
10. An art folder that looked like an insane asylum patient got a hold of for the day (the color wheel looked horrendous).
11. Another empty notebook. But, this time it is glitter bombed.
12. A sweet native American Drawing with some fun facts about traditional Navajo homes called Hogans.
13. A spelling test in which I discerned the difference between there, their, and they’re.
14. A letter from from my mom and dad expressing love and belief in me in 2013.
15. A 1-10 numbers sheet with half of the numbers backwards.
16. A springtime assignment saying that I would like to “play a lot and ride my bick and look at the flowers”.
17. A handwriting progression of which I have since dramatically worsened at.
18. A 4th grade paper about the book, Heaven is For Real, a near death expireance of a four year old. (Also attached here).
19. Some basic spanish introduction statement.. “Who I am” (Quien soy). When you flip the page it reveals me, a boy, rocking sprots goggles, and a buzz cut.
20. My short term goal of buying a life straw… “cuz it’s cool”.
21. A letter to myself full of hope for the following school year.

I am so grateful I hung on to these through middle school, high school, and college. They give me confidence and a giggle at myself as a little kid because I can’t help but laugh a little at the things I was saying seriously when I was little.