“OKAY. so it took a while thinking about how I should write this. Ask Allison, Jennifer, Jeff, or Eric. or Jonathan. but he was busy writing page long reflection, so he probably didn’t hear me, haha.
I made one, and then I deleted it. I could talk about what TAF means to me.. but I realized that I can’t. TAF to me, is like my family. no matter what troubles or horrible things I’m facing at home, whenever I go to TAF it’s like I’m myself again, with no worries and I can just be around people I love, and I can be open and be myself.
Roger was our speaker again this year, and I feel like whenever I go to TAF and he speaks.. we can relate to what he says. Last year, I was having trouble finding myself. ahah. that sounds cheesy, doesn’t it? but I did! I felt like at school last year I was a poser to everyone else, and I was just trying to fit in and be like everyone else. then I went to TAF, and I swear, it was like BOOM. Roger was talking about how you have to take off your mask and just be yourself.. and I was like WHOAAAAA. it was deep, man. and this year! well.. ethics and values. making choices, based on your own ethics. not what other people expect of you.. to take off your bags, and just have your own ethics and values. not everything is as simple as right or wrong.. sometimes you really hvae to think about what the consequences are for the price you pay. Roger’s an awesome speaker! I feel like he makes his sessions fun yet deep, and so that we can relate to them and learn from them too. 
ENOUGH DEEPNESS. lets get to the fun part! uh. TAF WAS SO MUCH FUN THIS YEAR. one of the reasons were, I felt like I was myself and I made new friends & stuff ! I branched out, and got involved in stuff. instead of being like scared to embarrass myself, I ran off and mingled with kids. haha, I think I did embarrass myself, and there’s probably like 32743824 kids out there who think that Maria Lee girl is a total creeper, but its alright. I remember that one day, when the whole mingling started. I was trying to convince Christine, Aileen, and Margaret that turkey was a dairy and then we started talking with Andrew, Jonathan, Tiffany, Allison, and Phil.. their table. man, that was SO MUCH FUN! ahah, I remember Andrew trying to mess with my head and telling me that TURKEY WAS A DAIRY! wait. no. VEGETABLE. no. MEAT. no. WHATEVER. ahaha, I think that was the day where I started hanging out with you guys too, and now look where we are! we’re all talking online, exchanging numbers, and forcing tc’s out of each other. wooot! (:
SO before TAF started, we were all talking about how we wanted our big sib to be a boy this year, just to see how it’d turn out, ya know?! so it’s funny, because when I got my bigsib ERIC HO, I was like YAAAY ! because it was a boy big sib! I was pretty excited. Eric turned out to be an awesome big sib! he was so much fun to hang out with, and even though in the beginning when we were both ducks and we just met it was a bit awkward, no? now we’re like supatiiiight and it was so much fun to talk to you and hang out with you at the family events! I found myself lookin’ forward to family group time, because I could chill with my family group and stuff ! ahha, THE TAF CARNIVAL was so much fun with you lol ! I can’t believe you painted your nails pink, ahah, that was awesome! so manly. and lol our sib letters between each other were EPIC! I found it SO FUNNY when you used that big poster sheet haha I remember thinking YESSSS I HAVE THE BEST BIG SIB EVER ! ahha, that was awesome..! all I want to say is, ERIC YOU WERE AN AWESOME BIG SIB! you were so much fun to just walk around with! and at the water fight ahahah the quidditch thing was fun.. and so was the DUNKING THING! ahahha that was awesome. & I loved how we always kept getting each other with the water balloons but they bounced off and splashed on the ground.. dang, THAT HURT ! hahaha. thanks for being such an AWESOME big sib!! 
keep in touch, alright? keep on textin’. (: you’re the best ! :]
EPICALLY UNHYGENIC DUST BUNNIES PLAGUING TAIWANESE LLAMAS ! (YAAAAMAAAAS!) ahah, man! this small group was AWESOME! ahah I must admit, at first I was worried about having Jeff as my counselor, because I didn’t know how it would be, since I knew him outside of TAF, but once we started smallgroupin’ I realized it wasn’t much different ! I HAD THE BEST COUNSELORS EVER. Chelsea & Jeff! You two were SO MUCH FUN! haha, you always made small group either so DEEP and SHARING, or FUN and just.. awesome! ahaha, at first it was pretty awkward too.. the whole getting to know each other part.. but soon enough we were joking about wenises, child abusing gender confused parents, coloring pooh’s, farting openly, and so much more ! haha our small group was SO MUCH FUN this year! every one in our group was just awesome, we all could be so funny and deep if we wanted to! I love you guys!
TAF LOVE. MAN. I love that workshop. this was the same way we did it two years ago.. but still.. I was BAWLING! I guess I just started thinking about how much TAF really meant to me, and how much everyone IN TAF meant to me.. and I just was so sad to be leaving! it was Thursday.. so I knew the end of the week was coming soon.. and so i started thinking about all the people who’ve impacted me and made a difference in my life.. and how the people at TAF are my family. and how at TAF I can seriously just let go and have fun. when I started crying.. I remember Chelsea was next to me.. and when she saw me crying she started comforting me and hugging me.. and that just made me cry even more! I LOVE YOU CHELSEA!! You made me feel so loved, and I just felt, so comforted. and that just got me thinking too.. TAF is full of people who care about you, no matter how embarrassing you are, or how weird you are.. I guess that’s just how TAFlove works. I once heard this.. “TAFlove isn’t an experience.. it’s a feeling.” and it’s so true. it’s not just a workshop, TAFlove is real. it’s in all of the tafer`s hearts, and it’s most defintely alive! share the TAFlove. it means alot.
Reflection
like I said.. TAF this year was the best year for me. and it’s because I’ve met so many new people and became friends with everyone. I got involved in all the games and stuff.. and the discussions, and mingling with people. TAF friends are the friends that I’ll try to keep in touch with forever.. no matter how far away you guys are. WEBCAM! I promise I’ll get one. I love everyone of you guys so so much! you mean so much to me, and without you guys, my experience at TAF wouldn’t be the way it is. I wouldn’t be myself now. I wouldn’t be able to be as open, I wouldn’t be able to be myself, I wouldn’t be where I am now without TAF. and Everyone in it. I love you guys! no words can describe the TAF love thats in all of us.. it’s a feeling. I LOVE ALL OF YOU GUYS. Thanks for making my experience at TAF so memorable. I hope I had a part in your experience too. <3 (:”
This was Maria’s third year at TAF and she was part of the Junior High program.
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