"The dreamers, as if pulled, move toward each other, the nightmare becoming clearer the closer they get." -anne rice, queen of the damned

Dear Mrs. Zimmerman,

My name is Dana Larsen I am going to be 17 on Friday. I am a junior in high school I am writing this letter because it is required of me in my fourth hour English class. I am also writing this to meet you, my mentor.

My favorite school subject is Art, History, and English. They are my favorite subjects because:
1. Art is my life, and I myself am a graphic artist.
2. History is a great thing to know and study, because you get to learn how your ancestors once lived, and what they had to go through.
3. English is something we all need to learn in order to do well in the real world. You need to know how to type, read, you need good grammar, and how to correspond with someone.

My worst subject would have to be chemistry. I believe that in the field that I am planning on working in doesn’t involve mixing chemicals and learning elemental properties. It's just something I’m not interested in. I would like to go to Lawrence Tech. University because I would like to learn the fundamentals of architecture. After finishing school there and getting my degree, I would like to then try and get into college for creative studies. My artwork is "outstanding" as my art teacher puts it and I think so too. I want to learn even more about what I can do to make more beautiful, realistic artwork. For my career, I would like to be an architect. I love Victorian houses and every time I see a run down house, I can picture how I can fix it and make it look beautiful. After getting started in my career, I would like to then move on to learning more about my artwork and maybe even sell some of it for a little extra cash.

I live with my Mom, my Moms fiancé, my two brothers, and my best friend Bridgette. I have three dogs; Paz is a golden retriever, Champ is a chocolate lab, and my own dog is a cocker spaniel named Tessie. Some of my hobbies include drawing, reading, making Webpage’s, learning htmls, and listening to music. My favorite movies are ‘gone with the wind’, ‘It’s a wonderful life’, ‘What dreams may come’, ‘Edward scissor hands’, ‘Leprechaun 1-6’, and even ‘a tell-tale heart’ by Edgar Allen Poe. Music that I enjoy listening to would be country, such as Conway twitty, Terri Clark, Blake Shelton, randy Travis, George Straight, Tim McGraw, and Faith Hill. I also enjoy listening to heavy metal and rock, such as Seether, Shinedown, Black Stone Cherry, Skinny Puppy, Portis head, Faith no more, Lacuna Coil, and Candle Box. My favorite author would have to be Anne Rice, because I love her writing, even if she takes a while to say what she means.Her vampire series and her witch series are my favorite because not only does she have fantasy, she also has a lot of the truth in her written word. She makes me think about things when I read and she helps me get lost for hours at a time. I also like Harry Potter and that series as well. Again you have the magic and the fun, but it is also a story of a boy who has problems just like the rest of us in real life.

In ten years, I see myself hopefully living in Scotland, in a nice Victorian house that I built myself, with my current boyfriend and maybe even a child. I would be getting my income from the houses I built and the artwork I sell. Something about me that not many people know about is that I care. I care about how we change our environment, even though people do not notice sometimes. I care about how one thinks about life, I care about the people around me, and I care about myself. Many people think that I don’t care about what I do in life or where I will be in so many years, but I do. The person that I care for the most would have to be my great-grandma, my Nana. She is the greatest person in the world to me. I do not know what I would do if I lost her.

I am asked to ask you questions on how to do better in school and how to do well in college, but I generally have an idea. I wouldn’t know how to ask certain questions in this field because I believe that I may be on the right track already.What I wish to gain from this mentor program is a new friendship, along with expert advice on how to do well for my overall interests and goals in life. Thank you for taking the time and reading my letter. I hope for a respond soon.

Sincerely yours,
Dana Larsen