About Me

Family

                  My name is Monica Bocon. I'm 18 years old and I'm from Maui, Hawaii. I have seven older siblings, including my twin sister. We are fraternal. Not only do we look completely different we also have very different personalities. A fun fact is that all of our names begin with the letter "M". There's Michael, Megan, Morgan, Michelle, Madison, Mackenzie, Marina, and me. Growing up with a big family can be great but also challenging. There's never an empty seat during the holidays and you're never alone. Besides not having any privacy and always having to share things, I'm grateful to be in this family. Not to mention, four of my siblings have kids. Nine in total. That means every family gathering is a party. Most of my siblings have their own home which is a very good thing. Only four of us still live with my mom. Growing up with five sisters is a real pain at times. I would come home to find my sisters wearing my clothes or using my makeup, which caused many arguments. I've even had to share a room until I was in eighth grade. That wasn't too fun. I think a good thing that came out of living with so many people is that I'm more open about things. I've seen many things go on in my crazy life and I feel like that has made me a more understanding person. 

  

Family photo taken in 2015

My mom with almost all of her grandkids

Celebrating thanks giving with some of the family

Hawaii

                 Being born and raised in Hawaii is truly a blessing. The ocean is crystal clear, the sky is always sunny, and the food is very tasty. Any free time I had would be spent at the beach or finding waterfalls to explore with my friends. I had more bathing suites than I did shoes. Growing up on a small yet culturally diverse island has taught me many lessons. When I first arrived in Portland, I noticed that the people here would greet each other differently. At home when we met a new person or say hi to a friend we would give a hug and maybe a kiss on the cheek. But over here they're a lot more formal and shake hands instead. I didn’t mind at all but it was different than what I’m used to. Although I really miss home I look forward to learning new things about the people and city of Portland. 

Crystal clear waters in Paia

Fourth of July sunset in Lahaina

Music

                 Music has always been a big part of my life. I joined band in the sixth grade and continued until the day I graduated. Each year there would be an opportunity to travel with the band and share our music. In the summer of 2017 I was lucky enough to travel to Japan with my jazz band. We performed at a high school and later at a college. It was such an amazing experience. We started in Osaka and went to Fukuyama, Kobe, Kyoto, Hiroshima, and Tokyo. That was the first real culture shock I had experienced. I adored all the temples and every city that we walked through. We were honored to meet the mayor and exchange gifts. I loved all the cities we went to. One of the places we went to was in Kyoto, called the Nara deer park. There are deer freely roaming around and nipping you for crackers. There's also beautiful temples that you can walk through and learn  more about the Japanese culture. While in Osaka, we went to the aquarium. It was the biggest aquarium I've ever been in. They had every type of sea creature you could think of.  My favorites were the whale sharks and the penguins. On the top floor they had a "petting zoo" for some of the animals. Including baby reef sharks and sting rays. They were both very slimy. I will forever cherish the memories I made on that trip.

King Kekaulike high school jazz band performing at Fukuyama high school.

At the deputy mayors office in Fukuyama

Feeding deer at the Nara park in Kyoto

            

The Glico Running Man in Osaka

Obon festival in Tokyo

                                    

Best Friend/Boyfriend 

                I’ve met many people throughout my life and made many friends. But my favorite person is my best friend and boyfriend Isaiah. I met him my freshman year of high school. Although he’s a year older than me, we were in the same band class. He plays the drum set and I play the alto saxophone. He always made people laugh and knew how to brighten up every situation. Through those four years, we became very close as friends. The summer he graduated, I spent almost every day with him. His family loved me so much that they would invite me everywhere and always helped me if I needed it. A few months later we started dating. Both of our families were happy for us, which meant a lot to me. As of right now we’ve been together for 14 months. Coming to college in Portland was a hard transition for us. From spending all our time together to only seeing each other through FaceTime was a difficult task we had to work on and try to overcome. Doing long distance is hard but it’s not forever. He really is a good guy. He knows exactly how to cheer me up and he's always supportive, even if he doesn't want to be. I really couldn't ask for anyone better. He makes me happy and I'm glad I get to be with my best friend.

My graduation 5/24/2018

Isaiahs graduation 5/18/2017

In the pumpkin patch at Kula country farms

  

My Dogs

                  I've had many pets growing up. Dogs, cats, bunnies, mice, turtles, fish, and even chameleons. They all came and went without leaving too much of a toll on us. It wasn't until I got my very first puppy that I felt real heartbreak. She was a golden colored dachshund. She was always so playful and very protective over me, as I was to her. As feisty as she was, she was always a lover. One day at school I got a call from my brother saying I needed to come home right away. He was telling me how Weenie and my other dog Kava, got into muscle relaxer pills. They were seizing and nearly dead. We raced home from school and drove them the vet. They told us that Weenie didn't have a good chance and that putting her down might be the best option. I refused and told them that I wanted to fight for her. She was my baby. A couple days later she became hypothermic and died of a heart attack. I've never felt a try pain like that in my entire life. We held a funeral for her and she was buried in our backyard. I miss her everyday but I know she's in a better place. My other dog is Kava. He is a pomeranian yorkie. He's very playful and clingy. I can't wait to see him again.

Goals in life

                    I have many goals I'd like to accomplish. As of right now, my goal is to finish this semester strong. I know it just started but the transition from high school to college was very difficult. I had to drop a class, figure out my tuition, and do a bunch of other things within my first week. It was hard trying to settle in but I think I'm finally getting the hang of it. Another short term goal is to find a major that I am interested in. As of right now, I'm just taking my basic liberal arts classes. I want to explore my options before I decide on a major to go into. A long term goal I have is to graduate with a bachelors degree within four years or less. It will be difficult and I'm going to have to dedicate a lot of my time and energy into school, but in the end I think it would be worth it. After that I plan on moving to the mainland, somewhere on the west coast of course, and getting a job with the degree I have. Once I settle in and have my work life together, I plan on getting married. I don't know when or to whom, but I do know that thats what I want. These goals may seem unreasonable or even silly, which I do agree with some, but their the goals I'm setting for myself. To have a better understanding of what I need to do in order to have a future that I want to have. Even if none of these happen, I'll just set knew goals and learn from the old ones. 

Books I enjoy 

                   Some books that I really enjoyed were,  The Picture of  Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde and All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven. For me, The Picture of Dorian Gray, was a difficult read. It challenged me to think in new ways. I had to analyze almost every sentence or paragraph just so I wouldn't get lost. This book had many great sayings or quotes that would open my eyes to things completely different. The plot does get kind of weird towards the end and in a way makes you question the story. Overall, it's a good book. All the Bright Places is more of a teenage fiction type of read. It's about two teenagers that fall in love and go on adventures, but there's a surprise ending. I wouldn't say its a big plot twist but it did bring me to tears. I heard many of my friends talk about how good the book was and how I should read it. After a few hours of reading it, I was hooked. It took me only three and a half days to finish it, which I would say was a record for me. I though the story was good and maybe that's because I'm sometimes a hopeless romantic, but it was one of the only books to actually make me shed a real tear.