Happy 17th Birthday, meltmedia!
At 16, we get our driver’s license, and at 18, we’re “adults” and are done with high school, but what about that year in between? While 17 may not be considered “memorable,” per se, we’ve asked our melt employees to honor melt’s 17th birthday with a few memories from when they were 17.
Christina Luna
One time, 17-year-old Christina snuck out of her second floor bedroom by tying bed sheets together! FYI, it totally works, but she wouldn’t recommend it…
Alejandra Guillen
At 17, Alejandra was flying over international waters and reaping havoc in China all thanks to Tempe Sister Cities! Although she had a blast, there’s probably a reason she was never invited to visit again…
Alec Lomas
When he was 17, Alec wanted to be a graphic designer and was crushing on Mila Kunis. He currently gets to live out his dream as a graphic designer every now and then, and still crushes on Mila.
Andy Frey
One time, Andy was playing ninja, sneaking around the neighborhood and scared the heck out of his Michigan neighbors, who ended up calling the cops on him and his friends. Another time, he made a batch of moonshine for extra credit in his chemistry class. Oh, to be 17 in the Midwest.
Danny Shoffman
Seventeen-year-old Danny dreamt of being a sports broadcaster. The Cubs didn’t think that he could fill Harry Caray’s shoes, so he stuck to just drinking in the bleachers. He also bleached his hair and had a thing for Megan Fox, Rachel McAdams, Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, and Britney Spears, particularly in the Stronger music video.
Román Pacheco
At 17, Román dreamt of getting paid to build websites. He would often make fan websites for his favorite bands, or offer to make animated banners or websites for his friends and high school teachers. To all the non-believers out there, Román currently gets paid to build websites.
Allison Kennedy
When Allison was 17, she went through a few career-option phases– photography, art, design, creative writing, etc. They all had one thing in common: She developed her own custom websites to showcase her work for each of these fleeting passions. Talk about a true calling!
Kate Pond
Kate was living her best life at 17 as an exchange student in Austria! Here, she learned German through immersion and dreamt of becoming a park ranger, which she also did a few years later!
Destiny Hayes
Destiny’s dream job at 17 was to become a dolphin trainer. Her dream came true when she went to the National Aquarium and got chosen out of the crowd to do hand signals with the dolphins. That’s as close as she ever got to living it out, but she got an “honorary dolphin trainer” certificate out of it!
Casey Jacobsen
When Casey was 17, she got a scholarship to play golf at Grand Canyon University. While this is her biggest teenage achievement, her biggest uh-oh moment was succumbing to the fashion trends of the early 2000s, including (but not limited to), Abercrombie everything, Uggs and denim skirts, super low rise denim, and super side parted hair falling over her eyes.
Robin Fossen
At 17, Robin got to go to England and France with a bunch of friends! Her 17th year of life is definitely not one that she would change– she was considering moving cross-country to Arizona, got ready to graduate high school, and had the best time with all of her friends.
David Knutson
When David was in college, he dreamed of becoming a backup dancer for Usher. Unfortunately for everyone, he never got to live out his dream. When he wasn’t dreaming about being a backup dancer, he was holding onto strong feelings for Kelly Kapowksi. He still currently holds onto those feelings.
Andy Matznick
While Andy never got to live out his dream of flying F-14s off an aircraft carrier, he did fly out of a tree he was hiding in after a party got busted by the cops. Not his proudest moment, especially after realizing that he tore the back of his pants during the fall.
Katie Lockhart
At 17, Katie started college! Although she got off to a rough start with living out of state and away from her parents, she finally learned how to do her own laundry! Aside from that, Katie is still working on her dream job of being the next J.K. Rowling.
Will Mejia
When Will was 17, he learned how to cook in a fine French restaurant, tore his ACL, rocked long hair and sideburns, and most importantly, had a celebrity crush on Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Krista Fernandez
By the time Krista was 17, she had already accomplished so much! She was involved in theater, took several electives in class, including auto maintenance, was on the school’s step team, and was “Bagger of the Year” at the grocery store she worked at! Talk about overachiever!
Brendan Erquiaga
At 17, Brendan wanted to be a physiatrist. He now works as an Associate Backend Developer, so he never got to live out that dream. He did, however, wreck the front axle of his F-150 when he tried off-roading over some bushes that ended up being tree stumps. Which is just as cool as a physiatrist, in our opinion.
Mary Lane
In high school, Mary loved Physics and Fashion Design. While her dream of being a designer didn’t exactly happen how she expected it to, she’s now one of our Lead UX Designers! When she wasn’t busy designing and making her own clothes, she was busy dreaming of Milo Ventimigila, but who could blame her?
Kyle Huntsman
When Kyle was 17, Kyle had a motocross experience where he ended up riding off the track and accidentally took a jump over a billboard. He bailed off his bike and took a 30 foot drop, where he broke his wrist and collarbone. On the bright side, he’s currently living out his dream of being a programmer.
Matthew Rausch
Although Matt doesn’t remember his favorite class, he does remember that he wanted to be a banker. He got to live out this dream, but he did not enjoy it. He also remembers that 17 was a year of many “firsts” for him, but we’re not going to elaborate…
Amory Borromeo
When Amory was in high school, she was really into Japanese and Chemistry classes. Back then she wanted to be a D.O., but she quickly abandoned that dream when she realized she didn’t have the patience for patients. The coolest thing she did at 17 was take a guy’s BMX bike, and hit the jump they were all too scared to do. You go girl.
Anthony Garone
At 17, Anthony’s dream job was to be a guitarist and he kind of gets to live out his dream now with his passion project! His most memorable “uh oh” moment at 17 was when he lent a homemade guitar he built for an assignment to a pretty girl, who tried turning it in to the same teacher for the same project!
Sebi Nievas
When Sebi was 17, he got to film a COPS scene with his friends all around town! Whether he was the criminal or just an innocent bystander is for him to know and us to find out…
Amy Grant
When she was 17, Amy was really into thinking she would become an orthodontist. She never got to live out that dream, much to the relief of thousands of brace-faced kids out there.
Adam Low
In high school, Adam wanted to be a feature film animator. Unfortunately, he never got to live out this dream, but he did become one hell of a QA Engineer. The coolest thing Adam did in high school was not go to any dance or party, prom included.
Originally published at www.meltmedia.com.
