Each day presents numerous choices and sometimes even potentially significant opportunities which if not seized, could have a drastic and lasting impact on one’s life. First, one regretful moment in my short fourteen years of existence was not taking Spanish in middle school, a language spoken by some of my dad’s relatives. I was concerned about the difficulty of moving up to middle school and starting a new language. High school pushes me to take on that challenge, so in addition to continuing French, I started Spanish this year, and I am grateful for the opportunity to study this wonderful new language and culture in depth. Besides my initial missed opportunity in Spanish, I have another moment that I regret even more, which involved me overhearing mean remarks made by some classmates about one of my best friends in middle school. The two boys who made those remarks were laughing uncontrollably, and I still remember my face turning beefy red as anger filled inside of me. But instead of stepping up and defending my best friend, I picked up my pace and walked briskly away. I truly regret that moment to this day because I have had the same remarks made about me, and I know what it feels like to be picked on and to not have anyone help me. Finally, the moment I regret the most was not spending more time with my grandfather at his nursing home when I was ten years old. My grandfather was very ill around Christmas, and my family drove to Ohio to visit him. I hesitated to visit him at the nursing home because I feared the smell, the sterile environment, and the images of older people lying in bed, all of which at the time made me feel very uncomfortable and frightened. My grandfather passed away one month later, and to this day I wish I had spent additional time with him. Now I will never again see him or hear stories about his fascinating childhood. Clearly, life is just too brief not to seize those defining moments because they can have a lasting impact on one’s life.