Dreams

All my life, I’ve always had very vivid, realistic dreams. The oldest dream I can remember is one from when I was 4 or 5.

In my dream, I was walking down the street with my friend and her mom. We saw two people walk into an elevator, smiling and waving at us as the door closed.

Suddenly, a hooded man all in black ran up to the elevator and pressed a button, making it explode. Once the smoke started clearing, all we could do was watch in shock, as the two people walked out of the elevator, burnt to a crisp. Yeah I know, pretty unrealistic, but bear with me, I was really young and my imagination was wild. In real life, I woke up crying, but was happy to know I had only been dreaming, thanks to the comfort of my mom. No, there wasn’t a button someone could press from the outside of an elevator to cause an explosion, and no, there wasn’t such a thing as walking ashes.

I’ve found recurring dreams to be really interesting. Ever since I was little, I had dreams that I could crawl into a vent inside our house and go into a whole different world. I had the dream three or four times. Sometimes the experience was fun, and I would go on rides and meet nice people. Sometimes, though, it turned into a nightmare, and the world inside my vent was dark and full of witches. When we moved to a new house, the dream still kept coming back, except the secret portal was now under my mom’s bed.

My most recent dream happened a few nights ago. I was in a small village at the center of a rainforest, where the biggest hurricane in history was hitting. I was standing outside at the top of some stairs, holding on to the railing for dear life. I was surrounded by people who had graduated from my class, also struggling to survive. When I woke up I wondered...was this my mind telling me how scared I really am to go to college? Deep down, am I wondering if anyone else is ready? Or are we all going to be struggling?

I’ve read that dreams are thoughts, images, and desires stored in our subconscious. When sleeping, our minds might dig out a memory, either of something real or something we’ve seen or heard about, resulting in a dream. I guess our dreams will always remain as an interesting part of life that we can’t predict, and sometimes...can’t explain.

•••

Last year at this time, I was reading the youth perspective column, hoping that I could be the next one to write it. After applying and being hired as an intern, along with Jazzmine Freedom, I was given a great opportunity to learn more about the field of journalism, perfect my typing and grammar skills, and meet other people who love writing. I was even able to take on reporting a few times, and go out and do my own interviews. I’ve learned that when you are working in the newsroom there is never, ever a dull moment! But now, it is time to pass the youth column on to another person.

If anyone has an interest in becoming an intern at the Optic, please send a resume and writing examples to David Giuliani at dgiuliani@lasvegasoptic.com or drop it off at 614 Lincoln Avenue.

Raven Romero, a Robertson High School graduate, is an intern with the Las Vegas Optic. She can be reached at

ravenromero@gmail.com