Just like Voldemort, minus the death and destruction he left on the wizarding world, I have my own horcruxes that make up who I am. In the best movie series of all time, Harry Potter, Voldemort splits up his soul into seven objects, called horcruxes. Harry Potter spends two movies, around four and a half hours, finding Voldemort's horcruxes. For the past seventeen year of my life, I have been searching for my own horcruxes. Horcruxes are the little things that represent everything that make me who I am today.

One of my biggest horcruxes, literally, is my beloved car, Big Betsy. A black 2007 Chevy suburban passed down from my dad, Betsy is there with me through it all. Beginning in the summer, Big Betsy has taken a hit from my mailbox, one speaker blown for the music blasting, and has spent countless hours in ice cream parking lots. I can always count on Betsy to get me where I need to go. I had ridden in the back seat for nine years, but in my tenth year, I am in the driver's seat controlling her. From long trips up to New Hampshire squished in between my two sisters when we were younger, to driving my friends and I to the next football games in the fall of our senior year. Big Betsy is a part of me, it is something in my life that could never be taken away no matter how much gas is left in the tank. Big Betsy will be a horcrux that can’t be with me for the rest of my life but has taught me to live in the moment.

Tie dye, is the other big, not so literal, horcrux of mine. It is a swirl of colors that is unique no matter how hard you try to make it the same. Don’t know what to wear, tie dye. I wonder what that could go with, tie dye. If I don’t know what to do, tie dye. Tie dye is another horcrux that is vital to who I am. I know that even when I have not done laundry I can reach for a tie-dye shirt and it will hide my pit stains or complete my outfit. No matter how many times I make a new tie dye shirt, they never come out the same. Then there are a handful of tie dye t-shirts that I have made that aren’t as bright and colorful. This has taught me to appreciate the not so great things because at the end of the day, they are what help to make me, me. It is a piece of clothing that I not only look for but I rely on, weird to rely on a shirt but I do.

Each new horcrux I discover comes with an array of emotions. Tie dye shirts makes me feel safe and comfortable and Big Betsy reminds me to cherish every moment as it won’t last forever. My horcruxes aren’t necessarily accomplishments that I have made in my life but they are things that ultimately mean the most. My horcruxes are things that I hold close to my heart. Objects that people wouldn’t expect to influence my life as much as they do. But in the end all of the little things in my life are just as important as the big things. No matter what happens I know I can look back on my horcruxes to provide a sense of who I am in a time of need, or to remind myself to treasure all the little things when something seems to be too big. As Dumbledore says, “Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, if only one remembers to turn on the light.”