Growing up, I absolutely loved the children’s show Dragon Tales. Yes, I was madly obsessed with the pre-school television show that ran from 1999 to 2005. I had a after pre-school routine that had no alterations, except for in extenuating circumstances, that had me watching the show.  The routine was as followed: come home, get a snack, eat said snack at the small, wooden table designed with all of my smiley face stickers, pick up the pieces of my snack that I had dropped on the floor, then run, jump, crawl, slither, or skip into the living room. I would watch and episode (or three) with my older sister Alex, while running around the living room imitating a dragon. Finally, I would take a long nap. The catchy theme song, “Dragon Tales, Dragon Tales, it’s almost time for Dragon Tales” will forever be etched in my mind, alongside the three (or four if you count Zak and Wheezie as separate) fun, loving, and cute dragons in Dragon Tales. The adventures that occurred in Dragon Land were truly one of a kind. It is no wonder that I was beyond excited when I finally realized that my name, Cassie, was the name of one of the dragons in the show. It was especially exciting because the pink dragon, Cassie, was my favorite. She was sweet, shy, and very smart. I wanted to be just like her. Little did I know, when you tell someone (like mom or grandma) that you want to grow up and be a dragon, it’s not widely accepted nor favored for a final life goal as a human. But a girl can always dream. Time went on watching my favorite show and before I knew I was finished with eighth grade. Right after I got my middle school diploma and my dad asked if the school spelled my name right (they did), Alex thought it would be a great time to tell some stories I did not know about. For instance, the fact that she got to name me as a two-year-old (I’m not sure why my parents thought that was a good idea). A seemingly uninteresting fact at the surface, but then she told me, “Cassie, I really wanted to name you Ord, but you were a girl I was forced to call you Cassie. It was the biggest letdown of my two-year self had to face, and you still have yet to make it up to me.” I thank the Lord every day that I am not male, because if I was, I would have been named Ord, after the big blue dragon in Dragon Tales, who also happened to be her favorite from the show. Lucky for me, I was not a boy, so I was to be named either Wheezie or Cassie. Although Alex’s first pick was Wheezie, my parents went with her second choice, Cassie (I also thank the Lord every day for not letting me be named Wheezie). Although I was never named Wheezie, I do have asthma, so my Alex calls me Wheezie anyways (you win some, lose others).