Who is Gabrielle Burns? (An introduction)

Hi. My name is Gabrielle Almatine Burns and I attend Whitney Young Magnet High School. I was named after my grandmother (my only grandparent still living) and she has played a strong part in my life along with my parents. I'm 15 years old and during my 15 years, I've had my dosage of pain, stress, joy, elation and just un-describable emotions bestowed upon me. I believe they happened for a reason to shape me into who I am today. After losing a best friend, I realized how precious life is and how it shouldn't be taken for granted. I try and live each day doing what I'm supposed to do and am trying to stop worrying about what I think others will think of me (though it's hard sometimes).
I'm an introvert and quite shy. Excluding in-class discussions, I'm a rather socially awkward person. People appear attracted to my personality from what I understand, though talking and socializing isn't easy at all. The most talking I do to my friends is through electronic communication as face-to-face confrontation isn't required. I feel this is attributed to the fact that I don't want to say anything wrong or offending and electronic communication can reduce this. I'm a perfectionist, so to say, when it comes to having a good relationship with people and having them know the true me and what I'm like.
My hobbies include reading (typically romances, teen fictions, realistic fictions), writing (short stories, novels, poems, journals, etc), hanging online (facebook, emails, etc), traveling (which I discovered after going to California twice in one year) and such. I'm not athletically inclined but I do enjoy playing basketball and want to play football. If I get in shape for next year, I intend to try out for the Whitney Young team. I'm not the typical girl and enjoy wearing clothes that are comfortable rather than "cute," but I'm slowly learning to mix the two. I'm a gym shoe fanatic and love buying and wearing new shoes. Nike's are my favorite kind. I've been a tomboy all my life and fail to see myself changing anytime soon.
I enjoy giving advice to people and just listening to them. I've been told I'm easy-going and easy to talk to. Whenever I am able to help people see something from another perspective that allows them to better a situation, I gain a metaphorical "high." Helping others is what I aspire to do in life and what career path I'll take to do that I know not, but as of now, I'm leaning toward the medical field. I've called myself a "nerd" (yes, a self-ordained name) since 5th grade and though many say I'm not a nerd, I feel quite the contrary. It's not a derogatory name to me and not a name I want to change. I'm proud of my quirky and intellectual ways. Once a person gets to know me, they'll better understand the reason for this name.
My religion, family and friends come first in my life. I put them ahead of myself and would do anything (or almost anything) for them and would do my all to keep them from harm's way. Materialistic things will fade away but the memories and love I get from my family, friends and God won't. This is merely a snippet of who I am and I hope as we endeavor through our Sophomore, Junior and Senior year, you get to know more of who I am.