Zahir Hassan: If your house was burning down, you would most probably evacuate family members, pets or other essential items. But out of the corner of your eye, amidst the burning wreckage, you suddenly spot your most prized possession, an item of sentimental value that you would risk your life to save. I’m your host, Zahir Hassan, and today we are going to discover what that special item is for a couple students.

Sara Karmaliani: I’m Sara, she/her pronouns. I’m in tenth grade. I would save probably a pair of stuffed animals that me and my twin sister got at birth. They’re kind of ratty now but they’re two little dogs who look the same, but they have slightly different shades, really slightly different shades of brown. And they’re called Peanut Butter and Jelly. And Sophie got Jelly as a kid. And I got Peanut Butter as a kid. And they’re medium sized. And we got them when we were little.

Hassan: So do you still have them in your room?

Karmaliani: I do, Sophie doesn’t like stuffed animals that much, so I mostly keep both of them. But that’s one that’s pretty much the only stuffed animal she’ll tolerate having on her bed. Yeah, well, it just has a lot of sentimental value. And it’s something I’ve kept for fifteen years and it’s really important.

Yeah, I think it’s just really important for me. I never really was introduced to it. I think my first memory of it really was when we were moving into my new house and that one night, the first night we stayed there, we didn’t have any furniture or anything, but we had a bunch of stuffed animals. So me and my sister made a fort on our floor with a bunch of stuffed animals [surrounding us]. And I remember holding that stuffed animal. I cuddled with that one stuffed animal because Sophie wanted Jelly and I just let her [take it]. We’d fight, but I like Peanut Butter now. I don’t know the breed of the dog, but it’s a white and brown dog with floppy ears. Think “Lady and the Tramp,” [except] it’s the lady. I don’t cuddle with it or anything, but I have it on my bed. When I’m [on] my bed, the dog will be there.

Hassan: Okay, nice. Do you think you’ll keep that?

Karmaliani: Yeah, I definitely will keep it for the remainder of high school or even beyond. I’ll keep it for probably the rest of my life. Unless I lose it or if it breaks or something.

Isaac Broderius: Hmm. That’s a good question. I don’t know, I don’t feel there’s anything that I’d really risk my life for, but if I had to pick something, it might be my backpack. It’s a blue Nike backpack with a white swoosh on the front because it’s my good luck charm. I’ve had it since third grade. And yeah, I don’t know. I can’t really see myself with a different backpack.

Also when I’m going on a trip, I take it. It’s been all over the country and yeah, it’s a nice backpack. It hasn’t broken yet. And after it got to a certain point five years or something I was just like, “This is the backpack.” This is what I’m gonna keep, you know? I bring it to school every day, and I pack it the night before going to school, and then it just lives in my room most of the rest of the time. Well, it’s kind of breaking right now. The zipper’s kind of getting messed up, so I’m hoping I can make it last till the end of senior year, and then I’ll get something new and that’ll be the shift.

Hassan: Whether a journal, photo or family keepsake, what possessions a person values depends on their life experiences. If you had to choose, what would you save?

Music: Black and White Photo & Stay With Me by WeVideo