The tempting smell of cupcakes and cookies being baked fills the kitchen with warmth: such delicious aromas could only come from Ivy Lundblad’s house. Her favorite thing to bake is cupcakes and she loves to bake for her friends.

While the smell of cookies and cupcakes often brings happiness and inviting memories of the sweetness of childhood, that was not the case for Lundblad during her childhood.

“[Life] was pretty hard because we moved around a lot. And we also had some money struggles. Altogether, it was not easy. I moved to Texas when I was in kindergarten and lived there for three years, then came back to Illinois in the middle of second grade. We moved around Illinois a lot because we couldn’t afford to stay in one place for more than a year,” Lundblad said.

Now a senior at WEGO, Lundblad is forthcoming about her family’s previous struggles. Beyond frequently moving houses, the biggest problem was her mom’s struggle with addiction, which caused many personal problems for Lundblad.

“When my mom was addicted to painkillers, I didn’t really have a motherly figure besides my sister, so I had to learn a lot about life on my own. She is doing great now, she went back to school and got a master’s degree and now she is a special education teacher,” Lundblad said.

Growing up, Lundblad had to be independent. By her account, her mother was absent for portions of her childhood or was constantly sleeping. According to her friend and senior Sydney Bennema, Lundblad is always going out of her way to make her feel included, despite Lundblad’s own history.

“I would want to be like Ivy, she’s always there for others, makes me laugh, and is overall a great friend and person. Also, she’s really good at nails and I love her work and [I] am always complimenting them” Bennema said.

Even though her childhood was rough, other people enjoy being around Lundblad and see her as a positive influence, including senior Valerie Harris, who is one of her long-time friends.

“There are many things I admire about Ivy, but one for sure is that she is the most down-to-earth person you will ever meet, and is willing to do a lot of different fun things no matter what the challenge is. I also admire the fact that she will always be there when you need her and find a way to give you the bright side of situations. Ivy is the person you want to always call and rant about the good/bad things in your life because you know she will listen and try to understand your viewpoint. She always cares for her friends’ feelings, but at the same time isn’t scared to tell them when they are being too much or dramatic,” Harris said.

Even though she has earned the respect of her friends and peers, Lundblad continues to offer advice to everyone who has problems while simultaneously possessing a positive outlook on the people in her life, a perspective she wants to share with everyone she meets.

“I want everyone to know that if you are going through something, surround yourself with people who care and will be there for you no matter what,” said Lundblad.