As my senior year ends, I reflect on the challenges I faced that made me who I am today. Without enduring difficulties in life especially as a growing teenager, there is no progress in life. Experiencing hardships allows room for growth, maturity, and life lessons that will help set up teens for success.
In my freshman year, I felt like I didn’t belong at the school I attended; I was physically present, but I was absent emotionally, mentally, and socially. Feeling like this led me to have a horrible attendance and detach myself from reality. I no longer cared to keep friendships or show my face in school because it was my last priority. Although I had a poor attendance record, I achieved good grades and passed all of my classes.
Towards the end of my freshman year, my mom got a job offer that required my family and I to move to Virginia Beach, which was three and a half hours away from the life I had always known. At first, I loved the idea and couldn’t wait to experience new things in a new environment. As time passed I began to feel homesick and hate the change. While adjusting to the move I had to go back and forth from Virginia Beach to my hometown because I still was enrolled in my previous school.
The back and forth was really stressful for me because I wasn’t able to fully adjust to the new area and every time I began to get adjusted to my new surroundings I was traveling back to my hometown. On a positive note, I finished school almost two months early and had an extended summer break.
Summer break was supposed to be a time when children relax and enjoy themselves, but for me, it was miserable. I experienced depression and other mental health issues that caused me to rot in my bed. I was also becoming anxious as the new school year began to creep closer and closer.
Preparation for school began and my anxiety was through the roof. I was terrified of the new school, students, teachers, and learning opportunities. Everything was so new and I was scared that I would have the same experience that I had at my previous school. This feeling was worse. At least at my old school, I knew people because I had grown up with them my whole life.
Going into the new year I told myself that moving to Virginia Beach was an opportunity for me to grow into who I want to be. I had to stop being shy and to myself, which was the hardest thing for me to do because that had been my comfort for many years. During the first semester of my tenth year, I really grew and got out of my comfort zone. This was a really uncomfortable process because I was trying to be cautious, but also becoming open to new relationships and opportunities. I began to feel like I finally belonged. I gained so much happiness and my mental health began to improve.
As the second semester began, I felt a stronger sense of belonging. I accomplished major milestones such as making a lot of new friends, getting into my first relationship, getting my driver’s permit, and much more. The year was going great and I finally started to enjoy my high school experience.
The year came to an end, and once again summer began. This time it was different though. I looked forward to spending time with my friends and becoming adventurous with what Virginia Beach has to offer. This was such a strange feeling. I’ve never been excited to participate in social outings in the past. These things used to be my biggest fear. However, the more experienced, the more I opened up to new adventures.
After I spent the summer exploring myself and my surroundings, I soon had to start my senior year of high school. I decided to graduate early after making a pact with one of my friends. This decision was made because we both struggled with mental health issues and struggled with keeping up our attendance at school and felt this was the best decision for us. I was petrified at first because I thought I was getting ahead of myself and would be stressed out. Even though I felt that way, I went into the year with a good mindset and felt everything was going really well.
During this time when everything seemed to go well, I was betrayed by my closest friends which made me go into a downward spiral causing me to lose my self-esteem and lose myself as a whole. This greatly affected me because I felt I was doing so well and my life had changed for the better until this event occurred. I have since learned and grown from that experience and I consider it a lesson learned that played a part in my self-discovery and growth.
I started to go out more and enjoy my life. I stopped living life for others and started living for myself. There are still times when I let past experiences affect me, but for the most part, I try to look on the bright side because life is too short.
My friends and the people who truly accepted me helped me get out of my shell more and more. I started going out without worrying about what others thought about me, but what I wanted for myself. The more I smiled, the more I saw others around me smiling. I felt as though the world was brighter because of my new take on life.
Graduation is coming soon and graduating early was something I never thought I would be able to do. Looking back on the struggles I have faced in high school or life in general has been astonishing to see. Overall I have learned that struggles in life really shape a person as I am a prime example of that. I am looking forward to using these challenges I faced to continue my self-growth process and I hope to succeed in life.
