The Really Bumpy Road I Took to Achieve Success

       When I was in the 8^th grade at Hamilton Middle School in Seattle, Washington, my parents told me that we were going to have to move to Shoreline, Washington and that I was going to have to change schools to Kellogg Middle School, not only did I have to change schools I was changing school districts to the Shoreline School District from Seattle School District.  That meant that everything my friends and I had been looking forward to since I was in 6^th grade was going to go on without me. As an 8^th grader you got to do special things in the school. There was the cruise and the formal dance then there was the year books. When you finally get to be an 8^th grader you get your picture in color in the year book. I was so excited for all those things, that when my parents told me I was moving I cried for 3 days straight and did not want to come out of my room. I thought that my life was over. I had also already started the 8^th grade at the first school when they said we were moving.

            I remember the day that I started the new school. I was terrified just to even walk through the front doors. I did not know anyone except my cousin, Lacey but we were not very close and we always had different kinds of friends. We were very different people and still are. Our parents told us that we needed to hang out with each other because it was the thing to do. Also they said that it would make it easier for me to make friends if we hung out. That did not work at all. I was nervous. I felt like I did not fit in with her friends.

            I remember walking into the school and it looked so big and unfamiliar. I felt my body shake from anxiety. I wanted to cry. I went to the office and got my schedule. Then the   secretary showed me where I needed to go. I walked into my first class and everyone stopped what they were doing to stare at me. That made the anxiety even worse. The teacher then showed me to my seat and went on with the lesson. I do not remember to much more from that day except that I had to eat lunch alone because my cousin thought that I was a dork and did not deserve to sit with her and her friends. When I went to the rest of my classes I also remember that I was lost in what the teacher was saying because we had not begun to cover that information at my last school. The rest of that year I spent most of my time trying to catch up and understand what we were learning. I never caught up and failed most of my classes. That is how my road to failure started.

            I entered into Shorecrest High School, which happened to right next to the middle I had just finished, feeling pretty bad about myself and how I was going to do in school. At this point I felt a little more comfortable with being in the new school because I was new just like everyone else. I felt a sense of relief.  I went to my classes and still felt like I was behind everyone else. The classes were too hard and when I tried to go and get help it seemed to not work. So, I started skipping classes and that is how I started really messing up my education.

            School life went on like this for all of my freshman and sophomore years in school. When I saw that all my friends were getting to do things that I could not because I was grounded all the time for not going to class, I decided that I wanted to get my act together. So, I started summer school before my junior year. Then, my junior year I took before and after school classes to make up what I had missed. I also did this my senior year. Half way through my senior year I met with my school councilor and she told me that I would not graduate that year no matter what I did. So, I dropped out and decided that I was going to and get my GED.

            I went and enrolled at Edmonds Community College and got already to start my classes for my GED. I was also in a program that you started off by getting the GED and then you worked on a 2 year degree, when you finished that then you were able to cancel out the GED with a high school diploma. When I started I met some people also in the program and we started to skip classes there too. Then I got a grave yard job and started sleeping too much and missed too much homework. So my journey at Edmonds Community College did not last long at all. I dropped out.

            After that I thought to myself that I was never going to make it and just gave up trying. I found myself addicted to drugs and homeless after that because I just did not care anymore. This was all about 10 years ago.

            7 years ago I moved in with my grandmother and got clean and sober and tried the whole going back to school thing again. I found myself not wanting to go to school so I called my using friends and started on the drugs again. I spent more time lying and saying that I was going to class then actually being there. I ended up running away with my now husband, to be homeless and high. So there again I was a failure to school.

            Then after a few years I got pregnant and had my son and decided that I needed to get my crap together and grow up. So I decided that I was going to go back to school and get my GED once again.

            I started my classes and everything was going really well for me. My teacher told me that I was almost ready to take the tests and that I was a great student. I was proud of myself for the first time in a long while. Then again life happens and I relapsed on drugs again and I lost my son to CPS. So again I dropped out of school, but this time I planned on going back, I just needed to move and get clean and work on getting my son back.

            After I started treatment and got in to a place to live and was moving forward again I went back again to start over for my GED. The new teacher said the same thing as the last one that I was ready and should go take my test. So after a couple months in the class I went and took the tests and passed them. I was shocked I had no idea that I was capable of that.

            I told myself that I had to go back to school so I could make something of myself. I wanted to be a better provider for my family. So, that is how I got myself here to Olympic College and in the English 99 class.