How Jada Changed My Life

Time flies, the first term of my freshmen year is almost to the end. When I first got into college, I didn't know what to do as a college student. It was hard during the first two weeks of my freshmen year. Not to mention, It was right after a long summer's vacation. I was extremely lazy about everything and couldn't focus on school work. After almost failing my first mid-term, I realized I need to focus on studying. I began to get back on track and finished work before the deadline. As time passed, I could still remember when I first got into the Freshmen Inquiry class I was struggling and now my Freshmen Inquiry class is working on our last project of the term and our group is doing great. During Freshmen Inquiry class, I learned many things.

I was sleeping a lot, my grades were failing, I rarely left my room and I found myself going to class in pajamas more often than not. By the end of the second semester, I was failing two classes and I was so emotionally distraught that I finally decided it was time to ask for help. Getting to the point where I was able to acknowledge my mental illness and reach out to a professional was huge for me. I have been struggling with depression since I was in high school, but I was too ashamed (and extremely stubborn) to admit that I had a problem and I needed help. My first thought was that I needed to go into counseling, but the wait for that is extremely long and I would be back at UNH by the time I was let in. At this point I was stressed out and felt like I had no other

My journey through undergrad was similar to a flight going through a lot of turbulence. I came in knowing what I had to do, make Good grades, shadow doctors, and volunteer/participate in community service. However, there were a lot of trials and tribulations. It was not until after my freshman year when I hit rock bottom academically that my whole world

First of all, I did not understood English very well, and second, I discovered that I was going to graduate two years later than what I thought; I became a sophomore instead of a senior, and I did not like that. I can still hear on my mind the bad comments that some important people from school told me about my capabilities, without knowing how hard-worker and determined I was going to be. About two weeks after I started my first semester, I realized that my English was good, and having that on mind, I decided to do my best to graduate in one

The first three months of junior year were very stressful and I’ve never been under so much stress before and it became overwhelming. I missed my parents and it was hard for me to live

Life is all about choices, and the one choice I knew I wanted to make was to go to college and achieve my educational goals. Knowing that my family could not support my two older sister’s college endeavors let alone mine, I knew I had to act. Throughout my high school years, I applied myself constantly through taking challenging coursework and involving myself in clubs that I was passionate for. All of those years led me to overcome the biggest obstacle a senior student

Sophomore year was extremely difficult for me. You know how most people go through a rough patch at some point in their life? Well, that was me all of Sophomore year, everything just seemed too big and scary to deal with, and so I basically put everything off. The guidance counselors always use to say when we were going into high school that we would need to stay on top of things before they started to pile up. I just thought that they were just being dramatic to try and scare us into doing our work, but they really weren’t. By the time I realized this, however, it was a little too late, and I was faced with two options; attend summer school to regain the credit that I had lost, or face my peers when school started up again and be two credits

Sophomore year turned out to be the worst year that I’ve experienced in all my 16 years and 3 months of living. Remember when I said that the advice given to me by one of my teachers was engraved to the deepest part of my brain? That means that I didn’t remember that until a couple of months ago. But, it was already too late. I was already knee-deep in the mess I created.

I forget to notes that I was depressed. The lack of sleep and not eating healthy was physically and mentally wearing me down. My mother always jokingly tells my sibling the “The school is about to start and Nyadak will start going

Although even with these passions, school exacerbated the familiar anxieties that I was incapable of success and what I had was artificial. Exhausted, I wanted to be liberated from it. Junior year I held my breath when I submitted to my first poetry contest. I signed up for Computer Science that year and Calculus BC senior year, fearful, but soothed myself I could succeed even though I felt I would

My family saw me as a source of entertainment, but more important when my mother glanced at my small, but full heart it caused her briefly to forget all the pain. My family accepted their new roles and I made it my responsibility to care for my mother. Every special occasion, I made it my duty to shower her with love and gifts so that she never felt alone. When I had to get heart surgery at the age of 12 years old, I was aware of her medical anxiety, so as I was wheeled into the operating room, a reassuring smile lit up on my face and I instructed my aunt stay by her side. As time passed and my family healed, darkness spread over all that love and laughter that once encompassed my body. For a decade following the most impactful day of my life, I put pressure on myself to be perfect and give my family a reason to smile. All that weight on my shoulders finally weighed me down during one of my toughest, 2013. In the beginning of my 8th grade year my personality began to change and life kept to throw curveballs at me. In September, flames ran up the side of my house and I briefly faced my death; however I escaped untouched and my childhood home remained mostly intact. In December, a baking activity ended in a cut tendon, surgery and the start of a long battle with mental

Fortunately, my parents absolutely hated the school and I was able to move to a charter school without having to explain the situation to anyone. Although I was still tormented at my new school, it definitely was nothing compared to the torment I received at my previous school. During my sophomore year of highschool, my parents decided it was time for me to go back to public school. Although the charter school I was attending was great, it was definitely lacking many things.Unfortunately, I was still dealing with many hardships during this time that led to my depression. Once I moved back to public school for junior year, my depression skyrocketed. I was exceptionally insecure, miserable and , of course, reluctant to ask for help. But one thing I value about the experience is the fact that I didn’t let my depression be an excuse for me. I managed to stay in three AP classes that year.(Although they weren't the hottest grades.) I was also a manager for the high school soccer team and became a three-peat state champion for club soccer while recovering from an ACL, MCL and Meniscus tear from the previous year. I did all of this without informing anyone about my depression. Till this day, only three people and whoever reads this essay, know about it. Although sometimes I do wish I let some of my teachers know so that they could work with me, I don’t regret my decision. This experience is one of the

It was May 17th, 2011, it was a normal school day when my brother and I were told that my mom called to say that she was picking us up early. I was anxious, wondering why we were going home early and breaking our usual routine. When my mom came to get us, the first thing that I noticed was that she didn’t greet us with her usual smile. I was 9 years old, very observant, but not able to sense what was to come. We got into the car, when I asked my mom where we were going hoping

My father, sister, and I began going to Church every Sunday. Since I didn’t really know what was going on in Mass, I found it incredibly boring and mainly went to Church because my sister was going and because we always got breakfast together after church. After a few months I started sleeping in and letting my family go to church without me, but I was still interested in the idea that God existed and had many questions, so I stayed with the Church and received the sacraments, such as Reconciliation and the Eucharist.

My mother saw the pain in me and decided to relocate back to Atlanta. I became acquainted with some children from the wrong side of the tracks and my life began to spiral out of control. I would stay out late on school nights and often missed school because I thought hanging out with my new found family was more important. Soon my grades began to plummet. I saw no way to bring up my grades and decided to drop out of high school in the twelfth grade.