My Best Friend Changed My Life

Growing up in Chicago, I attended a neighborhood school from preschool through first grade. Although it was an exceptional school for elementary kids, the education for middle school and high school students was not as adequate. Seeking a better place to raise their children, my parents were faced with a tough choice. When I was in 2nd grade, our family made the decision to move to the suburbs. On July 3rd, we all packed into our Honda minivan and drove 45 minutes to a new home in the town of Winnetka. Within my first year at Crow Island, my new school, I learned so many new things. I started playing the violin and speaking Spanish, neither of which were offered at my old school. I met my best friends that I'm still close with now. Over the

Despite only being in high school for two years, the friends that I have made have greatly impacted who I am as a person. Whenever I am struggling, my friends are the first people I turn to for advice. I learned from them that I always put others first even when it may cause a large amount of stress later on, am very talkative about the things I am

Let’s start with my freshman year of high school, I don’t have any real cliché story of me coming from a new town or state, I was just moving up a grade level. My

Mikayla’s friends have also helped make her who she has become today. My friend, Meghana, who was mentioned earlier, has helped make me more outgoing and confident. Mikayla’s other friend, Kaitlyn, has shown her to be herself and not care what other people think. I have only known Kaitlyn for about one year now, but I can tell she will be a lifelong friend and as will Meghana. I am very grateful and blessed for all my supportive friends and

January 2015, I moved to Bothell, Washington from Kirkland, Washington. Moving to a new city means moving to a new school. I did not like that idea. I already had a bunch of friends in Kirkland, I couldn't just leave them out of the blue like that. Plus, it was in the middle of the school year.

I was going to Brentwood Middle School when I got the news. I was just starting to find my friend group. Then I was told I would be transferring to a new group of schools. I would be moving 20 minutes down the road into a little town called Nolensville. When I thought it couldn’t get any worse, I would have to transfer schools again after I finished my freshman year. During my sophomore year of high school, I began at Nolensville. This school and town have changed me in ways I never thought it would.

Looking back at it, moving from the Rockwall/Rowlett area to little Caddo Mills was a major culture shock (even if it was only a 30 minute drive). My 5-year-old, carefree self had no idea though. My first day of Kindergarten, in August of 2003, is the day I met the people who are like family now. I didn’t realize it then, or even in middle school with all the dumb drama, but my peers are some of the most amazing people I

Moving schools and neighborhoods was when I first felt like a stranger in the village, but in this case it’s not a village. Attending my new school was so hard to get comfortable with, but I managed. I made friends instantly and made new memories. Unfortunately some problems with my dad didn’t change and he would try to meddle with my mom's life and control her still which wasn’t good for my mom.

My family moved from Garden Grove to La Habra at the end of first grade in order to be closer to our water store. It took me a while to adjust to my new school and every day I ended up talking to a new group of peers.

When we did finally move from my childhood home in Illinois to our new home in Knoxville, Tennessee, the only thing I could think about was how isolated and scared I felt. What was it going to feel like on my first day of class when I was surrounded entirely by strangers? I will always vividly remember walking into my new high school and feeling so lost. Every class I walked into was an alien environment and I had to struggle to keep my composure.

In December of my freshman year, we moved into town and I transferred from Alisal High School to Everett Alvarez High School. I was confronted with a significant challenge that tested my ability to adapt to a new environment. The move had social and academic implications that I have confronted and gradually overcome. I know today that I am a better person for having gone through this challenge and that I am a resilient young woman. I am very proud to have overcome this challenge and now I am surrounded by great friends and have improved academically.

At the end of first grade my parents decided to move. They wanted to move because they wanted to change schools for me, but are old house that I had lived at would only let us go too slv, and my parents didn’t want me to go to slv. So they decided to move. All though we had only moved across town, it felt like a world of difference. My old school was a small, desolate private school in Santa Cruz. We only had one class per grade. My first 1st grade class had only 17 kids. Now I was going to the big, scary elementary school with over 100 kids and more than 30 kids in my class.

When I think about an event that sticks out in my mind as one that was very important in my life, I think about changing schools in the seventh grade. About halfway through my middle school career, I became very unhappy at my school and with life in general. Upon discussing with my parents, we made the decision that I would switch schools and embark on a new journey in hopes to appease my unhappy soul. At first, I felt as if a new school would not help; little did I know what a profound change it would have on my life.

     Jessica was a truly amazing friend. She was a true friend. I could always depend on her being there for me with the right words of advice. Even if I did not want to hear what she was saying. She had been exactly where I was and she knew how perilous the journey of adolescence could be. She informed and guided me in my choices. Yet she never forced anything on me. My

Who has been a influence to you? Mom, dad, or anyone in your life? Well, there always that someone or person who has or had influenced you or even changed your life during you past years in your life. My influence is my one and only father. My father has influenced me in so many ways that has actually changed my life. The main three ways were for me to keep on task, keep safe and stay out of drugs and, and mostly, to believe in yourself.