No One Knows Me Like Me

When I was a child, most of the stories or situations I have been through was, mostly, my dad hitting me and my parents fighting constantly; so pretty much I did not really grew up watching Barney, traveling to places, and going to Disneyland often. I thought I would have to live like this for the rest of my academic life, but one day around the age of eight, my dream came true. My parents had enough of each other, so they went their own ways; even though, I was glad that I do not have to life miserably anymore, I was not. I thought that everything would settle down and live a calm life with my mom, but as a result, I ended up raising my two siblings. My dad left the house, my mom was in her own world, and I had to watch my siblings. I thought my parents divorce would benefit me, but all it did was for me to not live as an eight-year-old would. I thought that my dream of going to a great university and becoming a Physician Assistant came crashing down. A couple weeks later, my dad came back and long-story short, my siblings and I had to go hang out with my dad for

I value my family so much. They don’t always do what I want them to do, but they always do what I need them to do. I would like to introduce you to some of the most favorite people in my life. First, my mom (Helen) and my dad (Terry). My parents are just so perfect and they have created a wonderful young lady. I wish I was the only child, but, I’m not. I have two siblings, both of my sisters are older than me and married with children. I have a sister on my

My childhood was very hard. At the age of 17, I was an orphan. My mother was a writer and my father was a minister, author and professor of Latin, Greek and philosophy. My mother died and then, three years later, my father died. I went to live with my aunt. My brothers died and I was heartbroken.

friendships with my very close girlfriends, helps with everything. I can count them on one hand, they have been

I am the way I am because of my father, he drives me to get an education, and he wants me to be better than him. My dad constantly tells me “tell me who your friends are and I’ll tell you who you’re going to be.” This quote means significantly to me because when I was in 6th grade I would hang out with the wrong crowd, later when I was a freshman, I made new friends, better friends, and the ones that push me to strive. My mom is my rock, she struggles sometimes since she raised my brother and I alone, but she always finds a way to get us what we need for school and sports that we play in. I have this picture of my brother, my cousin, and I in front of our house when we first bought it, it’s been 17 years that I’ve been living in it. It may not be the nicest house, but its payed off and I have a roof over my head, to me that’s all that matters. My neighborhood is actually quiet, I have 3 neighbors that are nice people, when we go out of town they watch our house for

Since I’m not entirely sure where to start, I’m going to start at the beginning. When people ask about my childhood, the first memory to come to my mind is never a happy one.

I never had a favorite childhood memory,I never had a very imaginative mindset, all I remember is all the terrible things that has ever happened, may I ask this of you reader have you ever felt alone in a world that simply doesn't understand or why look or do things a certain way? I know I have, we live in a judgmental world we all judge people on how they look and act. Let me ask another question have you ever been put up on a pedestal and when you make mistakes people starts questioning why you didn't succeed or if you did why didn't you do things a certain way? Well enough of the questions, My family has always been the ostentatious gregarious type, they are like a diamond in a coal mine. My story begins around 2007 the year I came to America.

You know growing up I never had a “fairytale” childhood. My parents fought, my sisters and I didn’t get along. Yes, I know that we had good times. I am aware of that. But it just got really hard some days. And that is what threw me into a funk. Then when I

I’ve always been an outsider, it’s been hard for me to build friendships and relationships. Not too long ago, there I sat in the corner of the room in the way back, trying to hide from the world, and be myself. I didn’t really want to get involved with anything or anyone. I was afraid to open up, talk to others, maybe because I was afraid to get rejected. Until, I met the best people I could ever meet, my best friends Marisa Mendoza, Jessica Contreras and Deseray Reyes, the ones who up to this day have sticked by my side, at my best, and worst moments. They have all been a big part of my life, I can enjoy every minute I spend with them. For me, they aren’t only my friends they are like my sisters.

However, if anyone were to comment on my childhood, they would say it was a privileged one. I had friends. I was great in school. I was a gymnast and a cheerleader; but I had a secret that no one knew about, except for my stepfather, who was my abuser. The innocence that every child is blessed with, was taken away from me without my permission.

At a young age, having all four of my grandparents die was crushing. One in front of me, two by suicide and one to cancer. In the second grade when my dad went to rehab, not only eroding our relationship, but also tearing apart my family. As a result, during my third grade year, sleep was rare due to the echoing fighting that I would hear in the adjacent room. Meanwhile this lack of sleep only made school worse. Being called a “retard” because dyslexia made it a pain in the ass to read. This fearful environment slowly began to embed anxiety into my young self. Now that my family was begging to get tired of my hometown in Arizona, we packed our bags and moved to San Diego. In 6th grade is where I got into my first fist fight in the middle school locker room, where Mr. Beckley had to break us apart. Only giving me the “new kid” a bad reputation to some, but respect to others. The ones who began to give me respect, would only bring me down further than I already was. On to my later years in middle school where I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety. Witch felt like a constant rain cloud over me at all times, where the weight of my bed sheets was too much to handle. Therefor causing more chaos in my family. This would give myself an almost constant knot in my throat ready to break down and cry at any part of the day. But like any story, there's light at the end of the tunnel. No matter how long it seems or how dark it gets, there is... Going into my freshman things

company as well as customer satisfaction. She strives for continuous improvement. She is very competitive. In today's world you have to be competitive in order to stay in business. You have to change with the times or else your

"Never forget the past…because it may haunt you forever. Regret all the bad things…cherish the good things. Look ahead always…but don't let the bad things from the past get in your mind." As a young child, there were so many incidents in my life that made me become the person I am today. There were rough times as well as good times. If I were to tell you all of them, I would remember half of them. I think some of my incidents really had some impact, and some were just simple ways of life. To tell you the truth, the incident that had the most impact on me has to be when my real father left me at the age of three. I never knew my father. I mean being a baby, you really have no experience or recognition of somebody else.

Besides God, my husband is my biggest support. Family also plays a major role in my support network. Geographically, I do not live close to my immediate family; however, social media has made it possible to stay in almost daily contact with relatives; including, son and daughter, mother (my father has passed away), brother and sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. I no longer have any living grandparents. Family and friends also play a big role in my support network. Furthermore, some of my karate students have trained with me for over 20 years. They are like family and we call them our “karate family.” They join us for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners every year. In times of difficult health, they have brought over meals

Growing up as a little girl my life was ever changing. Although I don’t have many recollections of my childhood, I do