Shadaya's Journey

I started to ask more open-ended questions about her family and the day she was having. She told me about herself as long as I asked but kept it at that. There were no questions directed towards me and her voice was very quiet. For the times she didn’t know what to say she would keep her eyes on her

Leslie Chavez has been my close friend for 10 years ever since kindergarten we live so close to each other that even if we wanted to we wouldn’t be able to get rid of each other. It all started the first day of kindergarten when a little girl named Leslie I hated her she would always stole my pencil with my great luck she was my cubbie buddy, now we learned to like each other, our arguments have brought us together because we were so honest to each other. Leslie now has always been there when I needed her, once I ran away and dashed to her house in first grade. Leslie and I have been so close that she has been there to clean up by throw up and let me borrow clothes. Leslie and I are obviously going to still being friends after high school

Today I am talking about how my best friend and I met. My best friend’s name is Sydney Rott. The story of how we met is a cliché but I am going to explain it anyway. We didn't know each other up until my Sophomore year and her Junior year. I decided I wanted to go out for the tennis team, even though I have never really played before, I still decided to join. Sydney was the number one player for the Harrisburg Tennis Team. I thought that she was a brat when I first met her, but as time went on I started to like her.

Her name was Monica Rosales I noticed right away that she was very open to me and nonverbal ques showed such as her hand placement and eye contact me; she was willing to be friendly to me. She was born on October 1995 in .We started out with asking about her culture she told me “My definition of culture is a set of ideas and beliefs that guide the actions of a group of people”. I was shocked to see such of a text book definition from her we both laughed. She was born in the U.S so her upbringing was common for the most part

We met in the summer after my sophomore year of high school. She had just graduated high school and was off to college in the fall. From the moment we had started talking, I was, as you could say "head over heels" for her. To me, one of the most attractive qualities in a person is a sense of stability and that was why I was strongly attracted to her. She knew where she was going to college, what she was going to major in, and had her whole life planned out before she was 19.

She called out numbers. We got in groups. He was in my group. I studied him and liked what I saw, but even then I didn't feel the attraction. Strange.

We started talking about many range of topic like what do you think of the weather today. I asked questions to make sure I

When I moved to Florida in elementary school, Lynn and I promised each other that we would keep in touch. We’ve been best friends since she reached out to me the day I arrived at a Korean church in Alabama. Ever since I left, we texted each other daily. After 8th grade, excitement for high school dominated our texts. We conjured up grand plans, varying from surgeons to global journalists. We also had chats typical of 13-year-old girls–complaints about school, crushes on boys, etc. I assumed that Lynn’s life was the same since I left.

I was the one who initiated my relationship. First impressions were made from behind a screen, with a Xbox controller in my hand. I couldn’t help but notice a teammate from an online game chosen at random. I drew the conclusion that she had at least one thing in common with me, so I added her as a friend. Once she replied, I climbed onto the experimenting step. We bantered about our interests in the game, and eventually, our mutual tastes in activities and music. I was shocked that someone was so similar to me. As time progressed, our relationship started intensifying. Our communication increased, and I had the privilege of video chatting with her on Skype for the first time. In a way, a new first impression was formed. She seemed so shy compared to the girl I used to twiddle my thumbs for. Hearing her nervously say, “Hi, it’s Sydney," for the first time opened up another channel of communication.

When I first met this woman, she instantly changed my life without me even knowing it at the time because of her life experiences, which spoke volumes to me. She did not have much family support didn’t rely on anyone, she was very strong willed, driven, and had a lasting effect on people’s lives when she talked about her story. The woman I am speaking of is Lois G. Taylor. She have traveled all around the world, marched during the civil rights movement, and battled with various health issues most of her last years of living. I took care of this woman during the final stage of her health because of my profession as a nursing assistant and I truly loved her, she was a second grandmother to me, and I was a daughter to her.

Her name was Toni Gamez and she was a stranger that I naively let into my life not knowing what would come of it. She was a survivor. Not of a natural disaster, not of a vehicle accident, but of life itself. Seven attempted suicides, years of drug abuse, weeks of hospital visits, all for something much greater than one could ever comprehend. Now, I am not implying that God made her do all these things, but He kept her from cutting the last chord for a reason. He knew everything she went through would one day help hundreds of girls; one of those girls being me.

We were at Stanhope Day 2013. I decided to go with my brother to meet two of his friends that I had heard of but never met. As soon as I met the two girls, I knew I would get along with Kelsey. She was so much like me. She was friendly, shy and nice. Anna was more outgoing. I didn’t mind she was fun to be around. After a few hours we decided that we wanted to get something to eat. We didn’t want anything they had at the event so we went to find somewhere else.

Changed her life, changed her name, she was someone all new. Aradia Rose Williams, she was the part of me that just endured. She survived through the losses and realizations of the girl she was and what she had been through. But now, she only had one parent. A single mother, not the same one that she was born to. She had a bigger house now with even less people and less time with this mother. She had two brothers now and a nanny four days a week in grade school which always made her feel like she was too much work for her mother. Nowadays, I like to keep my distance unless I need her so that she doesn’t think of me as a burden or a bother. There were much more expectations in this stage of life like the religion that we practiced and the responsibilities we were assigned. She hardly looked back on the life she could have had otherwise. Moving to Redmond, Or from Boise, ID was a huge change for this girl at age 10. She didn’t like the more personal feel for a smaller town. Being anonymous and small in a big city was much more her style. Moving through middle school in this new town was really hard starting over and discovering who you are all in one big step. She found new friends that were four years older to match her maturity level and the trials in her life never really stopped. She came close to death and always in fear of losing her brother to all the significant mistakes he was making. From these days, I learned to keep more to

To begin, I met Oniqa about 5 years ago during my freshman year of high school. It was our first class of Physical Education in the gym playing volleyball. After some instructions from our teacher broke the class up into partners, and surprise my partner was Oniqa. Both of us were extremely shy, quiet, and didn’t talk much during the 45 minutes we spent hitting a ball back and forth. Luckily our friendship didn’t with second period PE. With time we became good friends. In reality, the first day we met wasn’t the start to the typical friendship. Looking back, we were an unlikely pairing that without realizing it had many similarities and experiences. Despite our somewhat awkward first encounter, the following years spent getting to know each other better I learned she was a lot more than a shy girl in my PE class.

I met her two years ago and we did not have much to say at that time. Little did I know that she would later steal my heart and become an intimate part of my life. As the saying goes "there is someone for anyone at any time in this life" and I was about to find out that this saying was so true. I have had a wall built around me and my defense was as a stronghold to protect myself from all the relationships that have come and gone over the years. I thought that I was meant to be alone in this old life and happiness was forever gone from me. This wonderful woman I am speaking of is Mary Doe, and the joy she has given me has revived my hope and faith that I may have finally found love and peace within. She has made me feel like I am a child