Past, Present, and Future

  Born on October 31st, 1994, I spent most of my childhood known as the, "halloween baby." My older sister spent her early childhood tormenting me into thinking that I was an omen because I was born on Halloween and being only 4, at the time, I believed every single word she fed me. We grew up in Santa Barbara but at my tender age of 7 we moved to San Diego, which is where I consider my hometown to be. Eventually, we moved to Oxnard but by that time my childhood was long gone and I no longer cared for dolls or recess. I was, as most would call it, a normal teenage girl, until our family suffered a great lost. Later that year my aunt and uncle passed away and it damaged my family more than anybody was willing to admit. They had two daughters who were both underage so my dad offered to be their guardian. However, only one was related to our family by blood so the court ruled that one would stay with us and the other with her biological aunt in Santa Barbara. As time went on I felt ok but the coldness I felt towards people said otherwise. After that I had a lot of trouble concentrating at school and never really cared for what others were doing. 

  Currently I am a full time, first year student at Oxnard College majoring in Liberal Arts. College is a huge transition from high school because in high school, well, you don't really do much and the little that is done you are guided through step by step. However, in college you are responsible for your own work and nobody really guides you through it like they did in high school. So, now that I am in college I am beginning to realize how hard it is to actually be a student. Now I understand why people with degrees are paid so much more than people without. It's because they worked very hard to be where they are. I also work full time at a retail store in camarillo where I have earned a lot of responsibility in just one year. Having both responsibility as a student and an employee, I have had to learn to manage my time very carefully. Which as most of you know is very exhausting work. When I'm not working I am either at school or doing schoolwork. The little free time I have I try to spend with my family. Whether we are off on a fun family trip or just sitting at home watching a movie, I try to spend as much time with them as possible. Due to the fact, that I am maturing I have realized that my family is very important to me and that I don't have as much time with them as I thought I did.

  With time I intend to move out of my parent's home and move out to live in Los Angeles. Partially because I don't want to be one of those kids that never moves out and only stays to party but mostly I want to move out because I need to push myself to make a life outside of home and eventually go off to University. As of right now I am undecided on whether i will stay close to home by going to UC Berkeley or if I will take a chance and aspire to go to Penn State. However, as someone once told me, "it doesn't hurt to apply to both." Who knows, maybe a rejection letter will send me off to my right path.  In the far, distant future i really want to have the opportunity to have my own published book. A sort of tell all on my life because my family has been through a lot, which is not mentioned here, and we have come out of it so much stronger that I really feel like it can help a lot of young teens, that are struggling with their lives, try just a little harder to keep going and know that no matter how many obstacles are thrown in your path, time can really be a savior.