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I've never been good at writing these things. So, if I start rambling,
you'll have to deal with it. And this isn't my entire life story. It's pretty
much a briefing of my life in the past two years.
I'm Krystal. Your average teenager. I turned 18 this past January.
I've lived in NJ for almost two years now. I was born here in 1984, but when I was two, my parents decided to move to this
tiny little town in upstate NY. I always said that I hated it there and
that I wanted to move back to NJ. I felt like I had no friends and I was
the reject wherever I went. In 10th grade though, I started to make friends.
Sure, I had friends before then, but they ended up proving themselves as
real losers. My sophomore year in high school was horrible and great.
I struggled with a lot that year. When things got tough, I saw that certain
people were always there to help. Candi, Courteney, Mel, & Mallory (who
wasn't a new friend. I'd known her since we were little.) were the people
who always seemed to be there whenever something was going wrong. But two
months before I started 11th grade, my mom went for a job interview while we
were visiting my sister in NJ. The lady who interviewed her told her that she
should start looking for a place to live here. I was against the whole thing
from that point on. A few weeks later, we drove down to NJ again to start looking
for places to move into. We went to over a dozen apartment complexes in one day,
and had no luck. They either didn't have any two bedroom apartments at that time,
or they didn't allow pets. So, I started thinking, "This is good. If we can't
find a place to live, then we can't move." The next day though my sister's friend
called us and told us that she forgot about an apartment complex in her area.
So we went to go look at it. They had a two bedroom apartment available, and they
allowed cats. My mother told them that we'd take it.
I was against the whole thing from that point on. A few weeks later, we drove down to NJ again to start looking
for places to move into. We went to over a dozen apartment complexes in one day,
and had no luck. They either didn't have any two bedroom apartments at that time,
or they didn't allow pets. |
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So, I started thinking, "This is
good. If we can't find a place to live, then we can't move."
The next day though my sister's friend called us and told us that she
forgot about an apartment complex in her area. So we went to go
look at it. They had a two bedroom apartment available, and they
allowed cats. My mother told them that we'd take it.
We went back home to NY and my mom started making
arrangements. Eventually she started bringing boxes home, and started calling the high-school
and the junior-high here, and all these other things. A month later, 8 days into
my junior year at the school I'd gone to ever since kindergarten, we moved.
After we moved, I started school here, and I had made a deal with my mother that
I would try the school here for 6 months, and if I didn't like it, I would
either transfer or move back to NY and go live with my father. In March of 2001,
I ended up dropping out. It was the worst decision I've ever made.
I never wanted to drop out of school. I wanted to graduate.
My boss, Mike, from my first job here, went to the school with me and my
mom when I made the decision. I remember right before I signed the
papers saying that I was no longer a student, he stopped me and asked me
if that was what I wanted. It wasn't what I wanted, but I just
couldn't deal with it anymore. I still hate myself for that.
Now, I work instead of going to school.
I still don't have my license, so I ride to work with my mother and then walk over to my job.
I plan on taking my GED test so I can get into college. But ever since I left school, I haven't done
anything to even try to get ready for that test. I have no idea of what I want to go to
college for either.
But even with all that crap, I still think that someday, everything will be okay.
Because I'm strong, and even though I don't see it all the time, I know it's there.
And with everything I've faced so far, I think I can get through anything that life
throws at me. |