In 2020, we were all struck by the Covid 19 pandemic. Throughout my young life I had been ignorant to my own feelings. I had always been in the public view, as so many of us are, so I pushed down every ounce of myself that was hurting. When the lockdown started, every bad feeling and bad experience came raining down on me. In my past I had gone through a tremendous amount of bullying, grief, loss, and misunderstanding. Being such a young kid and finally feeling the gravity of all of that was so hard. I started to suffer through depression and my anxiety came to an all time new. I was going through a friendship breakup right after the loss of one of my closest mentors. This tore me down and sometimes I wouldn’t even leave my bed for days or weeks on end. When school had resumed into hybrid learning, I was finally pushed to go back out into the world. I got a haircut, long overdue, and went to school. I had just transferred so I was unfamiliar with the people in the building. Of course that was hard but I knew that I’d now have an opportunity at a fresh start. Although, now that I’ve graduated from that school, I've grown apart from many of the friends that I made, I still experienced one of the most pivotal times of my life. The people, the lives, that pushed me out of my depressive behavior also helped me combat my anxiety. In this school I suffered through the first panic attacks I had ever gone through. These friends that I made there helped me to settle down and work on my breathing. They became family because something in the way they treated me didn’t make me dependent of them. They never tried to make me feel down or like a lost puppy. They pushed me to see the strength in myself. Now I’m in high school. I don’t talk to many of them. If I do it isn’t the same. It’s weird to say that I’m content with that. I am though. They helped me realize that the only way I will feel better is by assessing what I’m feeling and understanding that for myself. I now know that if I’m not comfortable or if I’m not feeling sure about something, it is okay to take some time to myself. It’s okay to walk away from things or people that don’t and won’t be able to provide both me and their selves with the support we need. I am grateful to these good people because they truly taught me how to try my best to be a good person. I hope to take these lessons with me everywhere I go. Soon college will come along, I know that it’ll be tough. I’m going to hold on to what they told me. To everything that they did for me. I’m going to strive for the best life and always remember those who got me there, including myself. Life is too short to not believe in yourself and your own abilities. I hope that one day I’ll be able to truly reconnect with these people and tell them thank you for everything that they had done for me.

In 2020, we were all struck by the Covid 19 pandemic. Throughout my young life I had been ignorant to my own feelings. I had always been in the public view, as so many of us are, so I pushed down every ounce of myself that was hurting. When the lockdown started, every bad feeling and bad experience came raining down on me. In my past I had gone through a tremendous amount of bullying, grief, loss, and misunderstanding. Being such a young kid and finally feeling the gravity of all of that was so hard. I started to suffer through depression and my anxiety came to an all time new. I was going through a friendship breakup right after the loss of one of my closest mentors. This tore me down and sometimes I wouldn’t even leave my bed for days or weeks on end. When school had resumed into hybrid learning, I was finally pushed myself to go back out into the world. I got a haircut, long overdue, and went to school. I had just transferred so I was unfamiliar with the people in the building. Of course that was hard but I knew that I’d now have an opportunity at a fresh start. Although, now that I’ve graduated from that school, I've grown apart from many of the friends that I made, I still experienced one of the most pivotal times of my life. The people, the lives, that pushed me out of my depressive behavior also helped me combat my anxiety. In this school I suffered through the first panic attacks I had ever gone through. These friends that I made there helped me to settle down and work on my breathing. They became family because something in the way they treated me didn’t make me dependent of them. They never tried to make me feel down or like a lost puppy. They pushed me to see the strength in myself. Now I’m in high school. I don’t talk to many of them. If I do it isn’t the same. It’s weird to say that I’m content with that. I am though. They helped me realize that the only way I will feel better is by assessing what I’m feeling and understanding that for myself. I now know that if I’m not comfortable or if I’m not feeling sure about something, it is okay to take some time to myself. It’s okay to walk away from things or people that don’t and won’t be able to provide both me and their selves with the support we need. I am grateful to these good people because they truly taught me how to try my best to be a good person.