Seasons change and so do feelings. Best friends move away. Love isn’t always true and life is never easy. Life doesn’t come with an eraser and the time machine is still just a nice thought.

My best friend invited me to a party where I knew there would be drinking. I went, but I did not take even a sip. Sitting on the sidelines, I watched as she continued destroying her life. She drank drink after drink until she hit the floor. With her small body size, it is a wonder she’s still alive.

Everyday I come home from school and ask how my mom’s day went. Everyday I hear the same answer. I can tell she’s lying sometimes. She fakes a smile, says everything went well, and then looks the other way. At night I hear her cry and with all of her effort, we are still barely just getting by.

I watched my dad poison his mind with drugs and alcohol. He would scream, carry on, and then become abusive. He hit my mom and called me names. He disowned me and at one point, he even tried to kill me. I still loved him, but he wanted to forget me. He tried to drink me away.
Some of my friends have babies, but they can not even support themselves. Everyday life gets harder and I watch them slowly slip away. They have no future.

Everyday as the pressure builds more intense and I begin to break down, I remember my dream. I do not want to be like my friends and destroy my life with alcohol and meaningless relationships. I do not want to be like my mom and just barely get my family by. And I do not want to be like my dad and poison my mind. I want to go to college so I can be somebody.

After I graduate college, I want to be the best journalist out there. I will attain my dream career because all along, I have kept my dream close. I am not my friends and family. I am an original; I am me and I will not succumb to the pressure that tries to break me down. I will be somebody because someone once told me I never would.
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