Events that have changed me

1. One night when I was over at my aunts house my aunt asked if I would watch my 3 year old cousin while her and my mom went out to dinner. It was only for a couple hours but they wanted to see if I would be able to handle it. I had so much fun playing with him and my aunt thought I did a really good job and she had me babysit every now and then. Then after about a year of just babysitting for a couple hours every now and then she asked me if I would want to watch him and two of his friends every day for the summer. I did and it was so much fun and I realized how much I enjoyed being around kids! I did that for two summers and then I had to move. Once we moved my mom got a teaching job at the Catholic elementary school and mentioned to some of the parents that I babysat. A couple families called me and had me babysit every now and then and then one family asked me to be a nanny for their daughter over the summer, and I did it for two years. I have enjoyed becoming close to all of the kids that I have babysat and from all of the experiences I have had it has really made me want to become a teacher.


2. When you're a teenage girl at one point in time you will experience a mean girl situation. I was the "victim" of one when I was in seventh grade. There were two girls and then a few followers who just tried to tear me apart, and sadly one of them was a girl who had been my best friend since we were really little and she just completely, all of a sudden, turned against me. These girls would try do anything to make me upset. They would make up rumors about me and then would try turn people against me. It was really hard because the girl that I was friends with was pretty much the only person I hung out with so when all of this was happening I was alone and had no one to talk to. Eventually it got to the point where it was so bad that the assistant principal asked if I wanted to press charges but I didn't want to because I thought it would just make it worse for me. So instead I thought about switching middle schools. After a while I started becoming friends with other girls, and even though the mean girls were still going after me it didn't seem to bother me anymore and I decided not to switch schools because I didn't want them to think that they won. Ever since then I feel that I am a lot stronger and to not let stupid girls and rumors get to me.

3.  When I was a freshman in high school my parents broke the news to me that our family was moving. When they told me I was extremely sad and I did not want to leave. I was loving high school because I had a bad middle school experience and I was finally away from those girls and all of it, so I wasn't very happy that I was going to have to start all over again! The first couple weeks at my new school were extremely tough. I cried a lot, faked sick all the time, my grades were the worst they have ever been, and I was just really homesick. But then I decided if I wanted to make friends and make the best of it the easiest thing to do was to go out for a sport. I ended up going out for soccer and that was the best thing for me. I met a lot of girls that I really liked and after about a month I felt really comfortable. From the move I learned to be more outgoing and try to be involved with things because then you will meet more people. Now I love Sioux City and I am very happy that I moved. I still keep in touch with a few people back home but not many.