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Tuesday, November 29, 2016

"The Day that Changed Everything" by Kayla F


As the day was coming closer, the more I dreaded the next sunrise.
It started with boxes appearing in my house that were waiting to be built and taped. which the
whole family helped with. They covered up the entire living room and kept piling up. The next
thing was the disappearance of the items that I had grew accustomed to growing up with, from
the furniture to the silverware. It was suddenly gone, like it had vanished into thin air.
Before I knew it the day came, and reality set in. My eyes began to fill with tears when saying
goodbye and seeing them off. It was the hardest thing I have ever had to do.

This is my story.

I come from a family of six; my mom, dad, and my three older brothers. I am the youngest which
always allowed me to rely on my family members throughout my life. I had grown accustomed
to the big family environment, and I always admired how close my family is and felt extremely
lucky. That is not the case anymore, because at the end of my junior year my dad got a job
opportunity that he couldn’t refuse to move up to Oregon. Our family discussed it, although we
knew it would be hard we didn’t want to take this amazing opportunity away from him.
However, I had the idea of leaving friends, family, and the thought of an epic senior year in my
mind which was the last thing that I wanted. It shattered the end of my junior year, and that was
all I could think about no matter how much I didn’t want to. In the end, I convinced my parents
to let me stay after I made it onto Dance Company, which had been my goal throughout high
school. This gave me a rollercoaster of emotions including being grateful, heartbreak, and guilt. I
was extremely grateful for my parents allowing me to have my dream senior year with my
friends and to have the opportunity to be on the dance team. I cannot be more grateful for my
dance family, because they are always there pushing me to be the best I can be as a dancer and a
person, so thank you if any of you are reading! A contrasting feeling was heartbreak because my
family was going to be split and it would not be the same in the place that I called home, because
of the absence of those personalities in my life would cause my daily activities to change. Guilt
was one of the biggest things I had to accept. This is because I knew how much my mom and
dad wanted me to move up there and I had the worst time telling them I couldn’t be as happy
living with them as I could finishing my senior year at Etiwanda with people that have changed
my life. In the end, my mom, dad, and one of my brothers moved up to Oregon. I have also had
to change who I live with, my grandparents are now moved into my house and are helping take
care of me along with my other two brothers. I have had to adapt to changes and make sacrifices
to stay at Etiwanda, but I also realize that this loss of a part of my family has also altered my
senior year as not being as fantastic as it could've been because of their absence.

My family, although not the same, is adapting and becoming stronger through this struggle. Even
though I chose to stay in Southern California away from my family, I have realized there is
nothing in the world more important than family, and that we should appreciate and cherish
every moment that we are able to spend with them. I cannot wait to continue senior year with my
friends and to stay positive to make it the best I can, but I know a part of it will always be
missing without my family here to experience it with me.

20 comments:

  1. Its hard to make decisions and you had a tough one. Even though your family is split, you are still making memories with your friends for senior year and you can always remember that. It sucks not having everyone there with you but you just have to stay strong and make the best out of it. Hopefully the rest of your senior year is amazing and everything plans out!

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  2. Kayla, I am so proud of you for writing this piece. This takes a lot of courage to discuss something this personal and you did a great job. I know it is hard right now but I promise you everything will turn out better in the end and you will be with your family faster than you know it. You did a great job describing your emotions and giving the reader a small background to your story. Thank you for sharing this Kayla!

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  3. I felt this piece at a spiritual level. I remember moving away from the apartments in which we lived in for over 10 years, to the house we now reside in. It was the hardest day of my life because I had to let go of everything I knew. Adapting is always difficult and I am very happy that you are making it through. Hopefully, everything works out!

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  4. Kayla thank you for sharing this with us! You are such a strong person and I had no idea you are going through all of this. When I first started reading I thought you were going to write about a past move and when you moved here but then the plot twist got me. I am so happy you stayed and you did an excellent job writing the experience, you gave us the background and all of your emotion with it.

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  5. This piece was really well written that many readers can connect to this piece. Making decisions in life is not easy and you chose where you are happier: to stay at Etiwanda for your senior dream as part of the dance company and to stay with your friends however, it takes away the moments the you could've spend with your family. But, I know that your family will be happy and proud for your decision because they know that you're happy. You're writing affected me emotionally that I can clearly relate to what you have written. Hope that you can go throughout senior year and finish strong!

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  6. Kayla, I'm so sorry you had to go through this! You are honestly such a strong girl that I didn't even realize that was happening to you! It takes some real courage to share something like this and I thank you for expressing your feelings and making it into a great and amazing piece. I'm really happy you stayed here and made Dance Company because you're a really amazing dancer and you deserve to be here at Etiwanda on the Dance Company Team. I hope you finish your senior year with a blast and having your head held high!

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  7. Wow Kayla, this piece was really well written. Even though I didn't know any of this was happening, your use of detail and imagery made it seem as if I was side my side with you during this whole experience. It was very strong of you to make such a hard decision by yourself. I am sure your piece will help many people when it comes to following their dream!

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  8. Wow Kayla, what an amazing piece. I love how honest you were with expressing your feelings and as well as breaking down those feelings instead of just telling your story plain and simple. You added so much detail that created a touching and heartwarming story. I also loved the very beginning of your piece and how you transition into going into what happened like a flashback. Great job!!

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  9. This was a well written piece that conveys the bond we share with our family. Eventually, we will face obstacles in the future that will force us to step out of our comfort zones. This piece shows how important our family is to us. -Jerico Dizon

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  10. Oh my goodness Kayla, I've been friends with you for many years yet I had no idea you're going through this. I just want to start off and say that you are such a strong person. You were willing to make such big sacrifices to achieve your goals. I love how family is at the core of your piece because believe it or not they are an important part of who you become as a person. I appreciated the imagery you used like,"roller coaster of emotions" to depict how overwhelming your emotions were in that moment. Great job with this piece.

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  11. I want to first start off by saying that your first paragraph was brilliant! Once I read that first paragraph I was so intrigued and could not wait to read the rest of your story. It was almost as if you gave us the commercial to an awesome movie first, before proceeding to tell the story from the beginning. Not only did your story amazingly demonstrate your perspective on how your family splitting up affected your emotions, but it also showed me that no matter how much we think we know somebody, we will never truly know about everything they are going through. I knew you junior year and we are still in classes together, however I had no idea any of this was happening. Thank you for sharing this personal story with us allowing us to learn more about you! Amazing job!

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  12. I was very intrigued by just seeing the title because, I have also experienced a lot of changes that turned my world in a completely different direction. I thought that having a personal story is very effective and intriguing for the audience because it is realistic and a lot of people go through these situations. I have had to leave so many friends behind because my dad has also had different jobs. From experience I can imagine how you feel. Very well structured piece.

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  13. I really admire your strength to write such an recent twist in your life. I love the bond that everyone in your family has with each other. I also like the message of treasuring every moment we have with our family.

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  14. I can understand the feeling of having to leave everything behind, it's great to know that you were able to stay and continue being the person that you feel comfortable with.

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  15. Thank you for sharing something so personal, I'm sorry you had to experience all these changes, but at least your trying to adapt, you'll be fine! At least you and your family have such a good bond. The piece was nicely written, got me in my feelings a little, lol but great job!

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  16. Well done! Sacrificing something like that to do what you love is never easy. Im sure you miss your family a lot and thats a reality a lot of us will have to face moving on to college next year.

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  17. The story was done well because you were evoking sad emotions in your reader, and that's always a good thing. You did great in taking something from your experience and continuing on with your life, and giving the readers a moral to the story. Uh-amazing job kayla!

    -Kynoa V

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  18. Family is an extremely important component to people's lives and gives them clarity, comfort and purpose to their lives. Your experience of being split from your family in order to pursuit your dream of participating in dance company at etiwanda is very heartlfelt and written with true emotion that is reflected in you're diction and tone. Wonderful job.

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  19. I really liked your story, it was so captivating. As a reader I really understood the plot of the story. I loved the sad emotions that you conveyed to the audience.

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  20. I had literally the exact same situation my sophomore year so I know what it's like to be in your shoes. That decision was hard but I'm glad you were able to make it. Your story is empowering and I'm glad you have the importance of family and friends leveled.

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