I have moved 9 times, spanning 6 states, have seen friends disappear while witnessing my family be driven apart. But I believe that everything in my life, I carry with me. Every person Ive met, and every friend that I have lost will always stay with me and affect the way that I choose to look at things from every possible angle.</p>
<p>My mother was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia when I was 10. At the age of 12, I was a pallbearer at my best friend’s funeral, and at 14, I served in that role at the funeral of my older sister after her suicide. My parents divorced, and my remaining sister and I were separated when I chose to move away with my mother, while she stayed with my father. </p>
<p>However, this chapter of my life was not all bad. Petrolia, Texas, population roughly 800, became a place I could flourish. There I excelled in academics and athletics, found security with my mother and my grandparents and finally felt that I belonged to something, that I had finally found a place that I could call home. I continued to achieve highly in school, scoring a district-record 96 on the ASVAB test. When my parents reunited and decided to move elsewhere, I stayed on with my grandparents, working for my grandfather as a mechanic.</p>
<p>Sadly, my grandparents could not afford to keep me long, so during the summer of my junior year, I moved to Waxahachie to live with my parents. After graduating from Waxahachie high school, I had the opportunity to go to the University of Texas at Arlington on a partial scholarship, but my father declined to pay the balance, offering to pay my tuition only if I went to a local junior college. After a year there, my parents moved to Arizona. However, although I was accepted to University of Arizona, my father preferred that I start working for his company, as a factory worker in a position that he viewed as having potential for advancement.</p>
<p>At this point I decided I needed to strike out on my own, and was accepted to Blinn College in Bryan, Texas with a small scholarship. I moved 1000 miles from my parents to College Station, where I currently live. I attend Blinn College and work as a Teller for Wells Fargo. After this semester I will complete my core courses. My objective is to begin coursework in my intended major, accounting, and my goal is to pursue these courses at [insert name of school].</p>
<p>I have seen a great deal of sadness, instability, and disappointment in my relatively short life, but I have [insert something positive here, like “I’ve remained hopeful,” or “I’ve tried to learn from every experience.”] Everything in my life I carry with me, every person Ive met, and every friend that I have lost will always stay with me and affect every way that I choose to look at things from every possible angle.