Before I was born, my grandpa from both sides of the family passed away, and my grandma from my mom’s side lived most of her life without her husband. My grandma never attended college and has lived with us for the past 16 years. But every day she continues to live a happy life and never stops repeating the phrase, “God bless you, God help you.” 

When I was ten years old, my dad was diagnosed with a stomach tumor. I had just finished elementary school and was too young to understand, but looking back on my dad’s life made me realize that things do get better and that life progresses. In 5th grade, I would sit at the lunch table alone and would fail every AR quiz on the books I read until my teacher Mrs. Smith made me realize that everyone reads books differently and that sometimes they aren’t meant for everyone. 

When I was eleven years old, I was diagnosed with scoliosis and I had to get surgery in order to reduce the curvature of my spine. I needed a walker just to move and I refrained from any physical activity for six months. The first time I tried standing while touching the ground was something that scared me for months; I had this irrational fear that if I bent too much, the screws inside of me would eventually just fall out and I would have to relive everything all over again. Here I am five years later better than ever. 

The end of my 8th-grade year got cut short, and my first year of high school was entirely online. The summer before I entered my sophomore year of high school, my uncle passed away and I never got the chance to return his missed call. He died the same month I had surgery five years ago: July. I am now almost halfway through my high school career and am trying to soak up every memory that I can get. 

I don’t say this to show you how miserable my life is, but to instead show you that life goes on. It doesn’t wait for anyone no matter how tragic certain events can be. Everything that’s ever happened to me didn’t happen because I wanted it to; it happened because there was a reason behind it. And although we may never understand the “why” behind everything that plays out in our lives, if we spend our lives flipping through pages that have already been read, we may never get to fully experience the end of our own stories. Life works like a book; the past cannot be changed, and the future is yet to be determined, but the one thing that we can do is be in the present moment and hold onto memories for as long as we can. 

If there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s that you do not have control over everything. If we controlled every single factor in our lives, life would be boring. We would know what the future was like, and there would be no surprises. To put it simply, we would be walking autobiographies. I wouldn’t want to live a life that I wrote because then there would be no surprises.

At the end of my 8th-grade year on March 12th, 2020, I was nominated for student of the month by my language arts teacher Mrs. Wallace. What surprised me wasn’t the fact that I was chosen, but rather why I was chosen. My ability to stay joyful and find the good in everything is what intrigued her the most, and to this day, it is a rule that I will forever live by: looking on the bright side of everything. Finding the good in everything is what keeps me going, even if it’s almost impossible to find on the toughest of days. 

Every day I work towards becoming a better version of myself, but I never want to be perfect. If everything was perfect, there would be no motivation to change, and to me, that sounds boring. My life isn’t perfect and it may never be, but I’m okay with that because even though I’m not where I want to be, I have everything that I’ve ever wanted. I’m in my sophomore year of high school and taking challenge classes, but most importantly doing what I love most: writing.