Up to That Point (An Abridged Autobiography).

Another hilarious tidbit from my "past life"- here is something I wrote about my first 17 years, as a senior in high school (2004). I don't remember the reason for writing it, but it's odd to see just how much my life has changed since I wrote this six years ago.

(PS: Check out the awesome jam-packed shelf behind me in the above photo. Like my mother's empowering collection? Oh, and gotta love the kid pictures of my sister, mom, and me! Ahaha!)

The (Abridged) Story of my Life

I've been raised by 'smart' parents. By 'smart', I mean that book-smart, lacking-of-emotional-sensitivity class of people. My mother likes examining and collecting rocks, lecturing others on the value of excessive coupon-using and reading books at a voracious pace. My father enjoys using lengthy words to condescend others, working and talking about cars and cooking dinner for others. I took after this frame of mind, receiving praise from teachers for my high grade point average and motivation to learn. My younger sister, who was born in 1988, used to be a hard-worker in school, trying as hard as she could to get excellent grades. However, she soon became another rebellious teen, failing numerous classes, becoming passionate about friends, fashion, and music, while flipping my entire world upside-down. We share a room and when she decided to be the 'unique' one in the family, she became cluttered and unorganized, her social life preventing her from cleaning up after herself. My parents have given up on encouraging her to improve her lifestyle and don't understand her career choice as a fashion designer.

However, that's my family--mostly misunderstanding anything dealing with passion. There's one thing they do comprehend though, and that's the importance of learning as much as you can. During the summer between seventh and eighth grade, they were able to send me to Russia and Belarus as a foreign exchange student for three weeks. It was my first traveling experience and after a week there, I learned what poverty was (and what being drunk was like). After going to the only McDonald's in Minsk, Belarus and having to pay for a packet of ketchup, I realized just how lucky I am to live in America, where food is relatively cheap and readily available. By staying with a family in Minsk, I made an international friend that I still stay in contact with to this day.

Three years later, after scraping together enough money, my parents sent me to stay with my friend in France for three months. Now, that wouldn't have been a life-changing experience to most, but it taught me a lot about myself and others around me. Before my trip to France, I suffered heavily from anorexia and bulimia. It affected my self-esteem, my health, and the way I treated others. I needed help desperately, but it seemed my family wasn't going to give me the aid I needed. The family I stayed with, however, helped to boost my confidence and learn many valuable lessons. I learned how to interact with a different culture. I learned to perceive beauty in amazing attractions that you see in tourism brochures, like the Eiffel Tower at night and the Sacre Coeur. I learned how to get around an airport without getting too lost. In addition, I learned the language of love to near fluency--something I had always wanted to do.

Both traveling experiences changed my view on the world and after those events, I'm sure I'll be an international traveler when I'm a bit older. Also, learning the French language has made me consider becoming an English teacher in France. In this way, I would consider traveling to France be a major life-changing event.

Although traveling helped me realize what I perhaps want to do in the future, so has my current relationship. As of August 15th of 2004, I will have been dating my boyfriend Kevin Mershon for 15 months. After four months of dating last year, Kevin began his fall semester classes at San Jose State University, while I was still stuck in high school in Bakersfield. Together, we have gotten through many trials, such as the distance between us, which we are still dealing with today. Moreover, his parents do not accept us as a sexually active couple, making it difficult to share any intimacy. We plan for our future together, despite the three and a half hour drive and parental disapproval that separates us.

All the people and events in my life have attributed to my personality traits. Generally, I am a hard-worker, trying to attain good grades and please my parents. However, I am also moody, as I suffer from on-and-off depression and extreme anxiety. I've been prone to extreme obsession, which presented itself when I became anorexic, bulimic, a compulsive eater. Despite my past problems, I make friends pretty easily, since I look beyond their bad qualities and find only the good.