Sienna--My Journey

My freshman year I lived in Arizona and I was content with the lifestyle I had back there. I was fortunate enough to have a stable group of friends that I had grown up with since I moved. As far as my school life, I went to one of the most excelled schools in the state, and I was doing very well. Just when the start of my high school experience was beginning to take off, things changed. I was born here in California and when we moved to Arizona, it was depressing have to leave our entire family and everything we established here behind. My family and I lived in Arizona for approximately seven years, and the topic of us moving back to California came up frequently, although we never actually followed through with this aspiration of ours. Towards the end of my first semester as a freshman, I noticed that this time my parents were serious about moving and I was beyond terrified. They had always promised me that once I entered high school we wouldn’t move because they did not want me to have to re-adapt once I have already set my foundation in high school, especially since I was doing very well in school. Unfortunately, sometimes promises are broken, my parents told me in around November of my freshman year that we were going to be moving back to California by the start of the upcoming semester. I was very confused and upset, at the same time overjoyed, this combustion of feelings was a very emotional time for me. A part of me wanted to be excited, with my parents, but the other half of me was crying on the inside because I knew this meant I would be leaving everything that I had established in Arizona behind. For the few months that preceded I masked my true emotions to my parents because I knew that this was something that they had wanted to do for a while now and I honestly, did not want to be a debbie downer. So many thoughts and questions were in my mind, where are we going to live? What school was I going to attend? Would I make friends? Will I ever see my friends from Arizona again? This was extremely overwhelming for me and I knew it was for my entire family as well, but they had different concerns. As we packed our boxes, the projected date was approaching quickly and they majority of my concerns still had not been addressed. My parents had no idea what school I was going to go to, I did not know if I was going to make any friends and I had no idea if my friendships would continue with my Arizona friends. December 13, 2012, was the day that my family and I drove from Arizona to California, once we crossed the border I began to cry hysterically, because my masked emotions just revealed itself, I broke down and let everything out. When we arrived here in California, we stayed with my uncle for a period of months and then my parents enrolled me into Etiwanda High School, my first day can only be described in one word, serendipity… a happy accident. I eagerly wanted to make friends although I did not necessarily know how to, and so I approached two girls who seemed to be fairly nice, but that was not the case. I quickly realized they had no intentions of being friends with me and I walked away in disappointment. A few minutes later I decided to approach another group of girls and they were polar opposites to the first group of girls, they even invited me to eat lunch with them! Ironically, I am best friends with those group of girls still today. Looking back now on how relentless I was to moving, I regret it, but I do not regret having mixed feelings about it because I was uncertain of the outcome and I wanted assurance. I was so utterly terrified of moving but deep down inside I knew I would do just fine adapting to a new school, and new people. My family had confidence in me and they hoped that by moving I would be exposed to more opportunities by living. By moving I actually realized who my real friends are back in Arizona because they were the ones that no matter how many miles apart we are, we still make an effort in our friendship. Most importantly, I discovered that it is okay to be unsure about the future because sometimes you just have to go wherever the open road leads you.