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The Move to New York
The change from Arizona to New York was huge. It was hard to assimilate to the North as the environment was different and the people were definitely not the nicest. I had gone on my first plane ride, met other family members for the first time, and saw entirely different animals for the first time, and for once, didn't have to watch out for any tumbleweeds. It was difficult moving from a friendly neighborhood to just a house on a hill, as I couldn't easily make friends and play with them. -
An Adorable Surprise
One night my mom had gotten a phone call from my grandma. At her job, they had found kittens abandoned in a box and she volunteered to take them home. For weeks my life was centered around caring for them until they gradually got new homes. We kept one black cat, Oso, who I continue to love to this day. I'll never forget how good it felt bottle feeding them and cleaning up after them, as there was never a day I was tired of it. Since then, I've desired to work in an animal science field. -
Seeing Darkness
On this morning I woke up and immediately realized something was wrong. My right eye only saw black. Crying, I ran out of my room, explaining to my parents that I couldn't see. My dad drove me to six different doctors and surgeons that day until they found I had a retinol hernia and blood was blocking my vision. I remember being afraid of never seeing again, and having the same thing happen to my other eye. It was so sudden, no doctor knew why such a thing happened, which scared me even more. -
First Surgery
The idea of anything touching my eye made me cringe. After losing my vision, I had to have surgery very quickly before I lost my eye. I tried my best to hide my nervousness and somewhat succeeded until a mask was put on me. As I was put under anesthesia and various surgeons crowded me, I realized how scary the situation was. Waking up, I was proud that I made it through, despite my grogginess and the immense pain I was in. Taking off my eyepatch and being able to see again was amazing. -
Meeting New Friends
During middle school, I discovered social media. I was active on Twitter all the time and talked to so many people. Coincidentally, I met a girl my age that lived about half an hour away. I talked to her friends online and everything seemed legit, despite my parent's disapproval. After months of talking, they said their school would be coming to Brewster for a game. Not missing the chance and getting out of my comfort zone, I met them. It was such a surreal experience, but we were all so happy. -
Meet and Greet
During middle school, I went through "phases" and listened to a lot of bands and went to many concerts. One summer I went to an event called Warped Tour and had a goal to meet a band. Back then, it was really important to me. I was super nervous and at first, was going to miss the chance completely, until I told myself how stupid that would be. As only a couple hundred people could meet them, I ran into line. It was really cool and I was happy I pulled myself through and got over my anxiety. -
Another Surgery?
Since second grade, I developed a lazy eye. As I grew older it got worse, but nothing was really done about it. I was fine with it until I realized people made fun of me, even though it didn't change me as a person. Despite seeing many doctors, none mentioned alignment surgery until I changed to a new one. I was immediately down for surgery. Unlike the first time, I was cracking jokes with the nurses and surgeons and wasn't nervous at all. Going into the new school year, I was so excited. -
Spontaneous Does Not Mean Fun
My aunt spontaneously notified us that a friend of hers lent her a trailer. Thinking it was fun at the time, my mom, brother and I decided to join her on a camping trip, as we wouldn't be in a tent or anything traditional. It was all fine until we realized the trailer had an ant infestation and no hot water for the shower... two hours into the road. While there were some fun moments, most of my time was spent swatting ants off my arm and gagging having to use the public restrooms and showers. -
Bad Birthday
On this birthday, I planned a day in the city with a couple of friends. During this time, I didn't invite all my friends as we were all questioning our relationships. With that in mind and the day being gloomy, I knew it was not going to be a great day. My parents had also been arguing and I could feel the tension, which didn't help. In the city, the places I wanted to go to were closed and we needed a new plan. Feeling upset, I just wanted to go home. I felt like no one wanted to be with me. -
Terrible Mishap
Our cat, Marko, loves to go outside. As I let the dog in, I closed the door too late, and Marko snuck by, taking the chance to go out. I realized the tip of his tail had gotten caught in the door and ran outside to grab him. A piece of skin and fur were snipped off, and I felt terrible. Luckily, he didn't need an amputation. Seeing him in pain was awful and I was so sad that he wouldn't let me comfort him. I remember I cried for days straight and second-guessed my ability to care for animals. -
Loss
This was one of the few major losses in my life. My great grandmother had been gradually getting sicker and sicker. At 91, we were honestly surprised she made it so far. I had a hard time with her death as I regretted not speaking to her as much. My dad never really taught me Spanish growing up, and that was the only language she spoke. While I do speak broken Spanish, I felt it wasn't enough and that I should have taken it upon myself to speak/learn more and have a deeper relationship with her. -
A New Addition
My friend had texted me saying she found a cat on her porch and knowing me, asked if I wanted to take her. I immediately said yes, not asking anyone first. I talked to my mom and we agreed not to say anything to my dad as we knew he'd be against another cat and we took her home the next day. After my dad came home from work, I planted the cat under a hoodie next to him. It was funny how long it took him to see her but he wasn't mad as he knew I would help with vet bills and provide her care.
