I've moved a total of four times in my life. I've lived in places like Virginia, Colorado, and New Jersey. When my family and I moved, it was not by choice, but usually had to do with my father getting a promotion or switching companies. The hardest part about moving for me is switching schools. Ever since I started going to school I remember moving every three to four years. At least when you’re younger it is easy to meet new friends. As you get older it only gets harder.

The state that I have lived the longest in was New Jersey, which i was there for a total of five years. I moved there when I was going into 5th grade. I remember my first day of school there, people were outgoing towards me and I liked that a lot, it made me feel accepted. When I walked into school that day I did not realize I was going to meet some close friends that I would still talk to, even today. As I entered high school i thought I was going to stay in New Jersey for the rest of my life. Towards the end of my sophomore year my parents told me we were going to move back to Michigan, where we are all originally from. It was hard to think that I would have to move schools half way through high school, make new friends, but most importantly to start over in an area I was unfamiliar with. I tried imagining what it would be like if I stayed in New Jersey and a new kid came into our school, if I would go out of my way to talk to them? It was hard to imagine going from knowing everyone in your school, to not knowing anyone at all.

We moved from New Jersey to Michigan halfway through the following Summer, my father felt it was important I finished the school year before we moved. I was lucky enough that my cousin, Matt, was going into his senior year at the same high school I was getting enrolled at. At least I had someone my age to hang out with, introduce me to people, and show me around our town. Still not having any close friends besides my cousin, my days mainly consisted of going to the gym and working out. I felt that with all this time on my hands, that I should prepare myself for trying out for the basketball team.

I've been playing basketball ever since I was ten years old, it’s a passion of mine. I played for my previous high school, and was constantly told how competitive my new school would be with athletics. This just motivated me to work harder and prove to myself that if I put my mind towards something that I can accomplish it. I started conditioning with the team the first couple months of school. Everyday felt like a test. Before I knew it tryouts were in a couple days and I was ready. Unfortunately for me, the second day of tryouts i pulled my hamstring making it painful to even walk. I made the team but was just watching everyone enjoy the game I loved for a long time. The week I came back I tore my hamstring muscle off of my pelvic bone. I had to get surgery and miss two weeks of school. I didn't think things could go from bad to worse in the blink of an eye.

I spent the rest of the season watching from the sidelines, never really feeling apart of the team. While juggling getting caught back up with school and concentrating on the ACTs, I told my coach that I was no longer concentrating on basketball. I still don’t think he knows how hard that was for me. I spent the next couple of weeks on crutches, which only made life that much more frustrating. I couldn’t stop thinking about how hard I worked and how many hours I put into this, just for it all to change in a split second. Just thinking about it makes me wonder where i would be now if I never got injured.

As of now, I am getting my grades back up, meeting new people, and starting to work out again. My message to the world is no matter where life takes you try to make the best of it. If things do not work out, there is always another path ready for you. If you fall down, get back up, there will be people around you happy to help you. Don’t let anyone tell you what you can and cannot do, if you work hard then you will achieve your goal. Even though I switched schools, I can somehow tell that this was meant to be, that this is just the beginning.