Sentence: 

a line composed of words put together by an array of letters.

I've always known that a word on its own has immense power,

but even more when surrounded by accompanying words that 

emphasize its meaning. 

A single person holds so much power

and even more when surrounded by others who 

emphasize their meaning. 

My whole life,

I have never known the power I hold within myself. 

I have never had those people who

emphasize my power but,

most importantly, 

my meaning in life. 

My fifteen years of life have been full 

of instabilities and deceptions 

fabricated by my parents.

I quickly came to realize  

the widely normalized concept of 

the "immigrant family" 

is nothing more than one of the many dystopias

created by the modernized society in the United States. 

Both my parents have always been physically 

present in my life, 

they failed to be the nurturing and welcoming parents

a young child needs in their early stages of life.

Unlike most kids my age, 

I matured much faster because 

I felt I had to protect my younger brothers 

from the trauma our parents were 

constantly

inflicting 

upon us.

I suffered significantly,

always looking at

the negative in every situation, 

preparing myself for the worst so I wouldn't be blindsided.

I never believed a child could possibly

despise their own life so much to the

point that they no longer wanted it... 

until I was that child. 

From the age of ten, 

the age when I was supposed to be playing with dolls 

(which I feared), 

filming fake slime videos with my cousins, 

or playing outside until my parents forced me back inside. 

Instead, 

I began to beg god.

I begged and begged him to make it all stop, 

to pause my life 

for even a split second 

and give me a break. 

At the age of ten, 

I had hit my end point, 

a point no human should ever have to reach, 

especially not a child. 

To me, 

my life meant

nothing; 

I had no one around me 

who emphasized the meaning of my life. 

At the age of ten, 

I was ready to throw my life away. 

I was a child, 

understanding 

and 

grasping 

concepts some adults around me couldn't even quite grasp yet; 

I had no one to turn to, 

no one who could help me through my silent suffering, 

and so I turned to the only thing I knew. 

I kept a diary, hidden away from everyone, 

in which I wrote almost every day. 

Writing gave me a sense of freedom I didn't have in my household;

I could express every meddling thought

or emotion that overcame me 

because I had no one around to relay this information to.

Writing saved me in a sense. 

Writing saved a ten-year-old little girl when her world 

was 

crumbling 

beneath 

her. 

If it hadn't been for that little purple diary, 

I might not be writing today.

God didn't make my world stop; 

he didn't give me a break.

Instead,

he gave me 

paper 

and 

ink.

As I've grown older, 

I've come to realize that my parents' emotional absence 

has driven me to aspire more for myself. 

It is thanks to my parents that I found the security

I had searched for as a child in writing. 

The words I wrote as a child are what became

my power. 

I hold power in my words, and 

they emphasize my meaning in life. 

It wasn't the events I went through that shaped me into who I am. 

Instead, 

it was the many entries I wrote in that little purple diary 

that made me the person I am today. 

I took the setbacks

and used them to

 empower myself 

while striving further 

in life.

I wrote about the world through 

paper and ink, 

and 

I want to continue to do so.