My Story

The Beginning

In the beginning it was just me. Sitting alone in a room with nothing and everything on my mind. So many thoughts were running through my head that the chaos equaled out to nothing. Just an annoying buzz behind my eyes I couldn't understand. A rather unhealthy state of mind for a thirteen year old.

Before I get into more grueling details of the events that lead me to the person I am today, let me introduce myself.

My name is Anna. I'd give you my last name but I have a feeling it would be hard to pronounce unless you actually hear it. I am the 6th out of 9 children. 6 boys, 3 girls. In short, days went by with bruises from playing street ball and tears of laughter after dinner.

My family and I came to the United States in 1997 as religious refugees. I wasn't old enough to remember anything from my birthplace, somewhere in the middle of Siberia, Russia. That didn't stop me. I soaked in the language and culture like a sponge. Everything was new and excited. Life was going great.

Going to the same school since K-grade, you tend to stay with the same people for a long time. I had made wonderful friends and those wonderful friends and I had made wonderful plans. We would all go to the same high school, graduate, take a road trip before college. The typical things teenage girls dream about. But that's what it was. A dream.

It was second quarter of school when my parents announced that we would be moving. The word Alaska sent a cold chill down my back. Being the overly cocky thirteen year old I was, I refused to believe it. Why would they want to leave our home? The place I grew up? All my friends where here, in sunny California. All my plans where made for here. I had clung to the hope that my parents would reconsider, but to no avail.

It was a few days before Christmas I believe, when my dad packed his bags and told us he was going to start a living for us in a little town in central Alaska called Wasilla. To me it was an awful name for a town. After all, everyone who lived in the lower 48 believed that it was snowy and cold all year round and they rode polar bears to school. It was horrifying!

On June 8th we began our week long trek to unknown territory, pulling a trailer so over packed, that it swayed side to side. Scared my mom half to death and annoyed me to no end. It was clearly a sign we should stay! I had thought. Much to my disappointment we trudged on. Slowly but surely.

I can go on and on about the trip. About how three days after we got to our destination, it was my 14th birthday. I had thought it was the worst present ever. I can tell you about how those first days melted into months, and months into years. I can tell you how much I hated Alaska that you would probably start to dislike it. What I can't tell you though, is how much this whole trip really taught me. How it took my life and flipped it upside down and all over the place. The hardships and achievements that made me who I am. Its a trek back into the past that I would like to leave right were it is.

Maybe some day I'll write a story or book about all the things I went through. I would write about how my (now ex) best friend told me that our friendship wasn't worth pursuing. How her off handed statement, that our friendship was over because I moved to another state, had hurt me. About how my sister ran away from home a year after we moved, leaving me to grow up to quickly. How her return two years later had filled the void she left when she ran away. I might even throw in my thoughts and feelings on spending almost two and a half years visiting my brother in different jails and correctional facilities. How my mom and I had driven to Anchorage (an hour away) three times a week to bring fresh clothes and visit. As well as other places I wish to never visit again. How the day he was released for good was the best day of my life.

Writing had become my escape. A way for me to just disconnect from my daily responsibilities and worries. My wardrobe to Narnia. My Rabbits Hole. Its been my best friend when I felt alone. My counselor when I had troubles. The reason I can write this.

Its been two and a half years since I've been out of school and I am the first person in my family to go to college. This fall I'll be attending the University Of Alaska Fairbanks. A university 316 miles away from my family and friends. Where I wont know a single person. All to show my four younger siblings that they have a future. That there is something more they can do than go work straight out of high school. That the path to something great, however invisible at the moment, was paved for them. That no matter what they are told, they can be better and do better. That they can fulfill their dreams. They can reach their goals.

Our topic is to tell you our story and in all honesty, its harder that I thought. I find myself thinking that if we actually did tell our stories in full, 2000 words would not be enough. There wouldn't be enough words in the world to tell our story in its full gory yet glorious detail. Because our stories are still being written. In the future, maybe 5 years from now, I'll have to write another essay, for another board of people, for possibly the same reasons, and I'll most likely mention this. How I had to write an essay on the story of my life and how my answer does not change. We cant tell you everything but in time, when our goals are met and our dreams are caught, we can tell you in more detail about ourselves. Those gloriously gory details will have a better form and better structure. They will attract other people who are so alike it would feel like they are your twin. This is all I can offer you. A 1000 odd word essay on my life. A glimpse of who I am and what events led me to become who I am today. This is me so far. This is the Anna of today.