College essays...

Darkness

Tell us about a difficult situation you have encountered in life. How have you dealt with this difficulty? What have you learned? How has this influenced your goals and perspectives?

Darkness and tall trees, that's all I saw ahead. It was a cold dark night. I ran. I am not a fast runner so I knew I had to give it all I got. I turned my head around to see if it was behind me, it was. I could see it's sharp claws reflecting on the little light that's shone from the moon. I had to keep going. Ahead I saw a faint light, it was small but it was there, my chance to escape. I tried to run faster but my legs were burning. I looked behind me again, it was still there. I whip my head forward but I didn't watch where I was stepping. I tripped and fell, it was getting closer. The light was still there, I could still escape it. I saw it getting closer and closer. The hair on the back of my neck stood up. It was now or never. I scrambled up to my feet and pushed myself to the limit. I had hope I could escape it. My heart was beating faster and faster. The cold wind picked up. I tripped again but luckily I didn't fall. I got closer to the light. I was so close I could almost touch it. It called out my name. It had a deep gravely voice. It kept calling my name. It was closer now, its voice changed. It wasn't deep or gravely anymore. Everything started shaking. The shaking got stronger and stronger. All of the sudden my eyes snapped open. My eyes were already open, I was awake. Why did I open my eyes again? Where am I? I looked around and noticed I was in a plane. My mom was standing up next to me. She told me we had landed. Everything came flooding back. I groaned and stood up. We were now in South Dakota. I didn't even know people lived here. It was Sunday, October 1, 2011. My mom decided the Tuesday before, September 27th, that we were going to move to South Dakota. We moved from Puerto Rico to South Dakota. I had to leave everything I ever knew behind. All my friends and family had to stay behind. I was all alone in strange place. The only bright side to all of this is that I had a better chance of getting into a great college. I my English was not very good. When I started school all the other students made fun of my accent. Everyone decided to dismiss that my name was Amanda and started calling me "the Puerto Rican girl". I was twelve and I had not experienced racism and ignorance before. I was completely surprised when one of the students asked me if I ate rats for thanksgiving instead of turkey or that if I had ever seen a car before. The "jokes" got worse and worse. Seventh grade ended and I still had no friends. In eighth grade I decided to move schools. In that new school I met my best friend, Kenna. It made me feel better that there was someone in the state that didn't mind my accent and that accepted me for who I am. In high school I Moved schools again. Freshman year was fun. The summer between ninth and tenth grade I finally got to go back to Puerto Rico. I saw my old friends, I got reminded of all the good time and how I had to leave everything behind. This made me even more unhappy. I was getting depressed. By the end of the summer I fell into depression. My grades fell with me that's year. I had to fight through it and get help. I got help and I was able to get back up. Some days where better than others. Everything was good great. I had my best friend Kenna and other new friends. Then it happened. My mom found a job in Mississippi and in October of 2015 we moved, again. Once again I had to leave everything behind. I was older this time and a junior in high school. This second move was harder for me than the first time. I didn't think moving to Mississippi. I had to change schools again between junior and senior year because I did not like the one I was at. The stress the school was inflicting on me was suffocating. I had to leave before I fell again. Switching schools was the best decision I've ever made. I finally had hope again, I had hope I could get into a college. The ACT teacher at the school is so good that my score went from a 23 to a 28. This gives me hope that I can get into college. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. In life we will trip and fall. Dark times will cloud over our lives. The important thing is what we decide to do when it happens, we can either stand back up and keep running towards the light or stay on the ground and let the darkness consume you. I decided I will keep running and never stop until I reach my goal.