School has always been my top priority but it is now one of my greatest struggles. I have always loved going to school ever since I was in elementary school. I started struggling with school because I started to lose my focus. 

At the beginning of the year, I was really focused on my grades and classes but then I started to hang out with the wrong group of people and started to get off track. I started to ditch and go tardy to all my classes. I hated going to my classes because they were not interesting and they didn’t catch my attention.  My grades started to drop drastically throughout the weeks. 

Most of the friends I had at the beginning of the year stopped being friends with me because I changed and the bad influence of friends started taking over my life even more and pushing away the real friends I had away from me. My parents got a call from the school about all my tardies and absences and they told me they want me to move schools. 

I ended up talking to one of my friends from the beginning of the year and he made me realize how bad of a student I was and how bad of a friend I was. I started to try to focus on school more – not just for me but for my family and my true friends. I stopped talking to all the bad influences and started to go to classes on time and focus more on what I have always loved. I also found out I actually love art. It makes me feel safe and it’s so beautiful. 

My grades started to go up and I started to gain all the friends I had at the beginning of the year again. Sometimes I want to ditch it, but I remember I am doing this for a great cause. School became my top priority again and I feel so much better knowing that my parents are proud of me and my friends are too. 

Everyone that helped me – I appreciate them so much for what they have done for me. I was in a dark place and they pulled me out of it.