How drastic of a decision did I make? On September 5, 2004, during my eighth grade year, my mom and brother were killed in a car accident. My mom died instantly, but my younger brother died shortly after arriving to the hospital. It seemed as if the decision I made resulted in losing, and never seeing my mom and younger brother again. With it only being five days into the new school year I found my grades beginning to drop. With everyone in my family reaching a new point in their lives it was time for us all to make our own changes and decisions. I regretted leaving my mom and brother; I didn�t realized how much I truly missed spending time with them until they were gone, but living regret is not the way that I wanted to live my life.
My little brother died at the age of 12 and never had a chance to experience, stress, love, work and numerous other things that make life what it is. After his death I felt as if it was up to me to make sure that I never missed an opportunity. This meant that I needed to take a good look at my life and what was to become of it. At that point, there were many questions that I was asking myself, most of which were about my career aspirations and the steps required to achieve my self-actualization. I have gone from the shy girl who was always dependent on her mother being there to help her, to someone who now takes action and acts as an individual, and someone who has learned to be independent. When it comes to my future, I now know I will be able to exercise my ability to take a situations and view the positive aspects without dwelling on the negative, but learn from them and I will be able to handle all the surprises that life may throw at me. My dream is to graduate college and to become a second grade teacher, not only for my mom and brother, but for myself. I believe that I can make a difference in not only my life, but the lives of others.