Who Are You?

Who are you? Good question right? After three years of high school, we as students should be able to answer that question. Parents friends, extracurricular activities and after school jobs shape us into the college freshmen we all hope to be. What has shaped me? Music, my mom, and my after school jobs have influenced me the most.

If I had to describe myself in one word it would music. I was raised always loving and hearing music. My parents had the biggest album collection I had ever seen and my dad was always playing the guitar. As I grew up I began to listen to every genre of music I could find. I soon learned that music wasn't just some notes put together but that the musicians put their blood, sweat, and tears into each song. I learned that lyrics weren't just words but emotions that you can relate to every part of your life. In middle school I decided that I wanted to play flute. It's a lot harder than it looks. Practice, practice, practice and I was still no good. But I wasn't allowed to quit. I had to just keep trying. More recently I've begun to learn piano and percussion. Music has a way to shape you in ways you've never thought of. Music makes you think. It makes you a more emotional person. You learn what dedication is and how even after you fall off that "horse" you got to get back on and try again.

As a little girl I can remember driving and singing along to the radio with my mommy. I looked up to her as most little girls do, but who knew that it would all change so fast. No, we don't have the normal mother-daughter relationship, mostly because we aren't the normal mother-daughters. For one, I haven't seen or spoken to my mom in years. Why? Because she's in jail. Yes, I said JAIL! Why? because she stacked up DUI after DUI after DUI. For as long as I could remember my mom has been an alcoholic. Yes, it was rough growing up. I've had my share of car wrecks, police calls and holding her hair back. I always knew that drinking was bad but when you're seven everything just doesn't click. But one day in 10th grade everything did click. That was the day I heard my dad say, "Your mom is in jail". The more I thought about it and the more "peer pressure" I had I realized that the one person I never wanted to become was my mother. I have watched dozens of people in my life make horrible decisions but my mom was the worst. I realized that I