Life's Lessons by the Unexpected

When I look back on the series of events that have occurred in my lifetime I cannot recall of one that has help mold or shape the person that I am today. However, I can recall the people I have met along the way who have impacted my life greatly. These are the people who have encouraged me and set great examples for me to follow. These are the people that have made me the person I am today.

My parents and grandparents have always been the main influences of my life. Through the years of my life they have taught me so much without even exactly telling me. I have watched them in many different situations since the time I was young. Just by watching them for the last 16 years I have developed so many traits that make me the person I am now. For example, watching them give everything they can to whomever they can has showed me to do the same without any regrets, expectations, or judgment.

My family has taught me good and bad ways to act and yet have still to this day never aid a word. They have never actually said, “You should not treat people that way” or “The way you are behaving is wrong”. They have only showed me through there own experiences. When I was about ten or so my great nana passed on and I only have a faded memory of her. I do remember how almost anyone could walk into her home and she would treat you as if God sent you. She even loved the selected family members who used her and her money just to get drugs or the ones who treated her as if she owed them the world or something. She stuck be her family and what I remember most about her was the incredible influence she has left upon my family to this day. My family has help shape the person I am today because they have shown me how people should be treated, no matter the situation.

Another person who has helped me mold into the girl I am today is my old elementary school teacher. She was my second grade teacher, then third grade, forth, and even fifth. Her name was Mrs. La Chance and she was a very special person. When my parents moved me from my friends in first grade I was angry. When I started second grade at Safford Elementary I did not get along with any of the kids in my class or even grade. I was pretty much a loner. My second grade year was like that for about a week or three until one day when this other girl and I began arguing in class. My teacher separated us immediately and took me into the hallway.

She asked me how come I was pulled into the hall. I cannot even recall what the fight was about, but I do remember the words she said to me, “Teresa, for such a pretty little girl you do like to yell a lot”. I looked up at her with tears in my eyes and said, “Sorry. Don't be mad. She said I was ugly”. I remember my teacher chuckle and said, “Only mean girls become ugly”. Ever since that day I have surrounded myself with friends and have kept in touch with most of them to this very day. Mrs. La Chance always made me believe big dreams of myself and I loved it. I was really into swimming and she would tell me, “Can't wait to see you in the Olympics”. I haven't talked to her since I started middle school, but I will never forget the love and piece of her heart that she gave me.

I can recall another person has helped mold me into the person I am today, but they did not do it in a nice way. Her name was Estefani Alvarez and she was my best friend. We were best friends for about 6.5 years. We always hung out and told each other everything. I still have some notes we had even exchanged. We had a good friendship until about early January 2005, my eighth grade year. Estefani had gotten mad at me because one of our friends had broken up with her boyfriend, Estefani's best friend. Estefani had gotten mad at our friend for the break up and refused to talk to her.

Where do I fit in? Well, she got angry with me because I hadn't stopped talking to our friend. She did not talk to me for about three weeks. I became angry too and tried to talk to her, but she refused to talk to me. She quickly began to spread rumors about me in hopes that our friends would stop talking to me, but she failed. Our friends quickly became my friends. Just as I had thought I won the little battle she came at me again and this time it was far worse than any rumor she could spread. She told this girl who I had fought previously in sixth grade, Sarah that I wanted to fight her again. With just that little note to Sarah I was forced to watch my every move.

I had to be careful where I found myself and I could never be alone. Life went on like this for about a month or two, and then I was able to walk without looking over my shoulder all the time. For the last month of school Estefani continued to talk about me behind my back to who would listen. After high School had started I thought I would never see or hear from her again.

I was attending Cienega and last I heard she was on her was to Sierra Vista. Little did I know she would find some way into my life again. In September of my freshman year my cousin gave me a call and said that the same girl, Estefani, had been giving her problems and talking bad about me and my family. I ignored it and I got many phone calls after that for about a year and a half when finally I was told that she got kicked out of school.

I am now in my junior year and looking forward to my last years at high school then off to college. I plan on attending the University of Arizona and hopefully becoming a successful business woman. I have continued to swim and I have had a good life. I have a great family, best friend, and even a good boyfriend. In all my life I have encountered lessons showing me how to be a good person and still be who you want.

I have learned that life is too short to be who everyone else wants you to be because in the end it does not matter that you were in life, but the impressions you left with the people you have had encounters with. I have learned to just be the best person you think you can be.