Maddi McNiel (’19) had it all figured out. She was destined to be a builder,a designer, a architect. As a child, blueprints filled her journals and it didn’t matter where, “whether it be at home, at school, or even at church,” she was constantly drawing.

As her dream became more important, the other things in her life didn’t matter as much. “I never cared to engage in class or learn new things. I started to become lazy and bored, which lead me to make some very bad choices.”

She fell into a pattern, “I would lie to my parents constantly, breaking their rules, and most of the time I would get away with it.” Even after being punished old habits would resurface. These choices she made and the punishments she received made her realize, “What I was doing was not only jeopardizing my future, but it was hurting the people around me who cared for me the most.”

She was not acting as an architect. She was tearing town those who loved her and she was demolishing her future. “I have disappointed myself and all of the adults who are trying to help me grow and thrive.”

Now with a new perspective and new learning she says, “I’m doing what I can to bounce back as a determined, hardworking, trustworthy person.” She is choosing to break her old habits and willing to do all that she can to rebuild what was torn down.

She understands it will take time and sacrifice, “but losing the respect and trust from your family and mentors us not worth the pain defying them has caused.” Now she is eager to apply her dream to all aspects of her life.

As she continually works to become a better person, she shares “recovery is the most important aspect in becoming a bigger person. Don’t risk your future by repeatedly making dumb mistakes like I did. Strive to learn and grow past whatever is holding you back. The person who fell and got back up is so much stronger that the person who never fell at all.”

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This person prefers to remain anomymous:

“Almost my entire life I have had almost no incentive or inspiration to do anything, until just a few days ago.” Stressing about their future, this person understood their situation and needed a change. They worked towards the betterment of their life by being more productive and spending less time on video games. Although video games will remain a great hobby, they’ve decided that they needed less of it. Before this change, they lacked the inspiration to be active.

“The reason I was so uninspired to do anything was because of the multiple life changing events that took place in my elementary year of school. They were affected by bullying and loneliness. You could imagine the big emotional toll this must’ve taken. This caused them to just give up on progressing in life.

Thanks to their caring friends, they were pulled out of this way of going about life. They were able to escape the state of having a cold heart. At first they cared only for themself, but with the love and support they received, they were able to get through their problem.

They greatly appreciate their friends for all they have done. “I am still with them to this day, and will most likely be hanging out with them for much longer.” Being a good friend can impact the lives of others for the better. Spread kindness because it is more effective than you may assume.

If there was any message they could spread to people, it would be not to give up. “DON’T EVER STOP PUSHING, DON’T EVER START NEGATIVE THOUGHTS, they will ruin you, like how they almost ruined me and my livelihood.”

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This person prefers to remain anomymous:

“The main obstacle I’ve encountered several times throughout my life is the dislocation of my right knee.” During a little cougs football practice, his knee dislocated for the first time. Unaware of what took place just a few seconds ago, he was terrified.

After speaking to a doctor, he learned that the recovery process wouldn’t take long. He was able to get back out on the field within four weeks.

Although he was going to recover, the simple dislocation changed how he thought and played sports until surgery, which was a long time ahead.

The dislocation of his knee caused the tendons, that hold his knee in place, to stretch. Because of the stretching of the tendons, his knee was more prone to shifting out of place several more times in the future. This caused him a great amount of stress and worry when it came to sports. Everytime he wanted to be involved in physical activities, he needed his knee brace.

“I’ve gone through months of PT (Physical Therapy), strengthening the muscles around my knee in order to keep it in place. Through all the inconvenience, he stayed strong mentally. He didn’t let a knee injury ruin his passion for sports.

This should teach us all a lesson to keep on keeping on despite any limitations. In this case, physical limitations. How is he doing now?

“I haven’t dislocated my knee in one full year and I’m going strong, not trying to jinx it or anything.”

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To Taryn Gill (‘20), social anxiety was a very real thing. She said, “I was always nervous to talk to people I didn’t know.” Now she can say that “I have overcome being shy,” and it happened all because of her many life experiences like, “giving class presentations and meeting new people really helped me to be social.” Pushing herself to go out of her comfort zone helped shape her into the hardworking sister, athlete, and student she is today.

The academy soccer team was another big accomplishment in Gill’s life. She said, “Making the team was very hard but it showed me that when I put my mind to something I can get anything done.” This team has, “changed my life because it showed me what hard work and dedication are all about.”

The challenges that she has faced have taught her how big mountains, like overcoming being shy and making the academy soccer team, can be successfully climbed once a person puts in the effort and dedication.

These goals were accomplished with the help and inspiration of her family. She says that her family, “wants the best for me and always pushes me to be great with soccer and school.”

With the help of her brother she was able to push through those hard times up the mountains. Her brother is, “always there for me even if he isn’t actually with me.” She continues to say, “If he knows I’m down or upset he will call or text me.”

Gill’s motivation comes from her family, and the lessons she has previously learned in her life. She said, “I would tell the world that you can accomplish anything you want. Everyone always dreams about being great, but not everyone is willing to put the hard work and dedication in. She has learned that, “nothing comes easy” so she says, “you have to work hard to get what you want,” and she likes it better that way because, “getting things handed to you is great, but if feels so much better when you work hard for something and get it.”

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Lavada has always been known to be the nice girl among the stereotypes. She makes friends with many different groups of people. Even after moving schools, Lavada never changed, “I instantly made friends with the other popular girl since we had matching shirts, and again I always tried to include everyone.”

As she approached the middle mark of fourth grade, she moved elementary schools. The environment was very different from what she had experienced in her past schools. “It was NOT nice.” she said. “Nobody wanted to be friends with me, people would pick on me, call me names, and take my stuff, but 4th-grader me thought being nice was always the answer.” Being very patient with her persecutors, Lavada remained very kind to everyone for the next two years.

In sixth grade, Lavada lost her patience for those who bullied her. When walking home from school one day with her best friend, she was encountered by her worst tormentor and his best friend. According to Lavada, “They picked on me, and my friend tried to stand up for me, but they kept it up, nagging at my self-confidence, asking a dumb magic 8 ball I had with me that day questions about me that weren’t okay, and even throwing it into the road when I tried to take it back.” Instead of her usual soft approach, Lavada decided to confront her bullies instead. She was done being mistreated and stood up to them with the support of her best friend. Being as brave as she was by standing her ground, she got the response she didn’t expect. One of the tormentors slapped her. That was a very unacceptable action and those boys deserved appropriate consequences.

Lavada ran home crying. She had just been slapped by someone who verbally harasses her too often. No one deserves to be bullied, especially physically. Reporting this encounter to her father, he then reported it to the school. Unfortunately, after going through what happened with the school, no one left the office penalized. Those boys didn’t get the punishment they needed.

“After that I stopped being nice to the people that were jerks. Things went downhill from there. It sucked. I didn’t trust teachers much after that. The trust for unfriendly peers and new people was lost. Next thing you know, I’ve got social anxiety.” Everything that she experienced is very unfortunate. No one deserves to be harassed for any reason. Although her experiences were negative, the outcome was and beneficial. She learned not to be as trusting as she used to be which is a can good quality when trying to survive in a society.