I was stuck in this feeling of living the same day over and over again. The feeling of not being good enough. Not being strong enough. The feeling of wanting to keep going but being absolutely exhausted about everything and everyone. Being angry all the time and not exactly knowing why. Looking and wanting inner peace and strength but something was holding me back from being able to find it. Wanting to be happy and proud of myself and wanting to make those around me proud of me as well, but not knowing how.

Coming back from Mexico helped me think, and helped me make one of the best decisions I've ever made - moving to Bridges High School.

I was stuck in Mexico for a month, but they told me it was only supposed to be a two week trip. When I came back from my vacation I was failing all my classes. The teachers at my old school gave me a week to finish a month's worth of work while still giving me more “daily assignments” to complete. I obviously knew I wasn't going to be able to catch up or do the work for all of the seven classes I had.  I decided to talk to the counselor about moving to Bridges High School and she said I would do wonderful over here, and she was definitely right about that.

I wanted to feel proud of myself.

Sometimes you get to a point where you just have to put yourself first no matter what, even if people call you selfish. Getting to Bridges really helped me with that. All the supportive staff willing to actually help you and wanting to see you be successful really helped me see things differently. Getting here made me feel like someone actually cared about me. I finally felt like I belonged and that I could actually be successful. I felt like I could finally accomplish any goal I had set up for myself.

I am the kind of person that always seeked my fathers validation since I was little. I wanted to be a good daughter and make him so proud. This was only because growing up my mother would always say she was so proud of me and she would support me no matter what, but my father never said that. I promised myself I wouldn't die until I heard my father say he was proud of me, and at my first conference at Bridges High School he finally said it!

That day was one of the best days of my life and I thank my history teacher for being a part of that special moment. It was literally so life changing for me to hear my father say that to me. I went from all F’s, to straight A’s. I can most definitely say that I was and still am so proud of myself too because I have come so far.

I noticed that all I had to do was put myself first.

I needed to stop pleasing people and had to start doing things that made me feel proud of myself instead. Hearing my father say he was proud of me was just a plus and a push towards more success. The feeling you get from accomplishing something and being successful is kind of like a drug.  It makes you feel amazing and good about yourself, and the only difference is that it just makes you do better and try harder to keep feeling successful. Everything feels so much better when you know you are doing good things for yourself, so you could feel good. All of that has helped me with my self-esteem and self-compassion.

Now I am able to say that I am so proud of myself, I love myself, I deserve success and all the happiness in the world.

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