Writing Challenge 012

Graduating from high school was an unforgettable event in my life and it nearly didn’t occur. I still remember the day as if it happened recently; it was pleasantly sunny, I was nervous and excited at the same time, and then I arrived at the school ready to graduate. Before my graduation, my high school experiences were not similar to those of my peers. In fact, one of the causes which led to my graduation was transferring to another high school as a result of the problems I encountered at my previous high school. The other reason was the influence of my high school counselor who persuaded me to graduate for prominent career opportunities and to become independent. Last, I began to work at a call center during my senior year and assumed it would be an exceptional career path to consider once I received my diploma. If I had not made the decision to transfer to another high school, or taken my counselor’s advice, and started working in my senior year, I probably would not have graduated from high school.

Since I made terrible choices during my sophomore and junior year, it affected my grades dramatically to the point of failing the majority of my classes. Eventually, I wanted to change my habits and at least attempt to graduate with my peers, so I chose to transfer to Fenton High school to avoid distractions and concentrate on school. Once I arrived at Fenton High School, I met with a wonderful counselor named Ms. Conner and she had on this red suit and she had the biggest smile. Ms. Conner asked to speak with me and asked a few questions about my past and what were my goals in life. After answering her questions, she elucidated the importance of obtaining a diploma and the opportunities it would create for employment with a company. Ms. Conner advised me to work towards becoming independent by engaging in an area where I can gain experience for a possible position in a company. With this in mind, I applied in a company which was hiring for customer service representatives. Afterwards, I was hired and began training for phone order entry and then led to becoming a customer service representative. In the next few months, I improved my organizational skills, social skills, and computer skills and I frequently used these skills in my homework and complicated projects. In the end, I became a customer service representative of the company and passed all my classes on schedule to graduate with my fellow seniors. Finally, it was graduation day and the last day of my high school career.

Soon after graduation, my life changed what felt like a split second. I went from being a high school graduate to an expecting mother all in a matter of weeks. Even though I had a stable job, I decided to resign since my husband was going to college and work at the same time. After he received his associates degree in automotive technology, I was able to return to work in the same company where I gained my experience in high school. To summarize, I worked for a couple of months, then became a stay-at-home mother for a few years, and went back to work at various locations with similar tasks involved until I officially became a stay at home parent. All things considered, I am grateful for having the opportunity to work in any location because of my high school diploma and the experience I acquired in the first company I was employed in. Up to the present time, I finally decided to take a chance and go back to school. As soon as I figured out what I wanted to do professionally, I decided to achieve my degree in English. Within a couple of weeks, I met with a counselor and discussed my requirements to earn my degree. She recommended to attain a certificate for the time being since it would be flexible in my schedule until I feel I could attend more classes and obtain my degree in English. Shortly after, I enrolled in my first college course in English which would not have been possible if I had not graduated all those years ago.

Overall, the conflicting events leading to my graduation might not have been the ultimate plan I had in mind to graduate high school, but in a way it was meant to be. By making the choice to be transferred to an exceptional school, then meeting my counselor Ms. Conner, who gave me vital advice to seek employment to get an idea of what I would like to be, which resulted in working full time in a call center of a distributing company, thus opened doors to my future jobs. After graduation, I started a family and worked in a small amount of companies where I acquired additional experience and was offered a higher pay rate because of my high school diploma and expertise. Finally, I was able to attend college and expand my knowledge for writing in English to eventually becoming a professional writer.