Assignment 21 - Lauren Chatfield

Obstacles. Where to begin?
The greatest obstacle I faced was moving to Lexington. Although it's been almost 5 years since we did, this move really changed me. It was not my first move by any means - my 7th big move if I'm counting correctly - but it certainly was the hardest. The year prior to the move, my mom was diagnosed with and battling cancer. She was working at a law firm in Bowling Green, KY at the time and having lived there for only 2 years, I was finally beginning to situate myself with my friends and my new town. We were in Lexington visiting family a week before she told me we were moving here and I looked at her and said "I could never live here, I'd be miserable with all of these rich people." Little did I know that "trip to visit family" was actually a job interview for her.

Moving to Lexington I felt I had to dress differently and act differently and that I couldn't be proud of having a single mom and moving around a lot. It took me a year here to realize there wasn't actually an expectation for me to be something. Not everyone in Lexington is rolling in money and if they are that doesn't mean they're bad people. I made friends and eventually learned to love it here.