Assignment 3- Clifton Grady

      The year is 2012. I, about as awkward as one could imagine, was finally growing acclimated to life beyond elementary school.  Going to a school where I would be leaving many of my friends from elementary school was a challenge- not seeing them every day would prove difficult for me. Making friends did not come easy to me; I was thought of as “weird” because of how quiet, shy, and reserved I was. Due to this, the friends I had were very important to me, I was close with them and knew them as intimately as I knew myself. All of this made the news my parents brought to me early that winter all the more devastating to me: we were moving to Kentucky.

While difficult at the time, moving to Kentucky may quite possibly have been one of the best things that ever happened to me.

Moving here, if nothing else, has taught me an extremely valuable (albeit cliché) lesson- life is what you make of it. I was presented with a remarkable opportunity, and I recognized that. I was able to reestablish who I am. No one here knew me or anything about me. All anyone knew was I was the new kid in school, somewhat of a novelty, and I quickly began garnering acquaintances. It was exciting.  Never had I been in an environment where I felt in control of who I was, I felt a boost of confidence. I was able to talk to people, able to try new things, able to finally be the person I wanted to be.