I was born in Wisconsin. I had bilateral hip dysplasia. In other words, both of my hips were lined up incorrectly in my hip sockets. I wore a brace for the first nine months of life in order to keep my hips in place. This brace fully healed my hips and I was walking once the brace came off. I started Kindergarten and discovered my love for learning.
After my Kindergarten year, my family and I moved to Florida. My dad got a job there and I started first grade. Halfway through second grade my family moved again to a tiny town in Iowa. We lived there for about six years. This is the place I call home. My childhood took place here. I made lifelong friends. I was in sports and extracurricular activities. The school I went to was a K-12 school. This means the school had all thirteen grades in one building. There were about sixty kids in my grade. We all knew everything about each other. This small-town living shaped me in to who I am today.
We moved once again to Florida. It was a different part of Florida this time. I began seventh grade in a big school. This is the first big school I have ever gone to. I didn’t know everyone. This was a big change for me, going from knowing everyone in my class to not knowing anyone. I was lonely and stopped enjoying school as much. I wanted to stay home most days and not have to deal with people from my school. Times did get better but I lost my desire to learn as much. All while living in Florida, our house was on the market in Iowa. It never sold and after a year in Florida, we moved back to our house in Iowa.
I was excited to be back with the same people I grew up with. It felt as though I had never left. I got right back in the hang of things with familiar people. My love for school was rekindled and I thrived in class. I looked forward to graduating with these people, my childhood friends.
I was shattered when I heard the news. We were moving again, this time to Missouri. I would be leaving my home to start over somewhere else. We moved the summer before my sophomore year. That summer my parents also decided that I would be homeschooled. So, not only was I taken from my home but I would not be able to replant myself in a new school. I was completely on my own, not knowing anyone. This was crushing. I was mad at a lot of people, blaming them that we moved. I did not see how this could be beneficial to me. I was looking through a microscope instead of a telescope.
We have been in Missouri for over two years now. I still miss my hometown in Iowa. I miss it a lot, but I have lots of friends here. I have a good job and have learned so much while being homeschooled. I have learned what I am capable of while teaching myself. I still get to graduate with other homeschooled students. I still visit my hometown. The memories have made footprints on my heart. I treasure those footprints. I wouldn’t trade them for anything else.
Moving so much in my life has been a crazy ride but I know I am me because of my story.
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