Stephanie
Riccio
Eng
112
Autobiography
Mix Tape
Draft
1
Life is a journey in which we all endure.
There are so many different paths that anyone can go down; whether it be
negative or positive. My life is an open novel, and I am the author… what I
plan to do is a blank sheet of paper and still unwritten. In a short nineteen years, life has knocked me
down.. then picked me right back up, thrown me sixty five mile per hour
fastballs.. then handed me loopy curveballs; life is almost something comparable
to the game of chess… unpredictable.
The roller coaster ride that they call
life started for me in about tenth grade. I was no longer the “fresh meat” of
my high school, I was a sophomore and had a name to make for myself. All
throughout my freshmen year I had a boyfriend whom in which controlled my every
move, down to the clothes that I wore and not even being able to hang out with
my friends. Now was my time to start living life, begin an adventurous journey
that had no limits.
As a child I had always had a very close
relationship with my mother Linda, from the moment I was born she treated me as
a queen. She always seemed to know my every move or thought, which made her
such a great mother. As my sophomore year started my mom began to tell me about
the difference from right and wrong and how high school can bring you many
challenging situations. Since I was born I have always had such a strong
personality and my mother was well aware. People often referred to me as a
“crazy child” because I would get thrill from living on the edge, which turned
the guard that Linda had up to protect me turn into a steal wall.
I loved acting older than I was. In the
tenth grade I was going to the senior parties and hanging out with all the
older kids. Sooner than later I started lying about where I was going, or what
I thought was lying but Linda knew. She knew where I was even when I would tell
her otherwise, she knew I was out when I said I was home. This started to tear
our relationship apart. The yelling, crying, and fighting got old. Our relationship
was not the same anymore, she had become my number one enemy. My mother. Awful
and painful to say, but what my young immature mind thought. I would think to
myself, how did things get like this? Why wasn’t she “cool” anymore? Was she
out to get me? My mom knew I was too young understand why she took the actions
she did, to protect me and later on in life I would thank her.
The beginning of my junior year came and
our relationship was still held together by tiny strings. Coming up was my
sixteenth birthday and Linda’s fortieth birthday. I was sat down at our dinner
table and asked by her to join her on a trip to Los Angeles to celebrate. As a
reckless teen I thought this was the worst idea and I dreaded it. Why would I
want to go spend a week with the woman who tried to ruin my life? Three weeks
later I found myself on the plane sitting next to my mother landing in L.A.X.
The journey was about to begin. Through out my whole week there, I gained a new
perspective on life. Spending time with my mom changed everything for me, I now
began to appreciate the little things that mattered instead of everything that
only made me happy. Linda is a very unique person. She has her own opinion and
insight on every situation. She will speak her mind no matter the environment
that surrounds us.
I feel as though the trip with my mother
matured me a bit. Yes I was still a junior in high school but I learned that
everything m mother did was out of love and compassion. She always had wanted
what’s best for her daughter. My mom had saved our relationship by showing me
that we can bond and spending time with the people I loved was also fun, for
that I will always thank her. Linda is my rock, and the most important woman in
my life; an independent, responsible, and caring figure she was and will always
remain that.
When it came time to start looking at
colleges I got very eager to see what was to come. I loved exploring new
adventures and there was a new level of independence coming my way. I couldn’t
wait. I had no idea where I was going to go, who I was going to live with, or
what major I was going to further my education in but I knew I was ready to
find out. Living on my own seemed amazing to me. As my senior year furthered
along I decided to attend Southern Connecticut State University. This came as a
shock because even as a child I said that I was going to only apply to schools
out of the state. I hate Connecticut, the weather, the prices, and even the
atmosphere. I hate it all. Yet I stayed in the state to go to school. My
roommate ended up being the best choice I’ve ever made. I picked who I was
going to be rooming with and that decision was Danielle. Her and I seemed to go
together like bread and butter.
Our parents knew us together was trouble,
but they let us see what was in store for us. The first night here was parties
and late nights. It was everything we dreamed of. No curfews, eat whatever you
want, have who ever you want over…what could be better? Were we too young for
all that? Too young for bars and clubs and to be with the seniors? Well we
loved it. Freshmen didn’t seem to interest us, going to the usual “FLOP” house
or De Javu. We didn’t predict this, just seemed to fall into place. Our
adventures were and still are endless and we have yet to see what is to come.
One memory that will forever stick with
me is Saturday January 25th.
3:00 in the morning I woke up to Danielle hysterical, screaming, and in
panic. Just making up I had no idea what was going on. I was scared and
confused. After making sense of her mumbling, I realized that our best friend
was murdered. How was this real? Can this of really happed to us we were only
18 years old.
I couldn’t handle the emotions that were
going through me. I was way too young to experience death, especially the loss
of someone so perfect and special. This brought my life to a screeching halt. I
was lost, and scared. This incident made me realize that life is truly a gift
that we need to honor everyday. In a matter of a few minutes anyone can be
taken from us.
Throughout my journey in life I had came
to the conclusion that life is unwritten, and no one can tell the future. The
events that take place and the people you meet are random. Even though this is
a scary thing to think about it, it is what I love most about life. I do not
know where I will be in ten years from now. It would be Florida or it could be
Europe. All I do know is that I am going to live a life well worth living, and
whatever curve balls are thrown at me I will handle and conquer.
