Ireland

Ever since I was a baby my family has been moving….not the military, my dad works for IBM, and sets up programs….but when I was nine I moved to Dublin Ireland. Hands down that is still the most difficult thing that I have ever been through. To pick up everything and move to a different country, I can remember my mom and me crying everyday after school, because we missed home so much. Everyone in our neighborhood back home in Rochester Minnesota was so close and friendly…and frankly people in our town didn’t really like Americans and therefore were very standoffish to us….Although this was very difficult for us I have become such a stronger person. This probably because I had to learn to stand up for myself, my views and my culture at a very young age. I’ so thankful now that we moved because I feel that I learned so much, and I feel that I understand our world so much better now. I’m also glad to know that there are other places in this world other than Tucson, and Rochester.
-Carolyn

Spring Break

This Spring break I went home and saw my family. It was so nice to go home and just relax…I love being at home, I love the smells and sounds of home. But Flagstaff is sort of starting to feel home now. As nice as it is to go home to Tucson it is so nice to come back to school. My friends and sisters are starting to feel like my family now. It’s so amazing how close I have become to the girls in my hall and my sorority sisters. In my four years of high school I don’t think that I have ever felt so close to people other than my family. I think this is because I have gotten to experience so many different things up here that I never got to do at home. A second thing that has bonded us together is we have all are experiencing this new found freedom together. We experience the consequences and rewards together.
-Carolyn

Little Brother

Ever since I can remember I wanted a little brother or sister. When I was a little kid I used to tell people that I had an older brother named John….which I didn’t. When my parents told me my mom was pregnant I was so excited, I told anyone and everyone. When he was born I was so excited, my Dad came and got me from school and we both went to the hospital and I got to see him. I remember being so happy and excited……..My little brother is absolutely crazy I remember my mom used to think he wasn’t going to make till to five. When he was two he shoved a metal hairclip in an electrical outlet, and electrocuted himself. When he was three he did a 360 off our brick fireplace hit his head and passed out. He has a permanent scar on his forehead from an air soft pellet, and last week he jumped of a set of stairs in Mexico and broke his arm…..But he also the sweetest person I have ever met. He leaves me messages in my phone all the time, and e-mails……And since he is only twelve it is so hard for me to be away, and not be able to watch him grow up.-Carolyn

Mom

To keep with the theme the family I’m going to write about my mom. Like most preteen and high school girls I fought with my mom probably everyday from the age of thirteen till I left for school in August. We fought about my hair, what I wore to school, who I was getting rides from, grades, and every other little thing you could think of. Sometimes I remember that I would get so mad at her…..and now that I look back on it I’m so thankful that she was not my best friend, she was my mom. Through she showed me just how much she loved me. It’s funny now to see my little brother go through it…. he is boy of course and his middle school years have been way different, but they fight about the same stuff my mom and I did, and it just seems like a unavoidable thing. Mom’s love us so much they want everything to be just right. I am also one of those girls who told my mom everything….it’s probably also because she could always tell when I lied. Even though I don’t live at home anymore she has become my best friend, although she will still put me in line on the phone.
-Carolyn