Me
By: Alysa Manuel
As I grew up, I gave my heart out many times to many different groups of people. It always came back more damaged and hurt than before. Never stopped me from being the person I was born to be. You know when you have two very good friends, and they don’t quite like each other? I’ve had many of those type of conflicted friendships with people. Today I try being friends with everyone regardless how they feel about each other. Some days I have friends who need to rant about somebody. I won’t necessarily “stir the pot”, but I hope to be able to talk to both sides and shed some light on the situation. Nowadays people say things to mess with others emotions. Which is very natural, most times hypocritical. 
So that being said, I am a people person. Under certain circumstances where you find the best in a situation. I had a friend who I’ve grown up with, not naming names, but she has always had a severe depression. Everyone else brushed her off in times where she was thinking about giving up, and I stayed up almost every night talking her through it. People wanting to attack her because she is different. Me being me, I went after those people who didn’t like her. Not because I hated them or anything, I was friends with every individual who was saying bad things about her. That point of them judging her behind her back, and to my face. I wasn’t going to just be a bystander. I took action on those people, for the sake of someone who couldn’t stick up for themselves. I will never forget the day my so called ‘best friend’, stigmatized my other friend for what she did in her free time. Now I loved my best friend for who she was behind closed doors, but just because her secrets were hidden, doesn’t mean that she gets to make others feel less than for who they are, or what they like. Eventually the tension was gone, because a spotlight was put on their issue. 
Overtime, I started finding more people who were like me, in their own ways. Broken families, with no thought of what we are supposed to be when were older. When I was younger, I always had adults asking kids “what do you want to be when you get older?” And my mind always drew a blank. Although, I did know, I was a social butterfly with social anxiety. More after I started making friends, I opened my entire life to them. I gave them a place to sleep, eat and love others for who they are. Some days were hard, being that we were a bunch of teenagers with no supervision. You kind of had to figure out how to cooperate with people on your own. My ‘friends’, soon became my family. We all looked out for each other. If someone was getting in some trouble just a few miles up the road an we were all at the house downtown, we would rush to meet them half way. But we didn’t always encourage the fall back system. It can be a learning lesson, as I’ve learned from all of those kids “It’s not our job to change people, just to point them in the right direction.” Even if the kids I grew up with, grew apart, I still have never given more of my passion. ‘Til now. 
Although it was fun having our descriptions on the ‘Lake Stevens Criminal’ page, I’ve grown to be much more than a little hood rat. I’ve seen the living do their thing, to a point where it only can bring them death. I’d much rather experience the exciting things in life, while genuinely living it to the fullest. The fear of missing out, no longer controls me. As my surroundings keep me preoccupied. I’d like to end this with a quote by Robert Kennedy, “ Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”
My curiosity runs free in new situations with all new types people. Having a deep passion for the freedom of others to be who they genuinely want to be. In my mind, I believe it’s okay to dress, talk and act how you please, with some constraints. Those are the rules of society, as bullying is a big part in our prime days of growing to be adults. I truly don’t believe, just because someone is paying bills on time or holding up a steady job, means that you’re grown. I aspire to be someone who can help others, only when they choose they need it. I do enjoy helping others to find their purpose, only until they contradict themselves.
As I grew up, I gave my heart out many times to many different groups of people. It always came back more damaged and hurt than before. Never stopped me from being the person I was born to be. You know when you have two very good friends, and they don’t quite like each other? I’ve had many of those type of conflicted friendships with people. Today I try being friends with everyone regardless how they feel about each other. Some days I have friends who need to rant about somebody. I won’t necessarily “stir the pot”, but I hope to be able to talk to both sides and shed some light on the situation. Nowadays people say things to mess with others emotions. Which is very natural, most times hypocritical. 
So that being said, I am a people person. Under certain circumstances where you find the best in a situation. I had a friend who I’ve grown up with, not naming names, but she has always had a severe depression. Everyone else brushed her off in times where she was thinking about giving up, and I stayed up almost every night talking her through it. People wanting to attack her because she is different. Me being me, I went after those people who didn’t like her. Not because I hated them or anything, I was friends with every individual who was saying bad things about her. That point of them judging her behind her back, and to my face. I wasn’t going to just be a bystander. I took action on those people, for the sake of someone who couldn’t stick up for themselves. I will never forget the day my so called ‘best friend’, stigmatized my other friend for what she did in her free time. Now I loved my best friend for who she was behind closed doors, but just because her secrets were hidden, doesn’t mean that she gets to make others feel less than for who they are, or what they like. Eventually the tension was gone, because a spotlight was put on their issue. 
Overtime, I started finding more people who were like me, in their own ways. Broken families, with no thought of what we are supposed to be when were older. When I was younger, I always had adults asking kids “what do you want to be when you get older?” And my mind always drew a blank. Although, I did know, I was a social butterfly with social anxiety. More after I started making friends, I opened my entire life to them. I gave them a place to sleep, eat and love others for who they are. Some days were hard, being that we were a bunch of teenagers with no supervision. You kind of had to figure out how to cooperate with people on your own. My ‘friends’, soon became my family. We all looked out for each other. If someone was getting in some trouble just a few miles up the road an we were all at the house downtown, we would rush to meet them half way. But we didn’t always encourage the fall back system. It can be a learning lesson, as I’ve learned from all of those kids “It’s not our job to change people, just to point them in the right direction.” Even if the kids I grew up with, grew apart, I still have never given more of my passion. ‘Til now. 
Although it was fun having our descriptions on the ‘Lake Stevens Criminal’ page, I’ve grown to be much more than a little hood rat. I’ve seen the living do their thing, to a point where it only can bring them death. I’d much rather experience the exciting things in life, while genuinely living it to the fullest. The fear of missing out, no longer controls me. As my surroundings keep me preoccupied. I’d like to end this with a quote by Robert Kennedy, “ Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.” 
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