Every Student has a Story: Amaya
10 MINUTE READ • STUDENT STORIES
The summer before eighth grade, I moved to Ohio. In elementary and middle school, I had not been a great student. My teachers didn’t care if students passed or failed. They didn’t even seem to teach us much, so I fell way behind.
My mom packed our things and moved us across the country, which was the best thing for me. In no time, I became a better student. The teachers at my new school cared about their students and would change their lesson plans if we ever got stuck with understanding any of the curricula.
Being the new kid in a small town was also pretty brutal. I felt like an outcast. If you didn't grow up with those kids, they wouldn’t even look at you. So I got creative and came up with a genius idea: I decided to join track and field to make some connections.
Through the athletic program, I was able to meet people and make friends. It was awesome! These friends ultimately became like family to me, with Liam and Shelby being the closest of them all. I was receiving positive feedback for my academics. I was developing stronger friendships because of my time at school.
High school came around, and I loved it even more than eighth grade. During my freshman year, I met even more people since it was a large school with a mix of people from many different schools, but I still had my old friends from middle school close. My best friend Liam was in all of my classes, and we often would just get lost in our interactions. He was my running buddy and an amazing soul. I was his tutor since he hated doing homework.
It felt like everything was finally coming together for me. I was happy and confident and had grown into my own. But my mom and stepdad let me know we were moving back to Arizona in the middle of my sophomore year.
The news felt like an enormous bomb dropped on me. My world was turning upside down - I had to share this news with my friends. Liam wasn’t at school that day, and Shelby had a dark, sad look in her eyes when she heard the news.
When I felt like my life couldn’t get more messed up, I received the news that Liam, my best friend, died by suicide that very same night. Looking back, I know that I had seen the signs but did not realize how difficult of a battle he was fighting.
Liam was incredible, and I wish that I could have done more for him. The questions linger and may always remain: Why? Why did he do it? What was his breaking point? What could I have done differently to help prevent it from happening? The next few weeks passed in a blur as I tried to navigate through the loss of my best friend.
I listened to audiobooks the entire drive back to Arizona - books on helping those you are closest with, looking for signs, getting them the help they need, and being able to bravely speak with an adult about these heavy topics.
I threw myself into my new school in Arizona, even though it was completely different from what I was used to. For the most part, everyone seemed to be warm and welcoming. I was getting straight A’s, and truly was enjoying the school. School actually became an escape for me. It was an escape from my parents, my thoughts, and my past.
But waking up at 3:00 in the morning and ending my day around 11:30 at night was exhausting. I had chores, high school, work, National Honor Society, courses at a community college, and even Air Force Junior ROTC on the side. Throw in hours of homework, and my days were completely jam-packed.
At some point, I hit my breaking point, and quit it all - the jobs, the extracurriculars, school. I moved back in with my biological father. I thought that dropping out of school would help and make my life easier. But in reality, I got so close to finishing and then didn’t graduate - it’s become my biggest regret.
Eventually, I decided it was time to re-enroll. I tried an online school, but they were not at all what I needed. It was stressful and too fast of a pace. I even felt like I was being judged instead of being heard. I left the school after a short stint.
My dad once shared with me that school today is no longer as it was back in his day, and I’ve come to agree with him. School has just tried to push me to hurry and grow up instead of preparing me for the real world.
After getting a full-time job, my high school diploma (or lack thereof) haunted me. It added so much unnecessary stress onto my shoulders. I had been allowing my circumstances to define my decisions for years, and that’s a tough cycle to break.
Then, I met my fiancé. We have two beautiful children together. He was the one who pushed me to go back to school and finally achieve my diploma. I'm the stay-at-home mom, raising our kids and finishing up school, while he is out in the heat working his butt off to support us. I could not be any more blessed to have someone as amazing as him.
In July, my children will be able to see their mom walk across the stage, get handed her diploma, and celebrate a feat that she worked extremely hard for. Grad Solutions has provided me this opportunity to accomplish this goal for my kids. I wanted to show them that they can do anything they set their mind to. I have learned from my mistakes and can guide my children on the right path, helping them avoid the pitfalls I fell into.
My journey has not been easy. I have been through a lot. From the death of my best friend to the birth of my first child, life has thrown me some challenging obstacles. But if I could give others in my position some advice, I would say, “Do what gives you success in the long run. Don’t stress for no reason. When you’re happy, the easier it becomes to attain your goals.”
Amaya Alghouli