Being Independent at the Age of 16

Never before had I ever been away from my family for more than five days so I was nervous before the trip. Once I got to Pinole Valley High at 4:45 in the morning I realized that it was going to be okay. My nerves had disappeared and I was overwhelmed the excitement of going. 

Throughout the past few weeks it has not changed, I am still excited about what is going to happen in class and what we will have for lunch. Overall I haven’t had the realization that I am on my own because I don’t feel like I am. I have my friends and my cell phone if I get lonely or don’t know what to do. Doing my own laundry isn’t that big of a deal because I don’t really feel like it is a sign of independence. Going to CVS to go shopping for the necessities isn’t that big of a deal either.

Sometimes people think that being independent means being alone and having no help. I don’t feel that I am alone because I have friends here to help me if I mess up. When it comes to transportation and feeding myself, it’s already taken care of. I have two healthy legs and my Brown ID card.

Even though I have the necessities taken care of, I still feel a sense of independence when it comes to the way I spend my time. I have class from 9:00 to 2:30 but I have until 11:30 to do whatever I feel like without someone telling what I have to do. It is nice to have some time to relax in between class and homework. 

I can’t wait to go to college because then I can be with my friends for four years instead of only three weeks. It will be sad to leave my friends and the independent life that I have gotten used to.

Another aspect of the program, the main aspect, is the class and the fact that we are doing an independent project. We were assigned a problem that forces us to use all the information that we have gathered over the past two weeks. We have to get the gene for glowing out of a jellyfish’s DNA. I was not sure how to do this so I asked the professor. She didn’t give me the answer but instead she helped me get on the right track of thinking. I went back to my bench and worked it out, after a few minutes I had my procedure and I presented it to her. She said that my plan was beautiful. That made my day and I felt like I had really understood the class.