Coming of Age Final Draft

Y'know, I’ve never considered how spoiled I really am after living on this island for over 11 years. I guess my spoiled self, alongside with living on an island so expensive to even live in, I’ve become oblivious of the world around me, only caring what I want to do or how I feel. And well, a certain change of pace ended up making me get all shaken up when my dad announced that we’re moving to the mainland. I’ve never been the type to merely accept things as is, so I spent days after days how much I hate this idea, and I how I’d prefer not to move to the mainland, despite its merits. I have a lot of friends on this small little island “paradise”, and I’d feel too uncomfortable if I just suddenly move, I’m not subject to change so easily you see.

I couldn’t help but think of how this was a negative impact on my life, never did I consider the positives. I had pessimistic views such as “How am I supposed to make new friends so easily” or “How am I supposed go to the same college as my friends”. And even if my mom asked me what I thought about it, I told her negatives as well, every single time. I guess my mom noticed or something, because when she came to pick me up from school one day, she brought up the topic again. And of course, I say the same, selfish thing. But, mom brought the conversation to me and asked, “Then what do you think about your friends who are in a military family, what do you think they go through” That kinda surprised me, but if I thought about it, they do almost always go through that, it's actually more of a miracle if their parents are stationed for longer than they should. When either military parent gets stationed, they have to move and leave behind everything they might have just gotten used to, friends, environment, and overall comfortability, they have to get rid of it all.

I couldn’t help but go through a guilt trip, regretting all my arguments I’ve selfishly made about the situation. If I only stopped and thought about how much of a bratty thing to complain about, when my own friends gone through the same already. It can’t be helped, humans are not subject to change after all. But I made sure to change my outlook on the situation, whenever my mother asks me about it, I tell her I don’t mind one bit, and that I’m rather excited to be able to move to the mainland in order to start a new life. I told my friends in advance, and made sure to contact them whenever I get the chance to. I feel that I’ve become less selfish, and to look things at a more positive outlook, despite how bad the situation can be.