I was born on May 8th, 1997, and for the first six years of my life, I was a normal, happy little girl. In 2002, my parents divorced and reunited, and then when I was eight, they divorced again. Their marriage is now over. I spent most every day of my childhood with my grandparents and great grandmother because my parents worked so much. My “grandma” was my great grandmother, and she was the most amazing person in the world to me and the dear memories I have of my years with her will last my lifetime.
Whenever I would go to school or leave the house for one reason or another, she would say, “See ya later alligator,” and I would respond, “In a while Crocodile. ” It was our a special way of saying goodbye to each other. Sadly, this amazing, sweet and caring woman passed away in 2008, leaving a void in my heart that will never be filled. How could I ever forget her selfless and determined love for me? As a child, I always loved school and learning kind of always came naturally to me.
There was a group that would come to our school every year called The Missoula Children’s Theatre and I participated in that from 1st grade until Junior High when the group stopped coming to our area. Acting and performing has since then been one of my favorite things and I’ve been in several productions since. In 5th grade, I joined band and I have been a member playing the clarinet for eight years. Junior high went by as normal as it can with the same drama just a different day and I stopped trying in school and my grades slipped. In the 9th and 10th grade I did damage control and got myself back where I once was. Mrs.
Anderson, drama club sponsor at the time, introduced me to a show called Glee and I have been watched it since 2010. She also introduced me to Broadway musicals and made me fall in love with New York City. On June 3rd, 2013, Halley Gladewell was in a tragic car accident and died. She was my classmate and close friend. The day of her funeral my friends and I all got what we really needed and that was closure. On the way home from the funeral we all decided she would want nothing more than for us to live in her memory. Cornerstone Full Gospel Church has been my church since I was six weeks old and I am very strong in my faith.
I started singing at my church at around eight and have been on the praise team for five years. During my 11th grade year, I struggled academically. Science has always been something that I have had more of a struggle with. Chemistry was the hardest one, no matter how much I studied I was still making extremely low grades and it was getting out of hand. A YouTube crash course actually was what showed me a way to understand and my grades gradually got better for the last half of the year. As my little grandma saying would go “see ya later alligator” that is how I plan to make my senior year.
My life so far has only been the beginning and unfortunately life is a series of goodbyes. The list of places I want to go is endless. But at this moment, I don’t feel quite ready to leave; to walk out the door for good. I think I’m missing the gentle support my grandma gave me when she was alive. Sometimes, when reality hits and I know it’s time for me to step out and experience the world, I daydream, imagining that the sweet old lady is here today, sending me lovingly out the door and on my way into the world… “See you later, Alligator. I love you. ” “In a while Crocodile. And I love you, Grandma. “
