By Alexis Leija
The Unknown is probably the scariest thing in my opinion. A dark stormy cloud forms in my mind whenever I think about a new chapter in life being “The Unknown“, soaking up all the dark thoughts and fears getting heavier and heavier. Packing up all the belongings that filled the first room I ever had to myself,and walking through the halls into the living room of my childhood home almost felt as if I walked into a time machine. All the beautiful memories of celebrations, arguments, big announcements, birthdays, holidays, milestones, fights, movie nights, graduation parties … who would've known one room could hold so much value, of course not in price but sentimentality.
A new chapter is capable of bringing many new memories, friends, obstacles, highs and lows.It impacts every aspect of our lives especially if that chapter includes a new environment. A new school means new peers, a new house means new neighbors, old family relationships … It brought so much to me but being young those are things I couldn't control but as I got older I learned that with time comes maturing and with matureness comes freedom. Freedom to choose the path I want to go down, I get to choose my chapters now with the decisions I make. It’s like that scene from The Wizard of Oz when Dorothy was presented with two paths ahead of her, she had to make a decision and that decision led her to many other things like friendships and hard obstacles but she kept going.
For those going through a hard time, realize that this is just one out of many chapters and it isn't going to be part of your whole story. Keep going, run, walk or crawl and use all of your strength to keep pushing till one day you get to choose your own path, till you get your chance to start a new chapter. Don’t think moving or dramatic changes are the only ways that can bring a new chapter to yourself. Another year of life means more to live on for and more to come. We are on one out of many chapters that we have to go through in life.They build us into who we are going to be in the future "The Unknown,“ or maybe it’s not so unknown once you figure out what path you're going to take next and what you’ve learned from the one you're on now. There’s no need to be afraid, there’s no need for dark thoughts, only a strong mindset and a brave face.
I chose to write about “A new chapter“ due to a place where I was at in life. Now I know that I’m not the only one that goes through this stage of growing up. This essay is more of a coming of age / mental health awareness piece.
Change is something we all experience and I know at times it can be scary and spark many emotions and thoughts.
This piece is everything that I have felt, experienced, and learned in my 17 years of living.
In paragraph 1 I go in depth about a “ dark stormy cloud “ soaking up dark thoughts and fears, coming out of that experience inspired me to write this piece and the way I did, laying out the scenarios “and what if’s“ for the reader. I tried my best to make this as relatable as possible because I want people who are going through what I went through to know that it will get better and the chapter they’re in isn’t their whole life story.
The words that I like are family, and freedom. My details in this pieces is when she put the Wizard of Oz to describe what she meant. What I noticed about the author´s writing style is that she likes to be specific when explaining things. What it made me think of while reading the essay is about life.
--Jonathan Rubio
I find the imagery the most effective, whenever Alexis started giving advice to the reader I felt the presence. The " run, walk, and crawl " part really stood out to me, it felt inspirational and that she really meant what she was writing. I enjoyed the writing piece a lot, it made me think about my past experiences in life. I liked the layout and how personal she got with her writing, I feel like I know her a lot better now.
--Daniel Avila
The phrases that I believe are most effective, is whenever Alexis quotes "A dark stormy cloud forms in my mind" and "soaking up all the dark thoughts and fears getting heavier and heavier" I can personally relate to that imagery because of personal reasons, she made me believe and feel her emotions through her writing, I enjoyed all of the imagery this essay has, Alexis writing style is immensely unique and captivating and the message behind it too not a lot of people choose to talk about mental health nowadays.
--Nashana Hernandez