My name is Aria. I’m a junior at Wayne State University and my life revolves around a few important things. One is of course school. I was homeschooled my whole life. I had never stepped foot into a school until I was 15 when I started community college at Oakland Community College. School has always been somewhat difficult for me as I am dyslexic. So, I have had a lot of trouble with assignments such as this. However, I have made many improvements through the years. Because I started college when I was fifteen, I am 2 years ahead. Most people think this is impressive, however, I have always been very scared. Everything has always moved so quickly, and I never feel ready for the next step. I have learned to take it one day at a time and roll with the punches. Another thing I find very important is my friends. I didn’t have very many friends growing up. My siblings, a girl from around the block. I was only her friend because she cheered, and I did gymnastics. We don’t talk anymore. Now, I have 2 very close friends. They are the loves of my life and I owe everything I have to them. They stuck by me when I was not easy to stick by. I met them both at gymnastics, this is really the only way I have ever been able to make friends.
We were on the team together; I was always the worst on the team. I kind of enjoyed that. I feel like it took the pressure off everyone else, they didn’t have to worry about being dead last because everyone knew I would take that spot. I still tried very hard in the sport, don’t get me wrong and I love it with all my heart. I work with my friends. I coach gymnastics and I have been doing it for about 3 years now. It’s my favorite thing to do, the gym is my favorite place to be, and it’s my home. Everyone there is family, I’ve known them my whole life. I coach a fantastic team. The kids I coach are practically my children and watching them grow and get skills and find love in a sport just as I did when I was their age gives me so much joy. I have just recently started to become more social.
Because I was homeschooled, I never got out much. However, now I feel a lot more at ease with others around me. I used to not be able to go into a grocery store without crippling fear. And now I can talk to others and make friends. I still have my downfalls; restaurants are a red zone for me I can’t walk inside one without nearly crying. Anyways. I am also very Scottish; I did Scottish dance for about 8 years. I was able to travel all around the country and dance with my sister. We would drive hours to go to competitions, wearing kilts and dancing to bagpipes it was all very Scottish. I was also not very good at this; my sister was the star there. I had fun though. I wore my blue kilt and did my dances and watched my sister win every time. The environment was a very competitive one, however, I really didn’t care if I won or lost. I was just there to be there. That’s kind of how It always is. I’m here for the moment, I’ll do whatever just to experience it. I feel like being homeschooled I lost out on a lot of experiences so now I jump at any opportunity to experience anything I can. It has been very interesting recently with this mindset.
