Looking back, my life in junior high was anything but pleasant. My early teenage years were hard. Besides dejection and low self-confidence, I had lousy grades, no sense of style and a face covered with acne. I had simply nothing to be proud of. What made things worse was the fact that I was surrounded with friends that seemed to have everything. The always got better grades, were more popular, had flawless skin and gorgeous cloths, and worst of all, they were constantly touted by my parents who rarely gave me compliments.
When we were all applying to secondary school in ninth grade, a miracle happened. I exerted myself and I started getting As on almost all of my assignments. I even raised my grade average so much that I could get into one of the most prestigious secondary schools in Sweden. For the first time for a very long time, I started to feel good about myself again. I no longer felt inferior to anyone and my parents were proud of me. And since that term, I have been working extremely hard to keep my grade average up, but also to avoid a past that I fear and resent.
Today, I am one of the best students in my grade. I am confident, and liked and respected by my classmates and teachers. The reason I have come this far is because of my bad memories of my early adolescence years. I work hard and am constantly improving myself because I have a past I don’t want to go back to, a past that I have learned from.
From my experiences, we shouldn’t forget our past. We should see it as a resource from what we can improve the present and the future. Had I never gone through my horrific period in junior high, I wouldn’t have something that drives and pushes me to work hard, to do my best in every situation and on every task I receive. We must never repress or forget the past; no matter how terrible is was because it helps us in our effort succeed in the present.