The Journey to Chicago!

The story that has shaped my life comes from how I have ended up here. Since I was fifteen, my sister, Marissa, has been my legal guardian and has been very overprotective of me. When I was sixteen, I got in some trouble with the law, and didn't have very much direction in my life. I was planning on dropping out of high school and was not concerned with my grades or the relationships with the people in my life. Marissa was very worried about me and she was constantly checking on me to make sure I was on the right path. At some point I decided to get on the straight and narrow and finish high school. The plan was to go to the local university, although at that point, I had no desire to learn and didn't want to go to college in my town. It was just the easiest thing to do. Marissa nearly filled out the application for me, did all of the paperwork, and coached me through every part of it.
I ended up dropping all my classes right before school started. I didn't have the inspiration to learn and I had no interest in the classes I was taking anyway. Although Marissa was concerned, she encouraged me to go with my gut and do whatever I felt was right. I was in a band that was going nowhere at the time and that was my main focus. I guess at some point I just realized that it was getting me nothing to stay in Omaha in a band that was not doing anything. I decided to apply to CCC. It took me having to do something on my own to know that I actually wanted to do it. Although I really appreciate Marissa's help, having her do everything for me was very detrimental. I learned to be my own person and make the big decision to move away from home and explore.