hi my name is ELISA and I’m a student
here at NHS I’m a sophomore and I just
wanted to say how much of an honor it is
to stand here and speak in front of all
of you today
and now I need you all to do something
for me please raise your hand if the
following questions you know relate to
you please raise your hand if when you
okay now please raise your hand
if you have a close relationship with
your mother or father or both okay now
get this did you know that frequent
relocation in one’s childhood can be
associated with poor well-being in
adulthood I have another one 41 percent
of first marriages end in divorce I was
six the first time I realized my parents
were dysfunctional it would never get
back together I was six when I realized
my mother was too high to kiss me and
tuck me in a bed at night that my father
was too drunk to tell me to toughen up
both my parents were victims of drug and
alcohol abuse making me a victim of
hopelessness and emptiness they know I’m
not here today to dig up painful
memories of the past I’m only here to
spread awareness of what I did and what
others can do to get through a childhood
like mine just running ideas worth
spreading know life as a kid people
children imagine life to be like a
wonderland always searching for the
rainbow the pot of gold I remember one
time me and my brother ran out
it was hailing we’re in a hailstorm we
were in our bathing suits and we had
little fishing nets with us and we were
running to catch the rainbow looking for
the pot of gold and watching out for the
ugly leprechaun I learned as time went
on to be as optimistic as I could be and
the reason I learned to do this is
because during my lifetime me and my
little brother were moving around we
moved at least once a school year
sometimes twice and this was hard on a
child I lived with all my family at one
point and were Italian so you know we’re
a big family Sunday dinners it was it
was just great
moving eventually became a norm to me
something that isn’t supposed to be
normal we moved around with my mother my
father
I’ve lived with my grandparents my
grandma and my grandpa aunts and uncles
my mom’s boyfriend his sister the list
goes on eventually moving around was so
normal that I began on Pat not packing
or unpacking oh sorry I began to not
unpack because we lived in suitcases
carried by my two parents and dropped
off whenever they felt like it and I had
one major fear and this fear was almost
debilitating it’s kind of a sad one but
I was afraid of cars okay I know what
you’re thinking how can someone be
afraid of cars I was afraid of cars
because they’ve reminded me of every
single time I put a suitcase into them
every time me and my brother crammed
into them the times we’d have to stop on
the highway the times that it would take
remember
that movie really took a toll in my life
and not only did it affect my
relationship with my family and parents
it affected my relationship with others
it took a toll on my social skills I
tried very hard to be a nice girl a very
nice girl I went to school I would bring
the kids candy I would hang I would try
to hang out with as many people as I
could I just wanted to French and I
didn’t know how to socialize I was never
taught how to socialize because moving
so often made me anti-social and when I
would try to socialize as you can
imagine a young girl with no social
skills my efforts were to no avail I
began to realize that it didn’t matter
what I did how nice I was because in a
month I would move anyways and I would
friends was a word that was not in my
vocabulary
I cut myself off from people and I tried
very hard not to grow too attached I
would just end up disappointed if I did
it got to the point where I would begin
to tell my little brother don’t grow too
attached don’t go too attached we’re
going to move anyways and to which he’d
reply what are we having for dinner
tonight and it was always spaghetti
I had diminished social skills I had no
friends I was a sad little girl every
time I tried to make friends with a
pretty girl next door or the punk guy
who sit across from me in class it would
never last and I would always end up
upset having friends was not an option
it was always back and forth between my
parents and every single time it was
back and forth there was always
arguments between them there was no time
for friends no time for family
I was always packing unpacking packing
and unpacking with my little brother I
would pray that all this moving would
stop and he eventually my prayers came
finally felt happiness living with my
mother I was so happy that she could
wrap her arms around me and tell me that
she loved me it was something that I
wasn’t used to that my little brother
wasn’t used to and we were content and
with happiness my social skills got
better
I became socializing with girls at
school and I made one friend my friend’s
name was Lee and we would hang out in
her backyard and she had a stream and
he’d catch frogs and tadpoles whatever
we could get our hands on and because my
social skills weren’t good one day I
decided to push her into her stream she
did not think it was funny
and we never talked again anyways a
mother’s arms are caring and loving and
kind and gentle and warm but as time
went by my mother’s voice grew clouded
and her arms were lazy around me and I
had thought maybe it was because she was
tired because at so many times at 3
o’clock in the morning I’d watch her
walk out the door after I had woken up
from the nightmare because of an
addiction and I wasn’t a dumb child I
was smart my eyes saw what was going on
and I don’t think she knew that I did
without a firm mother role I decided it
was time for me to step up me and my
little brother were alone in a cruel
world and I loved my little brother he
is one of the most important things in
my life still
so I began cooking cleaning doing chores
that a seven-year-old is not supposed to
do I I think the first thing that I
learned how to cook was spaghetti
it was always spaghetti every single
night I would walk my little brother to
school after I had woken him up and got
him dressed I get his cereal ready in
the morning not caring about my cereal
because it was always him I would watch
out for the neighborhood bully and go
after him sometimes if he tried to mess
with my little brother I stepped up to
the plate and I became a mother not only
to him not only to myself but my mother
as well she slept all day went out all
night because of her addiction and I
don’t blame my mother my mother is an
amazingly strong woman who I looked up
to every single day and I loved her
things got bad one day and I moved in
with my parent my grandparents that was
hard for me to be ripped away from my
mother’s arms even if they are lazy and
even if her voice is clouded and even if
she has an addiction that makes her
disabled makes her not able to take care
of children the way that she’s supposed
to I felt like I was being ripped away
from something that I loved so much I
didn’t realize that what that might move
in with my grandparents was the best
thing for me and so I throw temper
tantrums I would scream and cry kick and
whatever I could do to just make my
grandparents lives miserable sometimes I
wouldn’t eat
shower drink eventually my mother was in
and out of rehabs it felt like she was
in them at least once a month and this
gave me hope that she would get better I
dreamed of moving back in with her I
loved her so much
but I saw that she wouldn’t get better
because she would get out of rehabs and
relapse go back to her old addiction I
gave up hope to remain hopeful I gave up
hoping that my mother was going to get
better and gave up hoping that I would
move in with her one day and we’d be a
big happy family because I knew inside
that hoping would only make me depressed
and I still struggle with this
depression today I pushed forward and I
plan on making free of the stereotype in
the boundary that what I was raised in
will define me because it will not and I
am a strong woman and I stand here today
in front of you all knowing that I can accomplish anything thank you
here at NHS I’m a sophomore and I just
wanted to say how much of an honor it is
to stand here and speak in front of all
of you today
and now I need you all to do something
for me please raise your hand if the
following questions you know relate to
you please raise your hand if when you
okay now please raise your hand
if you have a close relationship with
your mother or father or both okay now
get this did you know that frequent
relocation in one’s childhood can be
associated with poor well-being in
adulthood I have another one 41 percent
of first marriages end in divorce I was
six the first time I realized my parents
were dysfunctional it would never get
back together I was six when I realized
my mother was too high to kiss me and
tuck me in a bed at night that my father
was too drunk to tell me to toughen up
both my parents were victims of drug and
alcohol abuse making me a victim of
hopelessness and emptiness they know I’m
not here today to dig up painful
memories of the past I’m only here to
spread awareness of what I did and what
others can do to get through a childhood
like mine just running ideas worth
spreading know life as a kid people
children imagine life to be like a
wonderland always searching for the
rainbow the pot of gold I remember one
time me and my brother ran out
it was hailing we’re in a hailstorm we
were in our bathing suits and we had
little fishing nets with us and we were
running to catch the rainbow looking for
the pot of gold and watching out for the
ugly leprechaun I learned as time went
on to be as optimistic as I could be and
the reason I learned to do this is
because during my lifetime me and my
little brother were moving around we
moved at least once a school year
sometimes twice and this was hard on a
child I lived with all my family at one
point and were Italian so you know we’re
a big family Sunday dinners it was it
was just great
moving eventually became a norm to me
something that isn’t supposed to be
normal we moved around with my mother my
father
I’ve lived with my grandparents my
grandma and my grandpa aunts and uncles
my mom’s boyfriend his sister the list
goes on eventually moving around was so
normal that I began on Pat not packing
or unpacking oh sorry I began to not
unpack because we lived in suitcases
carried by my two parents and dropped
off whenever they felt like it and I had
one major fear and this fear was almost
debilitating it’s kind of a sad one but
I was afraid of cars okay I know what
you’re thinking how can someone be
afraid of cars I was afraid of cars
because they’ve reminded me of every
single time I put a suitcase into them
every time me and my brother crammed
into them the times we’d have to stop on
the highway the times that it would take
remember
that movie really took a toll in my life
and not only did it affect my
relationship with my family and parents
it affected my relationship with others
it took a toll on my social skills I
tried very hard to be a nice girl a very
nice girl I went to school I would bring
the kids candy I would hang I would try
to hang out with as many people as I
could I just wanted to French and I
didn’t know how to socialize I was never
taught how to socialize because moving
so often made me anti-social and when I
would try to socialize as you can
imagine a young girl with no social
skills my efforts were to no avail I
began to realize that it didn’t matter
what I did how nice I was because in a
month I would move anyways and I would
friends was a word that was not in my
vocabulary
I cut myself off from people and I tried
very hard not to grow too attached I
would just end up disappointed if I did
it got to the point where I would begin
to tell my little brother don’t grow too
attached don’t go too attached we’re
going to move anyways and to which he’d
reply what are we having for dinner
tonight and it was always spaghetti
I had diminished social skills I had no
friends I was a sad little girl every
time I tried to make friends with a
pretty girl next door or the punk guy
who sit across from me in class it would
never last and I would always end up
upset having friends was not an option
it was always back and forth between my
parents and every single time it was
back and forth there was always
arguments between them there was no time
for friends no time for family
I was always packing unpacking packing
and unpacking with my little brother I
would pray that all this moving would
stop and he eventually my prayers came
finally felt happiness living with my
mother I was so happy that she could
wrap her arms around me and tell me that
she loved me it was something that I
wasn’t used to that my little brother
wasn’t used to and we were content and
with happiness my social skills got
better
I became socializing with girls at
school and I made one friend my friend’s
name was Lee and we would hang out in
her backyard and she had a stream and
he’d catch frogs and tadpoles whatever
we could get our hands on and because my
social skills weren’t good one day I
decided to push her into her stream she
did not think it was funny
and we never talked again anyways a
mother’s arms are caring and loving and
kind and gentle and warm but as time
went by my mother’s voice grew clouded
and her arms were lazy around me and I
had thought maybe it was because she was
tired because at so many times at 3
o’clock in the morning I’d watch her
walk out the door after I had woken up
from the nightmare because of an
addiction and I wasn’t a dumb child I
was smart my eyes saw what was going on
and I don’t think she knew that I did
without a firm mother role I decided it
was time for me to step up me and my
little brother were alone in a cruel
world and I loved my little brother he
is one of the most important things in
my life still
so I began cooking cleaning doing chores
that a seven-year-old is not supposed to
do I I think the first thing that I
learned how to cook was spaghetti
it was always spaghetti every single
night I would walk my little brother to
school after I had woken him up and got
him dressed I get his cereal ready in
the morning not caring about my cereal
because it was always him I would watch
out for the neighborhood bully and go
after him sometimes if he tried to mess
with my little brother I stepped up to
the plate and I became a mother not only
to him not only to myself but my mother
as well she slept all day went out all
night because of her addiction and I
don’t blame my mother my mother is an
amazingly strong woman who I looked up
to every single day and I loved her
things got bad one day and I moved in
with my parent my grandparents that was
hard for me to be ripped away from my
mother’s arms even if they are lazy and
even if her voice is clouded and even if
she has an addiction that makes her
disabled makes her not able to take care
of children the way that she’s supposed
to I felt like I was being ripped away
from something that I loved so much I
didn’t realize that what that might move
in with my grandparents was the best
thing for me and so I throw temper
tantrums I would scream and cry kick and
whatever I could do to just make my
grandparents lives miserable sometimes I
wouldn’t eat
shower drink eventually my mother was in
and out of rehabs it felt like she was
in them at least once a month and this
gave me hope that she would get better I
dreamed of moving back in with her I
loved her so much
but I saw that she wouldn’t get better
because she would get out of rehabs and
relapse go back to her old addiction I
gave up hope to remain hopeful I gave up
hoping that my mother was going to get
better and gave up hoping that I would
move in with her one day and we’d be a
big happy family because I knew inside
that hoping would only make me depressed
and I still struggle with this
depression today I pushed forward and I
plan on making free of the stereotype in
the boundary that what I was raised in
will define me because it will not and I
am a strong woman and I stand here today
in front of you all knowing that I can accomplish anything thank you
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