Dennell

"I have changed from becoming a bad student to a good student. I had been though rough times with an ex-friend and rival, Vannesa Wood. I got suspended for physical abuse against Vannesa, and I went to court during my suspension period. I was going to get arrested, but the school had no proof that the incident had happened. So, they had decided to reinstate me back to Beach Channel. I was still having problems with Vannesa. One day, I had to go to the principal's office for a warning. The prinicpal said " If I want to avoid this situation with Vannesa, then I must get a restraining order." But, the police denied that option, so there was nothing else for me to do. All hell broke loose, and I was getting offended by my peers. I've lost so many friends because of the rivalry between me and Vannesa. All of my friends went against me. I was walking towards everyone who turned against me and attacked them one by one. It do understand it was cruel of me to hurt them, but I felt it was revenge. They caught me on camera attacking my friends and then I was called to the dean's office. They suspended me for five days, then when I came back, I've changed into a whole new person. So, Vannesa continued to harass me and I was still highly angry towards her. It's very complicated to have self control, so I don't have to go through these problems with my enemies, especially with Vannesa.The only way that I can get myself back together was having a mentor. Ms. Halloran, my former english teacher, helped me throughtout my situations with Vannesa by teaching me self-respect and loyalty. She taught me how to use self-respect and loyalty to destory those situations from the past. But, I told her all the wrong things that I've done to Vannesa. So, she said  that I can change my life by focusing on my career goals. I had so many opportunities that would help me build a plan for the future ahead of me. It really helped me change to a very good person. I said to mysef "no more fighting, no more getting into situations with anybody, and no more disturbance. I'm very happy with my life because now I'm a student at LaGuardia CC majoring Liberal Arts and yes I have completed all of my phases I have been through as of today. My first stage was emotional stress, then it was depression, and lastly, it was recovery. I have been fully recovered and have been meeting new people in college and make new friends. I have met a special friend named Mirriam Ajana. She's a very smart student and she majors in Business Management and her minor is Early Childhood Education. I've met with the young lady in the campus, while I was studying. She likes to help people with their problems so they can achieve their goals like myself. It makes my life feel even happier, when I have a nice friend like her."

Dennel's story is a sad one, but shows how we can overcome the tough phases in our lives if we let them pan out. As a student, he was accused of raping a fellow classmate and with this accusation came a very negative stage in his life. In this time, he was shunned by his friends and peers from school. With all the anger built inside him, he decided to attack his friends violently. He describes the second stage of his  life as depression. He found help from a few doctors, and was finally told that he needs to focus on his career goals. Thankfully, he recovered from all of the rough, negative points in his life. It's important for us to hear stories such as Dennell's because it should bring us hope for when we, ourselves, feel like we are stuck in a hole.