by M, Sacramento
I remember when I got good grades in school and wanted to do a lot of stuff. I would go to my dad’s and we would go bowling. I slowly started getting bad grades and stopped wanting to go do things. I didn’t want to go to my dads or my grandmas anymore. I actually didn’t even want to be home.
My grades slowly started dropping, they went from As and Bs to Cs and Ds. From there they got worse, I was leaving after school and hanging out all day. I wasn’t doing homework, I was goofing off in school and started getting in trouble. It just wasn’t fun and I always wanted to have fun.
Then Covid came and I really stopped doing work. When quarantine stopped, I started being with friends everyday. Then tenth grade came and school was regular again. I was still goofing off and getting in trouble, but not as much. I slowly started realizing that school was important and it determined what I would be when I got older.
Therefore, I would do my classwork and stop getting in trouble. I’m realizing that I am becoming more mature and the childish things need to come to an end, and they did. My grades came back up after eleventh grade and I was more mature focusing on the right things, I still wasn’t going to see my dad as much as I regret it. I just liked being around my friends. I didn’t think that I was hurting him or my grandparents until I came to YDF. Now I don’t get to go and hang out with who I want to.
When I’m in my cell all I think about is how much time I have wasted when I could have been doing useful things like doing good in school and making my family happy. I think about how much time I have missed out on when I could have been with my family. They came to visit me at YDF and I feel bad. I should have thought about who I was hurting instead of thinking about myself.
When I get out I am going to spend as much time as possible with my dad and grandparents. I’m also going to get my school situation right, I only need fifty four credits to graduate because of how determined I was to change it around. YDF is making me think a lot. I don’t want to hang out with friends anymore, just my mom, dad, baby sister, and the rest of my family. I should graduate by January, then I’m getting a job to help my mom.