Free Essay About Turning Points In My Life

I was born in Philippines, and my family had to move to the island of Guam while I was in my junior year at high school. I still remember the day we arrived at this strange place, it was a sunny afternoon on the last day of December in the year 2006. The house we moved in was situated amid green trees in a faraway place from the township. Unlike the place where I grew up in Philippines, where the houses were too close with plenty of friends to play and shops to hang around, our new neighborhood in Guam did not have houses or a market place close by. In the beginning, I felt disappointed about the new place since I was eagerly waiting to see this place, expecting to get many new friends to play and spend time with, like in Philippines. Though my parents did not disclose to me earlier how this place would look like, my mom hinted me that this place would be different, and I would love it. I had difficulty in getting along during the first year. The very first night I cried to mom saying that I wanted to go home, and never wanted to see this place ever again in my life.
A year had passed. I had managed to explore the new place riding my bicycle; I even managed to get a few friends who were of my age. Since my earlier days in Philippines, I loved to play basketball, and I did not get a chance to play basketball since I set foot on Guam. When my parents advised me to continue my studies, the idea of playing basketball at the new school motivated me to join the Southern High School. The school atmosphere reminded me of my schooldays back in Philippines, and the teachers and fellow students appeared to be friendly. We played even after the school time. However, I did not get the chance to play basketball in the beginning since the season had already started with student enrolment. I believed that joining the basketball team would give me a chance to get to know many people; besides, working with a team would teach me a lot of new things that would help me to maintain good grades at school. I waited for another month to join the basketball team until one day when an announcement was made at the class saying that a new basketball team selection would take place at the gym.
When I was at my junior year at the high school, I came to know that some of the students were going to part time jobs in the evening that would help them to meet their expenses without depending on their family. I too started working at a local store which interfered with my basketball schedule. Today, sometimes I regret for having chosen to work part time while I was still in my junior year. Concentrating in my high school studies without doing any work would have helped me much better. My interest in playing basketball led to my transfer to the Southern Christian Academy. I loved the campus with natural ambience and ocean view. After completing my credits successfully I received my diploma even as I was confused about my future course of action about selecting my profession. However, the job I was in at that time gave me enough money, which I spent on drugs and alcohol that appeared to matter most to me those days. I spent three years of my precious life addicted to drug and alcohol. Suddenly I found myself going on the wrong track.
I realized that spending more time on my work and earning money at an early age, instead of concentrating on the studies and pursuing a higher education, had motivated me to take a wrong path. I wanted to change my ways and become successful; I took a strong decision to continue my college education. I spent two years to get a driving license and accomplish the other things needed for my college education. My life changed for good toward a new positive beginning when I got enrolled in GCC during spring 2013.