BLOG: Epic Advice, Life Can Be Tough; Be Tougher

Hi fellow school zombies! 

You don’t know me yet, but I hope you’ll stay and get to know me. 

I hope this column provides some helpful tips on how to survive being a kid/ teenager/ young adult. Doing school at home is definitely different but I’ve been learning to make it work for the past three years and I hope I can make it more bearable for you. 

Life can be difficult, but I hope to give you some tips that make it easier.

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, my family switched to Epic. In the beginning it was hard. Friends and family were getting sick. And then because I wasn’t in a traditional in-person school situation, I didn’t really have any true mentors and friends other than my family.

I felt broken beyond repair.

My sisters tried, but at first they weren’t my age so it wasn’t the same. That time was also when I was going through my transition out of childhood so all that made for some fun days. I wished and wished for friends, but I never got any. My heart was starting to break, then people close to me started dying.

Life got even harder. 

I didn’t get why God was ‘punishing me’. I started to feel a deep hurt and pain, but the thing is, I started to build the life I can only dream of. Sure, I still don’t have any traditional friends, but I’ve found out my sisters, my parents, and my grandma make super cool friends. I used to always think that since they were older than me we wouldn’t like the same things but over time when I gave them a chance I started to love them deeply. 

I still don’t have a traditional school sports team, but I have my writing and I take classes with ENN. I also do NJHS. I still would like some true friends, I’m good for now.

I’m so glad I didn’t give up, life is so amazing for me right now. Yes, my life is still hard sometimes and I sometimes miss the old way of doing school. I’ve found that life is kind of like a book; you’ve got to get past the hard chapters to find the happy chapters. And someday your life is going to end so fill up the pages!

My point is when life happens we sometimes feel worn down, sick, and feel like nothing will ever go right. You have to give it time to work out. 

I put my faith in God, but maybe you have another way. 

Something I also like to do is read. It’s a hideaway from this insane world. I find that reading and writing occupy my idle time. 

I promise you things will get better. 

You’ll find a friend, your sister will behave, your parents will stop fighting whatever’s wrong will work out someday. It may not always work out perfectly but it will. 

It’s like a Corrie Ten Boom quote I once read, “Happiness isn’t something that depends on our surroundings…. It’s something we make inside ourselves.” 

We can make our own happiness and to do that we must get past the bad. 

Fight for good, make the life you dream about. And when you do, don’t think it’s because of my advice or your parents; you made the life you dreamed. 

I believe in you. 

It’s so hard sometimes but you have to fight for it. Be brave. 

Before I say goodbye to this post, I want to share with you some of the music that I listened to that helped me through the rough times.