I believe in cardboard boxes
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I believe in cardboard boxes. Without them, the confident and outgoing person I am today would be non-existent. I may only be eighteen years old, but I’ve lived in ten different places and attended seven different schools. My dad is a member of the United States Air Force, so approximately every two to three years his job required us to relocate to a new town.

For years those ugly cardboard boxes made me cringe. I knew I was leaving behind the place I called home and the friends I’d just met. I used to hate change, but my dad was different; he accepted it with open arms. I think he adopted the lifestyle of a shark. If he doesn’t keep moving forward he’ll die. I used to hope my dad would come to his senses and get a “normal” job, one that didn’t require us to move. But that never happened, so I just learned to deal and accept change.

When I reached high school moving became fun. Each time I transferred to a new school I became a new person. At my first high school I was super shy and kept to myself. If a teacher called on me I would turn bright red and stutter. I hated being the center of attention. Over Christmas break my sophomore year I transferred to my second high school. There, my confidence began to rise, and as a result I was less shy. If a teacher called on me I would just turn bright red; I no longer stuttered and was beginning to not mind the limelight.

Toward the middle of my junior year, my dad got word that we would be moving to Guam. I knew I couldn’t fight it, so I took this move as another opportunity to reinvent myself. In August I began attending my third high school. I saw a huge change in myself. If a teacher called on me I would no longer turn bright red or stutter. My confidence reached an all time high, and I was no longer shy, quiet, or hidden in the background. Instead, I was more outgoing and open to new things. I ran for student council senior class public relations officer and won. I was now the voice of the senior class, which meant I was constantly in the limelight relaying important information back to my fellow peers. I know for a fact that if I had stayed at my first high school I would not have run for this position. I would still be hidden in the background.

I now have the confidence that I dreamed of having when I was attending my first high school. I no longer turn bright red or stutter if a teacher calls on me. And most importantly I no longer stick to hiding in the background.

I spent my childhood in cardboard boxes. But, to be honest I wouldn’t have lived it any other way. Those boxes changed my life for the better. This I believe.

by: Kristen Fingal