One of the most significantly challenging situations I had to face in my life, was the decision to leave public high school. There were multiple factors that played into my decision. It was definitely not easy for me, being 15 and very vulnerable. It was not just me leaving high school, it was me putting my past behind and letting go of my guilt. Public school was a difficult era for ‘me. It was not a good experience at all, and although | do have fond memories from my time there, the negative certainly outweighs the positive. I began 9t* grade at San Marcos High School in 2014. | was 14, and although | was never naive, | was pretty misguided. | didn’t keep a steady group of friends and family problems began to re-appear. | spent most of my time in various therapies. | grew increasingly unstable as my sophomore year began. | felt very misunderstood and pushed away by my family. | fell into a delirious depression, got myself into drugs, and isolated myself. | ended up attempting suicide towards the end of my year. | had to undergo some intensive ego-death and even more therapy sessions. | highly regret that attempt with all my heart, as | didn’t know that life has way more possibilities and opportunities for me. My situation had a significant impact on my academic work, as I simply stopped trying. | didn’t put in any effort in my work, | simply stopped caring. | skipped classes to cry in the bathroom, spent my lunches with the school counselor, and eventually I stopped showing up. | had an amazing English teacher in 10" grade, he was truly my only reason to keep on going with my studies. He read my essays and poetry and the praise | received gave mea glimpse of hope. ‘At some point, | couldn't find the purpose to get up from bed. My anxiety was through the roof. | gave myself an ultimatum; stay in that hellhole of a high school and be miserable for another 2 years or get out to do better for myself. The latter was obvious. | looked into charter schools. | eventually found this one, Audeo Charter, which was near my house. It was actually directly across from SMHS. | began my time here and although I ran into my peers from SMHS, it was by far 100% better than feeling suffocated in a public setting. My decision felt freeing. | still had some deep family problems. | learned you cannot run away from them no matter how much you try. I needed the break but | also acknowledge I slacked off. I went through another rough patch during this time which spun me into another depression, but | eventually found the mental stability to get back on my feet. At first, | felt almost ashamed that I left public school and the fact that I didn’t graduate along with everyone else made me feel sorry for myself. But | got over it; | told myself that | faced some things that they didn’t, and that | deserved the extra time to figure myself out. Sure, | had a horrible time but that didn’t stop me from growing. 'm a late bloomer but | was never one to follow crowds. | have a very stable foundation now. | would rather start my life a tad bit later, but give my full effort and energy into it than to be half-assed and settle fora life | don't want.