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Andrew Gustafson

Mrs. Cox

September 19 2019

Period 6

Pivotal College Essay

I've had to move twice in my life. “Pack up your things we're moving” is a statement I

hope never to hear again. Although moving twice was heartbreaking and painful, it shaped me to

become the person I am today, and I could never trade that for anything.

The first time I heard those words was the summer going into third grade. I was born and

raised in Spokane, Washington, and I loved it there. When my parents first told me we were

moving to Seattle, I cried. Although I was still young, I had never thought about leaving

Spokane, and I already knew I would miss my home. Spokane was where I first learned how to

ride a bike, play basketball, tie my shoes, and I wasn't ready to move on. But I had to move on,

literally, to Seattle.

Seattle was tough at first all the kids there already had friends and didn't want to be

friends with the new kid. I was very lonely, and it forced me to learn how to be independent from

a young age. Eventually, the weird new kid made some friends and learned to make the best of

every situation. By year three of living in Seattle, I had fallen in love with the city. All the big

evergreen trees, beautiful mountains, and Puget Sound it was a big natural playground. There

were so many new things to experience going down to Pike Place Market, hiking on Mount

Rainier, going wakeboarding at Mason Lake these were all things I was not able to do in

Spokane, and it made me appreciate being able to do things like that so much more. But as all
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good things do the fairy tale had to come to an end. My Dad applied for a promotion in Las

Vegas and had gotten the job. It was midway through my sophomore year in high school when

we got the news and just like before I immediately burst into tears. It seemed so unfair we have

to move again why me? Why now? But just like before, I had no choice so off to start a new life

in Las Vegas.

Vegas came with a lot of new challenges I had never faced before. I remember getting off

the plane, going to sleep, then starting school the next day. The one piece of advice my Dad told

me before we started was “Just be yourself, and if they don't like who you are, you don't need

them.” Although Coronado High School was very welcoming, I missed my old school a lot, I

didn't know anyone down, and it took a while to make friends. It was difficult at first to listen to

my Dad's advice. I was so desperate to make friends that I wasn't always myself at first. A lot of

the kids dressed, talked, and acted differently than me. However, listening to my Dads simple yet

thoughtful advice paid off because I was able to make a lot of amazing friends, and it made

moving to Vegas so much easier. I learned the most about who I am through moving to Vegas. I

realized that even in Seattle, I wasn't always me, and I learned to love the person I am and to

appreciate that every single day.

Moving two times in my life were the two most significant pivotal changes in my life.

Both times I moved the feelings right before stepping on the plane with a one-way ticket is a

feeling of closure and a change in one of the chapters in my life. And the feeling steeping of that

plane is very anxious and nerve-racking while at the same time knowing I am going to meet a lot

of people who will change my life and I will have a lot of life-changing experiences in my new

home.