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Lauren Sherwood

Mrs.Perkins

Memoir Essay

2/16/22

Finding Company in Yourself

Throughout the time in my life moving has been a thing that is consistent in my life and

has had a big impact on how I am today. Keeping relationships and making friends is a hard

thing to do and most of the time because of the distance, the relationships I did have fell through.

I've moved so much I had to learn the importance of being alone and being okay with it.

Learning to enjoy your own company is more important than I ever thought it was.

My entire life I've lived in Arizona; it was all I ever knew. Here is where my family was,

friends, everyone important to me. I had never left the state of Arizona up until I was around 13.

I would say growing up I was sheltered. I never had to do or experience anything out of my

comfort zone. I am also an only child and feeling lonely is common. I thought I knew how it felt

to be lonely until we moved. It was 2015. I just started my 6th grade year. I was only a year into

the new school I just moved to. Both of my parents sat me down and said “ We’re moving to

Costa Rica.” I was very blindsided, especially because I didn't know this was a thought at all. I

had until the end of my 6th grade year to be ready to move. Before we started the process of

moving we had to start getting rid of our stuff gradually to be able to fit all of our belongings into

suitcases. We sold our house and downgraded into something smaller, an apartment. At this time

I was still going to school and we lived in this apartment until I finished 6th grade and through

all of that summer until we were ready to move.

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I remember that I was feeling so nervous and unsure of the future. I was trying to be

positive and hope that it was going to work out. I had to say goodbye to friends that i had at the

time and family, we did not know when we would move back. I don’t remember the exact date

we were officially leaving, but we packed all of our things and headed to the airport in August of

2016.I was trying to feel hopeful for this new beginning and that this experience would turn out

positive. The flight was about 6 and a half hours long. We landed at night. By the time we got

there it was dark outside. When we first got there I wasn't scared or upset; it felt like we were on

vacation. It wasn't until later that night I remember I broke down crying feeling unsure of what

was to come. I think being unsure of the future and the unknown can be a scary feeling, to me it

was especially at the time. I was also in a foreign unfamiliar place not knowing how long I was

going to be there. I woke up the next morning trying to be more positive, we were also going to

drive to our new home. It was about a 2 hour drive from the city where we landed. The ride

there I remember having both positive and negative thoughts; still not being comfortable.

Our house was very close to the beach. One of the positives was the beauty and scenery.

Everything there is green and beautiful. We ended up living in Costa Rica for almost a Year.

While living there I did learn alot about myself, made me see my strengths and weaknesses. I

also made so many memories with my family, you have experiences there you wouldn't have

anywhere else. Even though there were some positives it overall wasn't good for our family, it

caused a lot of friction between everybody. There were a lot of more arguments up until we left

which caused negative energy in the house. I also felt very lonely and isolated. Our house was in

the middle of the jungle, the closest house to us was a 5 minute drive and we were very secluded.

I did homeschool and because of that I didn't go out as much and the only people I talked to were
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my family, after a while it can get very toxic. Eventually, we moved back to Arizona in 2016

because it wasnt good for our family.

Even Though it didn't work out, looking back I am very grateful for the experience. It

was a humbling experience. It makes you see the little things in your life that you take for

granted. I have become more grateful and appreciative for the life I have. Moving to a foreign

country made me realize how different life is for those who live in the U.S. compared to those in

a foreign country. I also learned to appreciate myself more as well. Spending time alone you

really learn your true self and not always expect people around you 24/7. Because of that

experience it has made me a stronger person, a more independent person and grateful for the life

I have everyday.

At the time, I was very scared and unsure of the future, the unknown is very scary. I am

glad that I got to experience it. When I look back I wish I would've done things differently.

Appreciate the time I had alone more, go out into nature more and enjoy where I am instead of

wanting to be somewhere else. Since then I had to move and it just prepared me for the

unexpected. You don't know what the next chapter is going to be in your life but it’s important to

just enjoy where you are and build on it.