Senior Karely Herrera is an example of a person who went through lots of hardships in her life. When talking about the hardest decision she made, she said, “Letting go and forgiving people for the hurt they’ve put me through.”

Being in Herrera’s shoes has never been easy. “There are definitely people going through way harder things than I have gone through but what it’s like being in my shoes is never knowing what you’re feeling, all you feel is confusion and doubt. You also feel extreme stress and anxiety because you want to be the best version of yourself to make others happy. You feel like you’re never gonna be good enough though because of how much you want out of life. Being in my shoes is something I don’t recommend,” she says with a laugh. 

She states that the hardest thing that happened recently was the passing of both of her grandfathers. “I definitely think the pandemic was the start of one of the hardest things that happened this year, but the hardest thing that really happened to me was losing both my grandfathers just 6 months apart from each other.” 

“Honestly I don’t think it was just one event, but the main one that made me change immensely was my two year relationship with my ex. After that I became an entirely different person, And not necessarily in a good way.” 

 “My mom is definitely the most influential person I’ve ever had in my life. She’s just filled with so much positivity and love and never lies or cheats to get her way, she’s the most honest woman I know, and I’m forever grateful for her and everything she’s done for me.”

“My Mom and I are extremely close, definitely bump heads a LOT, but she’s like my best friend. My moms always been a very strong women, I’ll never forget when I lost my sister and she sat with me and told me that everything will be ok and that she’s in a better place now, she sat there and fought back all of her tears just, so I won’t see her in pain and be strong for me. No matter how hard or sad the situation is she’ll always find the good in things and make not just me, but everyone feel better.”

“We have lots of memories, but a really fun one was when we had a girls trip and went to the beach and hiked and did a lot of fun things.”

“Depression is kind of unexplainable, it’s a feeling of confusion, sickness, sadness, and anger all in one. The things that made you the happiest don’t make you happy anymore, the people you loved the most you have no love for. The things you were passionate about have no meaning. It’s a feeling that completely takes away all of your dreams, motivations, and most of all it takes away all of your happiness.” 

“Honestly, just thinking about how it won’t last forever keeps me going. There are times where I feel like there’s no purpose or meaning for me here, but I just tell myself that EVERYONE has a meaning and a purpose  and all have a reason to stay and fight.” 

A quote that has stuck with her is: “Once you’ve hit rock bottom, the only way to go is up.” She states that it stuck with her because it reminded her that although she was low in life, the quote explained that she had no choice but to get up and do better. Because I was so low in life that I thought I would never get back up. But just like the quote says, once you’ve hit rock bottom, the only way to go is up. This just told me that now I have no choice but to get up and do better. 

“Something I wanna tell people who are in similar situations like me is that no matter how low in life you are, no matter how much you just wanna stop all the pain, and no matter how deep in you are, it genuinely does get better and you’re not even gonna remember what day it was, you’re just  gonna wake up and feel better and all you’re gonna feel is peace and it’s the best feeling in the entire world.”

“My mom and one of my teachers, Mrs.Flores, have actually been pushing me to do better, I’ve been falling back down with school and life and I have to also push myself and tell myself that I never wanna fall back down the way I was before. So I really appreciate those who push me to do better because as little as the push was, It had a big effect on me. Thank you.”