Essay #1

Rosanaid Martinez

English 101

February 13, 2013

                                                 My Hardest Decision

            Moving out was the toughest decision that I had to make at the age of 18. I lived in a small town named Palmdale and I graduated from Pete Knight high school in 2009. After high school i took a medical course in Antelope Valley University in Lancaster, CA. Since Palmdale and Lancaster are small cities located in the middle of nowhere, it was really hard to find any job openings. My parents would have to travel every day to Valencia, which was a 45 minute to an hour drive to get there and to come back. Even though I didn’t want to leave my family, I had to look for a new town that would offer better job opportunities in order to be able to continue my education.

            Since Oxnard had better job opportunities compared to Palmdale, I then decided to move to Oxnard. Also, knowing that I had an aunt that I could stay with until I found a home to stay with on my own was very beneficial. After speaking to my aunt, I then decided to let my parents know of the new decision that I was making. They were concerned for the tough decision I had made, yet they supported my decision. When I first arrived I was scared, nervous, lost, and confused. I didn’t know what the future had for me and if I was going to be able to make it on my own, or go back to my parents as a failure.

            The next day I began looking for a job. I wasn’t too familiar with the area, so I would drive my white little metro around the city and whenever I would see any medical office I would park and go into their office to drop off my resume. When I would go into offices asking if they were hiring, I came across many rude people, yet that never stopped me from going into other medical office. During my first week of being in this new city, I was driving back to my aunt’s house after a long day of searching for jobs; I was in a red light waiting patiently for the light to turn green when I heard a big “BOOM”. I got scared and immediately looked back, and noticed that I had just been rear ended by another car. Since I wanted to make sure the other person was okay, I pulled over to the side. Although the other car was a brand new, I was concerned since the person who was driving was an elderly person. He apologized and asked me if I was okay. Since we were both okay, we exchanged insurances and drove away. As I was driving, I saw a chiropractic office. Knowing that I had previous chiropractic experience, I immediately pulled into the parking lot and went in to ask if they were hiring. Luckily for me the doctor was looking for an extra employee for his office, so he asked me to leave my resume with his office manager. He then told me that he would call me after reviewing it. The next morning I received a phone call from that doctor asking me if I was available for an interview at 11:00 am. Without thinking twice I replied with a yes. At 11:00 am I walked into his office, I was feeling nervous, my palms were sweating, and I was practicing in my head what I was going to say.

            When I got called in into his office my mind went blank, all the practicing I had done had completely disappeared. He asked how I had heard about the job opening, and I told him about the car accident I was in, which led me into finding his office. He laughed and continued on with his interview. After a few question, our interview finally came to an end. He then told me that he was going to talk to his office manager and he would contact me within a couple of days.  The next day I received a phone call. It was the doctor informing me that I got the job. He also stated to me that I was going to start within the following week. I was really excited because I had only been in Oxnard for a few weeks and I had already found a job. My duties in his office were to help him with all the personal injuries reports and workers compensation. Within a few months I was given a raise and given more duties.

            After being employed for a few months, I knew I wanted to continue with my education so I decided to apply to Oxnard College. That fall I began attending school in the evenings, which led me to meeting new people and making new friends. At the time I was still living with my aunt, but I missed having my own privacy. I then knew I had to move into my own place. Even though I wasn’t living with my parents, I informed them about my new decision. I always informed them about any new decision I wanted to make because I liked to hear their personal opinion. I then made my final decision and moved into my own apartment. I have now been there for over a year. Also, now I have transferred into an even better paying job, and I’m still continuing with my education. After the entire struggle that I went through, I learned a lot. I have been on my own for over two years now. It was really hard getting to the place where I am today. I now look back to see how I started, and at the age that I started and I am proud of my accomplishments that I have achieved. I got to Oxnard with only 100 dollars in my pocket, and driving a small white old car. Now I have my own place a new car, followed with a lot of responsibilities which have made me mature and have taught me how the real world is.

            There have been many struggles that I have been through in these couple of years, for example getting sick and not having my mom close by to take care of me, missing my two little brothers, coming home to an empty house and not having homemade food. I have taken a big responsibility at a young age, but I managed to make it through, and I still continue on going for better and bigger things.