In modern societies, life progresses with education.

We were born into the constant

reading of stories and parents slowly saying "Can you say Mama? Say Mama. Maaaammaaa."
Life was at its simplest state for us as a child. All we had to do was eat the pages of the stories
were told and pretend to seem interested in the pronunciation of a word that was repeated over
and over and over again while really rolling our eyes in the inside. However, though every story
starts with a beautifully developed life, it is the abrupt challenges in that life that make that story
interesting. Therefore, as with any story, I must start at the beginning of my life then incorporate
the nitty-gritty details about my numerous struggles, and what better way to do so than by the
true symbolism of a wonderfully simple life as a child being introduced to education: the
alphabet.
A is for aspiring, B is for bony, C is for classy. As these three letters symbolize the
introduction of the alphabet, these three words represent the life I was introduced into. Made up
of intellectual individuals, my family raised me to grow and aspire to success and
accomplishment, for a parent's dream is to raise a prosperous child. However, along with my
family's intelligent genes and anticipation for my growth as a person, another trait -- along with
blond, blue-eyed, and brainy -- was bony. I was born into a "string-bean" family. One look at my
older brother's tiny waist, my younger sister's near-six-foot appearance, and my giraffe neck,
and you will know what I mean. Lastly, I was introduced into a family that is very classy in terms
of being respectful and kind and, therefore, respected by others. I grew up learning my
"pleases" and "thank yous" and "good morning, how are yous." These three traits -- growing to
aspire to great things, life as a living skeleton, and learning how to be respectful -- have created
the foundation of the life I am living now.
The middle of the alphabet is like a nice stroll through the woods -- nothing too eventful,
step by step, letter by letter at a smooth pace. I compare this easy-going section to the middle of
my life so far -- my late elementary and middle school years: a time that was seemingly well-
paced and somewhat calm. Therefore, D is for diligent as I completed my middle school
homework with an unnecessary amount of work; E is for energetic in the soccer teams, tennis
matches, National Honor Societies, and piano lessons among many other activities; F is for
frantic as I tried to balance all those activities with schoolwork and my family; G is for "gosh, I
how did I make it out of that alive?" after a night of overreacting the importance and difficulty of
a simple writing assignment; H is for happy when I recovered from the stress of life and
continued being a middle school student with no true high-stake problems to be worried about; I
is for idolized by teachers and classmates because "Ava gets such great grades, she is so kind,
she is good at everything"; J is for jagged because I was so far from the "perfect" person
everyone saw in me (just ask my parents); K is for a keen believer in doing my best in order to
attempt the expectation of being flawless from teachers, peers, and family. However, every easy
stroll through the woods holds certain threats as well, whether that be coming across a bear,
getting lost, or unknowingly walking towards a cliff. And that is exactly what I did, I walked
straight off a tall and mighty cliff as soon as I hit high school.
The moderately-paced, letter-by-letter alphabet that I was used to all of a sudden hit the
fast and always mispronounced section of the alphabet: em-en-lel-o-pee, no wait, lel-o-men-o-
pee, I mean el-em-en-o-pee. All the stress and frustration that was being built up from my
constant perfectionism on homework, balancing school with numerous other activities, and
doing so all while trying to keep a smile on my face in front of everyone but my family finally hit
the point of maximum capacity. L is for losing my mind to depression and frustration; M is for the
misery it brought my family to see me in such a state of constant anger and aggression after
stress; N was for my need for professional help to learn to control my anxiety and regain a
better lifestyle; O is for being ignorant of my need to open myself up to more potential friends,
resulting in my loneliness after I lost the one friend I spent all of my time with, P is for how
painful it was without someone who I could share these feelings with.
Though the slippery slope that I began to ascend in high school greatly affected my well
being, I look forward to a future that is subject to a quaint lifestyle, that allows for potential
reward, that permits a life free of stress, that takes into account the human need for happiness,
that does not underestimate my ability to face challenges yet values the importance of
relaxation, that provides chances to improve upon my weaknesses, that encourages me to
pursue that "X-marks-the-spot," that yields numerous opportunities for failure yet allows me to
leave zero regrets knowing that I overcame those hardships.