This I believe: In second chances

Personal Statement
Hello, my name is Allison Hernandez-Segovia. this is my first year at LW tech. The essay I am submitting is about second chances and my experiences with them.

I believe in second chances.

Although at a young age people have proven ways to hurt me, such as being racist, hurting me mentally/physically, and discriminating against me. I believe we all have a second chance to become a better person. Growing up I dealt with abuse from my father and step-mother and it impacted me mentally because on top of that, I was dealing with racism at school. As I got older and learned the truth behind all this madness, I decided to give the people that hurt me a second. To be honest, I got a second chance at life as well.

Personally, I feel like I had a second chance in life when I was drugged by my friend at a study group and woke up alive again after almost falling into three comas and having mini seizures. This second chance made me realize that what I was doing was wrong and that the people I was hanging out with were not true friends. I took this experience as a learning lesson and it made me realize that I needed to get help mentally and needed to get my act together. I wanted to become the person I have dreamed of becoming but in order to become her, I decided to focus on school, cut the negative people out, and focus on myself and my mental health issues.

Although it hasn’t been easy, this made me forgive those who once hurt me and made me realize that we all deserve a second chance in life because we are humans, and we all make mistakes that we end up regretting. As Maya Angelou once said, “I did then what I knew how to do now that I know better, I do better”.  I think about this quote a lot when making choices because it makes me reflect more on things. I know I am young, and I have a lot more to learn but sometimes I feel as if I learned too much already, and it scrambles my brain sometimes.

If anyone were to ask me to give my dad a second chance or my old best friend a second chance, I would say no, because I have given them over 5+ chances and I believe that two chances are enough for one person. Sadly, we can’t force people to change; they have to want to change and become a better person for themselves. Sometimes, that means to give a person their space… even if you don’t want to let them go. I believe we all deserve a 2nd chance in general.