‘And that’s it for today’ the class teacher finished off with.
As Mya glared out of the bus window, on the way home, she reflected on her day, which wasn’t very productive. She realised how desperate she was to have a new start, she craved for a change. The whole idea of moving away was to become a new person, to grow out of the shy, too considerate, innocent and unaware of the world girl into the Mya that was unique out to have fun and not have a care in the world how others may perceive her, now that was the real Mya and only a few people knew her, but it was time for everyone to know her now.
As she walked into the living room, Mya saw a two people sat with her mother, one girl around her age and an older woman, most likely to be the girl’s mother. Her mother introduced her, the girl was called Ashanti, she was very pretty with striking big brown eyes and long curly hair parted to the right. There was something about this girl that Mya liked however; from her past experience everyone knew how Maya was poor at making judgments about people. She was known to be a ‘blind perceiver’, when it came to finding people to become her friends, always trusted the wrong type of people only to realise when it was too late, but this time it was different.
The more she got talking to Ashanti the more she not only took a liking towards her but realised why, Ashanti was the type of friend Mya needed to built her confidence, and open up. Ashanti was the type of girl that was crazy, loud and exciting but she also knew her boundaries, which was good. On a personal level she had a lot in common with Mya, they both liked similar music, food and enjoyed the same things to do in their spare time. For Mya it was a start of a new exiciting friendship.
A few months had passed and Mya was not only settling into the new city with ease, thanks to the help of Ashanti but she had also drastically developed as a person. She was much more confident, open and assertive. In a matter of only a few months they had experienced a lot of crazy things together. Mya now loved the city, the nightlife, the shopping and the local people. At school, the students and teachers had also realised this drastic positive change in her behaviour. Ashanti had made Mya the girl she always wanted to be.
However Mya still remembered her old town and friends, which she missed and decided to take a visit and catch up with her friends, Sia her best friend, agreed to let her stay with her for a week.
As Mya got off at the train station memories came flooding back, she looked around nothing had changed, in fact everything was just as she remembered when she left. She saw Sia in the distance and greeted her; they talked on the way to Sia’s place about what everyone was up to. It seemed that Mya was not the only person to have changed and moved on, Sia complained of how most of the girls had started to drift away from her and isolate her from themselves and how others just lost contact. Mya didn’t bother reading too deep into this, as Sia was the critical type of person.
As the week developed Mya realised how Sia was correct and everyone had changed, in a matter of few days there had already been back chatting, lying and betrayal. There was this fakeness present when the group met up, too much tension and hatred was around but it was all trying to be hidden. It seemed as though this so called family Mya loved so much was falling apart and dividing, which affected her a lot. She had known these friends for five years and in a matter of a few months they had turned on her as well as each other. The fact that it was all ignored made it worse no one was ready to talk it out including Mya, so it was just left in the air. Guess no matter how much Mya had come out of her shell, she still felt uneasy confronting her problems head-on.
Sia and Mya were sat in the bedroom discussing how so much had changed at the hometown, in a way Mya was happy she had left. However it was Sia she felt sorry for, it was hard for Sia to open up to new people. Her and Mya had a lot in common when it came to trusting new people. One thing Mya knew was that Sia came from a restricted lifestyle and family life, she was very limited to her freedom and fun, but still Mya adored her to bits and they did share a lot of good times together. Sia was a true friend that no one could ever replace in Myas own little world.
Mya smiled as she was back in the city. It was her home, her true home, which she loved! Reflecting on the visit back to her old town, Mya realised how nothing was more important than the present, times and most importantly people changed. It was all about putting herself first and having a good time but obviously with a balance.
As she strolled in with her bags, Mya looked across the road only to discover Ashanti. She was sat alone on the porch of her home, slightly unaware of her surroundings. Only as Mya walked closer, was it that she discovered that Ashanti was under the influence of alcohol, it wasn’t anything new to Mya they had both drank in the past together just as a pass time, but this time it was different. Ashanti seemed to be in an emotional mess. Ashanti looked up at her as tears ran down her face, Mya sat to comfort her, but before she even spoke Ashanti opened up to her about all her personal problems that she was going through.
Mya was in shock, shed always seen Ashanti as this strong, independent, carefree individual that never let anything get on top of her, it was only now was it that she realised everyone had there problems and no one was alone in this world, that people experienced worse problems than herself. For a few second Mya realised how insignificant some of her problems were. Once Ashanti had calmed down, Mya comforted her by taking her home and putting her to sleep.
The next morning Mya’s revision was disturbed by a knock on her bedroom door, she turned round to discover Ashanti walking in saying she could only stay for a few minutes before she went for her exam. As Ashanti sat down, she thanked Mya for listening to her discuss her problems, she opened up discussing how she never had anyone to listen to her and her worries before and she was glad how she could finally open up to someone. Mya smiled at Ashanti and told her how much she valued her as a friend, and that she was always there for her to talk to. Ashanti thanked her again, and as she walked out of Myas room, Mya wished her good luck for her exam. As Mya watch Ashanti running towards the gates, from her bedroom window she screamed ‘Oi remember yeh, . . . . . friends are your family’.
Ashanti turned around, smiled and replied with ‘yeh, chill I know’.
(1780 Words)
Lesson Reference
I have generated a list of how the story links with the various lessons I had during emotional literacy.
Lesson – When we had a meditation lesson and reflected on where we were most relaxed and ourselves. Mine was based on when I was in sixth form.
In Story – When Mya is looking out the window, thinking about her past.
Lesson – When we had to name and describe a toy teddy bear/ animal.
In Story – The way Mya wishes to be perceived and the way Ashanti is perceived to Mya.
Lesson – When I was in the ‘hot seat’.
In Story – Is mentioned throughout when Mya is describing her emotional state.
Lesson – When we had to bring something of great significance to us into class and share the reason its so special. From this lesson I discovered how everyone had a ‘story’ through which they had experienced, there was more to my course mates than what they came across as.
In Story – The shock Mya had when learning that there was more to Ashanti than she had perceived her as.
