Sometimes, when life doesn't seem to be going my way, I think of time. I think of the best times I've ever had, when everything was good. At least that's how it seemed. I guess reality didn't settle in until the worst time in my life: High School. Deep down inside, I always knew that my shelter would someday no longer be there to shield me from reality. I knew that someday I would have to go to a whole new place where I knew no one. I just figured that I'd be able to go to another shelter when the one I'd always known tossed me out, or that it would grow bigger when I did. But it didn't. Sure, life was far from perfect in my little unrealistic private school, with a graduating class of 22. But it's what I had known for 7 years. It was my life. I knew every human being in that building. I thought I even knew myself. Boy was I wrong. Sure, I had pinned down the most obvious qualities in my life, but then as eighth grade rolled on, and I slowly became more and more exposed to life on the other side, I began to realize that the real me was beyond what I had thought. It took an amazing summer and several life-changing events for the real me to peek out. Though I still am searching for the rest of Me, I've grown, both in bad and good. My knowledge of life has expanded, but is still expanding. There is still so much to learn, both about myself, others, and the world. The world is changing, and so must I.