Carissa is 19-years-old and graduated from Clay High School in June 2013. Graduating is a life event that Carissa was very excited about; because it means that her adult life is beginning. Carissa is the second person in her family to graduate; her older sister was the first. She dreams of attending Indiana University or Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. She envisions herself becoming a physician and is the most interested in sports medicine. She is interested in sports medicine because she loves basketball and other sports. She is confident that she will have her college degree and with this she sees herself on the path to success.
High school was not easy for Carissa, and she faced many challenges including struggling with her studies, especially geometry. Carissa received tutoring with geometry and was proud to announce that in doing so, she “passed.” Carissa believes that without the tutoring she “may not have graduated.” Another struggle that Carissa faced during high school included being bullied. She described that a group of girls that she really did not even know were “talking and telling stories about her at school.” This made her feel mostly sad and hurt. Carissa stated that she has helped other friends who have been bullied and pushed around at school by standing up for her friends by talking with the school principle about bullying happening.
Carissa dreams of one day visiting Tokyo, Japan. She wants to do this because she took one year of Japanese in high school and because she is curious about what life is like on the other side of the world. Carissa is excited about what her future holds and is excited to jump into the next stage of her life.
This story originally appeared in Facing the Future Through the Voices of Teenage Girls, a publication of The Facing Project that was organized by Ivy Tech Community College and the Office of Mayor Pete Buttigieg in South Bend, Indiana.