THIS STORY WAS WRITTEN BY MY SISTER THAT WAS ABUSED FOR 11 YEARS AND DIDN'T SPEAK UP...SHE DIDN'T HAVE A VOICE...I AM THAT VOICE NOW.

If you could be any age that you wanted to be, what age would you chose? 

Everybody has a certain age that they would like to be again. My age of choice would be fifteen years old. The reason I would like to be fifteen is that I had more goals and wanted to achieve, there was less responsibilities, and was not abused. 

Being fifteen I had more goals to achieve. I wanted to finish my education as a graduate and enroll myself in law school. I had an aunt who worked for the Attorney General’s office and seeing the person she was gave me more confidence in the person I wanted to be as an adult, and attorney. I had an experience in my life seeing other girls at the age of fifteen pregnant without support from the fathers. My aunt helped a lot of these teenagers out to receive the support they needed. Working for the Attorney Generals Office would help me achieve my goals, helping mothers with assistance of absent fathers. 

At the age of fifteen, I had fewer responsibilities. I had no children to take care of considering I was a child myself. I didn’t have to go out to find a job, because my parents worked and made good income. I had no utilities to pay, because my parents paid for everything. Being fifteen had its advantages. I got to enjoy shopping and having a lot of fun, and just hanging out associating with other girls my age. Because I had less worries, I got to enjoy my teenage years. 

At the age of sixteen, I met this guy and we automatically got into a serious relationship. I got pregnant with my daughter. After she was conceived, that’s when the abuse started and continued while my children were young. My children saw the abuse that was done to me.  He knew our relationship wasn’t going the way it was supposed to. He felt as if he was losing me and that violence was the answer. I was sent to the hospital plenty of times and repeatedly beaten in front of my daughter, considering I was young and thought I needed him. I figured he would change, but nine years passed, the abuse kept going. I finally built up the courage to leave him. When I was Sixteen, I just wanted to be fifteen again because I wasn’t abused at that point of my life. 

If I had a choice at what age I would like to be again, Fifteen years old would be my choice. Turning fifteen was the best year of my life.  

January 25, 2007
Camille Gallegos #1306273

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