At sixteen years of age, in some ways I am not the girl I once was.

I am not the care-free little girl who had no qualms.

I am not the girl whom making friends was the easiest task in the world.

I am not as driven, or even as happy.

I find that I have lost sight of my dreams,

Still searching for the path that has now been hidden under heaps of discouragement and demotivation.

But in other equally significant ways, I am in fact still the same little girl.

I am the stubborn child who always wanted to do things her way;

The independent, ever imaginative being who would rather read a book than watch tv; and

I still have that same creative, wonder-filled, adventure-seeking spirit of my younger days.

There is still hope left I see, and

Even though I have momentarily lost my way,

There’s still light ahead for me to find again that path that leads me to accomplishing my innermost desires.