en-us Copyright 2008 - All Rights Reserved. Sun, 22 Nov 2009 19:43:38 GMT 15 By Elshaday Aredo
Some teenagers have homework to balance, honor classes, and a job. Junior Crystal Morales does that and more. Not only does Crystal manage school and work, but she also has to babysit her nephew Michael Jr, who has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (A.D.H.D.), which is another obstacle to her daily routine. “I love my nephew, baby Michael, to death, but sometimes it gets so frustrating when his A.D.H.D. gets the best of him,” Crystal said. “I’ll be trying to teach him one thing and his head will be somewhere else; it’s always time consuming.” Hoping to become a certified anesthesiologist, is difficult for Crystal because she can’t find the time to devote herself to her studies other distractions in the way. “Some people don’t know how lucky they are,” Crystal said. “Forget about having time to hang out with my friends; I can barely find the time to do anything.” Money remains as another obstacle her family struggles with as well. “A lot of what my parents argue about is money,” Crystal said. “Money for this and that, to get my brother Michael out of prison, to pay for my car, for this bill and for that bill. It gets annoying after a while.” Because her older brother Michael is in prison, Crystal rarely gets to see him, and when she does, it’s limited. “I love my brother,” Crystal said. “He made one mistake and now he’s in prison. I miss him and wish I could see him more often.” Costing a $10,000 retainer fee, it’s hard for her family to find a good lawyer to get Michael out of prison. “It’s ridiculous the amount of money they’re asking to get him out,” Crystal said. “It’s really sad that just because of the money problem he’s staying in there longer.” But the Morales family is not just worried about the money, but Michael Jr.’s relationship with his father. “He hardly gets to see him,” Crystal said. “I’m not complaining or anything, but I end up having to babysit him because everybody else is always too busy.” Being able to see herself in a big city, Crystal and her best friends made plans to move away from Texas in the future. “We all want to go to the same college and agreed on moving to California for school,” junior Kristen Chinn said. Even though college is in Crystal’s future, honors classes are not an option right now due to her drive to take care of Michael Jr. and the need to work. “I wanted to take all honors classes like I did last year but it was really hard with work and all,” Crystal said. “This year, the only honors class I’m taking is Pre-AP Pre-Calculus.” Since her older brother Anthony didn’t take any honors classes when he was in school and is also going the medical field, giving Crystal hope that not taking honors classes won’t slow her down. “When I look at my brother, knowing he didn’t take any honor classes, it gives me relief at times that it never really stopped him,” Crystal said. Whether it’s taking difficult courses or not, Crystal is astonished at how she is able to manage things. “Sometimes I’ll go to work, watch Michael and do my homework all in one night and I shock myself at times,” Crystal said. Family and friends are also astounded at how she manages to do well in school and balance everything else going on in her life, and her friends learn a lot by the way she handles things. “Sometimes I complain a lot and I feel so weird because she hardly complains,” Kristen said. “She makes me appreciate what I have sometimes.” ]]> Fri, 18 Apr 2008 18:10:00 GMT