My Autobiography

Anda Pielaru
April 2nd, 2009
Professor Henkle
Writing Non-Fictional Prose
Through My Eyes


Each and every person in this world has and will continue to encounter both wonderful as well as tragic times. With this in mind, every one of these people sees each experience through their own set of eyes. The question is what should I focus on for this piece? Should I talk about how sad I was having to leave high school behind and moving on to a whole new place known as college, or how painful it was when my best friend betrayed me and I had to give her up for good? Maybe I should talk about the time that when I was very ill and had to be hospitalized the boyfriend I had stupidly dumped six months beforehand, gladly came to visit me in the hopes that maybe things would work out the second time around. For the purpose of this piece and moment in my life, I will concentrate on a wonderful time that I have experienced. Of course it has to do with love, what else? Knowing how I am a hopeless romantic, this story is something that I like to reminisce about.
Back in high school, I had a few best girl friends, and one of them was named Hanna. Her and I had met in French class in freshman year and had become good friends. In senior year, which was my best year of high school from all points of view, might I add, I met her older brother. After a few times of seeing each other, we decided to become boyfriend and girlfriend. And from there on, is what I only now realize how good I truly had it, began our three month (my longest relationship) semi-love story. The reason I call it a semi-love story is because from what I remember since it was over three years ago, he liked me more than I liked him, and that is not something that I am not proud of admitting. He was cute, blonde hair, blue eyes, worked out a lot. He also had a nice car, a champagne colored Mercedes Benz which he would pick me up from school in sometimes, and even let me drive once even though I did not exactly have a license but was taking driving lessons. He was a sweet guy, who would take me to the movies, nice restaurants, and the mall where he would buy me whatever my heart desired at the time. He even had me sleep over his house in Howard Beach (my favorite neighborhood in Queens)
while my parents thought I was at Hanna’s. All in all, he was an amazing person while we were together, and I was stupid for not realizing what I had and broke up with him for no reason. It is true what they say though, “you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.” The reason why I think that he was one of the best things that have ever happened to me, is because I never had anyone like him before, and I have not been able to meet anyone like him ever since. And I guess what made me realize this so much later on, too late honestly, is the fact that when I was hospitalized, my mom called him and asked him if he would see me, and his exact words, according to my mom were, “Anything for Anda.”
It is a bitter-sweet experience every time I think about him and our time together, because I know that it might never happen again. I did not appreciate what I had, when given it, so it was taken away from me. How could I be so blind? Now I feel like unless he comes back to me someday, or I meet someone new like him, I will always feel like I did wrong. But all I know, is that everything does happen for a reason, and at least I got to experience the company of someone so kind, and full of life who offered me the world, and I have learned my lesson. Through my eyes, although I did not always know it, now looking back, it was beautiful.




The Rainbow After the Storm


Sometimes certain things happen to us that we wish hadn’t. We all know what this is all about. Being like everyone else, I too have many regrets. But some things are beyond of our control and that is for sure. Like the following story that I am about to tell you about that happened to me when I first came to America the Beautiful. Being a nine-year old girl and not knowing too much English and the mere fact that I was the new girl, nonetheless an immigrant in my fourth grade class, of coursei had to get teased. And what else better to tease me about but my foreign name? Anda is my name, and in Spanish it means “go” while in Indian it means “egg”. Go figure! In Romanian it is simply a girl’s name. So picture this scenario. A little girl, in a faraway land that was supposed to become her new home, and kids in her class would call her “Honda”. Yes, Honda like the car. From what I can rememeber, knowing how it is eleven years ago, it used to make me sad and confused. Why were my classmates mean to me? Was this what this new country had to offer me? I thought it was supposed to be the place for all opportunities. But as the saying goes, there must be a rainbow after the storm. As I grew up, and left those kids behind, the new people that I met in the following years would respond sweetly when I would tell them my name. Some would say, “That’s a pretty name.” while others would ask, “That’s unique. What is its origin?” So as life went on, I realized that my classmates were only mean because they were young and did not know any better. You know how kids are! All I know is that everything has a way of working out at some point or another, and although sometimes it takes a lot of patience, know that it will all be good.