During the first few months of my junior year of high school, my mom told me that my parents were getting a divorce. I remember I was driving to the mall with her (probably not the best timing to tell someone that kind of news) and I started crying so hard she had to ask me if I needed to pull over and collect myself.

Even though it is common and a lot of teenagers go through the same thing (almost 50 percent of marriages end in divorce today), it is still something I never thought I would have to deal with. While it definitely wasn’t how I expected to end high school and it wasn’t easy in any way, it certainly taught me a lot about myself and the kind of person I want to be.

Between applying to colleges, studying for the SATs and ACTs, and trying to focus on the cheerleading team I was on, not to mention any social or family obligations, I was being pulled from all angles of my life and I felt pretty defeated. Looking back on it now, almost three years later, I can say I’m glad I handled it the way I did. I have come to realize that I’m only 18, so life has to have some curve balls left to throw at me.

Things aren’t always going to be easy and perfectly planned out despite my best efforts, and it will take a lot of determination to reach the goals I have in store for myself. But, I am okay with that because like they say, nothing worth having comes easy. For a while I wasn’t even sure if I would be able to get the chance to move away to college because of the financial problems that come along with divorce; half an income is basically lost. I had plans for my future though, so I did everything in my power to get the opportunity to go to and live at school.

Your life goes through a major change when your parents get divorced, and as strong as you want to be, sometimes you just need to let all the pent up emotions out. For me, having a super supportive group of best friends and family members who let me vent and act as my personal therapist was exactly what I needed. It has taught me that things do in fact work out in the end, and although it may not seem like it at first, pushing through some of the hardest times in your life will only make you come out a stronger, more resilient, and more determined person on the other end.

Junior year proved to be one of the toughest chapters of my life, but I have only learned from it. It is crazy to look back on life and think of where I was three years ago, opposed to where I am now- in a solid, happy place in life.