Final Project:

Kayla Turley
My name is Kayla Rose Turley. Im sixteen years old. I was born June 5th of 1998. I was born in
Cottonwood hospital. I was born c-section because they were aware of the fact that I had many
problems. When I was born I was immediately put into ICU. I had two holes and an irregular
valve in my heart. I had a lot of doctors appointments and special things that I needed. I couldnt
take certain medication. I had to have special medication before I did certain things. Eventually
the holes in my heart healed themselves, however the irregular valve still is as irregular as ever.
My heart now thinks its good and functions relatively normal. My mom had it rough. I was born
lactose intolerant. I was allergic to my mother's breast milk. I eventually outgrew my lactose
intolerance, however to this day I am still a very picky eater.

I was the second born of four children. My older sister is almost twenty-one years old.
She doesnt live with us. She moved in with her fianc and mother-in law. It was a good thing
for me when she moved out because we never got along. After she moved out we got in a big
fight about disagreeing opinions. We no longer talk to each other. I think that is something that is
hard on my mother, and I love my mother. However, I had to think about what was best for me
and that was to not have someone that was going to impact me so negatively in my life.

I have two younger sisters that do not live with me. They live with their mother in Provo.
I get to see them often enough. The sister that is closest in age to me is Kimberlee. She is my
best friend. She is two months and nine days younger than me. It was a very complicated time in
my family but we all seemed to pull through. The youngest in my family is not actually related to
me by blood. We all consider her as family still. Her name is Taylor and she is twelve years old.
we dont always get along well, but I think that me and Taylor understand each other pretty well.
I love my younger sisters. I would do anything for them!

I have lived in the same house, in the same room for my entire life. When I turned six
months old I went to an in home day care. The lady in charge was named Kim. She was very
good at keeping everyone of different ages entertained. I think that this daycare helped with my
child development in a social way. I learned different ways to interact with all different age
groups of kids. I went to that day care until I was three. When I was three my mom moved me to
a daycare that specialized in education very similar to the head start program, with more outdoor
and off campus learning. She wanted me to be ahead in school when I started. This was a good
thing. I was not a strong reader at all. The fact that I over regularized words more often than I
didnt did not help me at all. The fact that I was ahead in writing and memorization of numbers
and objects really helped me to have more time to catch up on my reading and talking
disabilities.

When I was in kindergarten I broke my first bone. It was my right hand. I had to learn
how to do a lot of things that you learn to do in Kindergarten with my left hand, even though I
am right hand dominant. This impacted my coordination quite a bit. However, we worked on it
when I got my cast off. Except for the fact that not even a year later I broke my right arm again.
This impacted my coordination even more than before. Not even a week after I got my arm cast
off in first grade I sprained my ankle. When the doctor told me that I was healed I went out to the
field and broke the same foot the next day. Over the next years of elementary school I broke a
total of twelve bones. I think the fact that I broke so many bones really makes a difference on
how poor my coordination is now.

I was baptized to the Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints (also known as LDS or
Mormon). I attended church and almost all church activities on a weekly basis. I found a lot of
friends that were also LDS and shared the same beliefs that I did. Now I say did because I no
longer have the beliefs of the LDS church. I am actually atheist now. I feel like being baptized
when I was and not having parents that attended church (I attended with my neighbor) impacted
my life because I was at an age where I wanted to please the people I loved. Therefore, my
mother and father did not have an opinion on what they wanted about my baptism. So, because I
was aware of the fact that my grandmother and neighbors wanted me baptized influenced my
decision. I did what i thought would please the most people. Having gone to church and being
baptized made me find my religious identity at a lot earlier age than most kids because I didnt
have parents that were in the same religious perspective that I was.

When I was a child I had very unsocial behavior. I used to fake sick so my mother would
let me stay home. I used to beg my mother to homeschool me. When I entered fourth grade I
stopped attending church and most of my LDS friends stopped talking to me. I met a group of
friends that were wallflowers like I was. They included me in their activities and we became very
close. We got in a lot of trouble because we rough and tumble play we did. Most of it was
against the rules. We stopped breaking so many rules and began more sociodramatic play. We
usually played as cats. We pretended that we were warriors from a book series. We had a lot of
fun. I developed a lot in the social aspect and began to accept that talking to people was okay.

When I entered fifth grade I met a girl named Aliya. She became my best friend. I spent
every second I had with this girl. We had so much in common and she corrupted my Mormon
mind as she used to put it. We walked to her house every day after school and hungout. We
would sit and talk and play board games and things. She had a little brother that I was also really
close too. I used to hangout with her so often that if I did not show up to a family event people
would get mad that I wasnt there. I really liked having another family. It was nice to be able to
feel loved by that many more people. When we were towards the end of eighth grade Aliyas
mom committed suicide. She had attempted once earlier in the year and had received help, but
not enough. She was found on a Saturday. Saturday, May 20th 2012 to be exact. I remember
getting the text message from Aliya. That day and a few weeks after was really hard on me. I
was really close to Aliyas mom, but it was also really hard to see how hurt Aliya was. Aliya did
not attend school after that day. I answered a lot of questions, shot down a lot of stories, and
dealt with a lot of stress. This time in my life really impacted me.

Now Im where I am now. Aliya moved in with her dad. She goes to a different high
school and we do not talk anymore. I think that we have both changed a lot. Both in different
ways. I think that we were good friends then, but I know now that as much as I miss being her
friend, it wouldnt be the same now. Since then I have started to hangout with a new friend
group. I have gotten a lot closer to my family and more appreciative of them. I have learned to
cope easier under stressful situations and am better at helping other people who are experiencing
a lot of stress. I think that overall that situation in my life has helped me grow a lot and find
myself more than before.

Now I am in high school. I attend Hunter High School and enjoy it very much. I also
attend Salt Lake Community Colleges concurrent enrolment program. I am on my way to
graduating from high school with my high school diploma and my associates degree. If all works
out for me I would like to go to a college in Oregon. My first choice is Portland University.
However, if I do not get in there I have a few other choices. I have a few majors that I am
thinking about, but Im not sure what yet. I have started to make a list of things that I am good at
and things that I like to do. When I find something that stands out Ill find a major. Im keeping
in mind through all of this that plans change. Plan B is always an option. For now, while Im
trying to receive my associates degree I would like to use some of the elective credits in it to
explore a few classes. I might try and take a few in the medical field and a few in social work or
psychology. I want to use those to try and figure out what I am wanting so I do not have to waste
so much money later in my college career figuring out my major. I am excited to see how college
and the things in between impact my life. I want to see the different things that there are too do
and see in the world. I am excited to grow up!