Unexpected things happen in life; they are always going to happen. Sometimes you don't have control over a situation while it's happening. But what you do have control over, is the way you react to it. You can do two things: 1) you can cry about whatever has happened to you and fall down a trajectory of self-pity, lost hope, and anger, or 2) you can confront the situation with humility, faith and courage. The latter is hard for most to do because that means letting go of something you have no power over.

I, like many other people, have had very unfortunate things happen in my life. What started off as a "bad" life, soon became the reason I am writing this article. I had to experience many difficult things to realized I am actually a very lucky person. I may have grown up without biological parents, I may have switched schools more times than I can count, but what did I have that some others didn't? Education, food, sports, technology, the ability to see and hear, to express myself freely. At the end of the day, I had a lot to be grateful for. I didn't always see it like that, though. For a while, I was consumed with self-pity and believed everything that happened to me was my fault. I can't give you an exact date or event, but at some point in my short 19 years of living, I realized that there is so much more out there than anger and self-loathing.

I have always been a good student; straight A's, good reader, better writer and average science nerd. I was also very independent, I had to be most my life so it became who I was as a person. I believe that these two strengths helped me get to where I am today. This past year, as a freshman at UCLA, my eyes have been opened. I have been broke down to the basis of who I was and rebuilt as a new person. As much as it was irritating, frustrating and significantly inconvenient, I would never ask for it to have happened any other way. I have struggled, I have failed, I have even made major mistakes. If I had option one, and lost hope and gotten angry, I would've dropped out of college and stopped working toward my goals. Since I chose option two, a decision I made years ago, I let go of the bad grades, failed friendships, work mistakes and most importantly, my control.

Letting go of things greater than me ultimately made me a stronger, wiser human being. And that is exactly what I am, a human being; we all are. You can break down, you can feel angry, you can also hate the world, but you can't let it consume you. Take a day, take a few days, collect your thoughts and move on. I have always been a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. The people I've met, the places I've been, they have all shaped me into who I am. But nothing good comes from reliving bad moments. So create new moments, new accomplishments, prove to yourself that there is more to life than the stupid mistakes you make, or the unfortunate events that unfold. Life happens, but how are you going to react?