Invisible

 “I am an invisible man. No, I am not a spook like those who haunted Edgar Allan Poe; nor am I one of your Hollywood-movie ectoplasms. I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids…I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me.       

                                                                                                               - Ralph Ellison

A quote so deep into thought by Ralph Ellison that explains the thoughts of many. We've all felt invisible at least once in our lives. I remember the last time I felt unknown, unheard, invisible. It was in sixth grade. Two years ago I made a lot of mistakes for a sixth grader. I was a really mean kid back then, I always talked back to my mom and my dad. My grades weren't bad, but weren't good either. I was influenced by my surroundings at school. In sixth grade, my parents (specially my mom) would pay much more attention to my older brother, and my little brother. My older brother had just got here from Colombia so he would be just as spoiled as my little 5 year old brother. I felt invisible every time they would go out to dinner and just bring me back what was left. Whenever they had a family reunion, my voice didn't count because I was a bad kid. It was my fault, but making me feel invisible didn't help. Specially, since I was going through a lot more than what they thought and later found out. I was being bullied at school as well. Drama, girls wanting to fight. It was bad at home, and also at school. I couldn't hang out with friends or go to the park because I couldn't be trusted. After the whole year of sixth grade and me feeling invisible, the summer of sixth grade i made a terrible decision. I ran away. I know, a very stupid idea but, I was a dumb kid just trying to figure things out so I could be happy. After I ran away, I went to a hospital where I was helped, and I was given advice. My mom changed a lot. She found out the reason why my actions and attitude was so terrible. She cooped with me and we both went to therapy. Afterwards, I became my mom's little girl. I started being better, more respectful and my mom and I had a better relationship. Of course we had our ups and downs but, it was much better than that past year. When 8th grade came, I matured and my mom became my best friend. I am very happy now because I feel included at home and at school as well since I moved and learned to not let others affect me.