My first day.

Hi, my name is (your name), I was born in Honduras in 1997, but I have lived in Montreal since I was five years old. My parents are the typical Latin family. They always say " You do not leave this house till you are married and you do not get married if you have not finished your studies." So here I am, trying to decide what I want to do with my life. I am going to Ahuntsic College in Social Science. It is my final year of college and I really do not know which University I want to go to but I know that my field of study is going to be Special Education. I was thinking about going to Montreal University or UQAM.

Choice 1 : Montreal University.

Choice 2 : UQAM.

Montreal University.

So, I decided to go to Montreal University, and I am so happy. I can not believe that I am about to start my life, and start working. I met a girl today, her name is Adriana, she is nice, we became friends, well I think, she told me that we are in the same class. Thanks God because I will not be alone today. We went to class and the teacher already gave us some work to do. We have to learn the "American Sign Language." It is going to be fun, I can feel it. The teacher said that we have to go to a restaurant and try to order without using words, only signs. Adriana another guy named George and his friend Chris and I decided to go together. Before ending the class the teacher said, "good luck for the next four years of your life you will need it." That sentence freaked me out! Four years oh my God I can not do it, it is too long. I can not wait for that long before I really start living. I was stressing so I decided to talk to Adriana : " Hey did you know that this program was going to take that long? Yes, I informed myself before entering, did you not? She asked me. No, I did not. Oh God I can not do this, I thought that it would take like two years I had plans with my boyfriend I do not know what to do! I said. It is not that long why are you freaking out, she said, you will be okay, she said. No, I will not be okay, I have never been good at school I can not even believe that I am here, I know that I am being dramatic but I have problems at home, and I was really hopping that I would leave soon. I can not be there anymore they are stressing me out and I do not want to live there anymore, I said. Why don't you take a room in the campus here? She asked. You have not met my parents yet I can not leave the house till I am married and I can not get married if I have not finished my studies, I answered. Girl you are 21 what are you still doing living with your parents anyway? She asked. I am Hispanic, being 21 do not give me permission to leave the house, legally I can but I do not want to cause more trouble, I said. The only thing that I can tell you is that, if you think that staying in the program and having a job that you live is worth living with your parents four more years you stay, she said. I went home thinking about what Adriana said. A week later I was still thinking about it. Should I leave or should I stay? I do want to be a teacher but at the same time four years is a lot. Even though I am not a teacher, I can still do some things that I love like interior design and it only takes two years. I can see myself decorating kitchens and bedrooms I mean I would be good at it. What should I do? Stay or do a DEP in interior design?

Choice 1 : I stayed.

Choice 2 : DEP

UQAM.

So, I decided to go to UQAM and everything was perfect. I graduated, found a job, started working and, had fun with my students. I was happy until I found out my boyfriend was cheating on me with my best friend. I was destroyed. I wanted so much to become a teacher that I did not give him attention he said. I started to see a psychologist because I was depressed. I had problems with my parents and now problems with my boyfriend. It was too much for me so I started to skip work till they fired me. I was a mess. My psychologist told I had to start thinking about myself a little bit more and less about the problems. I guess I am going to stay home for a while.

Write a choice here.

I stayed.

So, I decided to stay. I graduated and found a job at a school called Joseph-Charbonneau. It has been three weeks since I started working here, and I love it. Next week I will be meeting my students' parents for the first time. I really hope it is going to be okay. I am a little bit preoccupied though, one of my students comes to class every day with bruises, his name is Thomas, I know he is sick, all of my students are in some way, but this one is different. He never talks he always sits alone, he does not have friends and the important thing is that I think he is scared of his parents. One day I asked my students to bring a little something for one of my student's birthday. He told me he could not bring anything because his parents would not want to. I said it was okay, but another student said, " Will your mom get mad if you bring something from home? " Then he started to look at his hands started playing with them. I quickly understood he felt bad so I changed the subject. I do not know if I am worrying for nothing and those bruises are because of his sickness or they are because of his parents, if I say something and it is not what I think I could get fired and I just started working here. Maybe, I should talk to the principal. What should I do? Should I talk to the principal or should I keep it to myself?

Choice 1 : You should keep it to yourself

Choice 2 : You should talk

DEP.

I decided to leave. It was too much work for me. I did a DEP in interior design and I love it. I am really happy I got married and decorated my hole house by myself. I have a lot of clients and I make a lot of money but some times I think to myself, what would have happened if I had stayed. I guess I will never know.

Write a choice here.

You should keep it to yourself.

I decided to keep it to myself maybe the bruises are really because of his sickness so I should not worry about that that much. Next week it was time for me to meet all of my students' parents. I am a little bit nervous but I guess it is normal. I met all of my students' parents except for Thomas's parents. I did not give it too much importance because I was thinking about meeting the other parents. The next day, Thomas did not come to school. So, I decided to call home personally. I called but no one answered. I did something I should not have done. I went to check on him. I was in front of his house and I called again and nothing so I decided to touch the doorbell and someone opened the door it was Thomas. Let me explain to you why I was surprised that he was the one opening the door. Thomas is 13 years old kid who can not really move without his wheelchair. He has arthritis, asthma, pneumonia and some other sickness. Why is he the one to open the door? I asked to talk with his parents, and he told me that they were not home. I asked him when they were coming back and he said he did not know they were gone all the weekend and that he was alone all the weekend. Who leaves a little kid alone for a weekend? I asked him if he could call someone to check on him and said that his parents are going to be back soon that I should not worry about him. He closed the door and I stayed there perplex I did not know what to do. I went home and talk to my boyfriend about it. He told me I should not have gone there it was not my job and I have to talk about this to the principal. What should I do, talk about it or keep it to myself?

Choice 1 : I decided to talk about it.

Choice 2 : I decided to keep it to myself.

You should talk about it.

I decided to talk about it. I do not really know if the bruises are because of is sickness but I need to make sure that he is okay. I do not want to stay quiet and there is something happening to him. I told my principal and he told me that I made the good thing by telling him. He said he was going to ask the psycho educator about this so maybe Thomas is going to talk to him. I hope we are not right. That would be so terrible. Next week after his appointment with the psycho educator we will know what is going on with Thomas. The week has passed and Thomas seems to be to calm. I tried to make him talk but he did not want to. After class, I went to the psycho educators' office to talk to him and he told me that we were right. He thinks his parents are beating him or something he said he had bruises shaped like fingers like when someone tries to take you by the arms. He said that we should call the DPJ so they can put him in foster care and that is what we are going to do. I really hope he is going to be okay.

Choice 1 : I decided to talk about it.

Choice 2 : I decided to keep it to myself.

I decided to talk about it.

Finally I decided to say something. This situation is unacceptable! I could not live with myself knowing that one of my students is in danger. I talked to the principal and told him everything, he was not happy because I went to check on Thomas at his house but they are happy I did. They are going to call the DPJ so they can take care of the case and they are going to see if they can put Thomas in foster care. I am glad I talked I feel so much better.

Write a choice here.

I decided to keep it to myself.

Again I decided to keep it to myself. I could not risk to getting fired for something I am not sure about. So, I did like nothing had happened. The next day, Thomas was still not in class and the others day of the week neither. The next week I expected to see him but he was no there. I was preoccupied. What if I made a mistake? What if I should have talked about it? At lunchtime, they called me to the office. That is weird and I feel terrible. What if something happened to Thomas? I went to the principals' office and he told me that Thomas was in the hospital because he fell from the stairs in his house. I knew that was false so, I decided to talk. I told them everything and they fired me because I went to the kids house and because I did not say anything about what was happening to Thomas. I knew that was coming but at least they are going to call the DPJ and they are going to make sure that Thomas will not get hurt anymore. He will be in foster care and I hope he is going to be okay.

Write a choice here.