In my second year of high school, my group of "friends" at that time started to exclude me and I began to consciously realize that. It was a difficult time as I realized that people were not what they seemed and I had to pretend that I knew nothing of it - nothing of their deliberate exclusion of me, nothing of the parties and gatherings that they held to which I was rarely invited to. I had other friends in another group, because I had a class in which none of my "friends" from the first group were in, so I was forced to make other friends. This turned out to be a good thing, as I then had the chance to choose which group I wanted to really belong in - the one which looked good on the outside but was not so good in reality, or the one which looked OK but made me feel so much better? I knew then that I had to "breakaway" from my old group and since then, I have felt so much happier with my real group of friends, although I keep my friendships with the first group, but I am always wary and I am no longer affected by the fact that some of them don't like me and / or don't invite me to events.

I think that the song "Breakaway" really defined this time of my life because I had to take a chance and breakaway. What could hurt more than not being accepted in the group that you're already in? Nothing. So I "took a chance" and tried the other group. The song "What Doesn't Kill You (Stronger)" is also relevant to this event because I have learnt so much from this little obstacle in my short life. Yes, it hurt, and yes, it was painful to remember at first, but it didn't kill me - it just made me stronger. It just made me want to fight against all the evil out there. It just made me want to prove myself to them and prove that I didn't need them to be happy and to be known. It just made me know that life isn't perfect or fair, but it can be good if I want to make it like that.

Thank you Kelly for giving me these two songs - they keep me going all the time and really have lots of meaning for me.