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The way I would describe myself before I came to the Judge Rotenberg Center would be someone that wouldn’t listen to anything that anyone had to say. I always had to have my way. I was not really good in school with my academics. Before I came here I wasn’t making the right choices that I should have made. I hung around with the wrong people and did the wrong things. I arrived at the Judge Rotenberg Center on February 28, 1998, I was fourteen years old. Before coming to the Judge Rotenberg Center I was at another placement which was totally different from here. There were no cameras, there was no supervision. I had gone there when I was twelve years old and I stayed there for five months. While I was there I had some struggles with the people that were there and some problems with myself. After I left that placement I went home. I was home for a few weeks when I started to go back to my old ways. I was doing badly because I hadn’t been there for a while and I was acting up at the same time. My behavior at first wasn’t bad until I had started hanging around the same crowd again. While at home I had a friend. She lived around the corner from me; we used to do everything with each other. I thought that she was my best friend (but I was wrong). Her and I went to the same school she was older and in a different grade as me. While we were at school she would look out for me and make sure that I was ok and that I was doing the right thing. Until I started hanging around the wrong people and started doing the wrong things. I wanted to fit in with her and she was the only friend that I had. She introduced me to other people that made me have more friends. The more that I would hang out with her the more I saw myself lying to my family, sneaking around, doing things that I was doing before. It was hard growing up and not having any friends. After a couple of months my mom and I were going through some hard times, she had wanted to put me in another placement and I really didn’t want to go. My mom and I went to Massachusetts to visit The Judge Rotenberg Center. The place was nice, but far away. When we got there the people were nice. After seeing the placement, my mom asked if I like the place. I understood that I had messed up but I really didn’t want to go through what I went through before. I promised my family that time was the last time that anything was going to happen. A month later after seeing The Judge Rotenberg Center I was sent there. I was so upset. The day that I arrived to the Judge Rotenberg Center was February 24, 1998 I was fourteen years old. When it was time for me to leave my parents I was crying. I was so upset that it was the second time in my life that I was going to be without my parents once again. They placed me in a house called Lorusso with 7 other girls. Soon after, I moved out of Lorusso to a less restricted house which was called the Bolivar. Four girls lived there. As time went on, I earned the opportunity to go on a home visits. My mom saw a great improvement in me and she was happy. As I started to increase my level of independence at The Judge Rotenberg Center I earned an in-school job in the kitchen. I was so happy because it was the very first job that I ever had. I started to work there and it was fun. I felt really good about myself. My mom found out how well I was doing and I was able to go home more often which made my relationship with my family better. Since being at The Judge Rotenberg Center I’ve started seeing things in a different light and realizing that there is more to life then I thought there was. There are many opportunities for people to do things with their life and you don’t always have to follow everyone else. In the six years I have been in The Judge Rotenberg Center, it’s been a challenge. I have gone through many stages of my life, since being here. - Bernadette |