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If I Could Turn Back Time #BehindTheBlogger

#BehindTheBlogger If I Could Turn Back Time

Do you ever wonder what your life would be like if you could just rewind it and do something all over again? Have you ever made a mistake and just wished you could turn back time? I've always lived my life saying, “No Regrets!” Every minute of your life is what leads you to the next. Every memory you make is made for a reason. If you changed one thing, one tiny thing, everything would be different. Your entire life would be thrown off track. I am not going to get religious here, but the Big Man Upstairs has a plan for us all. That doesn't mean that we can't daydream about what life would be like had we taken a different path.

I often find myself wishing I had made the right decisions as a teenager. I would have struggled a lot less if would have focused more on what was really important- my education. At 15 years old, I was expelled from school and I never went back…

My friends and I in high school not caring about anything but ourselves haha.

One of the very few pictures of me actually AT school in 9th grade.

I didn't have an ideal childhood. I grew up with parents who were barely around. I basically had to raise myself, so I did what most teenagers do. I had fun! I partied, I experimented, I ran wild. I moved into a friend's house without my parents permission, not that they cared. My days were spent drinking, smoking, and doing whatever the heck I wanted. As a teenager with no authority figure, I was living the life… or so I thought. After a little over a year of this ridiculous behavior, I had to move back in with my mother. I was heartbroken. 

On a whim, I decided to apply for a job at a hotel. I was 17 years old and I was bored. I never really expected to get the job. My friends were applying, so I did too. To my surprise, I was hired during my first interview. At this point, my life changed forever. I got my high school diploma through a correspondence program, while working. At this point, I started to wish that I could turn back time. 

If I could turn back time, I would do high school all over again. I would focus on learning and on my grades. I find it SO MUCH FUN to learn as an adult. I wish I felt that joy as a teenager. The thing is, my grades were incredible. I was an honor student all the way until high school. My issue was attendance and behavior. If I could turn back time, I would have stayed in the “smart kids” after school program that my freshman English teacher recommended to me. I would have entered all of those writing competitions because I was so obsessed with writing. I would have fought for a scholarship and fought to make it into the right University. I would have lived the college life that I will forever wish I would have experienced. I wonder who I would be today… If I could turn back time. 

I graduated in 2014 with my Bachelor's Degree in Music Production

I graduated in 2014 with my Bachelor's Degree in Music Production

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  1. Anonymous says:

    This was a great story. You learned a lesson from your past, that’s what matters and now you are a success 🙂

  2. Boy, don’t we all have things we wish we could have a redo on? Loved reading this post.

  3. Shandi Dews says:

    Oh, if you only knew how much this sounds like my own story. On the plus side, we both made something of ourselves…I tell my mom all the time, that the decisions that I made in my life, were made for a reason. I needed to learn these lessons on my own. It was a hard road, but I did learn the lessons…and came out on the other side, a better mother, a better student (graduated Summa Cum Laude in 2013 with a BS in Legal Studies), and a better person. Maybe things would have been great if I had done things the “normal” way, but what would be missing from my present and my future if I had? You are an amazing person, Joyce, and have done great things with your life…No Regrets!!

  4. Lois Jones says:

    I’m glad you were able to pull things to ether in your life! I can relate to having a rough childhood, although mine was rough in another way. I’ve often wondered what it would be like to turn back time, but sure don’t want to. Everything I have gone through has helped me be the person I am today and I am thankful for it!

  5. B Ketelsen says:

    Thank you for being so candid about your past and sharing it with us. We have all made mistakes and you recognized that and turned things around. I think mistakes in school is one of the biggest things people wish they could do-over! You are the person you are today because of those experiences and now you have your B.S! Congrats!!

  6. Marina John says:

    I think we’ve all felt like this at some point. It sounds like who you were at that time, however, was exactly the experience you needed to become the awesome person you are today. Hooray for that!

  7. You’re so true about me being appreciative of life now because of my struggle. I don’t have regrets, but it’s fun to think about what things would have been like or would be like today if everything were different. I am definitely going to keep learning and growing. Knowledge is power and I crave it! Thank you so much for your comment!

  8. hahaha I enjoyed it in all the wrong ways though! Yeah education is a lot of fun (now at least). Yeah I am definitely better off because I am who I am (as Popeye would say lol)

  9. Yeah I totally agree. My family wasn’t around and never pushed me to do great things. I just did them myself. If I had that kind of support, I would have done so many things a better way and much sooner! Thank you for sharing and relating!

  10. Yes very true. I still wish I had graduated high school with my peers and I wish I got the college experience, ya know?

  11. Sam Sly says:

    That is really touching. I admire that you did it in your own way instead of giving up once you felt those regrets. I think everyone has regrets like this (not this specific regret, but something). It is really about what you do with that regret to move towards the life you want. I love your graduation picture!

  12. tammileetips says:

    I love to read posts like this about other bloggers. I think what we go through makes you the person you are now.

  13. Carla D. says:

    You and I are more alike than I thought. You were expelled for behavior, I dropped out because of a poor choice. Yet we both were super smart then and still are now. I am very glad you went back and got your diploma, even if it was through a different program. You still got to experience the whole graduation excitement! You are definitely someone to look up to. You turned your life around and it shows. Thank you for sharing your story with us! I never would’ve known this about you had you not. 🙂

  14. Jacob Fu says:

    Such a great story! Thanks for sharing what you would have changed but so happy to hear where you are now.

  15. CourtneyLynne says:

    awwww what a great post! I can definitely relate. My parents weren’t around much either and didn’t care what I really did. I really do wish I would of did better in HS so I could of gone to a really good college! My parents could care less if I went to college so I never really applied myself to working that hard. After two years of community college I went on to better things, just wish I would of had that extra push like most kids have.

  16. Tessa Smith says:

    Wow Joyce, this is incredible! I did not know that you were expelled and ended up getting your diploma through a correspondence program. You are such a smarty, I never would have known. Sounds like you just enjoyed life a little too much back then – haha. But everything does happen for a reason and I think you are better off for it. You know now how important (and fun!) education is. Great read 🙂

  17. If we have the power to turn back time, everything would be very different in this world. But even if we don’t, it doesn’t end there. There is always something we can do to make things better.

  18. Michele says:

    Sometimes it takes a while for person to find themselves–even with the perfect home life. I’d say you did wonderfully!!

  19. I think we all ask ourselves that question at some point 🙂 Great to hear that you ended up doing the right things and turned your situation around.

  20. Jaime Nicole says:

    Thank you for sharing such a personal story. It sounds like you had a rougher road than most, and I am so happy to see that you are in a better place now. Congrats on your perseverance and making it through both hs and your bachelor’s.

  21. Liz Mays says:

    There are definitely some things I would have done differently too. You do learn lessons from mistakes though. You just have to pass them on!

  22. Sharon says:

    Thank you for sharing your story. I try not to live with regrets, so whatever I want to achieve, I set my mind to it. Glad you turned your life around. 🙂

  23. We all learn our lessons differently. What’s important is you learned and got back on your feet. It may not have been the way you wanted it to happen, but it happened.

  24. Thank you for sharing your story. I’m so glad you were able to turn things around.

  25. Amanda G says:

    Thank you so much for sharing your story with us, Joyce. I relate to a lot of your story. I too was rarely at school as a teenager and I’ve found that now that I’m older, with a love for knowledge, I wish I had spent more time focusing on school than hanging out with my friends. Congratulations on your journey so far and best wishes on your journey ahead. <3

  26. Josey says:

    Very similiar past! It’s awesome you’ve turned your life around and now look what you have built for yourself. I feel like we all wish we could turn back time; however what we are today is because of what we endured in the past! I think you are an amazing person! And it has been a pleasure to get to know you recently.

  27. Max says:

    Love this. I loved school, but like you found more ummm important things to do. Now I crave learning. I can’t get enough. So happy for you and what you’ve accomplished!

  28. Brittnei says:

    I definitely understand what you are saying! I empathize with this so much! There are so many things in this life that make up the reasons as to why we choose the way we do. I think even with you having experienced all that you did growing up, I think you might be less appreciative today had you not gone through all of that. Going to college and all the conventional way is not everything. Who says you can’t keep learning and growing even now? Even if you did go to college back then you still might not have found the same appreciation for it that you have now because of where you are now. Before I realized this, I had regrets too. But like you said, it’s a serious of events that always help us to learn. That can’t be replaced by always doing what society thinks is the right thing to do. Some people have to go down different paths to learn. Though pain and sorrow is not what most people really want, it is definitely necessary in a lot of instances to help us evolve. 🙂

  29. Robin Rue (@massholemommy) says:

    I made some decisions when I was younger that I am definitely not proud of. But I suppose they made me the person I am today.

  30. What a very heart felt post that brightened my day! I somehow think we all needed to learn lessons when we were younger so we could be the person we turned out to be today!

  31. Tiara says:

    I do live by the no regrets, but at the same time I do wish I could rewind sometimes. Maybe I could do this or that, differently. Maybe I could stop something from happening, now that I know what’s coming & so forth! Great post! Very well-written!

  32. Ashley C says:

    You turned your life around, which is all that matters, really. However, I definitely understand why you’d want a do-over. I wish I would have focused in school as well.

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