Six years old, in her room hearing shouting. Just another fight between mom and dad she thought to herself. Another night of name-calling, intense screaming, and unhappiness. Cheyanne Walker is a fifteen year old junior that attends Loy Norrix High School. She was born in Richland, Michigan and has been dealing with struggles almost all of her life.
“I want to make a difference because I grew up in a really unstable house, so I don’t want kids to have to go through what I went through,” she said.
As a child Cheyanne was called names that she didn’t know the definition of until hearing them so many times. She spent most of her time at her grandparents’ house where they would smoke around her and where physical fights would occur. Things didn’t become easier in middle school.
During middle school Cheyanne developed drug and alcohol problems.  However she is not alone. According to The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, nine percent of middle school students see illegal drugs used , sold, and students high and/or drunk. Not wanting to be like her cousin who dropped out of school and is employed at Burger King, she has been clean from her drug and alcohol problems for many weeks as of now.
When asked if Loy Norrix has helped her with her problems, she replied “My friends have helped me stay clean and when I want to do stuff that would be bad for me they help and tell me not to.”
Also, her life at home has improved with less intense fighting. Even though Cheyanne has had problems in her life that most people don’t have to go through, she said, “Overall, I call myself happy but depressed.”