finding an outlet

By Mt Chu

Most kids learn important lessons from their parents but Eric Michua never really had that when he was younger. Because his parents were never really present back then, he had to rely on other resources and people to teach him lessons his parents couldn’t.

When he was 13 his parents were working most of the time and they wouldn’t come home until late at night. Him and his siblings would look after each other. He started to watch youtube for entertainment but also for education.

“I learned many important life skills like how to ride a bike and it was all thanks to youtube,” Michua explained. He isn’t really bitter about his parents working because he’s glad that it has made him more independent

One of Eric’s favorite youtubers who he looks up to is Mr. Beast because he gives away a lot of money and donates valuable items to strangers for free and he is overall just a generous person.

When Eric was 16 he went through another hardship involving his parents. He was playing video games with his siblings and went out to get some water. He walked past his parents room and overheard his dad talking to another woman on the phone. “My dad never sweet talks to my mom like that,” he said. When his mom found out about what was going on his parents fought everyday.

His parents often pulled him and his siblings into the room and made them pick sides. He took it well at first because he had online friends to distract him from the situation. But seeing his siblings cry all time made him sad too. One of his siblings even started to go to therapy sessions.

A couple months later he found out that his dad already had a new family with new kids. He wanted to forget that it ever even happened but his mom always brought it up in conversations and ruined his mood for that day.

Eric is 18 now and he still goes on youtube to this day because he doesn’t have a father figure at home to teach him how to fix things around the house.

Even though Eric went through many hardships in his life he managed to stay positive because he reached out to his friends and found his outlets. Playing video games, watching youtube, and just having someone to talk to was enough to distract him from his problems.

Eric is glad he went through what he did because it shaped him as a person. He wants to tell others that, “You’ll get through it even when it’s hard sometimes as long as you have friends and an outlet to express yourself.”