Still Wanted

By: Jen Lopez

Searching for belonging and not knowing how to fall into place with the right people is something many people can relate to, especially teenagers like Ailin Guardado. This Yerba Buena junior had complications of finding a space that can provide that for her when she feels alone or unseen. 

Guardado had moved around a lot, from San Jose to Eeat Palo Alto, then back here to SJ, leading to complications with finding belonging anywhere and with who. She always wanted to experience being loved and cared for even after being fully convinced it just never existed. 

When she moved away from home the first time, she wasn’t able to say goodbye to anyone and she was upset she couldn’t stay. “I felt really close to everybody over there and it was just really weird the way we moved from one place to another. I didn’t really have time to say bye to anybody” she says.

Going into a new school and meeting new people, she struggled to find trust in people and find the love and care she craved for. It was hard for her, “The friends I had in the past, they would make everything into competitions and they’d get mad over everything so I thought everyone was like that” she says. 

Even after that struggle, she managed to meet her closest friends here in San Jose, who have since been friends for about three years now. They were different from other friendships because it wasn’t rushed, they never judged her for being herself, they just always understood her. 

“My favorite moments with them would probably be when we would skip school to go to the fields and then go get food,” she states. She enjoys spending time with her friends and loves them dearly. 

Guardado managed to find a sense and place of belonging, maybe she still wants to find it with other people but for the most part she was able to find her true friends.