Ciara’s life across the pond
by Madgean Joassaint
The balloons rose high as if to touch the clouds. Music blared as people gathered to offer support. Her parents said goodbye to the people they knew and loved.
Ciara Mcaleavey didn’t know what was going on. She was 4, too young to understand she was leaving her home.
It was a sendoff party. Mcaleavey and her family were going to America. Her father had been offered a job that moved her and her family from England to Orlando.
A young Mcaleavey began to settle in to her new life but things changed as she entered middle school. She said she began feeling rejected. Being from England and having an accent made her feel different from her classmates. She began to withdraw and became very shy.
“I am quiet but there is a lot going on in my head and it is hard for me to express myself.”
“In high school she seemed different,” her mother said.
She walked into her high school building about to go to class. She had chosen journalism 1 at random. As she walked in, her teacher gave the class their first assignment. At first, she seemed uninterested.
But as she began crafting her article, she began to fall in love. She soon became fascinated with the world of journalism. She no longer felt shy or embarrassed.
“She is very shy unless you get to know her,” said Shelby Swgert. She met
Swygert her freshman year in high school. The two have been best friends since.
In her junior year she decided what she wanted to be. When she was younger she said she wanted to be a lawyer.
“She is excited about the money,” said her mother Denise Mcaleavey. Mcaleavey said she believed as she grew up she would need a lot of money to accommodate a lifestyle she may want to live so she chose to be a lawyer even though she expected it to be boring.
During her junior year she started talking about her decision to have a career in journalism. She has not yet chosen which career in journalism she wishes to pursue but she keeps an open mind and has plenty of support.
“Whatever makes her happy,” her mother said.
