She always knew that she would separate from her home, but she never fully processed how she would be separated from her social and emotional life. Giselle Martinez, a senior and former Kennedy student, experienced a life-changing event in July 2024, causing her social life to decline and a shift in her emotional health.
Martinez was born in Burbank, was raised in Sun Valley, and had moved recently to Santa Rosa, a nearly two-hour drive north of San Francisco. She says that the conclusion of the move was made official in the beginning of the year 2024, but it had been an open idea among her family, without much of her say, as she had hopes of graduating beforehand. The main reasons for leaving were because of the atmosphere of the area she lived in.
Martinez’s mother saw the neighborhood as too “hood” due to observed crime rates. There had been a slew of robberies, specifically car thefts in the area, that had brought much worry to her mom. The final straw was that their family’s car had been stolen, becoming the main tipping point for moving.
The pull-factors, on the other hand, were the small size, tight-knit community, and peace and quiet they would get in Santa Rosa.
She had prepared for the worst, but the move wasn’t as bad as she suspected. While it had been shocking, Martinez said that she hasn’t yet fully processed all of it.
“Initially it was sad, but my mental state improved as I adapted further, and I am almost fully adapted,” said Martinez.
The biggest change affecting her mentally was the dramatic change in her social life. Right before moving was when Martinez had a very active social life that had been developed over the course of her high school years. She claims that since it is now senior year, everyone already has their own friend groups established, making it all the more difficult for her to fit in.
Martinez also observed that there is a blatant demographic difference in her current school from Kennedy. At Kennedy, it is not a surprise to know that there is a predominantly Hispanic/ Latino population. At her new school, Windsor, there is a predominantly Caucasian population, which makes Martinez feel a bit intimidated since there isn’t anyone she feels she can connect with.
In addition to these changes is Martinez’s already-introverted personality. It took years of socializing to get her social life as active as it had been. With it abruptly stopping, it is hard to both get over it and to create a new one.
To cope with her mental health, Martinez focuses on school work and her grades as long as spending time with her pet animals, since she feels as if there is really no one she can talk to there. Because of the lack of social involvement at school, Martinez doesn’t really take part in senior activities. But, she won’t let this move and the toll it took on her mental health stop her from succeeding academically.
