Built the Bridge

This piece explores resilience through transition, from isolation at community college to connection and strength at UC San Diego. At community college, I had zero friends and no visible support system. I was financially self-supporting from age fifteen, had left high school out of necessity to earn income, and carried experiences I rarely spoke about, including legal struggles and instability at home. During that
time, resilience meant survival. It meant paying tuition, going to class, and continuing forward without recognition or encouragement.

Transferring to UC San Diego marked a shift. My circumstances did not suddenly become easy. I am still
financially self-supporting and responsible for a forty five thousand dollar yearly cost of attendance. However, something changed internally. Instead of remaining invisible, I chose to participate. I became
socially active, joined organizations, built friendships, and allowed myself to be seen. The loneliness that
once defined my college experience became a source of strength. I now feel deeply grateful for the social circle I have built because I know what it means to not have one.

The poem is intentionally structured with short lines and spacing to mirror isolation in the first half and
expansion in the second. The white space reflects silence. The gradual increase in relational language
reflects growth into community. Resilience in this piece is not framed as dramatic triumph but as
consistent forward motion.

Writing this poem was also personal in another way. I used to dislike writing and poetry. It felt forced and
uncomfortable. Taking Warren Writing at UC San Diego changed that. I began to see writing as
processing rather than performance. Writing became therapeutic. It allowed me to examine experiences I
had minimized and to understand them as formative rather than defining.

This piece represents resilience not as a single breakthrough moment but as a bridge built slowly between isolation and belonging. The art and synopsis together show that resilience is not just surviving alone, but learning how to step into community after you have known silence.