Kyleigh Figueroa packed up her bags to move to Wayne a week before the last day of school. She lived at her aunt’s house in Harlem for the majority of the summer and actually moved into her house in Wayne a week before freshman year started.
Kyleigh is a new student at Wayne Hills High School. She moved here from Staten Island, New York this summer. I asked her a couple of questions which she answered honestly and open-mindedly.
I asked her how Wayne Hills is suiting her so far and she said, “It’s alright, you know, it’s school so I can’t really say I like it but it’s not bad.” She said that certain things from this school are better than her old school, IS72, but overall she would say no. There was more variety at her old school, and here there is only a little bit of what her old school offered.
She opened up about the living situation in Harlem, saying, “The area [my aunt] lived in was bad. It wasn’t that bad living with her, she lived in a two-bedroom apartment and there was like five of us. My brother had to sleep on an air mattress on the floor and then I had to share a bed with my sister.” Her twin sister, Jaylynne Figueroa, would keep Kyleigh up a lot, so Kyleigh couldn’t go to bed until Jaylynne decided to go to bed.
I asked her how it was finding new friends and relocating and she stated, “It wasn’t bad because [a few people and I] met at orientation so we already knew each other.” Kyleigh said she and Marleny Ferreira have the same first-period class, so they became quick friends.
Freshman, Marleny Ferreira, says that she thought Kyleigh was a little shy on the first day, but she quickly got acclimated to the friend group and school. “I think she’s really funny and kind and we have an inside joke that only a few people know about. We’ve gotten very close to each other in a short period of time and I think we’re great friends.”
Kyleigh misses her old house in Staten Island, and she said there were some key memories from her old house. “I remember little things like my brother watching me when my parents weren’t home.” It’s because her brother, Jesse, is ten years older than her, so he would always babysit Kyleigh and Jaylynne when their parents were gone.
“Getting my first dog, getting my first fish, those are all core memories that I’ll never forget,” Kyleigh said, happy that she’ll always have those things to reminisce on.
Kyleigh says she can’t wait to get out of high school, but she’s excited for junior formal and prom. She enjoys doing her nails and also doing her friend’s nails if they need them done.