Tybee resident, JUNIPER WESTON.
JUNIPERâS PERSONAL INFORMATION
FULL NAME: Juniper Micheala Weston
GENDER: Cisfemale
PRONOUNS: She/Her
AGE: 29
BIRTHDAY: July 18th
BIRTH ORDER: Second
RELATION: Adopted Sibling
TYPE: Solo
ORIENTATION: Pansexual/Demiromantic
JOB TITLE(S): School Counselor at Islands High School
FACECLAIM:Â ZoĂŤ Kravitz
Life and death go hand in hand, and in Juniperâs case, it was quite literal. In the process of being brought into the world, her mother was taken out of it all in the same breath, leaving her with the man she married while she was pregnant; James Weston. The man wasnât her biological father but he did not hesitate to take her in and raise her like he was. She wasnât aware of the pain it caused him at the time, but as she got older she realized just how lucky she was that he decided to keep her in his life. Though Juniper never got the chance to meet her mother, James made it his mission to make sure the girl knew just how great she was before she passed away. Constantly being shown pictures and told stories by her dad, helped the little girl feel like she got to experience just how great her mom truly was when she was alive. She knew it wasnât her fault that he lost his wife and she lost her mother, but that did not stop her from feeling like it was when the stories would bring tears to his eyes.
Despite the circumstances that lead to her birth, Juniper never failed to be a happy child. If she wasnât laughing at all the horrible jokes on the candy wrappers or popsicle sticks, she was trying to come up with her own. She was a goofball, plain and simple. Not only did she enjoy making other people smile, but she was a big fan of being able to make herself smile in the process. She enjoyed who she was, and even more so when she eventually got people to share it with. Juniper was practically over the moon when James remarried, and her excitement only grew when she realized she was going to finally have the mother she always wanted.
With the new additions, Juniper had a little more leeway when it came to her âfreedomâ and she made it her prerogative to take advantage of it. As the habit of being under the watchful eye of her dad faded, she picked up a habit of being a lot more trouble than she was before. Itâs not like she completely went off the rails, but the âWild Childâ shirt her dad bought her soon started to become her reality. Juniper had a feeling that it probably wasnât the best idea to be as troublesome as she became, but she also felt like she couldnât really control it. Eventually, her change in attitude started to become a real problem when she began to âact outâ in school. She didnât think not being able to sit still or blurting out answers was a reason to think she was a problem, but she knew arguing against it would only make her seem like more of a problem than she already was perceived as.
Even though she was getting in trouble in school, her parents didnât consider it a serious thing since her attitude wasnât affecting her grades. Instead of accusing of her being the problem they did everything they could to try and figure out what her problem was. After sending her to a countless number of therapists, psychologists, and a numerous amount of tests, it was determined that Juniper had a moderate case of ADHD. She was only 6 when she found out, but she was thankful it was found sooner rather than later. Instead of putting her on medication, her parents took an alternative route and gave her a chance to use her energy for things outside the classroom. This prompted her to pick up an array of extracurricular activities. Basketball, soccer, cheer, dance. You name it, she was in it. Finding her an outlet for all the energy had helped her a great deal and she was thankful for it.
Growing up playing sports was all Juniper knew, so it was no surprise that she tried out for every team high school had to offer. Being on the basketball, soccer, volleyball, and track team was fun but it was not an easy feat. With her plate full of practices and training, she didnât have much time to focus on her schoolwork. She hadnât fallen too far behind, but Juniper knew sheâd get an earful when her parents found out. And an earful is what she got. After the scolding, she realized she either need to learn how to be great at both or sheâd have to take a break from playing. Now that Juniper knew that could easily be studious and active she was taking advantage of it. She would regularly go to the library and pick up books to learn more about the subjects they taught at school, psychics, calculus, psychology. She was reading any and everything she could get her hands on. She developed a passion for expanding her mind instead of her physical abilities. Choosing to learn new things no matter if it was about Greek mythology or philosophy, to something as simple as geography. She just liked knowing things, no matter what it was about.
Finally taking the opportunity to make a school a priority like her parents wanted her to paved the way for Juniperâs educational journey. She went from making Câs and Dâs to eventually graduating in the 10%. Instead of waiting to start college in the fall like most of her peers, she got a head start by knocking a few of them out while she still was in high school, and eventually they ended up paying off. Getting somewhat of a head start on her college career, Juniper was really looking forward to what college had in store for her, even if she hadnât decided on a major nor which one she wanted to attend. She had gotten accepted to the few colleges she applied to, but the ones that stuck out to her were usually the furthest away. Staying close to home wouldâve been the ideal choice when it came going to her dream college because that would mean she wouldnât have to worry about being away from her parents for too long. But she felt that she needed to expand her horizons a bit more since she had never ventured outside of Georgia.
After haggling with her choices, she finally decided on University of California Los Angeles. The school was nothing like she thought it would be, but it was college and she was just excited to be there. Juniper still hadnât decided what she wanted to major in, but luckily for her, she still had some time to figure out. In the meantime, she decided to find things on campus to keep her occupied. She couldâve gone back to playing sports but she wanted to try something different. When she stumbled upon the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, Juniper felt like she finally knew what she was doing when it came to the whole college thing. The girls she met during the process of pledging helped her with more than just choosing a major, they got her to come out of her shell a little more. Being in college she finally got a chance to live a little, experiencing all her college firsts in her first year. Psychology was the last thing Juniper thought that sheâd be interested in when it came to the type of career, but here she was already planning on going to graduate school to get her masters. She had no idea of what she wanted to do with her degree, but at least she could say she had one when she got it.
Juniper was an adult now and with that came responsibilities, not many of course, but she felt as if she should at least be making her own money while away from home instead of relying on her parents. Finally deciding on a major made her a schedule a little hectic, so she opted for work-study until she could finish with her core subjects, then got a job at one of the clothing stores in the mall just to keep money in her pocket. It seemed to be the best fit for her as a college student, minus the men that would come in and hit on her, but the pay wasnât bad either so she stuck it out. Going to a school in California was probably one of the brightest ideas she had when it came to her fashion sense. Juniper preferred to wear tank tops, shorts, and sandals, so being in a state where getting cold was a rarity was a dream come true.
Her time in California was amazing and after graduating, she wasnât sure she wanted to go home just yet. There was no game plan set after college except for graduate school, but after that, her life was up in the wind. Having a teaching certificate came in handy later on when Juniper was looking for a part-time job. Getting a job at a local high school as a teaching assistant was a bit of a challenge due to some of the immature students, but she enjoyed the freedom that came with the job and could almost see herself doing this one day; just not any day soon. The more time she spent across the country made her miss home, so it was no surprise when she packed up and went back to Tybee as soon as she completed graduate school. She had money saved up so finding a place to stay was not a challenge, though she had yet to figure out how she was going to keep making money.
Going to her parents for suggestions, her mother pointed her in the direction of a paid internship at one of her old therapistâs office. Juniper never saw herself working with children growing up, but her time at the high school back in California and her time spent with the children her boss counseled made her feel differently. She may not have wanted to go straight into teaching but she had a pretty great idea of what she wanted to do. Finishing up her internship, Juniper applied for one of the counselor positions at the local high school and was ecstatic when she got the job. It didnât take long for her to figure out that this was where she was meant to be, and it made her even happier that she got to do what she loved where she grew up.
