ᴍᴀʟʏssᴀ ᴇʟɪᴢᴀʙᴇᴛʜ ɢʀᴀᴄᴇ sɪᴍᴍᴏɴs

Most parents can't agree on a first name, but for Alexander and Melinda Simmons, agreeing on a middle name for their youngest daughter was the problem. It wasn't until hours after she was born on July 31, 1996, that the pair decided to use two middle names instead of one. Thus, Malyssa Elizabeth Grace Simmons was given her name. She wasn't the only Simmons child to have something of an unusual name - her older sister, Ryann, had an unusual name as far as girls names were concerned. Unlike Ryann, Malyssa didn't always love her name. It was "weird" compared to the other little girls and she often asked her parents why she couldn't just be named Elizabeth instead. It was Ryann who convinced her that having a different name made her special and with time, Malyssa began to appreciate her name and it's uniqueness (even when people misspelled and mispronounced it).

Although her name was unique, her childhood was rather average. She had two parents that loved her endlessly, an older brother that was always giving her a hard time, and two older sisters, one of whom was usually doing her own thing and the other whom Malyssa considered her best friend from the very beginning. Being the baby of the family, Malyssa watched and learned from her siblings, picking things up quickly and always being more intelligent than her peers, even if she didn't know it. It wasn't simply book smarts, either. She learned from their behavior and personalities how to manage their parents, peers and the world around her in general, just from their example. Being the baby had it's perks - she could usually get her way, she got her sisters unwanted things (including clothes) and she had what felt like an army of protection. The downside to being the youngest was mostly not being able to do what her older siblings could do, but she learned to live with it.

As is typical in these types of situations, it became easier to deal with as Malyssa became older, progressed in school and started making friends of her own to do things with. Of course, she still envied her siblings, but as she grew, she began to find herself. She learned quickly that that was far more important. While some people say it's not easy to do that in a school setting because of peer pressure, bullying and such, it was rather easy for Malyssa. She always kind of knew who she was, the things she liked and didn't like, and the environment that she grew up in certainly called for a headstrong personality. And it got one - in spades. Aside from that, she always had her family to remind her of the truly important things and just how important it was not to succumb to all the things the other kids were doing in school.

Trying to stand out while also fitting in had it's problems, but eventually Malyssa found peers she connected with, related to, and formed friendships. She focused on her school work, and her extracurricular activities (cheerleading and choir), always striving to do her best, and kept herself out of trouble. During the summer after her sophomore year, Malyssa got her first job working at Forever 21, where she is still working nearly 2 years later. Now that she has graduated high school, Malyssa's plans are set to attend Westchester Community College for at least one year in hopes of finding a direction and deciding on a major. While she has many interests, she is still trying to find something that she can be passionate about, and something that she'll be happy doing for the rest of her career.