The Trespasser

The expression my sister wore on her face is an image I will never forget. My parents and I

had just returned from one of my weekly basketball games, and were greeted by her at the door. I

could immediately sense her discomposure and felt it fester through my body, leaving an uneasy

feeling in my stomach. The date was January 13th, 2016, and this was the aftermath of an

attempt by a strange woman to break into my family’s home. That night, I struggled to sleep

worrying about if and when the trespasser would return.

Weeks passed with no sign of her, and I began to feel comfortable in my home again.

However, my fear resumed on the night of March 11th. From this day forward she visited our

home a total of 6 instances, with each visit frightening me. My family and I communicated with

the police, but they simply informed us that she was diagnosed with schizophrenia. This new

perspective made me feel sympathy towards her and gave me insight about why she was possibly

visiting our home. We also then approached the situation in a more lenient manner, working with

the police to see how we could carefully get the trespasser the help she needed. In addition, my

fear level was slightly reduced. However, I was not unperturbed, as I did not know the
trespasser’s capabilities. I still felt something needed to be done to prevent her from visiting

again. Although I did not know much about the legal system, being able to trespass on

someone’s property multiple times seemed unlawful. Yet, the police were not approaching the

situation with the level of priority I expected. During our next encounter with the police, after

another trespassing, we confronted them about the seemingly unfair situation. It was then that

they informed us we must officially request her to be “trespassed” before they could arrest her.

We were disappointed that we were not told sooner.

When the trespasser came once more we notified the police, who arrived at our home in time

and brought her to jail for the night. I was still not satisfied, and encouraged my parents to do

something to prevent this incident from recurring. We proceeded to do research and found that

we could file a stalking order to make the trespasser’s act a serious affair. Unfortunately, I was

unable to help present the case because of the court date’s interference with my school day.

However, I felt I had a valid opinion that needed to be expressed. Therefore, I wrote a letter to

the judge showcasing my perspective of the situation, outlining how inequitable the punishment

was relative to the significant impact on my family and I. At court, my parents were successful in
obtaining a stalking order, and were informed by the judge that after reading my letter, they felt

the trespasser should serve a month in jail and issued them such sentence.

This experience taught me the value of viewing a situation from a different perspective. In the

police’s eyes the trespasser was not harmful and did not seem of great concern, whereas she

unforgettably agitated my family and I. In addition, we had developed a strong negative view of

the trespasser before we gained insight about their condition. After being informed about their

mental illness we felt sorrow and went about the situation more commiseratingly. Finally, at first

the judge simply viewed the case as a random person frequently visiting a house. However, when

they viewed the situation from a different angle by reading my letter, they better understood the

case and were able to make a decision that acknowledged our personal experience. My newfound

knowledge of the importance of perspective has changed the way I address certain situations now

and will continue to in the future.