The first time Brayan ever held a gun, he pointed it at a woman stepping out of a gray Lexus in Everett and stole her purse — his initiation into an older cousin’s gang.

He was 12 years old at the time.

“I was losing control of my life,” said Brayan, now 17 and a 4.0 student at Scriber Lake High School in Edmonds.

You can read the complete story about Brayan, a contributor to “We Are Absolutely Not Okay” — a book of personal essays by Scriber Lake students — from our online news partner The Seattle Times.